page_title: Spread of Islam
section_title: By region
hierarchical_section_title: Spread of Islam / By region
context_page_description: The history of the spread of Islam spans about 1,500 years. Muslim conquests following Muhammad's death led to the creation of the caliphates, occupying a vast geographical area; conversion to Islam was boosted by missionary activities, particularly those of imams, who intermingled with local populations to propagate the religious teachings. These early caliphates, coupled with Muslim economics and trading, the Islamic Golden Age, and the Age of the Islamic Gunpowders, resulted in Islam's spread outwards from Mecca towards the Indian, Atlantic, and Pacific Oceans and the creation of the Muslim world. Trading played an important role in the spread of Islam in several parts of the world, especially Indian traders in southeast Asia.
  Muslim dynasties were soon established and subsequent empires such as those of the Umayyads, Abbasids, Fatimids, Mamluks, Seljukids, and the Ayyubids were among the largest and most powerful in the world.
caption: Age of the Caliphs   Expansion under Muhammad, 622–632/A.H. 1-11   Expansion during the Rashidun Caliphate, 632–661/A.H. 11-40   Expansion during the Umayyad Caliphate, 661–750/A.H. 40-129