The causes of the early Arab expansion
أسباب سرعة الفتح العربي
Arslan surveys European explanations for how fast the Arab conquests moved: the warlike character of the Arabs, the Bedouin love of raiding and plunder, and the weariness of subject peoples with their rulers. He finds these insufficient and argues that the decisive force was moral: the Qur'an, its memorisation and the authority of its readers, together with a social and political order he says was fairer than the despotic governments it replaced. He notes the battles of Yarmuk, al-Qadisiyya and Nahavand and the reach of the state beyond the Oxus. This is the author's own explanation, and other historians disagree.
At a glance
- Era
- The Rashidun Caliphate
- Review
- Draft Completeness 1/5 · Help complete it
Overview
In the section "The Arab conquest", Shakib Arslan presents the explanations of European historians and sociologists for the speed of the Islamic conquests. Among them: the Arabs were warriors by nature, the Bedouins love raiding and booty, and the neighbouring nations had grown weary of their rulers. He holds that these explanations are not sufficient, and that the original strength was moral: the preservation and spread of the Qur'an and the strength of its men. He also holds that Islam established a social and political order more just than the despotic governments the conquered peoples had known. He mentions the great conquests of Yarmuk, Qadisiyya, and Nahavand, and refers to the extension of the state beyond the Oxus. This is the author's explanation, and other historians may disagree with it. 1
What is not recorded here needs a further source.
Sources
- Stoddard, Hadir al-ʿalam al-islami (Arabic translation with Arslan's commentary)
Cite this page
islam.museum contributors. “The causes of the early Arab expansion”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/concept/causes-of-early-arab-expansion/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Accessed 2026-10-17.