Blog #4

I have always been interested in the Islam religion. At NDNU I have taken both a Women's Spirituality and World Religions class.  In both classes we talked a lot about Islam.

I think it is amazing that in the 21st century 22%  of the world identified as Muslims.  I have also found it interesting that Islam started from a single person, Mohammad.  For 22 years he had revelations which were recorded and formed the Quran.  It's not mentioned in the reading but I always found it interesting that Muhammad's wives and daughters were a big part of the recording of the Quran and had a great influence over other Muslims during the early stages of the religion.  Then, women were considered second class citizens but yet they had a huge part in the Islamic religion.  

Even though the message of the Quran challenged the ancient Arab religion and the way of life it was still able to spread across the world.  Not only did Islam spread quickly through Arabia it became their way of life with the 5 Pillars being at its core. Islam joined the church and state of Arabia, whereas Christianity has also separated the two.

I didn't know that Islam was a major influence in the Arab Empire. It created a new empire, religion and civilization.  I also found it interesting that although the conversion process was pretty intense a lot of people still converted.  While some converted because they were "believers" many also converted for social mobility.