Learning from Salahuddin Al-Ayyubi, that only with JIHAD that Palestine could be retaken….. The Great Leader's name is Salahuddin al-Ayubi. The conqueror of Palestine who retook the holy land of Palestine from the hands of the crusader forces in Europe. The people of the West know him as Saladin, and his name has been immortal in Europe for hundreds of years. So great was Salahuddin, that in Europe a tax called the Saladin Thite was imposed.
Salahuddin al-Ayubi, was born with the name Yusuf Salahuddin bin Ayub in about 1138 AD. He came from the Kurdish tribe. His family lived in Tikrit, which today belongs to Iraq, a place where Islam was in its glory at that time . His father, Najmuddin Ayub, was banished from Tikrit and moved to Mosul, the place where he met with Imaduddin Zengi, the ruler of Mosul, who was also the founder of the Zengi Dynasty, who led the Muslim army against the Crusader forces in Edessa. Imaduddin appointed Najmuddin to lead his fortress in Baalbek. After the death of Imaduddin Zengi in 1146 AD, his son, Nuruddin became the ruler of Mosul. Salahuddin was sent by Nuruddin to Damascus to continue his education.
Salahuddin then entered Egypt. Egypt at that time was under the rule of Khilafah Fathimiyah. In the year 1171 AD, al-Adhid, the ruler of Egypt from the Dynasty of Fathimiyah died. Salahuddin hastened to break the power of the Khilafah Fathimiyah and immediately restored the legitimate authority to Khilafah Abbasiyah in Baghdad.
Salahuddin revitalized the economy of Egypt, reformed the military, as well as re-implemented the Islamic values. Salahuddin built schools and hospitals. He also opened the gates of the palace to the public, where previously it was only open to the nobility. At that time, the Crusader Forces attacked Egypt's Alexandria, but with the perseverance of the Muslims and the help of Allah, the enemies were defeated.
Salahuddin always endeavored to expel the Crusaders from the holy land of Palestine, yet he thought, that in order to win he must unite Egypt and Syria, as idealized by Nuruddin. So Salahuddin came to conquer Syria without any significant resistance, in fact it was welcomed by the people of Syria. There, Salahuddin married the widow of Nuruddin to strengthen the ties between the ruler himself and the former authorities. When Salahuddin unified Aleppo in 1176, he was almost killed by the Hashashin, an organized secret group of assassins set up by the Shi’ah Ismailiyah to kill the leaders of the Sunni. With a remarkable political skill, Salahuddin requested approval from Khalifah al-Mustadhi of the Khilafah Abbasiyah to reconcile the territories which had not fully complied with Khilafah Abbasiyah.
A closeness with the ulama's was then developed by Salahuddin, where he always asked for advices from the ulama's in carrying out his military policies and administration. One of the renowned ulama's from the Hambali Mazhab, Ibnu Qudamah, became an advisor to Salahuddin, and accompanied him when Salahuddin conquered Palestine.
After Syria achieved a stable condition, Salahuddin returned to Cairo to make some improvements. He entrusted Syria to his brother. Salahuddin built fortresses around Egypt to halt the enemy's attack and protect its inhabitants. The construction of the forts was entrusted to Bahaudin Qarqusy. Salahuddin also built an armada fleet to protect Egypt from the attacks of the Crusader Forces.
At that time, the Muslims were in one of the their worst conditions. Pools of wealths and pleasures of life had blinded their inner eyes to the point that they were reluctant to go out for jihad. As the Islamic Khilafah had made life so rich and prosperous, the Muslims become so complacent that they were not able to withstand the attacks of the crusader forces. That's why Salahuddin took the initiative to commemorate the Maulid Nabi Muhammad (Prophet Muhammad's birthday) to prompt the Muslims to return to the path of Islam by conducting jihad and da'wah, to carry out the commands of Allah and His Rasul.
With the parade of the Maulid Nabi, Salahuddin reminded the Muslims of the struggles and sacrifices of Rasulullah and his Sahabahs in defending the honour of this religion of Allah. It is very obvious that the purpose of the Maulid Nabi to be held was to revive the ruhul (spirit of ) jihad of the Muslims which had long-frozen. After the parade of the Maulid Nabi was held across the Islamic countries, a very massive jihad forces was formed. Indeed, very different from the present Maulid Nabi. Today's Maulid did not evoke the spirit of jihad and it was unable to form the jihad forces to liberate our brothers and sisters in Palestine who are slaughtered by Israel.
After all the consolidation was complete, Salahuddin began to look at Palestine which was dominated by the European crusaders. The screams of the people massacred by the crusader forces were ringing in the ears of Salahuddin. Year 1177 AD, Salahuddin started building up an army to wage jihad to retake the holy land of the Muslims.
First, he went conquering Askalon and Ramallah by defeating the Crusader Forces in some battles. However, in the Montgisard battle on 25th November 1177 AD, Salahuddin suffered a severe enough defeat when fighting the forces of Reynald de Chatillon and Baldwin IV, and it became a valuable lesson for him.
At first, the battle took place between the forces of Salahuddin and the forces of Baldwin IV the King Palestine, but then came the forces of Reynald de Chatillon, Balian de Ibelin, and the forces of the Knights Templar. Beaten so badly, Salahuddin's troops were scattered and some of his best soldiers were martyred. Baldwin continued to pursue Salahuddin's troops until the night time, Salahuddin retreated to Askalon to reach Egypt with the rest of his army. This defeat was appreciated by him in some way because it had led many of the Muslim army to their goals i.e shaheed, and at the same time it became a whip of encouragement for him to strive even more strongly.
The ruhul jihad continued to rage in the heart Salahuddin and he again formed the forces of Allah to seize Palestine. His caravans of jihad then traveled to Damascus, with jihad songs that invited all Muslims to join. Salahuddin then launched the next attack from Damascus. He attacked Tiberias, Tyre and Beirut. In June 1179 AD, Salahuddin's caravans of jihad arrived in the suburbs of Marjayoun and met face to face again with the forces of Baldwin IV, his old enemy. Baldwin's forces was completely defeated and many were captured inluding King Raymond. Baldwin himself escaped and retreated.
In August of the same year, the forces of Salahuddin besieged the Chastellet Fortress in Hebrew. This fortress had not been completed yet, only one wall and a tower were constructed. Baldwin himself was not on location, he was busy building up the forces in Tiberias. Salahuddin conquered this fortress and when Baldwin arrived from Tiberias (the distance is only a half-day journey), Baldwin saw the black and white emblems of Shahadah fluttering in Chastellet Fortress. In fear, Baldwin retreated.
Palestine is the holy land of the Muslims. An Ulama', Ibnu Zaki, preached: “The city was home to your father, Ibrahim, it was from there that Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven, the qiblat of your prayer at the beginning of Islam, the place visited by the saints, the resting place of the Apostles. The city is a country where mankind congregate on the Day of Judgement, the land where resurrections would take place.”
Salahuddin mobilized the entire strength of the Mujahideen to storm the fortresses of Palestine. Rows of red-hot stone hurlers (manjaniq) were deployed to demolish the fortresses of Palestine. Balian de Ibelin also responded with his own manjaniq, not a few Muslims were greeted with martyrdom. The Mujahideen's pressure was so strong, resulting in Balian sending two envoys to ask for guarantees of safety from Salahuddin. But Salahuddin refused and reminded them of the great massacre they did one hundred years ago, in the year 1099 AD. In the end, Balian de Ibelin himself came to see Salahuddin and threatened to kill all the humans who were inside the fortress, destroy Masjid Al-Aqsa, and fight to the death, if his request was not received with security assurances. After holding a shura with some ulama's and military advisers, Salahuddin accepted the proposal from Balian de Ibelin.
The conditions set by Salahuddin was that, Balian de Ibelin must surrender Palestine completely to the Muslims. And then the entire European Christian soldiers must redeem themselves within 40 days. In the end, on Friday which coincided with the Isra’ Mi’raj of Prophet Muhammd on 27th Rajab 583 H (2nd October 1187 AD), Salahuddin entered Palestine with peace and tranquility. Masjids were cleansed from the crosses of the kafir.
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