> well as i recall... there were about 4 crusades in which the whole idea
> was to kill the muslims, or kill the christians

Do you have any idea what the Crusades were and who started them? They were started with the urging of the Pope and were an excuse for European Christian warriors to go to the Holy Land, ostensibly to help Oriental Christians and to take control of the Holy Sepulchre of Jesus (peace be upon him) away from the Muslims. In fact, for most of those who went, the Crusades were an excuse to rape, kill and loot without asking why or who.

The methods used by the European Christian forces were far from anything Jesus had taught. If they had asked themselves "would Jesus do this" before undertaking many of their actions, the answer would have been NO. But they did not ask the question.

On 15 July 1099, after a siege of 40 days, the European Christians took control of Jerusalem--a city holy to Christians, Jews and Muslims and a city in which members of all three faiths had been living together in relative harmony. The Europeans went on a rampage, running and riding through the streets, swords in the air. They indiscriminately slaughtered men, women and children, looted houses and vandalized mosques.

Two days later, when the killing stopped, a few had managed to survive but most lay dead by the thousands in pools of their own blood near their houses and mosques. The survivors were forced at sword point to bury or burn the dead. Then, they too were murdered or sold as slaves.

There were also Jews living in Jerusalem. The European Christians were just as brutal with them. When the Europeans invaded the Jewish quarter of the city, the entire Jewish community took refuge in the main synogogue to pray. The Europeans blocked all the exits, piled brush and branches around the walls and set fire to the synagogue. The Jews who tried to get out of the buring building were killed in the neighbouring steets and alleys. The others burned to death inside the synagogue.

You can verify the facts in a good library. But lets look at what one of the worlds most respected Christian saints thought about the Crusades. I'm talking about Saint Francis of Assisi, who began adult life as a soldier and then became the founder of an order of monks. He was strong in faith and obedience to his Church but gentle in character.

While the European Christians were fighting the Saracens in Syria, St. Francis decided to take several of his companions and to go to the palace of the Sultan Malik Al-Kamil in Egypt. They set off in 1216 with the intention of converting the sultan to Christianity. Before going see the sultan, however, Francis wanted to visit the Crusaders in their camp. When he saw what he called "this swarming incongruous mass that calls itself a Christian army", he immediately understood that his first task would be to preach the Gospel to his own people.

Can you show me even one example of a Muslim army treating non-combattant civilians with the brutality used by the European Crusaders against the Muslims in the Holy Land?

Peace to all who seek God's face.