Arabic Language and Civilization in the Eyes of the European History

Abstract

Though the direct and indirect effects of the Arabic language in the Middle Ages on some European languages such as Spanish, French, and English, there were little discussion of this fact in their histories, especially in the history of English. The little discussion of this fact is due to many various reasons. First, consideration of the Orient by the Europeans as their ancient domain led to many cultural conflicts between the Arabs and the Europeans historically. The cultural gap between the Oriental and Occidental person for understanding the other. Second, many attempts to occupy the Orient give clear illustrations that the Europeans, especially the British and the French consider the Orient as a place that hold their second identity and origins of their religions, Judaism and Christianity. During the complete colonization of the Middle East in the 19th and 20th centuries make the reader figure out how important the Orient for the Europeans in general and for the British and the French in particular. Then the descriptions of the Arabs as inferior and ignorant make one understand that the practices of some Arab people for polygamy and their oppression of the Arab women are unacceptable in the European cultures and traditions. Therefore, the Arabs are classified as backward, “primitive and slave traders” (Ridouani, 2016, p.2). This paper argues and investigates the cultural reasons regarding the Occident’s ignorance of this fact in their history.