UNDERSTANDING THE MIDDLE EAST:
History, Religion, and the Clash of Cultures
400 pages
Copyright © 2007 by Beechmont Crest Publishing
First edition, 2007
0-9748330-6-1
C H A P T E R 3:
Understanding the Crusades
Before the most recent round of troubles in the Middle East, the Crusades---which began more than 900 years ago---had largely faded from the West’s historical consciousness. Then came the terrorist attacks of 9/11/2001, and the subsequent American-led wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein immediately recognized the propaganda value of associating the wars of 2001 and 2003 with the medieval Crusades. Both men freely used terms like “Crusader armies” and “crusading infidels” when seeking to stir opposition to America within the Middle East.
The Bush Administration almost as quickly began to steadfastly avoid the word crusade, substituting terms like “crusade against terrorism” with language that did not have the same historical baggage. Overall, the Crusades are remembered as one of the more dishonorable chapters in the history of Western civilization—and not entirely without reason. The conduct of the undisciplined, poorly led crusading armies was often horrific. They committed atrocities against Muslims, Jews, and even fellow Christians.
Nevertheless, popular accounts of the Crusades often leave out some important details. The story usually goes something like this: the Muslim states were minding their own business, when one day, out of the blue, a group of Western European leaders decided to launch a war of aggression against Islam.
The Crusades took place within the larger context of 400 years during which Muslim territories were expanded by the sword. Throughout this time, the caliphs engaged what would be called a “war of aggression” in modern parlance---with the aim of bringing the known world into the Islamic fold.
Nor did the Muslim leaders content themselves with dominating the Middle East. Years before the Crusades, Spain, France, Portugal, and Italy had all been treaded upon by the armies of Islam. During the 800s, Muslim armies overran Sardinia and Sicily, and pillaged Christian holy sites in Rome. Despite the tolerance afforded to Christians living under Muslim rule, the caliphs’ desire to forcibly incorporate Christian Europe into the dar al-Islam never abated.
Rather than unilateral wars of aggression, the Crusades are best understood as integral parts of the centuries-long conflict between the dar al-Islam and the non-Muslim world that took place throughout the Middle Ages. If there had been no Muslim conquests, there would have been no Crusades.
It is equally important to note that these long-ago battles are not the primary source of present-day Muslim rage against the Christian/secular West. While the Muslim Middle East overwhelmingly regards the Crusades as historical incidents of Western aggression, the current violence in the region springs from more contemporary conflicts.
But the problems of the recent past will be explored in subsequent chapters. For now, we turn our attention to the Crusades:
Copyright 2005 Beechmont Crest Publishing
