Crusades In Usama Ibn Munqidh’s Book of Contemplation: Islam and the Crusades, the main focus is on the relationship between Muslims and Christians in the East after the Christians capture Jerusalem. After the capture of Jerusalem, the east was basically a hot zone wherever Muslim and Christian armies were set up. Although there were multiple crusades after the capture of Jerusalem, crusaders from past crusades stayed back in the crusader states for many reasons. Some did not have anything back in the west to go back to. Others wanted to start a new life in the crusade states or even spread the Christian word wherever it may take them. Although there were some instances of peace, most of the west was stained by war and carnage. Usama writes about an encounter with Tancred of Antioch on page seventy-seven. After a year’s truce between Muslim armies and Tancred’s Antioch, Tancred set out for battle against a Muslim army. He told the story of Hasanun watching his brother in cavalry, Kamil, fight in battle. Hasanun was beginning to get impatient while watching Kamil drive his spear into the bodies of Christian infantry. After waiting for his armor to arrive for quite some time, he decided to go ahead without armor. Not long after he charged into battle, he was captured by Tancred’s army. Usama soon began to explain that although Hasanun did surrender, he was tortured in a variety of ways. He did not explain all of them, but he did mention that Tancred wanted them to cut out his right eye specifically so he would not be able to see anything while holding his shield during battle. This gives the reader just one example of how the relationship was between Muslims and Christians. It was almost to a point where it was personal on some levels. (Page 78, An Encounter with Tancred of Antioch) It is safe to say that according to Usama Ibn Munqidh, relations between Muslims and Christians in the crusading west were very tense. Just the way he writes during this times gives the reader the indication of tension between peoples. When Ibn Munqidh mentions in his writing any Sultan or impactful leader of the Muslim culture he almost always says “may God have mercy upon him”. When he mentions someone in particular of the Christian faith or just the Franks in general, he always says, “may God curse him”. For example, on page eighty-eight he explains the settlement of Kafatarb and how the Franks destroyed the Muslims that were living there through execution of divine will. When he mentions the Franks and Roger of Aleppo, he says “may God curse him” and “may God curse them.” This leads the reader to believe just how tensions were between the Muslims and Christians. (Page 88, Single-Handed Feats at the Battle of Kafatarb) One may think that because Ibn Munqidh was a Muslim warrior, this book would be a “them and us” tale and talk down on the Christians. This book is actually quite the contrary. He gives us examples of the constant bickering of Muslim princes in Syria and the court intrigues that lead to the down fall of the Fatimids. His commentary on Frankish manners and customs, though pretty hilarious at times, is fascinating to say the least. He truly gives credit where credit is due. While reading this book, I looked for differences in how he perceived Franks. Ibn Munqidh did not make much effort at all to differentiate between the types of Franks. In Muslim eyes, all Franks were evil. They were enemies of God. One feature that Ibn Munqidh involves in his writing is the mention of God. Whether it is Christian or Muslim, he states the fact that both religions do believe in a God and that is the burning desire for both Muslim and Christian armies. Although he does focus more on his own religion’s beliefs (Islam), he does announce the fact that Christians do believe that their God is Jesus Christ. I found this interesting that he would mention that because he is Muslim. On page one hundred and forty-five he talks about the marvels of Frankish medicine, but at the same time makes fun of them. He tells the story of how a Christian physician by the name of Thibit. He returned to Shayzar after only ten days of being gone to treat a man and a woman. He basically explained to Usama and his Uncle that his “medicine” was killing both of them while actually trying to heal them. On a more serious note, however, he tells the story of a Frankish man healing a boy by the name of Abu al-Fath. Abu had scrofula sores on his neck that kept opening up and he did not know what to do about it. The Frankish man went to his father and explained to him the medicine that he needed to make in order to heal his son’s wound. The man did it and it worked quite well. This is an example of peace between Muslims and Christians that lighten up the relations between those two cultures that people do not read about in history books. (Page 145 and 146, The Marvels of Frankish Medicine) One example that Ibn Munqifh gave that sort of bashed Christians is on page one hundred and forty-eight. He entitled the story, “Franks have no Honour or Propriety”. He gave an example of a husband and wife walking on a street when a man ran into the wife on accident. The stranger and the wife soon struck up a conversation and the husband let the wife talk to this stranger and instead of staying by his wife, he just walked away and let the two converse. Although this was not a big ordeal in the Christian culture, Muslims do not believe in letting their wives talk to whoever they want. This also gives an example of Ibn Munqidh generalizing all Franks instead of recognizing them as being separate people and separate states. (Page 148, Franks have no Honour or Propriety) These stories in combination with others that ibn Munqidh shares with us paint a solid picture of what life was like in the East in the crusading era. He gives examples of war between Muslim and Christian armies, but also gives us examples of peace between the two cultures at this time. He gives the Christians credit for their medicine, but also bashes them when they practice things that in fact different from Muslim culture. However, one must conclude that the reason for his bashing of the Christians did not come out of hate, but came out of ignorance. Ibn Munqidh tries to leave his personal beliefs out of his stories when it comes to Christian practices. This is what makes this book easy to read as a Christian.