“The great peninsula, formed the Red Sea, by the Euphrates, by the Gulf of Persia and by the Indian Ocean, and known by the name of Arabia, is the birthplace of our creed. It was peopled soon after the deluge by the children of Shem, the son of Noah. In course of time, the brave Yarab established the kingdom of Yemen, whence the Arabs derive the names of themselves and their country.”
“In Alexandria, the Mohammedans wrought direful vengeance on Christians for the crimes which the arrogant and fanatical St. Cyril had committed there two centuries before, by extirpating Grecian learning and by inciting his monks to under the wise Hypatia. The extreme northern part of Africa brought their armies to a sudden halt. Here they encounter two strong foes. First, the people called Berbers “the Noble,” a tall, noble-looking race of men, active, high spirited and indomitable.”
“They [Berbers] had the same patriarchal habits, the same Shemitic features, were equally skilled in the use of arms and the breeding and handling of horses, and so the Arabs believed them to be of their own race. The Northern coast of Africa has been called by the Romans, from the dark complexion of its people: Mauritania and its people were called Mooriscos, or Moors. When the superior force of the Arabians compelled the Moors to submit, at last, the conquerors and the conquered coalesced so completely, that in less than a decade the one could not be distinguished from the other.”
See The Jews and Moors in Spain By Joseph Krauskopf