Islam and Conquest

Submitted by Plamen (Bulgaria), Aug 21, 2017 at 02:36

Hello. Michael,

Thank you for your comments! I concur.

I only find usage of Islam by the Seljuk and the Ottomans at least equal to strategy. Their Anatolian, followed by Constantinople, Balkan, Eastern Mediterranean, European and more goals I tend to consider as a continuation of the Arab-Islamic ones. They not only "technically" occupy then exchange territories, but they have in mind first of all to Islamize them and extend the Islam realm as commenced by the prophet Muhammad in 7th century. Indeed, Islam could be be considered as a pretext or as a tool only, but they Never abandon it and never turned to another tool: e.g. another religion or so. Of course, they didn't manage to Islamize all stretches of lands they reached, esp in Europe, however it was due not exactly to them or to the doctrines of Islam, but rather to the more resilient residence of the European people and their mutual support. Those last two factors were at considerably higher level than the ones at the Middle Eastern and North African Christian peoples: many of them just opened their gates and helped Islamic conquest in other ways as well.

With best regards!

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