Islam originated on the Arabian Peninsula in the 7th century and spread primarily through military conquests and trade routes. It quickly expanded across the Middle East and North Africa, reaching as far as Spain in the west. From there, it spread further eastward to Central Asia, the Indian subcontinent (including South Asia), and Southeast Asia. It also spread to parts of West Africa through trade routes across the Sahara Desert. However, it is important to note that Sikhism is a separate religion from Islam and originated in the Indian subcontinent, primarily in the Punjab region, during the 15th century. The Safavid Empire, on the other hand, was a predominantly Persian Shia Muslim empire that ruled over parts of present-day Iran and neighboring regions from the 16th to 18th centuries.
