How did Islam establish itself at the time it was born?

Question

What were the religions of Arabs at that time and how/why did Islam take hold of that region and eventually spread out so rapidly?

Answer 1

The condition of the Arabs at the time of the advent of the Holy Prophet; they were steeped in ignorance and obsessed by superstitions. Even the Ka'bah, the Holy abode dedicated to the worship of Allah by Adam had become an asylum for a multitude of gods and goddesses. A horde of 360 man- made idols had been installed therein the high pedestal of Allahas omnipotent deities receiving adoration and worship of innumerable devotees and votaries.

What were their religion of the Arabs before Prophet?
Well, it all started like this. A man named Amr bin Luhayy went to Moab ( Mesopotamia), wonder- struck by the idols worshipped by the people of that area asked them what they were and he was informed that these idols were omnipotent and could answer any prayer of their devotees. He went to the market and bought some idols and returned to Makkah, with sugar coated words, he informed the Quraish the wonderpower of those stone images and the favours their deotees were prone to get.The Quraish fell an easy prey to the contagion of the times. The result is well.....installation of 360 stony and wooden idols.

The point is that the Arabs, before the arrival of Prohet Muhammad ( on whom be peace) worshiped man- man idols, the sun, moon, stars, trees, sand dunes and what- not. They considered them as having the power of making or marring anything in the world. These kinds of belief wer prevalent throughout the lenght and breadth of the sub- continent of Arabia. The Arabs dedicated seven temples for the worship of the seven planetsand each tribe had chosen one as its special deity; The Tribe of Himyar got the Sun, Keis got Sirius, etc.

Blind belief and superstition were in the blood of the Arabs.The whole of Arabia was torn to pieces. No government, no law, no order in the country. The law of the jungle reigned supreme; the rule of brutal might was the order of the day. Within a short span of fifty years before the Prophet, 132 battle were faught and in th ewhole annals of pre- islamic Arabian era, 1700 were on record.

They treated woman as inanimate matter where female progeny was anathema to them and the birth of a girl which would entail them to feed a useless mouth was considered a chastisement of God to them and caused many a father to bury his girls alive.

Although the Arabs worshipped idols and deities they believed in the one and supreme Being Allah. But they foolishly fancied that He could not be approached except through their deities whom the considered as patners to him.

Now a new shake- up, a new - inspiration, a new- ideal and a new message that would bring a new life by infusing new blood in its veins and rally them into a single unit on a single platform by giving them a uniform code of life which would be acceptable to all times and climes was direly needed

Islam finally regained its roots in Makkah and Madinah after the arrival of Prophet Muhammad. Even his most worst enemy did not deny the truthful character of Prophet Muhammad.

So , it was at this crucial hour, at Makkah, the centre of the World and the navel of the earth, a messenger of God appeared. Approximately 600 years after Jesus, 1800 years after David, 2300 years after Moses, 3070 years after Abraham, 4490 years after the Great Deluge of Noah and 6750 years after Adam.

Prophet Muhammad took charge of everything small and big. No other prophet suffered a severe ordeal as Muhammad (on whom be peace).

The question of how and thus why Islam took hold of the rgionand eventually spread out would take pages to answer my friend, but to shorten it, I can say that it was due to the beauty of the religion that opened the hearts of many.

Answer 2

Islam (Arabic: الإسلام; al-'islām (help·info)) is a monotheistic religion based upon the teachings of Muhammad, a 7th century Arab religious and political figure. It is the second-largest religion in the world today, with an estimated 1.4 billion adherents, known as Muslims.[1] Linguistically, Islam means to submit, and refers to the submission or total surrender of one's self to God (Arabic: ألله, Allāh). Thus, a Muslim is "one who submits to God".[2]

Muslims believe that God revealed the Qur'an to Muhammad and that Muhammad is God's final prophet. The Qur'an and the traditions of Muhammad in the Sunnah are regarded as the fundamental sources of Islam.[3][4] Muslims do not regard Muhammad as the founder of a new religion but as the restorer of the original monotheistic faith of Adam, Abraham and other prophets whose messages had become misinterpreted or corrupted over time (only misinterpreted according to some [5].)[6][7][8][9][10] Like Judaism and Christianity, Islam is an Abrahamic religion.[11]

Today, Muslims may be found throughout the world, particularly in the Middle East, North Africa, and South and Central Asia. Only about 20 percent of Muslims originate from Arab countries.[12] Islam is the second largest religion in many European countries, such as France, which has the largest Muslim population in Western Europe, and the United Kingdom.[13][14]

Answer 3

I would recommend going to an Islamic site to get detail, but I'll try to summarize. During the time of prophet Muhammad the Arabs worshiped many gods, they were idol worshipers. the prophet then received the message of his prophet hood through the angel Gabriel, and that message was to return the people to the worship of One God. The people of power in the area resented his message , b/c it went against all their polytheist beliefs and their secular customs. So prophet Muhammad and all who became Muslim migrated from Mecca to Medina, b/c they were being abused for their beliefs. In Medina the Muslims were able to practice in peace, but the pagans in Mecca were very annoyed by the constant converters to Islam and consequently leaving the pagan religion that they wanted to eliminate Islam. And this is where war takes place between the Muslims and the pagans, and despite their small numbers Muslims were victorious. Quite amazing really considering they were few in number, but we (Muslims) believe it is God who made them succeed. After a few victorious battles against the meccan pagans, the Muslims were able to return to Mecca again. the prophet Muhammad would soon die after his return to Mecca. As for its rapid spread, first it is the religion of God, second the prophet was a great example in his treatment of others, his justice, and his honesty. I would also recommend the book Muhammad by Martin Lings, very detailed.

Answer 4

"What is most striking about the early expansion of Islam is its rapidity and success. Western scholars have marveled at it...Within a decade, Arab forces overran the Byzantine and Persian armies...and conquered Iraq, Syria, Palestine, Persia, and Egypt...Muslim armies prove to be formidable conquerors and effective rulers, builders rather than destroyers." (Prof John L Esposito, Islam: The Straight Path)

And watch for youself how.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyNeULY4E1I

Islam - Empire of Faith by PBS

God knows best.

Happy Eid al-Adha and Happy New Year.

Peace and Love.

=)

Answer 5

the first immam or head leader of the sect was a very very manipulative man.he was the leader of an islam civilization that was called the assassins.the words assassins never exactly originated in europe as some believe.the assassins were very very strong and secretive.this was caused around the year of 1084,that they started to get bold.thier immam or wat they called 'man of the old mountain' created a certain pair of gardens in which he then sent his captives and people alike.he said that he was a prophet from heaven come to do gods work.he had many women,many different kinds of wine that were drugged and had a drug in them to cause everything to seem like heaven.like cocaine.or some other drug.after he was done he said that they would not be able to return to the gardens of paradise until they had ocmpleted the mission given to him by the 'man of mountain'.during the crusades,and such they had grown to their fullest strength.when the crusaders had found out about these assassins they were already severly crippled.the assassins had penetrated even the deepest parts of europe.they had killed many important head figures.they had also stopped several revolts of their own cities and such by killing off the head of the revolt.they had taken control of many many forts and castles by the time that the crusaders had arrived.they basically had one of the strongest civilizations since the first romans or the babylonians for that matter.they had a secret civilization at which most no one knew about.the kings and leaders of europe sought to destroy the assassins but ended up killing the actual islams instead.they basically screwed up and attacked the wrong people.the leaders of europe and such sought to keep it under control in europe by keeping it secret.therefore,the islams controled most eveything in the middle east.they had penetrated even the most dangerous of places within europe by the time the crusaders even knew who it was that attacked them.

Answer 6

Islam is the genuine faith because it inspire human beings from in the route of doing solid not basically to themselves yet and likewise to their neighbour. Islam has all the guiding concept which will make a servant continuously grateful to his author and performance consistent verbal substitute mutually with his LORD day and evening. The logical restriction in countless the practises of islam advance the modesty of each and every believer. each and every prophet became both despatched to a particular area or community yet, islam is for the full international. it continuously lay emphasis on remembering the judgement day and the effects of doing evil, the spirit of brotherhood is likewise admirable. many stuff certainly and that i respect each and every thing in islam except to individuals that keep on with it blindly with out understanding the the reason why they ought to finish somewhat preparation, very undesirable. would God coaching guide us.

Answer 7

Arabs believed in the moon Goddess, an ancient faith in the deserts of Arabia.
The took hold by killing most of their opponents from other faiths such as Judaism in Arabia and Christianity in other places in the middle east, and forcing conversion or heavily taxing those who preferred to live.
There is a Muslim saying "Din Muhammad bisaif" - "the law of Muhammad is by sword" which indicates these Muslim policies.

Answer 8

they used to worship more that 300 statues
well, if u want the story of Islam as pdf file..i'll be glad too

Answer 9

basicly arab were folloer of one god from centry but during dark perid they forgot it and started praying lot of gods, when MOhammed came and he awaken then and told real god is one and he lived his as good huembien as exeple, every 1 who saw his life , said this person life is open book he cant lie, must be some truth in it, so slowely his folloer growed.

Answer 10

Peace Upon You
I advise you to vist this site http://www.sultan.org/ ,you will find the answers of all your questions.