The Islamization of the Silk Road

Foltz does prove Bentley’s point in the writing of The Islamization of the Silk Road, it actually says so before the selection, and it’s also in the text. Foltz has the three main themes in his wiring: voluntary association, syncretion, and pressure. An example of voluntary association of Islam would be Muhammad preaching to the people in Mecca about the divine voices of God he heard and told his followers God’s plan, which was all voluntarily and no one was forced to believe in his practice. An example of syncretion that happened was the principle of mawla, which was to have a new believe be paired with an older, experienced follower who would essentially be the newbie’s mentor and guide to the new religion. The pressure to join Islam could be about the marriage laws (a non-Muslim can marry a Muslim, but the children have to be brought up like Muslims) and business (merchants got better deals if they were Muslims since so many people were Muslims). I’m sure there is a better example for pressure, but I got confused when Foltz started talking about the rulers and the changing of capitals and keeping track of what religion was what.