Usama ibn Munqidh, The Book of Contemplation: Islam and the Crusades, trans. Paul M. Cobb, (Penguin Classics, 2008).
Why I Assigned This
I assigned this in Fall 2021. My students are always most interested in three things in the fall semester: Rome, the Crusades, and the Mongols. These are routinely their top three topic choices, so I thought an Islamic perspective on the Crusades would be a natural fit for my class. Confession: I had not read the book before I assigned it, and this was a catastrophic mistake. I ended up abandoning this reading after the first two weeks and instead assigned a variety of primary sources related to the Crusades. I had to completely change the essay prompt as a result.
How Students Responded
My students could not understand the way Usama ibn Munqidh wrote. There was no structure to the book, and he used vocabulary that was incredibly confusing. I could not find a way to make it make sense to them, so I abandoned the book. It simply did not work.
The Assignment
I asked them to write a 1,000- to 1,500-word essay based on the following prompt: Compare and contrast European (i.e., broadly Christian) and Islamic views of the First Crusade. Think here about the role culture, politics, religion, and society played in inspiring the First Crusade. Think also about outcomes. What can we learn about each society by reading various accounts?
The Verdict
This is the only book I have ever abandoned halfway through a semester in my nearly ten years of teaching. I really wanted this to work, and I still think an Islamic perspective on the Crusades is incredibly important. If anyone reading this has suggestions, I would love to hear from you.
Despite the challenges with the book, my students wrote amazing essays that semester based on the primary sources I assigned as an emergency replacement. It was probably one of the best sets I have received. They were very interested in the Crusades.