SULTAN SALAHUDDIN AL-AYUBI

         Salahuddin was raised just like the usual Kurdish children. His education is also like everyone else, learning science sciences besides the art of warfare and self defense. No one had thought before he had dominated Egypt and opposed the Crusaders that the Kurdish boy would someday recapture Palestine and be a defender of the great Islamic faith. And no one thinks that his achievement is so great that it is an example in the fight against disbelief to this day.

           Stanley Lane Poole (1914) a Western author describes Salahuddin as the son of a governor who had the advantage of others but did not show any signs he would be a great person in the future. But it shows noble character.

           However God has destined him to be a great leader in his day and God has provided and facilitated his paths to become the great leader. When he became Al-Malik's army Nuruddin, the Sultan of Aleppo, he was ordered to go to Egypt. At that time Egypt was ruled by a Shiite kingdom not under the caliphate. Bahauddin bin Shaddad, Salahuddin's chief advisor, wrote that Salahuddin was very heavy and forced himself to go to Egypt as a person to be taken to the place of murder (Bahauddin, 1234).

But that is exactly what the word of Allah says, "You may hate something, but it is good for you, and you may love something, but it is bad for you" (Al-Baqarah: 216

       When Salahuddin took control of Egypt, he suddenly changed. He is convinced that God has entrusted him with a very heavy task that can not be done if he does not earnestly. Bahauddin wrote in his note that Salahuddin was the best man to be Egyptian ruler. The world and its enjoyment have disappeared from his eyes. With a low heart and gratitude to God he has rejected the temptations of the world and all his pleasures (Bahauddin, 1234).

         Even Stanley Lane Poole (1914) has written that Salahuddin changed his way of life to the harder. He grew up and led a more disciplined and simpler life. It dismisses a happy life pattern and chooses the "Spartan" life pattern that is an example to its soldiers. He devoted all his strength to one goal, namely to build a powerful Islamic power to repel the infidels of the Muslim homeland.

Salahuddin once said, "When God granted me the land of Egypt, I'm sure He also meant Palestine for me. This led him to win the Islamic struggle. In connection with it he has handed himself to the path of jihad.

Salahuddin's mind is always focused on jihad in the way of Allah. Bahauddin has noted that Salahuddin's zeal for jihad against the Crusaders has caused jihad to be the subject of his most beloved discussion. He has always spent all his energy in strengthening his troops, looking for mujahid and weapons for the purpose of jihad.

If anyone is speaking to him concerning jihad he will give full attention. In this regard it is more in the war camp than sitting in the palace with relatives. Anyone who encourages him to jihad will gain his trust. Anyone who observes it will be able to see when it has begun to commemorate the crusaders it will shed all his attention on the preparations of war and uplift the spirit of his army.

In the battlefield it is like a fierce mother losing a single child due to being killed by an evil hand. It will move from one end of the battlefield to the other end to remind his troops to really jihad in the path of Allah alone. He will also go to all parts of the land with eyes that invite people to rise up to defend Islam.

When he surrounded Acre he only drank, even after being forced by his private doctor without eating. The doctor said that Salahuddin ate only some food bribe from Friday to Monday because he did not want his attention to the disrupted war. (Bahauddin, 1234)

A series of fierce wars occurred between Salahuddin's army and the Crusaders in Tiberias at the foothills of Hittin. Finally at 24 Rabiul-Akhir, 583 H, the Crusader was defeated. In this war the Christian King who ruled Palestine was able to get along with his brother Reginald from Chatillon. Other captives that were captured were Joscelin from Courtenay, Humphrey from Toron and some other prominent men. Many of the high-ranking Crusaders have been captured. Stanley Lane-Poole recounts that an Islamic army has brought about 30 soldiers captured by his own soldiers tied with tents.

The corpses of Christian troops were piled up like rocks on the rocks between broken crosses, pieces of arms and feet and human heads rolled like melons. It is estimated that 30,000 Christian soldiers have died in this war. A year after the war, bone stack can be seen from a distance.

Salahuddin's mind is always focused on jihad in the way of Allah. Bahauddin has noted that Salahuddin's zeal for jihad against the Crusaders has caused jihad to be the subject of his most beloved discussion. He has always spent all his energy in strengthening his troops, looking for mujahid and weapons for the purpose of jihad.

If anyone is speaking to him concerning jihad he will give full attention. In this regard it is more in the war camp than sitting in the palace with relatives. Anyone who encourages him to jihad will gain his trust. Anyone who observes it will be able to see when it has begun to commemorate the crusaders it will shed all his attention on the preparations of war and uplift the spirit of his army.

In the battlefield it is like a fierce mother losing a single child due to being killed by an evil hand. It will move from one end of the battlefield to the other end to remind his troops to really jihad in the path of Allah alone. He will also go to all parts of the land with eyes that invite people to rise up to defend Islam.

When he surrounded Acre he only drank, even after being forced by his private doctor without eating. The doctor said that Salahuddin ate only some food bribe from Friday to Monday because he did not want his attention to the disrupted war. (Bahauddin, 1234)