in 699 AH, Muslims throughout the east and west suffered humiliation and calamity whose extent Allah alone knows. There are many accounts of this, but this is not the place to recount them.

The reason is that the inhabitants of Yemen at this time are weak, unable to wage jihad or neglectful of it. They obey whoever rules these lands; indeed, it has been reported that they sent these people a pledge of obedience and allegiance. When the king of the polytheists came to Aleppo, the slaughter that took place there was what it was.

As for the inhabitants of the Hijaz, most—or many—of them are outside the bounds of the Sharia. Among them are religious innovations, misguidance and wickedness whose extent Allah alone knows, while the people of faith and religious devotion among them are oppressed and powerless. At this time, power and might in these lands belong only to those outside Islam. Were this group to be humbled—and we seek refuge in Allah Most High from that—the believers in the Hijaz would be among the most humiliated of people, especially since Rāfidism has become prevalent among them. The rule of these Tatars, who wage war against Allah and His Messenger, is now rejected; were they to prevail, the Hijaz would become utterly corrupt.

As for the lands of Ifrīqiyah, their Bedouins dominate them, and they are among the worst of creation. Indeed, they deserve to have jihad and military campaigns waged against them.

As for the Far Maghrib, despite the Franks having seized most of its people's lands, they do not wage jihad against the Christians there. Rather, their army includes vast numbers of Christians who carry crosses. If the Tatars were to conquer these lands, the people of the Maghrib would be among the most humiliated under them, especially since the Christians