Part 17

At the same time, the instability of the Muslim governments in the western part of the Muslim world, especially in Andalusia and Sicily, in turn facilitated the emergence and increase in strength of their enemies. These changes in the balance of power prompted Western Europe to offer the Christian monarchs of Spain help and every means of support in their conflict with the Muslims of Andalusia. This in turn prompted the Almoravids and the Muslims of Sicily to seek help from North Africa, all of which led to a new phase in the Crusader movement in which it took on a distinctly international character.74 The papacy supported this war with its approval, advice, propaganda and moral support. This was a Crusade which preceded the call of Urban II for the Crusader campaign to the East in 488 AH/1095 CE.75 North Africa is counted as one of the theatres of war for the Crusades, as the North African front was an arena in which hostile Crusader forces were active for many centuries. That is represented in the many campaigns which were launched against the region one after another. The Crusaders did not run out of steam and failure did not weaken their resolve. Just as the Muslim lands of the Maghreb were the first to feel the sting of European colonialism, so too the lands of the Western wing of the Muslim world, including North Africa, were the first to experience the first strikes by the Crusaders. The reason for that is due to a number of geographical and historical factors, among the most important of which was their proximity to Western Europe, which was the centre of the Crusader movement, and the relatively good knowledge that the Europeans had of the political, economic and social situation of the Muslims in this region due to the ease of communication between both sides. In addition, the Europeans felt intense hatred towards the Muslims of the Maghreb,76 especially since the latter shouldered the burden of Jihad in Europe more so than other Muslims, and the Europeans sensed that these people would pose a real danger to them if they became united behind dedicated leadership. For all these reasons, Europe was plotting against the Muslims of this region and preparing to pounce on them; they were just waiting for the right opportunity. This long awaited opportunity began to present itself in the mid 5th century AH (11th century CE), when the Western wing of the Muslim world was afflicted with division which sent it into a downward spiral. The situation of their brothers in the East was no better. This division and disunity is the main reason for the calamity that befell the Muslims in the East and the West alike. How closely today resembles yesterday. Division among the Arabs and Muslims was, and still is, a wide-open door through which their enemies are able to strike them in their own homelands. Thus the Crusader forces launched huge campaigns, striking the Muslims on three fronts simultaneously: in Andalusia, Sicily and North Africa.77 Andalusia From the middle of that century, the Andalusian front witnessed a considerable level of activity which was represented by the launch of a strong and sustained attack by the Spanish Christians, led by the Kingdom of Castile, against the Muslims of Andalusia. Muslim cities and citadels began to fall into Christian hands one after another. They achieved victories over the Muslims in numerous battles, victories which were crowned by the fall of Toledo in 478 AH, at the hand of Alphonse VI, King of Castile. This disaster alarmed the entire Muslim world. Because of this ongoing pressure from the Christians of Spain, the Muslims of Andalusia sought support from the Almoravids of North Africa. They sent message after message to this young North African force seeking their help, and when their leader, Yoosuf ibn Tashifeen, had finished off the armies that were threatening his own state in North Africa, he crossed the sea to Andalusia with a huge army, and met Alphonse VI in the battle of Sagrajas (al-Zallaqah) in 479 AH, where the Almoravids and the Andalusians (who were more of an auxiliary force) achieved a great victory — a shining page in the history of Islamic Jihad. The Muslim victory in that battle stemmed the tide of Christian expansion for some time, until circumstances were ripe for it to begin again. Sicily On the Sicilian front, the emergence of the Normans as a new force in international politics was what led to the balance of power in the Western Mediterranean tipping in favour of Christian forces. As soon as these newcomers found a foothold in the south of Italy and Robert Guiscard, one of their greatest leaders, obtained the recognition of Pope Nicholas II at the Council of Melfi in 1059 CE, he announced his project of directing a blow against the Muslims of Sicily. He was aiming to appease the papacy, which thought that this would achieve its Crusader aims on the one hand, and divert the Norman threat from its own possessions on the other.