At first like the Christians, those who practiced Islam (i.e., the Muslims) were persecuted for their beliefs which resulted in Islam failing to spread much beyond the city of Mecca, but as Muhammad gained many converts, Islam began to spread to other regions of the Middle East, mostly due to the teachings in the Holy Quran which taught that all men are equal in the eyes of Allah and are brothers in God.

The spread of Christianity and Islam was also due to a number of factors related to socio-economic and political conditions within the Middle East. For example, when Christian churches were established in some of the major cities within and outside of what is now Israel circa the 4th century a.D., many of the believers were very poor and poverty-stricken and were searching for ways to relieve their suffering, and once these believers decided to move into the...
[ View Full Essay]