AHC: Islam-friendly Enlightenment

Challenge: have many Enlightenment figures have a positive view of the Islamic religion to the point of considering it superior to Christianity, just as many Enlightenment-era scholars (Voltaire or Leibniz, for instance) admired Chinese institutions.
 
Enlightenment takes place in an Muslim majority state.
(tips hat and walks out)

ok fine

Have a strong Islamic power that likes Europeans and is technologically developed. Given technological progress and a friendliness to Europe, the only two kinds of states that would fit this would be an Egyptian Caliphate/Sultanate/Whatever, or a Persian one. Naturally they must be enemies of the Ottomans, so that Europe REALLY likes them. Give them a scholarly ruler. Let the stories begin!
 

Wallet

Banned
Have an independent state out of the Levant (Palestine, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon) established by European powers from Ottoman territory. Around 1700 by a coalition. They can't decide who controls it so it becomes an independent mandate where Europeans are free to enter.

Although Muslim majority, the capital has Muslims, Jews, Catholics, and Greek Orthodox all living and studying together. The University of Jerusalem becomes world renowned for its diversity and tolerance. Several enlightenment and religious scholars vacation here on the beautiful Mediterranean beaches.


So this ATL Palestine is seen almost as the birthplace of the enlightenment.
 
Enlightenment takes place in an Muslim majority state.
(tips hat and walks out)

ok fine

Have a strong Islamic power that likes Europeans and is technologically developed. Given technological progress and a friendliness to Europe, the only two kinds of states that would fit this would be an Egyptian Caliphate/Sultanate/Whatever, or a Persian one. Naturally they must be enemies of the Ottomans, so that Europe REALLY likes them. Give them a scholarly ruler. Let the stories begin!

Most likely Persia, with that Shiism would have more of an influence in the modern world being seen in the West as the Enlightened Islam. To radicals though, Shiites would probably be even more hated as sell-outs to the Western pigs.

That would be an interesting timeline on what effect a Shiite Enlightenment would have on the world.
 
Tang win against Muslim, Later breakup into warlord state like OTL
One ambitious warlord united stepps under him, Proceed to invade cuman and turk around him
Keep invading without much resistance and infinite wealth(Ruled silk road)
His descdent continue his work of harrassing nomadic peoples
More turk infleunce in Arabia, Due to migration
Caliph welcomed people of the book in jerusalem(Jew and Christain), Grant them equal right in order to balance power against discontent turk
Alliance of Caucasus Kingdoms and Caliphate, Ensured that byzantine will never invade
Caliphate focused invansion on Ethiopia, Where those catholic never heard of
Umayyad destroyed by series of norman raider, No muslim fear in europe
Chineese lord arrived in rus, Start demand tributes
Nobody pay,Million of looters arrived and pillaged Kiev
Many rus asked Georgia,Bulgaria for help, Some fleed to Poland
Baptized Rus lead coalition of Orthodox alliance against Turkish horde(lead by ambitious chineese)
Defeated
Pope and Patriarch launched Crusade against them
Caliph launched Jihad in order to revenge and conquer stepps
Chineese horde crumbled due to overextension and lack of trades(Everyone fight them)
Abrahamical religions tolerated each other and share technology
Boom, ASB timeline.
 
You just need some Muslim philosophers in the West.

One scenario that I'm particularly interested in is the mass migration of Moriscos to the Dutch Republic. I'd be awesome to have a community of Muslim merchants in the Golden Age Netherlands, WI a Muslim equivalent of Spinoza?
 
Maybe have Voltaire visit and temporarily stay in the Ottoman court? If Voltaire found things that he enjoyed, it might colour the views of later enlightenment thinkers enough for them to pay it more positive heed.
 
Enlightenment was somewhat Muslim-friendly. The Ottoman Empire was widely admired for its tolerance even if criticized for its despotic style of government (although absolute monarchies in Western Europe at the time weren't really much less despotic, let alone, say, Russia).
Recent scholarship has shown the impact of Islamic philosophy and literature on the European thought of the era: One thousand and One Nights and Philosophus Autodidactus were best-sellers, and the Averroist tradition was in influential on seminal Enlightenment thinkers like Spinoza. Montesquieu's Persian Letters show at least a grudging respect for the Muslim societies (although with a great deal of critique). Some Enlightenment scholars that strict Islamic monotheism was more "rational" than Christian trinitarianism (and sectarian strife), a feeling with which Muslim intellectuals would have strongly agreed. So I don't think it would be so hard.
 
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