IN THE NAME OF ALLAH THE ALL-COMPASSIONATE, ALL-MERCIFUL Salah ad-Deen al-Ayubi Volume One Crusades prior to the Rise of the Ayubid State Table of Contents About the word Lord ........................................................................ i Publisher's Note ............................................................................... i Translator's Foreword ..................................................................... ii Introduction ......................................................................................... 1 PART ONE CRUSADES PRIOR TO THE RISE OF THE AYUBID STATE .. 14 CHAPTER I Historical Roots of the Crusades ..................................... 15 The Byzantines ............................................................................... 15 The Spanish .................................................................................... 16 The Crusaders outflanking manoeuvres ........................................ 19 Colonialism ..................................................................................... 20 CHAPTER II The Most Important Causes of the Crusader Invasion . 23 Religious motives ........................................................................... 24 Political motives ............................................................................. 27 Social motives ................................................................................ 29 Economic motives .......................................................................... 31 Tipping the balance of power in the Mediterranean ..................... 32 Andalusia ........................................................................................ 33 Sicily ............................................................................................... 34 North Africa .................................................................................... 34 The Byzantine Emperor seeks help from Pope Urban II ................ 36 Pope Urban II and his comprehensive plan for the Crusade campaign ........................................................................................ 37 Urban II holds a church council in southern France ...................... 39 Pope Urban II's speech ................................................................... 39 Conclusions to be drawn from Pope Urban II's speech ................. 41 The Pope's consultation following his speech ............................... 45 The Crusader propaganda campaign ............................................. 46 Peter the Hermit ............................................................................ 48 The Muslims are unaware of what is being planned for them ...... 49 CHAPTER III The Beginning of the First Crusade ............................... 50 Crusader strategy after occupation ............................................... 52 Resistance movement during the Seljuk period ............................ 56 The juristic scholar 'Ali ibn Tahir as-Sulami (431-500AH/1039-1106 CE) .................................................................................................. 57 Islamic scholars and judges participate in physical Jihad .............. 60 Poets and their role in the resistance movement ......................... 63 Seljuk leaders of Jihad prior to 'Imad ad-Deen Zangi .................... 65 Kerbogha, regent of Mosul, engages in Jihad ................................ 66 Jekermish and Suqman join forces in Jihad ................................... 68 The Battle of Balikh (the Battle of Harran) .................................... 69 Jekermish and Suqman fall out ...................................................... 71 Jekermish's defeat .......................................................................... 71 The outcomes of the Battle of Balikh............................................. 73 Jekermish persists in Jihad ............................................................. 74 Jihad of Jekermish and Suqman ibn Artuq ..................................... 76 The battle of Merzifon ................................................................... 77 The first battle of Heraclea ............................................................ 78 The second battle of Heraclea ....................................................... 79 Outcome of the battles of Kilij Arslan ............................................ 80 Consequences of the death of Kilij Arslan ..................................... 81 Mawdood ibn at-Tuntash (501-507 CE/1108-1113 CE) ................. 84 Mawdood's first campaign against Edessa .................................... 84 Mawdood's second campaign against Edessa ............................... 86 Mawdood's third campaign against Edessa ................................... 89 Mawdood's campaign — the Battle of Sannabra .......................... 89 The murder of Mawdood ............................................................... 90 Consequences of the campaigns led by Mawdood ....................... 91 Najm ad-Deen Ilghazi, ruler of Mardin .......................................... 94 The Crusaders break the truce ....................................................... 95 Mobilization against the Crusaders ............................................... 95 The Battle of Ager Sanguinis (the 'Field of Blood7) ........................ 96 Consequences of the victory .......................................................... 97 The siege of Antioch and the truce with the King of Jerusalem .... 98 The truce is broken ........................................................................ 98 Rebellion of Sulayman ibn Ilghazi against his father ..................... 99 Suppression of the rebellion .......................................................... 99 The death of Ilghazi and its effect on the Muslims ...................... 100 Balak ibn Bahram ibn Artuq ......................................................... 101 Crusaders besiege Aleppo ............................................................ 102 Balak ibn Bahram is killed ............................................................ 104 Emir of Mosul, Aq Sunqur, wages Jihad to save Aleppo .............. 104 Aleppo confronts the Crusaders .............................................. 104 Betrayal by the Emir of Hillah ...................................................... 106 Crusaders provoke and taunt the people of Aleppo.................... 107 Popular resistance in Aleppo ....................................................... 107 The people of Aleppo ask for help from the Emir of Diyarbakir .. 108 Aq Sunqur al-Bursuqi' s response to the Aleppans' call for help . 108 The assassination of al-Bursuqi .................................................... 110 Deviant groups were one of the greatest obstacles to the Jihad movement .................................................................................... 111 The conquest of Edessa: The most important deed of Imad ad- Deen Zangi ................................................................................... 112 The internal situation in Edessa ................................................... 114 Operations that led to conquest .................................................. 114 'Imad ad-Deen Zangi7 s policies in Edessa.................................... 115 Factors which helped 'Imad ad-Deen Zangi ................................. 116 Anecdotes about the conquest of Edessa .................................... 117 The scholar Moosa al-Armani's clever approach ..................... 117 In Sicily ......................................................................................... 118 A martyr seen in a dream ............................................................. 118 Conspiracy by the inhabitants of Edessa ..................................... 119 Consequences of the conquest of Edessa .................................... 119 John LaMonte's opinion of 'Imad ad-Deen .................................. 121 Poets praise for 'Imad ad-Deen after the conquest ..................... 125 Military events after the conquest .............................................. 125 Ways in which 'Imad ad-Deen Zangi fought the Crusaders ......... 126 'Imad ad-deen's political and military role in Islamic history ...... 131 The Second Crusade ..................................................................... 133 The Seljuks destroy the German army ......................................... 133 The Seljuks of Rum slow the advance of the French army .......... 134 The Crusader attack on Damascus ............................................... 135 How the Christian clergy viewed the Second Crusade ................ 137 The Victory of Damascus in the Second Crusade ......................... 139 Scholars from the Maghreb take part in defending Damascus ... 141 Consequences of the Second Crusade ......................................... 141 CHAPTER IV Wisdom of Noor ad-Deen's Dealings with the Fatimid State ................................................................................................. 145 Roots of the Ismaili Shiites and the Fatimid state ....................... 145 'Ubayd-Allah al-Mahdi ................................................................. 147 'Ubaydi crimes in North Africa ................................................. 148 Exaggerated claims about 'Ubayd-Allah al-Mahdi ....................... 148 Oppression of everyone who disagreed with their madh-hab .... 150 Prohibition on issuing fatwas according to the madh-hab of Imam Malik............................................................................................