The most notable work of the Rightly Guided Caliphs was territorial expansion. When the Prophet died, Muslims were dominant only in the Arabian Peninsula. In just three decades, they formed an empire stretching from Libya to Afghanistan. These conquests would continue under the Umayyad dynasty, which followed the Rightly Guided Caliphs, and the Islamic Empire would extend as far as Spain in the West and India in the East. Later on, parts of Africa, Asia Minor, the Balkans, the Caucasus, and Southeast Asia were also Islamized. Although military conquests continued to play an important role in Islam’s expansion, in some areas, such as East Africa, India, China, and Indonesia, Islam spread via peaceful merchants and preachers.
This vast Muslim-dominated part of the world—Islamdom—would be the stage for Islam’s experience in history. And its saga would be shaped by two separate dynamics: On one hand, the message of Islam would inform and transform the peoples of Islamdom; on the other hand, the preexisting and long-established cultures of these peoples would affect, and sometimes overshadow, Islam’s message.
This vast Muslim-dominated part of the world—Islamdom—would be the stage for Islam’s experience in history. And its saga would be shaped by two separate dynamics: On one hand, the message of Islam would inform and transform the peoples of Islamdom; on the other hand, the preexisting and long-established cultures of these peoples would affect, and sometimes overshadow, Islam’s message.
