chapter four
IBN ʿASĀKIR AND THE INTENSIFICATION AND REORIENTATION OF SUNNI JIHAD IDEOLOGY IN THE TWELFTH CENTURY
1 Ibn ʿAsākir and N r al D n
Ibn ʿAsākir s service to sultan Nūr al Dīn began shortly after the latter occu pied Damascus in 1154 Nūr al Dīn became amir of Aleppo eight years earlier (1146) after his father ʿImād al Dīn Zangī—a Turkic warlord who had built a successful career 椀fghting the Franks in northern Syria and southeastern Anatolia—was murdered by one of his disgruntled slaves Zangī is most famous for having captured the county of Edessa in 1144 which was the impetus for the Second Crusade (1146–1148) After his murder Zangī s lands were divided up among his sons—Sayf al Dīn (lit the Sword of Religion) was allotted Zangī s eastern holdings and Nūr al Dīn (lit the Light of Reli gion) received Aleppo and northern Syria Nūr al Dīn spent the early years of his career consolidating his inheritance by 椀fghting other Turkic and Kur dish princes in north and central Syria and in Mesopotamia (al-Jazīra) While the fall of Edessa was the pretext for the formation of the Second Crusade the men who arrived in the Near East in 1148 (two years after Zangī s demise) did not attempt to reclaim Edessa Rather they turned their anger against Damascus based on the belief that if Damascus was captured then efective Frankish rule over the entirety of Syria could be secured The subsequent failure to take Damascus proved to be a turning point in the Muslim Counter Crusade for the popular mood in Damascus 椀frmly shifted from perceiving the Franks as possible allies of convenience (椀frst against