Saladin al-Ayyubi – Commander in Chief of Islam for the Liberation of the City of Jerusalem

The story of a man who is noble and has a big role in Islamic history, a commander of Islam, and the pride of the Kurds, he is Saladin Yusuf bin Najmuddin Ayyub bin Syadi or better known as Saladin al-Ayyubi or also Saladin. He was a man who was probably comparable to a thousand other men.

Origin and Growth Period

Saladin al-Ayyubi is a man from among the 'ajam (non-Arab), unlike some people think that Saladin is an Arab, he comes from the Kurdish tribe. He was born in 1138 AD in the city of Tikrit, Iraq, a city located between Baghdad and Mosul. He completes the great people in the history of Islam who are not of Arab origin, such as Imam Bukhari, Imam Muslim, Imam Tirmidhi, and others.

For some reason, the birth of Saladin forced his father to leave Tikrit so that the father felt the birth of his son was troublesome and detrimental to him. But at that time someone advised him, "You never know, maybe your son will become a king whose reputation is very bright."

From Tikrit, this Kurdish family moved to Mosul. His father, Najmuddin Ayyub lived with another great leader, Imaduddin az-Zanki. Imaduddin az-Zanki venerated this family, and Saladin grew up in an environment full of blessings and respectable relatives. In his new environment he learned to ride horses, use weapons, and grew up in an environment that loved jihad very much. In this place, little Saladin began to study the Koran, memorize the traditions of the Prophet ️ﷺ, studying Arabic language and literature, and other sciences.

Appointed Minister in Egypt

Before the arrival of Saladin al-Ayyubi, Egypt was the territory of the Shia kingdom, the Fathimiyah Daula. Then in the next period the Fathimiyah dynasty which was running stable began to be shaken by upheaval in the country. The Turks, Sudanese and Moroccans want a revolution. At that time, Nur ad-Din Mahmud, Saladin's uncle, saw an opportunity to conquer this Shia kingdom. He was of the view that the conquest of the Fatimiyyah Daula was a way to liberate Jerusalem from the Crusaders.

Nur ad-Din actually realized his dream, he sent troops from Damascus led by Asaduddin Shirkuh to help his nephew, Saladin al-Ayyubi, in Egypt. Knowing the arrival of this large army, some of the Crusaders who were in Egypt fled in disarray so that what Asaduddin and Saladin faced were only the Fathimyah. The Fathimiyah Daula was successfully destroyed and Saladin was appointed a minister in the territory of Egypt. But not long served as a minister in Egypt, two months later Saladin was appointed as the representative of the Caliph of the Ayyubid dynasty.

During the two months of ruling Egypt, Saladin made visionary progressive policies. He built two large schools based on the Ahlussunnah wal Jamaah madhhab. This he aimed at eradicating Shia thought that had entrenched for so long in the land of Egypt. The results we can feel until now, Egypt has become one of the pillars of the Da'wah of Ahlussunnah wal Jamaah or Sunni. Another policy that he carried out was to replace the mention of the names of the Fatimid caliphs with the names of the Abbasid caliphs in the Friday sermon.

Conquering Jerusalem

Saladin's preparations to attack the Crusaders in Jerusalem were really ripe. It combines faith preparation (non-material) and extraordinary material preparation. He built his faith preparation by cleansing the inner Shia creed from the chests of the Muslims by building madrasas and enlivening the da'wah, instilling the unity and integrity of the ummah and raising their awareness to face the Crusaders. With this campaign he succeeded in uniting the inhabitants of Sham, Iraq, Yemen, Hejaz, and Morocco under one command. From this non-material preparation, an army with the same ideals and a solid foundation of faith was formed.

From a physical point of view, Saladin built military bases, border forts, increased the number of troops, repaired warships, built hospitals, etc.

In the year 580 H, Saladin suffered from a fairly severe illness, but from there his determination to liberate Jerusalem was burning. He was determined that when he recovered from his illness, he would conquer the Crusaders in Jerusalem, rid the land of the prophets of the shirk of the trinity.

By the grace of Allah, Saladin was healed from his illness. He began to fulfill his promise to liberate Jerusalem. Liberation of Jerusalem is not an easy thing, Saladin and his troops must face the Crusaders in Hathin first, this war is called the Hathin War, a major war as an opening to conquer Jerusalem. In the war the Muslims had a strength of 63,000 troops consisting of scholars and pious people, they succeeded in killing 30000 Crusaders and capturing 30000 others.

After draining the energy in Hathin, finally the Muslims arrived at al-Quds, Jerusalem, with a large number of troops, the soldiers of Allah surrounded the holy city. The war was raging, the Crusaders did their best to defend themselves, some Muslim leaders met their martyrdom – God willing – in this war. Seeing this situation, the Muslims grew even more enthusiastic to immediately conquer the Crusaders.

To provoke the emotions of the Muslims, the Crusaders planted a large cross on the Rock of Shakhrakh. Saladin and some of his troops immediately moved quickly to the side closest to the Kubbatu Shakhrakh to stop the Crusaders' impudence. Then the Muslims managed to drop and burn the cross. After that, jundullah destroying the towers and forts of al-Quds.

The Crusaders began to be cornered, they scattered, and called for negotiations to surrender. But Saladin replied, "I will not spare anyone from the Christians, just as they did not spare any from the Muslims (when they conquered Jerusalem)". However, the leader of the Crusaders, Balian bin Bazran, threatened "If the Muslims don't want to guarantee our security, then we will kill all the prisoners from among the Muslims who numbered almost 4000 people, we will also kill our children and wives, destroy buildings, burn property, destroy the Rock of Shakhrakh, burn whatever we can burn, and after that we will fight you to the last blood! One of us will kill one of you! What more goodness can you hope for!” This was the threat that the Crusaders presented to Saladin and his troops.

Dome of the Rock or the Rock of Shakhrakh

Saladin also listened and obeyed the will of the Crusaders on the condition that each of them paid 10 dinars, for women 5 dinars, and children 2 dinars. The Crusaders left Jerusalem bowed and humiliated. The Muslims managed to liberate this holy city for the second time.

Saladin entered Jerusalem on Friday 27 Rajab 583 H / 2 October 1187, the city returned to the lap of Muslims after 88 years of being ruled by Christians. Then he took out the crosses found in al-Aqsa Mosque, cleaned it of all impurity and dirt, and restored the honor of the mosque.

Al-Aqsa Mosque

Death of the Hero

Like the previous humans, both from the prophets, apostles, scholars, warlords and others, Saladin also died leaving this mortal world. He died at the age of 55 years, on 16 Shafar 589 H coinciding with 21 February 1193 in the city of Damascus. He died of a fever for 12 days. Crowds of people worshiped his body, his children Ali, Uthman, and Ghazi were also present to take his father to his rest. May Allah be pleased with, have mercy on, and repay you for your services, O hero of Islam, the liberator of Jerusalem.

Source : https://kisahmuslim.com