The Race for Paradise : An Islamic History of the Crusades

In 1099, when the first Frankish invaders arrived before the walls of Jerusalem, they had carved out a Christian European presence in the Islamic world that endured for centuries, bolstered by subsequent waves of new crusaders and pilgrims. The story of how this group of warriors, driven by faith, greed, and wanderlust, created new Christian-ruled states in parts of the Middle East is one of the best-known in history. Yet it is offers not even half of the story, for it is based almost exclusively on Western sources and overlooks entirely the perspective of the crusaded. How did medieval Muslims perceive what happened?In __The Race for Paradise__, Paul M. Cobb offers a new history of the confrontations between Muslims and Franks we now call the "Crusades," one that emphasizes the diversity of Muslim experiences of the European holy war. There is more to the story than Jerusalem, the Templars, Saladin, and the Assassins. Cobb considers the Arab perspective on all shores of the Muslim Mediterranean, from Spain to Syria. In the process, he shows that this is not a straightforward story of warriors and kings clashing in the Holy Land, but a more complicated tale of border-crossers and turncoats; of embassies and merchants; of scholars and spies, all of them seeking to manage a new threat from the barbarian fringes of their ordered world. When seen from the perspective of medieval Muslims, the Crusades emerge as something altogether different from the high-flying rhetoric of the European chronicles: as a cultural encounter to ponder, a diplomatic chess-game to be mastered, a commercial opportunity to be seized, and as so often happened, a political challenge to be exploited by ambitious rulers making canny use of the language of __jihad__. An engrossing synthesis of history and scholarship, __The Race for Paradise__ fills a significant historical gap, considering in a new light the events that distinctively shaped Muslim experiences of Europeans until the close of the Middle Ages. Cover 1 The Race for Paradise: An Islamic History of the Crusades 4 Copyright 5 Dedication 6 Contents 8 Acknowledgments 10 Maps and Illustrations 12 Maps 12 Illustrations (located in separate art gallery) 12 A Note about Names 14 Principal Historical Figures and Dynasties 16 The Race for Paradise 24 Prologue: Damascus Crossroads 26 1: The Abode of Islam 32 The World Turned Upside Down 36 Islam and the Peoples of Christian Europe 38 The Islamic Oikumene 42 The Circle of Equity 46 Holy Wars 51 Holy Lands 56 2: The Frightened Sea 59 The Origins of Frankish Aggression 61 The Sunni-Shi'i Cold War 64 Fatimid Genesis and Fatimid Calamity 68 Terror Mundi 72 The Course of the Conquest 76 Twilight in Sicily 80 The Thirst for al-Andalus 83 Nay, We Do Still More 88 The Fraying at Toledo 91 The Franks Look East 93 The Collapse of Rum 98 3: Prey for the Sword 101 The Saljuq Enterprise 104 The Legacy of Tutush 107 Their Scattered Multitudes 111 No One Came to Their Rescue 117 The Cross in the Prayer Niche 122 4: Against the Enemies of God 127 Initial Reactions 128 Misfortunes on the Coast 130 Tughtakin and Ridwan 135 The Sultan Responds 140 5: Tasting Our Might 147 Zangi Comes to Aleppo 148 Tughtakin’s Damascus 152 Zangi and Syria 154 Edessa and the Fall of Zangi 157 The Carcass of Unbelief 160 Nur al-Din and Damascus 165 A Muslim Revanche in al-Andalus: Camels and Swine 169 Crusaders and Almohads 174 Sicily in Africa 179 Egypt and the Zangids 183 6: The Fallen Tent 189 The Trenchant Sword 190 The Merchant’s Tale 192 Living with the Enemy 197 Córdoba Revisited 202 The Wheel of Ruin 207 The Strayed Camel 212 7: From Every Deep Valley 217 The Third Crusade 219 The Heirs to Saladin 227 Calamitous Days 235 8: Wolves and Lions 242 Gog and Magog 243 The Conquering King 248 Jihad by Treaty 254 The Nation of the Cross Has Fallen 257 Cypriot Entanglements 264 9: Let Them Be Our Eulogists 269 Into Europe 270 The Balkan Tangle 273 In the Marketplace of Death 277 The Falcon and the Crow 281 The Fate of Islam in Sicily 284 Nasrids and Granada 288 Epilogue: Buried Horsemen 294 The World’s Debate 297 Abbreviations 304 Notes 308 Prologue 308 Chapter 1 309 Chapter 2 310 Chapter 3 315 Chapter 4 319 Chapter 5 322 Chapter 6 326 Chapter 7 330 Chapter 8 334 Chapter 9 338 Epilogue 341 Bibliographic Sketch 342 Index 346 "In 1099, when the first Frankish invaders arrived before the walls of Jerusalem, they had carved out a Christian European presence in the Islamic world that endured for centuries, bolstered by subsequent waves of new crusaders and pilgrims. The story of how this group of warriors, driven by faith, greed, and wanderlust, created new Christian-ruled states in parts of the Middle East is one of the best-known in history. Yet it is offers not even half of the story, for it is based almost exclusively on Western sources and overlooks entirely the perspective of the crusaded. How did medieval Muslims perceive what happened? In The Race for Paradise, Paul M. Cobb offers a new history of the confrontations between Muslims and Franks we now call the "Crusades," one that emphasizes the diversity of Muslim experiences of the European holy war. There is more to the story than Jerusalem, the Templars, Saladin, and the Assassins. Cobb considers the Arab perspective on all shores of the Muslim Mediterranean, from Spain to Syria. In the process, he shows that this is not a straightforward story of warriors and kings clashing in the Holy Land, but a more complicated tale of border-crossers and turncoats; of embassies and merchants; of scholars and spies, all of them seeking to manage a new threat from the barbarian fringes of their ordered world. When seen from the perspective of medieval Muslims, the Crusades emerge as something altogether different from the high-flying rhetoric of the European chronicles: as a cultural encounter to ponder, a diplomatic chess-game to be mastered, a commercial opportunity to be seized, and as so often happened, a political challenge to be exploited by ambitious rulers making canny use of the language of jihad. An engrossing synthesis of history and scholarship, The Race for Paradise fills a significant historical gap, considering in a new light the events that distinctively shaped Muslim experiences of Europeans until the close of the Middle Ages."--Publisher's description In The Race For Paradise, Paul M. Cobb Offers An Accurate And Accessible Representation Of The Islamic Experience Of The Crusades During The Middle Ages. Cobb Overturns Previous Claims And Presents New Arguments, Such As The Idea That The Frankish Invasions Of The Near East Were Something Of A Side-show To The Broader Internal Conflict Between Sunnis And Shi'ites In The Region. The Race For Paradise Moves Along Two Fronts As Cobb Stresses That, For Medieval Muslims, The Contemporaneous Latin Christian Expansion Throughout The Mediterranean Was Seen As Closely Linked To Events In The Levant. As A Consequence Of This Expanded Geographical Range, The Book Takes A Broader Chronological Range To Encompass The Campaigns Of Spanish Kings North Of The Ebro And The Norman Conquest Of Sicily (beginning In 1060), Well Before Pope Urban Ii's Famous Call To The First Crusade In 1095. Finally, The Race For Paradise Brilliantly Combats The Trend To Portray The History Of The Crusades, Particularly The Islamic Experience, In Simplistic Or Binary Terms. Muslims Did Not Solely Experience The Crusades As Fanatical Warriors Or As Helpless Victims, Cobb Writes; As With Any Other Human Experience Of Similar Magnitude, The Crusades Were Experienced In A Great Variety Of Ways, Ranging From Heroic Martyrdom, To Collaboration, To Utter Indifference-- Prologue: Damascus Crossroads -- The Abode Of Islam -- The Frightened Sea -- Prey Of The Sword -- Against The Enemies Of God -- Testing Our Might -- The Fallen Tent -- From Every Deep Valley -- Wolves And Lions -- Let Them Be Our Rulogists -- Epilogue: Buried Horsemen. Paul M. Cobb. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. In 1099, when the first crusaders arrived triumphant and bloody before the walls of Jerusalem, they carved out a Christian European presence in the Islamic world that remained for centuries, bolstered by subsequent waves of new crusades and pilgrimages. But how did medieval Muslims understand these events? What does an Islamic history of the Crusades look like? The answers may surprise you. In The Race for Paradise, we see medieval Muslims managing this new and long-lived Crusader threat not simply as victims or as victors, but as everything in-between, on all shores of the Muslim Mediterranean, from Spain to Syria. This is not just a straightforward tale of warriors and kings clashing in the Holy Land - of military confrontations and enigmatic heros such as the great sultan Saladin. What emerges is a more complicated story of border-crossers and turncoats; of embassies and merchants; of scholars and spies, all of them seeking to manage this new threat from the barbarian fringes of their ordered world. When seen from the perspective of medieval Muslims, the Crusades emerge as something altogether different from the high-flying rhetoric of the European chronicles: as a diplomatic chess-game to be mastered, a commercial opportunity to be seized, a cultural encounter shaping Muslim experiences of Europeans until the close of the Middle Ages - and, as so often happened, a political challenge to be exploited by ambitious rulers making canny use of the language of jihad "In The Race for Paradise, Paul M. Cobb offers an accurate and accessible representation of the Islamic experience of the Crusades during the Middle Ages. Cobb overturns previous claims and presents new arguments, such as the idea that the Frankish invasions of the Near East were something of a side-show to the broader internal conflict between Sunnis and Shi'ites in the region. The Race for Paradise moves along two fronts as Cobb stresses that, for medieval Muslims, the contemporaneous Latin Christian expansion throughout the Mediterranean was seen as closely linked to events in the Levant. As a consequence of this expanded geographical range, the book takes a broader chronological range to encompass the campaigns of Spanish kings north of the Ebro and the Norman conquest of Sicily (beginning in 1060), well before Pope Urban II's famous call to the First Crusade in 1095. Finally, The Race for Paradise brilliantly combats the trend to portray the history of the Crusades, particularly the Islamic experience, in simplistic or binary terms. Muslims did not solely experience the Crusades as fanatical warriors or as helpless victims, Cobb writes; as with any other human experience of similar magnitude, the Crusades were experienced in a great variety of ways, ranging from heroic martyrdom, to collaboration, to utter indifference"-- Provided by publisher