The Battle of 'Ayn Jalut: A Paradigmatic Historical Event in Mamluk Historical Narrative

The battle of ?Ayn Jalut was perceived as a dramatic historical event that responded to the deep crisis and despair that prevailed in the Muslim world in the wake of the Mongol invasion and the termination of the Abbasid caliphate, the symbolic religious leadership of the Muslim world. It was conferred the status of a paradigmatic historical event in Mamluk historical literature far beyond the time it took place. As such it was used by the powerful groups of the the Mamluks and the ?ulama?, the religious learned scholars as a vehicle to express their stance or claims in ongoing discourses on legitimacy, authority and power and voice their social and political interests. While the Mamluks used their military achievements to legitimize their political position and base it on their divine chosen role to support Islam and defend the Muslims, the ?ulama? reduced their importance by placing the Battle as a part of cyclic events that prove the divine protection of Islam. They used primordial Islamic images and figures, and past events to show that this victory was not only a military achievement but mainly the revival of the primal experience of Islam. For them it was a replication of the path of the Prophet Mu?ammad, and they as dedicated religious leaders were its true heroes.