Matters of Humanities

Season 1, episode 2: Image of Islam

Published on 3 January 2023 - Created by Maurits Berger

What did Europeans think of the Muslims who had been entering Europe since the eight century? Was it just another group of warriors, like the Vikings in the north and the Huns in the east? Or were they seen as a new religion, perhaps even a challenge to Christianity? In the previous episode we talked about the wars of conquest and raids undertaken by the Muslim Arabs. We have seen that raiding and conquering was done by everyone, everywhere. But a question that has been preoccupying many academics and observers is whether the Muslims were perhaps conquering for another reason, and that is: to spread Islam.