Another look at Islamic Spain

Submitted by Rajeev (United States), Sep 10, 2010 at 00:23

Dear Dr Pipes:

Islamists look at Spain under Islamic occupation with fondness. The rest of the world is not sure how to look at it. I see a very close similarity between Pakistan and Iran and Spain. This similarity is easy to miss. So what is the similarity between Iran and Pakistan on one hand and Spain on the other? Today no one questions Pakistan's right to be 98% Islamic. With a little bit of twist in history, if the Islamic rule had continued in Spain, just like Pakistan and Iran (and the other countries in northern Africa and middle east), Spain had been 98% Islamic, bomb blasts would have been routine, democracy would have been dead and buried, and, most of all, no one would have questioned the right of the potential 'Islamic Republic of Spain' to be 98% Islamic. The Cordoba Church would have looked like Hagia Sofia.

Should we be thankful that the church in Spain was strong and met the Islamic might with strength and conviction? Let the readers be the judge.

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