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Not so long ago (yesterday to be honest) I posted up new thread: AH Challenge: butterfly away islam. Out of this discussion I've got a slight view on how might look the reasons and effects of lacking islam in the world. This would be such a great loss, knowing muslim role in OTL, but still worthy of seeing such a different world - where most of known history is butterflied away.

General assumptions:
-Muhammad never founds his own religion, islam, instead becoming Christian patriarch of Mekkah
-Eastern Christianity needs an enemy to stand together facing it, without islam it might fall into infights, but the new enemy emerges: zoroastrianism threatens eastern flanks of Christianity.

Here's the beginnings of the timeline - for the good start.

622 - Muhammad proposes few reforms to Christianity to the Bishop of Mekkah. Differently from OTL, Bishop agrees and begins reforms in his dioecese. When angered Patriarch of Antioch demands to stop the reform, Bishop defends his position and gets killed by opposition in his own dioecese. Muhammad is chosen as next Bishop and declares himself a Patriarch of Mekkah.

623 - Ghassanids are confronted by both Patriarch Muhammad and Patriarch of Antioch. Unable to find a good solution between two angry lions, Ghassanids calls for help of the Byzantine Emperor, Heraclius. Emperor demands truce between the patriarchs. The two unwillingly stops fighting and Muhammad begin forming his own tradition with patriarchate in Mekkah.

625 - Muhammad confronts chieftains of several Arab tribes and convinces them to join his cause. While slowly uniting the Arabic Peninsula, the Patriarch forms new theocratic country called Patriarchate of Arabia.

630 - Last Arabic tribes are converted to orthodox christianity in arabic traidition. Ghassanids pledge allegiance to Muhammad. The Patriarchate estabilish his stable position in the centre of trade routs between Byzantium, Africa and Asia.

632 - Patriarch Muhammad dies and gets replaced by ghassanid scholar, Akbar, who continues Muhammad's reforms and starts his reign by expelling overly zealous Muhammad's father-in-law, Abu Bakr.

That's for the start. Expect more soon. Awaiting suggestions and opinions.
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