My entry into the writing of fanfic began in 2004 when I began discussing scenarios in which the character had been running for years. The GM has suggested that I enter the campaign as an Arkab Legion veteran and there was scant information, save a paragraph or two in the source books. My GM asked that I flesh out the Azami, in order to give the character more background, which involved the Sun Tzu School of Combat, and the Arkab Legions.
For the most part, my early writing was about fleshing out a group in the BT universe that received little attention.
SB: Invading Clans mentions, in a brief paragraph the Second Arkab Legion fielding Star League-era battlemechs, but there are no details, and by the time SBDC comes out, the Arkab Legions are fielding omnimechs. The information says the Second Arkab was given the Star League battlemechs on their founding but by whom? It can't be the DCMS. There were a lot of gaps that needed to be filled.
The Azami are not Arabs. There is some admixture of Arabic blood, due to the invasion that eventually conquered Spain, but the Spanish aren't Arabs. Tribes like the Berbers, are North African as well as descendants of nomadic Celts, and have blue eyes and blonde hair, even their culture resembles that of the ancient Celts.
Other groups associated with the Azami sect (religious subgroup) are the Fulani and Hausa. Historically, the Fulani (or Fulbe) people conquered the pagan Hausa in a jihad, which led to other Muslim conquests in Central Africa. The HB: Kurita mistakenly call the founder of Shia Islam (Imam Ali) a Khalif (political ruler) while the whole war between the Sunni and Shia was succession of Mohammed: The Shia backed members of Mohammed's line (Ali was his nephew) to be religious government leaders while the Sunni wanted religious and government leaders to be separate, so any references to the Azami being a Caliphate is just wrong. The Sunni Caliphate murdered Imam Ali and his family.
The Azami Worlds would most likely be a confederation of Islamic republics, although historically, North African Muslims rarely adhered to strict Islamic law on dietary restrictions, such as on pork and alcohol.