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This has been hashed and hashed over many times, but frankly it has never really produced a satisfyingly clear picture on how an Islamic expansion into Americas will really proceed and conclude. Let's use the Almohads that manages to win Las Navas de Tolosa. It will be muslim, not engaging in the defining practices of Reconquista such as what would later become Ecomienda etc, and most likely will maintain trade ties with the rest of muslim world. What differences will that make ?

The momentum of reconquista that outlasted the reconquista itself, and the consequential lost of middle man to access global muslim trade network, fundamentally shaped the nature of Spanish colonization of Americas into the way we know, with constant lust for land, wealth and souls all essentially aimed to confront Islam in anywhere they can find her. This drive should be absent in the winning Almohads, since northern Iberia is generally dirt poor and Pyrennes would be a more difficult barrier to pass then Gibraltar strait was previously, leading to places poorer then home anyway. Then again, Almohads were not like the usual lazy muslim dynasties in Islamifying their subjects, and a victory in Las Navas de Tolosa should become something of an alarm to nearest christians, that while perhaps won't immediately unite into The Giant Voltron to kick the Moors out of Europe forever in a single war, should mount some sort of reaction to it, and how it will define the interactions between the two parties down the line perhaps will be the key in extrapolating how their conduct will be in the Americas when they finally set foot on it. Until sometimes ago I think Andalusian colonization of the Carribean will possibly resemble Southern Arabian one over the Zanj but now that I think again, Carribean is a whole lot different from coastal East Africa, especially when it comes to slave trade. However, it's also hard to imagine Islamic expansion will be as constantly assertive as OTL christian one was, since I'm not sure that even a constant antagonism with christians will mount to a drive as strong as Christian reconquista IOTL since Europe was such a dirt poor place and it didn't stand between the muslim world and some exotic luxuries or the fabled magical countries or anything. However, with someone like the Almohads in charge I doubt it will be Indonesian-style, or even Sahel, but perhaps it will be less rapid the Christian one of OTL, and tend to be more responsive to check christian advances in the New World.

Thoughts ?
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