After
the
conquest
of
the
Arabian
Peninsula
by
Muhammad
and
his
followers
,
a
great
empire
expanded
from
the
Indian
Ocean
to
the
Atlantic
.
As
part
of
this
expansion
,
the
Muslims
crossed
the
Strait
of
Gibraltar
to
the
Iberian
Peninsula
,
conquering
most
of
the
region
by
the
early
century
.
This
territory
was
called
Al
-
and
became
part
of
the
Islamic
Empire
.
A
)
The
expansion
and
organisation
of
Islam
-
By
the
time
of
death
in
632
,
most
of
the
Arabian
Peninsula
had
converted
to
.
The
Muslims
took
advantage
of
their
weak
neighbouring
empires
through
military
expansion
,
conquering
much
of
the
Middle
East
,
North
Africa
and
the
Iberian
Peninsula
.
-
The
Islamic
Empire
was
initially
ruled
from
by
the
dynasty
.
-
In
,
the
dynasty
defeated
the
Umayyads
and
took
over
the
(
750
-
1258
)
,
moving
the
capital
to
.
-
During
this
period
,
some
provinces
,
such
as
Al
-
Andalus
,
Egypt
and
Morocco
,
separated
from
the
central
power
.
The
then
took
over
the
Islamic
Empire
in
1258
,
eventually
conquering
in
1453
.
-
Soon
after
the
establishment
of
Islam
,
it
divided
into
two
groups
:
the
(
who
believed
the
caliph
should
be
a
direct
descendent
of
Muhammad
)
and
the
(
who
thought
the
caliph
should
be
chosen
from
the
most
devout
believers
)
.
B
)
Cultural
and
economic
splendour
-
Arabic
became
the
official
of
the
Islamic
Empire
.
Although
other
religions
were
tolerated
,
Muslims
enjoyed
economic
and
social
benefits
.
This
favoured
the
of
most
of
the
population
.
-
New
emerged
(
Samarkand
,
Cairo
,
Kairouan
,
Córdoba
,
etc
.
)
,
which
became
religious
,
political
,
economic
and
cultural
centres
.
-
Schools
,
libraries
and
centres
for
were
created
,
and
across
the
Arab
world
was
preserved
and
developed
.
In
this
way
,
many
from
the
Middle
East
and
Asia
arrived
in
the
west
for
the
first
time
.