The Spread of IslamArabs spread Islam through preaching,

conquest, and trade.

Reading Focus When you come up with a new idea,

how do you let others know about it? Read on to find

out how Arabs spread Islam.

When Muhammad died, his followerschose his successor. He was called a caliph(KAY • luhf), which meant successor to theMessenger of God.

The first caliph was Muhammad’s father-in-law, Abu Bakr. The first four caliphs ruledfrom Madinah and were called the RightlyGuided Caliphs. That is because they triedto follow in Muhammad’s footsteps. Theylived simply, treated others fairly, and also

fought hard for Islam. They wanted tospread Allah’s message to everyone. Undertheir rule, the empire expanded to includeall of southwest Asia.

Expansion continued under the Umayyad(oo • MY • uhd) caliphs, who ruled from A.D. 661 to A.D. 750. They made their capitalthe city of Damascus (duh • MAS • kuhs) inSyria. Now the Arab Empire includedNorth Africa, Spain, and some of India.

The Muslims Build an Empire Just 100years after Muhammad’s death, the Islamicstate became a great empire. Why were theArabs so successful?

Arabs had always been good on horse-back and good with the sword, but asMuslims, they also were inspired by theirreligion. They were fighting to spread

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The Spread of Islam A..D. 632–750. 632–750

The Umayyad Mosque, alsoknown as the Great Mosqueof Damascus

Byzantine Empire, A.D. 750

Islamic territory atMuhammad's death, A.D. 632

Islamic expansion, A.D. 632–661

Islamic expansion, A.D. 661–750

KEY

After Muhammad’s death, the ter-ritory in the Arab Empire expanded.1. What area of Europe came under

Muslim control?2. Describe the territories conquered

by the Arabs by the year A.D. 661.

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Relationship to Muhammad

Abu BakrAbu Bakr

father-in-law

A.D. 632–634

UmarUmar

Career

Caliphate

Achievements as Caliph

merchant

spread Islam to all of Arabia; restored peace after death of Muhammad; created code of conduct in war; compiled Quran verses

friend

A.D. 634–644

merchant

spread Islam to Syria, Egypt, and Persia; redesigned government; paid soldiers; held a census; made taxes more fair; built roads and canals; aided poor

UthmanUthman

son-in-law, member of theUmayyad family

A.D. 644–656

merchant

spread Islam into Afghanistan and eastern Mediterranean; organized a navy; improved the government; built more roads, bridges, and canals; distributed text of the Quran

AliAli

first cousin, son-in-law

A.D. 656–661

soldier, writer

reformed tax collection and other government systems; spent most of caliphate battling Muawiya, the governor of Syria

The Rightly Guided CaliphsThe Rightly Guided Caliphs

CHAPTER 11 Islamic Civilization 381

Islamic glass horse

Under the caliphs, Islam spread through theMiddle East and into North Africa.1. Which caliph organized a navy?2. Compare What achievements did Umar

and Ali have in common?

and teaching Islam. They won many fol-lowers throughout the Arab Empire.

Arab merchants also helped to spreadIslam. They set up trading posts throughoutsoutheast Asia and taught Islam to the peo-ple there. Today, the country of Indonesia(IHN •duh •NEE • zhuh) includes more Muslimsthan any other nation in the world.

Some Arab merchants crossed the Saharato trade with kingdoms in West Africa. Inthe 1300s, the west African city of Timbuktu(TIHM • BUHK •TOO) became a leading center ofMuslim learning.

Explain How did Arabsspread the religion of Islam through trade?

Islam. Muslims believed anyone who diedin battle for Islam would go to paradise.

The Arabs were also successful becausethey let conquered peoples practice theirown religion. They called Christians andJews “People of the Book,” meaning thatthese people, too, believed in one God andhad holy writings. Muslims did not treateveryone equally, though. Non-Muslimshad to pay a special tax.

When a people are conquered, they tendto adopt the religion and customs of theirnew rulers. In the Arab Empire, many peo-ple became Muslims and learned Arabic.The customs of the conquered countries alsoinfluenced the Arabic rulers. Eventually, theterm Arab meant only that a person spokeArabic, not that he or she was from Arabia.

Preaching and Trading Muslims alsospread Islam by preaching. A group calledSufis (SOO • feez) spent their time praying

Burstein Collection/CORBIS

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