Saladin

Salah al-Din Yusuf bin Ayub or Saladin as he more commonly known was born in 1138 A.D. The meaning of his Arabic name is "righteousness of the faith." As a child Saladin was a studious boy who studied the Koran as well as poetry. He was known to love studying the Koran and other literature more than joining and fighting in the military. At the age of fourteen, he entered into the military service of his uncle Nur ed-Din, another great and respected Arab warrior. Another teacher of the young Saladin was the Saracen chief Zenghi who in 1144 overthrew the city of Edessa, which had been an outpost of the Western world for many years because of its proximity to Antioch. Saladin learned his military lessons well and began to stand out among Nur ed-Din's forces.

In 1169 A.D. Saladin served with another uncle named Shirkuh as second to the commander in chief of the Syrian army. Shirkuh died just two months after Saladin received his new position. As the leader of a foreign army from Syria, he also had no control over the Shi'ite Egyptian army, which was led in the name of the weak and powerless caliph (Muslim religious leader or Muslim Pope) Al-Adid. When the caliph died in September 1171, Saladin had the imams pronounce the name of Al-Mustadi, the caliph in Abbasid in Baghdad, at sermon before Friday prayers instead of Al-Adid. The people liked this decision and the name of Al-Adid was forgotten. Saladin took control of Egypt, being the natural choice since the caliph in the region was dead, and since the people needed a new leader.

Now Saladin ruled Egypt, but officially representing Nur ad-Din, his old lord who himself also recognized the Abbasid caliph. Saladin revitalized the economy of Egypt, reorganized the military forces and, following his father's advice, stayed away from any conflicts with Nur ad-Din, his formal lord, after he had become the sultan of Egypt. He waited until Nur ad-Din's death before evoking forced military militia risings for power at the smaller Muslim states such as Damascus, Syria, Alleppo, Mawsil and Iraq, and taking them under his control.

While Saladin was building up his power, he gerenally avoided any conflict with the Crusader kingdom, even though whenever he fought them, he defeated them. One exception was the Battle of Montgisard on November 25, 1177. He was defeated by the combined forces of Baldwin IV of Jerusalem, Raynald of Chatillon and the Knights Templar. Only one tenth of his army made it back to Egypt. Saladin quickly decided to form a truce between him and the Crusader states in 1178 A.D. while he rebuilt his army. The Crusaders readily agreed, for they did not want to concentrate their military might on one lone Muslim sultan. As soon as he army was rebuilt again, Saladin one year later attacked several Crusader outposts, defeated them. In response to this, Reynald of Chatillon declared that if Saladin were to continue his attacks, he would attack the holy city of Mecca. Saladin responded to this by besieging Raynald’s fortress Kerak, destroying it and taking everyone in it prisoner except Reynald, who fled.

In July, 1187, Saladin invaded the Kingdom of Jerusalem. On July 4, 1187, he faced at the Battle of Hattin the combined forces of Guy of Lusignan, King Consort of Jerusalem, and Raymond III of Tripoli. All of the Crusader