Flashpoints

Europe was Christian, the place where Christ was worshipped. Another religion grew up alongside Christianity: Islam. Christianity dominated Europe. Islam dominated a far larger region ranging from Morocco to Mindanao, from Central Asia to Zanzibar. The two religions were intimately bound not only by the shared Old Testament but also by trade, politics, war, and even alliances. At a time when tensions between the Muslim and Christian worlds are intense, it is important to see how, alongside the tension, the two religions collaborated with and shaped each other.

When the Ottomans conquered Constantinople they not only subjugated the Christians but became the dominant naval power in the eastern Mediterranean. The Ottomans had already interfered with the spice trade before their victory. Once they controlled Constantinople they squeezed the Europeans by first blocking and then imposing extremely high tariffs on goods transiting the Silk Road.

Islam had created one of the most widespread civilizations in human history. It was not a single, integrated empire. Still, if any entity ought to have conquered the world, it was Islam. Many Muslim societies had developed merchant fleets and warships, but they didn’t need to develop deep water navies. It was possible to travel from one end of maritime Islam to the other using coastal vessels, ships that traveled within sight of the coast or not far from it. They didn’t have to support the cost of developing and building oceangoing vessels. They could make port regularly, mostly in Muslim countries, for trade and provisioning.