On October 2, 1187, the Syrian Sultan Saladin captured Jerusalem. Thus ends an 88-year rule by the Crusaders.
Yusuf Salah ad-Din ibn Ayyub (or Saladin) (from Arabic: Saladin – the strength of faith) was a Saracen sultan in Syria and Egypt in the second half of the twelfth century.
He was born in 1137 to a Kurdish family in Tikrit, Iraq and died on March 4, 1193 in Damascus, Syria. He remains in history as the leader of an Islamic campaign of conquest, and later of Muslim resistance to the expansion of the Crusader states in the Middle East. He is remembered by medieval Western European literature as the strongest and noblest opponent of the Crusaders. Gives his surname to the Ayyubid dynasty he founded.
Saladin becomes a unifying figure for the emirs. He led the troops of Islam in the Battle of the Hattin Hills (July 3—4, 1187), where he defeated the Crusaders led by the King of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, Guy de Lusignan, captured in the battle. After this victory, Saladin went to Jerusalem and besieged it. On October 2, 1187, the last defender of Jerusalem, Balian, surrendered the city after receiving the promise of the Muslim commander that the Christians who laid down their arms would be allowed to retreat to Acre. The Western world acknowledges that the noble Saladin keeps his word.
Jerusalem falls under the control of Saladin, but he never forbids Christians to visit their holy places, on the contrary – allows the Church of the Holy Sepulcher to remain in Christian possession. The name of this great ruler remains forever in history.
During the Third Crusade, Saladin faced the crusading forces of King Richard the Lionheart and King Philip II at the city of Acre. During the battle, Saladin learns that Richard the Lionheart is ill and sends his own physicians to help treat him, for it is worth helping a worthy adversary. Richard the Lionheart recovers, then they reach a peace agreement that makes the Holy Land accessible to pilgrims of all faiths.
Saladin died on March 4, 1193 in Damascus. After his death, there are not enough funds in the treasury for his funeral – Saladin gave away all his wealth to the poor.
Saladin is buried in a mausoleum located in the garden of the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus. Emperor Wilhelm II donated a new marble sarcophagus to the mausoleum, but Saladin's body was not moved into it. Today, there are two sarcophagi in the mausoleum: one – empty marble, and one – made of wood, in which is Saladin's body.
Saladin is an idol of Saddam Hussein, who, like him, was born in Tikrit. During the dictator's rule in Iraq, there was a cult of Saladin.