Part 40

Also crucial were the profound Islamic nature of his character; his complete devotion to achieving the greater aims of the Muslims; his tolerant, just internal policies; his ability — on that basis — to lead the Jihad movement and create some sort of coordination, perhaps for the first time, between all the Islamic forces in the field of Jihad, which we do not find in such a crystallized, mature form except during the Artuqid and Zangid periods later on; and finally, his success in forcing the Crusaders into a defensive position and his achievement of a number of victories, one of which came in the hills of Tiberias in the heart of Palestine, far from the arena in which the battles between the rulers of Mosul and their enemies had usually taken place. Nonetheless, he was murdered soon after that in the Jami' mosque of Damascus at the hands of vicious enemies of the Jihad and resistance movement. The profound grief that enveloped the Muslim masses after his assassination and the sincere words that he spoke just before his martyrdom all confirm the position of Mawdood as one of the Islamic heroes of the wars against the Crusaders and one of the early pioneers of the Jihad.228 Mawdood's first campaign against Edessa In 503 AH/1109 CE, a few months after taking full control in Mosul, and after receiving instructions from the Seljuk sultan Muhammad ibn Malikshah to go ahead and fight the Crusaders, Mawdood began forming an Islamic alliance which included the Artuqi emir Ilghazi, the emir of Mardin, and his Turkmen troops; Suqman al-Qutubi who was known as the Shah of the Armenians; and a large number of volunteers.229 This was the first time that such a number of Muslim rulers had come together to fight the Crusaders; hence this campaign is regarded as the start of a new era in the fight against the Crusaders, and an important turning point from division and apathy to unity and attack.230 As soon as the Crusaders in Edessa became aware of the Muslims massing, Baldwin de Bourcq sent a messenger to Jerusalem, seeking immediate help from King Baldwin; he did not bother to seek help from Tancred the ruler of Antioch because he had doubts about his intentions, thinking that he may have come to some agreement with the Muslims against Edessa. At that time King Baldwin was besieging Beirut and did not move until he had captured that city; then he hastened northwards, accompanied by Bertram the ruler of Tripoli. Near Samosata he was joined by some Armenian leaders, headed by Kogh Basil, and he reached Edessa at the end of Dhul-Hijjah/August. Atabeg Mawdood continued to besiege Edessa for two months without being able to breach its fortified walls. When he saw the army from Jerusalem approaching at a distance, he lifted the siege and retreated to Harran, according to a precise military plan, where he was joined by Tughtigin, the atabeg of Damascus.231 King Baldwin decided to pursue the Muslim army, but he had to unite the Crusaders before he could do that. So he summoned Tancred, the ruler of Antioch, and managed to bring about reconciliation between him and the ruler of Edessa.232 Mawdood retreated some distance, so as to entice the Crusaders to pursue him to a place that was far away from their base, and then surround them after turning suddenly northwards. The pursuit ceased suddenly, however, and the Crusader alliance disintegrated. A combination of many factors caused the Crusaders to give up the chase and leave the area, the most important of which may be: a) King Baldwin received early warning of Mawdood's plan, so he lifted the siege of the citadel of Shenaw, north-west of Harran. He had also received a warning from Jerusalem that the Fatimids were moving against Beirut, so he decided to give up the campaign.233 b) Rumours were circulating among the Crusaders that Radwan, the ruler of Aleppo, was preparing to attack Antioch during its ruler's absence, so Tancred was forced to give up the campaign. c) Based on the king's advice that there was no point in attempting to protect the areas east of the Euphrates, Baldwin told the inhabitants to leave and go to the areas on the right bank. He kept some garrisons in the large fortresses of Edessa and Surooj, and in some of the smaller citadels, and also reinforced their defences. Mawdood, however, was content to attack the passing Crusaders from the rear and return to Mosul.234 Mawdood's second campaign against Edessa The second round came less than two years later, as a result of the mobilization called for by a delegation from Aleppo who came to Baghdad to call for Jihad. They did so after seeing the extent to which Radwan was submitting to the Crusaders and the continuous defeats suffered by the Muslims of Syria, as a consequence of which many positions had fallen into enemy hands. The call of the Aleppan delegation motivated the masses and the scholars of Baghdad, and they held a huge demonstration in which they called upon the authorities — the caliphs and sultans — to realize the necessity of proclaiming a Jihad and sending armies to halt the Crusaders' march.