Part 43

However, the fact that the Muslims were far from their homelands, had no supplies, and were suffering from the intense cold forced them to cease operations in the area and return to Damascus on the twenty-first of Rabee' I, with hopes of returning to fight the Crusaders when spring came. After Mawdood received the sultan's response to his message and his instructions concerning it,256 he went to the Jami' mosque in Damascus on a Friday in Rabee4 I to pray there with Tughtigin. When they had finished praying, Mawdood came out to the courtyard of the mosque, holding Tughtigin's hand, and a Batini heretic leapt on him and struck him, inflicting four wounds. The Batini was captured and his head was taken but no one recognized him, so it was burned. Mawdood had been fasting, and he was carried to the house of Tughtigin, who urged him strongly to break his fast, but he refused, saying, "I do not want to meet Allah except fasting," and he died that day, may Allah have mercy on him.257 The Muslims were saddened by the fall of one of the greatest heroes of Jihad, who was known for his sincerity, devotion and daring, and they grieved deeply for his sudden disappearance after the great victory that he and his allies had achieved in the heart of Crusader territory. The masses of Damascus expressed their sorrow and anger, and the city witnessed turmoil such as had not been seen in a long time. Nothing calmed the people down except their hope that their leader would survive the wounds that had been inflicted on him, but as soon as they heard of his martyrdom a few hours later, their anguish and turmoil were renewed.258 The Frankish king in Jerusalem wrote a letter to Tughtigin in which he said, "The nation that murdered its leader, on its feast day, in its house of worship, deserves to be destroyed by God!"259 Nevertheless, the Frankish king and other Crusader leaders were unaware, or deliberately ignored, what was really going on at that time. The greatest help to them and the greatest danger to every Muslim attempt to fight them was not the nation that they thought had killed its leader in its house of worship — and we know the attitude of this nation towards the murder of its mujahid hero — rather it was that hateful Rafidi Batini group which was based on unorthodox beliefs and had a strong inclination towards destructiveness, which was established in Persia by a man called al-Hasan ibn as-Sabbah, whom we have discussed previously. He was supported by the Rafidi Batini Fatimid state, and the hatred of these Assassins for the Christians was no greater than their hatred for the Sunni Muslims.260 What we see today is the best evidence of that. Consequences of the campaigns led by Mawdood Despite the failure that befell the campaigns of Mawdood, the hero of Islam, they led to many important consequences for the course of the Islamic Jihad movement against the Crusaders, which may be summed up as follows: a) Mawdood's reign — although it was short — is regarded as a turningpoint in the history of the Muslim-Christian conflict during that early stage, as the idea of Jihad became a reality261 and found a loyal knight who carried its banner for nearly half of the period during which he was the emir of Mosul.262 b) The campaign of Mawdood exposed the weakness of the Muslim forces in Syria and Mesopotamia, and the apathy among some of them towards Jihad against the Crusader invaders.263 c) It is possible to regard the campaigns of Mawdood as a precursor to the campaigns of Imad ad-Deen Zangi, without minimising the chronological difference of three decades that separated the achievements of each of them, which then led to the fall of the Crusader principality of Edessa in 539 AH/1144 CE. Mawdood directed his early campaign against Edessa and Turbessel and worked to wear down their populace in a way which we would say paved the way for Zangi's efforts against Edessa, for the progress of Jihad is connected, with one leader paving the way for another..263 d) The campaign of Mawdood exposed the weakness of the Muslim forces in Syria and Mesopotamia, and the apathy among some of them towards Jihad against the Crusader invaders.263 e) Despite the pioneering role played by Mawdood, we find that some historians think that Imad ad-Deen Zangi was the one who laid the foundation for the Jihad movement against the Crusaders.264 This is enormously unfair to the role of that Seljuk leader. In reality, the historians who recorded that stage in the history of the Islamic-Christian conflict were dazzled by the extent of what 'Imad ad-Deen al-Zangi achieved in causing the fall of the first Crusader principality to be established in the region, and they imagined that the previous stages were of no great importance, despite the fact that they had truly laid the foundations for the achievements of 1144 CE/539 AH. We should not overlook the fact that the effective, successful political propaganda that was introduced by the brilliant Iraqi historian Ibn al-Atheer in his excellent book about the founder of the Zangid dynasty influenced historians in one way or another in such a way that it made them give Imad ad-Deen al-Zangi that status in their evaluation of historical events.