Jerusalem under Islam - A Re-Examination

  Much has been made of the fact that the Crusaders prohibited both Jews and Muslims from settling in Jerusalem after the establishment of the Christian Kingdom of Jerusalem. This is usually contrasted with the tolerant attitude of the Muslims in the years preceding the First Crusade. But just how tolerant were the Muslims?

Most of what has been written about the status of non-Muslims in the Islamic world focuses on the theories propounded by Muslim scholars of the golden age and anecdotal case studies of non-Muslim, especially Jews, who rose to positions of privilege and power. Certainly, the Islamic jurists developed sophisticated theories about the treatment of "peoples of the book." Furthermore, some privileged dhimmis enjoyed wealth, status and even (indirect) power. 

However, a more thorough examination of the sources -- Arab, Turkish, Coptic and Syriac -- demonstrates that there was a gigantic discrepancy between the fine-sounding theories of the legal texts and the reality on the ground. While a comparatively small elite of non-Muslims enjoyed comparative immunity from discrimination and oppression, the vast majority of Christians, particularly the rural peasantry that made up the bulk of the population was systematically decimated by massacres, reduced to slavery or -- at best -- impoverished by taxation (tribute), arbitrary theft of land and moveable property, pillaging, raids, and often saw their children carried away as slaves.

Thus, while for most of the years of Muslim occupation, the Christians were allowed to live in and visit Jerusalem, they were consistently subjected to various forms of oppression and humiliations and periodically subjected to more extreme persecution from the destruction of churches and monasteries to outright slaughter.

Professor Rodney Stark in his excellent work: God’s Battalions: The Case for the Crusades,(Harper, 2009) lists the following incidents:

• In the early 8th century, seventy Christian pilgrims were executed in one incident and 60 others were crucified in Jerusalem itself.
• In the late 8th century the monastery of St. Theodosius near Bethlehem was attacked, the churches destroyed and the monks slaughtered.
• In 796 Muslims burned 20 monks to death at the Mar Saba Monastery.
• In 809 there were multiple attacks on many churches, convents and monasteries in and around Jerusalem, involving mass rapes and murders.
• In 813 the same happened again.
• In 923, on Palm Sunday, “a new wave of atrocities” occurred, in which many churches were destroyed and people were killed.

As for every day life for Christians under Muslim rule, I strongly recommend Bat Ye’or’s The Decline of Eastern Christianity under Islam which documents in detail (supported by hundreds of Arab, Turkish, Coptic and Syrian documents) the bitter reality of “dhimmitude.” In addition to land expropriations and the payment of annual tributes — including slaves (read people being forced to surrender their own children into slavery), it catalogues the discrimination in clothing, housing, transportation and employment as well.

Another excellent book is Professor Dario Fernandez-Morera’s book The Myth of the Andalusian Paradise: Muslims, Christians and Jews under Islamic Rule in Medieval Spain (ISI books, 2016). Although the book focuses on Spain rather than the Holy Land, it provides a wealth of detail and evidence. The chapter on “The Christian Condition: From Dhimmis to Extinction” is particularly informative.

For those who do not have the time or inclination to read either of these book's here is an excerpt from Stark:

A great deal of nonsense has been written about Muslim tolerance — that, in contrast to Christian brutality against the Jews and heretics, Islam showed remarkable tolerance for conquered people, treated them with respect, and allowed them to pursue their faiths without interference…The truth about life under Muslim rule is quite different.

It is true that the Qur’an forbids forced conversions. However, that recedes to an empty legalism given that many subject peoples were “free to choose” conversion as an alternative to death or enslavement….

In principle, as “People of the Book,” Jews and Christians were supposed to be tolerated and permitted to follow their faiths. But only under quite repressive conditions: death was (and remains) the fate of anyone who converted to either faith. Nor could any new churches or synagogues be built. Jews and Christians were prohibited from praying or reading their scriptures aloud — not even in their homes or in churches and synagogues — lest Muslims accidentally hear them.

... from very early times Muslim authorities often went to great lengths to humiliate and punish dhimmis — Jews and Christians who refused to convert to Islam. It was official policy that dhimmis should “feel inferior and…know ‘their place’… (Stark, pp.28–29).

Compared to systematic humiliation and oppression, maybe the right to live in Jerusalem wasn't the mark of a particularly "tolerant" policy after all?

 Dr. Helena P. Schrader is the author of six books set in the Holy Land in the Era of the Crusades:

 

                         

Dr. Schrader's comprehensive study of the crusader states is available in hard back or ebook on amazon.com. 

 

Order now!

 

Find out more at: https://www.helenapschrader.com/crusades.html

The Christian Doctrine of "Just War" and its Impact on the Crusades

 Some people today believe that war is incompatible with Christianity. Yet this was not the case at the end of the eleventh century when the First Crusade was launched. Although Christianity never had a concept similar to Islamic jihad, St. Augustine articulated the concept of ‘just war’ in the early fifth century. This theory provided the ideological underpinning for the crusades. The summary below is an excerpt from "The Holy Land in the Era of the Crusades: Kingdoms at the Crossroads of Civilizations."

The theory of "Just War" was a theological defense of wars declared by Christian leaders to oppose aggression and oppression. St. Augustine was explicit in condemning wars of religious conversion and also prohibited the use of ‘excessive force,’ but that was the theory. In practice, medieval Christians viewed wars against pagans as legitimate wars. This included the wars against the Vikings in Britain and Ireland, the wars of Charlemagne against the Saxons, and, of course, the war of the Visigoths against the ‘Moors’ (Muslims) in Spain. All these wars were perceived as ‘defensive’ and specifically as a defense of Christendom. Thus, by the eleventh century, Western Europe had a tradition that honored, glorified and even sanctified Christian fighting men, who fought non-Christians.

When Pope Urban II, in response to the request from Emperor Alexis, appealed to knights under his jurisdiction (i.e. knights of the Church of Rome) to go east to liberate Jerusalem, he built upon these traditions. His appeal stressed the fundamental elements of just war (fighting oppression and aggression) by drawing attention to the suffering of fellow-Christians in the Muslim-occupied Near East and by stressing the threat posed by the pagan Seljuks to the New Rome, Constantinople. Yet, Pope Urban expanded on this familiar theme by adding to his appeal the need to liberate Jerusalem.

In contrast to Jerusalem’s peripheral place Islam, Jerusalem was at the very center of Christianity. Islamic scholars might debate about theoretical spiritual ties to Jerusalem, yet it is certain that Mohammed never set foot there. Jesus, on the other hand, had lived and died there. More important, the defining event of Christianity, Christ’s resurrection, occurred in Jerusalem. While the Muslims had Mecca and Medina as their primary and secondary holy sites, for Christians (and Jews) Jerusalem was the unquestioned central and paramount holy site of their respective religions. Period.

It was undoubtedly to inspire men to undertake such an enormously dangerous operation across such vast distances that Pope Urban introduced a startling innovation. He offered spiritual rewards to those who undertook to free Jerusalem from Muslim rule. Contrary to popular myth, Urban did not promise the remission of all sins — certainly not for ‘killing Muslims.’ Nor did he sanction genocide or forced conversions. On the contrary, church documents explicitly state that participation in an armed expedition to liberate Jerusalem would replace already assigned penance for confessed sins. Furthermore, the church carefully conferred benefits only on those who undertook the armed pilgrimage out of piety — but not on those who sought honor or wealth. Yet regardless of what the theologians thought they were offering, many people undoubtedly believed that the armed expedition to Jerusalem would bring them spiritual salvation. 

 

 

The Holy Land in the Era of the Crusades: Kingdoms at the Crossroads of Civilizations is available on amazon.com and amazon.co.uk.

Dr. Helena P. Schrader is also the author of six books set in the Holy Land in the Era of the Crusades:

 

                         

The Dar al-Islam on the Eve of the Crusades

 To understand the dynamics, opportunities and risks that confronted the crusaders when they ventured into the Holy Land in 1099, an appreciation of the Islamic world the crusaders confronted is essential. This dynamic world had evolved through history.  Below is a quick sketch of key events and factors shaping the Dar al-Islam in 450 years prior to the First Crusade.

By the time the first crusaders arrived in the Middle East to re-take Jerusalem and re-establish Christian rule over the territories known in the West as "the Holy Land," Arab domination of the Levant had lasted roughly 450 years. More important, driven by religious fervor, the Arabs had conquered North Africa, most of the Iberian peninsula, the islands of the Mediterranean, and had spread Islam to the Caucuses and Persia as well. (For a timeline of Muslim conquests see: Jerusalem Forgotten?)

Alongside these military victories, Arab elites adopted and spread a new Islamic culture. This culture awakened a surge of creativity and produced great works of art, literature, mathematics, astronomy and medicine. In urban centers such as Baghdad, Cairo and Damascus there were centers of learning and education, as well as great hospitals, including teaching hospitals where medical practitioners were trained. Great mosques, palaces, fortresses and markets were built. Indeed, the 9th and 10th centuries are often viewed as a "golden age" of Islamic culture.

In the 11th and 12th centuries, however, a number of factors began to undermine and shatter that Arab dominance and with it the confidence that had fostered the flourishing of intellectual and artistic achievements. Indeed, the diversity of peoples now united in the Dar al-Islam make the crusader term "Saracen" (which literally just means "easterner") a justifiable description of their foes. Historians noted that the crusaders, in spite of their various origins, were more homogeneous than their opponents, who were deeply divided racially, linguistically, and culturally. In addition to the Arabs, there were now Turks, Persians, Berbers, and Kurds living in the "abode of Islam" (the literal translation of Dar al-Islam).

Arguably even more disruptive to Islamic society of the twelfth century was the dangerous strength of two Shia states in the heart of the Middle East. The largest and most successful was the Fatimid Caliphate, established in Cairo in 969, which had rapidly spread its influence across North Africa and the Levant. The Turks, recent converts to Islam, pushed the Fatimids back into Africa -- but at the price of seizing political control of the Caliphate of Baghdad. Thereafter and for the next two hundred years, the Caliphs of Baghdad were virtual prisoners of their protectors.

Meanwhile, a smaller and more fanatical Shia sect established itself in the mountains of what is now Lebanon: the Assassins. Sunni Muslim leaders felt actively threatened by both of these Shia states, and wars against the Shia generally commanded more popular support than wars against the Christians because the Shias were viewed as heretics, while the Christians were simply misguided.

Yet, this was not the only threat or conflict of the period. Historian Nabih Amin Faris summarizes the situation like this:

The twelfth century witnessed struggles between Moslems and Franks, between Sunnites and Shiites, between Sunnite caliph and Sunnite sultan, between Sunnite princes in the various urban centers and those in the outlying districts, between ambitious dynasts and predatory viziers, and between the mass of the population, mostly Arabs, and the foreign elements, mostly Turks. Each of these struggles was sufficient to disrupt the normal course of life and to ravage the general good of society. Together, they wrought havoc throughout the empire, rendered communications unsafe, increased lawlessness and gave rise to various forms of brigandage. [1]

Indeed, Faris notes further that, when in AD 1111 the sultan of Baghdad at last answered the pleas for assistance from the Moslem states facing Frankish incursions, "his troops, in the words of a Moslem chronicler, 'spread havoc and destruction throughout the land, far exceeding anything which the Franks were wont to do.'"

The constant conflicts shattered the economy and disrupted trade. Trade with the Far East stagnated and declined at the same time that the Mediterranean came increasingly under Christian domination. Not surprisingly, declining security and prosperity had an impact on intellectual and artistic development. It was a period of preservation, copying and compiling rather than creative innovation. 

Particularly damaging to intellectual pursuits was the fact that the rise of strong Shia states made Sunnis alarmed about “heresy.” Just as the fear of “heresy” in Christianity led to the introduction of the Inquisition, the fear of heresy in Islam likewise led to a more rigid orthodoxy among the majority Sunnis. The space for theological discourse and discussion narrowed significantly. Furthermore, because the Muslim states were theocracies, they conflated heresy and treason.

The trends toward greater orthodoxy and intellectual stagnation which affected the elites, arguably had an even more profound impact on the most vulnerable segments of society. According to Faris (p. 16), "...Arab women had lost the greater part of their freedom and dignity. ....[and] the system of total segregation of the sexes and stringent seclusion of women had become general" even before the 12th century, but it was in the 12th century that non-Muslim communities became subjected to increased discrimination. Non-Muslims were expelled from government employment, including employment in hospitals, and forced to wear distinctive clothing. It is important to remember that non-Muslims may still have represented a majority of the population or at a minimum a very large minority in those parts of the Middle East that had been part of the Byzantine Empire before the Muslim invasions of the 7th century. 

Added to all these man-made difficulties, the 12th century also saw repeated epidemics of small-pox, plague and malaria, as well as earthquakes and famines. 

Visitors from Muslim Spain reported that the Muslim subjects of the crusader kings were on the whole better off than their brothers in the Muslim states around them. Food for thought.

[1] Faris, Nabih Amin. "Arab Culture in the Twelfth Century" in Zacour, Norman P. and Harry W. Hazard. A History of the Crusades Volume Five: The Impact of the Crusades on the Near East. University of Wisconsin Press, 1985, 4.

Dr. Helena P. Schrader is the author of six books set in the Holy Land in the Era of the Crusades:

 

                         

Dr. Schrader's comprehensive study of the crusader states is available in hard back or ebook on amazon.com. 

 

Order now!

Find out more at: https://www.helenapschrader.com/crusades.html

 

Medieval Jihad

  The concept of jidad predated the crusades by more than four hundred years. Before one can begin to understand the crusades, it is necessary to first understand jihad as it was understood and practiced in the Middle Ages. Below is a short explanation.

Jihad is the theology that justified all Muslim conquest throughout the Middle Ages.

Although Islamic scholars also recognize “internal” jihad, the struggle against sin and the striving for a more perfect Islamic life on the personal level, the external jihad against non-believers was recognized as legitimate — and was practiced — from the earliest days of Islam.

Islam divides the world into two houses or camps: The dar al-islam (usually translated as the Abode of Islam) and the dar al-harb (the Abode of War). Thus, in the name of peace, all regions still in the dar al-harb must be conquered and eliminated until the entire world lives harmoniously together in the happy house of the dar al-islam.

Indeed, many medieval Islamic scholars argued that it was impossible and wrong even to make truces with non-Islamic powers. Practical politics got in the way of such purity, and Islamic states found it increasingly convenient to make truces with non-believers. This led to acknowledgement that there was a grey area between the dar al-islam and the dar al-harb, namely the dar al-’ahd — the Abode of the Treaty.

Nevertheless, such treaties were always viewed as temporary conveniences. Throughout the crusader period, for example, it was widely believed that the absolute longest period of time a truce between a Muslim and non-Muslim power could last was 10 years, 10 months and 10 days. In short, the very concept of permanent peace between Muslims and non-Muslims was rejected as contrary to Sharia Law in this period.

After the death of Muhammad conquests in the Arabian Peninsula were undertaken in the name of jihad. In the name of jihad, the conquests continued:

·       634–644 Muslim conquests of Egypt, Libya, Persia and Syria

·       637 Muslim conquest of Jerusalem

·       649 Muslim attacks on Cyprus

·       678 First Muslim siege of Constantinople

·       698 Muslim capture of the Christian city of Carthage

·       711–713 Muslim conquest of most of the Iberian Peninsula

·       713 Muslim conquest of Corsica

·       717 Second Muslim siege of Constantinople

·     732 Muslim invasion of Southern France stopped on the Loire River by Charles Martel at the Battle of Tours Oct. 10.

·       825 Muslim conquest of Crete

·       827–902 Muslim conquest of Sicily

·       837 First Muslim raids on mainland Italy

·       888 Muslims establish a base for raiding on the coast of France

·     997 Muslims pillage the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostella in Northern Spain

·    1086 Muslim conquest of Christian Antioch

Naturally, jihad also justified all the campaigns against the crusaders and the crusader states.

To find out what these wars were like, you need to look at individual campaigns, particularly theaters of war such as North Africa, Spain, the Byzantine Empire, the Crusader States, etc.

Dr. Helena P. Schrader is the author of six books set in the Holy Land in the Era of the Crusades. Find out more at: https://www.helenapschrader.com/crusades.html

 

                         

Dr. Schrader's comprehensive study of the crusader states is available in hard copy or ebook on amazon.com. 

 

Order now!