The Lies Behind the Crusades and Jihad That Still Shape the World
Leaders waved God’s name like a flag while chasing land, power, and glory
If you ask a Christian nationalist why the Crusades happened, they’ll say Europe rose up to defend Jesus from Muslim invaders. Ask a Muslim hardliner about Jihad, and they’ll say they fought to defend Islam from Christian aggression. Both sides swear God told them to fight. But underneath this holy façade, you find something far less honorable and certainly not divine: politicians’ ambition, land hunger, fear, greed, and leaders who mixed politics with scripture because it worked.
People imagine Crusaders as knights glowing under heavenly light, and Muslims as warriors rising to defend their faith. The truth? A lot of men and boys died so kings, popes, sultans, and caliphs could look powerful, patch up their political failures, and grab wealth they couldn’t earn. Religion was the packaging. Power was the product.
This is the story of two holy wars that were never holy to begin with.
The World Before the First Crusade
Before Christians marched into the Middle East with crosses painted on shields, Europe was a mess. Famine, disease, weak kings, corrupt bishops, and nobles who spent more time killing each other than praying. The Pope was struggling for power and needed something dramatic to pull Europe together.
Then he found it.
In 1095, Pope Urban II stood in front of a crowd in Clermont and told them to stop fighting each other and go kill Muslims instead. God wants it, he said. If you die, you go straight to heaven. It was a religious sales pitch with political benefits. A perfect two-in-one.
Jerusalem had been under Muslim rule for centuries already. Christian pilgrims visited the holy sites safely most of the time. There was no emergency. But the Pope needed a cause, and Muslims were far enough away that most Europeans didn’t know anything about them. That made it easy to paint them as monsters.
And Europe listened. When your life is miserable, the promise of instant heaven and free land sounds like a fair deal.
So What About Jihad
Muslims had their own complicated story. The Quran talks about Jihad, but mostly as a struggle for righteousness or self-defense. And contrary to popular belief, the Quran is strict about when fighting is allowed: either Muslims are under attack, or the rulers over them block them from practicing their religion. That’s it. Early Islamic empires did expand through war, yes, but that was political expansion just like every other empire on Earth. It wasn’t because imams were screaming convert or die. That fantasy was cooked up later by European storytellers who needed a villain.
By the time Crusaders arrived, the Muslim world wasn’t one united empire. It was a bunch of jealous rulers who fought each other more than the invaders. Fatimids in Egypt. Seljuks in Anatolia. Local dynasties in Syria. And every one of them wanted more power, territory, and legitimacy.
When Jihad was declared against the Crusaders, it wasn’t just pure religious outrage. Muslim rulers saw a chance to unite people behind them. A shaky ruler becomes stronger the moment he says he is defending the faith. Remember George W Bush’s popularity after the 9/11 terrorist attacks?
Crusaders used religion to justify invasion. Muslim rulers used religion to justify resistance. Both sides shouted God’s name. Both sides wanted power.
Crusaders Arrive and Show What They’re Really After
When the First Crusade reached Jerusalem in 1099, it didn’t behave like a holy mission. It acted like a mob. Crusaders slaughtered Muslims, Jews, and Eastern Christians because they couldn’t tell anyone apart. Their own chroniclers bragged about blood on the streets.
If this was God’s plan, it looked more like a butcher shop than a victory.
Once Christians took Jerusalem, they didn’t try to convert the population. They wanted land, tax money, castles, and political control. Religion was the wrapping paper. The gift inside was real estate.
Europe saw the loot and wanted more. So the Crusades kept happening for two centuries. Leaders screamed God wills it. Regular people fought and died. Elites collected wealth and titles.
If God truly willed it, he must have been very interested in property development.
Muslim Leaders Respond with Their Own Power Moves
The most famous Muslim leader in the Crusades is Saladin. People see him as a noble warrior, and he was impressive, but his goals were political too. Before fighting Crusaders, he spent years defeating other Muslim rulers and building his empire.
He understood something simple. Jihad gave him moral authority. It united tribes that didn’t even like each other.
When he recaptured Jerusalem in 1187, he didn’t massacre the inhabitants like the Crusaders had done. He let many buy their freedom and allowed Christian pilgrims to visit peacefully. He wanted to look like the better ruler. He wanted the moral high ground because it strengthened his rule.
He prayed, yes. But he also taxed, negotiated, and secured power for his family. Jihad was a tool that helped him unify the region.
So Were These Wars About Religion
Yes and no. Religion gave people the emotional fuel, the stories, the slogans, and the sense of destiny. But the deeper motivations were the same ones behind almost every war in history.
Land
Power
Fear
Prestige
Control over trade
Control over people
Greed disguised as holiness
Religion didn’t start the fire. It was the gasoline poured on political sparks.
Europe didn’t invade the Middle East because Jesus ordered it. The Pope wanted authority. Nobles wanted loot. Peasants wanted meaning.
Muslim rulers didn’t rally under Jihad because scripture suddenly called them. They needed to defend their territory and build stronger empires.
Both sides learned the same trick. If you say fight for land, people hesitate. If you say fight for God, they run to the battlefield.
The Human Side of Holy Wars
Poor people died for rich men’s dreams. Peasants marched barefoot across continents, believing they were earning a place in heaven. Most never made it to Jerusalem. They froze, starved, were robbed, or were killed by disease.
On the Muslim side, villagers were forced into armies when Crusaders burned their towns. Farmers left their fields to fight wars they didn’t care about because the sultan said it was God’s demand.
Every time leaders shout holy war, regular people pay the price.
How Religion Was Twisted
Christianity and Islam both teach mercy, peace, and justice. But leaders twisted scripture to fit political needs.
The Pope promised instant salvation for killing infidels. Islamic rulers promised the rewards of Jihad. Leaders offered heavenly rewards because earthly ones went into their own pockets.
Some say the wars were all about religion. Others say religion had nothing to do with it. Both miss the point.
Religion was the weapon. Politics was the hand holding it.
What the Crusades Taught Europe
The Crusades changed Europe more than the Middle East. Europeans tasted spices, medicine, books, mathematics, architecture, and philosophy far beyond anything in medieval Europe.
They didn’t civilize the Middle East. The Middle East civilized them.
The Crusades were meant to spread Christianity. Instead, they helped push Europe out of the Dark Ages.
Holy war accidentally became cultural exchange.
What Jihad Taught the Middle East
Jihad during the Crusades taught Muslim rulers that their weakness was internal division. Every strong Islamic dynasty collapsed from infighting long before Europeans arrived.
Unity gave them strength. But it didn’t last. After Saladin’s death, everything fell apart again. Jihad united people for battle, but not for long-term political stability.
Still, it shaped identity and gave the Muslim world legendary leaders whose stories remain powerful today.
Why the Myth of Holy War Still Survives
Modern people still argue about these wars as if they were pure religious missions. Nationalists, extremists, and politicians love these myths because they make violence look righteous.
Christians blame Muslims. Muslims blame Christians. The truth is both sides were driven by the same human instincts.
Both sides claimed God. Both sides wanted land, wealth, and power.
Holy war became a brand used to sell violence to ordinary believers.
Last Thoughts
The myth of holy wars isn’t stuck in the past.
Ask a random Westerner why 9/11 happened or why the Middle East is a mess, and you’ll usually hear one word: Islam. Some even claim Muslims naturally hate Jews and Christians, as if chaos is built into their DNA. Reality tells a very different story. For much of history, Muslims and Jews were often on the same side against Christian powers, and the real trouble in the region began when Arab Muslims aligned themselves with Christian Europe against the Ottoman Empire — the last major Islamic state. It wasn’t theology. It was politics, alliances, and power plays recycled under a religious label.
Your turn: Do you believe any war fought in God’s name has ever been holy? Drop a comment and share your view.
One of the most obscene chapters in the history of the Crusades would have to be the Children's Crusade. None of them even made it to their destination.