Saladin Al-Ayyubi and the conquest of Jerusalem
His birth
Commander Yusuf bin Ayoub Al-Duwaini Al-Takriti, or what became known as King Al-Nasser Saladin, in The Iraqi city of Tikrit in the year 532 AH, corresponding to the year 1138 AD
His family
An ancient Kurdish family. Some historians believe that their lineage goes back to Ayoub bin Shadi bin Marwan, a native of the Armenian city of Dwayne, Saladin was born on the night his father left Tikrit Citadel when he was its governor.
Who are the Kurds?
They are an ethnic group that lives between Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria. They do not have a country where the majority of the Kurds are Sunni Muslims, including Shiites, and from other religions other than Islam, such as Yazidis, Yarsanis, Jews, and Christians.
The character of the leader Saladin
Al-Nasir Saladin had a strong personality and a sound decision, far from emotions, which earned him the trust of his uncle Asad al-Din Shirkuh, who began to rely on him in many of his battles that he fought under the banner of the leader, Nur al-Din Zengi, especially those they fought in Egypt against the rebellious Fatimid vizier and the Frankish Crusaders.
The strategy for liberating Jerusalem
1- Building a strong, unified state
The Islamic unity that the Zengids had worked on for years became vulnerable to loss, so God Almighty brought Saladin to continue the path, Before him, Imad al-Din al-Zenki first worked to unify the Levant, starting with the conquest of the Emirate of Edessa, The Turkish city of Urfa, which was one of the strongest Frankish emirates, gained the sympathy of the people and their resentment towards its negligent rulers, After his death, his son Nur al-Din assumed power to continue the liberation project. Nur al-Din began to consolidate his rule in the north, especially Aleppo, He marched to the east and south, approaching the region of Jerusalem, but he did not confront the Franks due to the lack of preparedness of his armies, He recovered the Islamic cities, castles, and fortresses in the Levant from the hands of the tampering princes, and his authority was established in the Levant and northern Iraq, Then after that, it was necessary to annex Egypt and unify it with the Levant. At this time, “Egypt was under Fatimid rule, but it was on the verge of falling, after several battles and sieges in an alliance between the Fatimid minister Shawar and the Franks against Asad al-Din Shirkuh, the latter was appointed by the Caliph of the Fatimid state, Minister of Egypt, and after him Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi, his nephew, who later became ruler of Egypt after the death of the last caliph of the Fatimid state, (1171 AD - 567 AH) and annexed it to the Zengid state.
The Zengid state
Or the Zengid Emirate, or the Atabeg State, They are known in short and in popular discourse as the Zengid or Atabeg, It is an Islamic emirate founded by Imad al-Din al-Zenki in Mosul, and it later extended to include the entire Euphrates peninsula and the Levant, and then reached Egypt.
Nur al-Din al-Zengi prepared the armies to fight the Crusaders
He regained more than one of their cities, but he died before heading to Jerusalem, for Saladin to come and finish what the Zengids had started before him, Saladin had to unite the Islamic Front first before fighting the Crusaders due to the disagreement and conflict between the Zengid princes after the death of Nur al-Din Mahmoud, he concluded a truce with Raymond, Count of Tripoli, the guardian of Jerusalem at the time, a truce lasting 10 years, 10 months, and 10 days, Saladin set out to unify the Islamic Front, which, due to the discordant political circumstances at that time, required him to wage battles against the discordant Zengid princes, a period of 33 months, so that Egypt and the Levant become one body again.
2- Building a Muslim army with sound doctrine
After the unification of the Islamic states, Saladin and his companion, the distinguished judge, moved to build a Muslim generation with a pure faith, through the construction of Islamic schools, which adopts the approach of the Sunnis and the community to eliminate the Shiite sect, whose remnants of the Shiite Fatimid state were still in Egypt, The word Jerusalem and jihad have become two words that all Muslims and preachers repeat as they prepare the nation for a great day.
3- Taking advantage of the conditions of the Kingdom of Jerusalem
The last Crusader king died and the kingship passed to his sister, who married a French nobleman and became king, He was reckless and light as a king. He was not basically qualified to hold that position, especially in that particular period when the Islamic Front was witnessing the rise and it had a brave leader like Saladin.
The crusaders breaking the truce: twice
The first time
When Arnat (Reynold Chatillon), Prince of Karak, allied with the Daoists (Knights Templar) they planned together to destroy the Muslim home. They wanted to demolish the Kaaba and exhume the grave of the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, but they were arrested by the Egyptian forces to take them back to Egypt.
The second time
When there was a Muslim trade convoy, they plundered their money, slaughtered them, and took captives from them. Thus, the Battle of Hattin took place.
4- The battle of Hattin (Rabi’ al-Thani 25, 583 AH corresponding to July 4, 1187 AD)
The opportunity had come for the Muslims. Saladin felt that he had sufficient forces, favorable conditions, and an appropriate military climate, so it was time for war, Saladin imposed the battle on them in a place and time. The difference between him and the Crusaders was that Saladin was the one who made the plan, while the Crusaders differed among themselves, had several heads, each of them holding a different opinion, and the king among them was weak, thus, Saladin's plan succeeded in luring them out of Ain Saffuriyya to come to him, which meant that they would not have access to water in addition to the summer heat, they walked for a long time until they reached Mount Hattin, where the Ayyubid army was blocking them from the water (Lake Tiberias). Thus, victory was the Muslims' ally in this battle.
5 - The plan to conquer Jerusalem after the Battle of Hattin
The Muslims won the battle, and the time had come to conquer Jerusalem, but before that, Saladin preferred to exploit the Crusaders’ diaspora, He first rushed to conquer the cities of the Levant coast to weaken the Crusaders, as these cities constituted a point of strength for them that was the link between them and their role in the West, Remaining under their rule means that the European West will, at any moment, send Crusader armies to the ports of the Levant, The Islamic military forces participating in the Battle of Hattin were still with Saladin, which helped him control these coastal cities and ports.
6- Media campaign
Before the conquest of Jerusalem, Saladin was also keen to carry out a media campaign to all parts of the Islamic world with the aim of mobilizing Muslims for jihad, this caused the Muslims to become determined to wage jihad, this caused the Muslims to become determined to wage jihad
7 - Launching the decisive attack on the city
Saladin then decided to launch a decisive attack on the city, Some engineers pointed out that the weakest gate in Jerusalem is St. Stephen's Gate, which is located on the northern side of Jerusalem, Then the Islamic armies entered Jerusalem and the Crusaders began announcing surrender, (Rajab 27, 583 AH, corresponding to October 2, 1187 AD), Saladin allowed the Crusaders to go out, and they went out in a peaceful procession without anyone obstructing their way.
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