What would have happened if........

[Kublai-Khan]

Mahoma has never been born.


How do you imagine the world today without the Islamic explosion?

 

[History_Buff]

By Mohama do you mean Mohammed?

 

[Knight-Dragon]

Who is Mahoma? You mean the Islamic prophet Muhammad?

One off that I can think of - Sassanid Persia and the Byzantine Empire would still be slugging it out in Mesopotamia. The Persians would probably fall later, to the nomadic hordes fr Central Asia. Turks, Mongols etc.

I would also imagine the Byzantines would survive longer, had they retained control of Egypt and the other Roman provinces. Maybe sufficiently strong to wrestle back Rome and parts of the western empire.

 

[History_Buff]

The Byzantines most likely would not have succeded in taking back all of the Western Roman Empire, but there would be alot of Orthodox Christians out there.

 

[Pellaken]

well... lets approach this event by event:

the crusades wouldent have happened.
therefore, byzantine would have lasted
the entire region would be diferent...
the turks would have still came...

wow
you'd need some REAL thought... too long for me to think about

 

[Magnus]

I think Islam in one form or another would have arrived with or without Mohammed. Allah was already there as the creator god of the then polythestic Arabian religion. Granted, the TIMING of the rise of Islam was perfect, for the Romans and the Persians had just slugged it out and were reeling from war - and they were ripe for the picking...

 

[MCdread]

I agree with you Magnus. Some form of monotheistic belief, with more less the same values of Islam woud have turned out. Those who seek in the sands of the desert the reason for the explosive success of Islam will never understand this capital event in the history of Mankind. In my opinion, the origins of Islam should be looked for, not in the arabic peninsula, but in the shores of the Mediterranean. The fact is that before Muhammad, Christianism was facing a turning point in the East. Something would have happened. Many people were already looking for new paths, and a revolution was imminent. The reason for the quick implementation of Islam is that this new belief was bringing the answers the people were looking for. The fact that it came from Arabia only means that the Arab language became the major one in the Middle east and Northern Africa.

But, had this religion appeared in, say, Egipt, rather than Arabia, and maybe today the cultural differences between the two sides of the Mediterranean would be smaller. But, a schism in the mediterranean christianism was inevitable.

 

[Kublai-Khan]

Originally posted by MCdread
I agree with you Magnus. Some form of monotheistic belief, with more less the same values of Islam woud have turned out. Those who seek in the sands of the desert the reason for the explosive success of Islam will never understand this capital event in the history of Mankind. In my opinion, the origins of Islam should be looked for, not in the arabic peninsula, but in the shores of the Mediterranean. The fact is that before Muhammad, Christianism was facing a turning point in the East. Something would have happened. Many people were already looking for new paths, and a revolution was imminent. The reason for the quick implementation of Islam is that this new belief was bringing the answers the people were looking for. The fact that it came from Arabia only means that the Arab language became the major one in the Middle east and Northern Africa.

But, had this religion appeared in, say, Egipt, rather than Arabia, and maybe today the cultural differences between the two sides of the Mediterranean would be smaller. But, a schism in the mediterranean christianism was inevitable.

In this page of Ancient History it says that In Carmania -A persian satrapy located deep inside the persian empire- the first bishop had been deployed there just a few years before the muslim conquest, so in my opinion Christianity was still a religion in Expansion.

"The first Christian bishop can be dated in the middle of the seventh century, shortly before or after the Muslims took over (646)."

http://www.livius.org/cao-caz/carmania/carmania.html

So, in my opinion christianity would have continued expanding in Persia.

I agree with you McDread but I think that in the hypothetical case of a world without Islam, a new sect in Christianity or a wider differentiation between the Western and eastern churches would have probably turned out.
Not a new religion.

 

[Knight-Dragon]

I agree with you McDread but I think that in the hypothetical case of a world without Islam, a new sect in Christianity or a wider differentiation between the Western and eastern churches would have probably turned out.
Not a new religion.

A Christian sect (that's excom by the Catholic pope) did expand eastwards. It's the Nestorian Church, with their main patriarchy based in Mesopotamia originally. They expanded all the way into China and at one time was the biggest Christian church, but died off after the Mongols were kicked out of China and Islam expanded all the way in their tracks.

 

[Octavian X]

The founding of Islam can be ranked as one of the most monumental marks in the history oof mankind. Had this religion not been formed, its followers would not have taken the Holy Land. The Crusades would have never happened. It was the Crusades that inspired European exploration through the Atlantic in their attempt at trade with the East when they blocked off all direct European-East trade. The Crusades also resulted in a great exchange of ideas that would eventually begin the Rennsance (sorry about the spelling). Even today, we would not see the Palestinian-Israeli conflicts.