Author: Obaidullah Nimruzi
The Biography of Sultan Salah al-Din Ayubi ‘may Allah have mercy on him’ (Part 8)
The Sultan’s Devotion and Religious Zealotry
In this conquest, the following event is narrated as a historical memory of the religious fanaticism and strength of faith of Sultan Salah al-Din Ayubi. It is better to hear it from an English historian.
Sultan Salah al-Din ordered his tent to be set up in the square. After setting up the tent, he ordered the prisoners to be brought. The king of the Christians, “Gunny,” and “Reginald of Châtillon” (Hanin), were summoned inside the tent. The sultan sat the king of Jerusalem next to him and, sensing thirst from his face, offered him a bowl of cool water. Gunny drank the water himself and gave the rest to his companion, the ruler of Kerak, Reginald. The sultan was upset and said to the translators: “Tell him, ‘I didn’t want to give him water, but the king gave him water.’ Because we break bread with someone who doesn’t have bad intentions; but this person will not be saved from my revenge due to this respite (giving water).”
After this speech, he got up and stood in front of Reginald and said to him: “I have sworn twice to kill you, once when you attacked the two holy shrines (Makkah and Medina), and the second time when you tricked and deceived the pilgrim caravan. You attacked defenseless people. Now see how I will count your insults and insolence.” After saying these words, he took out his sword from its sheath and, as he had sworn, beheaded Reginald with his own hand. The remaining sword was taken by the guards. King “Gunny” shuddered to see this murder and thought it was his turn. Salah al-Din reassured him and said that the way of kings is not to kill a king. “Because this villain had broken his agreements several times and insulted a lot; because of this I killed him, now it is over what could be finished.”
Ibn Shaddad writes: After summoning Reginald, the sultan said to him: “Now I will take Muhammad’s revenge from you.” Ibn Shaddad adds, the Sultan invited him to Islam; but he did not accept.
Conquest of Bayt Al-Muqaddas (Jerusalem) After the conquest of Hattin, the most auspicious moment that the Sultan had been waiting for and wished for came, and that was the conquest of Jerusalem. Qazi Ibn Shaddad writes: “The sultan was always thinking about the freedom of Quds and was so upset and sad about its occupation by the Crusaders that the mountain could not bear this heavy sadness.”
In the same year, on the 27th of Rajab, 583 AH (1187 AD), Sultan Ayubi entered Quds. Precisely, after ninety years of its occupation and coinciding with the night when the Holy Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, performed the Imamate of the Prophets there, he released this first Qibla of the Muslims. This is one of the advantages of the Sultan’s agreements and blessings. Qazi Ibn Shaddad has written: “It was a huge victory, and at that blessed time, a large number of scholars, professionals, and pilgrims were present. Because when the people were informed about the conquests of the ports and heard that Sultan Salah al-Din decided to free Jerusalem, scholars and people from Syria and Egypt turned to Jerusalem, and there was not a single famous person left who did not participate. From all sides, the sound of slogans; Tahleel and Takbeer were loud. The first Friday prayer was held in Jerusalem after 90 years, the cross that was hanging on the ‘Qobat Al-Sakhrah’ was thrown down. It was a strange sight that the conquest of Islam and the unseen victory of Allah could be seen with visible eyes.”
Nuruddin Zangi had prepared a wooden pulpit for Bayt Al-Muqaddas with great importance, spending a lot of money, and he had intended that when Allah the Almighty bestows the holy place on us, this pulpit would be placed there. Salah al-Din requested that pulpit from Aleppo and installed it in Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Continues…
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