The Rise of Islam, Essay Example

Introduction

Islam is the religion expressed by the Qura’n, a religious book regarded by the followers as a verbatim word of the single unmatched God and by the Prophet of Islam Muhammad’s actions and real life experiences. Islam basically refers to submission to God. A believer of the religion is a Muslim which describes one who submits to God. The term Muslim is the active participle of a similar one in which Islam is the infinitive. Muslims consider their religion as the absolute and universal description of a monotheistic faith revealed severally and in many places by prophets such as Moses, Abraham and Jesus. Islam traditions maintain that former messages and revelations have been altered and destroyed over time (Miller 1).

The Early Rise of Islam (632-700)

The Muslim community spread mainly in the Middle East through the conquest and the consequent expansion of the Muslim state offered the basis in which the recently revealed faith could prosper. The military conquest was motivated by religion although it was inspired by other factors such as greed and politics as well. This combination of motives developed a process that copied Islamic and Arab principles and communities into a fast-growing religious as well as political establishment. The early progress of Islam moved together with military development and facilitated the growth of the religion (Miller 1).

The Rise of Islam

In the course of the last 20 years, the number of Muslims in the globe has been rising progressively. Statics for the year 1973 revealed that the population of all the Muslims was about 500 million. The number has grown to 1.5 billion at the moment. Currently, one in every four people in the world is a Muslim and it is projected that the number will continue to rise. The reason behind this stable rise of the Muslim population is not necessarily the rising population in Muslim nations but also the expanding number of individuals turning to Islam. This is an aspect that has acquired some momentum particularly after the attack of the World Trade Center in U.S.A. This attack which is criticized by everyone including the Muslims has rapidly turned the world’s attention and particularly the Americans to Islam. Many people in the West are concentrating much on the religion in an attempt to understand the doctrines, obligations and general conducts of the religion. This interest and attention has resulted in many people converting to Islam. The whole process of seeking religion and spiritual values has resulted to turning to Islam (Miller 1).

Form the haven cities of Makkah and Madinah found in the Arabian Desert, the message of Islam spread at a terrific speed. After only a half a century of the death of the Prophet, Islam had expanded to three continents. As opposed to what some people think, Islam is not a religion of war or spread essentially by means of a sword. It was a corrective religion for instance in Arabia where people engaged in sinful practices such as idolatry. The religion intended to correct the behavior of the tribes that did not heed to the message of God. It did not force the Christians or the Jews to convert to Islam. In other areas outside Arabia which had been conquered by the Arab forces, the people turned to Islam as a result of influence and appeal of the religion and not by force. It was faith in one supreme God and focus on His Mercy that turned large numbers of people to into the religion and not the sword. In addition the spread of Islam was not strained by its mysterious expansion in regions outside Arabia. During the subsequent centuries, the Turks embraced Islam calmly similar to huge numbers of people of the Indian subcontinent and other parts of the world, for example, the Malay Speaking world. In Africa, Islam has expanded in the course of the past two centuries irrespective of the influence of the powerful European colonizers. At the moment, Islam continues to spread and grow in Europe and America where a significant portion of the population is composed of the Muslims (Miller 2).

The Teachings of Prophet Muhammad

At about AD 570, the founding prophet of the Islamic religion was born at Mecca which was the capital city of the Arabian Peninsula. Muhammad began preaching and teaching people of the doctrines of the new religion, Islam, 40 years after his birth. The doctrines composed a marked turn point from existing moral and social codes in Arabia. The new religion of Islam emphasized that there was only one God while Muhammad himself was the last and the most significant among many other prophets and messengers. God had sent several codes or guidelines for living through his messengers which culminated in the Qur’an, the holy book of Islam. The messengers were humans and examples include Moses and Jesus (Bard 23).

Islam also taught that the Christian Bible, which is composed of the Hebrew Bible as the Old Testament and an extra 27 books described as the New Testament, and the Qur’an are all holy books. The Qur’an further states that the earlier scriptures were altered and the message changed from what was initially given by God. The Qur’an itself remained unaltered and is thus perfect and preserved by God from such changes. To differentiate itself from Hebrew and Christian values, Islam taught that the God of Islam had offered Humanity with the knowledge of differentiating what is evil and good through the prophets and also the Qur’an. Thus people will be accountable for their deeds on the judgment day. Muhammad’s teaching got severe and aggressive opposition until he was forced to Leave Mecca and search for refuge in Yathrib which later changed its name into Medina (Bard 25).

Problems Between Christians and Muslims in Europe

There is a long history of Christians and Muslims living in Europe interacting in many aspects of life such as Crusades, Muslim rule of Spain, businesses, and post World War 11 migrations of Muslim. This is as a result of the huge and diverse Muslim population in Europe. Differences in religious and cultural practices among Muslims as well as Christians in Europe have developed various problems in business activities as well as consumer behavior. The concept of Judeo-Christian world has also resulted to major misunderstanding and misperceptions among the residents of Europe and Muslims in the continent. This has had advance impacts on the social and commercial activities of European Muslim populations and Muslim individuals as well. Many Christians are not ready to accept the Muslim practices and values which have led to social strain between the Muslims and the Christians (Lewis 2).

Conclusion

Islam is one of the religions that are fast-growing both in magnitude and popularity among the religions of the world. At the moment the religion has significant portion of the populations of people in three continents: Africa, Europe and America. Christians and Muslims are however in constant conflict resulting from the Christians’ view of Muslims as a hostile religion. The two are in constant interaction in businesses and other economic activities.

Works Cited

Bard, Mitchell. The Complete Guide to Middle East Conflict, 3rd Edition. New York: Alpha Books, 2005

Lewis, Bernard. The Roots of Muslim Rage. February 3, 2010. http://www.theatlantic.com/past/issues/90sep/rage.htm

Miller, Tracy, ed., Mapping the Global Muslim Population: A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World’s Muslim Population. February 3, 2010.<http://pewforum.org/newassets/images/reports/Muslimpopulation/Muslimpopulation.pdf>