According to author Richard Foltz, “No religion in history favored trade to the extent Islam did” (Foltz, 85), which left a remarkable impression on the Silk Road and the religions spread with it. Islam began with the following of the Prophet Muhammad, who received a series of revelations from God beginning in 610 CE, at his age of 40. He received these revelations from Archangel Gabriel, and his follows recorded these revelations which make up the text of the holy Quran. After the Prophet Muhammad’s death in 632, a series of Caliphates that ruled the religion and occupied much of the Middle East and Central Asia pushed for conversion and missionary activity. By the beginning of the eighth century, non-Arab Muslim converts were beginning to outnumber Arab Muslims (Foltz, 88). This push for conversion in occupied land began with the Umayyad Dynasty that lasted …show more content…
During the Ottoman Empire, despite its population being predominantly Christian with a Muslim-ruling minority. By the end of the Ottomans, though, there were only a small non-Muslim population in the Empire. During the Mongol Empire, Muslims were brought to China to serve as administrators as they were favored candidates for finance and tax collection (Foltz, 102). Even with Genghis Khan and the Mongol’s reputation of being brutal and heavy-fisted leaders, they were known for being extremely tolerant of the practice of religion. Genghis Khan himself practiced Shamanism, a very common religion of the Mongol people. Shamanism, sometimes referred to as Tengriism, was another wide-spread practice throughout the Silk Road and can often predate all organized religions. There is no universally agreed upon definition of “Shaman” and their practices vary widely depending on region and time, but their role in the Silk Road was important especially to the Mongols. Shamanism is known for its spirituality and practices that include transition of