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Muhammad, the central prophet of the Islamic faith, is the earliest prophet of Islam, which originated in Saudi Arabia in the 6th century. When Muhammad returned to his hometown after completing the Qur’an, he spread the word. Soon after, Umar, the second caliph, began conquests outside of Arabia. The newly exposed faith prospered as the Muslim community and religion extended throughout the Middle East with the rise of the Muslim state and Islamic religion. Muhammad died in 632 CE, and tensions were felt within the Islamic alliance. A few of the tribes considered their loyalty to Islam owed principally to Muhammad, and their devotion to Mecca and Islam had ended. The situation was further complicated by Muhammad’s ambiguous instructions on who should be the leader and heir to the community. Fortunately, Abu Bakr, Muhammad’s close friend and father-in-law, immediately assumed the role. It was Abu Bakr who was known as the first caliph and as a revolutionary monarch of society. In addition to his political power as a caliph, he possessed spiritual authority. As a consequence of the military conquests, Islam’s political position, and the task Muhammad had given it were strengthened. Islam reached over three continents within half a century of the prophet’s death. Muslim conquests had influenced and conquered Africa, Western Asia, and even much of Europe by the 8th century. The original Islamic doctrine did not preach war, and it did not multiply through invasions in particular. The spread of Islam was mediated through declaring war against those clans who did not accept the message of God. Initially, Christians and Jews were not expected to convert or treated with disrespect. Muslim faiths did not require people to convert. Even today, large numbers of Jews and Christians live in Muslim-majority countries, where they form considerable communities.
The early spread of Islam was caused by the conquests of Arab Muslims, which happened within a very short period after it was founded: Taking place over a period of ninety years, these conques

ts swept away the imperial forces of the Arabs proud neighbors to the north and resulted in a permanent cultural transformation of the societies that came under Muslim control (Egger, 2004, p.65). During the seventh century, Arab Muslim troops crushed rebellions across the Arabian Peninsula, conquering territory in the neighboring Byzantine and Sasanian empires and beyond. It took roughly two decades for them to create a major Arab Muslim empire spanning three continents. Religion was not solely motivating for the Arab Muslim rulers, and neither was their success attributed to Islam alone, though it certainly played a part. The majority of conquests took place under the time of Umar, the second caliph, who ruled from 634 to 644. The Rashidun Caliphate built a huge empire through a series of quick military triumphs. They grew for religious as well as political reasons, as was usual at the time. Muslim armies now entered a new phase of their conquests. From that point, they would spread the hegemony of Islam wherever their power enabled them to overcome local resistance (Egger, 2004, p.70). Distinct, fighting Arab tribes came together to form a unified political force, aided in part by the threat of military conquest. This unity was shaky, and it eventually gave way to severe schisms that disturbed political and ecclesiastical institutions in the years to come. Only a small number of those who were under the control of Arab Muslim rulers converted to Islam right away. Muslims did not constitute the majority of subjects of Islamic empires until the eleventh century, some centuries later. Although contrary to popular belief, Islam is neither a sword religion nor does it spread predominantly through warfare. The enormous countries captured by Arab forces were converted to Islam in a short period, not by force of arms, but by the attractiveness of the new religion. People were not forced to convert to the new religion. Many Jews and Christians persisted, and important groups of believers in these faiths can still be found in Muslim territories.