Criticizing Islam is racist?

[abaris]

And Arabs did much to foster the advancement of knowledge and society in Europe, even if they weren't the direct transmitters. They invented the lateen sail, allowing ships to tack closer against the wind. They preserved much of the knowledge of the Greeks when the Catholic Church was busy expunging it. They imported the concept of zero from the Indians, and exported it to Europe. They invented algebra. Further information to be found in these wiki-links:

Also, don't forget the crusades. Westerners learned a lot about hygiene and started to "Arabize" when trying to colonialise the Middle East. They saw the advantages of the lifestyle and it's for a reason, I repeatedly mentioned Avicenna, since Middle Eastern medicine was already heavily influenced by his writings. Which was more advanced by some lightyears to everything the Westerners had in stock.

The nominal German emperor Frederick II was one of the first to notice what could be learned from that part of the world. And he actively invited muslim scholars to his court in Sicilly. He also "conquered" Jerusalem by negotiating instead of bloodshed. Which is often forgotten and, of course, got him banned by the church.

Also, it's for a reason our numbers, in general, are called Arabic. The same reason we're writing latin letters.