July 4, 1187 — Christendom’s Darkest Day As Saladin takes Jerusalem, the True Cross, and hundreds of Christian heads.

 Centuries before it was remembered as the American day of Independence, July 4 was remembered as one of the most consequential days in the perennial war between Islam and Christendom — and, sadly, as a disaster for Christendom.

Here is that important story. 

Soon after liberating the ancient Christian city of Antioch from Muslim oppression, the First Crusaders also managed to realize their primary goal: to re-take Jerusalem from Islam (1099).

At that time, there were very few Muslim calls to jihad (only one is known, and it quickly fell on deaf ears). After all, in the preceding decades, and thanks to Sunni and Shia infighting, local Muslim populations were hardly unused to such invasions and conquests.

In Muslim historian Ibn al-Athir’s words, “While the Franks—Allah damn them!—were conquering and settling in a part of the territories of Islam, the rulers and armies of Islam were fighting among themselves, causing discord and disunity among their people and weakening their power to combat the enemy.”

In this chaos, the pure doctrine of jihad—warfare against infidels—was lost to the average Muslim, who watched and suffered as Muslim empires and sects collided.

FULL ARTICLE AT: https://raymondibrahim.substack.com/p/july-4-1187-christendoms-darkest?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=6873559&post_id=205082367&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=1v9n4o&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email