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http://lostislamichistory.com/the-crusades-part-3-liberation/
said that he never laughed in any situation. When confronted about this, he replied how can I laugh when Masjid al-Aqsa is under the control of the Crusaders? His advisers that were in charge of the treasury had to hide away a sum of gold from him as a reserve, because if he knew it existed, he would spend it to better his army in the face of the enemy. The people around him used to say that he was very harsh on himself, and very lenient on others, which echos the character of the first 4 Rightly Guided Caliphs of Islam. This was the type of character that was needed to liberate Muslim lands. Soon after Salah al-Din took control of Egypt, observers thought that a conflict would soon develop between Salah al-Din, and his emir, Nur al-Din Zengi. Salah al-Din denied this and insisted that he was loyal to Zengi and wanted to remain united with him to defeat the Crusaders. In any case, Zengi died in 1174, leaving Salah al-Din as the effective leader of both Syria and Egypt. His domain now surrounded the Crusaders in Palestine. Salah al-Din immediately set about making sure that the Muslims were united to prepare for an attack on the Crusaders. He had to deal with the remnants of the Fatimid Shias, a group called the Assassins, who promoted their political goals through the assassination of Muslim and Crusader leaders. Despite their interference, Salah al-Din managed to keep the Muslims united in order to face the Crusaders. This process took a few years, but by the early 1180s, Salah al-Din had an army ready to liberate the Holy Land from the Crusader occupation. The Crusader states at this time were very weak, had no strong leaders, and were disunited against each other; much the same situation that the Muslims were in when they lost the Holy Land 80 years earlier. In 1182, Salah al-Din crossed into Crusader territory and began the final confrontation with the Franks. An especially brutal opponent of Salah al-Dins was Reynald of Chatillon. He regularly harassed Muslims in the occupied lands, and attacked Muslim caravans on their way to the Hajj. He even threatened on more than one occasion to attack the cities of Makkah and Madinah themselves. Salah al-Din would not tolerate this attack on Islam itself and vowed the punish Reynald personally. Salah al-Din would get his chance at the Battle of Hattin in 1187. The Crusaders brought the majority of their army from Jerusalem to the battle, about 20,000 men. The united Muslims countered with a force of 30,000 men. The Crusaders, used to European battle, marched through the desert to the battlefield in heavy metal armor with a serious lack of water. By the time the battle began, they barely had the energy and ability to stand and walk, much less fight. In a quick and decisive battle, the Crusader army was devastated, and Reynald was taken prisoner. While Salah al-Din showed amnesty to most of the Crusader leaders, he personally executed Reynald, a just punishment for a man who had shown bigotry and disrespect to his adversaries.
With the main Crusader army destroyed, Salah al-Din was able to march on Jerusalem itself, which was lightly
defended. On October 2nd, 1187, Salah al-Dins army liberated the Holy City, 88 years 2 months and 17 days after it was captured by the Crusaders. The real character of Salah al-Din is seen in his treatment of the Christians living in the city. 88 years before, the Crusaders massacred all the residents of the city, until the blood was to the ankles. In the Muslim liberation, Salah al-Din allowed everyone to peacefully leave the city with all their belongings if they paid a small ransom. And for the poor who could not afford the small ransom (around $50 in modern money), he allowed them to leave for free. The liberation of Jerusalem provoked another European Crusade which arrived in the Holy Land in 1189. At the head of this Crusade was the English king, Richard the Lionheart. After a number of indecisive battles between Salah al-Din and Richard, Salah al-Din v ictorious af ter the Battle of Hattin in 1187. the Crusade failed and Jerusalem remained in Muslim hands. Even through these battles, Salah al-Din continued his generosity and chivalric behavior. In one battle, he noticed that Richards horse was killed, so Salah al-Din sent him a horse from the Muslim army because he believed no general should ever have to be without a horse to lead his troops from. The generosity and kindness of Salah al-Din became a legend in Christian Europe among his enemies, who had great respect for him. The leadership and dedication of Salah al-Din ushered in a new era of Muslim unity. Even after his death, the state he founded, the Ayyubid Dynasty (later the Mamluks) upheld his ideals and united the Muslims in the face of invasion for hundreds of years. The Holy Land of Palestine and Jerusalem stayed in Muslim hands until the year 1917, when it was conquered by an invading British army as part of the First World War. Although the days of Salah al-Din are long gone and we face new difficulties today, we must never forget the story of Muslim unity during the Crusades. When Muslims are united, there is no force that can stand in their path, and victory comes from Allah alone.
Sources: Hodgson, M. (1961). The Venture of Islam . (Vol. 2). Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Maalouf, A. (1984). The Crusades Through Arab Eyes. New York: Schocken.