Islamic Ottoman Empire proclaiming war: In November 1914, when the Ottoman Empire had officially entered the war against the Allies, the Sultan had issued a declaration stating that it was a "Cihad-ı Ekber" (the greatest of all wars). This was not enough. It had to be declared as a "Cihad-ı Mukaddes" (holy war), because the Ottoman Sultan was at the same time the Caliph of all the Muslims in the world. This meant that the Muslims of the world should join the Turkish efforts to fight against the "infidels." More Ottoman Empire documents here
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A study of Islamic caliphates is essential because the entire history of Islam was under caliphate rule from 632 to 1924. Were these Islamic rulers imperialistic, aggressive, hegemonic and always seeking to expand their control? Did some of that aggression and drive for Islamic supremacy come directly from the literal or fundamental interpretation of the Quran itself. Are there chapters on war and verses that state Islam is to rein supreme over all other religions? Yes.
Were the Crusades a response to the Islamist expansion of power? They were.
First, review the list of Islamic caliphates. A very basic starting point comes from Wikipedia. Wikipedia is not generally an absolute and final source, in and of itself, but it does provides us a list of the caliphs and numerous resources to enhance education. Each source cited should to be evaluated individually.
Below are some of the Caliphates
(The entire list of them from the year 632 to 1924 is here):
Abu Bakr- First Rashidun (Four Righteously Guided Caliphs) of the Sunnis. Subdued rebel tribes in the Ridda wars.
Umar(Umar ibn al-Khattab) - Second Rashidun. During his reign, the Islamic empire expanded to include Egypt, Jerusalem, and Persia.
Uthman Ibn Affan- Third Rashidun. The Qur'an was compiled under his direction. Killed by rebels. Ali (Ali ibn Abu Talib) - Fourth and last Rashidun, and considered the first imam by Shi'a Muslims. His reign was fraught with internal conflict.
Hasan ibn Ali - Fifth Caliph (considered as "rightly guided" by many Sunnis as well as Shias). He ruled for six months only and handed the powers to Muawiyah I in order to unite the Muslims again.
Muawiyah I- First caliph of the Umayyad dynasty. Muawiyah instituted dynastic rule by appointing his son Yazid I as his successor, a trend that would continue through subsequent caliphates.
Umar ibn AbdulAziz- Umayyad caliph considered by some (mainly Sunnis) to be a sixth true and legitimate caliph under Islamic Laws of electing Caliph.
Harun al-Rashid- An Abbasid caliph during whose reign Baghdad became the world's prominent centre of trade, learning, and culture. Harun is the subject of many stories in the famous work One Thousand and One Nights.
Suleiman the Magnificent - Early Ottoman Sultan during whose reign the Ottoman Empire reached its zenith.
Abdul Hamid II - The last Ottoman Sultan to rule with absolute power.
Abdülmecid II - The last Caliph of the Ottoman Dynasty, the 101st Caliph in line from Caliph Abu Bakr and nominally the 37th Head of the Ottoman Imperial House.
General History
History of Islam: A Brief History of Islam. The Rightly guided Caliphs; The Caliphate; Umayyad; Abbasids; North Africa And Spain; After the Mangol Invasion; Ottoman Empire ...
Caliphate (Islamic history) -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia ... Caliphate (Islamic history), the political-religious state comprising the Muslim community and the lands and ..
Battle of Vienna 9/11/1683 a major battle of the Ottoman Empire The Battle of Vienna marks the turning point in a 300-year war waged by the Arab Ottoman Empire to seize control of Europe. Ottoman forces are literally turned back at the gates of Vienna, leading to the ultimate defeat of the Ottoman Empire and its dreams of establishing a unified Islamic nation.
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The Crusades:
A History of the Crusades University of Wisconsin Press
Published over a twenty year period beginning in 1969, was intended to serve as a collaborative and comprehensive treatment of the topic, ranging in time from the first 100 years of the Crusades to their ultimate impact on the histories of the Near East and Europe. The work is comprised of six volumes, each of which is included here in its entirety.
Note: Each section listed below is searchable at the above link. Enter the search word: Islam
The first hundred years (1969)
The later Crusades, 1189-1311 (1969)
The fourteenth and fifteenth centuries (1975)
The art and architecture of the crusader states (1977)
The impact of the Crusades on the Near East (1985)
The impact of the Crusades on Europe (1989)
The Crusades: Fordham University
The Real History of the Crusades by Dr. Thomas Madden who is chair of the department of history at Saint Louis University
"...So what is the truth about the Crusades? Scholars are still working some of that out. But much can already be said with certainty. For starters, the Crusades to the East were in every way defensive wars. They were a direct response to Muslim aggression—an attempt to turn back or defend against Muslim conquests of Christian lands...
Thomas F. Madden is associate professor and chair of the Department of History at Saint Louis University. He is the author of numerous works, including The New Concise History of the Crusades, and co-author, with Donald Queller, of The Fourth Crusade: The Conquest of Constantinople. This special version for the ARMA was reprinted by permission of Crisis Magazine, www.crisismagazine.com.
The First Crusades- capture Jerusalem back from the Islamic ruler.
The First Crusade The Metropolitan Museum of Art
In November 1095, Pope Urban II preached a sermon at Clermont-Ferrand in France to launch the First Crusade. The aim was to aid the Christians of the East and return to Christian control the Holy Sepulcher, the church in Jerusalem said to contain the tomb of Christ. Absolution from sin and eternal glory were promised to the Crusaders..."
Primary Sources of the First Crusade
Second and Third Crusade
In 1147–49, the Second Crusade, championed by the abbot Bernard of Clairvaux, attempted to take Damascus in Syria. The campaign was a dismal failure because the Muslims had regrouped...
Victory in Tripoli: Lessons for the War on Terrorism. America's forefathers spent millions of dollars of U.S. treasury, struggled and fought against Islamists; some high officials of the Islamic Ottoman caliphate for 40 years as our country was formed!
WWI:
The Ottoman Empire's last war (WWI) Time line
The Middle East during World War One
1924 NYT: WHY THE TURKS GOT RID OF CALIPHATE; Had Become Centre of Domestic Plots and …
AFTER THE CRUSADES:
1928: Islamic Supremacist Muslim Brotherhood formed in Egypt to gain political power for a new caliphate. It is banned in Egypt.
WWII: Islamists partnered with the far left
1943 telegram from Germany's Socialist leader Himmier to the Grand Mufti of Jersusalem:
November 2, 1943 Himmler's telegram to Mufti:
"To the Grand Mufti: The National Socialist movement of Greater Germany has, since its inception, inscribed upon its flag the fight against the world Jewry. It has therefore followed with particular sympathy the struggle of freedom-loving Arabs, especially in Palestine, against Jewish interlopers. In the recognition of this enemy and of the common struggle against it lies the firm foundation of the natural alliance that exists between the National Socialist Greater Germany and the freedom-loving Muslims of the whole world. In this spirit I am sending you on the anniversary of the infamous Balfour declaration my hearty greetings and wishes for the successful pursuit of your struggle until the final victory.
Signed: Reichsfuehrer S.S. Heinrich Himmler"
Gramd Mufti al Husseini meeting with Himmier:
Grand Mufti al Husseini with Hilter
Who was the Grand Mufti, Haj Muhammed Amin al-Husseini?
Muhammed Amin al-Husseini [many spelling variations] was born in 1893 (or 1895), the son of the Mufti of Jerusalem and member of an esteemed, aristocratic family. The Husseinis were one of the richest and most powerful of all the rivalling clans in the Ottoman province known as the Judaean part of Palestine.
...He acquired the reputation as a violent, fanatical anti-Zionist zealot and was jailed by the British for instigating a 1920 Arab attack against Jews who were praying at the Western Wall.
...According to documentation from the Nuremberg and Eichmann trials, the Nazi Germany SS helped finance al-Husseini's efforts in the 1936-39 revolt in Palestine. Adolf Eichmann actually visited Palestine and met with al-Husseini at that time and subsequently maintained regular contact with him later in Berlin...While in Baghdad, Syria al-Husseini aided the pro-Nazi revolt of 1941. He then spent the rest of World War II as Hitler's special guest in Berlin, advocating the extermination of Jews in radio broadcasts back to the Middle East and recruiting Balkan Muslims for infamous SS "mountain divisions" that tried to wipe out Jewish communities throughout the region.
In 1940, al-Husseini requested the Axis powers to acknowledge the Arab right:
- ... to settle the question of Jewish elements in Palestine and other Arab countries in accordance with the national and racial interests of the Arabs and along the lines similar to those used to solve the Jewish question in Germany and Italy.
...Haj Amin al-Husseini eventually died in exile in 1974. He never returned to Jerusalem after his 1937 departure. His place as leader of the radical, nationalist Palestinian Arabs was taken by his nephew Mohammed Abdel-Raouf Arafat As Qudwa al-Hussaeini, better known as Yasser Arafat.
TODAY
Muslim sources:
According to Islamicity, the Crusades were a minor irritant.
Jordan - History - The Islamic Periods and the Crusades King Hussein.gov
Society for the Study of the Crusades and the Latin East 2009 Conference May 7-9, 2009
I would like to live to study, and not study to live.
Posted by: Jordan 5 | August 22, 2010 at 11:02 PM
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Posted by: Jordan 13 | December 18, 2010 at 02:45 AM