The crusades were considered nothing more than a zealous Christian colonizing venture because they forced their way into the Holy Land using weapons and war. They were using Medieval Colonization, and through forcing Christ among people they thought they were doing the right thing. The whole idea of the Crusade was a political movement clouded by doing god’s work. The Song of Roland …show more content…
Ali Ibn Al-Athir gives many examples of the brutality of the western Christians, “The Franks killed them by the thousands and stripped their camps of food and possessions” (An Arabic Account of the First Crusade, 283). “In the Masjid al-Aqsa the Franks slaughter more than 70,000 people, among them a large number of Imams and Muslim Scholars (An Arabic Account of the First Crusade, 284). The Muslims did not do as the Franks did to them, but put their full trust that Allah would deliver them from this torture. Ali Ibn Al-Athir states, “He would not allow them to attack the enemy and when some Muslims killed a group of Franks, he went himself to forbid such behavior and prevent its recurrence (Arabic Account of the First Crusade, 282). The Muslims were slaughtered and as much as they hated the western Christians they trusted in Allah and did not retaliate, and torture the Christians like the Christians did to them time and time again.
The Crusades were a zealous Christian colonizing venture because the pope lied to the western Christians that conquering the Holy Land would gain them favor with god, but in reality the pope was making a power play at gaining more land. The view of the western Christians changed drastically due to the brutality of the Crusades. The Muslims suffered much loss, but through trust in Allah they didn’t treat the Christians with the same