Part 11

The roots of this movement are to be found in the religious, social, intellectual, economic and political conditions that prevailed in Western Europe in the eleventh century; it harnessed religion as the fuel to achieve its aims.23 Crusader attacks are nothing new, they are not a strange or exceptional phenomenon; they are the rule, and anything else is the exception. Hence we say that limiting the time scale of the Crusades to the period between 588 and 690 CE is a mistake, as Professor Sa'eed 'Ashoor states: It is not based on a solid foundation or on any comprehensive study of the Crusader movement, but it is (the result of) taking a partial view of the movement and failing to examine its roots and origins on the one hand, and its consequences and legacy on the other.25 The Islamic resistance to this invasion was a brilliant indication that faith was still alive in the hearts of Muslims, sometimes at the level of the leadership, and at the level of the masses most of the time. This era produced mujahideen26 who reached a high calibre of efficiency and capability; these mujahideen spread along all fronts and resisted the invaders at every turn. Throughout two centuries they never gave up their resistance, never accepted the status quo or laid down their weapons. They were constantly prepared, at any moment, to leap upon their horses and rush to meet their goals. Jihad is not created by wishful thinking, and the mujahid does not operate in a vacuum; it is great historical challenges that make Jihad and motivate the mujahideen, and instil in the Muslim fighter a spirit of heroism, sacrifice and martyrdom.27 The Crusaders outflanking manoeuvres Soon after Europe had crushed the Islamic presence in Spain, the leaders of Spain and Portugal, followed by Britain, Holland and France, began their well-known historical manoeuvres to outflank the Muslim world, via their operations in Africa and Asia. This evolved into the colonialist movement that the Muslim world would subsequently suffer from, and which continued for decades after the fall of the Ottoman Caliphate. The Mamluks in Egypt and Syria had run out of steam; the discovery of a new sea route around the Cape of Good Hope had dealt a crushing blow to their trade, which was the backbone of their financial strength. The Ottomans were concentrating their efforts on penetrating Europe from the east, and they did not have the territorial connections to enable them to stop the outflanking manoeuvres when they started; it was only after many decades that they took action to confront this situation. Nevertheless, Muslim populations and local leadership fought vigorously in the areas under attack, and set a great example of long-term resistance against the aggression. They inflicted huge losses on the invaders on all fronts and along the coasts where the invaders sought to get a foothold.28 The Ottomans managed to save the Islamic world from the Spanish-Portuguese invasion which had threatened to strangle Muslim trade. When the Iberians tried to gain control of the coast of Muslim Morocco, the Ottomans hastened to seize control of all of North Africa except Marrakech; they were able to confront the Spanish all along the coasts and islands of the Mediterranean and push them back. Thus the Ottoman navy managed to keep the coastal regions of the Mediterranean for Islam and the Muslims. The Ottomans also managed to gain control of the coast in East Africa and areas on the northern coasts of the Indian Ocean at the beginning of the eighteenth century, which alarmed the Europeans. Ahmad ibn Sa'eed (1740) managed to stand up to them in Oman, where the Portuguese lost any hope of regaining control of the region. After the fall of Andalusia, Oman was the strongest Arab power; its revival lasted from 1000-1250 AH. Oman controlled the coastal fortresses of the Red Sea, the Indian Ocean, the Gulf and East Africa as far as the Cape of Good Hope. Within a few generations the Omanis became masters of the three great seas; they had a huge fleet that defeated the Portuguese fleet and expelled it from all the ports in India, Persia and Africa. The English could not tolerate this naval power which threatened their possessions in Asia and Africa. For eighty years they tried to weaken it and destroy it, and the British fleet bombarded its cities.29 Colonialism The next European counterattack came at the hands of the colonialist forces which were pushed by the Industrial Revolution to seek fresh pastures in the Old World. They sought markets for their goods, sources of raw materials, and a supply of cheap human labour. This took the form of slaves taken by force from Africa and transported across the sea in a process that remains a dark stain on the history of the conflict between Europe and the East, to which huge numbers of Muslims in Africa fell victim. This wave which was led by Britain, France, Holland, Belgium, Italy, and Germany to some extent, continued until the early decades of the twentieth century. The Muslim world was its primary victim; in fact it was its only victim if we exclude small areas inhabited by non-Muslim majorities. Its economic goals, driven as they were against a Crusader background, were expressed in more than one incident, and offered evidence in more than one case.