Spread of Islam Conquests Military forces carried Islam beyond the Arabian Peninsula.
The Arabs were eager to acquire the agricultural wealth of the neighboring Byzantine and Persian Empire to meet the needs of their growing population.
AD661 Arab armies had reduced Byzantine territory and brought the Persian Empire completely under Muslim control.
Muslim warriors carried Islam east to the borders of India and China.
Muslim forces advanced halfway in to France before the Christian Franks stopped them. (The Battle of Tours, AD732) Muslim Division In AD 661 Ali the fourth caliph was fatally stabbed by a delusional follower.
Mu'awiyah became the first caliph of the powerful Umayyad Dynasty.
Followers of Ali, known as the Shiite, never accepted Mu'awiyah's rule.
In AD 680 Ali died.
They claimed the caliphate for Ali's son, Husayan.
The murders of Ali and Husayan led to a permanent schism in the Islamic world.
The majority of Muslims, known as the Sunni followed the teachings of Muhammad.
English: A green version of http://commons.wikimed...
English: The Muslim population of the world map by...
The distribution of the predominant Islamic madhha...The Shiite lived in mostly in present day Iraq and Iran.
The Umayyad The Umayyad dynasty, which was founded by Mu'awiyah ruled from A.A. 661 to A.D. 750 Umayyad rulers stressed ruled stressed the political, rather than the religious aspect of their office.
The Umayyad moved the capital from Madinah to Damascus.
They also improved conditions for many particularly Jews and non-Greek Christians.
They also made up of Arabic the official language, built roads, and established postal routes.
Abbasids The Abbasids ruled the Islamic state from A.D. 750 to A.D. 1258 The Abbasid Empire reached its height under Caliph Harun al-Rashid, who ruled from A.D 786 to A.D 809.
The Abbasids developed a sophisticated urban civilization based on the diversity of the empires peoples.
They set up a new ruling group that included Muslims of many nationalities.
In central...