Islam Grows:
Muhammad died in 632, the Muslim community needed to make the decision on who would be their next religious leader.
-They selected on of Muhammad’s good friend named Abu-Bakr to become the first caliph meaning successor.
Issues-
-Not everyone was welcoming of the caliph.
-Some tribes around the Arabian Peninsula abandoned Islam completely.
-Others wouldn’t pay taxes.
-Some individual even declared themselves to be prophets.
Attempts to resolve -
-Abu-Bakr declared a jihad which has to meanings
1) An inner struggle with evil.
2) An armed struggle against non-believer.
Expansion by military
-The Muslim community began to expand under Abu-Bakr as well.
-The next 3 caliphers after Abu-Bakr expanded into the Sassanid and Byzantine empires.
Reason for success
-They did very well in conquests between these empires which had been fighting each other for many years before this.
-Well disciplined
-Great leaders with great strategies
-The two empires weren’t tolerant of the religions in their conquered area so their Muslims in the empires would often help the other Muslims that invade the empires.
Treatment of Conquered People-
-The Qur’an does not allow for Muslims to force others to convert to this religion.
-Muslims allowed the Christians and Jews to practice their religions but they couldn’t spread it.
-They made the Christians and Jews pay a tax because they did not fight for the Islam military groups.
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