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Date published: 11/19/2005
When we saw the title of Paul Akers' Oct. 30 essay, "Why Islam didn't conquer the world," we were pleased to see a too-often-ignored subject such as the early history of Muslim-Christian relations receive space in our community's newspaper. Mr. Akers' attempt to bring what is clearly a keen interest in European history to the attention of readers is to be commended. His vivid prose style, clearly reminiscent of the comic books that inspired him as a child, retains the reader's attention. Unfortunately, Mr. Akers' contention that if the Franks had not defeated the Muslims at Tours we would all be Muslims today, still practice slavery, and have neither enlightenment nor fun in our lives is riddled with factual errors and broad misperceptions of history. Mr. Akers' contention that a dynamic, free, and technologically innovative civilization is intrinsically linked to Christianity is objectively false. In 732, and for approximately the next eight centuries, the Islamic world was far more dynamic, tolerant, and innovative than Western European Christianity. The medieval Muslim world tolerated ethnic and religious diversity much more than the medieval Christian world, and was no more oppressive of women. Jews and Christians held high offices in Islamic Spain, whereas the Christians murdered, expelled, or forcibly converted every Muslim and Jew in the kingdom after they took over. Furthermore, everything we know about ancient Greek and Egyptian science, literature, and philosophy comes to us through the scientific culture that grew up around the Islamic empires of that era. The ancient texts were ignored or destroyed by medieval Christians such as the Franks, whom Mr. Akers so admires. These texts returned to the cultural heritage of the West only when scholars learned Arabic and translated them into Latin. The overwhelming majority of the advances in engineering, mathematics, and navigation that eventually enabled Western European Christians to colonize much of the rest of the globe were bought, borrowed, or stolen from the Muslim world. And let us not forget that those brave pioneers who planted the cross in the Western and Southern Hemispheres were almost to a person guilty of the most appalling crimes against the native inhabitants. These crimes were nearly always committed explicitly in the name of Christ. Consider the documented history of atrocities inflicted on native Americans by Christians during the expansion of the United States. As scholars of Middle Eastern history, religion, geography, politics, and languages here at the University of Mary Washington, we appreciate Mr. Akers' efforts to popularize the complex history of Muslim-Christian relations in Europe. We believe, however, that readers would ultimately be better informed on this subject if Mr. Akers made use of facts and research in addition to comic books and fashionably speculative works of fiction. A topic so important deserves more than propaganda and broad generalities. Nabil Al-Tikriti, Mehdi Aminrazavi, Ian Campbell, Farhang Rouhani, and Ranjit Singh Fredericksburg
1. Be respectful. No personal attacks.
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