In a bold challenge to dominant academic and media narratives, historian and author Raymond Ibrahim offers a radically different portrayal of Islam’s rise and its enduring impact on Western civilization. Drawing on his background as an Arabic-speaking Coptic Christian and a scholar of medieval history, Ibrahim asserts that Islam's early expansion was not a peaceful or enlightened movement, but a violent and deliberate campaign of conquest, suppression, and civilizational erasure—particularly of the Christian world.
A Century of Conquest
According to Ibrahim, a critical and largely forgotten fact about Islamic history is the sheer speed and scale of its military expansion. From the death of Muhammad in 632 AD to the Battle of Tours in 732 AD, Muslim forces had conquered three-quarters of the then-Christian world. Egypt, Syria, North Africa, and much of the Middle East—once the heartland of early Christianity—were overrun, and churches were destroyed by the thousands.
“These weren’t just Christian regions,” Ibrahim says, “they were the most Christian—Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, Constantinople. And they were violently Islamized.”
This sweeping conquest, he contends, laid the foundation not only for future Muslim empires, but also for centuries of religious persecution and cultural displacement.
The Crusades: A Response, Not an Aggression
Ibrahim argues that the narrative surrounding the Crusades has been dangerously distorted. Contrary to popular belief, the Crusades were not the first blow in a religious conflict—they were a delayed reaction to centuries of unprovoked Islamic aggression.
He cites brutal episodes preceding the First Crusade, including mass killings of Christians by Seljuk Turks, the burning of churches, and the harassment of Christian pilgrims. The destruction of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem in 1009 by the Fatimid caliph al-Hakim, and the slaughter of 30,000 churches in Egypt and Syria, highlight the scale of religious persecution.
When Pope Urban II called for the First Crusade in 1095, it was in response to these atrocities. “What people forget,” Ibrahim notes, “is that the land the Crusaders sought to liberate was originally Christian. The Holy Land had been seized violently, and Christians there were being killed, enslaved, or forcibly converted.”
The Myth of Andalusian Tolerance
One of the most persistent historical myths Ibrahim targets is the so-called “Golden Age” of Islamic Spain (Al-Andalus), often portrayed as a harmonious multicultural paradise where Muslims, Christians, and Jews coexisted peacefully.
In reality, he argues, this “golden age” was punctuated by systematic oppression. He points to the Martyrs of Cordoba—Christians executed for blasphemy during this so-called tolerant era—and highlights that much of the wealth attributed to Andalusian brilliance was the result of plunder and the exploitation of subject populations.
“When people say Andalusia was advanced while Europe was in the Dark Ages,” Ibrahim says, “they forget that Islamic Spain’s prosperity came largely from plundering Europe—through piracy, slavery, and conquest.”
Saladin and the Whitewashing of Jihad
Another figure Ibrahim scrutinizes is Saladin, the Muslim leader often lionized in Western narratives as a paragon of tolerance and magnanimity. While Saladin is credited with allowing Christians to leave Jerusalem peacefully after his 1187 victory, Ibrahim insists the reality was far less noble.
“He threatened to slaughter every last one of them until they agreed to pay ransoms,” Ibrahim notes, citing primary Muslim sources. “Those who couldn’t afford it—mostly women and children—were sold into slavery.”
He connects this to modern jihadist behavior, noting how ISIS mimicked Saladin’s brutal mass executions, down to beheading prisoners in orchestrated displays rooted in medieval Islamic precedent.
Islam and the Formation of Europe
Far from being a background force, Islam played a defining role in shaping Europe’s identity, Ibrahim argues. The disintegration of Christian centers in the East forced Europe to evolve as a martial, isolated, and defensive Christian society.
The Viking slave trade, he notes, was partially driven by Arab demand for white slaves, while the militarization of Christian orders and the rise of Charlemagne’s empire were responses to constant Islamic pressure. “Without Muhammad, there would be no Charlemagne,” he echoes from earlier historians like Henri Pirenne.
Modern Amnesia and Historical Whitewashing
Perhaps Ibrahim’s most urgent concern is how all of this history has been suppressed, misrepresented, or ignored in modern discourse. He criticizes scholars like John Esposito and Karen Armstrong for presenting Islam as a peaceful force and depicting Christians as the primary aggressors.
He blames political correctness, postcolonial guilt, and ideological conformity in academia for this trend. “There’s a strong narrative today,” he says, “that Western Christians are always the villains, and non-Western Muslims are the perpetual victims. But the historical record tells a very different story.”
Ibrahim’s books—Crucified Again, Sword and Scimitar, and Defenders of the West—are his attempts to correct what he calls “fake history,” a distortion with far-reaching implications. He warns that understanding the true history of Christian-Muslim relations is vital, not only for honoring those who suffered in the past, but for recognizing the dynamics still at play today.
Conclusion
Raymond Ibrahim does not claim to present a comprehensive history of Islam. Rather, he seeks to restore balance to a narrative he believes has been tilted by ideology, misinformation, and academic neglect. His work is uncomfortable, controversial, and unapologetically revisionist—but it forces readers to confront the complexities and consequences of a history too often sanitized for modern sensibilities.
For those willing to examine the less-told side of history, Ibrahim’s perspective is as challenging as it is indispensable.
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