Islamization (also spelt Islamisation, see spelling differences) or Islamification means the process of a society's conversion to the religion of Islam, or a neologism meaning an increase in observance by an already Muslim society. The English synonyms, mohammedanisation and muslimization, in use since before 1940 (e.g., Waverly Illustrated Dictionary) convey a similar meaning. The differences in the spellings of British English and American English are as follows: Spelling differences between U.S. usage on one side and British and Commonwealth usage on the other are generally more conspicuous than spelling differences within the Commonwealth. ... Islam (Arabic:  ) is a monotheistic religion based upon the teachings of Muhammad, a 7th century Arab religious and political figure. ... A neologism (from Greek νεολογισμός νέος [neos] = new; λόγος [logos] = word) is a word, term, or phrase which has been recently created (coined) — often to apply to new concepts, to synthesize pre-existing concepts, or to make older terminology sound more contemporary. ... Synonyms (in ancient Greek syn συν = plus and onoma όνομα = name) are different words with similar or identical meanings. ...

Controversy of the Term

The term, as with its antecedents, may be considered derogatory by some.^{[citation needed]} Critics sensitive to usage of these terms claim that they were coined by modern Orientalists^{[citation needed]} in light of the historically dominant Christian attitudes; both popular and scholarly that colored the views towards Islam; of fear and hostility and regarded it as a rival^[1] in what was seen as a Muslim-Christian conflict. Medieval Europe was building a concept of a "great enemy" in the wake of the quickfire success by the Muslims, through a series of conquests shortly after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, as well as the lack of real information in the West on a mysterious East.^[2] The attitude was seen as condemning and tritely explaining away Islam's rapid growth as due to "forced conversions through the sword", whilst disingenuously ignoring the expansion of their own civilization by means of military conquest and events such as the Crusades^[3] and the Inquisition.^{[citation needed]} For Orientalist Architecture, see Moorish Revival. ... Christians believe that Jesus is the mediator of the New Covenant (see Hebrews 8:6). ... Islam (Arabic:  ) is a monotheistic religion based upon the teachings of Muhammad, a 7th century Arab religious and political figure. ... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times. ... World map exhibiting the location of Europe. ... Age of the Caliphs The initial Muslim conquests (632-732) began after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and were marked by a century of rapid Arab expansion beyond the Arabian peninsula under the Rashidun and Umayyad caliphs, ending with the Battle of Tours— resulting in a vast Muslim... The Western Roman Empire is the western half of the Roman Empire after its division by Diocletian in 286. ... The Siege of Antioch, from a medieval miniature painting, during the First Crusade. ... Inquisition (capitalized I) is broadly used, to refer to things related to judgment of heresy by the Roman Catholic Church. ...

Prevailing Stereotypes

Although Islamic history has been studied extensively, the early expansions and the nature of these has remained a poorly studied field in relation to its social, historical, affective or psychological aspects according to some historians.^[4] The conceptualization is dominated by two stereotypes; the first popularized and captured by Gibbon in the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire is of a fanatical Arab horseman riding forth from the desert with a sword in one hand and the Quran in the other offering victims a choice between one of the two^[5], however such "old notions of forced conversions have been abandoned, at least in scholarly literature".^[4] The other image is one of an interfaith, interracial utopia where different races and peoples lived together in harmony has also been discredited for more shaded and complex views^[5] such as; an acculturation of Arab-Islamic social norms and language,^[6] or a process of dialog between the monotheistic Arabs during the Muslim conquests with other faith traditions ^[7]. Edward Gibbon (1737–1794). ... The History of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, a major literary achievement of Eighteenth Century, was written by the British historian, Edward Gibbon. ... For other uses, see Arab (disambiguation). ... Swiss longsword, 15th or 16th century Look up Sword in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The Quran (Arabic al-qurʾān أَلْقُرآن; also transliterated as Quran, Koran, and less commonly Alcoran) is the holy book of Islam. ... A forced conversion in religion is said to occur when an opponent of a particular religion compels an adherent to give it up, or incur penalties such as job loss, incarceration, torture, or death. ... Monotheism (in Greek monon = single and Theos = God) is the belief in a single, universal, all-encompassing deity. ... For other uses, see Arab (disambiguation). ... Age of the Caliphs The initial Muslim conquests (632-732) began after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and were marked by a century of rapid Arab expansion beyond the Arabian peninsula under the Rashidun and Umayyad caliphs, ending with the Battle of Tours— resulting in a vast Muslim...

Conversion

Conversion to Islam followed the rapid growth of the Arab Empire in the first centuries after Muhammad's death. Muslim dynasties were soon established in North Africa, the Middle East and Iran and the conversion of the population was a protracted process. Non-Muslims were not excluded from the economic elite during the Caliphate. Politically, non-Muslims suffered from certain restrictions in participating in political life. Forced conversion is not part of Islamic teachings. ... The Arab Empire could refer to: The Umayyad Caliphate The Abbasid Caliphate This is a disambiguation page: a list of articles associated with the same title. ... For other persons named Muhammad, see Muhammad (name). ...  Northern Africa (UN subregion)  geographic, including above North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent. ... A map showing countries commonly considered to be part of the Middle East The Middle East is a region comprising the lands around the southern and eastern parts of the Mediterranean Sea, a territory that extends from the eastern Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. ... The Caliphate (Arabic خلافة) is the theoretical federal government that would govern the Islamic world under Islamic law, ruled by a Caliph as head of state. ...

Phase I: Early Caliphs and Umayyads(610-750)

This is the time of the life of Prophet Mohammed and his early successors, the four rightly-guided caliphs, as well as the dynasty of the Umayyad Caliphs (550-661).

In the first century the establishment of Islam upon the Arabian peninsula and the subsequent rapid expansion of the Arab Empire during the Muslim conquests, resulting in the formation of an empire surpassed by none before.^[8] For the subjects of this new empire, formerly subjects of the vanishing Byzantine and Sasanian Empire, not much changed in practice. The objective of the conquests was more than anything of practical nature, as fertile land and water were scarce in the Arab peninsula. A real Islamisation therefore only came about in the subsequent centuries.^[9] The Arabian Peninsula The Arabian Peninsula (in Arabic: شبه الجزيرة العربية, or جزيرة العرب) is a peninsula in Southwest Asia at the junction of Africa and Asia consisting mainly of desert. ... The Arab Empire could refer to: The Umayyad Caliphate The Abbasid Caliphate This is a disambiguation page: a list of articles associated with the same title. ... Age of the Caliphs The initial Muslim conquests (632-732) began after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and were marked by a century of rapid Arab expansion beyond the Arabian peninsula under the Rashidun and Umayyad caliphs, ending with the Battle of Tours— resulting in a vast Muslim... The Byzantine Empire is the term conventionally used to describe the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages, centered at its capital in Constantinople. ...

Ira Lapidus distinguishes between two separate strands of converts of the time: one is animists and polytheists of tribal societies of the Arabian peninsula and the Fertile crescent; the other one is the monotheistic populations of the Middle Eastern agrarian and urbanised societies.^[10] The Fertile Crescent is a historical region in the Middle East incorporating Ancient Egypt, the Levant, and Mesopotamia. ...

For the polytheistic and pagan societies, apart from the religious and spiritual reasons each individual may have, conversion to Islam "represented the response of tribal, pastoral population to the need for a larger framework for political and economic integration, a more stable state, and a more imaginative and encompassing moral vision to cope with the problems of a tumultuous society."^[11] In contrast, for sedentary and often already montheistic societies, "Islam was substituted for Byzantine or Sasanian political indentity and for Christian, Jewish or Zoroastrian religious affiliation." ^[12] Conversion initially was neither required nor necessarily wished for: "(The Arab conquerors) did not require the conversion as much as the subordination of non-Muslim peoples. At the outset, they were hostile to conversions because new Muslims diluted the economic and status advantages of the Arabs." ^[13]

Only in the subsequent centuries, with a development of the religious doctrine of Islam and of the understanding of the Muslim ummah, mass conversion took place. The new understanding by religion and political leadership in many cases led to a weakening or breakdown of the social and religious structures of parallel religious communities such as Christians and Jews. ^[14] Umma (Arabic: ‎) is an Arabic word meaning community or nation. ...

The caliphs of the Umayyad dynasty established the first schools inside the empire, called madrasas, which taught Arabic language and Islamic studies. They furthermore began the ambitious project of building mosques across the empire, many of which remain today as the most magnificent mosques in the Islamic world, such as the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus. At the end of the Umayyad period, less than 10% of the people in Iran, Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Tunisia and Spain were Muslim. Only on the Arab peninsula there were substantially more Muslims among the populations. ^[15]

Phase II: Abbasids (750-1258)

This is the time of the Abbasid Dynasty (750-1258), the second great dynasty with the rulers carrying the title of 'Caliph'.

Expansion ceased and the central disciplines of Islamic philosophy, theology, law and mysticism became more widespread and the gradual conversions of the populations within the empire occurred. Significant conversions also occurred beyond the extents of empire such as of the Turkic tribes in Central Asia and regions south of the Sahara in Africa through contact with Muslim traders active in the area and sufi missionaries. In Africa it spread along three routes, across the Sahara via trading towns such as Timbuktu, up the Nile Valley through the Sudan up to Uganda and across the Red Sea and down East Africa through settlements such as Mombasa and Zanzibar. These initial conversions were of flexible nature and only were only later purified of their traditional influences.^[8] For other uses, see Philosophy (disambiguation). ... Theology (Greek θεος, theos, God, + λογια, logia, words, sayings, or discourse) is reasoned discourse concerning religion, spirituality and God or the gods. ... Equality and the balancing of interests under law is symbolised by a blindfold and weighing scales For other senses of this word, see Law (disambiguation). ... Mysticism from the Greek μυστικός (mystikos) an initiate (of the Eleusinian Mysteries, μυστήρια (mysteria) meaning initiation[1]) is the pursuit of achieving communion or identity with, or conscious awareness of, ultimate reality, the divine, spiritual truth, or God through direct experience, intuition, or insight; and the belief that such experience is an... This article is about the various peoples speaking one of the Turkic languages. ... Map of Central Asia showing three sets of possible boundaries for the region Central Asia located as a region of the world Central Asia is a vast landlocked region of Asia. ... A world map showing the continent of Africa. ... Sufism (Arabic تصوف taṣawwuf) is a system of esoteric philosophy commonly associated with Islam. ... The city of Timbuktu ( Archaic English: Timbuctoo, Koyra Chiini: Tumbutu, French: Tombouctou) is a city in Mali, West Africa. ... ... Location of the Red Sea The Red Sea is an inlet of the Indian Ocean between Africa and Asia. ...  Eastern Africa (UN subregion)  East African Community  Central African Federation (defunct)  geographic, including above East Africa or Eastern Africa is the easternmost region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. ... Mombasa is the second largest city in Kenya, lying on the Indian Ocean. ... Motto: Uhuru na Umoja (Swahili: Freedom and Unity) Anthem: Mungu ibariki Afrika (God Bless Africa) Capital (and largest city) Stone Town English Government Republic  - President Amani Abeid Karume  - Prime Minister Shamsi Vuai Nahodha Independence From the United Kingdom   - Tanganyika December 9, 1961   - Zanzibar December 19, 1963   - Merge April 26, 1964...

It should be pointed out that most of these laws were elaborations of basic laws concerning non-Muslims (dhimmis) in the Quran. The Quran does not give much detail about the right conduct with non-Muslims, in principle recognising the religions of the book and demanding a separate tax for them. This article is about dhimmi in the context of Islamic law. ... The Quran (Arabic al-qurʾān أَلْقُرآن; also transliterated as Quran, Koran, and less commonly Alcoran) is the holy book of Islam. ...

American historian Ira Lapidus points towards "interwoven terms of political and economic benefits and of a sophisticated culture and religion" as appealing to the masses.^[16] He writes that

"The question of why people convert to Islam has always generated intense feeling. Earlier generations of european scholars believed that conversions to Islam were made at the point of the sword, and that conquered peoples were given the choice of conversion or death. It is now apparent that conversion by force, while not unknown in Muslim countries, was, in fact, rare. Muslim conquerors ordinarily wished to dominate rather than convert, and most conversions to Islam were voluntary. (...) In most cases worldly and spiritual motives for conversion blended together. Moreover, conversion to Islam did not necessarily imply a complete turning from an old to a totally new life. While it entailed the acceptance of new religious beliefs and membership in a new religious community, most converts retained a deep attachment to the cultures and communities from which they came."^[17]

The result of this, he points out, can be seen in the diversity of Muslim societies today, with varying manifestations and practices of Islam.

Conversion to Islam also came about as a result of the breakdown of historical religiously organised societies: with a weakening of many curches, for example, and the favouring of Islam and the migration of substantial Muslim Turkish populations into the areas of Anatolya and the Balkans, "social and cultural relevance of Islam" were enhanced and a large number of peoples were converted. This worked betterin some areas (Anatolya) and less in others (e.g. Balkans, where "the spread of Islam was limited by the vitality of the Christian churches.")^[14]

Along with the religion, the Arabic language and Arab customs spread throughout the empire. A sense of unity grew among many though not all provinced, gradually forming a consciousness of a broadly Arab-Islamic population: something which was recognisably an Islamic world had emerged by the end of the 10th century.^[18] Throughout this time, as well as the following centuries, divisions occured between Persians and Arabs, Sunnis and Shiites, and unrest in provinces empowered local rulers at times. ^[19]

Conversion within the Empire: Umayyad Period vs. Abassid Period

There are a number of historians who see the rule of the Umayyads as setting up the "dhimmah" to increase taxes from the dhimmis to benefit the Arab Muslim community financially and by discouraging conversion.^[6] Islam was initially associated with the ethnic identity of the Arab and required formal association with an Arab tribe and the adoption of the client status of mawali.^[6] Governors lodged complaints with the caliph when he enacted laws that made conversion easier, depriving the provinces of revenues. This article is about dhimmi in the context of Islamic law. ... Mawali is a term in ancient Arabic used to address non-Arab Muslims. In the second half of the sixth century, the Malawi were considered the third class in society with the Sayyids at the top followed by the free tribesmen. ...

During the following Abbassid period an enfranchisement was experienced by the mawali and a shift was made in political conception from that of a primarily Arab empire to one of a Muslim empire^[20] and c. 930 a requirement was enacted that required all bureaucrats of the empire be Muslim.^[6] Both periods were also marked by significant migrations of Arab tribes outwards from the Arabian Peninsula into the new territories.^[20] Abbasid provinces during the caliphate of Harun al-Rashid Abbasid was the dynastic name generally given to the caliphs of Baghdad, the second of the two great Sunni dynasties of the Muslim empire. ... The Arabian Peninsula The Arabian Peninsula (in Arabic: شبه الجزيرة العربية, or جزيرة العرب) is a peninsula in Southwest Asia at the junction of Africa and Asia consisting mainly of desert. ...

Conversion within the Empire: Conversion Curve

Richard Bulliet's "conversion curve" and relatively minor rate of conversion of non-Arab subjects during the Arab centric Umayyad period of 10%, in contrast with estimates for the more politically multicultural Abassid period which saw the Muslim population go from approx. 40% in the mid 9th century to close to 100% by the end of 11th century.^[20] Richard W. Bulliet is a professor of history at Columbia University who specializes in the history of Islamic society and institutions, the history of technology, and the history of the role of animals in human society. ... The Courtyard of the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, one of the grandest architectural legacies of the Umayyads. ... Abbasid provinces during the caliphate of Harun al-Rashid Abbasid (Arabic: العبّاسيّون, Abbāsīyūn) is the dynastic name generally given to the caliph of Baghdad, the second of the two great Sunni dynasties of the Islamic empire, that overthrew the Umayyad caliphs from all but Spain. ...

Phase III: Dissolution of Abbasid Empire and Reconquest by Ottomans (950-1450)

Expansion in the wake of Turkic conquests of Asia Minor, Balkans, the Indian subcontinent.^[8] The earlier period also saw the acceleration in the rate of conversion in the Muslim heartland while in the wake of the conquests the newly conquered regions retained significant non-Muslim populations in contrast to the regions where the boundaries of the Muslim world contracted, such as Sicily, Al Andalus, where Muslim populations were expelled or forced to christianize in short order.^[8] The latter period of this phase was marked by the Mongol invasion and after an initial period of persecution, the conversion of these conqueror's to Islam. This article is about the various peoples speaking one of the Turkic languages. ... Anatolia (Greek: ανατολη anatole, rising of the sun or East; compare Orient and Levant, by popular etymology Turkish Anadolu to ana mother and dolu filled), also called by the Latin name of Asia Minor, is a region of Southwest Asia which corresponds today to... Balkan peninsula with northwest border Isonzo-Krka-Sava The Balkans is the historic and geographic name used to describe a region of southeastern Europe. ... Satellite image of the Indian subcontinent Map of South Asia (see note) This article deals with the geophysical region in Asia. ... Sicily (Sicilia in Italian, Latin, Sicilian and Spanish, Σικελία in Greek, Sqallija Maltese) is an autonomous region of Italy and the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, with an area of 25,708 km² (9,926 sq. ... Al-Andalus (Arabic: الأندلس) was the Arabic name given to those parts of the Iberian Peninsula governed by Muslims from 711 to 1492. ... St Francis Xavier converting the Paravas: a 19th-century image of the docile heathen Ansgar, the 9th century apostle of the North in an 1830 drawing. ... The Mongol Invasion of Russia was an invasion of the medieval state of Kievan Rus by a large army of nomadic Mongols, starting in 1223. ...

Phase IV: Ottoman Empire 13th Century - 1918

The Ottoman Empire defended its frontiers initially against threats from several sides: the Safavids on the Eastern side, Byzantine in the North which vanished with the fall of Constantinople 1453, and the great Catholic powers from the Mediterranean Sea: Spain, the Holy Roman Empire, and Venice with its eastern Mediterranean colonies. The Safavid Empire at its 1512 borders. ... The Byzantine Empire is the term conventionally used to describe the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages, centered at its capital in Constantinople. ...

Later, the Ottoman Empire set on to conquer territories from these rivals: Cyprus and other Greek islands (except Crete) were lost by Venice to the Ottomans, and the later conquered territory up to the Danube basin as far as Hungary. Crete was conquered during the 17th century, but lost Hungary to the Holy Roman Empire, and other parts of Eastern Europe, edning with the Treaty of Carlowitz (1699).^[21] The Treaty of Karlowitz was signed in 1699 in Karlovci (German Karlowitz), concluding the Austro-Ottoman war of 1683-1697 in which the Ottoman side was defeated. ...

Phase V: (Post-Ottomans - current)

Through commerce, Sufi's, Missionaries, and migrations; especially in South-East Asia.^[8]

Islamization by region

Spain/Al-Andalus

The Arabs first began their conquest of southern Spain or al-Andalus in 710 and created a province under the Caliphate which extended as far as the north of the peninsula.^[22] A large number of Berbers from Morocco migrated to Andalus, adding towards the Muslim population of converts. At the end of the 10th century, possibly a majority of the population was thus Muslim. But there also existed large numbers of Jews and Christians lived alongside Muslims, mainly as traders. These subjects were "held together by the tolerance of the Umayyads towards Jews and Christians, and also by the spread of the Arabic language, which had become that of the the majority, Jews and Christians as well as Muslims, by the 11th century." ^[23]

"Toleration, a common language and a long tradition of separate rule all helped to create a distinctive Andalusian consciousness and society. Its Islamic religious culture developed on rather different lines from those of the eastern countries, and its Jewish culture became independent of that of Iraq, the main centre of Jewish religious life."^[24]

During the 11th century, the Umayyad kingdom of al-Andalus broke down into small kingdoms, which in the end created the preconditions for the Christian reconquest. ^[25] The latter re-established Christian rule more and more southwards, ending all Muslim rule in 1492 with the reconquest of the kingdom of Granada. Virtually all Muslims and also Jews foudn themselves forced to either convert to Christianity or leave the country - the result was an exodus of both Muslims and Jews to North Africa, resulting not only in a loss of business but also in a massive brain drain for the time being.^[26]

Persia

Main article: Islamicization in post-conquest Iran

It used to be argued that Zorastrianism quickly collapsed in the wake of the Islamic conquest of Persia due its intimate ties to the Sassanid state structure.^[27] Now however, more complex processes are considered, in light of the more protracted time frame attributed to the progression of the ancient Persian religion to a minority; a progression that is more contiguous with the trends of the late antiquity period.^[27] These trends are the conversions from the state religion that had already plagued the Zorastrian authorities that continued after the Arab conquest, coupled with the migration of Arab tribes into the region during an extended period of time that stretched well into the Abbassid reign.^[27] While there were cases such as the Sassanid army division at Hamra, that converted en masse before pivotal battles such as the Battle of al-Qādisiyyah, conversion was fastest in the urban areas where Arab forces were garrisoned slowly leading to Zorastrianism becoming associated with rural areas.^[27] Still at the end of the Umayyad period, the Muslim community was only a minority in the region.^[27] Islamicization in post-conquest Iran, a long process by which Islam was gradually adopted by the majority population, occurred as a result of the Islamic conquest of Persia. ... Zoroastrianism (Persian: زرتشتی, Zartoshti) was once the imperial religion of Sassanid (Sassanian) Iran, and played an important role in the Achaemenid as well as Parthian empires in Persia or more properly Iran. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Islamic conquest of Afghanistan. ... Sassanid Empire at its greatest extent The Sassanid dynasty (also Sassanian) was the name given to the kings of Persia during the era of the second Persian Empire, from 224 until 651, when the last Sassanid shah, Yazdegerd III, lost a 14-year struggle to drive out the Umayyad Caliphate... Late Antiquity is a rough periodization (c. ... The Battle of al-Qādisiyyah (in Arabic: معارك القادسيّة, alternate spellings: Qadisiyya, Qadisiyyah, Kadisiya) was the decisive engagement between the Arab Muslim army and the Sāsānian Persian army during the first period of Islamic expansion which resulted in the Islamic conquest of Iran. ... Look up urban in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... For people named Garrison, see Garrison (disambiguation) Garrison House, built by William Damm in 1675 at Dover, New Hampshire Garrison (from the French garnison, itself from the verb garnir, to equip) is the collective term for the body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it, but... Rural area in Dalarna, Sweden Qichun, a rural town in Hubei province, China Rural areas (also referred to as the country, countryside) are sparsely settled places away from the influence of large cities. ...

Inner Asia

Little is known about the timeline of the Islamicization of Inner Asia and the Turkic peoples who lay beyond the bounds of the caliphate. Histories merely note the fact of pre-Mongol Central Asia's Islamicization.^[4] The Bulgars of the Volga are noted to have adopted Islam by the 10th century ^[1]. When the Friar William of Rubruck visited the encampment of Batu Khan of the Golden Horde, who had recently completed the Mongol invasion of Volga Bulgaria, he noted "I wonder what devil carried the law of Machomet there".^[1] Another contemporary known to have been Muslim, was the Qarakhanid dynasty of the Kara-Khanid Khanate which lay much further east.^[4] However, the modern day history of the Islamicization of the region - or rather a conscious affiliation with Islam - dates to the population of the ulus of the son of Genghis Khan, Jochi, who founded the Golden Horde.^[28] Tatars, Uzbeks and other Muslim populations of the Russian federation trace their Islamic roots to the Golden Horde^[4] and while Berke Khan was the first Mongol monarch to officially adopt Islam and even oppose his kinsman Hulagu Khan^[1] in the defence of Jerusalem at the Battle of Ain Jalut, it was only much later that the change became pivotal and the mongols converted en masse^[29] when a century later Uzbeg Khan converted - reportedly at the hands of the Sufi Saint Baba Tukles.^[30] The term China proper is usually used to refer to the historical heartlands of China, and to make a contrast between these heartlands and frontier regions of Outer China (Inner Asia). ... This article is about the various peoples speaking one of the Turkic languages. ... Caliph is the title for the Islamic leader of the Ummah, or community of Islam. ... Honorary guard of Mongolia. ... Map of Central Asia showing three sets of possible boundaries for the region Central Asia located as a region of the world Central Asia is a vast landlocked region of Asia. ... Volga Bulgaria or Volga-Kama Bolghar, is a historic state that existed between the 7th and 13th centuries around the confluence of the Volga and Kama rivers in what is now the Russian Federation. ... A friar is a member of a religious mendicant order of men. ... William of Rubruck (also William of Rubruk, Guillaume de Rubrouck, Willielmus de Rubruquis, born ca. ... Batu Khan (Russian: , Ukrainian: ) (c. ... The Golden Horde (Turkish: Altın Ordu) was a Turkic state established in parts of present-day Russia, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan after the break up of the Mongol Empire in the 1240s. ... The Mongol invasion of Volga Bulgaria lasted from 1223 to 1236. ... The Qarakhanid dynasty is a Muslim Dynasty of Central Asia. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... An ulus (Russian: улу́с) is the subdivision type of Sakha (Yakutia) Republic of the Russian Federation. ... For other uses, see Genghis Khan (disambiguation). ... Jochi (also spelled Jöchi) (c. ... Historically, the term Tatar (or Tartar) has been ambiguously used by Europeans to refer to many different peoples of Inner Asia and Northern Asia. ... Berke was the ruler of the Golden Horde from 1257 to 1266, in the aftermath of the reign of his brother Batu Khan. ... Hulagu Khan (also known as Hülegü, and Hulegu) (1217–8 February 1265) was a Mongol ruler who conquered much of Southwest Asia. ... Hebrew יְרוּשָׁלַיִם (Yerushalayim) (Standard) Yerushalayim or Yerushalaim Arabic commonly القـُدْس (Al-Quds); officially in Israel أورشليم القدس (Urshalim-Al-Quds) Name Meaning Hebrew: (see below), Arabic: The Holiness Government City District Jerusalem Population 724,000 (2006) Jurisdiction 123,000 dunams (123 km²) Mayor Uri Lupolianski Web Address www. ... Combatants Egyptian Mamluks Mongols Commanders Saif ad-Din Qutuz Baibars Kitbuqa Strength About 20 000 About 20 000 in muslim history (40,000-50,000) The Battle of Ain Jalut (or Ayn Jalut, in Arabic: عين جالوت, the Eye of Goliath or the Spring of Goliath) took place on September 3, 1260... Mikhail of Tver before Uzbeg Khan, by Vasili Vereshchagin. ... Sufism (Arabic تصوف taṣawwuf) is a system of esoteric philosophy commonly associated with Islam. ... In traditional Christian iconography, Saints are usually depicted as having halos. ...

Some of Mongolian tribes became Islamized. Following the brutal Mongol invasion of Central Asia under Hulagu Khan and after the Battle of Baghdad (1258) Mongol rule extended across the breadth of almost all Muslim lands in Asia, the caliphate was destroyed and Islam was persecuted by the Mongols.^[29] In 1295 however the new Khan of the Ilkhanate, Ghazan converted to Islam and two decades later the Golden Horde followed suit.^[29] The Mongols had been religiously and culturally conquered, this absorption ushered in a new age of Mongol-Islamic synthesis^[29] that shaped the further spread of Islam in central Asia and the Indian subcontinent. Combatants Mongol Empire Khwarezmia Commanders Genghis Khan, Jochi, Chaghatai, Ogodei, Tolui Ala ad-Din Muhammad, Jalal Al-Din Strength 90,000 - 250,000 men 400,000 men Casualties Unknown At least 150,000 killed The Mongol invasion of Khwarezmia lasted from 1219 to 1221. ... Hulagu Khan (also known as Hülegü, and Hulegu) (1217 – 8 February 1265) was a Mongol ruler who conquered much of Southwest Asia. ... Combatants Mongols Abbasid Caliphate Commanders Hulagu Khan Guo Kan Caliph Al-Mustasim Strength Unknown Unknown Casualties Unknown, but believed minimal Military, 50,000(est. ... World map showing the location of Asia. ... Conflicts between Muslims and non-Muslims made the persecution of both Muslims and non-Muslims a recurring phenomenon during the history of Islam. ... Khanates of Mongolian Empire: Il-Khanate, Chagatai Khanate, Empire of the Great Khan (Yuan Dynasty), Golden Horde The Ilkhanate (also spelled Il-khanate or Il Khanate) was one of the four divisions within the Mongol Empire. ... Ghazan Khan was ruler of the Ilkhanate from 1295 to 1305. ... Satellite image of the Indian subcontinent Map of South Asia (see note) This article deals with the geophysical region in Asia. ...

In the 1330s the Mongol ruler of the Chagatai Khanate converted to Islam, causing the eastern part of his realm called Moghulistan to rebel.^[31] However during the next three centuries these Buddhist, Shamanistic and Christian Turkic and Mongol nomads of the Kazakh Steppe and Xianjing would also convert at the hands of competing Sufi orders from both east and west of the Pamirs.^[31] The Naqshbandi's are the most prominent of these orders, especially in Kashgaria where the western Chagatai Khan was also a disciple of the order.^[31] Chagatai Khan (alternative spellings Chagata, Chugta, Chagta, Djagatai, Jagatai), a son of Genghis Khan (1206–1227), controlled the part of the Mongol Empire which extended from the Ili River (eastern Kazakhstan) and Kashgaria (western Tarim Basin) to Transoxiana. ... Moghulistan is a geographic unit inclusive of Zungharia, Uyghuristan in the Turpan Basin area and parts of modern Kazakhstan and Kyrghystan between Xianjing and Transoxania in the Tarim basin. ... A replica of an ancient statue found among the ruins of a temple at Sarnath Buddhism is a philosophy based on the teachings of the Buddha, Siddhārtha Gautama, a prince of the Shakyas, whose lifetime is traditionally given as 566 to 486 BCE. It had subsequently been accepted by... The shaman is an intellectual and spiritual figure who is regarded as possessing power and influence on other peoples in the tribe and performs several functions, primarily that of a healer ( medicine man). The shaman provides medical care, and serves other community needs during crisis times, via supernatural means (means... Christians believe that Jesus is the mediator of the New Covenant (see Hebrews 8:6). ... The Kazakh Steppe or Kirgiz Steppe , is a vast region of open plains in Kazakhstan. ... Hamgyŏng (Hamgyŏng-do) was one of the Eight Provinces of Korea during the Joseon Dynasty. ... Tariqah ( translit: ; pl. ... Located in Central Asia, the Pamir Mountains are formed by the junction of the worlds greatest mountain ranges, a geologic structural knot from which the great Tian Shan, Karakoram, Kunlun, and Hindu Kush mountain systems radiate. ... Naqshbandi (Naqshbandiyya) is one of the major Sufi orders (tariqa) of Islam. ... Kashgar is an oasis city located west of the Taklamakan desert, at the feet of the Tian Shan mountain range in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of the Peoples Republic of China (39°24’26” N. lat. ...

Southeast Asia

Islam came to Malay Archipelago, first by the way of Muslim traders along the main trade-route between Asia and the Far East, then was further spread by Sufi missionaries and finally consolidated by the expansion of the territories of converted rulers and their communities.^[32] The first communities arose in Northern Sumatra (Aceh) and the Malacca's remained a stronghold of Islam from where it propagated along the trade routes in the region.^[32] There no clear indication of when it first came to region, the first gravestone markings date to 1082.^[33] When Marco Polo visited in 1292 he noted the urban port state of Perlak was Muslim^[33], Chinese sources record a Muslim delegation to Chinese emperor from the Kingdom of Samudra (Pasai) in 1282^[32], other accounts provide instances of Muslim communities present in the Melayu Kingdom for the same time period while othersrecorded presence of Muslim Chinese traders from provinces such as Fujian.^[33] The spread of Islam generally followed the trade routes east through the primarily Buddhist region and a half century later in the Malacca's we see the first dynasty arise in the form of the Sultanate of Malacca at the at the far end of the Archipelago form by the conversion of one Parameswara Dewa Shah into a Muslim Muhammad Iskandar Shah^[34] after his marriage to a daughter of the ruler of Pasai.^[33][32] In 1380 Sufi missionaries carried Islam from here on to Mindanao.^[35] Java was the seat of the primary kingdom of the region, the Majapahit Empire, which was ruled by a Hindu dynasty. As commerce grew in the region with the rest of the Muslim world, Islamic influence extended to the court even as the empires political power waned and so by time Raja Kertawijaya converted in 1475 at the hands of Sufi Sheikh Rahmat, the Sultanate was already of a Muslim character. Another driving force for the change of the ruling class in the region was the concept among the increasing Muslim communities of the region that only the descendants of the Islamic prophet Muhammad (Sayyid) were fit to rule them causing the ruling dynasties to attempt to forge such ties of kinship by marriage.^[35] By the time the colonial powers and their missionaries arrived in the 17th century the region up to New Guinea was overwhelming Muslim with animist minorities.^[33] World map depicting Malay Archipelago The Malay Archipelago is a vast archipelago located between mainland Southeastern Asia (Indochina) and Australia. ... The far east as a cultural block includes East Asia, Southeast Asia, Northeast Asia and South Asia. ... Sumatra (also spelled Sumatera) is the sixth largest island of the world (approximately 470,000 km²) and is the largest island entirely in Indonesia (two larger islands, Borneo and New Guinea, are partially in Indonesia). ... Aceh (IPA pronunciation: , pronounced approximately Ah-Cèh, but with [e], not [ei] at the end) is a special territory (daerah istimewa) of Indonesia, located on the northern tip of the island of Sumatra. ... State motto: Bersatu Teguh State anthem: Melaka Maju Jaya Capital Malacca Ruling party Barisan Nasional  - Yang di-Pertua Negeri Mohd Khalil Yaakob  - Ketua Menteri Mohd Ali Mohd Rustam History    - Malacca Sultanate 13th century   - Portuguese control 24 August 1511   - Dutch control 1641   - British control 17 March 1824   - Japanese Occupation 1942-1946... Marco Polo (September 15, 1254 – January 8, 1324) was a Venetian trader and explorer who gained fame for his worldwide travels, recorded in the book Il Milione (The Million or The Travels of Marco Polo). ... Map of Islamic Peureulak and Pasai. ... Map of Pasai. ... Map of ancient Melayu Kingdom. ...   (Chinese: ; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Fu-chien; Postal map spelling: Fukien, Foukien; local transliteration Hokkien from Min Nan Hok-kiàn) is one of the provinces on the southeast coast of the Peoples Republic of China. ... A replica of an ancient statue found among the ruins of a temple at Sarnath Buddhism is a philosophy based on the teachings of the Buddha, Siddhārtha Gautama, a prince of the Shakyas, whose lifetime is traditionally given as 566 to 486 BCE. It had subsequently been accepted by... State motto: Bersatu Teguh State anthem: Melaka Maju Jaya Capital Malacca Ruling party Barisan Nasional  - Yang di-Pertua Negeri Mohd Khalil Yaakob  - Ketua Menteri Mohd Ali Mohd Rustam History    - Malacca Sultanate 13th century   - Portuguese control 24 August 1511   - Dutch control 1641   - British control 17 March 1824   - Japanese Occupation 1942-1946... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Parameswara (1344-1424) was a Malay prince from Srivijaya that founded the Sultanate of Malacca around 1402. ... Map of the Philippines showing the island groups of Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao Mindanao is the second largest and easternmost island in the Philippines. ... Java (Indonesian, Javanese, and Sundanese: Jawa) is an island of Indonesia and the site of its capital city, Jakarta. ... The Majapahit Empire was an Indianized kingdom based in eastern Java from 1293 to around 1500. ... This article discusses the adherents of Hinduism. ... A Raja (Sanskrit ) is a king, or princely ruler from the Kshatriya / Rajput lineages. ... For other uses, see Sheikh (disambiguation). ... In religion, a prophet is a person who has directly encountered God, of whose intentions he can then speak as if he were a formal representative of God. ... For other persons named Muhammad, see Muhammad (name). ... Sayyid () (plural Saadah) is an honorific title often given to males accepted as descendants of the Islamic prophet Muhammad through his grandsons, Hassan and Husayn, who were the sons of his daughter Fatima Zahra and his cousin and son-in-law Ali ibn Abi Talib. ... In general, the word colonial means of or relating to a colony. In United States history, the term Colonial is used to refer to the period before US independence. ... A missionary is a propagator of religion, often an evangelist or other representative of a religious community who works among those outside of that community. ... This article is in need of attention. ...

Balkans

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North Africa

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Other parts of Africa

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Modern day

Historians such as Ira Lapidus have concluded that since the 1970s, the Islamic world has witnessed a phenomenon called "Islamic revival" - often associated with Islamic Fundamentalism, Islamism and other forms of re-Islamisation. Although one can never speak for an entire community or people, a reorientation towards Islamic values, in contrast to the Westernisation moves by various Arab and Asian governments in the 1950s and 60s, appears to be taking place. Only a small part of this results in religious extremism; The main effect appears to be a return of the individual to Muslim values, communities, and dress codes, and a strengthened community feeling.^[36] Islamic fundamentalism is a religious ideology which advocates literalistic interpretations of the sacred texts of Islam, Sharia law, and an Islamic State. ... Political Ideologies Part of the Politics series Politics Portal This box:      This article is about political Islamism. ...

Another development is that of Transnational Islam, elaborated upon by the French Islam researchers Gilles Kepel and Olivier Roy. It includes a feeling of a "growing universalistic Islamic identity" as often shared by Muslim immigrants and their children who live in non-Muslim countries: Gilles Kepel on a Frontline documentary Gilles Kepel is a prominent French scholar and analyst of the Islamic and the Arab world. ... Olivier Roy (born 1949) is the research director at the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) and a lecturer for both the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (EHESS) and the Institut dEtudes Politiques de Paris (IEP). ...

"The increased integration of world societies as a result of enhanced communications, media, travel, and migration makes meaningful the concept of a single Islam practiced everywhere in similar ways, and Islam which transcends national and ethnic customs."^[37]

This doesn't necessarily imply political or social organisations:

"Global Muslim identity does not necessarily or even usually imply organised group action.Even though Muslims recognise a global affiliation, the real heart of Muslim religious life remains outside politics - in local associations for worship, discussion, mutual aid, education, charity, and other communal activities."^[38]

A third development is the growth and elaboration of transnational military and terrorist organisations. The 1980s and 90s, with several major conflicts in the Middle East, including the Arab-Israeli conflict, Afghanistan in the 1980s and 2001, and the three Gulf Wars (1980-89, 1990-91, 2003) were catalysts of a growing internationalisation of local conflicts. Figures such as Osama Bin Laden and Abdallah Azzam have been crucial in these developments, as much as domestic and world politics.^[39] A map showing countries commonly considered to be part of the Middle East The Middle East is a region comprising the lands around the southern and eastern parts of the Mediterranean Sea, a territory that extends from the eastern Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. ... Combatants Arab nations Israel Arab-Israeli conflict series History of the Arab-Israeli conflict Views of the Arab-Israeli conflict International law and the Arab-Israeli conflict Arab-Israeli conflict facts, figures, and statistics Participants Israeli-Palestinian conflict · Israel-Lebanon conflict · Arab League · Soviet Union / Russia · Israel and the United... Osama bin Muhammad bin Awad bin Laden (Arabic: ‎; born March 10, 1957[1]), most often mentioned as Osama bin Laden or Usama bin Laden, is a Saudi Arabian militant Islamist and is widely believed to be one of the founders of the organization called al-Qaeda. ... Sheikh Abdullah Yusuf Azzam (1941–1989) (Arabic عبدالله عزام) was a central figure in the global development of the militant Islamist movement. ...

Today, the Turkish entry into the European Union is associated both with doubts about the political framework present in modern Turkey to allow entry into the EU, and with reservations by both parts of the populations and the politicians against the cultural and religious values and customs, which are perceived to be contrary to European culture as a Christian community.[1] This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

Notes

The Roman Catholic Church or Catholic Church (see terminology below) is the Christian Church in full communion with the Bishop of Rome, currently Pope Benedict XVI. It traces its origins to the original Christian community founded by Jesus Christ and led by the Twelve Apostles, in particular Saint Peter. ... The expression The Holy Land (Hebrew ארץ הקודש: Standard Hebrew Éreẓ haQodeš, Tiberian Hebrew ʾÉreṣ haqQāḏēš; Latin Terra Sancta; Arabic الأرض المقدسة, al-Arḍ ul-Muqaddasah) generally refers to the Land of Israel. ...

References

• Devin De Weese, Devin A, "Islamization and Native Religion in the Golden Horde", Penn State Press, Sep 1, 1994, ISBN 0-271-01073-8
• Bernard Lewis, "The Jews of Islam", Princeton University Press, Sep 1, 1987, ISBN 0-691-00807-8
• Fred Astren, "Karaite Judaism and Historical Understanding", Univ of South Carolina Press, Feb 1, 2004 ISBN 1-57003-518-0
• Tobin Siebers, "Religion and the Authority of the Past", University of Michigan Press, Nov 1, 1993, ISBN 0-472-08259-0
• Jonathan Berkey, "The Formation of Islam", Cambridge University Press, Jan 1, 2003, ISBN 0-521-58813-8
• Goddard, Hugh Goddard, "Christians and Muslims: from double standards to mutual understanding", Routledge (UK), Oct 26, 1995 ISBN 0-7007-0364-0
• Hourani, Albert, 2002, A History of the Arab Peoples, Faber & Faber, , ISBN 0-571-21591-2
• Lapidus, Ira M. 2002, A History of Islamic Societies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Prof. ...

See also

• Christianization
• Converts to Islam
• Devshirmeh
• Islam
• Islamism
• Janissary
• Muslim conquests
• Muslim history