thank you for making this accessible

Great lecture and insights. Thanks. I’d say Islam did expand by the sword for the first couple centuries, as was commanded in Surah 9:29. The prior Caliph in Baghdad tried to kick out non-Muslims and got overthrown. Abbasid then learned from their mistake and now did allow non-Muslims. I‘ve heard so often over the years that in 700-900 CE Baghdad was the golden era of Islamic enlightenment with algebra, astronomy, medicine, etc. As you say “they ingratiated themselves” into Judaism. They certainly did, hence trying to make themselves an Abrahamic religion in medieval times 😂 Muslims claim to be connected to Abraham by Ishmael, yet the truth comes through Isaac and Jacob, which Muslims are commanded to believe but don’t. Surah 2:136 “We believe in Allah, and in what has been revealed to us and to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob and the descendants (of Jacob) and in what was given to Moses and Jesus and in what the other Prophets received from their Lord.” So their whole attempt to borrow from Jewish patriarchs and make them their own, yet also be a “final revelation” of them, is contradictory and confusing because the truth came through Isaac and Jacob, not Ishmael. Nevertheless, what is called the Islamic Golden age, I call “the time Muslims caught up because they were in a location which enabled them to”. 1. that area was predominantly Christian, along with many Jews living there. It wasn't a full on Muslim country yet. 2. It was the biggest trade hub connecting 3 continents. They had access to everything. 3. They didn't invent algebra, but improved it. And it was improved upon later even more by Europeans and others. 4. They allowed all the Ancient Greek philosophy and other writings to be translated into Arabic so they could all finally catch up with what others had taught before. It's like North Korea moving to a place of trade and allowing themselves to finally gleam from others. Or it's like how Dubai is so successful today because of how un-Islamic it is and puts a huge limit on Sharia law and brings in Europeans, Australians, and others to design and build their infrastructure and buildings.