Qital and Jihad: The Faces of Holy War in Islam

Author: Nkurumeh, Emeka

Year: 2024

Degree: Other

Advisor: Brown, Warren C.

Committee Member: None, None

Option: History

Abstract

[Introduction] When reviewing Muslim sources on the early Crusades, what seems to set apart the Third Crusade from the earlier ones is a focus on the concept of “holy war” which seems to be absent from earlier Crusades. It is as if the idea of “holy war” that would come to dominate the Muslim view of the Crusades developed as a response to the religious fervor of the crusaders. However, upon further study of the history of the Islamic world, two things become clear: the Islamic concept of “holy war” is different from that of Christendom, and its history is not so simple. The majority of the accounts written on the first three Crusades were written by historians during the time of Nur ad-Din and Saladin, who both used religion to legitimize their conquests and subsequent rule. Their religious piety gave Muslim historians an avenue to explain their successes where those before them had failed. However, it is undeniable that most early Muslim historians, and often those in power, saw all three Crusades as deeply religious conflicts. An Islamic concept of “holy war” was present throughout all three Crusades, but the piety that Nur ad-Din and Saladin displayed led to an increase in the use of the concept of a “holy war” by Muslim historians trying to legitimize the rule and analyze the response of Muslim leaders to the Crusades.