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Crusades - Allah's Divine Will

By Atif Raja

A critique of the movie 'Kingdom of Heaven'

What a week it has been; Iraq continues to be a battle zone with ever increasing Iraqi casualties, Tony Blair is re-elected Prime Minister but is given a bloody nose by George Galloway in Bethnal, and possibly one of the most contentious films in today’s environment has been released – ‘Kingdom of Heaven’ directed by Ridley Scott.

There are already a number of reviews available summarising the plot, so I will try to be brief here. Kingdom of Heaven is a movie about the Crusades, which were a series of offensive battles promulgated by the Pope against the Islamic civilisation. During this time the Crusaders raped women, pillaged homes and towns, killed anything that moved and most shockingly in Syria killed children and then roasted them for an evening meal.

Kingdom of Heaven focuses on a period (late 12th century) in fact almost one century after Jerusalem was captured from the Muslims. Balian played by Orlando Bloom is the main character in the film playing a blacksmith who turns into a valiant Knight in defence of Christendom and Jerusalem, also seen by them as the Holy Land.

A number of reviews have already been printed in the papers. Predictably the Telegraph has printed an Opinion written by Christopher Howse painting the Crusades as a series of defensive battles against Islam in which Muhammad (pbuh) was not a liberator but had conquered “killing or subjugating Jewish and Christian rulers and tribes”.

Surprisingly, Ridley Scott has directed a fairly balanced view during this time in history. He shows two sides of Christendom; one side wanting to make peace with Muslims and the other believing that ‘killing infidels is the path to paradise’. As is always the case in the West, the warmongers seem to get their way. The movie shows how the crusaders continue to attack Muslims caravans in the region slaughtering everything in their path. Until finally two events take place, the King dies and is replaced by a ‘Hawk’ and a raid is carried out on a caravan which includes the butchering of Saladin’s sister.

Saladin draws the Crusaders out of Jerusalem where they meet in a famous battle at Hattin where the Muslim army inflicts a major defeat upon them. He then goes on to re-take Jerusalem, which is being defended by Balian. After serious action and amazing battle footage, Balian and the defenders of Jerusalem surrender.

What was interesting about the movie is that in that time they showed the brutality and intolerance of a ‘group’ of Christians (the majority) compared with the grace and merciful character of Saladin – who forgives all the remaining Christians left in Jerusalem. In 1099 the Crusaders butchered every single Muslim they found when taking Jerusalem.

It dawned upon me that Allah has power over all things, and that even the temerity of the crusades could only have been perpetrated with his permission. Yet even though the Muslims experienced severe brutality, Saladin’s mercy is a living example in the West 1000 years later. His character, his morals, his patience all emanated from the spirit of Islam. In this are lessons for those of us who reflect. In one scene in the movie, Saladin touring Jerusalem sees a golden cross lying on the floor. Out of respect he picks up the cross and puts it back carefully in its proper position.

As Muslims we can live with the comfort knowing that whatever inflicts us in this life is a divine test, and that the reward and forgiveness granted by Allah in the afterlife is infinite in comparison.

I started to wonder why Saladin was still a mystical figure even in the West, and I think I have arrived at an answer albeit an emotive one; it’s because the West has never been able to produce a leader as gracious, tolerant and merciful as Saladin in their history. The best of them such as Sir Winston Churchill seem to think it was fine to gas ‘uncivilised’ Arab tribes. Their Prime Minister Lloyd at the United Nations thought it ok to ‘reserve the right to bomb niggers’.

I live in the West, and yet am so critical is probably what you are thinking. However I just have to look at those that don’t live in the West, those that are not protected by their laws. Sunday 8th May the BBC ran a news flow: “Dismay at US Koran 'desecration'” I read this story about US soldiers flushing copies of the Koran down the toilet – a far cry from the way Saladin and his forces treated Christian objects of faith. I tried to be objective, that it is just a crude bunch of them – a minority.

However, everywhere they go, Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib, Bagram they rape, torture humiliate and defame the Islamic faith. Never in my life have I known of an Islamic force defaming Christianity or destroying bibles and bombing their holy places of worship. I started to study their recent history and almost vomited. If one just studies the number of military interventions the USA has made in the world, the civilian casualties are alarming.

Actually one thing is clear, they continue to be enamoured with Saladin because they know they cannot live up to his legacy, even now in the great civilised world we live in. No amount of training, laws, discipline and regulations seem to stop the Americans from pillaging. There is clearly a sickness in their hearts, which only the light of Islam can cure.

We have to remember that it is Allah’s divine will and that He has power over all things. I have expressed disapproval of the Americans throughout this article, but a bit of self-introspection is also warranted. What can we learn from Saladin and the Saracens? Are we any different to the Americans? What is the condition of our hearts? Allah will one day give us Khilafat of this Earth Inshallah. Will we carry on Saladin’s legacy, or do we want history to treat us as severely as it will treat the Americans?