The Heroes: Saladin al-Ayyubi

This time we will talk about a noble man and have a big role in the history of Islam, an Islamic commander, 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 is a man who might be comparable to a thousand other men.

Its Origin and Growth Period

Saladin al-Ayyubi was a man of am ajam (non-Arabic) circles, not as some people alleged that Saladin was an Arab, he was of Kurdish origin. He was born in 1138 AD in Tikrit City, Iraq, a city located between Baghdad and Mosul. He complements the great people in Islamic history who are not of Arab origin, such as Imam Bukhari, Imam Muslim, Imam Tirmidhi, and others.

For some reason, born Saladin forced his father to leave Tikrit so that his father felt the birth of his child was troublesome and detrimental to him. But at that time there were people who advised him, "You never knew, it could be that your son would become a king whose reputation is very brilliant."

From Tikrit, this Kurdish family moved to Mosul. The father, Najmuddin Ayyub lived with another great leader, Imaduddin az-Zanki. Imaduddin az-Zanki glorified this family, and Saladin grew up in a blessed environment and honorable relatives. In his new environment he learned to ride horses, use weapons, and grew up in an environment that was deeply in love with jihad. In this place also a small Saladin began studying the Koran, memorizing the traditions of the Prophet sallallaahu aih alaihi wa sallam, studying Arabic language and literature, and other sciences.



Appointed as Minister in Egypt

Before the arrival of Saladin al-Ayyubi, Egypt was the domain of the Shia empire, Fathimiyah Daula. Then in the next period the stable Fathimiyah Dynasty began to be shaken by turmoil in the country. Turkish, Sudanese and Moroccan people want a revolution. At that time Nuruddin Mahmud, uncle of Saladin, saw an opportunity to conquer this Shiite empire, thinking that the conquest of the Fathimiyyah Daula was a way to liberate Jerusalem from the power of the Crusaders.

Nuruddin really realized his ideals, he sent troops from Damascus led by Asaduddin Syirkuh to help his nephew, Saladin al-Ayyubi, in Egypt. Knowing the arrival of this great army, some of the Crusaders in Egypt ran away so much that Asaduddin and Shalahuddin faced only the Fathimyah people. The Fathimiyah Daula was successfully destroyed and Saladin was appointed as minister in the territory of Egypt. But not long as a minister in Egypt, two months later Saladin was appointed as a representative of the Caliph of the Ayyubid Dynasty.

During the two months he ruled Egypt, Saladin made visionary progressive policies. He built two large schools based on the Ahlussunnah wal Jamaah madzhab. This was aimed at eradicating long-standing Shi'a thoughts in the land of Egypt. The results can be felt to date, Egypt has become one of the pillars of the preaching of Ahlussunnah wal Jamaah or Sunni. Another policy he did was to replace the mention of the names of the Caliph Fathimiyah with the names of the Abbasid caliph in the Friday sermon.

Conquering Jerusalem

Saladin's preparations to attack the Crusaders in Jerusalem were truly mature. He combines faith preparation (non-material) and extraordinary material preparation. Preparation of faith he woke up by cleaning up the Shia faith in the heart of the chest of the Muslims by building madrassas and enlivening da'wah, the unity and unity of the people planted and raised their consciousness against the Crusaders. With this campaign he succeeded in uniting the residents of Sham, Iraq, Yemen, Hijaz, and Morocco under a single command. From this non-material preparation an army is formed with the same ideals and has a solid foundation of faith.



Physically, Saladin held a military construction, border fortresses, increased troop numbers, repaired warships, built hospitals, etc.

In 580 AH Saladin suffered a severe illness, but from there his determination to liberate Jerusalem intensified. He was determined that if he recovered from his illness, he would conquer the Crusaders in Jerusalem, cleanse the land of the prophets from the trinity.

With God's grace, Saladin recovered from his illness. He began to realize his promise to liberate Jerusalem. Liberation of Jerusalem was not an easy matter, Saladin and his army had to face the Crusaders in Hathin first, this war was called the Hathin War, a great war as the opening for conquering Jerusalem. In the war the Muslims had a force of 63,000 troops consisting of clerics and pious people, they succeeded in killing 30000 Crusaders and capturing another 30000.

After draining energy in Hathin, finally the Muslims arrived in al-Quds, Jerusalem, with a large army of Allah's soldiers besieging the holy city. The war raged, the Crusaders tried to defend themselves, some Muslim leaders also met their martyrs - Allah, in this war. Seeing this situation, the Muslims increasingly grew eager to conquer the Crusaders.

To provoke the emotions of the Muslims, the Crusaders planted a large cross above Kubatu Shakhrakh. Saladin and several of his troops immediately moved quickly to the closest side with Kubbatu Shakhrak to stop the impudence of the Crusaders. Then the Muslims succeeded in dropping and burning the cross. After that, Jundullah destroyed the towers and fortresses of al-Quds.

The Crusaders were cornered, the brand scattered, and invited to negotiate to surrender. But Saladin replied, "I will not leave any of the Christians, as they did not leave any of the Muslims (when conquering Jerusalem)". But the leader of the Crusaders, Balian bin Bazran, threatened "If the Muslims do not want to guarantee our security, then we will kill all prisoners from among Muslims who number almost 4000 people, we will also kill our children and wives, destroy buildings, burn property, destroy Kubatu Shakhrakh, burn anything we can burn, and after that we will face you until the blood is gone! One of us will kill one of you! What more good can you hope for! "This is the threat the Crusaders gave to Saladin and his army.



Saladin listened and obeyed the will of the Crusaders on the condition that each of them pay 10 dinars, for women 5 dinars, and children 2 dinars. The Crusaders left Jerusalem by being bowed and despised. The Muslims managed to free this holy city a second time.

Saladin entered Jerusalem on Friday 27 Rajab 583 H / 2 October 1187, the city returned to the bosom of Muslims after 88 years of domination by Christians. Then he took out the crosses in the al-Aqsa Mosque, cleansed them of unclean things and dirt, and restored the honor of the mosque.


Death of the Hero

Like humans before, both from the prophets, apostles, scholars, warlords and others, Saladin died leaving this mortal world. He died at the age of 55, at 16 Shafar 589 H to coincide with February 21, 1193 in the city of Damascus. He died due to fever for 12 days. Crowds overtook his body, his sons Ali, Uthman, and Ghazi were present to deliver the father to his resting place. May Allah bless you, bless you, and repay your merits, O hero of Islam, the liberator of Jerusalem.