The genocide lasted decades. Historians said that the world had never seen murder and destruction on such a massive scale. Millions died and those left alive often longed for death. People openly wondered whether the light of Islam would be forever extinguished. But the course of history changed through some of God’s most unassuming servants.

In the 13th century, a tidal wave of devastation swept over the Muslim world. City after city, region after region disintegrated amidst a storm of iron and fire. The death toll was incredible.

Nishapur 1,747,000 dead
Baghdad 1,600,000 dead
Herat 1,600,000 dead
Samarkand 950,000 dead
Merv 700,000 dead
Aleppo 50,000 dead
Balkh completely destroyed
Khiva completely destroyed
Harran completely destroyed

Baghdad was often described as the jewel of the world. For six long weeks this jewel cracked and shattered under the ferocious might of the Tartar hordes. The rivers of the Tigris and Euphrates ran red with blood. Women who had observed modest and chaste lives were savagely assaulted and raped. Five centuries of knowledge accumulated from every literate civilization and contained in the world’s largest libraries was reduced to ashes. Many of humanity’s greatest centers of education, commerce, and culture became nothing more than killing fields.

The architect of this colossal avalanche of death was Genghis Khan. His barbaric legions were triggered into a 40-year bloodlust through the folly of the Muslim ruler Muhammad Khwarizm Shah. Once a powerful and mighty monarch, Khwarizm Shah ordered the execution of Mongol caravans that came to trade within his kingdom. When Genghis Khan sent a delegation of envoys to lodge a formal protest, Khwarizm Shah executed most of them. These two inhuman acts were avenged at the cost of millions of innocent lives.

The Tartar Holocaust began in 1218 CE, six centuries after the death of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). It moved westward from Mongolia across Central Asia and the Persian Gulf, southward toward Delhi and northwest to Budapest and Moscow. People as far away as Sweden shuddered at the thought of a Mongol invasion. Muslims were so overawed by the Mongols’ power that one Mongol could kill over a hundred Muslims and none would dare defend himself. In Arabic, a proverb sprang up which meant that if someone tells you that the Mongols have suffered a defeat, don’t believe him.

On the eve of the Mongol invasion, the spiritual state of the Muslim world was pathetic. Corruption, disunity, and materialism were rampant. Khwarizm Shah was not the only example of insufferable leadership. The Abbasid caliph, Al-Musta`sim, was reportedly pleased to hear of the collapse of Khwarizm Shah’s empire because of his personal dislike for the monarch. Before the Mongols reached Baghdad, the caliph’s advisors had convinced him to seriously scale back the army. The city was in no way prepared to withstand what lay in store for it.

And yet Islam did not die. Genghis Khan, who proclaimed himself as the Scourge of God, who delighted in the rape of conquered women, could not exterminate the Muslim Ummah. Within a generation the tide had begun to turn in Islam’s favor. Baghdad was destroyed by Genghis’ grandson Halaku, but his great grandson Berek became a Muslim. In fact, Berek withdrew his forces from Halaku’s army after the fall of Baghdad, which act contributed to the first defeat the Mongols suffered against the Muslims during the battle of `Ayn Jalut in 1260. The aura of the Mongols’ terrifying invincibility was broken. Three years later Berek himself would defeat Halaku’s forces in the Caucus region. Those who tried to destroy Islam became its protectors.

The role that ordinary Muslims played in this miraculous recovery cannot be ignored. The entire Ummah owes a debt of gratitude to those men and women who never forgot the centrality of their faith or the importance of sharing it with others. Berek or Baraka Khan was introduced to Islam by two unknown merchants. Their efforts eventually led Islam to reach Russia and Eastern Europe.

If the Tartars are regarded as part of Islam’s universal brotherhood today, one can thank the efforts of unsung heroes like Jamal Ad-Deen. The vast Mongol empire was divided among the various descendants of Genghis. In certain parts of the empire, the Mongols regarded Muslims as no better than animals while Christianity or Buddhism was expected to become the official state religion. But the sincerity of ordinary believers like Jamal was to outshine all else.

Jamal was a Persian who was traveling through the Middle Kingdom, or Chaghatay Khanate, which was known for its animosity toward Muslims. With his small band of travelers, he mistakenly traveled through the game preserves of the Mongol Prince Tuqluq. Jamal was arrested and brought before Tuqluq. In his anger the prince told Jamal that a dog was worth more than a Persian. Jamal replied, “Yes. If we did not have the true faith, we would indeed be worse than dogs.” Tuqluq was struck by the reply. He inquired what Jamal meant by “the true faith.” When Jamal explained the message of Islam, Tuqluq was convinced. He asked Jamal for some time to unite the fractured Middle Kingdom and then he would proclaim his faith.

Jamal returned home and later fell ill. As he was dying, he instructed his son Rasheed to remind the prince of his promise when he became king. When Tuqluq ascended the throne, Rasheed set out to meet him. An ordinary person had little access to royalty and after many efforts Rasheed risked his life to enact a plan. He called out the Adhan at Fajr nearby the royal compound. He was brought before the king and there he invited him to fulfill his promise. On that very morning Tuqluq Timur Khan, king of the unified Middle Kingdom, became a Muslim.

Death and destruction are ravaging Baghdad once more. The innocent victims of this injustice must not be forgotten. We owe it to them to follow in the footsteps of the Final Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), in the footsteps of ordinary believers like Jamal and Rasheed Ad-Deen and share Islam with each and every human being. The beauty of our characters and our sincere conduct need to be the beacons that attract those around us to this divinely prescribed system of life. True, it is Allah alone Who guides; it is also true that Allah does not change the condition of a people until they change what is within themselves. For us to do anything less would be to disgrace those who are dying before our very eyes.

Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi, Saviours of the Islamic Spirit

Amir Ali, A Short History of the Saracens

Masudul Hasan, History of Islam