Crusade, Jihad or holy war:
The root word of CRUSADE is CROSS and in Islam it is called JIHAD. It refers to
struggle. Both of the terms have sanctity and divinity in their meaning. Both
stand for purity, salvation, betterment of humanity and finally to beautify the
world by never ceasing struggle. Islam emphasizes the need of JIHAD in certain
conditions with a particular kind of classification. The most significant kind
of JIHAD is jihad bin- nafs. It means waging war against your animal self. It is
war against your ego, it’s a fight against your id and a kind of cross or
confrontation with the devil within you. At times jihad becomes mandatory with
weapon against the enemies of Allah and humanity. Capital punishment or use of
weapon against even a deadly criminal is the last and detestable option. The
killing of a human being although abominable killer and murderer, it is not
appreciated. The victory of Mecca is the shining example of JIHAD. Conquer of
Mecca was completed without shedding a single drop of blood. Amnesty at all
levels was granted. People were informed that they will not be hurt who seek
shelter in the Holy Kabatullh. Those who remain within the house of Abu Suffian,
will be provided protection. People confining themselves within their own homes,
will not be hurt. It was a charter of JIHAD side by side the framework of
shelter of humanity. The concept of CRUSADE in Christianity has the similar
sanctity and sacredness. However, whatever had been shown in the 11th and 12th
century, these are the worst examples of tyranny charged with selfish interests
of their religious patrons.
The first East-west global confrontation
11th century stands for the supremacy of Christendom to the Muslim world in
crusades. Jerusalem was conquered by the united forces of papacy, the feudal and
the ruling elite. The stake holders of the Western and the Christian world
joined hands and heads together to defeat their Muslim rivals. The crusaders
plied upon the score of bloodstained corpses of Muslims as well as of Jews.
Worst kind of blood bath had been witnessed and made it clear that Mongols are
not the pioneers of brutality; this credit goes to the account of the western
civilization. In the first crusade, the Christendom won. The second crusade was
resisted by Sultan Nooruddin Zangi. He gave tough time to the spirited
crusaders. The third crusade was resisted by Sultan Salahuddin Ayubi. He gave
the opponents such a terrible beating that till his last breath, they refrained
from carrying on wars. They thought of combating their rivals on literary,
academic and intellectual grounds. They resolved to detect flaws, shortcomings
and defects in Islamic teachings and in the overall behavior of Muslims. The
important and dominating characters of crusades are, King Frederic of Germany,
King Richard, the Lion heart, Sultan Nooruddin Zangi and Sultan Salahuddin Ayubi.
Except for Frederic, they all were brave, bold, courageous, sophisticated and
courteous men. Whatever the sentiment of hatred was generated by the wars, they
treated the rivals with utmost humility. Their tales present them like
chivalrous heroes and Red Cross Knights. But Salahuddin Ayubi is unmatchable.
During his leadership, ISLAMIC RENAISSANCE emerged with full bloom.
Factors responsible for the holy wars:
There remained a commendable unrest among the common men for the suppression of
human rights. Papacy played a key role in putting humanity into utter
subjection. Sales of indulgences, moral corruption and mysterious priesthood
denied human dignity. The phrase “Sales of Indulgences’ refers to the confession
of all misdeeds before the preacher. After the realization of all the ignoble
acts, a particular amount of money had to be paid to the church authorities.
This would let the sinner to have the profile of innocence even after he had
committed heinous crimes. Those who failed to make payment had to face the
consequences and were called unpardonable sinners. These are the negation of
bond between the creator and the creature. The major hurdle was the papacy.
Allama Iqbal rightly says:
Peeran-e- kaleesa ko kaleesa sey utha do
Common man was denied dignity. Man was suppressed, hurt, chained and degraded.
No one dared to interrogate or raise objection against the religious
institution’s tyranny. For about a thousand year’s acute slavish bondage, the
turmoil was boiling. Papacy’s farce of holiness, blessedness and godliness began
to get dull. The sanctity of church got jeopardized. People’s suspicions grew,
doubts developed and uncertainty got ground. It threatened the bread and butter
of papal authorities. It was not only the matter of their livelihood; all the
pillars of government began to shake. The rising sentiment of people to bring
about deadly revolution seemed to cause wholesale mortification of tyrants. “The
tree of liberty grows only when watered by the blood of tyrants.’ (Thomas
Jefferson)The class of cruel mastodons began to plot to avert this situation and
turn the state of internal war into the holy wars against the enemies of God.
The Muslims were chosen as their enemies. It is well said:
Nafraton kee sangbari key liay shetan ejad kiya ham ney
The stakeholders of Christianity; the papacy, the royal authorities and the
feudal class stood with uniformity. Although they had grudge and aversion
against each other, but the prevailing situation brought them under the same
umbrella. The huge public meetings were conducted. The leaders poisoned the ears
of people by delivering inflammable speeches. They narrated the fabricated
stories about the pathos of the pilgrims who were getting back from the holy
shrines in Jerusalem. This evoked the sentiments of the common men. The people
got ready to sacrifice all at the call of their religion. Matthew Arnold labels
common men as philistines or populace. He states: They are the brightest powers
of sympathy and readiest powers of action.
Clash of Civilizations or War against Science Culture
This state of confrontation has generally been called the clash of
civilizations. However, the study shows that it was not war between ISLAM and
CHRISTIANITY. It was plotted as the combat between the Muslims and the
Christians. Some men of opinion commented crusades as the FOREIGN POLICY OF
PAPACY. The most appropriate opinion is that the Crusades were the war between
the troika of Christianity and Science Culture.
It is ipso facto true the science removes the thick layer of mystery from all
things and presents everything and everyone in its true, vivid justified and
clear form. In fact, science culture and empirical approach nurtured doubts,
suspicion and interrogations against abstract and absurd things. These
interrogations are the steps to knowledge. The papacy got irritated at questions
and obvious doubts against their authenticity. They acted quite in a cool
calculated way and successfully averted the position. Later, the West realizes
that the crusades sheltered and benefitted not Christianity but the papacy only.
This strengthened the religious authorities and delayed Renaissance revolution
for about two centuries. After renaissance revolution, it is also strange and
worth-mentioning fact that the western world nurtured, developed, promoted and
patronized science in the forth-coming times. The west, however, knows that the
wars dragged the European world down to the bottom of utter humiliation. With
Renaissance, the West pioneered the boost up of science which brought real
credibility to the western world. Science brought such a remarkable revolution
that changed the shape and map of the globe. This not only brought comfort and
progress to the world, it ennobled the west as the undisputed leader of the
world before japans’ progress came to limelight.