The Worlds of Islam

During the Classical Era (sometimes called the post-Classical) which took place from 500 AD to 1500 AD, Islam was spreading and being worshipped by people all over the world. Arabs, Persians and Turks were major carriers of Islam during this period. Places that are considered to be part of the Classical Era have seminal thinkers, cosmopolitan areas, and  an empire. Islam straddled more than one continent- specifically on Europe, Africa, and Asia, the only major continents of the time. Islam had converted people who had a different faith at first and became the main religion of previous civilizations. In West Africa and Spain, there were thriving cosmopolitan centers. In West Africa, Timbuktu was the Islamic epicenter of the region. This city had over 150 level Quarnic schools and several major centers of higher education with thousands of students from all over West Africa. Timbuktu also had libraries that held tens of thousands of books and manuscripts. What Spain unique was that the people who lived there who had either a Jewish, Islam, and Christian background and relationships between them were good without any conflict for a short period of time. They all made brilliant contributions in astronomy, medicine, the arts, architecture, and literature flourished.This changed under the rule of al-Mansur in 981. At this period, the only group being persecuted in this region were Christians. As Islam trekked into India, it was being resisted by people who had a strong Hindu faith - the main faith of the previous civilization. Muslims aggressively attacked both the Hindus and Buddhists by smashing their temples, then carried off mass quantities of Indian treasure. Hundreds of years later, people the more egalitarian Islam attractive by dis-illusioned Buddhists and low-caste Hindus. Also people who converted to Islam in India benefitted by being free of taxes imposed on non-Muslims.