Animosity Between Christianity And Islam
Towards the end of the 11th century, the ongoing animosity between the religions of Christianity and Islam would reach its breaking point. The destruction of the Christian Church of the Holy Sepulcher by Fatimid Caliph al-Hakim, the capture of the city of Jerusalem by the Muslims and the ongoing tensions between the Christian Byzantine Empire and its Muslim neighbors, would prompt Pope Urban II to call for European Christians to take up arms and passionately state “whoever shall set forth to liberate the church of God at Jerusalem for the sake of devotion alone and not to attain honor or money will be able to substitute that journey for all penance.” While thousands upon thousands of Christians answered the Pope’s call, they found themselves
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For centuries, a unified Muslim world had dominated the Mediterranean Sea, and as we will see later, when Saladin was able to reunite the Muslims again, the Christian Crusades became less effective. The emergence of the two branches of Islam, the Sunni and the Shia, spiraled the vast Muslim empire into an internal conflict that would divide the empire into individual Caliphates. The individual Caliphates, not only had to defend themselves against the invading Crusaders, but they also had to keep an eye on their neighbor Muslims, who could seize the opportunity to attack them. During the time of the first Crusade, tensions between the Fatimid Caliphate, which was composed of Shiite Muslims and the Seljuk Turks who were Sunni Muslims run very high. The Arab historian Ali Ibn Tahir Al-Sulami believed that the loss of Jerusalem was attributed to the “enmity and hatred that grew among them (Muslims) and their enemies felt a new desire to drive them from their lands and thus assuage their own greed.” In addition to the division of the Muslim empire, conflict within each Caliphate was a very common occurrence. Ibn Al-Athir credits those internal classes as the reason for Kergobah’s loss. “The Muslims turned their backs, in flight, firstly because of the contempt and scorn with which Karbugha had treated
For centuries, a unified Muslim world had dominated the Mediterranean Sea, and as we will see later, when Saladin was able to reunite the Muslims again, the Christian Crusades became less effective. The emergence of the two branches of Islam, the Sunni and the Shia, spiraled the vast Muslim empire into an internal conflict that would divide the empire into individual Caliphates. The individual Caliphates, not only had to defend themselves against the invading Crusaders, but they also had to keep an eye on their neighbor Muslims, who could seize the opportunity to attack them. During the time of the first Crusade, tensions between the Fatimid Caliphate, which was composed of Shiite Muslims and the Seljuk Turks who were Sunni Muslims run very high. The Arab historian Ali Ibn Tahir Al-Sulami believed that the loss of Jerusalem was attributed to the “enmity and hatred that grew among them (Muslims) and their enemies felt a new desire to drive them from their lands and thus assuage their own greed.” In addition to the division of the Muslim empire, conflict within each Caliphate was a very common occurrence. Ibn Al-Athir credits those internal classes as the reason for Kergobah’s loss. “The Muslims turned their backs, in flight, firstly because of the contempt and scorn with which Karbugha had treated