Inside Islam: A Guide for Catholics

(Jacob Rumans) #1

home of St. Cyprian of Carthage and St. Augustine of
Hippo, and by711were in a position to invade Spain. Thus,
Christian Europe was beset from both the East and the West.
The campaign went well — so well, in fact, that the Muslim
commander, Tarik, exceeded his orders and pressed his
victorious army forward. When he was upbraided by the
North African emir Musa and asked why he had gone so far
into Christian Spain in defiance of orders, Tarik replied
simply, ‘‘To serve Islam.’’[33]


He served Islam so well that, by 715, the Muslims were
well on their way to conquering all of Spain (which they
would hold for over 700-years), and they began pressing
into France. Charles Martel (a name meaning ‘‘the
Hammer’’), grandfather of Charlemagne, stopped them at
Tours in 732. Edward Gibbon, author of The Decline and
Fall of the Roman Empire, observed that if the Muslim
incursion into France had been successful, ‘‘perhaps the
interpretation of the Koran would now be taught in the
schools of Oxford and her pulpits might demonstrate to a
circumcised people the sanctity and truth of the revelation of
Mahomet.’’[34]


Despite this defeat, the Muslims did not give up. In
792, the ruler of Muslim Spain, Hisham, called for a new
expedition into France. Muslims worldwide enthusiastically
responded to his call to jihad, and the army that gathered
was able to do a good deal of damage before it was
ultimately defeated. France would remain a Christian
country.


It  is  important   to  note    that    Hisham’s    call    was religiously
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