Why
were the Arabian Armies so successful?
After
the death of Muhammad, the caliphs carried on his work
of spreading Islam. Caliph means successor. The first
four caliphs had all known the Prophet. They were
respected as good and wise men. The first caliph, Abu
Bakr, led the conquest of Arabia. The next caliph,
Umar, led attacks on the Persian Empire.
The Muslim armies were successful in conquering new
lands for a number of reasons. Their enemies the
Persians and the Byzantines were weak because they had
already been fighting a long war with each other.
Some
of the Muslim fighters were nomads this helped them
win battles because they were used to fighting battles
in the desert and travelling a long way from home.
The
Muslim fighters who died fighting a Jihad or holy war
believed they would go to heaven when they died this
was a very strong belief and made the soldiers very
brave. This was another reason why they were
successful.
The
soldiers of Islam were different from other armies at
this time because they were united by prayer. Every
day they would be led in prayer by their commander
whom they would also follow in battle.
These
then, are the reasons why the Muslim armies were
successful in conquering other lands; they were
fighting weak enemies, the nomadic soldiers were used
to moving long distances and fighting battles, they
were united by Islam and the belief that because they
were fighting for God when they died, they would go to
heaven.
The
Rise of Islam is an optional Unit in Key Stage 3
