The Khwajah must have thought that the only way to protect...

The Khwajah must have thought that the only way to protect Islam and Muslims and the religious culture of the society was to associate himself with the Mongol khan. He set out to do so and became Hulagu's associate. The foregoing is not a mere claim, for history has confirmed the Khwajah's farsighted judgement. It has also proved that the Khwajah and others like him from among Shi'i and Sunni ulama' could accomplish this task fruitfully.

However, the caliph, who lacked their wisdom and farsightedness paid no attention to them. [^66] It will be seen subsequently herein that Ibn al-Alqami, the last minister of the Abbasid caliph too had offered a similar suggestion, but others, like the Dawatdar', with their eagerness to remain in their posts, eventually threw all into the abyss of death, drowing Baghdad in blood.

However, the Khwajah and others like him did not have so much influence in the beginning as to control Hulagu's decision. In course of time, however, Hulagu did come under such influence in political matters. After him, many Mongol khans embraced Islam and, as rulers, strived for the expansion of Islamic justice and culture - at least to an extent greater than the Umayyads and the Abbasids whose fall is lamented by Ibn Taymiyyah.

This does not mean, of course, that we should not recognize the worthy efforts of those who resisted the Mongols and bravely fought them to the extent of becoming martyrs. However, a scholar's grasp of the realities of his world and his exercise of wisdom and farsightedness in acquiring influence among the Mongols are not things that sound reason would regard as unacceptable. Moreover, it was in the character of the Shi'is that they could protect themselves in the course of their own struggles.

Even when they accepted the Abbasid caliphs for a time - as in the case of the Alawid leaders like al-Sayyid al-Radi and al-Sayyid al-Murtada in Baghdad - they chose to do so in the interest of propagating Shi'ism and the authentic Islamic teachings. Thus, in the Baghdad founded by al-Mansur they could attract nearly half of the city's population to Shiism over the centuries which appropriated its western part.

Herein some examples may be cited of the use the Khwajah made of his influence in the Mongol court for promoting Islam and Islamic culture, as well as for saving the lives of ulama' and thinkers. This will show that the Khwajah chose a correct path in those difficult conditions.