{"id":3295,"date":"2008-08-19T22:55:16","date_gmt":"2008-08-19T22:55:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/victorhanson.com.108-166-28-151.mdgnetworks.com\/wordpress\/?p=3295"},"modified":"2013-03-25T22:56:55","modified_gmt":"2013-03-25T22:56:55","slug":"today-in-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/today-in-history\/","title":{"rendered":"Today in History"},"content":{"rendered":"

Constantinople saves Western Civilization from Islam<\/h1>\n

by Raymond Ibrahim<\/p>\n

Jihad Watch<\/em><\/p>\n

Si<\/span>nce certain Muslim media are fond of\u00a0rehashing old history<\/a>, reminding Muslims of the \u201catrocities\u201d committed by the hated Crusader \u2014 past and present \u2014 it seems only logical that we here in the West also remember the past. Today in history, Christendom secured a great victory over Islam \u2014 one that is responsible for the very existence of Western civilization.<\/p>\n

The year was 715, and one Suleiman had risen to the caliphate. He immediately made it clear that he would be the one Muslim who would fulfill Muhammad\u2019s prophecy that Constantinople would eventually be subsumed into the\u00a0umma<\/i>. After spending nearly two years mustering the Muslims and preparing a massive navy, he unleashed the full might of the caliphate: the chroniclers say that 120,000 infantry and cavalry, along with 80,000 seamen, were sent to seal Constantinople\u2019s fate. To further give his \u201cblessing\u201d to this campaign, and evincing how seriously he took it, he appointed his own brother, Maslama, at the head of the land army.<\/p>\n

While making their way through that great desolate no-man\u2019s land between the Byzantine and Umayyad empires, where certain Turkic tribes (then\u00a0mushrikin<\/i>) frequented the region, the Muslims would often wait till near dawn, and then shout in mass \u201cAllahu Akbar!\u201d (\u201cGod is greatest!\u201d), attacking and slaying all in their path. According to the Muslim chronicler al-Tabari, \u201cThe inhabitants of the city were filled with terror the likes of which they had never experienced before. All they saw were Muslims in their midst screaming \u2018Allahu Akbar!\u2019 Allah planted terror in their hearts\u2026. The men were crucified over the course of 24 km.\u201d (Al-Tabari goes on to explain that they did so, and were successful, in accordance to Koranic verse 3:151: \u201cWe shall cast terror into the hearts of infidels!\u201d)<\/p>\n

Simultaneously, the Muslim fleets were on their way to the Bosporus. Luckily for Constantinople, Leo III came to power, since it was in part due to his many stratagems that the Muslims were repulsed. (Tabari simply relates that Leo continuously duped Maslama, as if the latter were \u201ca silly plaything of a woman.\u201d)<\/p>\n

At any rate, the Byzantine warships, which had recently come to utilize a new \u201csecret weapon\u201d commonly known as \u201cfirewater\u201d or \u201cGreek fire,\u201d according to Theophanes, set ablaze almost the entire Muslim fleet. After this Christian victory, the Byzantines settled into their fortified city for the winter, and let the elements have their way with Maslama\u2019s massive land force. According to the chroniclers, this was by far one of the harshest winters; many thousands of Muslims perished of starvation and disease. Says Theophanes: \u201cSome even say they put dead men and their own dung in pans, kneaded this, and ate it. A plague-like disease descended on them, and destroyed a countless throng.\u201d The second sentence verifies the veracity of the first.<\/p>\n

The new caliph, Omar II (the ambitious Suleiman had by now died of \u201cindigestion,\u201d apparently after consuming two baskets of eggs and figs, followed by marrow and sugar for dessert) had just assumed the caliphate. After many Muslims had died out on the frontiers (where snow lasted on the earth for 100 days), Omar finally sent reinforcements and supplies. It was by now spring, and the Muslims tried one last effort. The chroniclers relay that some 800 ships were sent from Alexandria and North Africa to the Bosporus, this time on guard against the Greek fire. Maslama had also renewed the siege.<\/p>\n

Delivery for Constantinople came from the least expected source \u2014 the Egyptian crew of the Alexandrian ships. During the night, they all fled to Constantinople, acclaiming the Christian emperor. Why? Because they were all primarily still Christian \u2014 Copts \u2014 and, contrary to the many apologetics that suggest the Copts \u201cwelcomed\u201d the invading Muslims, as this anecdote clearly reveals, they had no great love for Islamic rule. Theophanes says that, as the Copts were fleeing in desertion to the city, \u201cthe sea looked entirely made of wood.\u201d Taking advantage of this, Leo released from the citadel once again the fire-ships. Considering the loss of manpower with the Copts\u2019 desertion, the confrontation was more a rout than a battle.<\/p>\n

Finally, and due to Leo\u2019s \u201cdiplomatic\u201d overtures to the warlike Bulgars, he managed to get this Turkic people to attack Maslama\u2019s already wearied army \u2014 killing, according to the chroniclers, 22,000 Muslims. It was over, and, on August 15, 718, the siege was lifted, and the dejected Muslim army made its way back to Dar al-Islam.<\/p>\n

Though many historians have rightly hailed the somewhat contemporary Battle of Tours of 732, where Charles Martel repulsed the invading Muslim armies, as one of the most decisive victories for Western civilization, in fact, the Byzantine victory over the Muslims is more important: it had the full backing of the caliphate, and consisted of far greater manpower. Had the Muslims won, and since Byzantium was the bulwark of Europe\u2019s eastern flank, there would have been nothing in their way from turning the whole of Europe into the north-western appendage of Dar al-Islam.<\/p>\n

This has been a “Today in History” moment.<\/p>\n

Raymond Ibrahim is the editor of the\u00a0Al-Qaeda Reader<\/a><\/i>, translations of religious texts and propaganda.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Constantinople saves Western Civilization from Islam by Raymond Ibrahim Jihad Watch Since certain Muslim media are fond of\u00a0rehashing old history, reminding Muslims of the \u201catrocities\u201d committed by the hated Crusader \u2014 past and present \u2014 it seems only logical that we here in the West also remember the past.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[227,740],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p466Sb-R9","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":11999,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/book-review-sword-and-scimitar-fourteen-centuries-of-war-between-islam-and-the-west-by-raymond-ibrahim-da-capo-press-2018-pp-297\/","url_meta":{"origin":3295,"position":0},"title":"Book Review: Sword and Scimitar: Fourteen Centuries of War Between Islam and the West by Raymond Ibrahim. Da Capo Press, 2018. Pp. 297","author":"victorhanson","date":"September 26, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Please\u00a0read\u00a0this\u00a0book\u00a0review\u00a0from\u00a0my\u00a0colleague Terry Scambray \/\/ New Oxford Review Sword and Scimitar: Fourteen Centuries of War Between Islam and the West\u00a0by Raymond Ibrahim.\u00a0 Da Capo Press, 2018.\u00a0\u00a0 Pp. 297 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We judge individuals by what they say and what they do.\u00a0 We judge cults, religions and ideologies the same way; that\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6355,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/the-siege-of-the-byzantium\/","url_meta":{"origin":3295,"position":1},"title":"The Siege of the Byzantium","author":"victorhanson","date":"August 19, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Ibrahim \/\/\u00a0National Review Online Today, August 15, marks the anniversary of Constantinople\u2019s victory over Muslim invaders in what historians commonly call the \u201cSecond Siege of Byzantium,\u201d 717\u201318. 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