Starting in 632 AD, after Mohammed united the Arabian Peninsula, the Islamic influence began to expand, peaking and beginning decline in 732 AD with the battle of Tours. At the peak of the Islamic empire, it can be seen on the map that the Muslim world spread from western India to Spain. Arabian expansion in the middle ages was a result of intense military devotion and discipline, religious unity and economic prosperity. Ingenious fighting tactics and superior training gave the Islamic warriors a huge advantage over their poorly organized European and Indian counterparts. These warriors felt they had the right to liberate the members of other cultures in the name Islam because of the extremely devout followers of the religion on the Arabian Peninsula and the eager converts from conquered lands. Arabians were blessed with holy cities that were located in the center of the empire, encouraging trade and hospitality industries. As conquered lands produced more converts, these cities swelled into gigantic tourist metropolis.
Over the century of great military conquest, Islamic armies were fueled on by large numbers of converts from the assimilated cultures. Strong armies were supported by assimilated cultures: the Islamic society contained three tiers or levels. The highest level was the Muslim born who paid no tax and enjoyed great luxury for their support. Below the Muslim born were converts who paid small taxes and at the bottom was the heretics who paid the bulk of the taxes but were not prosecuted as they might have been in other cultures. J. J. Saunders described how these religions were to be tolerated on payment of tribute. Mohammed reinforced this conviction with his words: “Believe or else pay tribute”. Syed Ameer Ali describes in The Spirit of Islam that Christianity did the opposite of this and stifled religious freedom and liberty of thought. He also explains that while the Muslim army was swift, and the cavalry was devastating to “brothers of the book” outposts and “barbarians” alike they never rose their sword but in self-defense.
“The Moslem's struck their enemies and laid waste to the country and took captives without number... everything gave way to their scimitars”
Sir Edward Crecy
This highly trained army was the charge of caliphs, or “rightly guided ones”. The caliphs were called this because they were thought to be guided by Mohammed, resulting in enormous devotion from the devout soldiers and populace who Philip K. Hitti claimed to prefer death to life for the cause of their religion.
The reason for the massive support of the people was the relative ease of conversion and great benefits from Islamic heritage in the Islamic world, which at that time represented one of the few outposts of civilization, technology, or culture following the collapse of Rome. Support was secured by the Quran which ordered Muslims to “do battle with them or they shall profess Islam.” Although success was very hard for a non-Muslim, Muslims had only to follow the five pillars and they were guaranteed the benefits such as no taxes, cultural identity, and potential to rise through the free schooling system installed in many large cities. The five pillars are alms to the poor, completion of the Hajj, establishment of daily prayers, self purification through fasting on Ramadan, and, most attractively, conversion to Islam merely by pronouncing ones dedication in sincerity. These requirements were substantially less difficult than other confirmation techniques of religions of the period. Another interesting pillar that was, and still is, vital to the unity of the sprawling Islamic empire is the Hajj.
The Hajj is completed once in a lifetime. This pilgrimage ensures that nearly all Muslims have made their way to the heart of Arabia. This obviously helped to unify the hundreds of various cultures as well as bringing huge amounts of cash and industries to Arabia. During the period of expansion, this was vital to insuring that the armies and keeping the complex Abbasid bureaucracy created to manage the wars and government affairs. The Abbasids were very aware of the profound effect the economy had in the upkeep of an empire and the moving of the capital from Damascus to Baghdad was greatly inspired by the wish to increase trade revenue throughout the Islamic world. The desire of riches, culture and civilization is constant throughout Islamic expansion. Philip K. Hitti would even go so far as to propose that this desire drove the expansion and creation of the Islamic Empire.
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