- Help!
- This pain is unbearable!
>Please calm down. We should clean up your foot from this pus first.
- I can't. >It's okay, it's okay. I've prepared a special ointment for it.
= Knight! -Yes.
= Do not listen to the words of this impostor.
Would you rather die with two feet or live with one foot?
- I prefer life rather than death.
I beg you, save me from this pain!
= Bring a knight and a strong axe! Quickly!
>What are you saying? Are you crazy?
= Get away from here. And now cut off
his foot!
- Aaaaagh!
To you a greeting of peace and Allah's mercy
In the fifth century AH, Crusaders occupied vast areas of the Levant.
They established four independent kingdoms.
In Antioch, Edessa, Jerusalem, and Tripoli.
And after long wars that lasted for two centuries,
the Muslims were able to liberate the cities
the Crusaders had occupied.
But here, we wonder how was the life of the Franks in the meantime?
How did the Muslims face this occupation in their own lands?
We will not find anyone who can describe the reality of that time for us
as one of the princes of the Emirate of Shayzar did.
He is the writer and knight, Usama ibn Munqidh.
For in his book "Al-Itibar",
he wrote the first biography of one of the princes in Muslim history.
This book was an essential reference in understanding the reality of the Crusades.
Usama tells us his long memories of his travels
to Egypt and the Crusader kingdoms, and stories
of wars, politics and history.
He was a commander in the Zengi army
and had commanded several campaigns against the Crusaders.
He was also an ambassador of Salah Al-Din Al-Ayyubi to Abi Yusuf Al-Mansur,
leader of the Almohad state In Morocco, as well as his appointed
supervisor for the construction of the famous Ajloun Castle
during the year 580 AH.
Anyhow, Usama was very close to the political
events in his life.
He witnessed the rise of Crusader kingdoms,
the occupation of Jerusalem and its retaking,
the emergence of the Zengid and Ayyubid states,
and the collapse of the Fatimid state.
His book "Al-Itibar" is full of events and stories,
the strangest of them being what he wrote about the
habits of the Crusaders
and the bravery of Muslim men and women while confronting them.
And he talked a lot
about the political affairs and conflicts
that he witnessed among the rulers in the Levant and the Fatimids.
An important question might occur to you now:
Where did the strength of the Crusaders come from to occupy the Levant?
To answer this question,
we must know the reality in which those wars had occurred.
We know that religious incitement
was an important factor in launching the Crusades,
where men of religion used distorted texts from the Gospels
to lie to the public about Islam,
and to feed their leaders' greed
for expansion and wealth.
And they made the cross a symbol for absolute power during war,
thinking it would make them stronger and invincible.
The instinct of fighting and violence in Europeans
and their greed for the wealth of Muslims
was also an important driver,
especially since they lived in a harsh environment,
filled with infighting, crime and ignorance.
More importantly, these campaigns were a way to unite the kingdoms of Europe
against the Seljuk Muslims
who had expanded through the land of Byzantium
and had approached Constantinople.
Hence, it was necessary for these campaigns to stop them.
And here, Usama Ibn Munqidh comes in to
to explain to us in his book,
the life of the Crusaders and their customs
during their occupation of the Muslims' lands.
He confirms that the power of the Crusader kings
depended mainly on the bravery of knights,
and that these knights were an important part of the nobility.
And they had a system that resembles the jury
of contemporary judiciary system.
So if they issued a judgement,
it cannot be changed by anyone.
Not even by princes or kings.
This shows the power of the nobility in the Crusades.
Usama mentions to us
that this class is influenced by many Muslim customs.
Of course!
For this influence is due to their fascination
with the progress of Muslims at the time,
and their psychological and cultural defeat in front of them.
He narrates in his book the following incident:
- We came to the house of one of the ancient knights
who came with the first Frankish arrival.
And he had property in Antakya of which he lives from.
- He prepared a fine table and food of utmost cleanliness and quality.
And he noticed that I avoided eating.
> Eat freely!
> For I don't eat the food of the Franks,
and pork doesn't enter my home.
- Hmmm
> Don't hesitate, man!
> This food was made for me by Egyptian cooks.
and I only eat from their cooking.
- Thank you, thank you, I shall eat...
Usama also mentions
alot of stories about their bravery in wars.
Strangely, this courage had caused the death
of some of their leaders.
- Sir Adam, brave leader!
> What is the matter?
- We have seen the tiger we had told you about.
- It's hiding in the abandoned church of Hunak.
> Bring me my weapon and my horse!
Tiger! I have come to kill you!
I am the brave commander Adam!
On the other hand,
the Franks had a lot of bad morals
and rough manners.
One time, Usama was on a delegation to the Kingdom of Jerusalem.
He entered to pray in Al-Aqsa Mosque.
One of the new Franks jumped him several times
to deviate him from the east.
Because he had never seen a Muslim praying in his life.
One of the things that disgusted him about them
was the lack of jealousy over their women.
He remembers once seeing a man bathing with his adult daughter
in the men's bath in the city of Tyre.
It also was normal for men to take a bath
in front of each other, undressed, without shame or modesty.
And there are many shameful things that we shall avoid mentioning.
In a traumatic event,
Ibn Munqidh tells about the betrayal from the king of Jerusalem,
Count Baldwin III of Flanders
who gave his word to Nur ad-Din Zengi
that Usama's family shall pass safely from Egypt to the Levant
through sea.
Then, when the ship arrived, with Usama's family to Acre,
Baldwin sent his soldiers, and they stole the money, weapons,
gold and horses that they had with them,
and more than four thousands of high quality books,
that Usama had bought and carefully selected
while living in Egypt.
But despite the strength and the courage of the Crusaders,
their ignorance of the sciences, including medicine was clear.
Usama's uncle had sent a Christian physician
to observe Frankish medical practices.
After returning ten days later.
He asked him why he had returned so quickly.
He responded: - They brought to me a knight with an abscess in his leg,
and a woman whose milk had dried up.
So, I began to treat the knight and the woman, until a Frank doctor came
and said: This one does not know anything!
Then he said to the knight: which do you prefer, to live
with one leg or to die with two legs?
He said: to live with one leg!
He said: bring a strong knight and a sharp axe.
Then he told the knight: strike his leg with the axe with one blow! Cut it off!
He hit him and the insides of his leg flowed out.
He died then and there.
As for the woman, he said about her: This woman is possessed by a demon inside her head.
Shave her hair! So they shaved it.
Then the barber came back to her
He said: The devil has entered into her head!
Then he took the knife and slashed her head in the shape of a cross
and skinned its center until its skull appeared as he rubbed it with salt.
She died instantly.
So, I learned from their medicine what I did not know.
Usama was not impressed by the franks, but proud of Islam and its values.
Honest and fair in conveying their pros and cons,
and their way of life.
His travels were also very important,
because they're like a mirror reflecting the conditions of Muslim lands.
And his open-mindedness had an important role
in understanding the conditions of the Frankish occupiers,
and faithfully conveying them to the Zengid and Ayyubid leaders
which contributed to their victory.
We end with peace.
To you a greeting of peace and Allah's mercy