When the Mongols sent their messengers to Qutuz, and at that time they were the greatest military force on earth, Qutuz gathered the leaders and advisors and showed them the message and what it contained of a request for surrender and submission. Some of the leaders were of the opinion to surrender to the Tatars and avoid the horrors of war, but Qutuz said: “I will meet the Tatars myself. O leaders of the Muslims, you have been eating from the public treasury for a long time, and you are averse to the invaders. I am heading out. Whoever chooses jihad should accompany me, and whoever does not choose it should return to his home. God is watching over him, and the sin of the Muslims’ women is on the necks of those who stay behind to fight.”
Qutuz cut the necks of the twenty-four messengers that Hulagu had sent to him with the threatening message, and hung their heads in Al-Raydaniyah in Cairo. He kept the twenty-fifth to carry the bodies to Hulagu.
Then he stood up and addressed the princes while crying and saying: “O princes of the Muslims, who will stand for Islam if we are not there?”
The princes declared their agreement to jihad and to confront the Tatars, no matter the cost.
Qutuz sent messengers to Egypt calling for jihad in the way of God, its obligation and its virtues. The Egyptians responded to him and Qutuz went with the army to confront the Mongols. In the end, he defeated them and stopped their advance towards the rest of the Islamic world.

It is noted here the following:
1- There was a group of Egyptians who did not want to fight and wanted to surrender to the Mongols. The nature of this group applies to the nature of many of us today. That is, not all Egyptians had firm faith on that day, so that no one can tell me that we are not like our ancestors and will not become like them.
2- Qutuz blocked the way for this group by killing the Mongol messengers so that the Egyptians would have no other choice but to confront and fight.
3- Egypt at that time was divided between a number of princes and there was a semi-civil war between them, but in the end they united to confront their enemy and this was done in record time, about a year, and they defeated the greatest military force at that time.
4- The most appropriate way to deal with the threat is to confront it, not to withdraw from it or postpone it. Therefore, Quds decided to confront the Mongols outside Egypt and did not wait for them to reach him.
5- The motive that Qutuz exploited at that time was the motive of jihad for the sake of God. Without this motive, he would not have succeeded in confronting these large armies. This is what the West is trying to eradicate from our faith and brand those who carry this slogan as terrorists, even if they are not terrorists.
6- Qutuz and the princes donated their money to finance the military campaign so that they would be an example for the rest of the people to donate their money. This is the opposite of our current reality, as presidents and kings demand austerity from their people while they enjoy the wealth of their people.

Do you know now why we were great?

If you want solutions to our contemporary reality, you should read our glorious history.

Excerpts from my book Unforgettable Leaders

Wait for us with another article in the same series, God willing.

Tamer Badr