Muslim society everywhere is constantly searching for the ideal ruler who combines Saladin’s courage, generosity, and success. Saladin exemplified the ideal ruler. Muslims have contrasted their often-difficult realities with Saladin’s example. The Arab historian A. R. Azzam has observed, “Like the Godot character in Beckett’s play, Saladin has come to represent in the Muslim consciousness a sort of political messiah, a longed-for liberator.” [1]   Today the eagle symbol associated with Saladin is found on the flags and coats of arms of Egypt, Yemen, Palestine, and Iraq – Image The New Arab

 

The Search for Saladin

By Akbar Ahmed*, Frankie Martin*, and Dr Amineh Hoti**
*American University, Washington DC
** University of Cambridge, UK

. .

Sultan Salah ad-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub, or as he is known in the West, Saladin, was the celebrated Muslim leader of the Middle East during the time of the Crusades. In 1187, after 88 years of Latin Christian rule, Saladin took back Jerusalem for the forces of Islam. In his wars with the European Christians and his tolerant treatment of non-Muslims, Saladin provided an enduring model for the wise, just, and compassionate ruler. Hence he looms large in both the Muslim and Western imaginations.

In the Muslim world, he has consistently been celebrated as an outstanding Islamic leader. His memory was particularly revived in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries during the period of European colonization, when Muslims sought a role model for asserting their own identity and integrity, including amid the era of nationalism and de-colonization in the mid-twentieth century. Muslims continue to honor Salah ad-Din, meaning “Righteousness of the Faith.” My middle name, my father’s name, and my grandson’s middle name is Salahuddin. The subtitle of my 1997 book on Mr Jinnah, Jinnah, Pakistan, and Islamic Identity, was The Search for Saladin. I had argued that Muslim society everywhere is constantly searching for the ideal ruler who combines Saladin’s courage, generosity, and success. Saladin exemplified the ideal ruler. Muslims have contrasted their often-difficult realities with Saladin’s example. The Arab historian A. R. Azzam has observed, “Like the Godot character in Beckett’s play, Saladin has come to represent in the Muslim consciousness a sort of political messiah, a longed-for liberator.” [1]  The Palestinian filmmaker Tawfik Abu Wael, for example, titled his 2001 documentary about Palestinians living under Israeli occupation in East Jerusalem Waiting for Saladin. Today the eagle symbol associated with Saladin is found on the flags and coats of arms of Egypt, Yemen, Palestine, and Iraq.

In the West, Saladin’s enduring popularity is perhaps even more surprising. Early depictions from the time when he took Jerusalem were negative.But then, something remarkable occurred. Tales of Saladin the man, observed initially in face-to-face interactions with Europeans, began to reach Europe and circulate—first during Saladin’s lifetime and then for centuries after. These tales were very different and spoke of Saladin’s generous and magnanimous nature – Image World History Encyclopedia In the West, Saladin’s enduring popularity is perhaps even more surprising. Early depictions from the time when he took Jerusalem were negative. Saladin was seen by shocked Europeans as the Antichrist, the son of Satan who wished to terminate Christianity, and thirsting for Christian blood. [2]  These were all standard depictions of Islam at the time, particularly after Pope Urban II called the First Crusade to take Jerusalem from Muslims in 1095. But then, something remarkable occurred. Tales of Saladin the man, observed initially in face-to-face interactions with Europeans, began to reach Europe and circulate—first during Saladin’s lifetime and then for centuries after. These tales were very different and spoke of Saladin’s generous and magnanimous nature, for example in his interactions with the forces of his antagonist, King Richard the Lionheart of England.

In particular, it was Saladin’s kind treatment of the defeated Christians of Jerusalem that echoed through the ages of European history. Europeans could not believe that an “enemy” could behave like that. Yet Saladin, as a great Mingler coming from the Islamic tradition, saw the inherent worth and dignity of all people—including enemies. His model was the Prophet of Islam. For Saladin, even in as fraught a time as the Crusades, it was one’s actions and not their religion alone which defined them, and he especially honored and cared for women, children, and the poor in his realm regardless of what religion they were. In showing such generosity, Saladin helped shape perceptions of Islam in Europe and the West for centuries.

In spite of the longstanding dominant paradigms of Islamophobia and Orientalism, then, there was also the image of Saladin, a great Muslim leader who, Europeans were aware, exemplified chivalry, honor, and compassion. Saladin’s renown across medieval Europe even bested emperors and kings, who were known more regionally, and “Only such saints as Francis had comparable fame.” [3]  European Christians, including the nobility in places like France, named their children after Saladin, [4]  and Europe’s first popular manual for chivalry, the thirteenth-century Ordene de chevalerie (Order of chivalry), featured Saladin as a central protagonist. [5]  Dante put Saladin on par with illustrious figures like Alexander the Great, Homer, and Socrates, [6]  while Voltaire wrote of Saladin, “He wanted to show through his command that all men are brothers.” [7]

Saladin championed values that Europeans claimed to embody themselves. The example of Saladin was thus always at hand when criticizing European, white, or Christian behavior. As early as the start of the thirteenth century in Europe, German court poets were criticizing kings for not being as generous as Saladin with their subjects. [8]  In the eighteenth century, as discussed in Journey into America, Benjamin Franklin condemned white attacks on Native Americans by pointing out that Saladin was far more just towards the “enemy” than these Christians were, and thus shamed them.

In the introduction to his 1825 novel The Talisman, which further popularised Saladin in the West and globally, Sir Walter Scott wrote that Saladin was the very ideal of a European leader in his “deep policy and prudence,” and in the Hollywood depiction of Scott’s novel (King Richard

In the introduction to his 1825 novel The Talisman, which further popularised Saladin in the West and globally, Sir Walter Scott wrote that Saladin was the very ideal of a European leader in his “deep policy and prudence,” and in the Hollywood depiction of Scott’s novel (King Richard and the Crusaders , 1954), King Richard says of Saladin to his fellow Crusaders, “I have a higher regard for him than for some of you.” In the English novelist Rider Haggard’s The Brethren (1904), which enthralled me when I was a young student in boarding school and is also set during the Crusades, an English lord remarks, “Saladin, though he be a Saracen, the greatest man on all the earth.”

and the Crusaders , 1954), King Richard says of Saladin to his fellow Crusaders, “I have a higher regard for him than for some of you.” In the English novelist Rider Haggard’s The Brethren (1904), which enthralled me when I was a young student in boarding school and is also set during the Crusades, an English lord remarks, “Saladin, though he be a Saracen, the greatest man on all the earth.” This was not far off from what Kaiser Wilhelm, the Emperor of Germany, had said six years earlier concerning Saladin when he visited his tomb in Damascus: “the greatest prince whose name is recorded in history.” [9]

The affection for Saladin among the Christians went beyond Europe and extended to the religion’s Eastern branches. The Egyptian Coptic Christian text History of the Patriarchs of the Egyptian Church, which serves as “the semi-official history of the Coptic Orthodox Church,” [10]  asserts that Saladin’s success could be attributed to divine guidance in applying the Christian Gospels and Torah, even though Saladin himself, being a Muslim, would not likely have thought in that way: “Sālah al-Dīn acted according to the command of these two religious laws, without knowing them, but [it was] an inspiration from God…an inspiration from God.” [11]  And after Saladin reopened Jerusalem to Jewish settlement, Jews began to also speak of Saladin in legendary terms as a divinely inspired figure, “as part of the divine plan, at the end of which the Jews would reclaim their land and their holy city.” [12]

Through the centuries, people in East and West have additionally seen in Saladin a paragon of interfaith coexistence, holding him up as an example for the current times. Films like the Egyptian epic Saladin the Victorious (1963) captured this element, with the sultan declaring, “Love others” and “all are free to worship their faith.” After 9/11, Ridley Scott made the film Kingdom of Heaven (2005), which features a dramatic scene in which Saladin, upon taking Jerusalem, finds a large and ornate Christian cross strewn on the floor and restores it respectfully to its rightful place. The film shows that Saladin and the King of Jerusalem are attempting to live together and create “A better world than has ever been seen…peace between Christian and Muslim.” It has even been suggested that Saladin influenced the very concept of religious tolerance in Christian European history (see below). Like many of our other Minglers, then, Saladin’s kind and compassionate reaching out to the “Other,” despite the difficult environment of conflict and warfare, not only pushed his own society towards Mingling but gave both East and West a Mingling model that people of different cultures have continually tried to live up to.

Possibly heightening Saladin’s intercultural sensitivities was the fact that, like other Mingler military and political leaders such as Alexander and Napoleon, Saladin was a member of a minority ethnic group ruling and commanding large populations of a different ethnicity. Saladin was a Kurd, and his rise to the heights of power came at a time when Kurds were in demand to join the forces of various Turkish warlords due to their military skills. [13]  Yet the Kurds were looked down on, and Saladin himself faced ethnic discrimination. [14]  Despite this, he became sultan of the Arab lands of Egypt and Syria and also ruled parts of modern-day Libya, Iraq, Palestine, Israel, Jordan, Turkey, Yemen, and Saudi Arabia. When he became a mighty and respected ruler, though, members of different ethnicities attempted to “claim” him by engaging in what anthropologists call fictitious genealogy. Arabs argued that Saladin was descended from the Umayyad caliph Marwan and thus was Arab, [15]  while Europeans claimed that Saladin was descended from the French counts of Ponthieu and even from Alexander the Great. [16]

Saladin’s ascendency came at a fractious time in Muslim history. The strong central authority of the Abbasid Empire had fallen away with the rise of the Seljuk Turks, Egypt was ruled by the declining Shia Fatimids, much of the Arab world was divided into kingdoms frequently under Sunni Turkish warlord sovereigns, and the Shia Assassins sect had their own lands. The Latin Crusaders also held large territories along the Mediterranean stretching from modern-day Turkey to Egypt.

Saladin was born around 1137 in Tikrit in what is now Iraq, where his father was serving as governor on behalf of the Seljuk Turks. Saladin’s grandfather and father, from the border area between the current states of Turkey, Iran, and Armenia, had probably been employed in the service of the Shaddadids, a small Kurdish dynasty. [17]  Saladin’s grandfather moved the family, of the Rawadiyya branch of the Kurdish Hadhabani tribe, to Iraq after being invited by a Seljuk official. Almost immediately after Saladin’s birth, his family moved again, this time to Mosul to enter the service of the Turkish ruler Zengi. When Zengi conquered Baalbek in modern-day Lebanon, he gave the government administration to Ayyub, Saladin’s father. Ayyub then accepted an offer from the ruler of the independent city of Damascus, and Saladin grew up in Damascus in the center of the city near the Umayyad Mosque. He thus was exposed to a cosmopolitan and interfaith environment as a child, encountering merchants, artists, scholars from across the Muslim world and beyond, and thriving Jewish and Christian communities. [18]

Saladin’s uncle, Shirkuh, was working for a different master, Zengi’s son, Nur al-Din. When Saladin was 15, he left to join Shirkuh in Aleppo. Saladin became an aide to Nur al-Din serving as his military liaison officer. [19]  At this point, Saladin is thrust into the politics of the era and enters history.

During this period Nur al-Din, seeking to enlarge his domains and challenge the Crusaders, increasingly appealed to Islam and the notion of the jihad to mobilise supporters—particularly concerning the mission of retaking Jerusalem. The Crusaders were themselves seeking to expand their territories. After Zengi took the Crusader state of Edessa, King Louis VII of France arrived and besieged Damascus, which turned to Nur al-Din for help. The Crusaders went on to attack and attempt to conquer the Fatimid Caliphate of Egypt, which similarly led the Fatimids to appeal to Nur al-Din. Nur al-Din dispatched Shirkuh and Saladin to Egypt and the two of them fought back the Crusaders there. By his late twenties, Saladin had already served as police chief of Damascus, participated in two military expeditions, and commanded troops at a high level. [20]  Saladin now ascended even further. When the Fatimid Caliph appointed Shirkuh his vizier, Saladin took on a senior administrative post. Yet Shirkuh soon died, and the Caliph recognised Saladin as his successor.

Saladin was now in the unusual position of being a Sunni vizier serving the Shia Caliph of the richest and most powerful nation in the region. Saladin, under pressure from Nur al-Din to implement Sunni Islam but not wanting to overly antagonise the Shia, initiated a series of incremental steps to officially institute Sunnism, which was already practiced by the majority of the population, in Egypt. By the time the Caliph died in 1171, it was stated that he had failed to anoint his eldest son as ruler and thus the throne was vacant. [21]  Saladin declared the Caliphate abolished and he became the Sultan of Egypt. Despite the abolishment of the Fatimid Caliphate, Saladin did have support among the Shia, including from contemporary historians and poets. [22]  He also embellished and supported the veneration of shrines sacred to the Shia such as that containing the head of Imam Hussein in Cairo. [23]  Saladin attempted to bring the sects together, for example, under his rule preachers evoked the merits of the key figures for both Sunni and Shia: the Prophet, the four orthodox caliphs (Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and Ali), the Prophet’s uncles, the sons of Ali, Hasan and Hussein, and the Prophet’s wives. [24]

The Arab historian A. R. Azzam has characterised Saladin’s restoration of Sunni Islam in Egypt as his greatest achievement and legacy—eclipsing even the taking of Jerusalem—because it ensured the long-term strength and viability of Sunnism and the institutions which undergirded it. [25]  For two centuries, Sunnism had been seriously challenged by Shiism, including in Islam’s centers of power. At one stage, the Fatimids, possessing a

Jerusalem was and remains an emotional and evocative subject for all three Abrahamic religions. For Jews, it is capital of the ancient Kingdom of Israel and the religious and cultural focus of the far-flung diaspora, for Christians it is where Jesus taught, was killed, and was resurrected, and for Muslims it is the place of the Prophet’s Night Journey and the third holiest place in Islam. Jerusalem is also central to the eschatology of all three religions—in Judaism it is the location of the coming of the Messiah, in Christianity the Second Coming of Christ, and in Islam the site of the resurrection of the dead and the Last Judgment – Photo Wikipedia

wide network of missionaries, advocates, and institutions, controlled half of the Islamic world. [26]

Over the next decade or so, Saladin campaigned constantly, adding additional lands such as Damascus, Aleppo, Mosul, the Hijaz, and Yemen to his growing Ayyubid Sultanate. Saladin married Nur-al Din’s widow, thus reinforcing his legitimacy, and endured many trials, such as several attempted murders by the Assassins. By the 1180s, he was finally ready to more directly take on the Crusader territories, particularly the city of Jerusalem.

Jerusalem was and remains an emotional and evocative subject for all three Abrahamic religions. For Jews, it is capital of the ancient Kingdom of Israel and the religious and cultural focus of the far-flung diaspora, for Christians it is where Jesus taught, was killed, and was resurrected, and for Muslims it is the place of the Prophet’s Night Journey and the third holiest place in Islam. Jerusalem is also central to the eschatology of all three religions—in Judaism it is the location of the coming of the Messiah, in Christianity the Second Coming of Christ, and in Islam the site of the resurrection of the dead and the Last Judgment.

The Crusades, which lasted two centuries and were influential in Europe much longer than that, gave Latin Christians a religious duty to secure the city for themselves. As the historian John Gillingham explained, in Europe during the medieval period it was believed that “if the land on which Christ had walked, if the city in which he was buried was not in Christian hands, that was an affront to their God, that their God would feel that they had let him down. Also, if Jerusalem was in the hands of men of another faith, the pilgrim route to Jerusalem might be barred for generations unless you controlled that route and the holy city itself.” [27]  The curbing of such pilgrimage routes by the Seljuk Turks was one of the contributing factors which led the Pope to call the initial Crusade.

When the Catholic Crusaders took Jerusalem in 1099 from the Fatimids, they perpetuated what according to all accounts was a complete massacre. Believing that the Muslim and Jewish inhabitants were “befouling the Holy Places,” [28]  the Crusaders killed whoever they came across in Jerusalem. Muslim and Jewish women “were beheaded or had their brains smashed out with rocks, the screams of their children intensifying the clamour for a moment, before they too were cut to pieces. Babies were grasped by the leg and swung into walls or lintels of doors so that their necks were broken….Heaps of heads, hands and feet could be seen piled up along the rows of houses

When Saladin died in 1193, despite his power and might, his treasury was reportedly empty. He is said to only have left behind a saddle, a sword, and a well-thumbed copy of the Qur’an as his possessions. Baha ad-Din records that Saladin “left no property, no house, no estate, no orchard, no village, no farm, not a single item of property of any sort.” [110]  It was necessary to borrow money to pay for his funeral. [111]  This was a reflection of the simplicity and humility with which Saladin lived his life. It was also a reflection of Saladin’s policy of giving gifts freely—including entire provinces—to people without ever being asked, which always rendered his coffers empty. [112]  He distributed mass sums to the poor in particular. [113]  In this, as in other actions, Saladin followed the example of the Prophet of Islam, who, when he died, left behind no wealth and no possessions apart from a mule, arms, and a piece of land which he gave to charity. - BBC History Magazine

and streets, where blood was pouring swiftly along the gutters.” [29]  Across the city, inhabitants were dragged out of their homes and mutilated by Crusaders after riches: “Ears and fingers were cut away for their jewellery, intestines spilled in case bezants or jewels had been swallowed.” [30]  As for Jerusalem’s Muslim and Jewish scholars, their throats were slit and religious and philosophical texts ransomed for those willing to pay for them. [31]  Jews hiding in the main synagogue of Jerusalem were burned alive [32]  while Muslims who fled into the Al-Aqsa Mosque were butchered to the extent that it was impossible to move in the mosque “without walking through streams of blood…those who did so were soaked in gore up to their knees.” [33] In all, around 40,000 residents of Jerusalem were killed, including Orthodox Christians. [34]  The few Jews and Muslims who survived were forced to dispose of the mountains of dead bodies, before ultimately being killed or enslaved. [35]  The Crusaders soon issued a law banning all Jews and Muslims from Jerusalem. [36]

Decades later, with Saladin now the most powerful force in the Middle East, it seemed to Muslims as if Jerusalem could finally be returned to Islamic rule. In 1187, this actually occurred. Following the breaking of a truce between Saladin and the Crusaders by Raynald of Châtillon, the Prince of Antioch—who had previously launched attacks against Mecca and Medina while on a purported mission to “seize ‘the Prophet’s body’” [37] —Saladin made his move. At the Battle of Hattin north of Jerusalem, Saladin delivered the knockout blow to the Crusaders. He lured them into the arid desert without access to water or supply lines, thus sapping their strength, and decimated their army. The vast majority of Christian soldiers were captured or killed. Saladin then turned to Jerusalem itself.

With Saladin now outside of Jerusalem, he pondered how the city could be secured. First, he sent a diplomat, a Greek Orthodox Melkite Christian who had long served Saladin and his brother al-Adil “to try to entice his co-religionists inside Jerusalem to surrender in return for a large financial payment.” [38]  Saladin proposed that Jerusalem surrender unconditionally, in which case, he said, there would be no bloodshed, but this was refused. [39]  He began bombarding Jerusalem as morale inside the city collapsed.

When the leader of Jerusalem, Balian of Ibelin, asked for a truce, Saladin reportedly upped the ante. According to his chancellor, Imad al-Din al-Isfahani, Saladin sent word that “I wish to deal with Jerusalem in the same way that the Christians treated it when they took it from the Muslims.” [40]  As the historian Jonathan Phillips notes, it is difficult to tell whether or not this was a negotiating tactic, given that in Saladin’s many previous campaigns, his “default method of taking a city was by arrangement rather than by violence.” [41]  Balian’s response, Phillips explains, fell “just short of entirely calling Saladin’s bluff yet playing the limited cards that he had to tremendous effect.” [42]  Balian said that the Crusaders were prepared to fight to the last, killing their own children rather than becoming slaves to the Muslims, and that they would execute 5,000 Muslim prisoners, demolish the Dome of the Rock, and destroy the rock itself. [43]

Saladin conferred with his council of advisors, and proposed an arrangement to which Balian agreed. Balian would turn over Jerusalem and Saladin would allow safe passage out of the city for the Christians along with their belongings, provided they pay a standard ransom which was set at ten dinars for men, five for women, and two for children. Those who could not pay the fee were to be taken into slavery. When Balian informed Saladin that there were 20,000 poor people in Jerusalem who could never afford to pay the fee, Saladin responded by stating that for a sum of 100,000 dinars, he would free all of them. Balian attempted to secure funds from the Knights Templar and Hospitallers who were very wealthy, but he only managed to raise 30,000 dinars, with which he freed 7,000 people. [44]  Hearing of this problem, Saladin leapt into action and began to pay the ransom for Jerusalem’s poor himself. At one point, for example, he used all the money that his forces had collected from the Crusaders in a single day, 70,000 dinars, to secure the release of Christians. [45]  At other times, Saladin used his authority to free people without any payment. When the Christians saw this, they began asking for more people to be freed. Balian and the patriarch each asked for 1,000 men and women to be freed, which Saladin agreed to. Saladin then himself freed all elderly Christians. [46]  Saladin’s brother, al-Adil, working with Saladin, also freed 1,000 Christians.

Saladin’s officials protested this liberal policy, particularly regarding Heraclius, the Patriarch of Jerusalem, who they observed carrying some 200,000 dinars worth of treasure including gold and carpets out of the city. Surely, they said, they could demand of him to turn over more than the 10 dinars he was obligated to pay. Yet Saladin insisted, stating, “I will not act treacherously towards him” and even gave Heraclius an escort to the Crusader city of Tyre. [47]  Otherwise, Saladin told Imad al-Din al-Isfahani, the Christians “will accuse us of perfidy, for they do not know the heart of the matter. We will therefore deal with them by applying the safeguard agreement to the letter, and will not let them accuse the Believers of having violated the sworn faith. On the contrary, they will speak of the blessings we have showered on them.” [48]

Saladin especially honoured the wives and children of the illustrious residents of Jerusalem—even of his mortal enemies. Not only did he allow Balian’s wife Maria Comnena, who was also the former wife of the King of Jerusalem, to leave Jerusalem with her children and possessions, but he entertained the party in his tent. He fed and clothed the children, and picked up two of them and sat them on his right and left knee. In a scene recorded by a Christian author, Saladin began to cry. When his officials asked why he was weeping, he replied that “no one should wonder at it because the things of this world are merely on loan and are then recalled,” and elaborated, “‘For just as I am now disinheriting other men’s children, my own will find that after my death they will be disinherited.” [49]  Saladin also allowed the Queen of Jerusalem, Sibylla, to join her husband, King Guy, who Saladin had captured at the Battle of Hattin, in Nablus.

On another occasion, the wives and daughters of the Christian knights who had been killed or captured by Saladin’s forces at the Battle of Hattin came to see him. Weeping, they told Saladin they had paid the ransom but they had nowhere to go and did not even know if their husbands and fathers were alive or dead. Saladin informed them that he would check to see who was alive from the battle of the prisoners he was holding in Damascus and would immediately free them. He ordered that all the women whose husbands and fathers had been killed be paid generously from the Ayyubid state treasury. [50]

Saladin even treated Stephanie, the wife of Raynald of Châtillon, who he had personally executed following the Battle of Hattin, with magnanimity and compassion. Saladin agreed to free her as well as her son, Humphrey, who was captured at the Battle of Hattin, if she agreed to turn over the two castles she had inherited from Raynald, Kerak and Montreal, to Saladin. Stephanie and Humphrey were reunited and attempted to convince Kerak and Montreal to surrender, but they refused. In response, Stephanie sent Humphrey back to Saladin with the expectation that since she had failed, Saladin would reimprison Humphrey. Yet Saladin, touched by the gesture, immediately freed Humphrey once again. [51]  This was not, it should be noted, Saladin’s first interaction with Stephanie and Humphrey. Four years earlier, Saladin had besieged Kerak, only to discover that Humphrey’s wedding was going on inside the castle, complete with guests, performers, and musicians. After learning of this, Saladin ordered his troops to stand down for the duration of the wedding, and particularly to spare the tower where the newlyweds were spending their first night together. [52]

A crucially important decision that Saladin had to make after the taking of Jerusalem was the fate of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the holiest site in Christianity. Some of Saladin’s advisors proposed that the church be destroyed in revenge for the Crusaders’ conduct when they conquered Jerusalem, and argued that its destruction would deter Christians from wanting to come to Jerusalem. Saladin rejected this, contending that Christians would always want to return to the site where according to their religion Jesus was crucified, and, in any case, “He added that, under his rule, he wanted to encourage, not discourage, Christian pilgrimage.” – Image Reddit

A crucially important decision that Saladin had to make after the taking of Jerusalem was the fate of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the holiest site in Christianity. Some of Saladin’s advisors proposed that the church be destroyed in revenge for the Crusaders’ conduct when they conquered Jerusalem, and argued that its destruction would deter Christians from wanting to come to Jerusalem. Saladin rejected this, contending that Christians would always want to return to the site where according to their religion Jesus was crucified, and, in any case, “He added that, under his rule, he wanted to encourage, not discourage, Christian pilgrimage.” [53]  Saladin also cited the example and precedent of the Caliph Umar, who, when he took Jerusalem for Islam in the seventh century, confirmed the Holy Sepulchre’s status as a Christian holy site. [54]  Just three days after Saladin took the city, he ordered the Holy Sepulchre reopened, and invited pilgrims to come.

When the Emperor of Byzantium, Isaac II Angelos, sent his congratulations to Saladin and inquired whether the Orthodox Church could have the privilege of administering the Christian holy places, Saladin said 'yes.' [55]  Saladin then requested the establishment of a mosque in Constantinople, to which the emperor agreed. Saldin sent a minbar pulpit to be placed inside the mosque along with an imam to lead the congregation in Constantinople, which consisted mostly of merchants. [56]  In a message to Saladin, the Emperor wrote, “From Isaac the Emperor, believer in the divine Messiah, crowned by God, victorious, ever exalted, Augustus, God’s governor, invincible conqueror, the master of Rüm, Angelus, to his brother, the Sultan of Egypt Saladin…Love and friendship.” [57]

Saladin did not forget the Latin Catholics, however. In a meeting with Hubert Walter, the Bishop of Salisbury who was soon to become Archbishop of Canterbury, Saladin asked, what present could he give him? The Bishop requested that Latin priests and deacons be permitted to serve at the Holy Sepulchre alongside the Orthodox priests, as well as in Bethlehem and Nazareth. [58]  Saladin immediately granted the request. Additionally, Saladin allowed for the Catholic Order the Knights Hospitaller to maintain a hospital they ran in Jerusalem to care for the sick. [59]  He already hosted a population of Italian merchants in Egypt who were accorded their own churches, baths, and commercial establishments. [60]

As already hinted in the discussion concerning the low ransom for rich Christians such as the Patriarch and the fate of the Holy Sepulchre, Saladin faced considerable opposition from his own side concerning his Mingling inclinations. His advisors pointed out that if the goal was to conquer the lands and fortifications of the Crusaders, then continuing to free them only meant they could live to fight another day against Muslims. And new Crusades would continue to arrive from Europe which would further fortify and buttress the Crusaders’ Holy Land bases and fighting forces. Yet Saladin refused to compromise his principles, even when people behaved exactly as his advisors feared.

For example, Saladin freed the King of Jerusalem, King Guy, who he had captured at the Battle of Hattin, on the agreement that the King would go overseas and never take arms against the Muslims in the future. King Guy then boarded a vessel, sailed half a kilometer to an island, and then returned to fight Saladin, arguing that technically, in visiting the island, he had been “overseas.” [61]  Muslims complained about cities like Tyre, to which many of the Crusaders Saladin allowed to leave Jerusalem fled. When Saladin then attempted to take Tyre, he failed. The contemporary Arab historian Ibn al-Athir remarked that Saladin was effectively fighting for the Christians against himself: “ought we not to say that in a sense it was Salah al-Din himself who organised the defence of Tyre against his own army?” [62]  The scholar Sibt Ibn al-Jawzi similarly argued that Saladin’s freeing the population of Jerusalem allowed them to go to Tyre, which in turn led to the fall of Acre to the Crusaders after a two-year siege.  [63]  At Acre, the liberated King Guy rallied the troops, and the arrival of King Richard tipped the balance in favor of the Crusaders.

Even Balian, the defender of Jerusalem against Saladin, was only there because of Saladin’s generosity. Following the Battle of Hattin, Balian had escaped to Tyre but his wife was stuck in Jerusalem. Balian sent a message to Saladin asking to be allowed to go to Jerusalem to escort her out. Saladin agreed on the condition that Balian swear on the Bible only to spend one night in the city and travel unarmed. Yet, when Balian arrived, the people of Jerusalem appealed for him to stay and lead them against Saladin. Balian agreed, and apologised to Saladin, who accepted the apology. [64]

Through all these trials, in other words, and in the face of considerable opposition, Saladin’s sense of humanity, kindness, and decency shone through his decisions. He elevated a concern for humanity above the usual considerations of war and strategy that normally consume leaders and commanders. In fact, as Saladin showed, it made him an even more effective leader and attracted many people and territories to his kingdom. It was in many ways the secret to Saladin’s success in increasing his empire so rapidly. He took care to avoid humiliating his enemies, both Muslim and Christian. He left populations with their possessions, repaired the damage caused by his army, and brought their rulers onside, allowed them to maintain high office, and forgave them for opposing him. [65]

In his manner of administration, Saladin projected an inviting openness, as Baha ad-Din ibn Shaddad, Saladin’s close friend and a jurist, historian, and administrator, attests. In public sessions held twice a week attended by jurists and scholars, “The door would be opened to litigants so that everyone, great and small, senile women and old men, might have access to him…at all times he would accept petitions presented to him, to discover what injustices were reported to him…He received graciously anyone that came to him on a mission, even if he were an infidel.” [66]  No complaint was rejected, including those lodged against powerful and rich people. [67]  In Jerusalem, an old man even sued Saladin himself in a property case. Yet Saladin, we are informed, “came down from his throne to be judged equally, and won the case, but then loaded the claimant with gifts.” [68]  Baha ad-Din also tells us that Saladin “disliked gossip, not wishing to hear anything but good of a person,” [69]  while his chancellor, al-Isfahani, states “it was his custom to give without making one ask for what one needed.” [70]  In the administration of his territories, Saladin “always admonished his deputies to suppress abuse and be ‘not hurtful.’” [71]  His philosophy on clemency in judicial cases was captured by the Andalusian scholar and traveler Ibn Jubayr, who reported, “He had just forgiven the crime of someone who had offended against him and said, ‘For my part, I would rather miss the mark in being merciful than inflict undeserved punishment.’” [72]

Let us cite some further examples of Saladin’s treatment of the “Other” in his domain, principally Christians and Jews. Baha ad-Din recorded this remarkable interaction between Saladin and a Latin Catholic woman during the Crusader siege of Acre. Muslim thieves, targeting the “enemy,” had abducted and sold a three-month-old baby. The cries of the despondent mother were heard by Christian leaders, who advised her that her best hope was to try to get to Saladin and allowed her to proceed. She made contact with Saladin’s troops, who sent her to the Sultan. She encountered Saladin when he was riding with Baha ad-Din, surrounded by a crowd. Baha ad-Din described what happened next: “She wept copious tears and besmirched her face with soil. After he had asked about her case and it had been explained, he had compassion for her and, with tears in his eyes, he ordered the infant to be brought to him. People went and found that it had been sold in the market. The sultan ordered the purchase price to be paid to the purchaser and the child taken from him. He himself stayed where he had halted until the infant was produced and then handed over to the woman who took it, wept mightily, and hugged it to her bosom, while people watched her and wept also. I was standing there amongst the gathering. She suckled the child for a while and then, on the orders of the sultan, she was taken on horseback and restored to their camp with the infant.” [73]  Baha ad-Din concludes, “Consider this compassion which encompasses all humanity. O God, You created him merciful, show him Your ample mercy, O mighty and generous One! Consider, too, the testimony of the enemy to his gentleness, generosity, mercy and compassion.” [74]

There is also the example of the condolence letter that Saladin sent Baldwin, the new King of Jerusalem, upon learning that his father King Amalric, who Saladin had fought against and met, had died. Saladin wrote of his “devastation of the passing away of a friend and of the void left in his stead. Let him [Baldwin] know that, like his father, he has from us a pure love, a true faith, an affection that is strong in life and death, and a heart that has been strengthened in this life by loyalty despite the religious differences. Let him rely on us as the son who carries the burden which his father carried before him. May God perpetuate his longevity, look over his emirate, make him attain success and inspire him to trust the intentions of a friend.” [75]

The Sultan rejected his advisors' suggestion to damage the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, contending that Christians would always want to return to the site where according to their religion Jesus was crucified, and, in any case, “He added that, under his rule, he wanted to encourage, not discourage, Christian pilgrimage.”

Nephew of Saladin with St Francis. Saladin additionally ruled large Christian and Jewish populations in his domains such as Egypt and Syria. In Aleppo, following attacks on non-Muslims or dhimmis by Muslims, Saladin issued a decree on the rights of non-Muslims: “guard and protect those dhimmīs; abstain from harming and harassing them; do not cause them any wrong; do not institute wrongful proceedings against them and do not deviate from the straight and narrow regarding them; do not alter the justice that is guaranteed them; do not interfere with the benefits supplied them; do not attack them in acts or words…The emirs and other governors must execute that judgment, must guarantee these dhimmīs against injustice, and must protect them in every situation and, in case of incident, from any harm and loss.” – Image muslim.forum.info

Saladin additionally ruled large Christian and Jewish populations in his domains such as Egypt and Syria. In Aleppo, following attacks on non-Muslims or dhimmis by Muslims, Saladin issued a decree on the rights of non-Muslims: “guard and protect those dhimmīs; abstain from harming and harassing them; do not cause them any wrong; do not institute wrongful proceedings against them and do not deviate from the straight and narrow regarding them; do not alter the justice that is guaranteed them; do not interfere with the benefits supplied them; do not attack them in acts or words…The emirs and other governors must execute that judgment, must guarantee these dhimmīs against injustice, and must protect them in every situation and, in case of incident, from any harm and loss.” [76]

Concerning Christians, they had important roles in the state bureaucracy during Saladin’s rule, for example in financial administration. [77]  Saladin’s family also had many Christians working closely with them. Saladin’s father Ayyub had a Christian secretary [78]  and Saladin’s brother al-Adil, who succeeded Saladin as sultan, had so many Christians in his administration that a poet in Aleppo, which he governed, sardonically stated, “There is a Christian emir, a Christian vizier, a Christian governor and a Christian overseer of the dīwān.” [79]

Saladin additionally maintained Christian physicians on his staff. In keeping with the customs and spirit of the times, these esteemed figures were not solely physicians but scholars, writers, musicians, poets, philosophers, and astronomers from places as far-flung as Andalusia and Baghdad. [80]  Indeed, Saladin, with his focus on scholarship, welcomed Muslim, Christian, and Jewish scientists and scholars from around the world. [81]  Saladin took a particular interest in the medical profession and encouraged the writing of several medical treatises. [82]  One of Saladin’s doctors who also served as his chamberlain was Ibn al-Mutran of Damascus, a Christian who converted to Islam and possessed a personal library of over 10,000 volumes. [83]

Saladin was a significant builder and patron of institutions of learning, from the time he served as Fatimid vizier in Egypt onwards. His wife, ‘Ismat al-Dīn, founded a Sufi establishment in Damascus, while his sisters founded schools and Sufi institutions – Image Al Jazeera

Saladin was a significant builder and patron of institutions of learning, from the time he served as Fatimid vizier in Egypt onwards. He founded numerous schools, including in secret to avoid taking credit for them himself. [84]  He also established Sufi institutions, and was reported to attend Sufi concerts of mystic music. [85]  Additionally, the women in his life founded their own schools and religious centers. His wife, ‘Ismat al-Dīn, founded a Sufi establishment in Damascus, while his sisters founded schools and Sufi institutions. [86]

Saladin’s building of colleges and schools, A.R. Azzam explains, was in the context of the “Sunni Revival” which arose as a response to rising Shia influence—and yet Saladin’s interest in education was much deeper and broader than simply offsetting Shiism. Promoting knowledge was a religious and moral duty, including concerning the “Other,” but there was a specific philosophy of education behind Saladin’s approach rooted in the social trends of the times. The educational system that Saladin implemented originated with Nizam al-Mulk, the famous scholar and vizier of the Seljuk Empire, who designed a curriculum and approach based in the thinking of scholars like al-Ghazali. This approach bridged the different sects and interpretations of Islam including Sufis, the Shia, the different legal traditions, and the engagement with Greek philosophy into a standard and inclusive Islamic educational program. [87]  The schools, known as nizamiyyas after Nizam al-Mulk, produced an entire cadre of scholars and government administrators who ran states across the Muslim world—indeed

the nizamiyyas helped create “the very concept of the ‘Muslim world.’” [88]  Saladin’s nizamiyyas, which offered free education to all, formed his power base and a crucial source of support and legitimacy for his efforts, for example concerning Jerusalem and the Crusaders.

Of the Jewish scholars and physicians surrounding Saladin, none was more famous than Rabbi Maimonides, who also served as the head of the Jewish community in Egypt. As such, Maimonides represented the Jews before Saladin’s administration and received a state salary. [89]  Maimonides was also the doctor of Saladin’s eldest son, al-Afdal, and dedicated two small works to him, while Maimonides’ brother-in-law was secretary to al-Afdal’s mother. [90]  The intercultural environment at the time of Saladin could be seen in Maimonides’ circle of friends who would meet to exchange ideas—they also included the Sunni Muslim poet and head judge of Cairo, Ibn Sana al-Mulk, and the Jewish chief physician of Saladin’s court, Ibn Jumay’ al-Isra’ili. There is, for example, a record of the group meeting to discuss theology—at this meeting the participants were Maimonides, Ibn Sana al-Mulk, and the Shia Syrian scholar Sharif Abu al-Qasim al-Halabi. The circle of friends was described by Saladin’s vizier, Qadi al-Fadil, as “lovers who love discussion.” [91]

Saladin’s taking of Jerusalem shook the global Jewish community. For the first time in many decades, it was now possible for Jews to visit and even live in Jerusalem—indeed, Saladin encouraged them to do so. Throughout the Jewish diaspora, Saladin was hailed as the new Cyrus, who had allowed the Jews to return to Jerusalem from exile in Babylon. [92]  Nearly two decades after Saladin took Jerusalem, the Spanish Jewish poet al-Harizi recounted a conversation he had with a Jewish resident of Jerusalem about Saladin and the Jews. When al-Harizi asked him how Jews came to live in Jerusalem, the man replied, “God stirred the spirit of the king of the Ishmaelites [Saladin]…he and all the hosts of Egypt went up and put siege to Jerusalem and God delivered her into his hands. And he ordered that a proclamation should be made in every city, to old and young, namely: ‘Speak ye on the heart of Jerusalem, whoever is from the seed of Ephraim, whether in Assyria or in Egypt, and those forsaken at the ends of the horizon, those who are willing should ingather from all the world’s corners and dwell inside her boundaries. And now we are settled here in the shadow of sweet peace.’” [93]

Saladin has had an enduring impact in the Muslim world, the West, and globally. Before we conclude our discussion of him, we will note one important element of his legacy relevant for Mingling: Saladin’s inclusion in the “parable of the three rings,” which, according to one study, played an important role in shaping the idea of religious tolerance in European history. [115]  In the parable, a father with three beloved sons promises each one that they will inherit a special dazzling and precious ring upon his death. Instead of choosing which son to leave the ring to, however, the father has a jeweler make two additional identical rings to match the original. Thus, on his death the sons realise they have all been given identical rings and argue over which is the “true” one. In this parable, the father is the One God and the three sons are Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Only the father truly knows what the “truth” is, so on earth it is better to tolerate and accept one another, as all are relatives

What al-Harizi is describing is a widespread Jewish return to Jerusalem or Zion, and he meets Jews from Europe and the Maghreb in addition to local Palestinian Jews in Jerusalem. [94]  The Jewish spiritual leaders of Europe encouraged this migration, and “outstanding scholarly and spiritual figures” from France and Germany were among the emigrees. [95]  Al-Harizi described the emotional weight of his own journey in verse: “When I to Zion from Spanish exile went/ My soul from depths to heaven made ascent.” [96]  While the large-scale movements in the thirteenth century had been attributed to Jews fleeing persecution, the Israeli historian Joshua Prawer has argued that the catalyst for the mass migration was Saladin’s victory and Jewish feelings of being welcomed back in Jerusalem. [97]

Towards the end of his life, after fighting King Richard for a year to a stalemate, Saladin reached a landmark peace agreement with Richard. It was called the Treaty of Jaffa and is significant for being “the first partition of Palestine.” [98]  Under the terms, Saladin retained Jerusalem but the Crusaders retained coastal cities including Tyre and Acre. Christians were to have full rights of pilgrimage in Jerusalem. Saladin displayed a fondness for Richard, remarking that if he were to lose Jerusalem, he would prefer Richard take it over any other Christian leader. [99]  When Saladin, fighting against Richard at Jaffa, observed that Richard’s horse was felled, he reportedly sent “two fresh horses as a gift to the brave King,” escorted to him through the turmoil of battle. [100]  When Richard fell ill, Saladin sent his own doctor to help heal him. [101]  And Saladin even agreed to Richard’s proposal to settle the conflict by marrying Saladin’s brother al-Adil to Richard’s sister Joan, the Queen of Sicily, who would jointly rule from Jerusalem in the name of both Islam and Christianity. [102]  While Saladin’s chancellor al-Isfahani reported that there were high hopes this arrangement would “mend the large tear” between the Christians and Muslims and “the word ‘war’ would be transformed into ‘peace,’” [103]  it fell apart due the religious complexities involved. Yet scholars have contended that the proposal influenced the framework for the final agreed treaty. [104]

With the Treaty of Jaffa decided, Saladin “ordered the herald to proclaim in the encampments and in the markets, ‘Listen all! Peace has been arranged. Any person from their lands who wishes to enter ours may do so and any person from our lands who wishes to enter theirs may also do so.’” [105]  Within days, Saladin and Richard’s troops began fraternizing. [106]  Saladin seemed to take a particular pleasure in welcoming the Christians to Jerusalem. As Baha ad-Din recounts, “A large host of the enemy came to Jerusalem to perform their pilgrimage. The sultan gave them every assistance and sent escorts with them to protect them…He offered food, met them with an easy manner and conversed with them.” [107]  Saladin also granted lands to Christians such as Bohemond III of Antioch—in this case Saladin, at a Beirut banquet attended by 14 Catholic barons, returned to Bohemond rich agricultural lands of his that Saladin had previously conquered. [108]

Shortly before he died, Saladin gave the following advice to his son, al-Zahir, which reflects Saladin’s philosophy of life: “I charge you to fear God Almighty, for He is the source of all good. I command you to do what God has commanded, for that is the means of your salvation. I warn you against shedding blood, indulging in it and making a habit of it, for blood never sleeps. I charge you to care for the hearts of your subjects and to examine their affairs. You are my trustee and God’s trustee to guard their interests. I charge you to care for the hearts of the emirs and men of state and the magnates. I have only achieved what I have by coaxing people. Hold no grudge against anyone, for death spares nobody. Take care in your relations with people, for only if they are satisfied will you be forgiven, and also in your relations with God, for God will only be forgiving if you repent to Him, and He is gracious.” [109]

When Saladin died in 1193, despite his power and might, his treasury was reportedly empty. He is said to only have left behind a saddle, a sword, and a well-thumbed copy of the Qur’an as his possessions. Baha ad-Din records that Saladin “left no property, no house, no estate, no orchard, no village, no farm, not a single item of property of any sort.” [110]  It was necessary to borrow money to pay for his funeral. [111]  This was a reflection of the simplicity and humility with which Saladin lived his life. It was also a reflection of Saladin’s policy of giving gifts freely—including entire provinces—to people without ever being asked, which always rendered his coffers empty. [112]  He distributed mass sums to the poor in particular. [113]  In this, as in other actions, Saladin followed the example of the Prophet of Islam, who, when he died, left behind no wealth and no possessions apart from a mule, arms, and a piece of land which he gave to charity. The Arab physician and philosopher Abd al-Latif al-Baghdadi, who was among the illustrious group of scholars in Saladin’s patronage, observed of the reaction to Saladin’s death among people of different religions: “Men grieved for him as they grieve for prophets. I have seen no other ruler for whose death the people mourned, for he was loved by good and bad, Muslim and unbeliever alike.” [114]

As stated above, Saladin has had an enduring impact in the Muslim world, the West, and globally. Before we conclude our discussion of him, we will note one important element of his legacy relevant for Mingling: Saladin’s inclusion in the “parable of the three rings,” which, according to one study, played an important role in shaping the idea of religious tolerance in European history. [115]  In the parable, a father with three beloved sons promises each one that they will inherit a special dazzling and precious ring upon his death. Instead of choosing which son to leave the ring to, however, the father has a jeweler make two additional identical rings to match the original. Thus, on his death the sons realise they have all been given identical rings and argue over which is the “true” one. In this parable, the father is the One God and the three sons are Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Only the father truly knows what the “truth” is, so on earth it is better to tolerate and accept one another, as all are relatives.

The historian Iris Shagrir has traced this parable all the way back to the eighth century in Abbasid Baghdad, after which it crossed into Europe around the time of the Crusades. At this point, Saladin is incorporated into the narrative and he endorses the parable and its message. The parable, now featuring Saladin’s starring turn, entered European folk culture, appearing in landmark works like Giovanni Boccaccio’s fourteenth century The Decameron, a fifteenth century edition of Aesop’s Fables, and perhaps most notably, Gotthold Ephraim Lessing’s eighteenth century play Nathan the Wise, which is set in Jerusalem during the Crusades.

In different times and in different places, then, those inclined towards Mingling could draw upon the example of people like Saladin and popular stories and legends such as the parable of the three rings to provide a framework in which the “Other” could be embraced with love—and all without compromising one’s own culture, religion, and traditions. As a military commander and head of state, Saladin also shows that it is possible to elevate a concern for humanity and suffering—among people of all ethnic, religious, and national origins—in the conduct of war, grand strategy, and international relations. Like the other Minglers, Saladin is a role model par excellence, setting a standard so instinctively impressive it transcends one community or the other. It compels us then to look to our own leaders, of whichever religion or background, and demand they live up to such a standard. This is precisely what so many over the past centuries have done in their remembrances and invocations of the legendary sultan.

The search for Saladin thus becomes an ongoing challenge to Muslims, while it provides them a deep sense of pride and hope.

[1]  A.R. Azzam, Saladin (Harlow, England: Pearson Longman, 2009), p. 5.

[2]  Jonathan Phillips, The Life and Legend of the Sultan Saladin (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2019), p. 216.

[3]  Norman Daniel, Islam and the West: The Making of an Image (Oxford: Oneworld, 1993), p. 225.

[4]  Phillips, The Life and Legend of the Sultan Saladin, p. 325.

[5]  John Arnold, “Gender and Sexuality.” In Carol Lansing and Edward D. English, A Companion to the Medieval World (Oxford: Blackwell, 2013), p. 168.

[6]  Anne-Marie Eddé, Saladin. Translated by Jane Marie Todd. (Cambridge: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2011), pp. 465, 468.

[7]  John Man, Saladin: The Sultan Who Vanquished the Crusaders and Built an Islamic Empire (Boston: Da Capo, 2016), p. 262.

[8]  Phillips, The Life and Legend of the Sultan Saladin, p. 318.

[9]  Phillips, The Life and Legend of the Sultan Saladin, p. 312.

[10]  Mark N. Swanson, “Scripture Interpreting the Church’s Story: Biblical Allusions in the History of the Patriarchs of Alexandria.” In Georges Tamer, Regina Grundmann, Assaad Elias Kattan, and Karl Pinggéra, eds. Exegetical Crossroads: Understanding Scripture in Judaism, Christianity and Islam in the Pre-Modern Orient (Berlin: De Gruyter, 2018), p. 62.

[11]  Eddé, Saladin, p. 410.

[12]  Eddé, Saladin, p. 405; Joshua Prawer, The History of the Jews in the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1988), p. 66.

[13]  Phillips, The Life and Legend of the Sultan Saladin, p. 13.

[14]  Azzam, Saladin, p. 26.

[15]  Azzam, Saladin, p. 26.

[16]  Phillips, The Life and Legend of the Sultan Saladin, p. 320; Eddé, Saladin, p. 481.

[17]  Eddé, Saladin, p. 22.

[18]  Peter Gubser, Saladin: Empire and Holy War (Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press, 2010), p. 39.

[19]  Gubser, Saladin, p. 40.

[20]  Gubser, Saladin, p. 58.

[21]  Michael Brett, The Fatimid Empire (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2017), p. 294.

[22]  Hannes Möhring, Saladin: The Sultan and His Times, 1138-1193. Translated by David S. Bachrach. (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005), p. 97; Mohamed El-Moctar, “Saladin in Sunni and Shi’a Memories.” In Nicholas Paul and Suzanne Yeager, eds., Remembering the Crusades: Myth, Image, and Identity (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2012), pp. 197-214.

[23]  Richard J. A. McGregor, Islam and the Devotional Object: Seeing Religion in Egypt and Syria (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2020), p. 158; Malise Ruthven and Azim Nanji, Historical Atlas of Islam (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2004), p. 62.

[24]  Azzam, Saladin, p. 92.

[25]  Azzam, Saladin, pp. 6-7.

[26]  Azzam, Saladin, p. 13.

[27]  John Gillingham in Empires, “Holy Warriors: Richard the Lionheart & Saladin,” PBS Documentary, 2005.

[28]  Conor Kostick, The Siege of Jerusalem: Crusade and Conquest in 1099 (London: Continuum, 2009), p. 113.

[29]  Kostick, The Siege of Jerusalem, p. 124.

[30]  Kostick, The Siege of Jerusalem, p. 125.

[31]  Kostick, The Siege of Jerusalem, p. 125.

[32]  Kostick, The Siege of Jerusalem, p. 126.

[33]  Kostick, The Siege of Jerusalem, p. 130.

[34]  Kostick, The Siege of Jerusalem, p. 131.

[35]  Kostick, The Siege of Jerusalem, pp. 135-136.

[36]  Harvey Cox, “Making Jerusalem a ‘Holy’ City for Three Faiths.” In Moshe Ma’oz, ed., The Meeting of Civilizations: Muslim, Christian and Jewish (Eastbourne: Sussex Academic Press, 2010), p. 80.

[37]  Brandon Marriott, Transnational Networks and Cross-Religious Exchange in the Seventeenth-Century Mediterranean and Atlantic Worlds: Sabbatai Sevi and the Lost Tribes of Israel (Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, 2016), p. 65.

[38]  Phillips, The Life and Legend of the Sultan Saladin, p. 193.

[39]  Karen Armstrong, Holy War: The Crusades and Their Impact on Today’s World (New York: Anchor Books, 2001), p. 257.

[40]  Phillips, The Life and Legend of the Sultan Saladin, p. 193.

[41]  Phillips, The Life and Legend of the Sultan Saladin, p. 290.

[42]  Phillips, The Life and Legend of the Sultan Saladin, p. 194.

[43]  Phillips, The Life and Legend of the Sultan Saladin, p. 194.

[44]  Gubser, Saladin, p. 242.

[45]  Man, Saladin, p. 179.

[46]  Gubser, Saladin, pp. 242-243.

[47]  Phillips, The Life and Legend of the Sultan Saladin, p. 197.

[48]  Eddé, Saladin, p. 220.

[49]  Man, Saladin, p. 179.

[50]  Gubser, Saladin, p. 243.

[51]  Gubser, Saladin, p. 243.

[52]  Phillips, The Life and Legend of the Sultan Saladin, p. 156.

[53]  Gubser, Saladin, p. 244.

[54]  Phillips, The Life and Legend of the Sultan Saladin, p. 205.

[55]  Gubser, Saladin, p. 244.

[56]  Eddé, Saladin, p. 241.

[57]  Bahā’ al-Dīn Ibn Shaddād, The Rare and Excellent History of Saladin, or al-Nawādir al-Sulṭāniyya wa‘l-Maḥāsin al-Yūsufiyya. Translated by D. S. Richards. (Hampshire: Ashgate, 2002), p. 121.

[58]  Gubser, Saladin, p. 396.

[59]  Phillips, The Life and Legend of the Sultan Saladin, p. 205.

[60]  Eddé, Saladin, p. 454.

[61]  Phillips, The Life and Legend of the Sultan Saladin, p. 213.

[62]  Man, Saladin, p. 186.

[63]  Eddé, Saladin, p. 164.

[64]  Man, Saladin, p. 174.

[65]  Eddé, Saladin, pp. 115, 141.

[66]  Ibn Shaddād, The Rare and Excellent History of Saladin, pp. 23, 35.

[67]  Eddé, Saladin, p. 151.

[68]  Simon Sebag Montefiore, Jerusalem: The Biography (New York: Vintage Books, 2011), p. 302.

[69]  Ibn Shaddād, The Rare and Excellent History of Saladin, p. 38.

Tags:   salahuddin ,  ayyubi ,  saladin ,  crusades ,  richard ,  jerusalem ,  treatment ,  prisoners ,  war

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Akbar Ahmed

Ambassador Akbar Ahmed is Distinguished Professor of International Relations and holds the Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies at the American University, School of International Service. He is also a global fellow at the Wilson Center Washington DC. His academic career included appointments such as Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution; the First Distinguished Chair of Middle East and Islamic Studies at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD; the Iqbal Fellow and Fellow of Selwyn College at the University of Cambridge; and teaching positions at Harvard and Princeton universities. Ahmed dedicated more than three decades to the Civil Service of Pakistan, where his posts included Commissioner in Balochistan, Political Agent in the Tribal Areas, and Pakistan High Commissioner to the UK and Ireland

Amineh Hoti

Amineh Ahmed Hoti is Fellow-Commoner at Lucy Cavendish College, University of Cambridge and Governor, St Mary’s School, Cambridge. She was also a senior researcher for Akbar Ahmed’s quartet of Brookings Institution Press studies on Western-Islamic relations. Her most recent book is Gems and Jewels: The Religions of Pakistan (2021)

Frankie Martin

Frankie Martin is a doctoral candidate in anthropology at American University and a senior researcher for Akbar Ahmed’s quartet of Brookings Institution Press studies on Western-Islamic relations