Across the history of the Islamic world, traders travelled among regions with different rulers, languages and local customs. Commerce could connect these places without making them one political state. Shared religious institutions and commercial practices sometimes helped people organise exchange across distance.
The useful distinction is between a network and an empire. Goods, people and ideas can circulate through overlapping routes even when political authority is fragmented. To understand a historical connection, trace who travelled and what arrangements supported them, as well as who ruled.