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Revered as a hero of Islam, Salah ad Din united Arab forces and recaptured the holy city of Jerusalem from Christian Crusaders in the 12th century A.D. He was the sultan of Egypt, Syria, Yemen, and Palestine and founder of the Ayyubid dynasty.
Though as a youth he preferred religious to military studies, he began his military career under his uncle, a military commander of the Zangid dynasty. On his uncle’s death, Salah ad Din became vizier of the Fatimid dynasty of Egypt in1969. In 1171 he took full control of the country and abolished the Shi’ite Fatimid caliphate and announced a return to Sunnite Islam in Egypt.
From 1174, as sultan of Egypt and Syria, he succeeded in uniting Egypt, Syria, northern Mesopotamia, and Palestine.
His reputation as a generous and virtuous but firm ruler rekindled Muslim resistance to the Crusades. In 1187, turning his full strength against the Latin Crusader states, he recaptured the Muslim land of Jerusalem, which had been in Christian hands for 88 years.
Whereas the Christian conquest had been marked by mass and brutal slaughter, Salah ad Din’s troops demonstrated courteous and civilised behaviour. His victory deeply shocked the West and led to the call for the Third Crusade (1189 – 92), which matched him against Richard I (the Lionheart); their stalemate resulted in a peace that gave the Crusaders only a small strip of land from Tyre to Yafo (Jaffa).
Many Muslims consider Salah ad Din the paradigm of the pious and virtuous ruler. Notwithstanding the differences in beliefs, the Muslim Salah ad Din was respected by Christian lords, Richard especially. Richard once praised Salah ad Din as a great prince, saying that he was without doubt the greatest and most powerful leader in the Islamic world.
The Magnanimity of Salah ad Din
Upon the capture of Jerusalem from the Crusaders descendants, the Latins, who were in control of Jerusalem, Salah ad Din al Ayyubi treated the citizens of Jerusalem with respect and dignity greater than was expected for in those times.
When the Crusaders had advanced upon the walled city in 1099, rape, pillage, and murder were commonplace. Richard the Lionhearted, the head of the Crusaders army, received his nickname for the wholehearted aggressive tactics he employed during the capture of the Islamic held areas during the infamous Crusades. Jews & Muslims were not able to live within Jerusalem at that time. Men and old people were executed, women raped or dispelled from the city.
On the contrary, Salah ad Din al Ayyubi displayed great magnanimity.
During the first few days of Salah ad Din’s capture of Jerusalem an account by Ernoul the squire of Balian of Ibelin, the Latin leader who negotiated the surrender of Jerusalem to Salah ad Din. The leaders of Jerusalem, including the Patriarch Heraclius and Balian of Ibelin, discussed their military options after realising they could no longer hold the city against Salah ad Din’s attack in 1187 A.D. The citizens and army sergeants of Jerusalem put forth a proposal to launch a massive attack on the opposing forces thereby ‘dying honourably in defence of the city’. The patriarch rejected this proposal claiming that if all the men died, the women and children would be left and most certainly converted to Islam by the Muslim forces. Patriarch Heraclius advised that the city should be surrendered then the Latins would later seek help from Europe in order to dispel the Muslims. They then dispatched Balian to negotiate with Salah ad Din.
During the talks, Salah ad Din’s army had already managed to raise their flag on the main wall of the city. "Why are you surrendering? We have already captured it," asked Salah ad Din of Balian. However, the Latin forces regrouped and succeeded in driving the Muslim forces away from the sector they had just occupied. Salah ad Din was so angered by this that he refused to settle with Balian and instead asked him to return the following day. Fear gripped the population of the city when Balian returned without a truce. The citizens, then crowded into churches to pray and confess their sins, beating themselves with stones, begging for God’s mercy.
Balian again approached Salah ad Din and asked for a general amnesty in return for the surrender, but was again refused. Balian then threatened that the Latins would fight to the death, burn their houses, destroy the Dome of the Rock, uproot the Rock, and kill all of the thousands of Muslim religious prisoners, (also killing the women and children of the prisoners). Salah ad Din then met with his commanders and told them that this was the moment to capture the city without further bloodshed. An agreement was reached between Salah ad Din and the Latins according to which they were granted safe conduct to leave the city, provided that each paid a departure tax. All those who paid their tax within forty days were allowed to leave the city.
The city was finally surrendered on Friday October 1187 AD. which was also the anniversary of al-Mi’raj the 27th of Rajab. Salah ad Din immediately released all of the religious prisoners who numbered close to 3,000. The Latins meanwhile began to prepare for their departure and sell property and possessions to native Christians and merchants in Salah ad Din’s army. The church elders, led by the Patriarch Heraclius, proceeded to strip the gold, silver, and treasures from their churches. Imad al Din reported to Salah ad Din that the amount of treasure carried away by the departing Latins valued at 200,000 dinars and that the safe conduct agreement was for themselves and their own property, not that of the churches. Salah ad Din replied: "If we interpret the treaty (now) against their interest, they will accuse us of treachery, as though they are unaware of the real meaning of the treaty. Let us deal with them according to the wording of the treaty so they may not accuse the believers of breaking the covenant. Instead, they will talk of the favours that we have bestowed upon them."
Some of the grand masters of the sects, Templar and Hospitaller, refused to contribute towards the taxes of some of their older and poorer parishioners. Salah ad Din sent his guard throughout the city to announce that all old people who could not afford to pay the tax would be able to leave without incident. He then proceeded to release thousands of slaves at the requests of the patriarch, Balian and his own brother, Al Malik al Adil. Salah ad Din also allowed many common and noble women to leave without payment; amongst them were Queen Sibyl & her entourage, the widow of Renaud of Chatillon, a Byzantine princess living a monastic life in Jerusalem. Salah ad Din then proceeded to release 1,500 Armenians, also without paying tax.
During the departure of the refugees, Salah ad Din assigned each group 50 of his officers to ensure their safe arrival in territories held by Christians. One eye witness gave the officers credit for their humane treatment of the refugees, noting that these officers, "who could not endure the suffering of the refugees, ordered their squires to dismount and set older Christians upon their steeds. Some of the officers even carried Christian children in their arms (during the journey)".
During the whole takeover of the holy city, rape, pillage, torture, and unjust treatments were outlawed and not allowed by Salah ad Din as he claimed this was un-Islamic and not seemly behaviour from Muslims, war or not. Religious freedom was tolerated, enabling Christians, Muslims, and Jews to live side by side under the rule of Salah ad Din, until the British incited revolt in 1916.
Despite his fierce struggle to the Christian incursion, Salah ad Din achieved a great reputation in Europe as a chivalrous knight. Despite the Crusaders’ slaughter when they originally conquered Jerusalem in 1099, Saladin granted amnesty and free passage to all common Catholics and even to the defeated Christian army, as long as they were able to pay the aforementioned ransom.
Salah ad Din is described in the pages of his biographer, Baha ad-Din, as one who was entirely committed to the justice of the jihad against the unbelievers. Of medium height and gentle manners, courageous, even ruthless, but generous and humane, he was respected by his followers and by his adversaries for the steadfast manner in which he kept his promises.
