The an-Nahda period at the turn of the 20th century became an arena of intense ideological rivalry, where visions for the future of the Islamic world clashed. Some called for the unification of all Muslims under the rule of the caliph; the Ottoman Empire promoted the idea of a single nation, where loyalty to the sultan, rather than origin or faith, was the primary criterion; Arab nationalism, which emphasized Arab distinctiveness, was also gaining strength. The intellectual battle was waged, among other things, over the right to interpret history, and thinkers of each school used the image of the Crusades in their own ways to persuade their contemporaries.
There is no consensus among academics on the preservation of the memory of the medieval armed pilgrimage in the Arab world. One school of thought asserts that these events were forgotten, citing the lack of specialized terms and historical works in Arabic until the 19th century. Another position, on the contrary, believes that memory was preserved through elements of popular culture, such as oral tales about Sultan Baybars. The fact that Arabic sources from the 19th and early 20th centuries often refer to the Crusades without explanation tends to support the latter theory.
Key figures of pan-Islamism and reformism, Jamal al-Din al-Afghani, and his student Muhammad Abduh, saw these military campaigns as a stark reminder of the eternal threat from the West. In his work, "Refutation of the Materialists", al-Afghani linked the decline of the Muslim world to the spread of materialistic ideas that weakened the ummah, with the catastrophe of the Crusades serving as an example of the consequences of this spiritual deterioration.
Abduh, developing his teacher's thought, saw the cause of the decline in corruption and the mistakes of rulers. Together with al-Afghani, they published the newspaper al- 'Urwa al- Wusqa (The Strongest Bond), which presented the Crusades not only as a profound upheaval for the Islamic world but also as a time when Europeans borrowed technology and knowledge from Muslims, which subsequently contributed to the European Renaissance.
Mustafa Kamil, author of "The Eastern Question", called the struggle against British colonial policy part of the answer to this "question". The author closely linked the political and religious aspects of the conflict between the Ottoman Empire and Europe. Kamil saw the solution to the Eastern Question in a Turkish-led caliphate, warning that "the fall of the Sublime Porte... would serve as a pretext for a bloody war, after which the Crusades would seem like mere brawls."
In the pages of "The Strongest Bond", al-Afghani and Abduh viewed the Crusade and the Mahdist Revolt in Sudan. Following them, Mustafa Kamil applied this concept to the contemporary military and political conflicts between Europe and the Ottomans. He also pointed to the material considerations at the root of these confrontations, assigning religious rhetoric the role of ideological cover.
Arab thinkers Abd ar-Rahman al- Kawakibi and Rafiq al-Azm used the history of the Crusades as a powerful historical symbol, but for different purposes. The former, a Syrian journalist, advocated the creation of a pan-Arab state with its capital in Mecca. The latter, a native of Damascus, shared the ideas of the young Turkish reformers and also advocated for Arab unification and independence from the Ottoman Empire.
Al- Kawakibi saw the Crusades as a source of religious fanaticism, introduced, in his view, by the Crusaders, while early Islam was characterized by tolerance. Thus, the contemporary interfaith conflicts in the Ottoman Empire were a consequence of this alien "virus". At the same time, al- Kawakibi viewed the Crusades as divine punishment for moral corruption and the distortion of true Islam.
Rafiq al-Azm argued that during the Crusades, Muslims failed to unite as effectively as Christians. For him, this demonstrated the weakness of religion as a unifying force compared to nationalism. Like Abduh, al-Azm acknowledged that contacts with the Islamic world during the Crusades and in Andalusia contributed to the European Enlightenment.
Muhammad Abduh's views evolved over time from confrontation to cooperation with Europe. After becoming the Grand Mufti of Egypt, he focused on internal reform of Islam. In "Risalat At-Tawhid" (Treatise on Monotheism), Abduh refuted the stereotype of Islam's aggressive nature, describing the Caliphate's early conquests as acts of self-defense and developing the thesis of the beneficial influence of Muslim civilization on Europe through the Crusades.
The range of interpretations is explored in more detail in the works of Oleg Sokolov, a doctor of historical sciences. When examining different points of view, it's important to recognize that absolute truth about a historical event is unattainable. Arab thinkers' views on the Crusades are largely consonant, although in our reality, opinions on various issues can differ radically. Truth is one, but it's important to recognize its complex, multifaceted, and subjective nature. However, through the prism of each thinker's interpretation, a kernel of truth clearly emerges.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
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