The Crusades- Islamic Perspectives Read online

  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

  22 George Square, Edinburgh

  Published 2017 by Routledge

  711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA

  Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

  © Carole Hillenbrand, 1999

  The right of Carole Hillenbrand to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

  Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.

  Typeset in Trump Mediaeval

  by Pioneer Associates, Perthshire

  A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library

  A Cataloging-in-Publication record for this book is available from the Library of Congress

  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)