UI – Part 599 – After the First Crusade – Jihad Resumes (2 of 2)

Virtuous Were The Crusades

The Christian Crusades were a failure. This is not because of the will and heart of those that ventured into territory that had been conquered by Muslims over centuries. Their quest was virtuous. It was justified. It was always to take the Holy Land and Jerusalem for followers of Christ, and to be open to everyone that wished to make a pilgrimage to this Holy place to honor God, biblical history, and the many reminders of Jewish and Christian heritage. This land was never Islam’s.

Islam never existed for the thousands of years that God‘s presence filled the heart, mind and souls of residents. Jerusalem was known as a holy place at the time of Muhammad. He knew the area having traversed through and around many times during his years leading trade caravans from Mecca to Damascus. He in fact dreamed about it, to the extent in one of his dreams he traveled by donkey (al-Buraq) through the air to ascend to the heavens. It was but a dream, an impossible act. What is portrayed in Islam is a fabrication, historically inaccurate or unsupported. From a religious perspective it has been noted as a ‘me too’ analogy taking existing history and making it their own, often mis-stating facts. (Read Another viewpoint). From Mecca to the Temple in Jerusalem, a months journey, in one night. His traveling companion was the angel Gabriel. Visiting a mosque would have been impossible, as there was no mosque in Jerusalem at that time.

Jihad Anew

What Islam continued was the aggressive killing hate fueled nature of this ideology. It continued as an extension of the marauding habits of Arabs and Bedouins, now to include Berbers and Turks, as an army after Muhammad’s murder, to pillage and acquire treasure and slaves.

Berbers and Turks were historically medieval thieving aggressive raiders on their own, but without Allah. They found Islam to their liking, providing justification for their pagan existence by simply proclaiming the Shahadah. The Turks actually became dynastic heads of Muslim conquests. Vengeful in retribution for prior personal attacks, seen as persecution, or simply to gain territory and the possessions of others, Islam was molded having justification for demonic acts, lacking peaceful intent, by Muhammad’s characterization of his god, or Allah. To incentivize those proclaiming Islam as their choice martyrdom was provided pleasures when landed in the afterlife. On earth there were to be material and sensual gains, even the assurance of the pleasure dome of the afterlife once a measured count of Christian’s lives was credited to the individual jihadist.

Mission

The Christian Crusaders saw as their mission protecting Catholic Pilgrims (protestantism had not emerged) to Jerusalem and the many areas around it that made biblical history come to life. Frustrated by the last 370-450 years of terrorism and destruction of relatively peaceful Christian cities, more than one Pope said, ‘enough!’ Motivated by love and piety, blessed by the Pope, the Knights went forth to recover Christian territory injuriously seized illegally in the past. The wholesale extortion of Christian property was to end.

As the Imam’s and the Jihadist commanders promised their marauding hoards paradise as martyrs, accolades and riches as victors, so the Pope made promises, as indulgences. “For God has promised that whoever loses the present life for the sake of Christ will gain another life which he will never lose. For this is not a battle for an earthy kingdom, but for the eternal Lord” (pg. 129, S&S). From Clement III to Clement V, the Crusaders fighting and dying in battle were forgiven their transgressions. Urban II declared it to be so, The promise led way to God’s revenge for the vile, crazy, demonic, destructive, Christian hating Muslims and their non-stop plague of jihadists. No more monasteries to be destroyed, priests and nuns defiled and raped, nor Christians dehumanized.

Far Away

This sacred area, unfortunately, was thousands of miles from its base of support, which was much of Europe. France led. Almost 200 years financially supporting Christian warriors with mixed results, as well as demands at home, places like France, Germany, and England, the appetite to continue after 200 years ceased. In Europe most residents only heard stories about the black hearted followers of Mohammed. The world problem, as it were, was far away, and it was religious, as self-preservation for many was more in the forefront of their minds.

The Norman’s (ethnic group from Normandy, France) (Dynasty lasted until 1154 – incl Dukes of Normandy and Kings of England) at the beginning of the Crusades were expanding their interests in today’s Europe and England. William the Conqueror (1066-1087) was active. In relatively short periods England, France and Germany faced Henry I, then the Plantagenets (1154) (Henry II, Richard I – Lion-Hearted, John I, Henry III, Edward I). All became involved as supporters, financiers, even Crusaders themselves.

As a result of the diverting of Europe’s interest to more domestic matters (late 1200’s) the Muslims were enabled, with little on-going resistance to recapture or keep the territories extracted from the lives of hundreds of thousands of Christians. The Levant, Anatolia, Egypt and North Africa remained in the hands of the Islamists. Their infighting continued.

Only Spain was cleansed of its Muslim (Moors) occupiers.

Holy Grail

Some aspects of the Crusades were glamorized, such as the German poem, Parzival, introducing the quest for the Holy Grail and King Arthur, inspired by the Knights Templar.

Mamluks

The Mamluks are an interesting faction within the history of Islam. During the many aggressive conquests by Islam in the periods from 800 to 1000, many slaves were taken. The Abbasid Dynasty, located in Baghdad, just south of Anatolia, captured and forced servitude from areas north, mostly Christian Turks. The youth were converted to become Muslim, circumcised, trained as warriors and as students of Islam. They grew to serve their masters in battle, but in time they became the masters (1077-1231). Mamluks were slave soldiers, vassals of the Seljuk Muslim Turks that came to be the military leaders of the Abbasids. They dominated the Eastern Mediterranean. From the slaves came Muslim leaders to include al-Kamal, the Sultan of Egypt, a man Louis IX led Crusaders tried to overthrow.

After 1303

The Sejuk Turks had become the dominant Islamic power for Islam from Egypt to Baghdad and Anatolia. Not the Crusaders, but the Mongols, caused the Seljuks to lose much of their Empire (eastern parts), to include Anatolia in the 1260’s. A new leader emerged, Osman I, and the Ottoman empire was born in 1299. What transpired next was a renewed spirit of the superiority of Islam.

The Crusaders were defeated never to return. What remained was to be Muslim. Today it is Turkey and the Middle East. Osman I conquered the Seljuk Turks and began a unification of Islam’s Muslim territories, once Christian, under one Caliphate. The Arab contingent, remnants of the Abbasid Dynasty, became the Sunni religious scholarly side of Islam. The Turks were the militants, the Jihadist holders of the throne. More can be found on the Ottoman empire in a recent posting –  (The Ottoman Empire – Islam’s Aggressive Accomplishment.)

Crusades End

The design of the Crusades to recapture Christian heritage was warranted. However the Christian strongholds were far from the Holy Land, over 4000 miles. What was Christian in the 600 years after Christ, to include North Africa, the Levant, Antioch, East Asia, Armenia and Turkey, areas east of Constantinople, and the surrounds of the Mediterranean had been captured and controlled by Muslim jihadists. Europe successfully defended itself. To mount an offensive to recapture territory relied on financing from the Catholic church and European dynastic families, as well as military might, the medieval spirit of battle, to seek recovery for the Lord from lands now quite far. Of the Crusades – the end failed to equal the beginning.

Jihad Continues

The call to Jihad is a requirement for all Muslims.  The objective is the same, a land, a world, All for Allah.  There is to be no compromise.  Peace is not the objective.  Interestingly enough the love of God  is not an objective either.  All are to submit to Allah.  There is a ladder leading to their Holy Almighty Master, and each rung represents to whom submission is required, from the bottom to the top.  The autocrats, the military leaders, the soldiers, the Islamic religious police, and scholars (ulema), teachers and Imams (preachers), have their place. All are as a rung on the ladder.  Women are close to the bottom.  They are to be productive, obey, do their chores, and stay out of sight.  Allah only loves those who love Allah.  Not as God, who loves everyone, even those who are not followers.  As a Muslim you are to obey and love those on the rung above, in total submission to their authority.  There is no equality and no freedom.  As such there can never be peace.  The human mind is strong.  It can discern truth.  It may seek to protect itself from bodily harm, thus being obedient, but will always silently question their treatment from above. What is humane is clearly known.  The greatest device, like a mace, is punishment for apostasy.  It keeps Muslims corralled as cattle.  Feign love if you must, but be reminded, by daily prayer, adherence to the pillars of Islam, and aware the religious police are watching and more than delighted when called upon to inflict judgment.

Muslims are all called upon to continue to fight the pagans, the Christians, the Jews, the Hindus, the non-believers.  They too are to submit.  The sword of Muhammad is covered with blood.  It will always be covered with blood.  Understand Islam and you will realize their methods and objectives.  They are not the will of God, even though they would like you to believe the Will of Allah is the same.  There are Moderates that see Allah more as God, but they are not free to escape the blood-lust of hatred the Scripture of Islam requires.  Should their peers, their family, the Islamic police discern their doubt, then more heads may roll.  The purity of Islam lies in the lies of the pious Islamist.  It is for their control and greed that Islam thrives.  They will always grow armies ready to attack those unprepared and weak.  Fear and violence will always precede their imperialism.  Whose will is it?

Grace and Peace

Note: In a recent series of this blog, Understand-Islam.com, the historically aggressive nature of Islam is discussed. A historical narrative is provided. I give the inspiration and much of the factual references to the credit of Raymond Ibrahim, his book, Sword and Scimitar: Fourteen Centuries of War Between Islam and the West, Publisher: Da Capo Press, Hachette Book Group, New York, NY, 2018. His quotes are noted by page, and “S&S.” Another book, by Dan Jones, The Templars: The Rise and Spectacular Fall of God’s Holy Warriors, Publisher: Penguin Books, NY, NY, 2017, noted by page and “TT,” although directly referenced less, still provided much critical analytical understanding of events related to the Christian Crusades. I thank both of these authors.

* Note: Richard the Lionheart – After Richard left the holy land he was captured for ransom by the Duke of Austria, handed over to the Roman emperor, Henry IV, (Germany), who sought ransom for his release. He was held for 2 years. Returns to England, 1195, only to leave to fight France. Killed by the arrow from a crossbow in 1199, in France.