Introduction
by the West, say learned professors and self-important commentators,
is continuing. Itbegancenturies ago, they say—at the time of the
Crusades.
But in fact, the seeds of today's conflict were planted much earlier
than the First Crusade. In order to understand the Crusades properly.
and the peculiar resonance theyhave in today's global conflict
with Islamic jihad terrorists. we must begin with a survey of the
prophet of Arabia and thereligi on he founde d. For the Crusad es, as
we shall see, were fundam entally a reaction to eventsthat were
set in motion over 450 years before the battles began.
I inte nd this book to be neith er a gener al intro ducti on to the
Islam icreligion, nor a comprehens ive historic al survey of the
Crusades. Rather,it is an examin ation of certai n highl y tenden tious
assert ionsaboutboth Islam and the Crus adesthathave ente red
the popu lar disc ours e. This book is an attempt to move the
public discourse aboutboth subjects a bit closerto thetruth.