ASSESSMENT OF WORLD CONDITIONS IN 639 A.H.

First, the boundaries of the Tatar state extended from Korea in the East to Poland in the West, and from Siberia in the North to the China Sea in the South. This was a vast area of land that they came to control within a few years. The Tatars became the first superpower on earth.

Second, after the death of Ogedei, the state was ruled by his son Guyug (or Guyuk), who was more inclined to establish Tatar control over the occupied land instead of invading more territories, which their armies might not be able to control. For this reason, the Tatar invasions stopped during his era, even though the Tatars were able to preserve the vast territories which were in their hands.

Third, the Tatars overtook in their previous invasions the eastern half of the Islamic Ummah, and joined most of the Muslim territories to theirs. They destroyed all traces of civilization and all aspects of resistance in those vast areas, and the situation remained unchanged for a long time.

Fourth, the middle part of the Muslim world, from Iraq to Egypt, was divided and dispersed; they were not just passively watching the Tatar armies overthrowing most states of the world at their time, but they were distracted by their own internal conflicts, which made them even more disintegrated. Additionally, the west part of the Muslim world, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco and West Africa, was completely disintegrated, especially after the fall of Almohads.

Fifth, European Christians also suffered a lot from the Tatar strikes, just as the Muslims did. Hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of Christians were slaughtered, their churches were ruined and their cities were burnt. They were threatened when the Tatars were about to reach the homeland of Christian Catholicism in Rome.

Sixth, despite seeing the ferocious operations of the Tatars, the Christian kings of Western Europe, France, England, Italy and Germany were of the opinion that this was but a temporary stage which would cease at one point. However, on the other hand, they regarded that the Crusades with Muslims were endless. That is why they were willing to cooperate with the Tatars against the Muslims, and not with the Muslims against the Tatars. The reason why they believed that their wars with the Tatars were temporary while their Crusades with the Muslims were endless going back to the fact that their Crusades with the Muslims are indeed creed-related wars; animosity between the Christians and the Muslims is based on religion, the conflict between both is permanent, and the Christians will never stop fighting unless one sect embraces the religion of the other as stated by Allaah The Almighty in His Noble Book when He Says (what means): {And never will the Jews or the Christians approve of you until you follow their religion.} [Quran 2:120]

On the other hand, the wars of the Tatars with the Christians did not break out on the basis of religion, as their creed was distorted and faint, being a mixture of many religions. No Tatar leader had ever worked to spread that creed in the occupied countries. Their only goal was genocide, making people homeless, gathering wealth and capturing women and children. No survival is expected for anyone whose objective is limited to this.
In spite of the severe strikes received by Europe at the hands of the Tatars, it continued to send its military expeditions to invade the Islamic world, from the direction of Shaam and Egypt, instead of intensifying its efforts to repel the Tatars. At the same time, the rulers of Western Europe from among the Crusaders never lost hope of making an alliance with the Khagan of the Tatars to devastate the Islamic Ummah.

Seventh, the beliefs of the Tatar army started to change after their campaigns in Europe. Many Mongolian leaders married Christian women, thereby giving an opportunity for Christianity to enter the Mongolian state relatively, which made cooperation between the Mongols and the Christians more possible.

Eighth, the European Crusades against the Muslims continued, especially on Egypt and Shaam, which were, at that time, under the rule of the Ayyubids, who were close to their end. While the Ayyubids entered into conflicts between themselves, the Muslims found themselves between the two horns of a dilemma: the Tatars and the Crusaders.

Ninth, in 640 A.H., the Abbasid Caliph Al-Mustansir died and his son, Al- Musta‘sim, 30 years of age, became the Caliph. In spite of his fame for reciting the Noble Quran and reading the Tafseer, he had no political awareness, and did not know how to choose his assistants. In this way, the caliphate became even weaker during his time. We will talk about him in detail, since he was the last Abbasid Caliph, and during his time, Baghdad fell at the hands of the Tatars.

Tenth, nothing then separated the Tatars from the Abbasid Caliphate other than a narrow strip, west of Persia (presently Iran), occupied by the dangerous sect of the Ismaelites. They were hardy warriors and skilled in fighting, with strong castles and forts, let alone the difficult mountainous nature of the place. They were known for their relentless opposition to the Abbasid Caliphate, and their strong hatred for the Sunni Muslims. They more often cooperated with the enemies of Islam; sometimes they communicated with the Crusaders, and sometimes with the Tatars.
Well-aware of their power, the Tatars did not rest assured about them, since they were unwilling to allow any force of significance beside them to exist anywhere on earth.

In short, Guyug, the new Khagan of the Tatars, received a vast kingdom that was regarded the first superpower in the world. In spite of their great suffering at the hands of the Tatars, the Crusaders still coveted cooperation with the Tatars against the Muslims. The Muslims themselves remained victims of unremitting internal disputes, and fell under severe pressures from both the Tatars and the Crusaders. No Muslim leader, at that time, aspired, in more or less, to liberate the Islamic territories and rescued the Muslims. Each of them was mainly interested in establishing his power on the very spot he was ruling, no matter how small and weak it might be; and there is no strength and no power save in Allaah.

https://en.islamstory.com/en/artical/20757/world-conditions-639 A.H.