Changes

One of the great results of the battle was the Arab armies were now in a position to benefit from the technical and infrastructure built by the Sasanians in the region of Iraq. This allowed them to build using new technical capabilities they acquired and developed using Persian and Classical science. Furthermore, scholars who were based in Persia, who had come from many parts of the ancient World, including Greece and India, now were employed by the Arabs. This allowed not only the great Golden Age of Arab science and philosophy to be possible, and thus develop indigenous new discoveries, but it also allowed much of the lost knowledge in Europe, after the collapse of Rome, to be copied by the Arabs. This knowledge was then transferred back to Europe in the Medieval period, eventually helping to influence the Enlightenment that allowed a new period of discovery to emerge in Europe.<ref>For more on how Arabs incorporated Persian and Classical science and knowledge, see: Al-Khalili, Jim. 2010. <i>Pathfinders: The Golden Age of Arabic Science.</i> London: Allen Lane.</ref>

If the battle resulted differently, where the Muslim armies could have been routed, then one possibility would be that Islam and the Islamic Empire would have found it harder to expand outside of Arabia. If the Sasanians were able to hold to their power then it would have been difficult for another major rival power to emerge in the Middle East. In effect, the Sasanians had to be defeated for the Islamic Empire to expand and for Islam to spread. In religion, this would have likely meant that Zoroastrianism, rather than an obscure religion today, could have remained relatively prominent and may have even expanded to other regions, perhaps even rivaling Christianity in places. Many of the tenants, good versus evil, resurrection of the dead, and judgment day were present in this religion, which could have made it attractive for some populations. The Arab language would have been far more obscure as well, while Persian and Greek, spoken by the Byzantines, could have become more common languages across the Middle East. Cities such as Baghdad would have likely not been founded, while the city of Ctesiphon, which was likely the largest city in the 7th century CE during the battle for Qadisiyyah, would have remained as the cosmopolitan center of the Sasanian Empire. It is hard to know if Jacobite Christianity, and Eastern Christianity in general, including the various Orthodox faiths, would have thrived in the Middle East if the outcome of Qadisiyyah would have been different, as the conflict between the Byzantines and Sasanians would have likely remained.<ref>For more on the significance of the conquest of Islam and fall of the Sasanians, see: Crawford, Peter. 2014. <i>The War of the Three Gods: Romans, Persians, and the Rise of Islam.</i> First North American edition. New York, NY: Skyhorse Publishing.</ref>

Battles are often decisive moments in history that prove one direction or path in history could be undertaken based on the outcome. This was the case at the Battle of Qadisiyyah, where the Islamic army was able to not only triumph but the results of the battle allowed them to surge into what is today Iraq and gain a new confidence and finance their campaigns that helped propel their other expansions. The results probably would have been very different if the battle was lost by the Arab army, as the Sasanian Empire would have been in better position to then dominate the Middle East. Religion and language changes are the most visible outcomes from the battle's significant results. However, the results also influenced how the Arabs eventually created contacts with Europe, where important Classical works and philosophy was transferred back to Europe, including new developments in Persian and Arab sciences and philosophy, that helped to launch the Enlightenment centuries later.

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