The Effect of the Expansion of Muslims

The Effect of the Expansion of Muslims on Governmental and Cultural Practices in the Middle East and Beyond
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The Effect of the Expansion of Muslims on Governmental and Cultural Practices in the Middle East and Beyond
Islam is one of the oldest religions in the world and its origin is believed to be Arabia. Prophet Muhammad is the undisputed leader and founder of Islam and historical records reveal that the religion began around 613 CE (Arjormand, 2009). The religion has spread through the world since then and some scholars believe that the expansion of Muslims out of Arabia simply overlaid current governmental and cultural practices in the Middle East and beyond with Islamic norms and values. Islam spread rapidly between 632 and 661 CE during the reign of the first four caliphs. In order to defend Islam from attack, most Muslims were obliged to extend the faith to unbelievers. The devotion of Muslim faithful to the concept of Jihad led to the advancement of expansion wars. Some of the early conquests of Islam outside Arabia were directly attributed to Jihad. This essay will determine whether the expansion of the Muslims out of Arabia simply overlaid current governmental and cultural practices in the Middle East and beyond with Islamic norms and values or not.
The creation of the Muslim world began with the expansion of the Ottoman Empire, which later spread outwards towards Mecca. The religion then spread to the Middle East and beyond because of an increase in trading activities during that time (Arjormand, 2009). All the regions that were conquered by Muslim were ruled by Islamic law and things have not changed until now. The establishment of the Islamic law in those countries or regions definitely overlaid their current governmental and cultural practices. The issue of Islamic constitutionalism has generated a lot of debate in the recent past with some scholars arguing that it has had a negative impact on governmental and cultural practices. A recent survey has shown that the leadership in most Middle East countries is mostly oppressive and dictatorial and this always led to revolutions. The recent public demonstrations in Arabic countries are a clear indication that the people can no longer tolerate the oppressive regimes. There are a lot of demands for institutional changes especially when it comes to government institutions. There have always been calls for constitution changes in many Middle East countries because most people feel that the current constitutions are not very inclusive (Hummel, 2012). The rise of Islamic conservative parties has been a major concern for some...