Islam’s success in spreading was linked to its quickly developed empire that intertwined religion and politics/ military in to one entity. This empire building was quickly started after Muhammad died. One of the aspects of this rush to empire was to bring the people together, to help them forget the differences that kept them apart for centuries. Islam also arose when the two near by empires, Byzantine and Persian, were waning. The conquering of these empires allowed Islam to quickly expand outward, and including the migration of numerous Arabic-speaking people into these lands expanding the Islam. Muslims saw this quick conquering and assimilation of peoples within this empire as a sign from Allah, that they were doing good work.
Byzantine was not completely conquered by this first push, and mostly kept modern day Turkey as its base. Most of the peoples in conquered Byzantine were quick to convert to Islam. They already had an understanding of monotheism, Islam saw Jesus Christ as one of the prophets, and Islam provided similar hierarchies that helped these people understand their place in a Muslim society. Some places did provide a challenge and were quickly overwhelmed by the Islamized Turks who migrated into these parts. The Persian Empire also offered a people who would convert easily because of their belief in Zoroastrianism. Other places would provide a challenge.
The Muslims continued their drive beyond these old empires, conquering lands that provided good agricultural land. Not all of their expansion was through conquering and military accomplishments. The east coast of Africa voluntarily converted to Islam. These people saw this as an opportunity to improve relations with the Muslims and had great respect for their skills as traders. Islam tended to stay within these coastal communities, and had some synchronism with the African religions. These peoples would fast for Ramadan, while also sacrificing animals to Allah. Farther into Africa, the people would have difficulty with the concept of a single God located in a separated plane, similar to the problems Islam faced in India.
India, though conquered by force and occupied for a few centuries, would never become Muslim in its cultural heartland. The parts that did become Muslim were Buddhists, lower-caste people, or societies on the edge of India’s influence and beginning to settle. Hinduisms flexibility and many numerous gods held Islam at bay. These were two very different traditions, one that was strictly monotheistic, and another that was all-inclusive, could be monotheistic and polytheistic at the same time. Hinduism and Islam met and created a new religion, Sikhism, though neither had much influence on the other.
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