The Turkish Ottomans were Sunni. The Persian Safavids converted Iran into Shi'ism. They both had a far better record dealing with Jews than the Europeans, who at best forced the Jews to live in ghettos. The Orthodox peasants of Eastern Europe preferred the Muslim masters to their potential Catholic liberators - the Habsburgs.

The Berbers may have terrorized the North Africans, but were not the primary Muslim Empire.The three primary Muslim Empires of the Middle Ages, in order of population and economic size, were the Mughal, the Ottoman and Safavid Empires. The Mughals integrated their Hindu subjects, and created a syncretic Hindu-Muslim culture which flowered with musicians like Tansen, Sufi saints like Kabir, and buildings like the Taj Mahal, Red Fort, Humayun's Tomb, Badshahi Mosque, Jama Mosque and countless others.