defence. It was this that led to the profileration of minor Orders of Chivalry like the Teutonic, Santiago, Calatrava etc. which did all the local fighting. It is worthy of note that the Templars refused to get involved in these skirmishes or attack the Muslim forces in Al Andalus whom they considered legitimate and of no threat to Christian worship. The Ishmaeli derivation of the Fatimids is now well known.
It is still historically unfathomable, why Western society has not paid tribute to the Ishmaeli forces and Sufi origins of western civilisation instead of subjecting it all to shrouded obscurity. It could be that its hint of Islam and Oriental origins may have discouraged the acknowledgement but on close analysis had it not been for these forces, Christianity would not have been able to inherit its Eastern relics, holy places and above all important knowledge that would drive the Church and Western society through the second millenium with such force and successful emergence from its dark history. It was that fateful call from Syria that set into motion the rudiments of training and Christian militarism that kept the destructive forces of orthodox Islam from destroying every vestige of Christianity in its path. A destruction, incidentally, that the Prophet himself would have found sacrilegious. The Muslim presence in Al Andalus enjoyed a presence and right to rule obviously tolerated and perhaps greatly respected by the world powers. Islam on the doorstep did not seem to disturb anybody- Even the Christian Kingdoms in the North with which it had struck an uneasy balance, showed respect and jealousy perhaps at the levels of culture demonstrated. It was all probably well discussed between the Church, The Templars and the