A history question. If the Spanish hadn't ousted the muslim people from spain would europe now be Islamic?

Question

but stew2easy the Spanish aren't intent of taking over the world.

but stu2easy the Spanish aren't intent on taking over the world or of world domination are they?

Answer 1

Let's say the influence and propagation of islam would probably have been more widespread. But Christianity prevailed.

(Bet that raises some hackles)

Answer 2

Everyone here seems to forget the Ottomans, who were a much greater and more recent threat to Europe than the Moors in Spain. The Ottoman empire conquered Constantinople in 1453, but had already taken chunks of Europe before that. However, the Ottoman armies eventually took over most of the Balkans and surged all the way to Austria, eventually beseiging Vienna before they were stopped at the beginning of the 18th century, long after the Spanish won their final victory over the Muslims in Spain. Some Europeans did convert to Islam under Ottoman occupation, especially in Bosnia and Albania, and still are, but most didn't. The Ottomans didn't really leave the Balkans completely until the 20th Century, when their hold on Europe collapsed in the Balkan Wars just before WW1. So, the Spanish can take up the claim as defenders of the Christain West, but they can hardly claim sole responsibility. Lots of other peoples also played very important roles, long after the Spanish played their part.

Answer 3

Yes, if the muslims would have united the way the europeans did under the banner of christianism, it would have been possible. They would have needed the Ottomans probably to succeed, so they would need a common cause.
However, it was not a war or conquer of faith, it was a war of kingdoms to have territory.

All in politics then was centered on getting a big territory, to get more power and taxes, ... and it was done by to marriage or wars, so why would they have thought differently ?
Maybe they realized in time that going too far into Europe is harder to control and keep the territory ... and therefore they did not pursue this idea further. (Napoleon and Hitler made these mistakes with Russia.)

The Spanish needed an awful long time to oust them from the Iberain peninsula.

Answer 4

The muslims never expanded towards central Europe from the Iberian Peninsula area after their defeat in the Battle of Tours, in the year 732.

It was more likely to Europe be islamic from the eastern side. This question is wrongly asked in my opinion.

edit: The battle of Tours is the same thing of the battle of Poitiers, it should be pointed out. The christian reconquest began much earlier (not in the XIII th century), but in the VIII century, under Pelayo orders. Half of the Iberian Peninsula (not Spain at all - Spain only exists after 1492) was already reconquested in the eleventh century. There were already several christian dinasties with elaborated territories firmed.

The atlantic coast was fully reconquest in the XIII th century (Portugal). The muslim were only around the Granada area (conquest in 1492, uniting the crowns of Leon and Castille and then formed Spain).

Remember that was the battle of Vienna in the XVII th century. The Islam influence in Europe was then finally defeated. But their entrance was eastern, as the political and social kingdoms in the west were far more powerful.

Answer 5

I'm not sure if all of Europe would be Islamic, but certainly a good chunk of southern Spain would still be (if not all of Spain). The truth is, the Muslims living in Spain simply didn't have enough support to keep the Christians from pushing them back into the sea. They were a relatively large contingent of settlers and soldiers, but were facing the might of a continent united behind one religion (much as northern Africa was united by Islam, thus making it nearly impossible for Christians to maintain a foothold there).

Answer 6

Almost certainly not.
The Moors (North African Arabs) had expanded as far as they could by that time, defeating the Visigoths who had invaded Spain previously; they had then tried to expand over the Pyrenees but were defeated by the Francs at the Battle of Poitier in 732 AD.

In fact the Moors in Spain were a beacon of knowledge in Europe of the dark ages continuing to teach the mathematics, science and knowledge from the Greek and Roman philosophers. Much of Aristotle's work in biology as well as the Arab knowledge of mathematics (including the numbers we use today: 1, 2, 3, 4 and so on - replacing the Roman numerals system of: I, II, III, IV and so on) and alchemy arrived in Europe via this route.

The Moorish dynasty ruling Spain broke away from the Arab rulers in North Africa and in turn became fragmented under local lords. It’s unlikely they would have ever been able to expand further after that and made the reconquest by Christian kings (begun by Alfonso VIII of Castile in the 13th century) much easier.

If the reconquest hadn’t happened then the parts of Spain under Moorish rule would probably have remained isolated enclaves, probably becoming influenced in turn by western thought and ideas brought by traders.

The Moorish influence on Spain was great however and is still apparent in the architecture and artistic influences of modern Spain. Many of their greatest achievements such as the magnificent Alhambra palace are world famous and visited by tens of thousands of people throughout the year.

Answer 7

No it would not have taken over , Christianity was in ascendancy from the 7th century and becoming stronger as time passed , as the Muslim Faith was strongly linked to the Arab nations there decline meant there religion was associated with them and went into decline in Western nations, It was Christianity that started to take over nations not
Islam . The Muslims in that period were nothing like the Islamic faith as it is today there were very enlightened and civilised, the nations that they conquered were allowed to practise there own faith and given greater freedoms , as the western nations have now . It was Christianity that didn,t allow diversions and punished anyone who did not tow the line , that is how the Spanish Inquisition came about

Answer 8

No, that's silly. Major Muslim expansion had ceased in Spain by 1492 and the people were living peacefully. The whole point of ousting the Muslims, as well as other religions, was to unite the Spanish under one religion; Christianity.

Answer 9

The kind of Islam being managed by the Moors was a million times better than that on offer today, from which ever source you care to choose.

If the Moors had remained in Spain, there is very little doubt that their influence would have spread to France and thus eventually to Normandy.

There is little doubt that Islam would then have spread from France into Britain and possibly to the rest of Europe in time.

The sort of Islam practised by the Moors is best described as benign in the sense that citizens were well cared for in time of need and when sick or ill etc and the old were honoured in a way that they just never have been in our so-called Christian Europe [Christendom].

Try these links for more information on the Moors in Spain etc : -

Who were the Moors in Spain: Tarik Ibn ZeyadWho were the Moors and what was their role in Spain? Tarik ibn Zeyad was a Moor who was instrumental in conquering Spain and honored by having the Rock of ...
http://www.ri.essortment.com/whoweremoorsi_ogk.htm

THE INFLUENCE OF THE MOORS IN SPAIN AND PORTUGALThe same degree of intellect and learning was brought by the Moorish conquerors of the Iberian peninsula to Portugal. Like Spain, that country was to be ...
http://www.cwo.com/~lucumi/portugal.html

If you listen to Spanish and Portuguese music today you can hear the Moorish influence - the guitar owes it's origins to the Arab world and is not a Western instrument.

Alirio Diaz : Five Centuries of Spanish Guitar Music - Listen ...Alirio Diaz Five Centuries of Spanish Guitar Music reviews and sound clips on the ARTISTdirect Network.
http://www.artistdirect.com/nad/store/artist/album/0,,76038,00.html

One very important point about the Moors of Spain is that they were entirely tolerant of Christianity and at no time did they ever force anyone to convert to Islam.

The real problem for Spain and thus Europe began when Arab Islamists swept down along the North African coast and made their way into southern Spain and this lead to war.

You can get a much better idea of what was going on back then if you see a movie titled el Cid.

Try this link : -

Amazon.com: El Cid: DVD: Charlton Heston,Sophia Loren,Raf Vallone ...Amazon.com: El Cid: DVD: Charlton Heston,Sophia Loren,Raf Vallone,Geneviève Page,John Fraser,Gary Raymond,Hurd Hatfield,Massimo Serato,Frank Thring,Michael Hordern etc.
http://www.amazon.com/El-Cid-Charlton-Heston/dp/B00005JKO3 - 205k

Answer 10

You are forgetting the moors in the south of France, the languedoc in particular. Thes peopl gave a lot to Europe, some of which is stll relevant today !