Spread of Islam

The spread of Islam spans almost 1,400 years. The <a href="/facts/Early_Muslim_conquests/HyPkljcc">early Muslim conquests</a> that occurred following the <a href="/facts/Death_of_Muhammad/5VcA7XrT">death of Muhammad</a> in 632 CE led to the creation of the <a href="/facts/Caliphate/qQ6hCspe">caliphates</a>, expanding over a vast geographical area; <a href="/facts/Conversion_to_Islam/m3QeGpVw">conversion to Islam</a> was boosted by Arab Muslim forces expanding over vast territories and building imperial structures over time. Most of the significant expansion occurred during the reign of the <a href="/facts/Rashidun/TAb6NYWq">rāshidūn</a> ("rightly-guided") caliphs from 632 to 661 CE, which were the first four successors of Muhammad. These early <a href="/facts/Caliphate/qQ6hCspe">caliphates</a>, coupled with <a href="/facts/Islamic_economics_in_the_world/eYyYqGPK">Muslim economics and trading</a>, the <a href="/facts/Islamic_Golden_Age/yAeG2rBA">Islamic Golden Age</a>, and the age of the Islamic <a href="/facts/Gunpowder_empires/CfxvRd0h">gunpowder empires</a>, resulted in <a href="/facts/Islam/zDLbL45C">Islam</a>'s spread outwards from <a href="/facts/Mecca/udqyuk0k">Mecca</a> towards the <a href="/facts/Indian_Ocean/Kv0crwKG">Indian</a>, <a href="/facts/Atlantic_Ocean/EI4uChIb">Atlantic</a>, and <a href="/facts/Pacific_Ocean/bdxgXRVM">Pacific</a> Oceans and the creation of the <a href="/facts/Muslim_world/n9vVGogr">Muslim world</a>. The <a href="/facts/Early_Muslim_conquests/HyPkljcc">Islamic conquests</a>, which culminated in the Arab empire being established across three continents (<a href="/facts/Asia/4IToYrrQ">Asia</a>, <a href="/facts/Africa/XkqQUP9s">Africa</a>, and <a href="/facts/Europe/DTAtrKfh">Europe</a>), enriched the Muslim world, achieving the economic preconditions for the emergence of this institution owing to the emphasis attached to Islamic teachings. Trade played an important role in the spread of Islam in some parts of the world, such as Indonesia. During the early centuries of Islamic rule, conversions in the Middle East were mainly individual or small-scale. While mass conversions were favored for spreading Islam beyond Muslim lands, policies within Muslim territories typically aimed for individual conversions to weaken non-Muslim communities. However, there were exceptions, like the forced mass conversion of the <a href="/facts/Samaritans/B1WjjxCq">Samaritans</a>.

<a href="/facts/Muslim_dynasties/DVfgkBu3">Muslim dynasties</a> were soon established and subsequent empires such as those of the <a href="/facts/Umayyad_Caliphate/gdW8JwoK">Umayyads</a>, <a href="/facts/Abbasids/mPeLAbXt">Abbasids</a>, <a href="/facts/Mamluk/78wJT4nN">Mamluks</a>, <a href="/facts/Seljukids/68M4ryan">Seljukids</a>, and the <a href="/facts/Ayyubid_dynasty/VA05JAwy">Ayyubids</a> were among some of the largest and most powerful in the world. The <a href="/facts/Ajuran_Sultanate/wSjqLQp2">Ajuran</a> and <a href="/facts/Adal_Sultanate/dqgUa5MI">Adal Sultanates</a>, and the wealthy <a href="/facts/Mali_Empire/gPpY8YQC">Mali Empire</a>, in <a href="/facts/North_Africa/ItxQAfs7">North Africa</a>, the <a href="/facts/Delhi_Sultanate/19oLzpBF">Delhi</a>, <a href="/facts/Deccan_sultanates/lQ55ugKR">Deccan</a>, and <a href="/facts/Bengal_Sultanate/XrNV2qMl">Bengal Sultanates</a>, and <a href="/facts/Mughal_Empire/yRg2kAy5">Mughal</a> and <a href="/facts/Durrani_Empire/JATE9KWV">Durrani Empires</a>, and <a href="/facts/Kingdom_of_Mysore/7Yeur3m4">Kingdom of Mysore</a> and <a href="/facts/Nizam_of_Hyderabad/K3y7b0dN">Nizam of Hyderabad</a> in the <a href="/facts/Indian_subcontinent/0XUWGXpx">Indian subcontinent</a>, the <a href="/facts/Ghaznavids/SvV50a1J">Ghaznavids</a>, <a href="/facts/Ghurids/R0qD2Fdq">Ghurids</a>, <a href="/facts/Samanid/ItCV6Q18">Samanids</a> in Persia, <a href="/facts/Timurid_dynasty/J4SwmtSR">Timurids</a>, and the <a href="/facts/Ottoman_Empire/6QvfTRsg">Ottoman Empire</a> in <a href="/facts/Anatolia/vMkrLrPr">Anatolia</a> significantly changed the course of history. The people of the Islamic world created numerous sophisticated centers of culture and science with far-reaching mercantile networks, travelers, scientists, hunters, mathematicians, physicians, and <a href="/facts/Islamic_philosophy/QSzAKr2j">philosophers</a>, all contributing to the Islamic Golden Age. The <a href="/facts/Timurid_Renaissance/CdpnSpmU">Timurid Renaissance</a> and the Islamic expansion in South and East Asia fostered cosmopolitan and eclectic <a href="/facts/Muslim_culture/R0lHtcL9">Muslim cultures</a> in the Indian subcontinent, Malaysia, Indonesia and China. The Ottoman Empire, which controlled much of the Middle East and North Africa in the early modern period, also did not officially endorse mass conversions, but evidence suggests they occurred, particularly in the <a href="/facts/Balkans/5Hy8ly0d">Balkans</a>, often to evade the <a href="/facts/Jizya/phJKpSlE">jizya</a> tax. Similarly, Christian sources mention requests for mass conversions to Islam, such as in <a href="/facts/Cyprus/t9wL6lVK">Cyprus</a>, where Ottoman authorities refused, fearing economic repercussions.
As of 2016, there were 1.7 billion Muslims, with one out of four people in the world being Muslim, making Islam the <a href="/facts/Major_religious_groups/w6oGgDHN">second-largest religion</a>. Out of children born from 2010 to 2015, 31% were born to Muslims, and currently Islam is the world's <a href="/facts/Growth_of_religion/xf3ApH5z">fastest-growing major religion</a>.

Spread of Islam open-in-new

Spread of Islam