March 23, 2013  The Muslims and Sri Lanka  By Kamalika Pieris 
The first wave of Muslims to arrive in Sri Lanka came from West
Asia. Therefore let us briefly look at the Muslim achievements
in West Asia. Islam originated in the Arab Peninsula, where the
Prophet Mohammed preached in 622 AD. Islamic religious teachings
are held in the Koran and the Islamic social life is guided by
the Islamic Sharia Law. The Arabs, once converted to Islam, went
on an expansionist spree which eventually swallowed up Egypt,
Syria, Persia, Iraq and finally, in 711 AD, Spain. Virtually all
those countries had their own civilisations prior to
Islamisation. Persia had developed the Persian script and had
the Zoroastrian religion. But they all converted to Islam and
accepted the Arabic language. By the end of the 8th century, the
Islamic empire extended from Persia to Spain and included parts
of Northern Africa as well. There were two political centres.
Firstly, Damascus (660-750 AD) and thereafter Baghdad (750-1258
AD).  Between the