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Originally Posted by erneiz_hyde
Hmm...seems like that battle was the decisive fatal blow. Though, if possible, could the PoD be something less "obvious"? By that link, I learned that Andalus grip on the area was already weakening. Why is that? Perhaps if we chain a few PoDs addressing a few of these along the way, we can bring a more stable Andalus to be able to withhold themselves and eventually partake in American colonization? Something like, doing something about the internal condition of Byzantine instead of having them win Manzikert.
Btw did we have Islamic colonization of America IOTL?
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I'm not sufficiently well versed in Islamic Spain history, but as far as I know, it had to do with the administrative construction laid down in previous centuries by the then-rulling Umayyad dynasty, which was complicated by the composition of the muslim ruling elite, with the ethnic divisions among them. It will then form the basis for the rise of taifas after the era of
Almanzor. Some have argued that Al-Manzor was the one who triggered the break up of the already-loose and fragile structure of Al Andalus polity.
Umayyads' inactiveness in proselytizing Islam to their christian subjects also contributed to the fragileness of Umayyad political structure, as it prevented the muslim population from growing sufficiently large to be the base of a more cohesive polity. You can say that it was maybe why the suceeding regimes that came from North Africa embarked on forced conversion campaign. They were indeed fanatical to begin with, but there was likely to be political visionary consideration behind it.
So, we either need to make Umayyads less alergic to the idea of letting jizya tax-base to deplet through too much conversion to Islam, or less ethnic rivalry. Eliminating Asturias should also help.
And to answer your second question, no it didn't happen. At best, there were muslim slaves being brought to work in plantations in the Americas. Brazil had the largest number of them.