COMMENTARY
1,400
Years of Christian/Islamic Struggle: An Analysis
By
Richard C. Csaplar, Jr.
Guest Columnist
CBN.com
– I was very disappointed to see that U.S. News would publish a clearly
false article, adopting the world's clearly false, politically correct (PC) view
of the place of the Crusades in history. What makes it even worse, the article
hides its views under the additional headline falsehood, "The Truth About the
Epic Clash Between Christianity and Islam." Let me explain. The
opening heading states, "During the Crusades, East and West first met." This is
just totally in error, as any person with the slightest knowledge of history well
knows. East and West had been fighting for at least 1,500 years before the first
Crusade.
To give just a few examples -- the Persians invaded Europe in an attempt
to conquer the Greeks in the fifth century B.C. The Greek, Alexander the Great,
attempted to conquer all of Asia, as far as India, in the fourth century B.C.
Both the Persians of the east and the Greeks of the west set up colonial empires
founded upon bloody military conquest. The Romans established by bloody military
conquest colonies in Mesopotamia, northwestern Arabia, and Assyria in the
second century A.D.
A different type of bloody conquest occurred through the movement of whole
tribal groups between the east and the west. Again, just to name a few, the
Huns, the Goths, and the Avars came from as far away as western Asia, central
Asia, and China respectively in the fifth through the seventh centuries A.D.
Indeed, the Avars from northern China and Mongolia were besieging Constantinople
in 626 A.D., at the very moment Mohammed was a merchant in Arabia. Indeed,
the Avars, by this siege, were one of the forces that weakened the Byzantines
(there were many other, perhaps more important, forces) to the extent that
most of the Byzantine mid-eastern empire fell relatively easily to the Muslims.
But let's give the writer the benefit of the doubt and say that the author
meant that "During the Crusades, Islam and Christianity first met." This,
of course, is also totally false.
Let us review the Muslim conquest. In 624, Mohammed led a raid for booty
and plunder against a Meccan caravan, killing 70 Meccans for mere material
gain. Between 630 A.D. and the death of Mohammed in 632 A.D., Muslims -- on
at least one occasion led by Mohammed -- had conquered the bulk of western
Arabia and southern Palestine through approximately a dozen separate invasions
and bloody conquests. These conquests were in large part "Holy wars," putting
the lie to another statement in the U.S. News article that proclaimed the
Crusades "The First Holy War," as if the Christians had invented the concept
of a holy war. After Mohammed's death in 632, the new Muslim caliph, Abu Bakr,
launched Islam into almost 1,500 years of continual imperialist, colonialist,
bloody conquest and subjugation of others through invasion and war, a role
Islam continues to this very day.
You will note the string of adjectives and may have some objection to my
using them. They are used because they are the absolute truth. Anyone denying
them is a victim of PC thinking, ignorant of history, or lying to protect
Islam. Let us take each word separately before we proceed further in our true
history of the relationship between the Christian west and the Islamic east.
Imperialistic The Muslim wars of imperialist conquest
have been launched for almost 1,500 years against hundreds of nations, over millions
of square miles (significantly larger than the British Empire at its peak). The
lust for Muslim imperialist conquest stretched from southern France to the Philippines,
from Austria to Nigeria, and from central Asia to New Guinea. This is the classic
definition of imperialism -- "the policy and practice of seeking to dominate the
economic and political affairs of weaker countries." Colonialist
The Muslim goal was to have a central government, first at Damascus, and
then at Baghdad -- later at Cairo, Istanbul, or other imperial centers. The local
governors, judges, and other rulers were appointed by the central imperial authorities
for far off colonies. Islamic law was introduced as the senior law, whether or
not wanted by the local people. Arabic was introduced as the rulers' language,
and the local language frequently disappeared. Two classes of residents were established.
The native residents paid a tax that their colonialist rulers did not have to
pay. Although the law differed in different places, the following are examples
of colonialist laws to which colonized Christians and Jews were made subject to
over the years: - Christians and Jews could not bear arms -- Muslims
could;
- Christians and Jews could not ride horses -- Muslims could;
- Christians
and Jews had to get permission to build -- Muslims did not;
- Christians
and Jews had to pay certain taxes which Muslims did not;
- Christians could
not proselytize -- Muslims could;
- Christians and Jews had to bow to their
Muslim masters when they paid their taxes; and
- Christians and Jews had
to live under the law set forth in the Koran, not under either their own religious
or secular law.
In each case, these laws allowed the local conquered people less freedom
than was allowed the conquering colonialist rulers. Even non-Arab Muslim inhabitants
of the conquered lands became second class citizens behind the ruling Arabs.
This is the classic definition of colonialist -- "a group of people who settle
in a distant territory from the state having jurisdiction or control over
it and who remain under the political jurisdiction of their native land."
We will talk about "bloody" as we proceed. Because the U.S. News
article related only to the Christian west against the Muslim east, except in
this paragraph I will not describe the almost 1,500 years of Muslim imperialistic,
colonialist, bloody conquest and subjugation of others through invasion and war
to the east of Arabia in Iraq, Persia, and much further eastward, which continues
to this day.
In any event, because it was the closest geographically, Palestine was the
first Western non-Arab area invaded in the Muslim imperialist, colonialist,
bloody conquest and subjugation of others. At the time, Palestine was under
the rule of the so-called Eastern Roman Empire, ruled from Istanbul by Greek
speaking people, and was Eastern Orthodox Catholic. The Eastern Orthodox rule
was despotic and the Eastern Roman Empire was in serious decline. The Eastern
Orthodox rulers were despots, and in Palestine had subjugated the large population
of local Jews and Monophysite Christians. Because the Orthodox were imperialist,
colonialist, and bloody, and majored in religious persecution to boot, the
Muslim imperialist, colonialist, bloody conquest and subjugation of Palestine,
and then Egypt, was made easier. Because of Orthodox weakness and the relative
speed of the conquest of Palestine and Israel, I have often seen this Muslim,
imperialist, colonialist bloody conquest described by Muslim and PC writers
as "peaceful" or "bloodless." This statement is simply not true.
The Muslim imperialist, colonialist, bloody conquest and subjugation of Palestine
began with a battle, the August 20, 636, battle of Yarmk (it is believed that
75,000 soldiers took part -- hardly bloodless). With the help of the local
Jews who welcomed the Muslims as liberators, the Muslims had subjugated the
remainder of Palestine but had not been able to capture Jerusalem. Beginning
in July 637, the Muslims began a siege of Jerusalem which lasted for five
(hardly bloodless) months before Jerusalem fell in February 638. Arabs did
not sack the city, and the Arab soldiers were apparently kept in tight control
by their leaders. No destruction was permitted. This was indeed a triumph
of civilized control, if imperialism, colonization, and bloody conquest can
ever be said to be "civilized." It was at this conquest that many significant
hallmarks of Muslim colonialism began. The conquered Christian and Jewish
people were made to pay a tribute to the colonialist Muslims. In addition,
Baghdad used the imperialist, colonialist, bloody wars of conquest throughout
the life of its empire to provide the Caliphate with a steady stream of slaves,
many of whom were made eunuchs.
The Muslim conquest of (Christian) North Africa went relatively easily until
the native peoples of North Africa (most importantly the Berbers) were encountered
west of Egypt. The North African people fought so strongly against the Muslims
that the Muslim imperialist, colonialist, bloody conquest in the west was
brought to an almost complete stop between Tripoli and Carthage for more than
a quarter century. The Muslims broke through in a series of bloody battles
followed by bloody (revenge) massacres of the Muslim's (largely Christian)
opponents. This Muslim imperialist, colonialist, bloody conquest continued
through North Africa and through what is now Spain, Portugal, and southern
France, until they were stopped at the battle of Poiters (hardly bloodless)
in the middle of France.
I
believe that if I had the time, I could show that the Muslims, in their western
imperialist, colonialist, bloody conquests, killed two to three times as many
Christians as the Christians killed Muslims in all of the Crusades combined. But
let us return to Jerusalem. Jerusalem
The U.S. News article states that after Saladin conquered Jerusalem, "the
victorious Saladin forbade acts of vengeance. There were no more deaths, no
violence." True, as far as it goes. The article goes on to say, "most Muslims
[will] tell you about Saladin and his generosity in the face of Christian
aggression and hatred." Thus, the PC people and the Muslims ignore 450 years
of prior Muslim aggression and approach the Crusades as being Christian or
Western aggression against Islam, beginning out of the blue, without any prior
history. Let us go back to the Muslim colonialist occupation of Jerusalem.
When we left our truthful history of Jerusalem,
the Muslims, headquartered in Arabia, had just captured Jerusalem. For approximately
100 years, chiefly under the Umayyads, Jerusalem prospered under Muslim rule.
Under the succeeding Abbasids, Jerusalem began to decline -- beginning at approximately
725 A.D. The occasion, among other things, was the decline of the central Muslim
government, the breaking away from Arabia of far-flung provinces, the growth of
warlike revolutionary groups, the growth of extremist Muslim sects, and, perhaps
most important, the decision (relatively new) that Muslims had an obligation to
convert all Christians and Jews (and "other pagans") to Islam. Thereafter, the
true colonial nature of Jerusalem became more apparent. The Abbasids drained wealth
from Jerusalem to Baghdad for the benefit of the caliphs, and Jerusalem declined
economically. The language of the government became Arabic, and forcible conversion
to Islam became the Muslim policy. In approximately 750, the Caliph destroyed
the walls of Jerusalem, leaving it defenseless (they were later rebuilt, in time
to defend against the Crusaders). The history of the following three hundred years
is too complex and too tangled to describe in a single paragraph. Jerusalem and
its Christian and Jewish majority suffered greatly during alternating periods
of peace and war. Among the happenings were repeated Muslim destruction of the
countryside of Israel (970-983, and 1024-1077) of Jerusalem; the wholesale destruction
by the Muslims of Christian churches -- sometimes at the direct order of the Caliph,
as in 1003, and sometimes by Muslim mobs; the total destruction of Jerusalem by
the Caliph of Cairo in the early 1020s; building small mosques on the top of Christian
churches; enforcing the Muslim laws limiting the height of Christian churches;
attacking and robbing Christian pilgrims from Europe; attacking Christian processions
in the streets of Jerusalem; etc. Why the change after nearly 100 years
of mostly peaceful Muslim rule? From what I read, there is a general view among
the historians that the caliphs had begun to add a religious importance to their
conquests, setting conversion to Islam as an important priority; their later caliphs
had no first-hand remembrance of Mohammed; the vast distances of the empire led
to independent rulers being established in Spain, North Africa, Cairo, Asia Minor,
etc.; and the instability of the caliphates and resulting civil wars.
The point about conversion to Islam I find particularly interesting. Many
historians believe that the first one hundred years of Muslim conquest were
imperialist and colonialist only with little significant forced conversion
content. With respect to Jerusalem, there was a particular problem in the
fact that generally the Christians and their churches (and to a lesser degree,
the Jews) were significantly wealthier than the Muslims. This was largely
because beginning in the early 800s with Charlemaigne, Europe adopted a sort
of prototype "foreign aid" program for the churches located at the holy places
in Jerusalem, where, to the embarrassment of the Muslims, Christian churches
and monasteries outshone their Muslim rivals. Many of these churches and monasteries
were run by western religious orders reporting directly to Rome under western
leaders appointed by Rome (more were subject to Constantinople). Literally
thousands of European Christian pilgrims made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem from
such places as Germany, France, and Hungary (particularly in the years 1000,
1033, 1064, and 1099). Finally, Muslim rulers and European rulers frequently
sought to enter into treaties of support with each other. As a result, Christian
churches became the target of Muslims when enemies of those with whom there
were European ties were victorious in a civil war. From time to time, Christian
churches were rebuilt with Muslim funds when pro-western rulers came to power.
So much for the PC, U.S. News, Muslim outright lie that begins with the statement,
"During the Crusades, East and West first met," and that later in the article
called the Crusades, "the first major clash between Islam and Western Christendom."
What about the long, prior conquest by Islam of Spain and Portugal? What about
the battle of Portiers?
The following is just an aside, which I cannot prove, but
I have noticed that PC and Muslim statements frequently cut off history when it
is not in their favor. Thus, the article gives credence to the widespread belief
in Islam that east-west history began with the Crusades. See also as an example
of this tendency to begin history where it is convenient, today's Muslim description
of the current Israeli occupation of the West Bank without mentioning the fact
that the current occupation was caused by the widespread cold-blooded murder of
Israeli civilians by Muslims. But let us move on to the Crusades themselves.
The Crusades
First, a word about my personal view of the Crusades. I believe that the
murderous and pillaging acts of the Crusaders when they entered Jerusalem
were barbaric, unchristian, and evil. This is particularly so as those barbaric,
unchristian, and evil acts were carried on in the name of a religion of peace,
love, and forgiveness. I believe that the vast bulk of thinking Christians
agree with me. I cite as evidence the large numbers of Christians who have
recently taken long pilgrimages in the footsteps of the Crusaders, repenting
for the Crusader's acts, seeking for forgiveness, and giving penance for the
Crusader's barbaric, unchristian, and evil acts.
A question occurs to me here. How many Muslim groups have taken long pilgrimages
in the footsteps of the Muslim conquest repenting, seeking for forgiveness,
and giving penance for the Muslims imperialist, colonialist, and bloody conquest
of Palestine, Egypt, Syria, North Africa, and Spain? This is particularly
important as the U.S. News article claims, "For [Muslims] imperialism is a
dirty word" Where is Muslim repentance for its imperialism, geographically
the largest in all of history, which permits Muslims to call Western imperialism
a dirty word?
Let us rewrite the beginning
of the U.S. News article as follows: "In 1095, after suffering from the murderous
invasions of Muslim conquerors who killed tens of thousands of Christians through
four-and-one-half centuries of Muslim imperialist, colonialist conquest, made
slaves and eunuchs of Christians for the pleasure of the caliphs, burned down
or sacked the holiest churches in Christendom, robbed and killed thousands of
Christians on holy pilgrimage, brutally sacked and pillaged Jerusalem, and pillaged
the countryside of Israel, western Europe, under the leadership of the Pope, decided
to free the people of the Holy Land from their brutal masters and reclaim Christianity's
holiest places for free Christian worship." Now, I fully realize that the
previous paragraph is one-sided, that the six centuries of Muslim colonial, imperialist
occupation were more complex than are shown in the previous paragraphs, and that
the Christians were not always blameless, little babes. However, the previous
paragraph has the benefit of not being an outright lie, which is more than I can
say for the U.S. News article. To beat the dog one more time, you may have
noted that I stated above that Muslim imperialism has continued until the present.
Muslim imperialism has continued without any let-up from ten years before Mohammed's
death until today. Consider the Ottoman invasion of Christian Eastern Europe
in which the Ottoman Empire invaded the west and conquered and colonized Greece,
all of the Balkans, Romania, Bessarabia, and Hungary, and was stopped only at
the outskirts of Vienna in 1529. Consider also the Muhgal conquest of Northern
India in the early 1600s. But today? Of course! In the 20th century alone: 1.
Muslim Turkey has expelled approximately 1,500,000 Greeks from its empire in the
east and replaced them with Turks. They have massacred approximately 2 million
Armenians and replaced them with Turks in the west. 2. Muslim Turkey has
invaded and occupied northern Cyprus, displacing the Greeks living there. 3.
Muslim northern Sudan has conquered much of southern Sudan, literally enslaving
its Christian and pagan population. 4. Indonesian imperialism has occupied
all of non-Islamic western New Guinea and incorporated into Indonesia. 5.
Muslim Indonesia has invaded and conquered Christian East Timor with horrible
loss of life. 6. This very day, Muslim Indonesia is attempting to destroy
Christianity in what used to be called the Celebes. 7. A half-dozen Arab
countries have fought two to four wars (depending how you count) in an attempt
to destroy Israel and occupy its territory, and is currently continuing the attempt
this very day with the publicly voted consent of 55 of the world's 57 Islamic
nations. 8. For no good reason, Muslim Libya has blown up western aircraft,
killing many civilians. 9. Muslim Iraq, in an imperialist war of aggression,
invaded and occupied Muslim Kuwait. 10. Muslim Iraq, in an imperialist
act of aggression, invaded Muslim Iran with a resulting (some estimates say) death
of 2 million people. 11. Muslim Albania, this very minute, is attempting
to enlarge its borders at Christian Macedonia's expense. 12. Muslim Northern
Nigeria has been (and is currently) an aggressor against the Christian south.
13. Muslims expelled approximately 800,000 Jews from their homelands between
1947 and 1955. 14. During Jordan's occupation of the West Bank, the kingdom
undertook an unsuccessful attempt to make Jerusalem a Muslim city by forcing out
approximately 10,000 Christian inhabitants.
Yes, I know that the reverse has been true. For example, Christian Serbia
entered and massacred Bosnian Muslims. The western response was instructive.
The west sent troops to protect the Muslims. Serbia gave up its leader to
be tried for the crime by an international panel. Will Indonesia do the same
with respect to Timor? Or Sudan with respect to southern Sudan?
Question: What is the title of the shortest book in the world? Answer: "The
list of Muslim nations who have risked the lives of their soldiers to protect
(as with the U.S. protection of Muslims in Kuwait) Christian or Jewish citizens
from Muslim imperialism."
Yes, I also know that in the 20th century
the west fought two of the bloodiest wars in history. But in the past more than
55 years, the west has developed methods that have led to peace among the west,
and all but totally ended western imperialism and colonialism. With former colonies
having a large majority in the UN, and the example of the west before it, Islam
has continued its imperialist, colonial, bloody wars unabated.
One final point. Muslims base their claim to the city of Jerusalem upon the
belief that Jerusalem has been a Muslim city for centuries. It may be that
Muslims were never a majority in Jerusalem. We cannot prove this for all time
periods, but we know that Muslims were a minority in the first several centuries
after the Muslim imperialist conquest and during the century of Christian
occupation during the Crusades. And we know that in the Middle Ages, Jerusalem
was not considered important to the Muslims, but it was to the Christians
and Jews. The Muslims made cities other than Jerusalem the capital of their
Palestinian colony. Many Caliphs never even visited Jerusalem. Therefore,
there was a steady stream of Jewish and Christian (but not Muslim) immigrants
into Jerusalem throughout the Middle Ages, including a major immigration of
Karaite Jews in the late eighth and early ninth centuries, and a steady stream
of Armenians for hundreds of years, until there were so many Armenians that
an Armenian Quarter was established in Jerusalem. Finally, we know that for
at least more than the last 160 years, Muslims were a clear minority in Jerusalem.
The Muslim Ottomans, and then the British and Israelis, kept careful census
record showing the following percentages of Muslim population in Jerusalem:
1844 -- 33%
1896 -- 19%
1910 -- 13%
1922 -- 22%
1931 -- 22%
1948 -- 24%
1967 -- 21%
1972 -- 23%
1992 -- 25% Learn more at CBN.com's Understanding
Islam section
Richard C. Csaplar, Jr., is a member of the Board of Trustees of Regent University
and an attorney with Day, Berry, and Howard of Boston, Massachusetts, where
he specializes in financial law.
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