[salmanfi9]

Sultan Ayubi: a great warrior

AS a soldier, a ruler, and a human being, Sultan Salahuddin Ayubi was a person of phenomenal attributes. The hero of hundreds of battles was the person who for 20 years braved the storm of the Crusaders and ultimately pushed them back. The world has hardly witnessed a more chivalrous and humane conqueror. His unmatchable battle tactics and gallantry as a soldier, heroic statesmanship and his strength of character won him the respect of even his foes.

As a soldier, Salahuddin is known for liberating the holy city of Jerusalem from the Christian armies, known as the Crusaders. This was not an ordinary feat, considering the strength and resources of the crusaders who had gathered from all over Europe to occupy the holy city (in 1099) and had established their strong foothold after the victory, not only in Jerusalem but also in the neighboring lands.

Jerusalem was under the Muslims rule ever since it was conquered in 638 Hijra by Hazrat Umar bin Khattab, the second caliph. The Muslims, however, over the span of four centuries, could not keep their unity and cohesiveness. Weakened by their internal strife, they were divided into different factions. They could not stand the strength of the crusaders, until Sultan Salahuddin appeared on the scene. He reunited the Muslims and served a fatal blow to the crusaders, forcing them to eventually give up their crusades against the Muslims.

Born in 1137, to the ruler of Tikrit (Iraq), Najamuddin, of a prominent Kurdish family, Salahuddin showed remarkable talents. From a young age, he participated in many battles and became a soldier par excellence. While fighting along with Nuruddin Zangi to liberate Syria from the crusaders, Nuruddin recognized the extraordinary genius in him and provided him several opportunities of leadership and challenges which he brilliantly met.

After the conquest of Egypt, he ascended to power in 1175, at the age of 38, and was declared the King of Syria and Egypt. The ascension to power provided him an opportunity to reunite the Muslims of Egypt, Syria, Lebanon and Iraq, who lived in the shadow of humiliating defeat after the first crusade, and liberated Jerusalem in 1187.

Later, to reoccupy Jerusalem, the crusaders launched a series of attacks but could not stand against his military prowess. Not only the crusaders failed to reoccupy Jerusalem, but got so tired of their failures that they had to abandon the crusades. The king of England, Richard, known as the Lion Hearted, a very competent soldier but notorious as a cold-blooded killer and wretched ruler, who was the commander of the crusaders, was every time outwitted by the Sultan's ingeniously employed hit-and-run tactics. Eventually, he entered into a truce with the Sultan.

As a soldier and ruler, the Sultan had remarkable qualities. Unlike the crusaders who, after invading Jerusalem in 1099, had committed unprecedented carnage of the Muslims and desecration of the holy shrines, the Sultan acted completely opposite to that. Not only he treated the local Christians humanely, but allowed them to attend their sanctuaries and worship as they wished. He released the prisoners and treated their woman honorably. He would even give them money for traveling back to their homes. The humanely treatment of Sultan impressed the Christians and Jews so much that many of them converted to Islam.

Lane Poole, in his study of Salahuddin, writes that the crusaders had done against the teachings of the Jesus but the Sultan practically demonstrated the teachings of Islam.

As a strict follower of the Shariah, he was very punctual in fasting and prayers. Throughout his life he offered his prayers in congregation and never missed his tahajud prayers. Only during the last three days of his life when fever had weakened him, he called the Imam at his home to lead the prayers. He never had the occasion to pay zakat on his assets as he never had any personal wealth or savings that would require zakat payment. Whatever was received as war booty, or his personal income, he would immediately deposit it in the state treasury or give in charity.

As the battles with the crusaders came to an end, he focused all his attention on state affairs. By virtue of his extraordinary ability, energy, leadership and capacity for organization, he managed the affairs of the state brilliantly by establishing the institutions, hospitals, schools, mosques and madrissahs all over his domain. He dispensed justice to one and all, and did everything in his power to bring peace and prosperity to his people.

This period however did not last long. Soon his health started deteriorating. In 1193, at the age of 56, he suddenly fell sick. The simple fever led him to death after three days. When he died he had only one horse, one Dinar and 40 dirhams as his personal belongings, which were not sufficient even for his burial rites. Despite being the ruler of a vast kingdom from Syria and Palestine to Egypt and a huge amount of wealth in the state treasury, he never spent anything on himself from the state money. During the conquest of Egypt, he found great amount of wealth, jewelry and gold but not a single item did he keep for his personal use.

He was buried in the same house where he died. After two years, his son shifted his body to the tomb he made near Jamiya Qadem and later the tomb was also included in the boundary of the Jamiya, which is now located at the far end of the Hamidiya Souk in Damascus. The entire Muslim world was grieved by his sudden death.

This Muslim hero's humane qualities that he displayed as a ruler, as a soldier and as a human being are worth admiring and learning from. All his life he fought for a cause and never spilled the blood of innocent people, regardless of their color and creed. The modern war mongers, who wage wars only for vested gains and business, can learn a lot from this great warrior and ruler.

[fairnas]

Very informatics
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