Custom «Middle Eastern History » Essay Paper Sample

This essay aims to summarize the approximate number of topics covered and understood regarding Middle Eastern history subject. Different topics are being shown here which will reflect the history of most of the Middle East countries in relation to their belief, religion, alikeness and orientations be it on the religious side, the political or the historical. Some of the topics that will be included are the common characteristics of the Middle East Countries on the aspects of geography, culture and political states. Regions prior to the advent of Islam like the Roman/Byzantine and Parthians/Sasanian Empires and their relationships are also included on this essay. Further, points learned from the life of Prophet Muhammad and his influences on the religion on most of the Middle Eastern country as well as the five pillars of Islam are also included.

Middle East has a very rich cultural heritage and historical value. It is one of the world's most influential and most diverse microcosms of the world. Its history dates back from the ancient times. It has also the origin of various religious denominations like Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

Countries in the Middle Eastern have common characteristics and traits. Its geographical aspects including climate, agriculture and natural resources are at most very similar. Middle Eastern countries have an arid and very hot climate. Most of these places are incorporated with deserts and limited areas for planting. They have also a large deposit of crude oil and other valuable minerals which makes them very economically stable and sensitive market hubs. With regards to their culture, Middle Eastern Countries have manifold spoken languages. They also have the same concept for clothing like they wear "malong" - long dress for woman and a veil for their head. This veil accordingly is one of their traditional artefacts used to preserve the married state of a Middle Eastern Woman and preclude the idea of extramarital attraction.

Prior to the advent of Islam, several empires emerged and these are the Roman-Byzantine Empire and the Parthians-Sasanian Empire. During the Roman-Byzantine Empire, there had been a lot of conflicts between the Middle Eastern countries and the Romans due to the issue of the exploitations of lands. The Roman was very powerful then conquering much of the Middle Eastern countries. Conflicts occurred during the Roman-Persian and the Byzantine-Arab wars resulting to several setbacks on the Romans. However, the remaining territories of the Roman-Byzantine Empires, during their downfall at the Byzantine-Ottoman wars, were ceded to the Muslim Ottoman Empire. Parthian-Sasanian Empire also known as Arsidic Empire had a long battle with the Roman-Byzantine Empire. This was the first series of conflicts between the Romans and the Iranians. However, reconciliation occurred between the two empires.

Arabian Peninsula is the world's largest peninsula which covered 1.2 million square mile of the world's land area. It plays a very important geographical and political role in the world because of its large deposit of oil and natural gas. The Arabian Peninsula was also the place where prophet Muhammad established a new unified polity. This was the place where the introduction of islam to the peninsula began. Mecca became the birthing place of the unification of all the Arab people and solidified the religious formation of Islam.

The life of Prophet Muhammad was also discussed. Prophet Muhammad was considered as one of the world's most famous prophet because of the foundation of the religion Islam. He was considered as the messenger and the prophet of God. He was born in the Arabian city of Mecca wherein he was raised by his uncle Abu Talib. According to history, at age 40, he received his first prophetic revelation from God and started preaching all over the Arabian Peninsula and was a pillar in unifying the tribes of Arabia. He was asserting according to God's revelation to him that "God is one". This has resulted to the conversion of many Arabian tribes and together they have become Muslims. Prophet Muhammad and his followers have also faced harsh treatments from the Meccan tribes which became the reason for them to migrate to Medina. In Medina, he united the Meccan tribes and then eventually they conquered Mecca. According to the history, a couple of months after Prophet Muhammad returned to Medina, he had fallen ill and eventually died.

Discussed also was the five pillars of Islam wherein it shows the five basic acts in Islam that is considered compulsory or obligatory to all Muslims. The framework of worship is based on Quran, their equivalent to Christian's Bible. The five pillars are shahada (creed) professing the belief to the only one true God who is Allah and they should not believe to any other god. The second one is salat (daily prayers). It is performed during dawn, noontime, afternoon, sunset and during the evening. Another one is the sawm, an obligatory act during the month of Ramadan however; exceptions are applicable to those who are critically during the event. The fourth one is Zakat wherein they have to give something to the needy as a sort of alms-giving or charitable work. The last one is Hajj wherein it is being done on their most sacred and holy place, Mecca.

There was also the Caliphate era which refers to the first constitutional convention of the Islam. This was led by Muhammad's disciples as a continuation of his established political system. The head of the state is called Caliph and the other officials are leading the people basing on the constitutional law that delimits the government's control over the citizens. There are also modern day political issues encompassing the Middle Eastern countries. Conflicts have occurred on countries like Libya and Saudi Arabia because of constitutional issues. This had resulted to several harsh conflicts between the Kadafi and his people, urging him to renounce his position. Because of this, various economic aspects were affected especially those relating to the prices of crude oil in the world market. Many countries dependent on purchased oils have suffered a lot because of the accelerated increase on the market prices of crude oils. Apart from these, many foreign workers of these countries are fallen displaced because of on-going military conflict on these countries. Several foreign workers were misshaped due to massive rallies and protest against the government.