Sultan Salah Al-Din (Saladin): The Warrior King and Builder of the Citadel

Saladin’s Successes

Sultan Salah al-Din Yusuf Ibn Ayyub was born to a Kurdish Muslim family in the small Syrian town of Tikrit in 1137 A.D. His family taught him to be a strategist and a fighter.

He was a member of Syria’s Abbasid Caliphate’s army as an officer. His uncle, Asad-al-Din Shirkoh, was a commander in the Zengid Dynasty and taught him. Because of his outstanding performance during fights, he was capable of taking command during military operations.

His extraordinary talents and carefully executed strategies enabled him to rise from a soldier to become King of Egypt and Syria. He took over as vizier of the Abbasid Caliphate from his father in 1169. After toppling the Fatimid monarchy in 1171, he became the Sultan of Egypt. When he seized control of Egypt, he began building a wall that encircles Al-Qahira, “Cairo.”

He began extending his kingdom in 1174, and in only twelve years, he had conquered Damascus, Aleppo, and Iraq. His nobility and gallantry were admired across the Arabian and Western worlds. He was able to bring Muslims from all across the Arab world together under a single vision, preparing them for Jihad and a counter-crusade against the Christian crusaders. After a three-month struggle with the Crusaders, he was able to seize possession of Jerusalem in 1187.

And when Richard the Lionheart, King of England, said, “Richard and the Crusaders had gathered their forces to retake Jerusalem with the third crusade, but they were unable to break Saladin’s defenses, so they had to settle for a treaty with Saladin instead, which granted amnesty and safe passage to the crusader army, as well as access to the Holy Places for Christian pilgrims.