Ali ibn Tahir al-Sulami (died 1106) was a Damascene

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and

philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined ...

who was the first to preach ''

jihad Jihad (; ar, جهاد, jihād ) is an Arabic word which literally means "striving" or "struggling", especially with a praiseworthy aim. In an Islamic context, it can refer to almost any effort to make personal and social life conform with G ...

'' against the

crusade The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were ...

rs in the aftermath of the

First Crusade The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Islamic ...

. In 1105 al-Sulami published his treatise, ''Kitab al-Jihad'' ("Book of Struggle" or "Book of Jihad"), and preached his ideas from the Great Mosque in Damascus. He smartly recognized the dangers of the Christian invaders connected with the ongoing Christian reconquests of

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. He believed that Muslims had abandoned ''jihad'' and other religious duties, and argued that the caliphs were supposed to make war on the Christians once a year, something they had not done for many years.

God In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...

, he claimed, was now punishing Muslims for their sins. In order to defeat the crusaders, al-Sulami argued that Muslims must practise the inner ''jihad'' so that they could successfully undertake the ''jihad'' against the enemy. His message was mostly ignored, as Muslim rulers would not merge the concept of ''jihad'' with military expeditions until later in the 12th century under

Nur ad-Din Zangi Nūr al-Dīn Maḥmūd Zengī (; February 1118 – 15 May 1174), commonly known as Nur ad-Din (lit. "Light of the Faith" in Arabic), was a member of the Zengid dynasty, which ruled the Syrian province (''Shām'') of the Seljuk Empire. He reig ...

and

Saladin Yusuf ibn Ayyub ibn Shadi () ( – 4 March 1193), commonly known by the epithet Saladin,, ; ku, سه‌لاحه‌دین, ; was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Hailing from an ethnic Kurdish family, he was the first of both Egypt an ...

. Only two manuscripts of the ''Kitab'' survive, both incomplete, and both in Damascus.

Notes

External links

Extracts from the ''Kitab al-Jihad''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sulami, Ali ibn Tahir al- Crusade literature 1106 deaths Arabic-language writers People from Damascus Year of birth unknown