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Members of the invading armies were not purely Arabs: they had an equal
number of Berbers, who claimed Arab descent, perhaps out of inferiority complex but
were equally African nomads having distant racial ties with Arabia. The Berbers were
paid lip sympathy by the Arabs for their fortitude, fearlessness and fighting skills. They
had accepted Islam owing to the doctrine of Jehad, which served them well to alleviate
their poverty and also give them a say in administrative affairs of the government. Thus,
the real relationship between the Arabs and the Berbers was waging Jehad for booty.
Though this process was completely horrendous, it disguised its ugliness as the command
of Allah and thus declared the sour as sweet, blight as blessing and bleak as bright.

The Muslims had gathered a lot of booty before Abdur Rahman was slain in the
battlefield. This enormous loot was affecting them on two counts: firstly, it had become
cumbersome to their mobility, and secondly, they had got what they wanted. Why enter
further clashes? It is only a hungry wolf which searches for a lamb; and the satiated one
has no such need.

Having lost their leader, the Saracens were in a critical position. It was not
possible to elect instantly a military commander of AbdurRahman's stature to win the
field; unending dissension was bound to be fatal not only to their lives but also their
looted possessions. While gaining plunder is Jehad, losing it is contempt of Jehad. So, the
Saracens decided to retreat under cover of darkness leaving the glory of the Battle of
Tours to Charles Martel.

It is an irony of history that Jehad, the sacred vehicle of plunder, which gave
Islam a tremendous boost through booty gained in the Battle of Badr, turned out to be the
biggest hurdle to the expansion of Islam in the West owing to the massive pillage in
France which they earnestly tried to protect at the expense of the sacred spirit of fighting.
It reveals the true nature of Jehad. Lesson of the Battle of Tours proved so terrifying that
the Arabs never resumed the conquest of France again.

What is the significance of the Battle of Tours?

1/. It was a brilliant victory of the Christians over the Muslims, whose rule came to be
confined to Spain. This victory gave the Christian powers a measure of self-confidence
and also established that the West would form the spiritual domain of Christ, and not
Muhammad's. Not only that, the Christians would eventually carry on Crusades for four
centuries to stem the tide of Islam. It could not have been possible without the
consciousness engendered by the Battle of Tours.

2/. The sense of unity that the European Christians gained over centuries, is owed to their
anti-Islamic attitudes, and a study of the Crusades testifies to this fact.

3/. The more important aspect of this Battle is cultural, which is better understood when
we examine the history of Muslim Spain: