In 637, Muslims conquered Jerusalem and promised religious freedom and protection to minorities, in accordance with Islamic laws.
http://lostislamichistory.com/jerusalem-and-umar-ibn-al-khattab/
Source:
https://www.facebook.com/LostIslamicHistory/posts/523850214300688
"In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate. This is the assurance of safety which the servant of God, Umar, the Commander of the Faithful, has given to the people of Jerusalem. He has given them an assurance of safety for themselves for their property, their churches, their crosses, the sick and healthy of the city and for all the rituals which belong to their religion. Their churches will not be inhabited by Muslims and will not be destroyed. Neither they, nor the land on which they stand, nor their cross, nor their property will be damaged. They will not be forcibly converted."
- Treaty of Umar for the Christians of Jerusalem when the Muslims conquered the holy city in 637
Source:
https://www.facebook.com/LostIslamicHistory/posts/439808009460251
The Pact of Umar in 637 assured the Christians of Jerusalem freedom of religion and protection under the law. This is over 1000 years before America's Constitution assured the same to non-Christians.
1150 years before America's Bill of Rights, the Muslims under Umar ibn al-Khattab promised religious freedom to Christians in Jerusalem.
Source:
https://www.facebook.com/LostIslamicHistory/posts/307511812689872
After the Muslims conquered Jerusalem in 637, Umar ibn al-Khattab personally cleaned the area of the al-Aqsa Mosque which had been used as a garbage dump by the Romans.
Read more:
http://lostislamichistory.com/the-al-aqsa-mosque-through-the-ages-1/
Source:
https://www.facebook.com/LostIslamicHistory/posts/409583562482696
On 3rd of June in 1098, the Crusaders were able to conquer the fortress city of Antioch and massacre its population. Antioch was the only major obstacle preventing them from reaching Jerusalem.
Source:
https://www.facebook.com/LostIslamicHistory/posts/417715391669513
When the Crusaders conquered Jerusalem in 1099, they massacred every resident until the "blood was to our ankles". When Salah al-Din liberated the city 88 years later, all residents were allowed to leave safely with their property. THAT is the effect of Islam in the world.
Source:
https://www.facebook.com/LostIslamicHistory/posts/301371739970546
In 1099, Crusaders entered Jerusalem and massacred its entire population.
In 1187, Salah al-Din led the Muslim liberation of the city, and allowed the Crusaders to leave with their property, unharmed.
Read more:
http://lostislamichistory.com/the-crusades-part-3-liberation/
Source:
https://www.facebook.com/LostIslamicHistory/posts/149274401912558
In 1099, after the Crusaders captured Jerusalem and massacred its population, a scholar, Abu Sa'd al-Harawi, traveled to Baghdad, to rally support among Muslims to oppose the invaders. He led a protest where the people and the caliph promised to do all they can to liberate Jerusalem.
In the coming weeks and months, however, nothing came out of all the promises and expressions of support. The people of Iraq, Syria, and Egypt continued to be preoccupied with their own lives and issues. It would be another 88 years before the Muslim world managed to unite enough to liberate Masjid al-Aqsa.
Source:
https://www.facebook.com/LostIslamicHistory/posts/427007800740272
In 1187, the great general Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi finally liberated Jerusalem from the Crusaders and re-established it as a Muslim city. Learn more about Salah al-Din and the liberation in the latest Lost Islamic History podcast!
http://youtu.be/-HZ3WQR2hVI
Source:
https://www.facebook.com/LostIslamicHistory/posts/320454878066671
You can watch our entire series on the Crusades from the capture of Jerusalem in 1099 to its liberation by Salah al-Din here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_S53ZdQ6ujA&feature=share&list=PLz6kG3O-UDLPbjk0PCV0KWZAaHUzaLnH
Salah al-Din was a scholar in addition to a general.
He once quoted a Musalsal Hadith around some soldiers. A Musalsal Hadith is a Hadith in which one performs the same action that Prophet Muhammad performed when he originally said it. In the Musalsal Hadith he quoted, the Prophet (S) smiled, but Salah al-Din did not smile when he narrated it. When asked why, he responded, "How can I smile while the Crusaders are in Jerusalem?"
When he liberated Jerusalem in 1187, he went up in a public space in front of the people and smiled for a long while to make up for that musalsal Hadith.
Source:
https://www.facebook.com/LostIslamicHistory/posts/395321890575530
Islamic history is not just Arab history.
In the 11th and 12th centuries, two great Muslim military leaders emerged to roll back the tide of European conquest of Muslim lands:
In the 1000s Yusuf ibn Tashfin, a Berber, united al-Andalus under the Murabitun movement and held back conquest by Alfonso VI.
In the 1100s Yusuf ibn Ayyub (Salah al-Din), a Kurd, united Egypt and Syria and defeated the Crusaders, liberating Jerusalem.
In both cases, unity was not based on language or culture, but on religious conviction and a desire to contribute to a successful Muslim ummah.
Source:
https://www.facebook.com/LostIslamicHistory/posts/441277519313300
