Starting in the early period, it's worth noting that many Islamic territories are dirt poor.
There's not much point to having very high taxes in Arabia, for instance.
So it seems to me than manually setting your taxes to very low spares a Muslim player from the need for so many garrison troops . Having smaller garrisons means more troops for attacking.
Conquering a province that is not in the desert will raise income much more than raising taxes on poor provinces.
Muslims can attack because they don't get Play nice warnings from the Pope. By the time the Catholic factions organize crusades, Islamic factions will have counquered much of the southern map. They can also have a nice trade network in the works.
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