Part 29

He advised them to follow a methodology of purifying their souls, forgiving one another and embarking on Jihad so that they could achieve their goal of defeating the invaders, as he thought that if the Muslim rulers could not forget their grudges and differences then they were still following a path of jdhiliyah 140 and were not following the wise saying which stemmed from their (Islamic) heritage: "At times of hardship, grudges disappear."141 In many places in his book Al-Jihdd, as-Sulami urged, incited, exhorted and warned, and he addressed the rulers in particular regarding the necessity of Jihad in the speeches and lessons that he delivered in the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus and in the cities of Syria and Palestine.142 He did not omit any minute detail that had to do with Jihad, but he discussed it. We may note that in his book as-Sulami discussed and highlighted the divisions and splits in the Muslim East, especially in Syria, which had weakened and fragmented the Muslim forces and had weakened the belief in the obligatory nature of Jihad, which is something that the invaders took advantage of. He dealt with this problem by discussing the importance of purifying the soul, returning to adherence to the religion of Allah, setting things straight with one another and embarking on Jihad to confront the invasion; he pointed out that this could not be achieved unless the Muslim forces were united. Hence his book Al-Jihad spoke in general terms: it was not addressed only to specific political leaders or certain groups in Syria, for example; rather it was in accordance with a clear Islamic vision that was based on strong and authentic references in the Quran and the Sunnah, and in books of biography and military campaigns of early Islam, connecting its subject matter with the Crusader threat to Syria. The way in which he compiled information and quoted it in the right context is indicative of the extent of his far-sightedness and deep insight.143 Our research has shown that the first call to Jihad was not issued by the rulers; instead it came from the Muslim scholars of Islamic jurisprudence and the ulema,144 from teachers, scholars, jurists and writers. As-Sulami is regarded as one of the first to urge a Jihad; he was part of the current of popular Islamic resistance which was supported by Islamic scholars and judges.145 As-Sulami wrote his book at an early stage in this war, which is indicative of his intelligence and acumen in understanding the complex problems faced by Syria. Even though general circumstances were not conducive to the success of his call to Jihad at that early stage in particular, his book was a contribution to paving the way for the Zangid and Ayubid phases. Professor Ramadan Husayn ash-Shawish undertook a study and commentary on as-Sulami's book Al-Jihad, which he presented as a Master's thesis at Al-Fatih University in Tripoli (Libya) in 1992 CE.146 Islamic scholars and judges participate in physical Jihad One of the most prominent examples of an Islamic scholar's participation in the regular army and on the battlefield, so as demonstrate the ideal state of belief in Jihad and defending one's land and oneself, was that of Abu Muhammad 'Abdullah ibn Mansoor, who was known as Ibn Sulayhah, the judge (qadi) of the fortress of Jablah, who became the ruler of that fortress after the death of his father Mansoor in 494 AH/1100 CE. He had great military experience because he loved the soldierly life, and had chosen his troops and proven his good character.147 The talents of this ruler-judge were manifested when the Franks besieged the fortress of Jablah in an attempt to capture it in 494 AH/1100 CE. Initially he used what is now known as psychological warfare, when he came up with a brilliant plan to spread fear in the ranks of the Frankish forces. He pretended that the Sultan Barkiyaruq was headed towards Syria,148 coming to his aid, which made the Franks worry, and fear spread throughout their ranks and caused them to withdraw. When the Franks realized that this was really a trick, they came back and besieged the city again. But the judge repeated his trick in a different manner, spreading a rumour among the Crusader ranks that this time the Egyptians were coming to fight them and help him, so they ended their siege of the fortress.149 It seems that the Franks did not have sufficient information about the state of the fortress or of the number of troops that the qadi had, otherwise they would not have abandoned the siege on these two occasions. The Franks quickly realized that this was a case of psychological warfare, and what the aim of it was, and they returned and besieged the fortress for a third time, in Sha'ban150 of 494 AH. But the qadi realized that the Franks had figured out his old tactics, so he resorted to a new way of resisting the Franks. He worked out a deal with the Christians who were in the fortress, agreeing that they would send a Christian delegation to the Franks to work out the terms of surrendering the fortress to them, in which the Franks would send some of their knights to take over the fortress; they were to send three hundred of their most prominent and bravest knights.