In this demanding but important overview session pupils have to work out from clues the key reasons for Islam’s growth before going on to classify and prioritise them. The session finishes by pupils preparing for a brief radio interview in which they answer this tricky question. How on earth was the Islamic civilization able to spread so far, so quickly, within a century of the Prophet Muhammad’s death?
Learning objectives
- Pupils can locate early Islamic Empire in time and place and can explain the origins and development of Islam in 7th century.
- Pupils work out likely reasons from given clues.
- They are able to give several reasons why it spread so quickly e.g. weakness of surrounding empires, exhausted by war; divisions among rivals; zeal of their faith; better fighting tactics and weapons and can classify under different types of reasons e.g. military.
- Pupils appreciate that the spread of Islam took centuries and Muslims, though rulers, made up a small proportion in the lands they occupied. They should be aware that this did not happen by force. As Qur’an specifies “Let there be no compulsion in religion”. Under Muhammad Muslims practised tolerance.
- Pupils confidently refer to proper terms such as Caliph,
