History Documentary with no narration published by ZDF in 2004 - English language
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Wars attributed to sanctity have an endless history. It continues today, when Islamic fundamentalists are still convinced that their inhuman terrorism is "holy war" (jihad) in the name of Allah. Calls for jihad are often heard from today's radical Islamists, while many Americans believe in a divine mission for the U.S. military-but the trail of war waged in God's name reaches back over 1,000 years.
In the modern world, many people regard the idea of a holy war as a contradiction. Killing thousands of people seems to be far from holiness. However, religion and war have gone hand in hand for a long time. There has always been fighting, plundering and killing in the name of God. For example, violence played a crucial role in the spread of Islam. The Crusades, when Christian knights repeatedly attacked the Middle East, are regarded as religiously motivated wars par excellence. Finally, in the 17th century, the Thirty Years' War followed, which plunged Germany in particular into murderous chaos...
This three-part series takes a deep look into the history of holy wars - from the Crusades, to Islamic warriors and to Luther's Reformation. "The Holy Wars" examines the historical relationship between militarism and strictly interpreted religion. With penetrating scholarly analysis and an energetic visual style, series provides a wide-ranging perspective on orthodoxy, empire, cultural domination, and the resistance they can incite.
Directed by Dirk Pohlmann ; Medi-Cine Medienproduktions GmbH for ZDF Enterprises in Association with 3sat and Phoenix Kanal
3) In the Name of Allah
13th Century: After a unique triumph, Islam became the religion of many peoples - from Spain to Indonesia. But there was no Islamic empire, just as there was no Christian empire. Middle Ages meant: small states, wars of princes and tribes against each other. This episode covers the spreading of Islamic and Arabic culture, which was based on the use of military slaves: children of non-Muslim Turkic peoples were trained to become Islamic elite warriors. Their military triumph not only spread war and the new faith, but also advanced culture: medicine, art, architecture, astronomy - a unique blossoming of knowledge, culture and intellectual freedom penetrated as far as Spain. The real threat to Allah's earthly kingdom came not from Europe, but from the steppes of Asia. The Mongols attacked their enemies ruthlessly, devastatingly and invincible. In 1258 AD, Baghdad, the center of Islamic civilization, fell into their hands.
Military conflict accompanied the spread of Islam during the Middle Ages. This program reveals the ironies of that union between war and faith: how Islam was adopted rather than marginalized by invading Mongols; how the rise of strict Islamic orthodoxy countered the scholarly advances of Arabic culture, weakening the empire; and how European appreciation of Islamic culture grew after the Christian 'Reconquista' of the Iberian peninsula. Interviews with respected scholars-including Drs. Raif Georges Khoury of the University of Heidelberg and Patrick Franke of Martin Luther University, Halle-Wittenberg-illuminate key developments in Islam's Mediterranean dominance.
