For centuries, the relationship between the Muslim world and what we now call France has been shaped by extraordinary acts of civilizational generosity — and then by a betrayal of everything that generosity represented. In episode #822 of The Deen Show, Sheikh Omar draws a striking historical contrast: during the height of the Crusades, when Muslim armies had every justification to act with vengeance, they instead demonstrated remarkable statesmanship — capturing a Frankish king in battle and choosing not to harm him, but to treat him with the full dignity accorded to a prisoner of war, ransoming and releasing him home. That same civilisation, rooted in Islamic faith, guidance, and purpose, sent the first elephant ever seen on European soil as a diplomatic gift, along with a sophisticated water-powered clock and treasures of gold and silver. Yet today, the French state that proclaims liberté, égalité, fraternité fines Muslim women for covering their faces while simultaneously mandating those same faces be masked by law. Understanding this contradiction — and what it reveals about France, about nationalism, and about Islam’s comprehensive message to humanity — is the heart of this episode.
Statesmanship, Generosity, and the Forgotten History Between Muslims and the Franks
During the era of the Abbasid Empire, it was the Muslims who first extended a hand of friendship toward the Franks — not out of weakness, but out of the confidence of a civilisation leading the world in science, culture, and spirituality. Sheikh Omar recounts how Muslim rulers gifted the Frankish court an elephant (a sight so extraordinary it became the talk of the continent), an intricate water clock that struck the hour from twelve windows (which Frankish priests, believing it devilish, promptly destroyed), and an array of gold and silver treasures. These were not merely diplomatic gestures — they were a transfer of knowledge, a bridge between two worlds. Even during the brutal theatre of the Crusades, the Islamic tradition of principled warfare held firm: the captured Frankish king was ransomed and returned unharmed, treated no differently from any other prisoner of war under Islamic law. “We transferred technology that made them interested in us,” Sheikh Omar reflects, “and we treated them overall much better — even though we made mistakes too — but much, much better than they treated us, especially the French.” This history matters not as a point of pride, but as evidence that Islam has always carried within it a framework of justice, mercy, and genuine engagement with the world.
- A Muslim ruler sent the first elephant ever seen in Europe to the Frankish court during the Abbasid era — a gesture of diplomatic outreach and cultural sharing
- A Frankish king captured during the Crusades was treated as a prisoner of war under Islamic ethics — ransomed and returned home unharmed
- France colonised and massacred Muslims in Algeria, with conservative third-party estimates placing deaths in the hundreds of thousands — a history it has never fully reckoned with
- French law bans the niqab with fines while mandating face coverings for the general public — a direct contradiction exposing the selective application of “universal” values
- Over 70 mosques and Islamic charities have been closed or targeted in France, and new restrictions on homeschooling specifically impact Muslim families
- Sheikh Omar identifies the French Revolution’s nationalism — the elevation of the nation-state as an object of near-sacred loyalty — as a modern form of shirk, dividing humanity by borders rather than by values or divine guidance
- Islam, as a complete way of life, offers not only personal spiritual practice but a comprehensive blueprint for economic justice (prohibiting riba/interest), corporate accountability, family empowerment, and the protection of women’s dignity
“There was real statesmanship back then — a respect for the other. Muslims captured the king and they could have done anything. They could have killed him. But they did what is usually done in situations like that: ransom the prisoners of war. He was treated just like any other prisoner of war — and he was returned back to them.” — Sheikh Omar
France’s Contradiction and Islam’s Answer — When “Liberty” Has Limits
The contrast between that history of noble exchange and the present reality in France could not be more stark. Sheikh Omar identifies France as carrying a uniquely fierce “allergic reaction” to Islam among European nations — rooted in its post-Christian secular identity, its unresolved colonial guilt, and a deepening anxiety about demographic change. The irony, he points out, is painful: France colonised Muslim-majority peoples, extracted their resources and labour, and now finds itself hostile to the very communities it helped displace. The laws targeting the niqab, the closure of Islamic charities under the broad label of “counter-extremism,” and the push to restrict Muslim homeschooling reveal a state that has confused secularism with the suppression of faith. Sheikh Omar argues this is not accidental — it is structural. When a society builds its identity on nationalism rather than on divine guidance, demographics become a source of existential fear rather than human diversity. And Islam, as a complete system that challenges interest-based economies, upholds genuine corporate accountability, and offers women a sacred and protected space rather than the spectacle of commodification, represents a genuine intellectual and civilisational alternative that secular power structures find deeply threatening.
“The biggest threat to the secular system is a truly functional Islamic society — one with no alcohol, no drugs, no sexual anarchy, where women are treated as royalty and businesses are held to real moral accountability. If you could establish that model and show it to the world, the world would be interested — because the world is thirsty for a system of justice.” — Sheikh Omar
What this episode ultimately calls every Muslim — and every sincere truth-seeker — to is not bitterness or defensiveness, but depth of understanding and clarity of faith. The history of Islam and France is not simply a story of oppression; it is a story of a civilisation that once led with grace and was repaid with hostility, and that must now respond not with mirror-image hostility but with the same principled confidence that defined Muslim statesmanship at its finest. France’s contradictions are not unique — they are the natural fruit of any system built on shifting human ideology rather than divine guidance. Islam’s answer has always been comprehensive: justice for the individual and for society, accountability in economics, dignity for women and families, and a spirituality that gives life genuine purpose. The path forward for Muslim communities in France, in the West, and across the world is to embody that guidance with sincerity, to seek knowledge and critical thinking as the Qur’an commands, and to build alliances rooted in shared human values — because a world hungry for justice will always, eventually, be drawn to the light of the truth that Islam carries.
