Imagine, a world united under a single cause. A world tolerant and accepting of other religions. This was the world known as the Islamic State. In its height, the Islamic faith spread like wildfire. It's rapid growth can be attributed to many factors, but the main ones were its technological edge and its political appeal. Many other factors helped contribute, but these two were the main drive to allow it to expand so rapidly.
To begin, its political appeal was, for a lack of a better word, appealing to many citizens across the land. From History of the Arabs by Phillip k Hitti, "Their leader is like one of them: the low cannot be distinguished from the high, nor the master from the slave. And when prayer time comes, all wash their hands and
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To begin, when examining the old Muslim trade routes, one finds that the traders could reach almost anywhere to spread their faith. Oceans were no barrier for Islam, as The Gates of India states, "Masters of the sea, even as of the land, the Arabs spread throughout the geographical area. The whole world was theirs to explore…their ships sailed across the seas even as they moved across the land. The might of the sword of Islam carved the way for the slaveowner and the merchant to follow." No area of land would stop these faithful juggernauts. They could traverse oceans and land with great ease. But getting to their destination was just the first part. They had to convince the non devout of the physical and spiritual benefits of Islam, and they had a few tricks up their sleeves in how to do it. Their advanced technology stemming from their understanding of trigonometry and astrology allowed them to construct the astrolabe, which could greatly facilitate mapmaking. This would surely lure mapmakers to their side, as well as others astounded by the gadget. In addition the Islamic land had a high standard of living, with many libraries (37), which could allow people to be educated to produce even more fantastic