And began their vicious slaughter of the Muslim faithful, whether citizens or soldiers. The battle raged for hours. Crusaders killed everyone they could find in the streets and the alleyways. Simon Sebag Montefiore, Jerusalem: The Making of a Holy City 2/3: Invasion, Invasion, Invasion
Some Muslims leapt to their deaths. ibid.
The toll was probably between ten and thirty thousand dead. ibid.
Islam resolved to win back the Holy City. And the man who would launch this new Holy War was Saladin. ibid.
In the early 7th century a new faith arose out of the Arabian Peninsula ... This was Islam. Simon Sebag Montefiore, Jerusalem: The Making of a Holy City 3/3: Wellspring of Holiness
610 A.D. The prophet Muhammad: he venerated this place. ibid.
The Islamic army laid siege to the Holy City. ibid.
Dominating the Temple Mount it’s the Dome of the Rock. It’s not a Mosque, but a shrine. ibid.
By no stretch of the imagination can you argue that the core principle of Islam is non-violence. It is taboo to notice this. Sam Harris, New York Society for Ethical Culture lecture 2005
The mainstream doctrine of Islam contains this notion of martyrdom and jihad. ibid.
Islam is quite a bit scarier and more culpable for needless human misery at this moment than Christianity has been for a very long time. Sam Harris, lecture AAI 2007
Utter religious lunacy and barbarism in the name of Islam. ibid.
The actions of one Muslim warrior echo down the centuries. An Islamic champion will rise and influence the rules of war. Mystery Files: Saladin, National Geographic 2010
Over the next two decades Saladin builds an empire with Damascus in Syria as his capital. ibid.
Amongst the Christian ranks are two zealous orders of warrior monks known as the Knights Templar and the Knights Hospitaller. To Saladin they are the ultimate enemy. ibid.
Two hundred and thirty detested Templars and Hospitallers are handed over to Muslim clerics. Again, Saladin acts to Muslim rules of war. ibid.
They are granted freedom from slavery on condition they quit the Holy Land for ever. Many return to Europe with tales of Saladin – a Muslim warrior with greater chivalry than any European knight. ibid.
Saladin’s legacy of mercy and compassion is echoed today on the modern battlefield. ibid.
A woman was the first convert of Islam. Professor Bettany Hughes, Divine Women III: War of the Word, BBC 2012
The part played by female Muslim scholars has been ignored. ibid.
A fifth of the world’s population believe Jesus was not a Jew or a Christian but a Muslim. Dr Robert Beckford, The Hidden Story of Jesus, Channel 4 2007
The Koran mentions him too – thirty-six times. ibid.
In Islam, Jesus is regarded as one of God’s prophets – a precursor to Muhammad. ibid.
Islam and Christianity have been portrayed as mortal enemies for 1,400 years. Melvyn Bragg, The Muslim Jesus, ITV 2007
Both Muslims and Christians agree that Jesus will return to defeat the Anti-Christ. But whereas the Bible used metaphorical language to describe the event, Islamic tradition gives a blow by blow account of exactly what will happen when Jesus comes back. ibid.
Today Christianity is seen as a Western faith. Indeed many in the Muslim world see Western lifestyles as Christian lifestyles. But Christianity is not by origin a Western religion. Its beginnings are in the Middle East where there still exists Churches which have been Eastern since the earliest Christian era. The story of the first Christianity tells us that the Christianity faith is in fact hugely diverse. With many identities. But it shows us that far from being a clash of civilisations, in the East the clash between Islam and Christianity enriched both faiths. Professor Diarmaid MacCulloch, A History of Christianity, BBC 2009
There’s evidence that Christianity did influence Islam. Christianity played a part in shaping Muslim worship. It even affected its doctrine. ibid.
What’s much more frightening in the world is the Problem of Islam. Where people seems to me take their religion seriously to the point of madness. Jonathan Miller, The Atheism Tapes, Steven Weinberg, BBC 2004
Saladin is the heir of centuries of development of a political and legal culture in the Islamic world. Reuven Amitai, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
He [Saladin] allows those who can ransom themselves to go. And then when those people cannot afford to pay ransom he allows them to go and pays for them by his own estates. Akbar Ahmed, American University
When the Crusaders captured Jerusalem the first thing that happened – there was a bloodbath of almighty proportions. They slaughtered everybody: Christian, Jew, Muslim alike. It’s not a pretty event. Dr Tim Wallace-Murphy, co-author Custodians of Truth
When the Christians captured Jerusalem there was a bloodbath. And the horses were knee-deep in blood. They slaughtered everybody – Muslim, Jew, Christian, without mercy. Dr Tim Wallace-Murphy
Islam at that point did not have any equivalent of the Holy War. This was how the very word Jihad changed its meaning as a result of the Crusades. Tariq Ali, author Class of Fundamentalisms
In 1095 Pope Urban II instigated the first Crusade by declaring Deus Vult, Latin for God wills it. Over the next two hundred years a total of nine brutal crusades devastated the Holy Land and its Muslim inhabitants. The Dark Ages
Almost one thousand years ago Richard I, King of England, set out to war. Not for power or wealth but for God. This was a new kind of war. One that still casts its shadow today. For it would pit Crusader against Jihadi. East against West. Richard the Lionheart: Warriors
Saladin’s scorched earth tactics began to work like a cancer in the Crusader army, spreading dissension. Richard, as the only king among the commanders, led the crusade in battle. But he was not in political control. Important political decisions were taken by the Council of War, a body made up of all the different factions. ibid.
The retreat from Jerusalem was a humiliation for Richard. During the next six months he tried everything to make amends, moving down towards Egypt and attacking Saladin’s supply routes. But without the French he never had enough men to strike a decisive blow. ibid.
Jerusalem was stormed in 1099. The entire population of the Holy City was put to the sword. Jews and well as Muslims. 70,000 men, women and children perished in a holocaust, which raged for three days. In places men waded in blood up to their ankles and horsemen were splashed by it as they rode through the streets. Desmond Seward, The Monks of War
A vast intellectual community where scholars from very different parts of the world could engage in dialogue, comparison, debate, argument. Professor Simon Schaffer Cambridge University
The ever present possibility of total loss – that was very very important for many Islamic scholars. Professor Simon Schaffer
We see I think genuine revolutions in the level, scale and intensity of mathematical astronomy. Professor Simon Schaffer
Like fundamentalist Judaism and medieval Christianity, Islam is totalist. That is to say, it makes a total claim on the individual. Martin Amis
I believe in the religion of Islam. I believe in Allah and peace. Muhammad Ali
On September 11th 1683 the siege of Vienna was broken. That was the high point of Islamic jihadist expansion into Europe; after that Islam went into a decline. Robert Spencer, author Islam Unveiled
Does Islam and Islamic civilisation really sanction the violence we are seeing in its name around the world? Robert Spencer
Islam has a developed doctrine, theology and law that mandates violence against unbelievers. Robert Spencer
No peaceful and moderate Islam. The idea that Islam is a religion of peace, however, is paradoxically enough held even by the most violent and radical of Muslims. Robert Spencer
The Koran contains no guarantee of paradise except for those who slay and are slain in the cause of Allah. Robert Spencer
Islam is a religion and a political system that dictates that one must carry out warfare against unbelievers until they either convert or submit. Robert Spencer
Britain is in a state of denial as is much of Europe ... about the nature of the threat we’re up against. Melanie Phillips