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The West and Islam--the sword and the scimitar--have clashed since
the mid-seventh century, when, according to Muslim tradition, the
Byzantine emperor rejected Prophet Muhammad's order to abandon
Christianity and convert to Islam, unleashing a centuries-long
jihad on Christendom. Sword and Scimitar chronicles the significant
battles that arose from this ages-old Islamic jihad, beginning with
the first major Islamic attack on Christian land in 636, through
the occupation of the Middle East that prompted the Crusades and
the far-flung conquests of the Ottoman Turks, to the European
colonization of the Muslim world in the 1800s, when Islam largely
went on the retreat--until its reemergence in recent times. Using
original sources in Arabic, Greek, Latin, and Turkish, preeminent
historian Raymond Ibrahim describes each battle in vivid detail and
explains the effect the outcome had on larger historical currents
of the age and how the military lessons of the battle reflect the
cultural faultlines between Islam and the West. The majority of
these landmark battles are now forgotten or considered
inconsequential. Yet today, as the West faces a resurgence of this
enduring Islamic jihad, Sword and Scimitar provides the needed
historical context to understand the current relationship between
the West and the Islamic world, and why the Islamic State is merely
the latest chapter of an old history.
The West and Islam--the sword and the scimitar--have clashed since
the mid-seventh century, when, according to Muslim tradition, the
Byzantine emperor rejected Prophet Muhammad's order to abandon
Christianity and convert to Islam, unleashing a centuries-long
jihad on Christendom. Sword and Scimitar chronicles the significant
battles that arose from this ages-old Islamic jihad, beginning with
the first major Islamic attack on Christian land in 636, through
the occupation of the Middle East that prompted the Crusades and
the far-flung conquests of the Ottoman Turks, to the European
colonization of the Muslim world in the 1800s, when Islam largely
went on the retreat--until its reemergence in recent times. Using
original sources in Arabic, Greek, Latin, and Turkish, preeminent
historian Raymond Ibrahim describes each battle in vivid detail and
explains the effect the outcome had on larger historical currents
of the age and how the military lessons of the battle reflect the
cultural faultlines between Islam and the West. The majority of
these landmark battles are now forgotten or considered
inconsequential. Yet today, as the West faces a resurgence of this
enduring Islamic jihad, Sword and Scimitar provides the needed
historical context to understand the current relationship between
the West and the Islamic world, and why the Islamic State is merely
the latest chapter of an old history.
Few events have dramatically altered the course of world-history as
have the dynamic Muslim conquests of the seventh century. Aside
from the seizure of a large expanse of onetime Roman lands and the
cultural Arabization of millions of people, great wars have been
waged between Islam and the West--till the present. Yet ambiguity
abounds as to how and why these conquests were first originally
realized. This study seeks to ascertain the immediate factors
behind the conquests in general by deconstructing the all-pivotal
Battle of Yarmuk in particular. This paradigmatic battle is ideal
for extrapolating the root cause(s) of the conquests; for it was
primarily at Yarmuk that the Arabs suffered notable physical and
practical disadvantages--and yet still emerged triumphant. Thus
this engagement allows one to see well beyond the usual aspects of
military history--the physical and practical--and better appreciate
the more abstract factors that have fueled the events of world
history.
What do our enemies believe? What motivates their war against the
West? What is their vision of the ideal Islamic society?
Surprisingly, more than five years after 9/11, there is very little
understanding of these questions.
Despite our tendency to dismiss Islamic extremism as profoundly
irrational, al-Qaeda is not without a coherent body of beliefs.
Like other totalitarian movements, the movement's leaders have
rationalized their brutality in a number of published treatises.
Now, for the first time, "The Al Qaeda Reader" gathers together the
essential texts and documents that trace the origin, history, and
evolution of the ideas of al-Qaeda founders Ayman al-Zawahiri and
Osama bin Laden.
This extraordinary collection of the key texts of the al-Qaeda
movement--including incendiary materials never before translated
into English--lays bare the minds, motives, messages, and ultimate
goals of an enemy bent on total victory. Al-Qaeda's chilling
ideology calls for a relentless "jihad" against non-Muslim
"infidels," repudiates democracy in favor of Islamic law, stresses
the importance of martyrdom, and mocks the notion of "moderate"
Islam.
Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of these works is how grounded
they are in the traditional sources of Islamic theology: the Koran
and the teachings of the Prophet. The founders of al-Qaeda use
these sources as powerful weapons of persuasion, reminding
followers (and would-be recruits) that Muhammad and his warriors
spread Islam through the power of the sword and that the Koran is
not merely allegory or history but literal truth that commands all
Muslims to action.
In addition to laying bare al-Qaeda's ultimate motives, "The Al
Qaeda Reader" includes the organization's propagandist speeches,
which are directed primarily at Americans, Europeans, and Iraqis.
Here, al-Qaeda's many "official" accusations against the West are
meticulously delineated, from standard complaints such as the
Palestinian issue and Iraq to wholly unexpected ones concerning the
U.S.'s exploitation of women and the environment.
Taken together, the Theology and Propaganda sections of this volume
reveal the most comprehensive picture of al-Qaeda to date. They
also highlight the double-speak of bin Laden and Zawahiri, who
often say one thing to Muslims in their religious treatises ("We
must hate and fight the West because Islam commands it") and
another in their propaganda directed at the West ("The West is the
aggressor and we are fighting back merely in self-defense").
Westerners from across the political spectrum will be fascinated
and enlightened by "The Al Qaeda Reader"'s insights into the nature
of Islamic texts and the ways in which al-Qaeda has used these
texts to manufacture hatred against our civilization and our way of
life.
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