DEFENSIVE JIHAD: ISLAMIZATION OF THE TURKS AND TURKIFICATION OF ISLAM

Year 2017, Volume: 6 Issue: 1, 1 - 21, 01.06.2017

Mohamed El-moctar El-shinqiti

Abstract

The
defensive Jihad conducted by Turkic people against the Crusades in the twelfth
and thirteen centuries had a crucial role in the process of the Islamization of
the Turks and the Turkification of Islam. Based on a creative adaptation of
James Russell’s theory of Christianization of the Germanic people and the
Germanization of Christianity,this article shows how that the Arabs were the
'sword of Islam' during its offensive phase, and when they became exhausted,
the Turks emerged to be the ‘shield of Islam’. The Frankish invasions gave the
Turks a golden opportunity to deepen their presence in Islamic culture, and to
legitimize their leadership of the Islamic World at a time where the military
skillfulness and religious revival were much needed for the survival of the
Islamic faith and heartland. The Turks gained the trust of the Abbasid caliphs,
the Sunnī scholars and the Muslim populations at large, as defenders of the
Islam.The
Turkic 'moment' in Islamic history lasted eight and a half centuries, from the
investiture of Ṭughril Beg, the first Seljuq sultan, in Baghdad in 1055, to the
deposition of ‘Abd Al-Ḥamīd II, the last Ottoman sultan, in 1909. The center of
gravity of Muslim power moved with this Turkic movement westward from central
Asia, to Persia, Iraq, Syria, Egypt, and then finally to Anatolia. The Article concludes with the lesson of this
history of theIslamization of the Turks andTurkification of Islam today, at a
time where Islamic civilization is in need for a leading "core state"
to be a source of order and protection.

Keywords

Islam, Christianity, Jihad, Crusades, Caliph, political legitimacy, Turk, Turkey, Islamization, Turkification, core state, Huntington

DEFENSIVE JIHAD: ISLAMIZATION OF THE TURKS AND TURKIFICATION OF ISLAM

Abstract

               The
defensive Jihad conducted by Turkic people against the Crusades in the twelfth
and thirteen centuries had a crucial role in the process of the Islamization of
the Turks and the Turkification of Islam. Based on a creative adaptation of
James Russell’s theory of Christianization of the Germanic people and the
Germanization of Christianity,this article shows how that the Arabs were the
'sword of Islam' during its offensive phase, and when they became exhausted,
the Turks emerged to be the ‘shield of Islam’. The Frankish invasions gave the
Turks a golden opportunity to deepen their presence in Islamic culture, and to
legitimize their leadership of the Islamic World at a time where the military
skillfulness and religious revival were much needed for the survival of the
Islamic faith and heartland. The Turks gained the trust of the Abbasid caliphs,
the Sunnī scholars and the Muslim populations at large, as defenders of the
Islam.The Turkic 'moment' in Islamic history lasted
eight and a half centuries, from the investiture of Ṭughril Beg, the first
Seljuq sultan, in Baghdad in 1055, to the deposition of ‘Abd Al-Ḥamīd II, the
last Ottoman sultan, in 1909. The center of gravity of Muslim power moved with
this Turkic movement westward from central Asia, to Persia, Iraq, Syria, Egypt,
and then finally to Anatolia.
The Article concludes with the lesson of this history of theIslamization of the
Turks andTurkification of Islam today, at a time where Islamic civilization is
in need for a leading "core state" to be a source of order and
protection.

Keywords

Islam, Christianity, Jihad, Crusades, Caliph, political legitimacy, Turk, Turkey, Islamization, Turkification, core state, Huntington.

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