Editor's Note:  Mahad Hassan is a high school student (Junior) in Minnesota.  Reading this essay shows that the next Somali generation is more prepared to defend their culture the best way possible - through the might of the pen.  We hope that more parents will encourage their children to write on those issues that plague our bleagured national culture and its many facets.

When one turns on the television to the various news channels, what does one see? The overwhelming majority of the time there will be references to either terrorism, Iraq , the Arab-Israeli conflict or combinations of them. Such is the life of post September 11 th America when the U.S. was attacked and around 3,000 souls perished. Ever since then, America became increasingly involved in the Middle East , both politically and militarily.

This caused some Arabs to proclaim that another Crusade was being waged by the Americans. To understand the roots of this so called clash of civilizations, one reminiscent of the clash between the Trojans and Achaeans in the Iliad (Homer), one must delve deeper into history. Then one will find that Jihad and a Crusade aren't very similar. Jihad not only refers to action to defend one's self and religion from others, but it is also the inner struggle a Muslim goes through to maintain his or her faith (Flori). Crusade is used to describe any instance when a Christian army conquers land from Muslims (Riley 25).

There are more differences that these two concepts have, but one must first understand the three ideas. The first is the history Jihad and the Crusades share. The second is what they specifically have in common and how they differ. The third, and most relevant, is how Jihad and Crusades affect today's problems.

In terms of history, the history the concepts Jihad and the Crusades share span nearly a millennia. For centuries, two major Monotheistic religions have not only shared common borders, but a common birthplace as well (Irwin). They are none other than Christianity and Islam. The fact that they both call Jerusalem their “home” has led to many wars, some of which have been of catastrophic proportions (“Christian History Corner….”). One must also take into account that, although these religions are very similar, they are still very different on many levels. It is those fundamental differences that have kept them from settling their differences and coming together. Often, quite the opposite occurred.

One conflict which the Christians single-handedly started and is one, if not the, most famous of the conflicts is called the Crusades. They were multiple wars fought over centuries between 1000 and 1400(“Christian History Corner….”). The Crusades began when “In 1095, Pope Urban II staged a massive military invasion of the Muslim east” (“Christian History Corner….”). Its main objective was to liberate Jerusalem and the lands the Christians thought were rightfully theirs (“Christian History Corner….”).

These unprovoked attacks lead to a full scale retaliation that can safely be called the first major defensive military Jihad (Flori). This attack was spearheaded by a man named Saladin whose military tactics were legendary (Flori). The Muslims eventually regained control of the conquered territories (Flori), but there was more bloodshed and carnage to come in future conflicts between these two great religions.

After one hears the history of Jihad or Crusades, and how they have almost always been at odds, one wonders if they can compare them or even think of them as one in the same. In reality, one can't be farther from the truth. Using the term crusade, direct military implications are usually involved. In all of history, the Crusades have always involved military conflict (Ergun, Caner & Caner, Emir 74). To a certain extent they actually were centered on the word. The only three times they officially occurred were in war to reclaim the holy land from the Muslims (Ergun, Caner & Caner, Emir 115). But each time they embarked on such campaign, every type of person in the Middle East was a target, Christian, Muslim and Jew alike (Ergun, Caner & Caner, Emir 137).

The term Jihad has never been translated by Muslims to mean holy war. Instead, it means to struggle or exert oneself to his or her absolute potential. In Islam, there are two levels of Jihad. The greater jihad most often refers to the inner struggle against evil within oneself with the goal of self-improvement for the betterment of one's community and the world as a whole. The lesser Jihad refers to the struggle on the battlefield in self-defense if Muslims have been attacked and their right to practice their faith has been aggressively taken away. (Flori)

It is only under these conditions that a Muslim can declare Jihad. However, there are parameters, “Fight in the cause of God against those who fight you, but do not transgress limits. God does not love the transgressors" (Koran) 2:190). This proves that war can only be waged for defensive purposes, not for conquest.

Following September 11, 2001 and the terrorist attacks that ensued on that infamous day, the United States awoke to find itself at the helm of a new conflict. This time locating the enemy would not be as easy as it was to locate the Soviet Union . The enemy was not so much as a country as it was a group of renegade terrorists who mistakenly used the teachings of the Koran as a pretext to launch a Jihad against what they call the crusaders, the United States, for their “occupation” of Saudi Arabia , and their support of Israel (Carroll).

This sounds an awful lot like the Crusades and Jihad of the past. As one man most eloquently put it, “Jihad is a very real threat that […] America needs to deal with” ( “Taking Jihad seriously; How Rice can fix U.S. foreign policy”). Also America 's dependence on mid east oil keeps it too involved in mid east affairs, and that is also a dangerous game (Carroll). Like it was said, “ America should stop being dependent on mid east oil” ( “Taking Jihad seriously; How Rice can fix U.S. foreign policy”).

To understand this problem requires delving deeper into the history books, to the period after World War I. Following the end of World War I and the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, the last true Islamic world power, some of the lands that were promised to the Arabs during the war were denied (Flori). They were only given what is today Saudi Arabia . The holy lands to the north of that, including Palestine, were denied to them and, instead, given to Britain and France to “occupy and administer” (Flori). This led to a lot of resentment on the part of the Arabs. Following World War II, the holocaust led the allied nations to give the Jews lands in Palestine to create their nation (Flori).

This led the Arabs to fight the Jews and the nation of Israel was born. This new nation was supported by and furnished with weaponry by The United States (Flori). To this day there is a lot of anger towards that in the Arab world. Forty years, later another cataclysmic incident occurred. Saudi Arabia was endangered by Iraq (Flori). This prompted America to keep troops in Saudi Arabia to ensure its protection but, given the proximity of the troops to Islam's holiest shrines, it was only a matter of time that it would anger some fundamentalist Muslims (Flori). So, in 9/ 11, that reaction came to pass and a new Jihad and “crusades” were born.

In conclusion, now that the dynamics of these great conflicts is known to a very detailed degree, it can now be seen that jihad and the crusades are different in every aspect. Even when military actions are concerned, Jihad and Crusade have no relation whatsoever. The Crusades are the term used when the Christian nations of Europe banded together to reclaim the holy lands from the Muslims. Jihad also refers to military action, but it is only for defensive purposes. The greater meaning of Jihad is the struggle of one's self to stay true of one's religion and do good rather than succumb to evil.

By Mahad M. Hassan

E-mail:chitowndc@yahoo.com

Works Cited

“ Christian History Corner: A Muslim Perspective on War.” Christianity Today . September 2004. Religious.   27 Feb 2005

Ergun Caner, Mehmet & Caner Emir, Fethi. Christian Jihad . United States : Softcover, 2004

Homer. The Iliad . Translated by W.H.D. Rouse. New York . Penguin group, 1950

Koran , Mohamed Marmaduke Pickthall, Ta-Ha Publishers Ltd., 1930

Riley, Jonathan. “Rethinking the Crusades.” A Monthly Journal of Religion and Public Life March 2000: 25

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