The Rise and Spread of IslamThe world you once knew is falling into ashes and food has become so scarce that people are fighting over a few pieces of bread . The political class is too busy fighting among itself to care about others. Children wander the streets and beg for work to feed their dying and hungry stomachs. This is not a scene from a horror film, but rather the reality of the early post-classical era. In these difficult times, the people turned to a higher power, resulting in a religious upsurge. The main religion of the post-classical era that had the greatest impact on people was Islam due to Muhammad, trade routes, the Black Death, conquests, and Islamic culture. The Prophet Muhammad had a significant impact on the rise and spread of the religion Islam. According to World Civilizations, Muhammad “began receiving revelations transmitted from Allah,” and later these revelations became sacred scriptures in the Quran. Muhammad started with very few followers, but as faith in Allah began to spread, he gained more followers and became a threat to the rulers of Mecca. As mentioned in World Civilization, "in 622, Muhammad left Mecca for Medina where his able leadership brought new followers." In Medina, Muhammad became the religious authority of the region and he used this power to conquer Mecca, a holy place for Islamic believers. By the time of his death, he was able to create a religious empire that controlled the entire Arabian Peninsula. Along with Muhammad's influence on Islam, trade routes also had a significant impact on the spread of Islam. The most important and best known trade routes were the Silk Roads and the Indian Ocean trade route. In these trade routes, along ......ts paper and knowledge of other nations and sometimes improved or added to them and passed them on to other nations, which strengthened the belief of Islam even more to people. Overall, the rise and spread of Islam was very significant during the Postclassical era.Bibliography1. Him, Xinru. Ancient India and ancient China, commercial and religious exchanges AD1-600. Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1997.2. Stearns, Peter, Michael Adas et al. Civilizations of the world. Pearson, 1995. Electronic book..3. Unknown, . “The Postclassical Era – A History of the World through Disease.” Weebly. Weebly and Web. December 9, 2013. .4. Yale, . “The Spread of Islam.” Yale. n. page. Internet. December 9. 2013..