Western scholars often refer to Western civilization as Christian. The ongoing conflict between radicals of the Arab world and the West is often portrayed as a conflict of civilizations, with the assumption that the dominant cultural influences in Western civilization, …
The adoption by Europe of Islamic techniques is reflected by the many words of Arabic derivation that have passed into the vocabularies of European languages. In English these words have often, but not always, entered the language from Italian or Spanish. To cite but a few examples: in textiles-muslin, sarsanet, damask, taffeta, tabby; in naval matters-arsenal, admiral; in chemical technology-alembic, alcohol, alkali;