dear-o-dear,

i meant in the modern times not the medieval one. Yes, Spain was the first place that the Muslims conquered in Europe. No doubt about that. But after the defeat of the Ummayyads at the Hands of Fredrick and Isabella in Spain, there were practically no Muslims left there. Remember, all of them were either butchered or forced to emigrate to Africa and other places.

When i said France is Bab-ul-Islam, it was in the present day context. What we see is the exclusion of Islam/Muslims from the Western society after the fall of Spain. And the first instance that we see any substantial number of Muslims playing some role either in the spread of Islam or leading their daily lives, is in France alone. This is what i meant to say. There was a gap of several hundred years before we see any role of Islam in Europe.

Now you would point out Turkey, Bosnia etc etc. But i doubt whether they had any role to play in Europe in Recent history. Vienna was the farthest that the Turks got in Europe and they were expelled from there.

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Umar Abbas Babar
I Know I am Bad But When Bad is the Best, Bad is the Only Choice