[source: Islam The Straight Path, p. 

CALIPH UMAR INTRODUCED THE ELECTION COMMITTEE, TO VOTE ON NEXT CALIPH
He also introduced a new method for the selection of his successor. On his 
deathbed, Umar appointed an "election committee" to select the next caliph. 
After due consultation, the council of electors chose Uthman ibn Affan from the 
Umayyad clan, a leading Meccan family. This was accompanied by the traditional 
sign of allegiance, the clasping of hands. Thus, based on the practice of the 
first three caliphs, a pattern was established for selecting the caliph from the 
Quraysh tribe through a process characterized by consultation and an oath of 
allegiance.
[source: Islam The Straight Path, p. 36]

DANTE PLACED PROPHET MUHAMMAD INTO THE LOWEST LEVEL OF HELL
This attitude was preserved and perpetuated in literature such as the Divine 
Comedy, where Dante consigned Muhammad to the lowest level of hell.
[source: Islam The Straight Path, p. 58]

WHEN JERUSALEM WAS TAKEN BY MUSLIMS IN 638, EXISTING CHURCHES WERE SPARED, JEWS 
WERE INVITED TO RETURN AFTER CENTURIES OF EXILE
Jerusalem was a sacred city for all three Abrahamic faiths. When the Arab armies 
took Jerusalem in 638, they occupied a center whose shrines had made it a major 
pilgrimage site in Christendom. Churches and the Christian population were left 
unmolested. Jews, long banned from living there by Christian rulers, were 
permitted to return, live, and worship in the city of Solomon and David. Muslims 
proceeded to build a shrine, the Dome of the Rock, and a mosque, the al-Aqsa, 
near the area formerly occupied by Herod's Temple and close by the Wailing Wall, 
the last remnant of Solomon's temple.
[source: Islam The Straight Path, p. 58]

SCHOLAR: GOD MAY HAVE WANTED CRUSADES, BUT NO EVIDENCE THE JERUSALEM CHRISTIANS 
WERE SEEKING RESCUE WHATSOEVER (!)
This was ironic because, as one scholar has observed, "God may indeed have 
wished it, but there is certainly no evidence that the Christians of Jerusalem 
did, or that anything extraordinary was occurring to pilgrims there to prompt 
such a response at that moment in history."
[source: Islam The Straight Path, p. 58]

CRUSADERS KILLED EVERY LAST MUSLIM IN JERUSALEM, MASSACRING MEN, WOMEN, AND CHILDREN
In 1099, the Crusades stormed Jerusalem and established Christian sovereignty 
over the Hold Land. They left no Muslim survivors, women and children were 
massacred. The Noble Sanctuary, the Haram al-Sharif, was descecrated as the Dome 
of the Rock was converted into a church and the al-Aqsa mosque, renamed the 
Temple of Solomon, became a residence for the king.
[source: Islam The Straight Path, p. 59]

SALADIN RESCUED JERUSALEM FROM CHRISTIANS IN 1187, CHURCHES AND SHRINES INTACT
In 1187, Salah al-Din (Saladin), having reestablished Abbasid rule over Fatimid 
Egypt, led his army in a fierce battle and recaptured Jerusalem. The Muslim army 
was as magnanimous in victory as it had been tenacious in battle. Civilians were 
spared; churches and shrines were generally left untouched.
[source: Islam The Straight Path, p. 59]

SALADIN WAS COMPASSIONATE TOWARDS NONCOMBATANTS
The chivalrous Saladin was faithful to his word and compassionate toward noncombatants.
[source: Islam The Straight Path, p. 59]

RICHARD LIONHEART MASSACRED CIVILIANS WHO HAD ALREADY SURRENDERED
Richard accepted the surrender of Acre and then proceeded to massacre all its 
inhabitants, including women and children, despite promises to the contrary.
[source: Islam The Straight Path, p. 59]

IBN TAYMIYYAH REJECTED IJTIHAD, OR CLOSING OF THE LEGAL GATE OF SHARIA LAW
While individual scholars like Ibn Taymiyya (d. 1328) and al-Suyuti (d. 1505) 
demurred, the majority position resulted in traditional belief prohibiting 
substantive legal development. This is commonly referred to as the closing 
of the gate or door of ijtihad.
[source: Islam The Straight Path, p. 84]

WALI ALLAH ECHOED IBN TAYMIYYAH, THAT IJTIHAD WAS UNREASONABLE
Wali Allah followed Ibn Taymiyyah in calling for the opening of the gates of 
ijtihad, since the rulings of the old jurists were open to correction in light 
of the Qur'n and the Sunna. He maintained that the nature of interpretation 
itself was susceptible to error because of human limitations or because new 
evidence might arise.
[source: Islam The Straight Path, p. 123]