geographical division of the world into realms of belief (dar al-Islam) and unbelief (dar al-kufr), with the former in constant pursuit of the latter. But although he lived on the Anatolian frontier, where Christian and Muslim forces continued to clash with one another long after the Crusades had ceased, ibn Taymiyyah focused his attention strictly on the enemy living inside dar al-Islam—that is, on his fellow Muslims who did not adequately follow Islamic law; on those he considered “heretics,” such as the Shi’a, whom ibn Taymiyyah despised; and most especially on the Mongol invaders, who
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