[muawiyah]

It wasn't exactly "forced" on them. What had happened is the Persians had earlier brutally conquered a chunk of the Middle East. The Arabs arrived on the scene in the nick of millenial time frames and tossed them out.

The Persian leadership elite was no more popular among the Persian people than it had been among the conquered people.

At the time, the religion adjustment was a minor issue (all things considered).

[Cronos]

What had happened is the Persians had earlier brutally conquered a chunk of the Middle East. The Arabs arrived on the scene in the nick of millenial time frames and tossed them out.

Not really. The Persians were not the brutal conquerors you make them out to be. Cyrus the Great was pretty benevolent to the Jews you know. The Assyrians were cruel and so were the Babylonians. The Persians conquered them and then conquered Egypt. however, they were then knocked out by the Eastern Roman Empire. The Persians at the time of theArab invasion was Iraq eastwards, not Arabia.

The REligious readjustment was a major issue as Iranis were Zoroastrians, not people of the book (Jews and Christians) and could be slaughtered and were slaughtered like the Hindus were a bit later on.