Abu'l-Faḍl (Abu'l-Hasan) ibn al-Khashshab (; died 1125) was the ''

qadi A qadi (; ) is the magistrate or judge of a Sharia court, who also exercises extrajudicial functions such as mediation, guardianship over orphans and minors, and supervision and auditing of public works. History The term '' was in use from ...

'' and '' rais'' of

Aleppo Aleppo is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Governorates of Syria, governorate of Syria. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents it is Syria's largest city by urban area, and ...

during the rule of the Seljuk emir Ridwan. His family, the Banu'l-Khashshab, were wealthy wood-merchants in the city. Upon the arrival 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 Middle Ages. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Muslim conquest ...

, Ibn al-Khashshab was one of the first to preach ''

jihad ''Jihad'' (; ) is an Arabic word that means "exerting", "striving", or "struggling", particularly with a praiseworthy aim. In an Islamic context, it encompasses almost any effort to make personal and social life conform with God in Islam, God ...

'' against the

Crusade The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding t ...

rs, a concept which became more popular throughout the 12th century. His preaching was popular among the masses, but Ridwan, along with his

Assassin Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a personespecially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by political, ideological, religious, financial, or military motives. Assassinations are orde ...

advisors, were not willing to wage battle against the newly formed

Crusader states The Crusader states, or Outremer, were four Catholic polities established in the Levant region and southeastern Anatolia from 1098 to 1291. Following the principles of feudalism, the foundation for these polities was laid by the First Crusade ...

. Aleppo was continually threatened by the

rs and eventually Ridwan was humiliated by Tancred of Antioch, forced to place crosses on the

minaret A minaret is a type of tower typically built into or adjacent to mosques. Minarets are generally used to project the Muslim call to prayer (''adhan'') from a muezzin, but they also served as landmarks and symbols of Islam's presence. They can h ...

s of some of the

mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

s in the city including the Great Mosque of Aleppo. Ibn al-Khashshab had sought help from the

Abbasid caliph The Abbasid caliphs were the holders of the Islamic title of caliph who were members of the Abbasid dynasty, a branch of the Quraysh tribe descended from the uncle of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, Al-Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib. The family came ...

in Baghdad, al-Mustazhir, but each time his requests were ignored; finally, in 1111, he travelled to

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

to seek help from the caliph in person. He instigated a riot and destroyed the pulpit of the ''

minbar A minbar (; sometimes romanized as ''mimber'') is a pulpit in a mosque where the imam (leader of prayers) stands to deliver sermons (, ''khutbah''). It is also used in other similar contexts, such as in a Hussainiya where the speaker sits and le ...

'' in the private mosques of the Seljuk

sultan Sultan (; ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be use ...

Muhammad I Tapar and the Abbasid caliph. In response, the sultan ordered Mawdud, the atabeg of Mosul, to come to

's aid, and Ibn al-Khashshab returned home. However, Ridwan did not want Mawdud interfering in his affairs, and had Ibn al-Khashshab imprisoned; Mawdud and Ridwan were unable to cooperate and Mawdud returned to

Mosul Mosul ( ; , , ; ; ; ) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. It is the second largest city in Iraq overall after the capital Baghdad. Situated on the banks of Tigris, the city encloses the ruins of the ...

. When Ridwan died in 1113, Ibn al-Khashshab governed the city in place of weak or child emirs. He helped rid the city of the Assassins, including their leader Abu Tahir al-Sa'igh, by expulsion or execution. When the

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding ...

threatened the city of Aleppo again in 1119, Ibn al-Khashshab negotiated an alliance with Ilghazi of the Artuqid dynasty in northern

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq and forms the eastern geographic boundary of ...

, and the

Principality of Antioch The Principality of Antioch (; ) was one of the Crusader states created during the First Crusade which included parts of Anatolia (modern-day Turkey) and History of Syria#Medieval era, Syria. The principality was much smaller than the County of ...

was defeated at the Battle of Ager Sanguinis that year. Ibn al-Khashshab personally led Aleppan troops in the battle. The crusaders besieged Aleppo in 1124, and when they desecrated the Mashhad al-Muhassin outside the city, Ibn al-Khashshab ordered that four of the six Christian churches in the city, including the sixth-century Syrian cathedral, be converted into

s. The besiegers, led by

Baldwin II of Jerusalem Baldwin II, also known as Baldwin of Bourcq (; – 21August 1131), was Count of Edessa from 1100 to 1118, and King of Jerusalem from 1118 until his death. He accompanied Godfrey of Bouillon and Baldwin of Boulogne to the Holy Land during the ...

and Joscelin I of Edessa, were allied with the Muslim Dubais ibn Sadaqa of the Banu Mazyad, whom Ibn al-Khashshab publicly denounced. The siege was eventually raised with help from

Aqsunqur al-Bursuqi Qasīm al-Dawla Sayf al-Dīn Abū Saʿīd Āqsunqur al-Bursuqī (), also known as Aqsunqur al-Bursuqi, Aqsonqor il-Bursuqi, Aksunkur al-Bursuki, Aksungur or al-Borsoki, was the Seljuk Turkoman atabeg of Mosul from 1113–1114 and again from 112 ...

, atabeg of Mosul, in 1125. Later that year, following massacres of Nizaris by Ibn al-Khashshab, he was murdered by Assassins. The next year Aleppo fell under the control of Zengi, who began to implement the ''jihad'' that ibn al-Khashshab had so fervently preached and Zengi not only repelled the attempts by the Crusaders to capture Aleppo but he went on the offensive against the Crusaders.

Notes

References

Sources

* * * * Carole Hillenbrand, ''The Crusades, Islamic Perspectives''. New York, 2000. *P.M. Holt, ''The Age of the Crusades: The Near East from the Eleventh Century to 1517''. New York, 1986. *

Amin Maalouf Amin Maalouf (; ; born 25 February 1949) is a Lebanese people in France, Lebanese-born French"A ...

, ''The Crusades Through Arab Eyes''. 1983 {{DEFAULTSORT:Ibn al-Khashshab 1125 deaths Muslims of the First Crusade 12th-century Syrian people Year of birth unknown People from Aleppo People of the Nizari–Seljuk wars 12th-century Shia Muslims Victims of the Order of Assassins