Intensification and Reorientation of Sunni Jihad Ideology in the Crusader Period

Suleiman A. Mourad, Ph.D. (2004), is Professor of Religion at Smith College. His publications include Jerusalem: Idea and Reality (Routledge, 2008); Early Islam between Myth and History (Brill, 2005), and Sīrat al-sayyid al-Masīḥ li-Ibn ʿAsākir al-Dimashqī (Dār al-Shurūq, 1996).James E. Lindsay, Ph.D. (1994), is Associate Professor of History at Colorado State University. His publications include Historical Dimensions of Islam (Darwin Press, 2009); Daily Life in the Medieval Islamic World (Greenwood, 2005); and Ibn ʿAsākir and Early Islamic History (Darwin Press, 2001).

"The edition and translation of the Arabic text of Ibn ʿAsākir’s al-Arbaʿūna ḥadīthan fī l-ḥathth ʿalā l-jihād in the second part of the book is of a high quality and it is a welcome addition to the sources available on jihād." - Harald Motzki, in: Ilahiyat Studies 4.1 (2013)"...this is an important and groundbreaking piece of scholarship [...]." - Niall Christie, in Bulletin critique des Annales islamologiques 28 (2012)"This book describes how twelfth-century scholars were actively involved in legitimizing certain political actions through concepts that were crystallized in the Muslim tradition and shaped intra-Muslim relations well as the empire’s relationships with its neighbors… In introducing the historical setting, Mourad and Lindsay describe in impressively minute detail the politics involved in producing texts during the reign of Sultan Nūr al-Dīn at a time when the latter was rallying Muslim populations, and elites in particular, against the Crusaders." - Bashir Saade, in: Al-Abhath 60-61 (2012-2013), p. 202-204"…a most welcome addition to the study of the idea of religiously motivated warfare in the twelfth century. This text is of particular importance because Ibn ʿAsākir was the most important scholar of his time in the Egyptian/Syrian lands—at least he was the most prolific.[…] Overall this book not only makes a new text available to a larger audience, but it offers a brilliant reinterpretation of a text that might seem at first glance boringly repetitive." - Konrad Hirschler, in: Journal of the American Oriental Society 135.1 (2015)"Like any primary source, Ibn ʿAsākir’s text and its very readable translation offer modern readers an indication of how contemporaries perceived the issues of the day, so the book is part of a welcome trend in crusading studies to present Islamic perspectives on the topic. It will also appeal to anyone interested in jihad more generally." - Christopher J. van der Krogt, in: Islam and Christian–Muslim Relations, 29 July (2015)"Die vorliegende Arbeit stellt ein wichtiges Werk aus der Geschichte dieses Konzeptes in einer verlässlichen Edition zur Verfügung." - Rüdiger Lohlker, University of Vienna

• List of Maps and ImagesPrefaceAcknowledgmentNotes on TransliterationPart One: The Intensification and Reorientation of Sunni Jihad Ideology in the Crusader Period: Ibn ʿAsākir of Damascus (1105-1176) and his AgeChapter One: Ibn ʿAsākir (1105-1176): Life and CareerChapter Two: Jihad in Early Islamic History: An OverviewChapter Three: Jihad Preaching in Damascus between the First and Second CrusadesChapter Four: Ibn ʿAsākir and the Intensification and Reorientation of Sunni Jihad Ideology in the Twelfth CenturyChapter Five: The Forty Hadiths for Inciting JihadChapter Six: Ibn ʿAsākir’s Forty Hadiths and the Intensification and Reorientation of Sunni Jihad Ideology in Thirteenth Century DamascusChapter Seven: The Legacy of the Intensification and Reorientation of Sunni Jihad Ideology since the Thirteenth CenturyPart Two: English TranslationA. Notes on the TranslationB. The Forty Hadiths for Inciting JihadC. Colophons and Ownership Notes on al-Birzālī’s Copy of Ibn ʿAsākir’s Forty HadithsPart Three: Edition of the Arabic TextA. Notes on the Arabic EditionB. al-Arbaʿūn ḥadīthan fī al-ḥathth ʿalā al-jihādC. Arabic Colophons and Ownership NotesBibliography