The Crusades
The crusades in the East have become the trademark of the Western Christian world campaigns against Muslims. They lasted two centuries (1095-1291), a period during which Jerusalem as well as Palestine fell into crusader hands. Jerusalem, like the rest of Palestine, was eventually recovered by the Muslim armies, which included some of Islam's greatest heroes such as Salah Eddin.
On arrival in the East, in the year 1096, the crusaders found a disunited, Muslim world, divided into numerous states at war with one another. Many local Muslim rulers did not hesitate to ally themselves with the invading crusaders to fight other Muslims. The crusaders obliged and destroyed them, one after the other, conquering them and inflicting terrible casualties.
The crusades, to this day, remain the longest and fiercest conflict in history. The Christian world launched millions of armed men against the Muslim world. No nation in history, no people on earth, have ever survived a similar onslaught. The Muslims did. The call for jihad to defend the Muslim Lands found a fervent response in Muslim hearts. Inspired by the Qur'an and the Prophet's tradition they fought back the crusaders nobly seeking justice or assured of paradise if they died on the way.
The Muslims suffered many setbacks, including mass slaughter at the hands of the crusaders and their allies (such as the Mongols), and the Muslims had to survive their divisions, and the murder of their leadership. Yet, no sooner one leader fell, another took his place. No sooner one group, one place, became exhausted by war and destruction, another rose to continue the fight. Regardless of the losses, the Muslims were stirred by the call for jihad, and held by the firm belief that victory was ultimately to be theirs. And so it was. In 1291, after two hundred years of war, culminating in hundreds of battles, the crusaders were removed from the Muslim lands.
On arrival in the East, in the year 1096, the crusaders found a disunited, Muslim world, divided into numerous states at war with one another. Many local Muslim rulers did not hesitate to ally themselves with the invading crusaders to fight other Muslims. The crusaders obliged and destroyed them, one after the other, conquering them and inflicting terrible casualties.
The crusades, to this day, remain the longest and fiercest conflict in history. The Christian world launched millions of armed men against the Muslim world. No nation in history, no people on earth, have ever survived a similar onslaught. The Muslims did. The call for jihad to defend the Muslim Lands found a fervent response in Muslim hearts. Inspired by the Qur'an and the Prophet's tradition they fought back the crusaders nobly seeking justice or assured of paradise if they died on the way.
The Muslims suffered many setbacks, including mass slaughter at the hands of the crusaders and their allies (such as the Mongols), and the Muslims had to survive their divisions, and the murder of their leadership. Yet, no sooner one leader fell, another took his place. No sooner one group, one place, became exhausted by war and destruction, another rose to continue the fight. Regardless of the losses, the Muslims were stirred by the call for jihad, and held by the firm belief that victory was ultimately to be theirs. And so it was. In 1291, after two hundred years of war, culminating in hundreds of battles, the crusaders were removed from the Muslim lands.