Islam at War: A History

293 Pages·2008·2 MB·English

Islam at War

ISLAM AT WAR
A History
George F. Nafziger
and Mark W. Walton
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Nafziger,GeorgeF.
Islamatwar:ahistory/GeorgeF.NafzigerandMarkW.Walton.
p.cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN0–275–98101–0(alk.paper)
1.Islam—History. I.Walton,MarkW.,1949– II.Title.
BP50.N335 2003
297(cid:2).09—dc21 2002044957
BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationDataisavailable.
Copyright(cid:3)2003byGeorgeF.NafzigerandMarkW.Walton
Allrightsreserved.Noportionofthisbookmaybe
reproduced,byanyprocessortechnique,withoutthe
expresswrittenconsentofthepublisher.
LibraryofCongressCatalogCardNumber:2002044957
ISBN:0–275–98101–0
Firstpublishedin2003
PraegerPublishers,88PostRoadWest,Westport,CT06881
AnimprintofGreenwoodPublishingGroup,Inc.
www.praeger.com
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
Thepaperusedinthisbookcomplieswiththe
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10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
CONTENTS
Introduction vii
1. Birth of Islam: Islamic Expansion and Muhammad as
Battlefield Commander 1
2. The Great Conquests 15
3. Islam and the Crusades 37
4. The Sword and India: The Moghul Conquest 51
5. Egypt in the World of Islam 63
6. The Muslim Conquest and Loss of Spain 81
7. The Rise of the Ottoman Empire 91
8. The Sick Man of Europe: The Balkans and the Fall of the
Ottoman Empire 109
9. The Sword and the Sea: Muslim Navies, Lepanto, and Malta 141
10. Mullahs and Machine Guns: Colonial Wars in the Middle East 153
11. Mullahs and Missiles: Islamic Wars since 1945 171
12. Islam and Jihad: For It Is Ordained unto You 207
13. Dying for God: The Assassins—Pastand Present 235
vi CONTENTS
14. Conclusion 255
Bibliography 263
Index 267
INTRODUCTION
OnSeptember11,2001,AmericasuddenlydiscoveredtheIslamicworld.
The word jihad became commonplace in the spoken American lexicon.
An unknown people with unusual customs and even more unusual ideas
struckattheAmericanheartlandandsecuredourundividedattention.Yet,
despite the thousands of words spoken by the media since September 11
thehistoryoftheIslamicworldhasbarelybeenexposedtoourview.And
we are even less aware of what has motivated this attack on our peace
and tranquility.
ManyintheIslamicworldseetheeventsofSeptember11asamilitary
operation. Surely Osama bin Laden did. Many will be surprised to dis-
coverthatthisisnotthefirstblowstruckbytheIslamicworldagainstthe
Christian world or the West, nor the worst blow. It is merely the latest.
Indeed, a large part of the Islamic world’shistory revolvesaroundarmed
conflict, much of it with the Christian and Western worlds. Warhasbeen
part of the Islamic world since the Archangel Gabriel first spoke to Mu-
hammad,anditistheprincipalprocessbywhichIslamspreadthroughout
the world.
It is the intent of this work to explore that ancient and rich military
history. It beginswith Muhammad, thefirstMuslimwarlord,andfollows
the first world superpower, the Ottoman Empire, as it rose from the ob-
scurity ofthe central Asian steppesandvanishedatthestrokeofapenin
1918. It explores the history of suicidal religious zealots that fought the