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then gradually proceed to Constantinople to realize the full blessings of the prophetic
hadith.

The dream that Musa failed to materialize, did not die with him because it was not
personal to him; it emanated from a hadith, which commanded destruction of
Constantinople, the Christian seat of power. In 717 or 718, al-Hurr Abd-al-Rahman al
Thaqafi took up this sacred cause.

Behind this sanctity of purpose lay the lust of plunder provoked by the riches of
French convents and churches. Thus, al-Hurr started the raids that were continued by his
successor al-Samah Ibn-Malik al-Khawlani. In 720, his luck ran out at Toulouse, the seat
of Duke Eudes of Aquitaine where he was offered effective resistances by the French
fighters. Here al-Samah died.

Now we are nearing the moments of the Battle of Tours, known as the Bataille de
Poitiers in France. This city had become the spiritual pulpit of France owing to the body
of Saint Martin, which lay buried there. Ordinary Christians, who preferred the paradisiac
blessings to the worldly comforts, saved every penny to make votive offerings at the
shrine. Though the offerers' flesh had been made lean by starvation, the guardians of the
shrine enjoyed layers of corpulence without suffering any qualms of conscience. The
popularity of Saint Martin had lent a good deal of prestige to the local churches and
convents, which boasted of gold plate and costly goblets as the results of pious offerings.

The year 732 is a landmark in European history because this is when Abd-el-
Rahman Ibn-Abduallah al-Ghafiqi, successor of al-Samah, as Amir over Spain, advanced
through the Western Pyrenees. In fact, this is the year that also marks the first centennial
of the Prophet's death. During these 100 years, the Arabs had succeeded in establishing
an empire which was greater than that of Rome at its zenith. It extended 'from the Bay of
Biscay to the Indus, and the confines of China and from the Aral Sea to the lower
cataracts of the Nile". Still, the Prophet's command concerning Constantinople had not
been fulfilled: the expected victory at Tours was to lead to the realization of this holy
aim.

As flowers attract bees, an infidel's wealth entices a Muslim to declare Jehad
against him to plunder it. Saint Martin might help the French to secure comforts of
paradise in the world-to-come but, in this life, his wealth-gathering tomb coaxed all the
discomforts of the Islamic sword, which flashed in search of booty.

Though the Battle of Tours is one of the decisive events of history, its exact
location has not been established. Some historians believe that it was fought at Mussais-
la-Bataille, six miles south west of Chatellerault. Others think that it was not one but a
series of running engagements ending near Poitiers in the defeat of Abdur Rahman, the
Chief of Cordoba (Spain).

However, there is no doubt that the major engagement of the Battle took place
between Tours and Poitiers. The French had given no cause for the Battle: its excuse was