The Legend of Salahuddin
A thousand years ago, the Christian nations of Europe embarked upon a war from which we get the term Crusades. Yet in the midst of battle, the Christians acknowledged the scruples of a great and just Muslim leader, Salahuddin Ayyubi (known to them as Saladin), who fought them hard but with dignity. As we will see, his example is one we could all learn from.
The Spread of Islam
Following the death of the Holy Prophet(sa) in 632 CE, his successors took the message of Islam across the Middle East, Northern Africa and Southern Europe. By 634, all of Arabia had accepted Islam, by 635 Damascus followed, and by 640, Egypt had joined the fold.
The Muslims provided security to the Christians and Jews wherever the Muslims gained influence, and were well regarded by the Christians and Jews. Examples were in Palestine, Spain and Egypt where outside influences had kept the Christians and Jews subjugated for years before the arrival of the Muslims.
When Khalid bin Waleed took Damascus in 635 CE, he set the precedent for the way that the conquering Muslims dealt with their non-Muslim subjects. The non-Muslims, largely Jews and Christians in Damascus for instance, were afforded full protection of their lives, possessions and places of worship in return for a tax known as Jizya.
In 638, Jerusalem capitulated in a bloodless episode. Again the city dwellers and their Greek Christian Patriach Sophronius were offered the same Jizya terms. The people of Jerusalem were shocked that the Jizya was less cumbersome than the tax they had been paying previously to their Byzantine masters. They then expected a grand entrance by the powerful Muslims, but instead were even more shocked to see Caliph Umar(ra), the leader of the fastest expanding empire in the world, arriving walking barefoot and sharing a camel with his slave. This was the spirit of simplicity and brotherhood of the zealous Muslims.
News of the rapid advance of the Muslims in the Middle East would have been greeted with concern and interest by the Christian Kings of Western Europe. But that concern would have reached fever-pitch when they heard the news that the Muslims had taken Spain in 711 CE and were advancing towards Paris in the West, and the heartland of China in the East.
It was only after a defeat to Charles Martel in Tours in 732 CE, a mere 150 miles from Paris and less than 250 miles from the British coast, that the Muslims decided that they had overstretched themselves, and retrenched to the borders of Spain.
The Crusades
Christianity was starting to fare badly at the hands of politicians who launched programmes (Inquistions) against any Christians that they thought to be heretical. In Spain, these Inquisitions were later to be launched against the Muslims and Christians as well.
The Popes yielded great power in the Catholic faith. It was Pope Urban II who called for the Christians to launch an expeditionary war at the Council of Clermont on 27 November 1095. The aim was to repel the Muslims and to reclaim the Holy Land, and also to protect Constantinople (ironically it was the Crusaders themselves who ransacked Constantinople in 1204 and this lead to the taking of the city by the Ottomans). The Pope urged action, and promised a reward of God’s favour and a seat at His Throne.
In part this resurgence was sparked by the Fatimid Caliph al-Hakim who had tampered with the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem in 1009 against the teachings of the Holy Qur’an. The Qur’an teaches that, to denigrate the deities of other faiths or to harm their places of worship is not just evil, but would attract reprisals on Muslims.
Soon, in 1099, the Crusaders captured Jerusalem and created a Christian kingdom, planting Godfrey of Boulogne as the new prince. The attack on Jerusalem had been horrific, with no mercy shown to even women and children. Rivers of blood ran through the narrow streets of the city. More than seventy thousand people were massacred at this occasion by the ruthless Crusaders.
The Crusaders, drawn from several European countries, and organised into Knights Orders such as the Templars and Hospitaliers, found themselves with a city full of booty. Not only were they told that their sins would be forgiven, but they now had the chance to be rich merchants.
The Christian Crusaders from Western Europe had been ransacking the Middle East. When they reached Cairo led by Amaury the 1st of Jerusalem, they burnt down the old Muslim quarter of al-Fustat. The city would have fallen to the Crusaders but for the intervention of the Sultan of Syria.
Far from uniting the Muslims, some of the Muslims used the Crusades as an opportunity to gain revenge on local rivals, and some allied themselves with the Franks. It was in this dire scenario that renewed and urgent action was needed to unite and lead the Muslims. The Jews also sought protection for just as they were finding under the Inquistion, the Crusaders had no need to spare them also. The Jews also found their old alliance with the Muslims useful once again.
…More to follow in next posts.