The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam and the Crusades

The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades.

make common cause with the Christians

against the Muslims. These Mongols were

Muslims. Tamerlane ("Timur the Lame"),

1336 -1405), the bloody conqueror of Cen-

tral Asia, was probably a member of the

Naqshbandi Sufi sect of Islam,' This is

noteworthy because the Sufis are often

pre sen ted tod ay as a pea cef ul, tol era nt

sect of Islam:howeve r, their histo ry isfull

of jihad (e.g. Chechnya].

A direct descendant of Genghis Khan,

Ta me rl an e be ga n to at ta ck th e Mu sl im

l a nd s o f t he M id d le Ea st. Fa ce d wi th

immense losses, the Mamluk and Ottoman

Turkishjihadists were forced todivertth ei r

at te nt io n fr om Eu ro pe, Bu t Ta m

erlane didn't appear all that interested in Europe either, although his victories were

enough to compel the Byzantine Emperor John I to pay him tribute. After crushing

theOttomans at Ankarain 1402, Tamerlane turnedhis attention to China, leaving

Muslimsin the Westtoo weak to continuethe jihad against Europe. A Muslim had,

ineffect saved Christendom.

Th e re sp ite , ho wev er ,wason ly te mpo ra ry. Th e Ot tom an sul ta n Mu ra dII (1427.-

1451) sethis sights on the jewel of Christ endom, Constan tinople, He laid siege to

its land walls in1422,but could not break through them. He didn't give up, though;

he took Thessalonica in 1430 and blockaded Cons tanti nop le, Byz ant ine emp er or

Joh nVIII appe aled to Rome forhelp and even agreed to a reunionbetween the

Catholic and OrthodoxChur ches on 'West ern term s at the Counc il of Flor ence ,

hopi ng to persua de Wes ter ner s to come to the aid of the dimi nis hed Emp ire.

Pope Eugenius IV duly called a Crusade, and an army assembled from the Eastern

Europeanstates of Poland, Wallachia, and Hungary. However,the last

A Book You're Not
Supposed to Read
Hatred's Kingdomby Dore Gold;Washington,

DC;Regnery, 2003, traces the historyand

development of the violent Wahhabisect

in SaudiArabia, Gold's history demonstrates
the foolhardiness of entering intolas tin g

acc ord s wit h Isl ami c sta tes tha tregard

bonds with any non-Muslim state notas
genuine alliances between equals, but as
temporary arrangements that are useful only
as long as they strengthen the Muslims, and
nota minuteLonger.