The Crusades- Islamic Perspectives
Page 1
THE CRUSADES
ISLAMIC PERSPECTIVES
THE CRUSADES
ISLAMIC PERSPECTIVES
Carole Hillenbrand
First published 1999 by Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers
Published in the United Kingdom by
Edinburgh University Press Ltd
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Published 2017 by Routledge
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© Carole Hillenbrand, 1999
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ISBN 13: 978-1-57958-210-4 (hbk)
To Margaret and Ruth
Contents
Expanded Contents List
List of Colour Plates
List of Half tone Plates
List of Figures
Preface by Yasir Suleiman
Acknowledgements
Note on Transliteration and Translations
Note on the Illustrations
Glossary of Islamic Terms
Glossary of Arabic Military Terms
Chronological List of Major Medieval Islamic Authors Mentioned in the Text
Chronological Table of Important Events until the Fall of Acre in 690/1291
Dynastic Tables
Key to Abbreviations Used in the Text
Sources for the Illustrations
CHAPTER 1: Prologue
CHAPTER 2: The First Crusade and the Muslims’ Initial Reactions to the Coming of the Franks
CHAPTER 3: Jihad in the Period 493-569/1100-1174
CHAPTER 4: Jihad in the Period from the Death of Nur al-Din until the Fall of Acre (569-690/1174-1291)
CHAPTER 5: How the Muslims Saw the Franks: Ethnic and Religious Stereotypes
CHAPTER 6: Aspects of Life in the Levant in the Crusading Period
CHAPTER 7: Armies, Arms, Armour and Fortifications
CHAPTER 8: The Conduct of War
CHAPTER 9: Epilogue: The Heritage of the Crusades
Bibliography
Index
Expanded Contents List
CHAPTER 1: Prologue
General Introduction
The Approach of This Study
Recent Arab Scholarly Approaches to the Crusades
Some of the Limitations of This Book
The Nature of Medieval Muslim Sources
The Accessibility of Medieval Muslim Sources
Books in European Languages about the Muslim Side of the Crusades
Translations of Primary Arabic Sources
The Crusades: A Short Historical Overview
CHAPTER 2: The First Crusade and the Muslims’ Initial Reactions to the Coming of the Franks
Introduction
The Muslim Sources for the First Crusade
The General State of the Islamic World on the Eve of the First Crusade
The Devastating Events of the Years 485-487/1092-1094
The Debilitating Effects of Religious Schism
The Spirit of the Times
The Eastern Perspective - Seljuq Disunity, 485-492/1092-1099
Anatolia in the Late Eleventh Century
The Egyptian Perspective 487-492/1094-1099
A Summary of the State of the Islamic Lands on the Eve of the First Crusade
Syria and Palestine on the Eve of the First Crusade
Why Did the First Crusade Come? - Muslim Interpretations
The Course of the First Crusade: Muslim Accounts
The Fall of Antioch
The Fall of Ma‘arrat al-Nu‘man
The Conquest of Jerusalem
The Treatment of the Jews in the First Crusade
The Oriental Christians at the Time of the First Crusade
The Role of the Byzantine Emperor in the First Crusade and its Aftermath - The Muslim Version
Muslim Reactions to the First Crusade and the Establishment of the Frankish States in the Levant
An Overview of the Years 492-504/1099-1110
Displacement of the Muslim Population
Crusader Expansionism and Muslim Disunity, 491-518/1099-1124
The Egyptian Response
The Seljuq Response
The Local Syrian Response to the Frankish Presence
Tailpiece
CHAPTER 3: Jihad in the Period 493-569/1100-1174
Introduction: Aims and Structure of the Chapter
Definition of Jihad: Its Roots in the Qur’an and the Hadith
Jihad in the Early Islamic Period
The Elaboration of the Classical Islamic Theory of Jihad
Spiritual Jihad (the ‘Greater Jihad’)
Modification in the Classical Theory of Jihad
The Realities of Jihad in the Pre-Crusading Period
The Muslim Border with the Nomadic Turks of Central Asia
The Muslim Frontier with Byzantium
The Lack of Jihad Spirit in Syria and Palestine
The Evolution of the Phenomenon of Jihad in Crusader Times
The First Tentative Steps towards the Revival of Jihad
Zengi and the Fall of Edessa
The Coming of the Second Crusade in 543/1148 - a Turning-Point in the Jihad
The Career of Nur al-Din, 541-569/1146-1174
The Religious Dimensions of the Career of Nur al-Din
The Relationship between Nur al-Din and the Religious Classes
The Image of Nur al-Din in the Written Sources
The General Status of Jerusalem in the Medieval Islamic World
The Role of Jerusalem in the Propaganda of the Counter-Crusade
Jihad Literature from the Time of Nur al-Din
CHAPTER 4: Jihad in the Period from the Death of Nur al-Din until the Fall of Acre (569-690/1174-1291)
The Career of Saladin: The Basic Framework
The Heritage of Nur al-Din
Jihad Propaganda in the Time of Saladin
Saladin’s Jihad: The Evidence of the Medieval Muslim Chroniclers
Saladin’s Personal Jihad
Saladin and Jihad in Modern Scholarship
Saladin and Jerusalem
Nur al-Din and Saladin – a Comparison
A Historical Introduction to the Ayyubid Period, 589-647/1193-1249
Jihad in the Ayyubid Period: A Hollow Sham?
The Fate of Jerusalem in the Ayyubid Period
The Power of the Preacher to Rouse the Populace to Jihad
An Overview of Jihad in the Ayyubid Period
The Mamluk Period until the Fall of Acre, 648-690/1250-1291
The Career of Baybars, 648-676/1260-1277
The Jihad Titulature of the Mamluks - Evidence of Monumental Inscriptions and Chancellery Documents
Baybars and Jihad: The Evidence of the Chroniclers
The Attitude to Jihad amongst the Military and Religio
us Classes in the Early Mamluk Period
Jihad and the Fall of Acre, 690/1291
Ibn Taymiyya and Jihad
Mamluks and Jihad: An Overview
General Reflections
The Theories of Sivan and Köhler
Jihad in More Recent Times
CHAPTER 5: How the Muslims Saw the Franks: Ethnic and Religious Stereotypes
Introduction
Sources
Usama and Ibn Jubayr – Two Contemporary Sources
The Value of Popular Folk Literature
Muslim Stereotypes of the Franks: The Formation of an Image before the Crusades
Later Medieval Views of the Franks in the Cosmographical and Geographical Literature
The Portrayal of the Franks in Popular Folk Literature
An Overview of Muslim Attitudes to the Franks before 492/1099
Two Stereotypical Frankish Characteristics: Lack of Hygiene and Sexual Laxity
Muslim Attitudes to the Franks: The Religious Dimension
Frankish Defilement of Islamic Sacred Space
The Sight of Frankish Religious Buildings in a Muslim Setting
The Frankish Occupation of the Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock
The Frankish Threat to the Pilgrimage and to the Holy Cities of Arabia, Mecca and Medina
Popular Muslim Views of Frankish Filth and Contamination
The Evidence of Contemporary Muslim Poetry
The Purification of Islamic Space
The Holy Land Itself
The Image of ‘the Other’: What’s in a Name?
The Christian Symbol of the Cross
The Contrasting Symbols of the Cross and the Qur’an
The Cross as a Symbol of Misfortune for Muslims
The Central Importance of the Cross
Christianity’s Use of Images
What the Muslims Knew about Christianity
Muslim Polemic and Propaganda about Frankish Christianity
The Religious Gullibility of the Franks
The Intensification of anti-Christian Propaganda in Saladin’s Time
The Propaganda Value of Saladin’s Magnanimity
The Importance of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre
Muslim Views on the Papacy and the Superiority of the Caliphate
The Propaganda Value of the Correspondence of Muslim Rulers
The Level of the Muslim Debate about Frankish Christianity
CHAPTER 6: Aspects of Life in the Levant in the Crusading Period
Introduction
The Visual Landscape of Frankish Occupation
The Language Barrier
Differences between the Franks
Muslim Views on the Crusader Religious Orders
Muslim Views of the Frankish Leadership
Frankish women
Education
Medicine
Was the Frankish Lifestyle Influenced by the Muslims?
Shared Chivalric Values between Muslim and Frankish Knights
The Ridiculous Side of Frankish Chivalry
The Fate of Muslims under Crusader Rule
Travel
The Conduct of Religious Worship: The Appropriation of the Religious Monuments of ‘the Other Side’
The Incidence of Conversion amongst Muslims and Franks
Freedom of Worship
Cultural Exchanges between Muslims and Franks - the Evidence of Islamic Art and Architecture
The Long-Term Effects of Crusader-Muslim Contact
Conclusions
CHAPTER 7: Armies, Arms, Armour and Fortifications
Introduction
Previous Scholarship on Crusading Warfare
The Aims of this Chapter
The Problem of the Medieval Islamic Sources
The Evidence of Works of Art
The Military Manuals of the Muslims
The ‘Mirrors for Princes’ Literature
The Composition of the Muslim Armies at the Time of the Crusades
The Arms and Armour of the Muslims
Fortifications in the Levant in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries
CHAPTER 8: The Conduct of War
Muslim Military Strategy
A Muslim Army on the Move
Battles
Siege Warfare
Muslim Accounts of Individual Sieges
General Remarks
The Evidence of Three Islamic Works of Art
Other Aspects of the Conduct of War
The Naval Dimension
An Overview of the Value of the Islamic Sources on the Conduct of War
CHAPTER 9: Epilogue: The Heritage of the Crusades
Introduction
The Development of Muslim Interest in the Crusading Phenomenon
The Evolution of the Saladin Myth
Modern Manifestations of the Islamic ‘Counter-Crusade’: A Few Case Studies
Some General Reflections
Mahmud Darwish: Memory for Forgetfulness
Concluding Remarks
List of Plates
Colour Plates (appear between pages 296 and 297)
1 Youthful rider (foe Rock and A. K. Sutherland)
2 Abu Zayd preaching, al-Hariri, al-Maqamat (‘The Assemblies’), 634/1237, probably Baghdad, Iraq (Courtesy of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France)
3 Two men on camels (Joe Rock and A. K. Sutherland)
4 Extract of a letter in Mongol script sent in 705/1305 by the Mongol ruler of Iran, Öljeitü, to King Philip of France, recalling the ancient ties of friendship between the house of Genghis Khan and the French court (Courtesy of Archives Nationales, Paris)
5 Thirteenth-century Arab map of the coast of the Levant (Courtesy of Ahuan Ltd.)
6 Image of the world, al-Qazwini, ‘Aja’ib al-makhluqat, 790/1388 (Courtesy of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France)
7 The Golden Dome (i.e. the Holy Sepulchre) in Jerusalem, al-Qazwini, ‘Aja’ib al-makhluqat, 790/1388 (Courtesy of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France)
8 Iskandar (Alexander) fighting the Amazons, al-Qazwini, ‘Aja’ib al-makhluqat, 790/1388 (Courtesy of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France)
9 A high-ranking military officer (amir), inlaid brass basin known as the ‘Baptistère de St Louis’, c. 1300 or earlier, Syria (Courtesy of the Louvre, Paris)
10 Aqsa Mosque, minbar of Nur al-Din, 564/1168 (now destroyed); in the background, the mihrab restored by Saladin after 583/1187-8, Jerusalem (Alistair Duncan)
11 Map of the Muslim East on the eve of the Crusades
12 Siege, glazed mina’i dish, c. 1240, probably Kashan, Iran (Courtesy of the Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC (Accession number 45.8))
13 Siege, Fatimid drawing with added colour, twelfth century, Fustat, Egypt (© The British Museum)
14 Maristan (hospital) of Nur al-Din, interior view of portal dome, 549/1154, Damascus, Syria (Robert Hillenbrand)
15 Citadel, tower, thirteenth century, with modern political poster depicting President Asad, Damascus, Syria (Robert Hillenbrand)
16 Jami‘ al-Nuri, courtyard and sanctuary, after 552/1157, probably 558/1163 and later, Hama, Syria (Robert Hillenbrand)
17 Dome of the Rock, exterior, 72/691-2 and later, Jerusalem (Robert Hillenbrand)
Half tone Plates
1.1 Statue of Saladin, 1992, Damascus, Syria
1.2 Statue of Saladin, foot soldier, 1992, Damascus, Syria
1.3 Ayyubid canteen with Christian scenes, back, inlaid brass, c. 1250, Syria
1.4 Horseman, stone tympanum, twelfth century, Daghestan, eastern Caucasus
1.5 Fals of Saladin, copper, 578/1182-3, Nisibin, Turkey
1.6 Silver dirham, obverse, struck 667/1268 in Cairo
2.1 Bab al-Futuh, 480/1087, Cairo, Egypt
(Creswell Photographic Archive, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, neg. C. 3623)
2.2 Bab al-Futuh, bastions, 480/1087, Cairo, Egypt
(Creswell Photographic Archive, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, neg. C. 3614)
> 2.3 Bab al-Futuh, 480/1087, Cairo, Egypt
(Creswell Photographic Archive, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, neg. C 163)
2.4 Bab al-Nasr, 480/1087, Cairo, Egypt
(Creswell Photographic Archive, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, neg. C 1429)
2.5 Bab al-Nasr from within, 480/1087, Cairo, Egypt
(Creswell Photographic Archive, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, neg. C. 151)
2.6 Bab al-Nasr, 480/1087, Cairo, Egypt
(Creswell Photographic Archive, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, neg. C. 3430)
2.7 Minaret and courtyard, Great Mosque, twelfth century, Ma‘arrat al-Nu‘man, Syria
(Creswell Photographic Archive, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, neg. C 6037)
2.8 Minaret, detail, Great Mosque, c. 1170, Ma‘arrat al-Nu‘man, Syria
2.9 Treasury, Great Mosque, twelfth century (?) but using pre-Islamic spolia, Ma‘arrat al-Nu‘man, Syria
2.10 Courtyard and sanctuary, Great Mosque, twelfth century, Ma‘arrat al-Nu‘man, Syria
(Creswell Photographic Archive, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, neg. C. 6039)
2.11 Courtyard and sanctuary, mosque, twelfth century, Ma‘arrat al-Nu‘man, Syria
(Creswell Photographic Archive, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, neg. C. 6034)
2.12 Southern stairway to the upper platform, Haram al-Sharif, undated but medieval, Jerusalem
(Creswell Photographic Archive, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, neg. C. 4980)
2.13 Aqsa Mosque, interior, Umayyad period (seventh century) onwards, Jerusalem
(Creswell Photographic Archive, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, neg. C. 5003) 65
3.1 Great Mosque of Nur al-Din, mosaic decoration in mihrab, thirteenth century, Hims, Syria
3.2 Great Mosque of Nur al-Din, sanctuary showing minbar and mihrab, twelfth-thirteenth centuries, Hims, Syria
(Creswell Photographic Archive, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, neg. C. 5904) 91
3.3 Great Mosque of Nur al-Din, courtyard, twelfth-thirteenth centuries, Hims, Syria
(Creswell Photographic Archive, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, neg. C. 5907) 92
3.4 Great Mosque of Nur al-Din, courtyard, twelfth-thirteenth centuries, Hims, Syria
(Creswell Photographic Archive, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, neg. C. 5896)
3.5 Masjid al-Hasanayn, exterior, rebuilt after 552/1157 by Nur al-Din, Hama, Syria
3.6 Great Mosque of Nur al-Din, minbar portal, twelfth-thirteenth centuries, Hims, Syria
3.7 Great Mosque of Nur al-Din, mihrab, twelfth-thirteenth centuries, Hims, Syria
(Creswell Photographic Archive, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, neg. C. 5903)