How Palestine was liberated: The start of a reckoning
A new ruler of a different caliber
Imad ad-Din Zengi was only 10 years of age when his father, Qasim ad-Dawla Aksungur al-Hajib, was killed on the orders of the Emir of Damascus after he was captured near Aleppo in 1094 (487 Hijri), a few years before the European Crusaders arrived on the scene. Zengi grew to become a renowned commander and found praise among his peers and other Muslim leaders. He also won the praise, respect, and gratitude of the Seljuk Sultanate after he crushed an Abbasid revolt when the caliph rebelled against the Seljuk protection that was afforded to them since the Shiite Fatamids threatened their existence and rule.
In his book The Crusades Through Arab Eyes, Lebanese author Amin Maalouf describes Zengi as “possessed of severity, perseverance, and a strong sense of state.”
“For eighteen years this indefatigable warrior would travel the length and breadth of Syria and Iraq, sleeping on a straw mat to protect himself from the mud, fighting with some, sealing pacts with others, and intriguing against everyone . . . His entourage was made up not of courtesans and flatterers but of seasoned political advisers whom he had learned to heed.”
— Amin Maalouf
His reputation and renown was soon rewarded. In 1127 CE (521 Hijri), after consulting with his advisors, Sultan Mahmud II appointed Zengi atabeg of Mosul. Zengi took control of Aleppo the following year.
“So he consulted them on this [matter], and they counseled him [saying], “We cannot patch this breach, nor can we restore law to this province, nor can anyone face this danger other than Imad ad-Din Zengi.””
— The chronicler Ali ibn al-Athir in his book The Complete History
Ambition or creating a cohesive front?
While he was admired for his justice and fairness by peers and chroniclers alike, Imad ad-Din Zengi was also very cunning. Whatever his intentions were at the time, Zengi began consolidating his power in Syria at the expense of other emirs. His first target was Hama. He began his march in 1130 CE (522 Hijri).
“[Zengi] crossed the Euphrates toward Syria and displayed a desire to wage jihad against the Franj [Crusaders]. And he sent to Taj al-Mulook Buri ibn father Toghtekin, master of Damascus, requesting his aid and support in their jihad. So he answered [positively] to the intent [of his request]. He sent to those he had taken their vows and pacts from . . . and he sent to his son Sung, and he was at the city of Hama, commanding him to join the army and march with them to Zengi. So they all marched and reached him [Zengi]. And he honored them and treated them well, and left them for a few days.
“Then he betrayed them. He captured Sung, the son of Taj al-Mulook, and a number of princes who arrived [with him], and he plundered their camps and the livestock that was in them, and arrested them in Aleppo. The rest of them fled. He [Zengi] marched from that day to Hama. He arrived and it was empty of a defending army, so he captured it and took control of it. He left it [and marched] toward Homs, and its master, Qurjan ibn Quraja, was with him in the army. And it was he who advised him to betray the son of Taj al-Mulook. So he [Zeng] arrested him and laid siege to Homs.”
— Ibn al-Athir
With a victory in Hama and a failure at Homs, Imad ad-Din Zengi took Qurjan and the Damascene princes he had captured and returned to Mosul.
A reckoning has begun
After spending two years looking after his affairs in Aleppo and Mosul and the other territories within his domain, Zengi focused on a new goal and turned his attention to a Crusader fort near Aleppo: Al-Atarib.
Ibn al-Athir described the impact this fortress and the Crusaders who held it had on the people living in the environs of Aleppo saying, “Everyday, they raided them and plundered their wealth.”
“So when [Zengi] saw these conditions, he resolutely determined to besiege this fort, so he marched to it.”
“So when the Franj [Crusaders] learned of that, they gathered their horsemen and footmen, and they knew that this incident would have more to come after it. So they rallied and gathered, and they did not leave any force except they exerted it . . . and they marched toward him [Zengi]. So he sought the counsel of his friends on what he should do. They all advised on retreating from the fort, as meeting the Franj on their land would be risky, it would not be known what the result would be. So he told them, “Indeed the Franj, whenever they see us having fled from their reach, they would become ambitious and march after us, and they would lay waste to our lands. And it is necessary that we meet them anyway.””
— Ibn al-Athir
Zengi and his men turned away from the fort and met the Crusaders on the field. The Muslim forces won.
“And the Franj lost in a most humiliating defeat, many of their knights were taken as prisoners, and a great number of them were killed. Imad ad-Din brought forth this achievement to his soldiers and said, “This is the first of these [battles] that we have done with them. So let us give them a taste of our strength that will leave fear in their hearts” . . . So when the Muslims finished their victory over them, they returned to the fort to take it by force. And they killed and captured all who were in it. And Imad ad-Din destroyed it and flattened it. Then he marched from it to the fortress of Haram. Its people presented half of the income of Haram and requested a truce, and he accepted that and left them.”
— Ibn al-Athir
This successful offensive against the Crusaders lifted Muslim morale. Change was coming and everyone felt it.
“And the disbelievers’ strength weakened, and they knew something that was not in their calculations had arrived to the lands. And they became focused on safeguarding what was in their hands after they had coveted everyone’s property [before].”
— Ibn al-Athir
