How Did The Promotion Of War Contribute To The Rise Of Islam

The rise and expansion of Islam was extremely rapid to an extent that it is considered to be a phenomenon. This phenomenon had an effect on the future of the Byzantine Empire, the status of Christianity in the Middle East and a major effect on the demography of the world that we know today. The expansion of Islam came in two different ways. The first was that states were starting to consider themselves Islamic states and Islam was considered the official religion of the region, while the second was through missionary work where people introduced themselves as being Muslims. A Muslim was one who is a follower of the religion of Islam and in Arabic the world Muslim literally means “one who surrenders or submits”. This meaning actually summarizes

Although, many Muslims say that jihad does not reflect the true image of Islam, they cannot deny that the Quran does encourage and motivate its people to take up arms against “infidels” and non-believers. That would include everyone that is not Muslim. Jihad could also mean spiritual warfare, however, actual warfare in Islam is considered a highly spiritual act. At time of war, this brought the soldiers a comfort of conscience. As long as they killed someone that was not Muslim or if they were killed in battle, they would be automatically granted entrance to heaven. Furthermore, heaven or paradise in Islam is full of rivers of flowing honey and milk along with 72 virgins that wait in paradise for a jihadist, or one that participates in jihad. All these things were appealing to the soldiers and motivated them to fight until the last breath. This was unlike the Crusades initiative where Pope Urban II announced to grant everyone the remission of sins. This is because this decision was made by the Pope himself and not by God or a prophet, where on the contrary everything about granting the soldiers the entry to paradise was documented in the Quran and reinstated continuously by the Prophet himself and his dependents. This gave warfare a prophetic authority that was not found in Christianity or in any other religion. However, when war was declared against the non-believers there was a set of rules that were followed but that did not mean they were not given a chance to live. Ibn Khaldun states