The thing is, Islam was FOUNDED on violence. It's the only modern major religion I can think of that was, all others had peaceful founders.
Great quote from another forum on this:
You cannot tell anything from this map.
First of all, it is nessesary to know that the beduins of Arabia had been in nearly constant warfare before they converted to Islam.
Second, the reason for the succes of the attacks under the first Caliphs, was the weakness of the Byzantine Empire and Sassanide Empire caused by a just finished war that left both Empires nearly powerless. The loss of the richest 3th of the empire was something Byzantium never got over, and that coupled with the extra power the Caliphate gained from conquering the Sassanides (Persia) and Egypt, made it impossible for Byzantium to defend Tunis and the remains of the North African possesions.
Third, the fall of the Visigoth Empire in the Iberian Peninsula was very swift again because of internal strife and the conquest of the Visigoths also marked the maximum expansion of the Caliphate. The empire was already at this time too enormous to govern and and the outer rim quickly became independent.
Fourth, and very important. The map of the Caliphate is not a religious map. Islam did not cover these areas. Places like Egypt and Syria had a large Christian population and when the crusaders arrived 400 years later, Palestine still had a large Christian minority.
