Slavic civilization Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Slavic civilization - Term Paper Example This gave them a solid ground and an opportunity to win more souls. This essay therefore aims at looking at the spread of Islam in the Balkans gauging the period from which Islam began to have rather a strong impact on the Slavic in the Balkan. It is therefore very difficult to speak about Islam in various parts of Europe and Asia without reflecting on a brief history of the spread of the Slavic people. The Slavic are an Indo-European speaking people who migrated to various parts of Europe. Presently, they occupy various parts of Central Europe, northern Europe, and southern Europe. They also occupy parts of central and northern parts of Asia. The word Slavic is a term derived from the word ‘slovo’,1 meaning- people who speak the same language. Originally, the term Slavic was used to refer to a people who had common language or culture. The Slavic speaking people are believed to have originated from somewhere in Danube River as shown by that term. The people they were ex posed to when they were travelling regarded the Slavonic people as backward. One reason why they were viewed as primitive was because of the places they inhabited. Early historians believe that the Slavonic majorly inhabited swampy places and those places that were near rivers and lakes. The Slavonics were organized into groups and had no one ruler. They lived a democratic way of life in their social structure, each living in harmony with his neighbor2. They were monotheists, believing in one god, the god of lightning. They sacrificed to this god of lightning majorly cattle, of which they chose the best among what they had. Going by their description, the Slavonic were tall people, who were very hardy and mostly trounced their opponents in battle. Historically, whenever they went to battle against their opponents, they could engage them in a fierce battle, fighting unanimously. This was contrary to how they lived. They lived in isolation but they could approach battle as one, fighti ng a common enemy. Their mode of fighting was unique. They could role the helm of their trousers nearer to their private parts, and bare-chested. They did not have any problem in identifying themselves when in battle. They were almost similar in appearance given their gigantic nature and the way they shove their hair, almost blonde. Guided by the scriptural teachings of Koran, the Muslims took their mission to various parts of the world, including to the Slavic people. The Muslims believed that they had an obligation to defend their religion. This formed the basis of fighting to convert people to the new faith. They believed that it was their right; as Prophet Mohammed required that Islamic faith was to be guarded3. This could be the reason why they waged wars, wars they commonly called Jihad (holy war) before it lost its meaning. The Jihad war was waged just to protect the Islam religion from losing its influence. It was believed to be one way of ensuring that other rival religions especially Christians do not influence win over the already converted Muslims. The spread of Islam in Europe began with the imprisonment of one Muslim who much later was given a mandate to teach. He taught Islamic religion to many people who were later converted to Islam. It must be acknowledged that the spread of Islam did not take place effectively through war. People easily got converted voluntarily through teaching than when war was used. This explains why it was voluntary teaching that helped