Islam from First Muslim to Total Control, Five Stages of Islamic Conquest

 

There is the theory that there are four stages to Islamic Conquest which are Infiltration, Consolidation, Open Warfare, and Totalitarian Theocratic Rule. This theory is defined here and defines a militaristic look at the cold functions as Islam tightens its grip on a society. What we will present is a measuring stick by which you can tell which of those four stages the place where you reside currently sits and decide from this what could and should be done. We will start with a quote from Winston Churchill after which we will describe five stages. The last four relate directly to the four stages listed above and described at the link. We will be defining the societal apparatus and an easy measuring stick which might be handy such that one may test the waters in their community or simply coldly take measurements and determine where they are situated. First, as promised, we give you a quote from Sir Winston Churchill which was written for the people of Poland while the world geared up and Poland was overrun by the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany never standing any hope of survival. Now here is the promised quote from Mr. Churchill.

“If you will not fight for right when you can easily win without blood shed;
If you will not fight when your victory is sure and not too costly;
You may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance of survival.
There may even be a worse case.
You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves.”

 

These Five Stages are summarized from multiple sites which all appeared to be authored by Richard Butrick. Ours use their definitions for stages and populations percentages but our own interpretations of each stage. We are hoping we can be more elaborate and specific in our descriptions and hope you will appreciate such.

 

Five Stages of Islamic Conquest

 

Stage I. Introduction or Beachhead. (Under 2% of population)

This stage is exactly what it states, the first Muslims arrive and Islam is an unknown entity so they are the ones to initially define Islam. Their introductory phrasings are of extreme importance as these will be echoed by the political class and many of the more shallow educators and those who are simply too lazy to research and simply take things at face value. Muslims keep largely to themselves and practice the Mecca Quran which taught cooperation and coexistence. They preach tolerance and reflect the values of the society where they are now an insignificant minority often equal or slightly higher percentage than Jews, Kurds and other small minorities. They may request that prayer rooms be placed in places where they frequent and in schools in their neighborhoods along with footbaths in or at the entrance to their prayer rooms so they may meet their Quranic obligation of five prayer sessions each day. They will begin polite and noninvasive proselytization and conversion. These efforts will be more targeted than general and done as privately as possible. Their main objective is to purchase lands for Mosques, Community Buildings, and Outreach Centers. These buildings may initially be semi-permanent structures which are inexpensive and can easily be taken down when real construction of a more imposing edifice can be constructed. Often Mosques are built such that they are significantly larger and more imposing than all other religious buildings in an area often challenging or even surpassing the size of cathedrals. Islam, as it conquered large swaths of lands between 623 and 750 as it spread across the nations of MENA (Middle East and North Africa) and into Europe, would often take conquered cathedrals and transform them into Mosques as they did with the Hagia Sophia, the largest cathedral in Christendom, in Constantinople, which was renamed Istanbul.

 

Islamic Expansion

 

Since these conquests, Islam has relied on the slower political method for adding territory as Islam faced serious defeats later with the final one coming as a result of World War I and the fall of the Ottoman Empire. Islam remained as a religion and as the European colonial enterprise withdrew, often within fifty years after World War I, Islam returned to rule the countries as they were defined by the Europeans. Currently there are tribal issues tearing many of these constructs apart. The nations appearing to have the least problems are Saudi Arabia and Iran, two nations not actively colonized, and Algeria which was largely Berber and thus a single people and tribe which allowed for greater unity.

 

Dates that the MENA nations received their independence after colonial rule many since the times of the Persians or even earlier

 

The described efforts of stage one are mostly for the introduction and quiet and pliable nature of Islam which will prove later to have been largely a misrepresentation which managed this face by completely inverting the Islamic idea and use of abrogation where when two verses contradict one another, the later verse supersedes the former verse and in almost every case the Medina Quranic verses are more violent, warlike and propose the superiority of Islam over all other religions and the need by Allah for all to be made to worship Islam and only Islam. This will become evident as we proceed.

 

Stage II. Establish Initial Control of Areas, Form Outposts and Centers of Operations. (2% to 5% of population)

This is simply a continuation of the efforts from Stage I except with some added urgency. All Islamic proselytization and conversion efforts are ramped up but mostly still at targeted populations. The favorite targets are troubled and disaffected youth, other minorities, homeless, marginal groups and others who due to their situations seek assistance and hope. Again, the Islamic worshipers stress cooperation, coexistence, tolerance and reflect the values of the society trying to fit in and not make enemies. They seek to join organizations just to get their foot in the door and establish outreach centers. They will use public systems to spread the word with a special effort in the prison systems. Within the prison system is where the true face of Islam will first appear as here they preach the Medina verses to willing and appropriate targets usually attempting to coopt leaders of gangs within the prison system as this is an easy way to get a strong group of Islamic warriors with which to try and spread the word of the supremacy of Islam within the prison system. These converts will be the tip of the spear when the time for open conquest arrives, in the meantime they can build an Islamic network and future army both inside and outside the prisons amongst the criminal world. They may also seek inroads into the drug trafficking scene seeking fertile grounds to spread their message and also take control so as to have a ready area for financing other efforts.

 

Stage III. Expand Areas of Control Targeting Cities. (5% to 15% of population)

This is exactly as it is titled, expanding the base networks using the people already gathered into the flock. Now the true face will begin to appear as the percentage rises above 8% to 12% and entire neighborhoods are under Islamic control. These neighborhoods will demand self-rule and their own Sharia Courts. The Sharia will be imposed with smoking, alcohol and dress restriction imposed. Islam will tighten their grip and non-Muslims remaining in these enclaves will feel threatened and if at all possible move away making these areas completely Islamic. Churches, Synagogues, Temples and any other religious buildings other than Mosques will be converted to Islamic centers, Mosques or torn down and replaced with something useful to Islam. Music will be banned and Sharia punishments for violations will be introduced. Initially enforcement may take milder options such as fines or public apologies with subsequent infractions receiving slowly increasing punishments. Demands will be made that the school systems to observe Islamic holidays and that people refrain from eating during the daily fast period anywhere there are Muslims during the month of Ramadan. Fasting is done from sun-up to sun-down but often Muslims will become offended at other people eating at any point in their presence as they begin to exercise strength and control. Intimidation practices are introduced initially within the community and towards the upper end also outside the community, usually at government offices and public venues. Islamic sensitivity is demanded and there will be complaints of attacks on Muslims introducing the idea of Islamophobia. Whenever there is a terrorist attack, the response of the Islamic community will be to begin reporting, fabricated if necessary, reports of attacks on Muslims and make the entire event an example of how Muslims are being persecuted and how Islamophobia dominates the culture. Islamophobia will become the number one reported and covered form of persecution and of hate crimes. This is despite the fact that anti-Semitism will remain three to five times more likely than any numbers of the same upon Muslims, even if every report of Islamophobic violence were verified as true. Should a Muslim ever be accused of a hate crime there will come such an uproar from the Islamic community pointing out how this person snapped under the unmerciful onslaught of Islamophobic assaults and therefore their actions were completely understandable and any further traumatizing this unfortunate individual would be tantamount to torture. The efforts will also include attempting to infiltrate and convert gangs as the gathering of a military styled force continues to be utilized later, potentially very soon.

 

Stage IV. Establish Regions of Control and General Superiority. (15% to 50% of population)

More of the same except no longer any regard is given to diversity or anything else which might connote compromise. Islam is now officially at war and not taking prisoners. Cities will witness rioting at the slightest offense. People will start to look to the ground and not walk on the sidewalk when a Muslim is present. Submission will start to spread throughout the community. The most rural areas will remain calm if for no other reason than lack of numbers of Muslims or any Islamic control center. Cities and metropolitan areas will face ever-increasing violence and demands. The politicians will continue to preach, “Islam is the religion of peace,” all the while claiming the rioting is but a small minority of Muslims. Yes, the political talking heads and newscasters will start to appear more and more irrelevant and what people witness with their own eyes will count for more. The problem is that democracies, and this applies almost double to republics, act and react very slowly and are often ten steps behind the public. The reason is that they are not designed for brave and drastic steps but are designed to try to keep the peace through coercion and the expectation that people will obey the laws. Neither of these restrictions will continue to hold any power in the Islamic communities and in their areas they will operate under Sharia and Islam will rule absolutely with people found breaking their laws, rules and codes will be prosecuted. Women entering the Islamic areas wearing anything short of a full body covering will be groped initially and brutally mass raped eventually with many not surviving the assaults towards the end of this phase. The police will refuse to enter the Islamic controlled areas unless absolutely demanded, and then only with massive force and still they may face superior firepower as now the Islamic areas will be heavily armed most often with military grade weaponry such as AK47’s, RPG’s, grenades, IED’s, suicide vests, car bombs and other varieties of weapons. Should any nation decide that they no longer desire to play nicely, they will require their military to intervene. Should there be rules making this difficult, then the politicians will balk at using such forces and even should they do so, they may find that their generals and officers are more sympathetic to the Islamic leadership than that of their country. This will be due to their selection of officers, starting initially with the lower ranks and working their way up in the previous stages until many of the officers are highly sympathetic to or are actually Islamic. Islam will have cowed the political class, the police and quite possibly the military to such an extent that the nation may find itself completely helpless and unable to stand against the Islamic forces. Such nations it will be but a measure of time before the final stage will arrive and that time will be short. This may also be the last time there will be any hope for survival because after this point the operations become mopping up, as we will see. Vigilante groups will start to organize though they may be too late. Even if they have the strength to oppose Islam, they will need to cooperate as one or else their efforts are doomed.

 

Stage V. Total Control, Dhimmitude, Convert or Die. (greater than 50% of population)

There is little to probably say which has not been figured out. By now, the military and police have been replaced by Islamic military police, as the two will largely be the same. As this point is reached the Christians and maybe Jews, will be granted Dhimmitude, a protected status of second-class citizen with few rights but generally protected as long as they pay the Jiyza, a tax for Dhimmis which provides their protection. This tax can be reasonable or it can be used to further subjugate these protected people and take from them all wealth. Even the Dhimmi have but a limited life expectancy. Sharia will be uniformly applied to the population and any infraction by a non-Muslim will receive the harshest of punishments. This is yet another form of coercion to get people to simply accept Islam and surrender to Allah. Now people will realize that Islam means surrender and it means total surrender of your will and all freedom of thought. Books will be destroyed with few copies of even scientific books remaining as they only need sufficient for the few they deem may study such works. Memorization of the Quran will be required and there might be snap quizzes forced upon people by the police who will initially be demanding such repetitions as a teaching tool but eventually it will become another brutalizing disciplining tool. As the percentage approaches total Islamic population there will come a point where the choice will be imposed of covert or die, and that will be exactly the choice. The unfortunate part is that your new Islamic betters get to decide in what manner your execution will take. Back in friendlier times, it was simply off with your head and with a swift, strong, heavy sword blow would remove your head almost instantly and that was that. Now the means are far less humane. There is virtually no possibility of ever returning from this stage unless your country is conquered by some non-Islamic power, think Spain and the Spanish Inquisition which was King Ferdinand’s and Queen Izabella’s means for purging Spain (formerly Andalusia) of its Islamic population as well as its Jews and any other non-Catholics.

 

Islam divides the world into two houses, Dar al Islam and Dar al-harb, House of Islam and House of War. The reasoning is this way they are always aiming to destroy that which is not under Islam and subjugate them and that way eventually conquers the world for Allah. Further, Islam believes that once any lands were controlled by Islam they must forever remain under Islam. We really need remember above all else that Islam believes that they must conquer the world and until they and only they control the entire world and everybody has been converted to Islam or executed, then the world is not perfect. Only when all is Islam will the world be perfected. This is part of why all conquered lands must remain conquered, as they do not desire to pay for the same lands more than once. This is one part of the reasoning behind the Israeli Arab Conflict. Another reason behind the Israeli Arab Conflict is the Muslims, especially the Arab Muslims, believe themselves to be superior to others and believe that the Jews are the most wretched offspring of monkeys and pigs. This insult is often repeated in Arab society in and around Israel and Jordan is found to be the nation with the highest anti-Semitism in the world. The Arab Muslims simply cannot accept or believe that it is possible that they can lose a war to the likes of Jews. It is taught in the Arab schools that in every war between Israel and the Arab Muslims that the Muslim forces were vastly superior and won great victories and were never defeated. Why or how Israel exists and why they had to depend upon foreign intervention forcing an end to the conflict and insisting that Israel return all gained lands despite their being won in a defensive struggle which normally would permit the conquering nation to retain the land and return the population to the vanquished land. Israel is required to return the land and even now take in refugees which would make Israel into an Arab majority nation. That is their aim at which time they will vote the Jew off the island, or out of the country and not by emigration but by extermination.

 

Beyond the Cusp

 

The Walking Peril Facing Europe

 

Yesterday we inundated readers with videos of the different rioters, the Arab youths, the anti-immigrant demonstrators and the old battle of Turks and Kurds now transgressing into Europe. We were depicting the violence from all sides being perpetrated in these collisions of calamities and diametrically opposing factions from Syrians seeking life away from the horrors of a nation collapsing in violence, nationalists demanding these invaders be repulsed, and factions from the Middle East still bearing their grudges hundreds of miles from their natural and contested battle-grounds. We will save you from the videos and leave that up to you. If one desires, you can search the web at your own leisure. Instead let us discuss exactly what these events could bring about in Europe and what would need to happen to make Syria even remotely safe for the refugees to return to their homes and participate in rebuilding a nation torn asunder. Then there is the one question which none of us can truly answer, what would have to transpire to entice these refugees to return to their homes and begin rebuilding their nation? That last question will be the turning point in this continuing disaster. In all of the articles I have read the one item which leaps forth is the lack of any scenario where the Syrian refugees would return to Syria and take part in the rebuilding. The other item which has thrown a wrench into the idea that ending the violence in Syria and Iraq would also end the refugee flood into Europe are the numbers of refugees found to be coming from places such as Afghanistan, Pakistan and other places from the Middle East. Other items are that these throngs from the Middle East are just the refugees from one direction while there is in existence another entire stream of refugees coming from North Africa and beyond such as from Libya, Algeria, Sudan, South Sudan, Nigeria, Somalia and other places from the horn of Africa to central Africa and all points north making their way across the Mediterranean Sea in attempts to land in Italy, Greece, France, Sicily or any other of the nations with beaches on the Mediterranean Sea. The one thing which is for certain is that there is no singular solution to all of these separate and diverse origins of these refugees and their disparate routes into Europe and their preferred destinations.

 

What is quickly obvious is that there is no singular origin of the refugees streaming into Europe. With threats, or promises, by al-Qaeda, Islamic State, Hezballah and even Iranian undercover terror proxies who also train, establish and coordinate terror forces worldwide of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to insert their own agents in order to foment terror and other subversive actions; a large part of their plans are to organizing cells for terror purposes and the organizing of Islamic forces across Europe with the intention of changing local laws and setting up Islamic governance throughout the areas the refugees are settling. It is as many of the rioting refugees have been screaming at security personnel, military forces and police that they are there to have the Quran to swallow the Bible. Where many Europeans may not find such a threat as anything which will change their lifestyles and interfere with their secular, religion free lives as they believe that their secularist freedom from religion will be sufficient to prevent any religious intentions from the Islamists. The one item which is threatened is how the world map might look should Islam, especially extreme Islamists take root and control of Europe making one hemisphere look like the map below.

 

 

 

 

This refugee flood into Europe needs to be treated not as accommodating people stripped of their normal lives by a civil war and simply seeking a better place to restart their lives but as what this is, an invasion in force. Many of us are familiar with the Hamas practice of surrounding their fighters with women and children to protect them or their militarily strategic sites with human shields against Israel and how they will place their civilians in the direct line of fire simply to get as many murdered as a consequence of their launching of hostilities as they can then parlay the photos, even if they must invent such horrors, to the media and make Israel appear heartless and as simply murderers of small children, older women or targeting schools or homes. Hamas has been proven to have their own rockets misfire and strike a hospital and then claim it was Israeli artillery and have the mainstream media immediately demand an explanation from Israel for their atrocity of striking a hospital. This will result in the accusation of Israel targeting a hospital to circulate world-wide before the truth is produced which demands but a correction buried deep inside the paper leaving the headlines as believable. The same is about to be used in a slightly different manner against European nations as the refugees including the terror plants stream across Europe and are eventually placed in receiving camps and guarded. Once the invasion hits a snag such as the use of stadiums or camps which still exist from World War II to house the streaming refugees, it will provide their media savvy cameras to take pictures of their suffering and the horrific side of their apparent captivity.

 

Europe is about to meet what in Israel is called Pallywood and is where the Arabs make fake pictures which are sold to the media networks as fact despite the entire scene being manufactured just as the one below was manufactured. The below video about the “Martyrs’ Junction” as covered by 60 Minutes amongst others but the reality is something entirely different than the mainstream media reported. The reason is the Pallywood Production fits the Israel and settlers are evil murderous despicable monsters murdering innocent Arab children while they aided the brave resistance fighters against the massive might of the Israeli war machine. The truth is a bit different and so is what is going down across Europe as the invasion by human wave flooding their cities will eventually employ these tactics if they have not already began filming and giving the world media the unchecked facts they are seeking and desire so completely. Here again we will include this one example but a search for videos using simply “Pallywood” as your search term will supply one with almost uncountable examples taken from across a wide area from before Jenin to the present.

 

 

 

 

There will be some interesting reactions now that the Europeans will very possibly be facing the same tactics which have plagued Israel for the past thirty to forty years replete with faked videos, sobbing testimonies of injurious infractions, accusations of mistreatment, and eventually the elation as freedom fighters self-detonate in pizza shops, fast food restaurants, train stations, soccer matches, discothèques, bus stations and wherever throngs of Europeans can be targeted. Then there will be the media ever ready to suggest that the Europeans had simply drawn such attacked upon themselves and if only they had worked longer and harder on preparing these refugees to fit seamlessly into European society and respect for the Judeo-Christian ethics, which other than being the launching point for numerous wars in Europe, has been the cornerstone of the European society and eventual superiority and gaining the European colonial powers with the tools to spread their influence over much of the world. The presumed colonial possession of the nations of Middle East and North Africa (MENA) has been alleged to be over what had to be centuries upon centuries robbing these nations of their free will and oppressing their religious lives and all else which the Europeans were not suitably set to understand, let alone rule any Islamic lands. Of course the European colonial period over the nations which make up the MENA block were under Ottoman Empire rule until the end of World War I on November 11, 1918 to the mid-1940s up to around nineteen-sixty-nine which means that at the most the nations of MENA spent under half a century under European rule. Before the Ottoman Empire there was the original Caliphate with the Byzantine before them and Rome proceeded by Greece and Persia on back into the deep past. The entire timeline and explanation can be found on out article Who were the colonizers of MENA Pre-World War I?

 

Perhaps this influx of refugees may change the European love for everything and anything from the BDS movement incriminating against Israel as they have in the past. Sometimes having the shoe on the other foot, namely your own foot, brings an entirely different perspective and appreciation for things that were once so cut and dry. Now that the eerily creepy and sickening pictures can now be placed on the newspaper front pages, the opening story on the nightly news and the main subject on countless political talk show where this one picture from yesterday could send a very different perspective as those pictured in the foreground are the victims of violence perpetrated presumably by European police or Border Patrol Military Special Forces. This image is simply something which could just as easily have been used against Israel displaying it as the result of Israeli Security Forces overreacting on this unfortunate man except it occurred from a standoff in the streets of central Europe.

 

 

 

 

These sorts of images will begin to be common should the Europeans not find solutions which even the most strident Islamist finds acceptable. The problem with such a solution is that it will require a complete surrender from the nations occupied by the refugees. Their first and most important influence is to get themselves qualified and able to vote in elections as that is the initial striking point, electing from their own ranks. Once they can place their people in strategic jobs such as school boards, land management and zoning, as well as the Parliament, be it national or city-wide or any other susceptible; eventually, once the Arab Muslims reach a certain level of power, they will take complete control over an area. This is an invasion which has as its central theme to take the heartlands of Europe by population bombs placed carefully throughout Europe. This war by attrition has an excellent chance for success simply by sending human wave after human wave and conquering Europe without ever firing a single shot. This is exactly what the “Right of Return” for the Arab Palestinians is all about, drowning Israel under a flood of refugees presumably who are the offspring of the Arabs who fled or were driven out due to their attempts to assist by forming a fifth column to attack the Israeli Defense Forces from behind when they were engaged by the Arab armies in May of 1948. Many Arab Palestinians were ready to answer the call to drive the Jews into the Sea as the Mufti of Jerusalem has claimed would be their complete annihilation. In all too many ways what is beginning to happen in Europe will surpass similar attempts used against Israel and only time will tell what the final verdict will be when it is rendered. Currently things look rather bleak for Europe, the once proud and central power that colonized much of the world for a brief period.

 

Beyond the Cusp

 

 

Who were the colonizers of MENA Pre-World War I?

 

We hear much talk by the mainstream media and especially the leftist editorialists about how the deprived victims the Arab populations of MENA (Middle East and North Africa) who were subjugated beneath the imperial European (and presumably American) colonizers. Exactly who were these colonizers and for how long had they exploited the citizens of MENA’s lands? Well, according to the liberal and mainstream media story line as they infer, though never quite say outright, were England, France, Italy and Spain. Further, there will be implications of over a century to potentially many centuries these colonial powers ruled over most of the MENA nations with many remaining under colonial control after World War I and even after World War II with the old dynasties lasting through 1970 or even 1979, and the most brash might even claim that there is a colonial power still ruling in the Middle East to this very day, though this last claim is as big a lie as they come. Perhaps a closer look is in order to get an honest picture.

 

Let’s begin with when the nations in MENA first came under imperial control and were placed under the presumed onus of foreign rule. Colonial rule came to the MENA nations in an early period which many of us first heard referenced when we studied the Bible. Perhaps some of the earliest colonial powers are not exactly what many of us would ever consider to be colonial powers yet as these were rulers who conquered other nations and subjugated them, these were the original colonialists. Terms can be applied to situations which most of us never would have considered applicable but when you are weaving a lie it is easy to go overboard in your definitions and apply modern terms to ancient events. The Egyptians would have been the first of the colonial powers many of us knew about despite there were others close to the same age such as the Hittites, Minoans, Mesopotamian, Persian and even Israel under Kings David and Solomon. All of these predated the better known Greek and Roman Empires and dates back to the ancient beginnings of China and Mayan cultures. A handy little timeline can be seen below. For the purpose of choosing a start date, why not begin around the year five-hundred which is after the fall of Rome and the Western Roman Empire while the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantine Empire was limping into the future feebly.

 

 

Timeline of World Civilizations 3700 BCE through 1700 CE

 

 

All the most ancient empires have fallen and for the most part there was peace with each city moving forward loosely attached to Constantinople across the entirety of MENA though the farther west one went across northern Africa, which had less the ties to the Byzantine rule. This left this area ripe for the pickings and a harvester was about to enter the scene. Shortly before the year seven-hundred a new force emerged under the banner of Islam and began its spread heading initially into the heart of the former lands of Babylon, Persia and into Egypt. There was little resistance as the Byzantine Empire was crumbling and unable to field a credible defense. Jerusalem fell in April 637 to the forces of the Rashidun Caliphate. The conditions for the surrender were understood to be the conquering Islamic rulers would give guarantees of civil and religious freedoms for the Christians under the rule from Jerusalem in exchange for Jizya, a tax on non-Muslims given in exchange for their protections which also included the Christians acceptance of Dhimmitude, a form of subservient lower class citizenship which was to be protected and tolerated and condoned. The spread of Islam took place largely in three stages, the first during the life of Mohammad, Next under the first four Caliphs, and finally under Umayyad Rule which was the basis for the Caliphate (see map below).

 

 

Expansion of Islam Across MENA and threaten Europe before Ottoman Rule

 

 

After the spread of the Caliphate which continued what was technically an empire which implied colonization over territories beyond the initial founding under Mohammad which was centered around Medina, the beginnings of Mohammad’s power, and included the Mecca region which Mohammad took partially as it was the closes power base, the Meccan rulers denied Mohammad’s claim to rightful ruler and had chased the early Mohammad from their territories as they rejected his preaching and teachings and determined he was a corrupting influence. The Caliphate had followed particular lines of succession which had split early after Mohammad’s death which formed the duality which still splits Islam into competing camps of Sunnis and Shiites. For the largest part the Sunni Muslims outnumbered and were the stronger camp though never quite capable, or more likely never made an effort to unify belief as beliefs can be near impossible to be completely defeated thus any effort would eventually prove fruitless and not worth the efforts expended. Instead the Sunni simply kept expanding their empire and largely tolerated the Shiites unless attacked and given no choice. When the two sects did engage each other the Sunni proved superior defeating and often killing the Shiites and their rulers in battle. The Caliphate continued to rule their lands after and expanding conquering Spain and headed into Frankish territory, early France, where the Caliphate reached is furthest advance. After taking Granada they advanced to the next major city, Tours, where a decisive battle turned the tides in the year 732 CE finally having a definitive defeat of the Caliphate forces. The battle victory is credited to Charles Martellus (the Hammer) Martel, who lost a mere thousand to fifteen-hundred of his forces, would later in history be granted the title of savior of Christianity. The vanquished was Abd Ar-Rahman Al Ghafiqi who was slain during the battle along with an estimated twelve-thousand of his warriors.

 

Beginning at the beginning of the fourteenth century the Ottoman Empire began to make its presence felt which would eventually lead to their conquering the entirety of the Caliphate at their most powerful. Until this point the Caliphate ruled over the near entirety of MENA and had spread into Spain and southeastern Europe. The map below shows the advances and periods of the Ottoman Empire conquering the Caliphate, bringing an end to the successions of Caliphs and temporarily ending the violence between Shiite and Sunni camps. The Ottoman succession follows the lineage of Ottoman Beylik who initiated the spread and domain of his family tribe in the year 1300 as his aim was likely like everybody before them, to conquer the known world. The expansions continued from his death in 1359 through 1451 when the next ruler of the Ottomans who expanded the borders notably during his rule through 1481 was Medmed II. He was followed by Selim I (1512-1520) and Suleiman the Magnificent (1520-1566). There was expansion beyond this period where the Ottoman Empire reached its apex before its fortunes began to wane.

 

 

Ottoman Empire Ascending from 1300 through 1683 includes Golden Age of Islam

 

 

The Ottoman Empire caught the Caliphate as it was in retreat after having lost Spain (Andalusia) during the Christian Reconquista which was part of the campaign to rid Spain of its Moorish Muslims as well as the Jews and any other group which was not Catholic and sworn fealty to the crown. This period of the Christian Reconquista was a logical following from the victory at Tours by Charles (the Hammer) Martel and spanned an area of time stretching from its earliest uprisings in the north and northwest in the Battle of Covadonga in the summer of 722, a full decade before the battle of Tours, but this revolt was the very beginning of the end of Islamic rule in Spain (Andalusia). The battles continued until finally the signing of the Treaty of Granada on November 25, 1491. This was the end of the fighting with the turning over of the city of the final southern coastal towns of Granada. It was during the final push that King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile that the infamous Spanish Inquisition was initiated. The Spanish Inquisition lasted from November 1, 1478 through to July 15, 1834. The Inquisition was the attempt, a rather thorough and successful attempt, to convert, drive out or otherwise deal with any residual Moorish or Islamic followers remaining in Spain along with ridding Spain of its Jews who either fled with the Muslims or were chased eventually across all of Europe ending up in Russia and Poland for a while until the Czar’s pogroms drove them into Poland and Germany which set the stage for the Shoah, the Holocaust.

 

There were other adventures which came from Europe somewhat as a response to Islamic Caliphate advances leading up to the fall of Constantinople in 1453. These were known as the Crusades which were an attempt to retake the Holy Land after the initial fall of Jerusalem in April 637. There were four separate crusades which took separate routes reaching the Holy Lands and gathered the troops from various countries, kingdoms and City-States they passed through and could find willing, or sometimes less than willing, forces to join in their ‘holy’ missions. The Crusader routes and periods of duration (shown below on map) began in 1095 with the First Crusade which continued until 1099. The Second Crusade began in 1147 and lasted until 1149. The Third Crusade was initiated in 1189 going into 1192. The Fourth Crusade began in 1202 and terminated in 1204. They had limited success and resulted in making some groups and individuals very wealthy, so much so that they remained in the Middle East despite having to live under Islamic rule. As far as having a definitive effect on the course of history, it is doubtful and at best might be credited with a residual effect of engaging forces which otherwise could have assisted with the attacks on Constantinople but not on events thereafter.

 

 

Crusader Routes I through IV spanning 1095 through 1289

 

 

The Ottoman Empire final began to weaken while the European powers were feeling the results of the Renaissance, the Enlightenment and soon the industrial revolution. While these events were transforming Europe the Ottoman Empire mostly rested on their laurels and stagnated which would cost them as they began to be surpassed by Western technology and discoveries and inventions which led to superior weapons of war. There were three stages of decline for the Ottoman Empire as indicated on the map below. Parts of the Ottoman Empire were held by them for just over a half century, and were under Islamic Caliphate before that for another seven-hundred to almost a thousand years. The final areas of the Ottoman Empire finally fell during World War I and became the Mandate lands from which Iraq, Lebanon, Transjordan (currently Jordan), Syria and Israel were formed. The European colonialists held lands which were formerly under either Ottoman or Caliphate colonial rule for well over a century while the Europeans held these lands for periods of merely a decade or less to the longest being at most a century and those are the exceptions.

 

 

Ottoman Empire in Decline 1800 through 1914 and Start of World War I

 

 

The next map depicts the lands as they were held by European nations after World War I had established their claims in the Treaty of Versailles in 1919. The area outlined in red depicts the mandate lands decided by the San Remo Conference in 1922. These demarcations were proposed initially by the Allied Powers of Great Britain, France, Italy, Japan and Russia. The United States observed the negotiations but was not a direct signatory as the United States desires no holdings, colonial states, mandate responsibilities and was hopeful that they could have assisted in ending this horrific war and had already made their feelings known concerning the restructuring of Europe and the redrawing of boundaries, founding independent states out of the Austria-Hungarian Empire. Eventually the United States was coerced into adding their approval of the Mandate System which many viewed as the most tenuous of the treaties despite the signature of King Faisal signing as the representative for the Arab League.

 

 

Colonial Structure Post World War I defined by Treaties from initial surrender in 1919 through the San Remo Conference setting up the Mandate System in 1922 plus Sykes-Picot redrawing of much of the Middle East

 

 

The final map below depicts the independent states and their dates when their current governments or their freedom from European colonial rule came about. These dates are meaningful as it puts to a lie the claims you will likely hear about how these nations were under colonial rule and only recently gained their independence. There will be other lies which will be half-truths or misinformation by giving one impressions knowing the reality is totally different.

 

 

Dates that the MENA nations received their independence after colonial rule many since the times of the Persians or even earlier

 

 

The actual history which needs to be remembered is that many of these nations have been ruled by outside forces since the very early ages of civilizations while others were once inhabited by a nation which either was destroyed in history or faced a natural disaster which placed their population, that which survived, within another culture where they assimilated and disappeared from history though they often brought skills with them which benefited their host nation which likely made them more welcome. One example of the last occurrence was the Minoan civilization which resided on the Isle of Santorini in the Mediterranean Sea. Everything was going along really great as they had their religion and held their sacrifices, one of which is of interest if you know your Hebrew Bible. The Minoans had a spring ritual which was intended to bring fertility to their crops, their herds, their people and to benefit all parts of their society. In this sacrifice they had to prepare a feast using newly born calf boiled and then roasted and brushed with a preparation made from the calf’s mother’s milk. Anyway, the Minoans were happily fishing and enjoying the wonderful Mediterranean weather until the ground rumbled and the caldera erupted all but destroying the entire Island which has slowly resurfaced in the ensuing years. Santorini is located between the Greek mainland and Cyprus in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea (see picture with map insert below). Santorini is still a dangerous place and potentially threatened with another eruption. Like most volcanoes, it is not a matter of if but of when the next devastating eruption pours forth and erases all traces of human development or existence as the Island may be blown completely apart only to rise from the Mediterranean depths with a whole new look and geography just as it has done throughout all of history. The homes and island is beautiful and a jewel glittering in the Mediterranean Sea and we can only hope it continues to glitter from the lights on the porches of the homes and not from lava belching forth from out of the sea.

 

 

Volcano Thera Caldera Santorini Island Ancient Home of the Minoan Civilization until Eruption just ruined their day

 

 

When we look at the history of MENA nations one need remember that much of the area was also the cradle of civilization and as such had a distressing habit of spawning great civilizations which came, expanded as far as they could reach, overreached or had a number of bad years or the next great civilization either defeated and overran their empire or the two had a merger of sorts as exampled by the Greeks being subsumed by the Roman Empire which did not exactly destroy the four Greek sub-Empires as much as they incorporated as the Greeks saw an advantage of being the center of education and philosophy while the Romans knew of the Greek intellect and their ability to fashion weapons. That is not to say there were not conflicts, but somehow both civilizations influenced each other for the better. But even before Rome, before the Greeks, before the Persians there were the Babylonians, the Israelite Kingdom, the Hittite, the Egyptian and the Mesopotamian Empires. Each ruled and the areas of MENA can be said to have survived as best the individual tribes, city-states, empires, nations and peoples could be expected. There were the Ancient Empires which lasted from prehistory through the Greeks of Alexander. Alexander the Great was the last of the ancient empire builders and his would be the first of the new age empires, the actual colonialists of history. From here many empires claimed to be setting out to conquer the world but they also knew that dream could not be realized in one’s lifetime. Even here the states of MENA faced the Greeks followed by the Romans then the Byzantines as Rome broke into two Empires, the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantine; and the western Roman or what became the Holy Roman Empire. Even European nations became colonized as there were the intra-European empires such as the Austrian-Hungarian Empire, Charlemagne, Napoleon and eventually the Nazis. After the Byzantine Empire collapsed there was the Caliphate followed by the Ottoman Empire, the two main Islamic Empires. During their time in power there were still the Mongols who came to conquer the world and instead converted to Islam by in large. China and India had their effect on the nations of the Middle East and also set up that area for who could take control of the trade routes. It was because of lack of access to these very trade routes which launched the European age of colonization which is the final or modern stage. Where the age of European conquest began in the late fifteenth century with Columbus and the other explorers heading to lay claim to the new lands in the Americas, then started an age of conquest as the natives were not as advanced when it came to warfare. The one advantage of living in the most contested lands in the world is you build up some formidable weaponry and tactics which the native tribes of the Americas were of no match.

 

The lands which form MENA were already colonized by the Ottomans who had a number of other cultures which also fought with their colonizers as all had a common bond which was Islam. This made these lands too much of a threat plus the Europeans had learned to have a healthy respect for the Ottomans and the followers of Islam through the Crusades and the wars which were barely able to constrain the Ottomans from sweeping across Europe. Much of that was due to the King of Poland and Lithuania John III Sobieski who came and relieved the city of Vienna from the Ottoman siege and brought that offensive to a conclusive end. Still, there was little attempt until into the nineteenth century before any assaults were waged on a by then weakened and almost backward sclerotic empire. Taking fair stock on the years of actual colonialization we see that the MENA nations, of which Syria is no exception except like Israel there was an Assyrian Empire which did not extend to anywhere near as vast an area as the more well-known colonizing empires, otherwise Syria has been a colony of somebody for a very long time. The ancient Empires spanned a good three-thousand years or more depending on sources. The middle empires which include the Roman, Byzantine, the Caliphate and the Ottoman Empires lasted almost two-thousand years. The final age was the European age of colonization of the MENA area which lasted less than two hundred years and when we speak of the Middle East itself it is even shorter barely making a century with Syria being far less and Iran almost untouched by the European colonizers. So, when the news reports tell of how these poor nations have been colonies for near an inestimable time and have not tasted freedom until only the most recent of times and even then most were brutal dictatorships, there is some truth. The problem is for the vast majority we were talking of Biblical era and pre Biblical times all the way through the Greeks and to the Roman Empire after the fall of the Eastern Roman Empire these lands were ruled by Muslims for the majority of the modern ages.

 

 

Mandate of San Remo for French and British including actual treaty demarcations for each nation

 

 

The Europeans only poured in at the end of the Ottoman Empire as it fell with the final areas which included Syria not falling until World War I thus not becoming a colony of the Europeans until around 1920 and with the areas of Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Israel they were not colonies as much as protectorates being held secure from invasions by the British and the French starting in 1922 with the enactment of the San Remo Conference. The above map shows the League of Nations proposed British and French Mandates with the demarcations for Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Transjordan and Israel. This mandate was carved from the remains of the Ottoman Empire where the nation of Turkey was what would remain as the originator of the entire Ottoman Empire while these areas above plus Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Yemen and Oman were brought into being and Saudi Arabia gained complete and uncontested control over Mecca and Medina. These maps and dates should arm those wishing to have the truth behind their arguments readily available to speak to what exactly Europe owes the refugees and victims of colonial rule when in reality it is the Arabian Peninsula, the originator of the Caliphate, and Turkey as the original source for the Ottoman Turks who founded the Ottoman Empire. The Europeans as far as Syria is concerned were a brief caretaker that lasted barely twenty-six years, exactly the same as it did for Israel and Israel has only had to take in over one million Jewish refugees from across the lands that make up MENA as many of them drove their Jews from their lands during the late 1940s and through the 1950s with some from Ethiopia and Russia coming even later and still taking in the Bnei Menashe from India and Israel will continue to take in Jewish refugees from the world over and has also taken in other refugees including but not limited to the Vietnamese boat people and Christians seeking refuge from persecutions. It makes one wonder how many refugees have been taken in by Saudi Arabia, Kuwait (who after the Gulf War which freed them from Saddam Hussein thanked the Palestinian workers for the support which Yasser Arafat lauded on Saddam Hussein and flew every last one back to the Palestinian Occupied areas of Judea and Samaria), Qatar (whose Al-Jazeera news service so gallantly praised and supported the uprisings in the hopes of placing the Muslim Brotherhood in charge of as many nations as possible and almost won Egypt and really urged on the war in Syria until it turned so very ugly) or Bahrain. One might expect these wealthy nations to assist their Arab brothers and sisters but nary a word from them except to demand that Europe do their part because the Europeans had colonies in the area for an average of fifty years compared to the one thousand year rule of Islam as the Caliphate and the Ottoman Empires. Europe should offer to take in refugees one for every twenty that the nations of the Arabian Peninsula give refuge to, that would be fair and proportional but don’t hold your breath.

 

Beyond the Cusp