How do we explain the stance of the Fatimid Empire towards the Essay

How do we explain the stance of the Fatimid Empire towards the Crusades - Essay Example 22). The early church used crusades to gain political and economic power; they influenced their adherents and led them to fight for the interest of a select few who formed the leadership of the church. Faith dictates the mental state of an individual a tool that the early church used to influence their adherents into war against the Islamic faith. With the aid of the western countries of the time, which included knights from several countries in the region and other ordinary citizens such as peasants, the Roman Catholic therefore invaded Seljuq Turks from Anatolia and captured the holy city of Jerusalem overthrowing the unsuspecting Muslims. The raid also freed the Eastern Christians from the oppressing control of the Muslims at the time. The success of the attack led to the formation of other subsequent crusades in attack of Muslims and other smaller religions of the time. The Christians established crusader estates in the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the principality of Antioch and the co untry of Tripoli in North Africa. The aim of the crusader states was to quell any subsequent Muslim invasion in the regions thereby creating solid Christian territories. Religion survives on evangelism which results in the spread of the religion to different regions across the world. With the effective coordination of the military arm of the church, Christianity would spread and enjoy a peaceful existence. However, the development of the crusade and its subsequent attacks on the regions that the Christians considered volatile angered other religions key among which was Islam. The attack on regions around Jerusalem resulted in the merciless massacre of thousands of Muslims and Jews among other non-Christian groups in the region. The victory of the first crusade led to the creation of the crusade estates in strategic key locations among which was the North African state of Tripoli. The region was under a strong influence of Islam following the creation of the Fatimid dynasty (LEV, 199 0 p. 42). The Fatimid Empire, first established in Tunisia, was a movement and later become both a political and religious movement that governed the entire North African region and later spread to other parts of the Middle East where it gained extensive control and influence on the people. The Dynasty had more than a political motivation. Began by a cousin and a sister to the Holy prophet Mohamed, the dynasty sought to earn authority for the religion and therefore consolidate its authority in the region and spread it to other parts of the world. Located in the North East of Africa, Tunisia was not a strategic location to headquarter an empire that had a dream of controlling the entire Arab world. It therefore led to an inversion of the expansive regions in Northern Africa pushing its headquarters to Egypt, a kingdom that bordered Tripoli. Lying close to each other, the republic of Tripoli with a crusade state and the Egypt now serving as headquarter to the greatest Islamic outfit, the two regions became hindrances to the freedom of each other. While the Christians had a vision of spreading their gospel to every country in the world including the Islamic states, the Muslims led by the Fatimid Empire had a similar vision of spreadi