This reminds me of the statement I heard about 20 years ago that some of the African cultures were so advanced that they people could fly. My uncle said, "If they could fly how were they captured and brought over here?"
...Sorry...

That was my first thought.

Now I understand your comments. Thanks for clarifying.

No, you are not, the term Muslim is the same as the term Islam in the media and politspeak. So what the dude was saying was that Islam found the west first. Laying the foundation for the next claim that we are really just lost Muslims who need to come to Allah... And sign everything over to them..and start a Caliphate, maybe with his stupid self as Caliph, because another thing is that Muslims ARE the largest single group of racists out there yet no one will say it, because they are fearful of their wild ass nature.Want to flip a Muslim out? Just disagree with them...(again not all inclusive, but based on personal experience as well as observation). There is a whole lot of angst stored in the religious world, which drives a lot of the political side.

More reason to restore the forty-hour-work week. Steady, long hours of employment makes poor christians and muslims of us all.

The point I was making is that islam needs only an excuse to justify using violence. Anyplace they ever occupied, for any length of time, whether they conquered it or not, is still considered theirs and STOLEN from them. To assert that they found North America first allows them to claim ownership and use whatever means necessary to conquer the land.

As for China and Norsemen both have historical evidence of their finding North America long before Columbus did. I'd even contend because of the Chinese discovery, instead of the frozen Bering Sea, that the Intuit are descendants of China and possibly even the Native Americans.

There was a bestseller a decade ago that purported the Chinese may have discovered the West. I’ve got it in a box of books never read.

islam....what a waste. This jackar$e seriously needs to pull his head out of his @$s, but not so fast so the sonic boom doesn't kill us all.

Exactly! What out for those folks from Scandinavia! Kas te raagite eesti keelt? They were vikings too, for a short while.

Maybe I am misunderstanding something. Aren't Muslims a culture like for example Chinese or German. Maybe I am misunderstanding the term religion??

What about the vikings???

Not to push the point, but paragraph 2: "Contacts between Latin America and Islam date back to the 12th century. Muslims discovered America in 1178, not Christopher Columbus," the conservative president said in a televised speech during an Istanbul summit of Muslim leaders from Latin America."
Uh, Islam=Muslims.
The point AJ is making is the use of claims that have never been proven being used as justification for other acts or claims. I am not surprised that someone in the Muslim world would make such a claim, it is actually very possible, there is a lot of newer evidence and research to say that there were explorers who were in North America long before Columbus such as Vikings, Chinese and even Muslims. They should gather some factual evidence and present it, but it still does not change a whole lot...

Uh, paragraph 1: "Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Saturday that the Americas were discovered by Muslims in the 12th century, nearly three centuries before Christopher Columbus set foot there. " Muslims practice Islam, last I heard....

I do not see a reference to religion in the article. Please explain what you mean.

As far as Muslims go, Arabic traders in lanteen rigged ships did have a reputation of being fabulous sailors, not because they were Muslim, but because they were fabulous sailors. Using religion as a quantifier is just dumbass.

Well, China makes the same claim, and in fact, there is a lot of evidence to support it. They have found Chinese anchors up and down the Pacific coast, and there is some historical evidence they actually had a large fleet of some damn big ships that circumnavigated the world in the 1400-1500 period. meaning they were leading the pack. Native Americans in the Northwest have tales of men who came from the west who brought horses, and they claim the Appaloosa is descended from China stock.