ISLAM AS A RELIGION OF CONQUEST
Islam was a religion of conquest. It proclaimed the righteousness of a "holy war," or jihad, against unbelievers. It promised rich booty for those who fought and won, and paradise for those who fell. The Arab soldier, dying on the battlefield, expected to be carried away by bright- eyed maidens to a garden of delight, where, reclining on soft cushions and rugs, he was to enjoy forever an existence of sensual ease. "Whosoever falls in battle," so runs a passage in the Koran, "his sins are forgiven, and at the day of judgment his limbs shall be supplied by the wings of angels and cherubim."
ISLAM AS A POLITICAL FORCE
The sudden creation of the Arabian power must not be understood, however, as solely a religious movement. Pride and greed, as well as fanaticism, drove the Arabs forward on their conquering career. Long before Mohammed's time Arabia had been in a state of unrest. Its warlike tribes, feeling a sense of their superiority to other peoples, were eager to overrun the rich districts of western Asia, much as the Germans had overrun western Europe. Islam strengthened the racial pride of the Arabs, united them into one nation, and gave them an effective organization for world-wide rule.
ARAB CONQUESTS IN THE EAST, 632-642 A.D.
The most extensive conquests of the Arabs were made within ten years after Mohammed's death. During this time the Moslem warriors, though poorly armed, ill-disciplined, and in every battle greatly outnumbered, attacked with success the two strongest military powers then in the world—Rome and Persia. From the Roman Empire in the East they seized the provinces of Syria and Palestine, with the famous cities of Damascus, Antioch, and Jerusalem. [7] They took Mesopotamia from the Persians and then, invading Iran, overthrew the Persian power. [8] Egypt also was subjugated by these irresistible soldiers of the Crescent.
TREATMENT OF THE CONQUERED PEOPLES
According to the strict teaching of the Koran, those who refused to accept Islam were either to be killed or to be reduced to slavery. As a matter of fact, the Arabs treated their new subjects with marked liberality. No massacres and no persecutions occurred. The conquered peoples were allowed to retain their own religions, on condition of paying ample tribute. In course of time, however, many of the Christians in Syria and Egypt and most of the Zoroastrians [9] in Persia adopted Islam, in order that they might acquire the rights and privileges of Moslem citizens.
LATER ARAB CONQUESTS
The sweeping conquests of the decade 632-642 A.D. were followed in later years by a further extension of the boundaries of the Arabian Empire. In the remote East the Arabs sent their victorious armies beyond the Oxus and Indus rivers to central Asia and India. They captured the island of Cyprus, annexed parts of Armenia and Asia Minor, and at length threatened to take Constantinople. Had that city fallen, all eastern Europe would have been laid open to invasion.