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Of course, there was religious tolerance but not to the extent that it has been
claimed. The Jews, who supported the Muslim rule, did well, but it was usually difficult
for the Christians to secure high positions in the governmental hierarchy.

The Arab culture had deformed the European way of life in Spain. The Christian
men had to be circumcised like the Muslims in the interest of national hygiene. The
sacred Christian doctrine of monogamy was violated by the Christians themselves. They
set up vast harems and also practiced pederasty on a large scale in the Arabian fashion.
There was no dearth of Christian women, who observed purdah; the number of Christian
converts to Islam were steadily rising all the time. In fact, people of Muslim Spain felt
proud of emulating their Arab masters; thus, in manners and dress, they became more
Asians and less Europeans.

It is not usually appreciated that the Western civilization is mostly an offshoot of
the manners and etiquette that were developed in the French court. All European courts
eagerly imitated them. This is what created Western culture.

Had Charles Martel lost to the Saracens, there would have been no French Court,
and no Western Civilization. Instead, Europe would have become a cultural satellite of
Arabia like all Muslim nations.

Here, I ought to add that what Rome or Constantinople offered and propagated
was not the Western civilization in its modern sense. These two centers were custodians
of the Middle Eastern tradition as handed to them in the form of Christianity. The
Western civilization is represented by the spirit and elegance of the Magna Carta and the
French Revolution: they both are indebted to the French Court for their initial
development. Had the French lost the battle of Tours to the Saracens, there would have
been no French Court with its chivalrous traditions, which lifted the status of the
European women, lending color, taste and beauty to culture. This is the foundation of the
Western aesthetics, fine arts and equality of sexes.

Finally, I should applaud the Arabic arts and sciences as they prevailed in Spain
and Sicily. They were certainly much higher than what the Europeans practiced but they
suffered from a serious disability: they were severely restricted by the puritanical faith
imposed by the Koran, which treats woman as a sexual toy and forbids indulgence in fine
arts such as painting, drama, music, dance and statuary. Still worse, the Islamic politics,
as now, was dominated by the vehemence of faith, and the power of mind was not
allowed to solve difficult situations. Everything had to be done the way the Prophet did
centuries earlier. This fundamentalism acted as the bane of the Islamic cultural and
scientific advancement, and the Muslim society became regressive all over the world.

The Muslim world is benefiting from the Western scientific advances, though
cursing the West at the same time to lighten the burden of inferiority complex.

Had the Muslims won the Battle of Tours, entire Europe would have gradually
become a part of the Arab political and cultural dominions. Exactly the same conditions