If i may also infer my point, the west usually has a romantic view of Richard the Lion heart, not knowing the raiding he committed in France while going back to England. He was also taken hostage, which England paid for his release , to the expense of their coffers, tho.
Your thoughts on Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb (Saladin) ?
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If i may also infer my point, the west usually has a romantic view of Richard the Lion heart, not knowing the raiding he committed in France while going back to England. He was also taken hostage, which England paid for his release , to the expense of their coffers, tho.
The SC
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History tells us that when Sultan Salahuddin regained Jerusalem from the invading and ruthless Crusaders, who had ninety years earlier massacred and savagely treated its Muslim and Jewish inhabitants, he met a group of Latin Christian women who addressed him, "O Sultan! You see that we are leaving. Among us are mothers, wives, daughters or sisters to the soldiers in captivity with you. These men are our support in life, and if we lose them we will lose everything. But if you leave them for our sake, you will be giving us back our lives."
At this our hero Salahuddin smiled and he gave orders that the sons and husbands of those women were to be set free. He went even further and gave money to the women whose supporters were killed in the battle.
An irate French girl came up to the Sultan and said, "You murderer, you have killed my father, and captured both of my brothers, so there remains no one to support me!" Our hero calmly ordered that her brother be set free and then addressed her: "As for your father, he was killed in a war which he started himself and in which many innocent people were killed." The French girl looked down full of shame and regret for her insolence with such an honourable man and with tears in her eyes, she said "Forgive me, sir! It was the bitterness of grief and the description given to us of your people and their cruelty in our country(that caused my insolence). But now I see that you are honourable enemies and I have not despaired of your forgiveness. May God curse the liars in our homeland who decieved us and depicted you as savage assassins who had desecrated our holy places. They exploited emotions (and sent us here i.e.) But when we came to know you, we could not see the truth in any of their claims."
Salahuddin Al-Ayubi, The Liberator Of Jerusalem | islam.ru
At this our hero Salahuddin smiled and he gave orders that the sons and husbands of those women were to be set free. He went even further and gave money to the women whose supporters were killed in the battle.
An irate French girl came up to the Sultan and said, "You murderer, you have killed my father, and captured both of my brothers, so there remains no one to support me!" Our hero calmly ordered that her brother be set free and then addressed her: "As for your father, he was killed in a war which he started himself and in which many innocent people were killed." The French girl looked down full of shame and regret for her insolence with such an honourable man and with tears in her eyes, she said "Forgive me, sir! It was the bitterness of grief and the description given to us of your people and their cruelty in our country(that caused my insolence). But now I see that you are honourable enemies and I have not despaired of your forgiveness. May God curse the liars in our homeland who decieved us and depicted you as savage assassins who had desecrated our holy places. They exploited emotions (and sent us here i.e.) But when we came to know you, we could not see the truth in any of their claims."
Salahuddin Al-Ayubi, The Liberator Of Jerusalem | islam.ru
Thank you for your response @The SC , tho the historians claim he was Kurdish, I'm in the position that he was most probably a mixture of Arab and Kurdish. I just know that he utilized and employed Turkish soldiers into his army. To lethal efficiency if i may add.
A.P. Richelieu
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Richard was a French King (Norman), ruling Britain. He was hardly there.
In France, it was his native territory he was fighting to preserve.
Everyone I know of have seen Ivanhoe (Is shown on TV every New Years Day for as long
as I can remember), where his ransom is a major part of the plot,
even if they haven't read real history studies.
I would say that it is quite well known.
Last edited:
He was a Plantagenet, and as the titular Lord of Normandy and Aquitaine, he had his links to France. Tho, he was King of England.
The SC
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Salahuddin Al-Ayyubi (1138-1193 CE)
Every age has, as Divine Plan would have it, men who rise up to answer the challenges of that age.
Born to an aristocratic family in Tikrit (Kurdistan-Iraq) in 1138 CE, where his father was the Governor, Salahuddin entered into active life quite early. His education was simple: the Qur'an, Hadith, some mathematics, law, literature, genealogy: of men and horses. Initially, he did not seem to have any special interest in military sciences.
There were several major powers in the region: the Abbasids in Iraq, Zankis in Syria, the Saljuqis in parts of Iraq and upper lands, the Crusaders in Palestine and Shi`ah Fatimids in Egypt. The Crusaders were well-spread with forts all over Palestine, what is now Lebanon, northern Sinai, and northern Egypt. Jerusalem was in their hands too.
Salahuddin was fourteen when he joined the service of Nuruddin Zanki, the ruler of Syria and trained by his own family members, was 26 when he was sent as a commander to aid the Fatimid rulers of Egypt against the Crusaders who were joined by a unit of the Egyptian army. Thrice he faced them, and thanks to his successes he was 31 when he was made Commander-in-chief of the Syrian army, and Vizier of Egypt. Those battles were considered as the decisive ones in Muslim history.
While, as the Commander, he kept the Crusaders at bay, as a Vizier he developed Egyptian economy, developed hospitals, built mosques, and brought prosperity to Egypt.
With his growth in power and prestige, he was envied by Sultan Nuruddin, who was unhappy that Salahuddin was not following his instructions to the point. But Salahuddin kept the growing rift low. On the other hand, his popularity and strength led the Fatimid rulers to plan an assassination which he foiled by getting the leader killed. A huge revolt was organized against him at Egypt but he was able to put it down.
In the meanwhile the Crusaders were feeling seriously concerned about Salahuddin. Enforcement was sent to them by the Byzantines. On his side, with an enforcement sent by Nuruddin, Salahuddin faced their massive force at Dameitta and defeated them. That was in 1169 CE.
Now a complicated situation emerged involving the Abbasid ruler Mustanjid who expected Salahuddin to depose the Fatimid Shi`ah ruler Al-Adid, while Salahuddin wished to remain loyal to him, maintaining good relations with Nuruddin as well as Mustanjid. Yet, on his part he had realized that without a combined strength of the Muslims of Egypt, Syria and Iraq, the Crusaders would not be evicted for good. So, while strengthening himself in Egypt by establishing colleges for the Shafe`i and Maliki schools, he began to initially face off the Crusaders in the Egyptian and Sinai region. He successfully won two battles and cleared the Crusaders from areas which could attack him from the rear if he advanced toward Jerusalem, freeing which was his final goal.
In 1171 a force of the `Abbasids arrived and with their help and of the local Sunni Muslims who were vehemently opposed to the Shi`ah rule in Egypt, he was able to kill off large number of Egyptian Amirs. The ruler Al-Adid, unaware of what was happening, himself died and Salahuddin was able to establish Abbasid rule in Egypt.
Politics is more complicated than most people would understand. When Nuruddin advanced to attack the Crusaders who were concentrating with forts and citadels in areas between Syria and Egypt, and expected Salahuddin to advance from the other side, he actually did not, because he was afraid that if he left Egypt, he might not be allowed to remain Vizier and Commander of Egypt, the position given to someone else behind him.
However, in 1172-73 he did attack the Crusaders at several places to weaken them, and, with good revenues from Egypt was able to pay back the huge sums Nuruddin had spent for the capture of the Fatimid stronghold. That appeased Nuruddin a little. But, on the other hand, Salahuddin added Yemen to his territory by getting it attacked by his brother Turan Shah thus expanding the Ayyub Dynasty’s hold, which he had been in any case strengthening by placing his family members in important administrative and military positions.
Nuruddin was sufficiently aroused by these moves to finally decide to attack Egypt but he died suddenly in 1174 (or perhaps was poisoned) without leaving an heir but for an eleven year old boy. In the following tussle of power, Salahuddin’s help was sought by one of the parties, and he quickly attacked Syria to subdue Dimashq. By then his acumen, wisdom, loyalty to Islamic causes first, were so well-established that he was actually welcomed by the local populations.
With the control of Dimashq, Salahuddin began to attack other towns of the Syrian region and soon brought the northern region to control. An assassination attempt was made on his life through a group called Assassins (mostly Shi`ah) but failed. During the year 1175 Salahuddin attacked some areas held by Crusaders managing to evict them.
But the Zankis were not finished yet. They raised a huge combined force against Salahuddin to force him to relinquish control of the Syrian region. The combined armies marched against Salahuddin in Hama. Salahuddin avoided meeting them but found himself unable to withdraw; and, therefore, had to fight it out. Fighting from an advantageous terrain, his commanders and soldiers fell upon the superior numbers of the Zankis and defeated them. That was quite a blow for the Zankis and Salahuddin came to control what was known as Syria then.
He then began to expand his control over other areas of which the major towns were Aleppo, Hmah, Mousl etc., and several smaller towns and forts. The famous fanatical sect known as Assassins, was set upon him by the local Emirs, but he escaped attempts on his life by narrow margins. Ultimately, he made peace with their leader Sinan to deprive the Crusaders of this secret weapon.
However, as a skillful Sultan, he did not neglect his power base. In between his progresses in Syria and Lebanon where he brought to control or weakened the power of the local Amirs of `Asqalan, Ludd, and other towns; he also went back to Egypt to set things in order and get started newer construction projects. Back in the Syrian region, he suffered a defeat at the hands of the Crusaders (who, perhaps informed by the Bedouins) made a surprise attack on him but, instead of falling into their hands, he thought it best to withdraw in haste. However, a little later he was able to draw them into a cleverly designed battle, luring them to advance and then attacking them, to slaughter them in thousands.
Signing a truce offered by King Baldwin who ruled over Jerusalem, he also engaged in either weakening the strength of local Amirs of the numerous towns, each an autonomous party, aligned to this or that kingdom. Some he crushed, some he won over, others he weakened. Similarly, he weakened the Bedouins of Eastern Egypt because they used to trade with the Crusaders. His attacks on Beirut and Bekka Valley did not pay off and he had to withdraw unsuccessful. But Ayla and other towns were plundered. Edessa, Raqqa, Nusaybin, and much of the Jazira also fell. The Crusaders were in the meantime attacking and plundering small towns of Syria, but Salauddin let them because he was gaining strength by capturing big cities, which, of course after subjugation, helped him with military power. The fall of Aleppo – which had resisted all along for eight years - was a big event.
Early in 1183, the Crusaders made the mistake of indulging in pirate activities by attacking the coastal towns of Hejaz in the Red Sea. They also attacked a Hajj caravan and looted it. This angered the Muslims, in particular, and Salahuddin, in general, who promised to take revenge. Quickly, ships were moved from Fustat into the Red Sea, the Crusader marauders were mauled, their ships destroyed so that a majority of them escaped into the deserts. A couple of hundreds were captured and (against the practice of ransom) were summarily executed in various cities on the orders of Salahuddin for plundering Muslim pilgrims.
In 1187 Salahuddin’s highly motivated armies came into direct conflict with the combined forces of Raynold Chattilon, Guy of Lusignan, William of Tyre, King Consort of Jerusalem and Raymond III of Tripoli. The decisive final battle took place at Hattin and Salahuddin emerged victorious. Raynold was captured and executed for his crimes of attacking Muslim pilgrims and for threatening that he would attack Madinah and shift the body of Prophet Muhammad to Syria. Guy of Lusignan was also captured but in keeping with gentlemen’s war rules, Salahuddin spared his life explaining why he had got Raynold killed.
The battle of Hattin broke the Crusaders as they lost men and huge territories of Jerusalem. Late in 1187 the city of Jerusalem also fell. The Crusade ruler had threatened to execute thousands of Muslims of the town and destroy the Masjid al-Aqsa and the Dome of the Rock if his own conditions were not met, which were actually met and he escaped. Except for the foot soldiers, who were sold into slavery, the rest of the Crusaders were allowed to ransom themselves and leave the town if they so wished. Those who could not pay, were also ultimately allowed to leave without any payment. Old men, women and children were allowed to leave without any payment. This was in contrast to the behavior of the Crusaders, who, when they entered Jerusalem, put to death tens of thousands of Muslim, Jews and anyone else they could lay their hands on.
With the fall of Jerusalem, Salahuddin allowed the Jews to re-enter the town. They had been barred by the Crusaders from entering into Jerusalem. Salahuddin also got the Masjid al-Aqsa cleared. It had been turned into a stable for horses by the Crusaders. The ever ungrateful Jews began to visit their holy sites in Jerusalem.
Angered by the fall of Jerusalem, the Christians of England imposed a “Salahuddin Tithe” on their population, and gathering a large army under Richard I of England came down and launched the third Crusade. They attacked the town of Acre; then killed several thousand Muslims including women and children. In retaliation, Salahuddin got all the Frank prisoners of the last war executed. Salahuddin met Richard I in a battle but lost it. Nevertheless King Richard could not advance any further and the Crusader’s kingdom was but a patch of land comprising of Tyre and Jaffa. But they obtained permission from Salahuddin for Christian pilgrims to visit Jerusalem.
Richard departed to England without having achieved anything worthwhile, and Salahuddin died in 1193 after a brief illness.
A short history of the crusades tells us that although Jerusalem lost its religious appeal to the Christians, the idea of crusades against Islam never died; so that the focus of the crusaders of the later times was not Jerusalem, but Egypt, which had become the central power of Islam, and then Tunis which too later grew into another power base. They were attacked by the Crusaders in the years 1249 and 1270 respectively, but both were crushed.
As late as 200 years after Salahuddin, another Crusade was launched in 1394 against the Ottoman Empire. This one failed all the more disastrously. Thereafter, Europe experienced a Renaissance, the religious fervor decreased, and military ventures against Islam lost the original fanatical appeal among the masses.
Why were the Crusades organized against Egypt, Tunisia and the Ottoman powers? It was primarily to vent their anger against the Islamic world. This anger has not abated among the ruling and remnant religious classes of the West.
In the meantime, tired of the Jewish domination of economy, administration and politics in Europe, the Christians decided to get rid of them by dumping them on the Arabs, and so created a Jewish state in Palestine through deceit and treachery, since, by the middle of the 20th century, the West was supposed to have become civilized, and the new principles of life and civilization, hypocritically adopted, did not support war on religious grounds. They have been helping the Jews to establish a greater and greater Israel, by pushing out the Arabs by the millions. Hatred of Islam and Muslims is a strong motive here.
With a period of affluence that touched the Christians since the Second World War, and the Muslim world suffering political and military decline, the anger subsided among the masses but not of the religious and political classes. But with the economic welfare touching some of the Middle-eastern states as a result of discovery of oil, the anger has again begun to rise. At the beginning of the 21st century, the twin tower buildings were destroyed in the USA – which was an inside work - to rekindle anger amongst the masses, which had become less and less attached to Christian religious thought and, therefore, less and less hateful towards the Islamic world.
Commitment to Islam is rising, and spreading right into the Western heartlands. This increases the bedtime agony of the Western religio-political forces, and, therefore, they are likely to keep coming even after withdrawal from present occupations. The last Crusade prophesized by Prophet Muhammad will be when they will bring an army of one million and land on the shores of Syria. It will be defeated by the Ayyubi spirit.
Having sufficiently provoked their anger, they brought their forces into Iraq with the purposes of collective punishment of the Islamic world, its humiliation, military presence, control of resources etc. Now they are in Afghanistan for the same purposes. However, the Crusaders of the modern times are no better in morals than those of the past; and so, their actions (Abu Ghurayb and Guantanamo), stunned the Muslims out of their slumber. Commitment to Islam is rising, and spreading right into the Western heartlands. This increases the bedtime agony of the Western religio-political forces, and, therefore, they are likely to keep coming even after withdrawal from present occupations. The last Crusade prophesized by Prophet Muhammad will be when they will bring an army of one million and land on the shores of Syria. It will be defeated by the Ayyubi spirit.
Islamic Encyclopedia
...and the crusaders, then and now !
Every age has, as Divine Plan would have it, men who rise up to answer the challenges of that age.
Born to an aristocratic family in Tikrit (Kurdistan-Iraq) in 1138 CE, where his father was the Governor, Salahuddin entered into active life quite early. His education was simple: the Qur'an, Hadith, some mathematics, law, literature, genealogy: of men and horses. Initially, he did not seem to have any special interest in military sciences.
There were several major powers in the region: the Abbasids in Iraq, Zankis in Syria, the Saljuqis in parts of Iraq and upper lands, the Crusaders in Palestine and Shi`ah Fatimids in Egypt. The Crusaders were well-spread with forts all over Palestine, what is now Lebanon, northern Sinai, and northern Egypt. Jerusalem was in their hands too.
Salahuddin was fourteen when he joined the service of Nuruddin Zanki, the ruler of Syria and trained by his own family members, was 26 when he was sent as a commander to aid the Fatimid rulers of Egypt against the Crusaders who were joined by a unit of the Egyptian army. Thrice he faced them, and thanks to his successes he was 31 when he was made Commander-in-chief of the Syrian army, and Vizier of Egypt. Those battles were considered as the decisive ones in Muslim history.
While, as the Commander, he kept the Crusaders at bay, as a Vizier he developed Egyptian economy, developed hospitals, built mosques, and brought prosperity to Egypt.
With his growth in power and prestige, he was envied by Sultan Nuruddin, who was unhappy that Salahuddin was not following his instructions to the point. But Salahuddin kept the growing rift low. On the other hand, his popularity and strength led the Fatimid rulers to plan an assassination which he foiled by getting the leader killed. A huge revolt was organized against him at Egypt but he was able to put it down.
In the meanwhile the Crusaders were feeling seriously concerned about Salahuddin. Enforcement was sent to them by the Byzantines. On his side, with an enforcement sent by Nuruddin, Salahuddin faced their massive force at Dameitta and defeated them. That was in 1169 CE.
Now a complicated situation emerged involving the Abbasid ruler Mustanjid who expected Salahuddin to depose the Fatimid Shi`ah ruler Al-Adid, while Salahuddin wished to remain loyal to him, maintaining good relations with Nuruddin as well as Mustanjid. Yet, on his part he had realized that without a combined strength of the Muslims of Egypt, Syria and Iraq, the Crusaders would not be evicted for good. So, while strengthening himself in Egypt by establishing colleges for the Shafe`i and Maliki schools, he began to initially face off the Crusaders in the Egyptian and Sinai region. He successfully won two battles and cleared the Crusaders from areas which could attack him from the rear if he advanced toward Jerusalem, freeing which was his final goal.
In 1171 a force of the `Abbasids arrived and with their help and of the local Sunni Muslims who were vehemently opposed to the Shi`ah rule in Egypt, he was able to kill off large number of Egyptian Amirs. The ruler Al-Adid, unaware of what was happening, himself died and Salahuddin was able to establish Abbasid rule in Egypt.
Politics is more complicated than most people would understand. When Nuruddin advanced to attack the Crusaders who were concentrating with forts and citadels in areas between Syria and Egypt, and expected Salahuddin to advance from the other side, he actually did not, because he was afraid that if he left Egypt, he might not be allowed to remain Vizier and Commander of Egypt, the position given to someone else behind him.
However, in 1172-73 he did attack the Crusaders at several places to weaken them, and, with good revenues from Egypt was able to pay back the huge sums Nuruddin had spent for the capture of the Fatimid stronghold. That appeased Nuruddin a little. But, on the other hand, Salahuddin added Yemen to his territory by getting it attacked by his brother Turan Shah thus expanding the Ayyub Dynasty’s hold, which he had been in any case strengthening by placing his family members in important administrative and military positions.
Nuruddin was sufficiently aroused by these moves to finally decide to attack Egypt but he died suddenly in 1174 (or perhaps was poisoned) without leaving an heir but for an eleven year old boy. In the following tussle of power, Salahuddin’s help was sought by one of the parties, and he quickly attacked Syria to subdue Dimashq. By then his acumen, wisdom, loyalty to Islamic causes first, were so well-established that he was actually welcomed by the local populations.
With the control of Dimashq, Salahuddin began to attack other towns of the Syrian region and soon brought the northern region to control. An assassination attempt was made on his life through a group called Assassins (mostly Shi`ah) but failed. During the year 1175 Salahuddin attacked some areas held by Crusaders managing to evict them.
But the Zankis were not finished yet. They raised a huge combined force against Salahuddin to force him to relinquish control of the Syrian region. The combined armies marched against Salahuddin in Hama. Salahuddin avoided meeting them but found himself unable to withdraw; and, therefore, had to fight it out. Fighting from an advantageous terrain, his commanders and soldiers fell upon the superior numbers of the Zankis and defeated them. That was quite a blow for the Zankis and Salahuddin came to control what was known as Syria then.
He then began to expand his control over other areas of which the major towns were Aleppo, Hmah, Mousl etc., and several smaller towns and forts. The famous fanatical sect known as Assassins, was set upon him by the local Emirs, but he escaped attempts on his life by narrow margins. Ultimately, he made peace with their leader Sinan to deprive the Crusaders of this secret weapon.
However, as a skillful Sultan, he did not neglect his power base. In between his progresses in Syria and Lebanon where he brought to control or weakened the power of the local Amirs of `Asqalan, Ludd, and other towns; he also went back to Egypt to set things in order and get started newer construction projects. Back in the Syrian region, he suffered a defeat at the hands of the Crusaders (who, perhaps informed by the Bedouins) made a surprise attack on him but, instead of falling into their hands, he thought it best to withdraw in haste. However, a little later he was able to draw them into a cleverly designed battle, luring them to advance and then attacking them, to slaughter them in thousands.
Signing a truce offered by King Baldwin who ruled over Jerusalem, he also engaged in either weakening the strength of local Amirs of the numerous towns, each an autonomous party, aligned to this or that kingdom. Some he crushed, some he won over, others he weakened. Similarly, he weakened the Bedouins of Eastern Egypt because they used to trade with the Crusaders. His attacks on Beirut and Bekka Valley did not pay off and he had to withdraw unsuccessful. But Ayla and other towns were plundered. Edessa, Raqqa, Nusaybin, and much of the Jazira also fell. The Crusaders were in the meantime attacking and plundering small towns of Syria, but Salauddin let them because he was gaining strength by capturing big cities, which, of course after subjugation, helped him with military power. The fall of Aleppo – which had resisted all along for eight years - was a big event.
Early in 1183, the Crusaders made the mistake of indulging in pirate activities by attacking the coastal towns of Hejaz in the Red Sea. They also attacked a Hajj caravan and looted it. This angered the Muslims, in particular, and Salahuddin, in general, who promised to take revenge. Quickly, ships were moved from Fustat into the Red Sea, the Crusader marauders were mauled, their ships destroyed so that a majority of them escaped into the deserts. A couple of hundreds were captured and (against the practice of ransom) were summarily executed in various cities on the orders of Salahuddin for plundering Muslim pilgrims.
In 1187 Salahuddin’s highly motivated armies came into direct conflict with the combined forces of Raynold Chattilon, Guy of Lusignan, William of Tyre, King Consort of Jerusalem and Raymond III of Tripoli. The decisive final battle took place at Hattin and Salahuddin emerged victorious. Raynold was captured and executed for his crimes of attacking Muslim pilgrims and for threatening that he would attack Madinah and shift the body of Prophet Muhammad to Syria. Guy of Lusignan was also captured but in keeping with gentlemen’s war rules, Salahuddin spared his life explaining why he had got Raynold killed.
The battle of Hattin broke the Crusaders as they lost men and huge territories of Jerusalem. Late in 1187 the city of Jerusalem also fell. The Crusade ruler had threatened to execute thousands of Muslims of the town and destroy the Masjid al-Aqsa and the Dome of the Rock if his own conditions were not met, which were actually met and he escaped. Except for the foot soldiers, who were sold into slavery, the rest of the Crusaders were allowed to ransom themselves and leave the town if they so wished. Those who could not pay, were also ultimately allowed to leave without any payment. Old men, women and children were allowed to leave without any payment. This was in contrast to the behavior of the Crusaders, who, when they entered Jerusalem, put to death tens of thousands of Muslim, Jews and anyone else they could lay their hands on.
With the fall of Jerusalem, Salahuddin allowed the Jews to re-enter the town. They had been barred by the Crusaders from entering into Jerusalem. Salahuddin also got the Masjid al-Aqsa cleared. It had been turned into a stable for horses by the Crusaders. The ever ungrateful Jews began to visit their holy sites in Jerusalem.
Angered by the fall of Jerusalem, the Christians of England imposed a “Salahuddin Tithe” on their population, and gathering a large army under Richard I of England came down and launched the third Crusade. They attacked the town of Acre; then killed several thousand Muslims including women and children. In retaliation, Salahuddin got all the Frank prisoners of the last war executed. Salahuddin met Richard I in a battle but lost it. Nevertheless King Richard could not advance any further and the Crusader’s kingdom was but a patch of land comprising of Tyre and Jaffa. But they obtained permission from Salahuddin for Christian pilgrims to visit Jerusalem.
Richard departed to England without having achieved anything worthwhile, and Salahuddin died in 1193 after a brief illness.
A short history of the crusades tells us that although Jerusalem lost its religious appeal to the Christians, the idea of crusades against Islam never died; so that the focus of the crusaders of the later times was not Jerusalem, but Egypt, which had become the central power of Islam, and then Tunis which too later grew into another power base. They were attacked by the Crusaders in the years 1249 and 1270 respectively, but both were crushed.
As late as 200 years after Salahuddin, another Crusade was launched in 1394 against the Ottoman Empire. This one failed all the more disastrously. Thereafter, Europe experienced a Renaissance, the religious fervor decreased, and military ventures against Islam lost the original fanatical appeal among the masses.
Why were the Crusades organized against Egypt, Tunisia and the Ottoman powers? It was primarily to vent their anger against the Islamic world. This anger has not abated among the ruling and remnant religious classes of the West.
In the meantime, tired of the Jewish domination of economy, administration and politics in Europe, the Christians decided to get rid of them by dumping them on the Arabs, and so created a Jewish state in Palestine through deceit and treachery, since, by the middle of the 20th century, the West was supposed to have become civilized, and the new principles of life and civilization, hypocritically adopted, did not support war on religious grounds. They have been helping the Jews to establish a greater and greater Israel, by pushing out the Arabs by the millions. Hatred of Islam and Muslims is a strong motive here.
With a period of affluence that touched the Christians since the Second World War, and the Muslim world suffering political and military decline, the anger subsided among the masses but not of the religious and political classes. But with the economic welfare touching some of the Middle-eastern states as a result of discovery of oil, the anger has again begun to rise. At the beginning of the 21st century, the twin tower buildings were destroyed in the USA – which was an inside work - to rekindle anger amongst the masses, which had become less and less attached to Christian religious thought and, therefore, less and less hateful towards the Islamic world.
Commitment to Islam is rising, and spreading right into the Western heartlands. This increases the bedtime agony of the Western religio-political forces, and, therefore, they are likely to keep coming even after withdrawal from present occupations. The last Crusade prophesized by Prophet Muhammad will be when they will bring an army of one million and land on the shores of Syria. It will be defeated by the Ayyubi spirit.
Having sufficiently provoked their anger, they brought their forces into Iraq with the purposes of collective punishment of the Islamic world, its humiliation, military presence, control of resources etc. Now they are in Afghanistan for the same purposes. However, the Crusaders of the modern times are no better in morals than those of the past; and so, their actions (Abu Ghurayb and Guantanamo), stunned the Muslims out of their slumber. Commitment to Islam is rising, and spreading right into the Western heartlands. This increases the bedtime agony of the Western religio-political forces, and, therefore, they are likely to keep coming even after withdrawal from present occupations. The last Crusade prophesized by Prophet Muhammad will be when they will bring an army of one million and land on the shores of Syria. It will be defeated by the Ayyubi spirit.
Islamic Encyclopedia
...and the crusaders, then and now !
M.AsfandYar
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Not Just Muslims they killed Jews too.
A.P. Richelieu
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And then Saladin married the princess, and lived happily ever after.
Not only Jews and Muslims, even Orthodox Christians as well. One can even objectively posit that the Crusades negatively affected not just the Muslim Middle East, but also the lands under the sovereignty of the Byzantine Empire, and directly led to the weakening of Byzantium.
A.P. Richelieu
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The important thing was that Normandy was his home country, not Britain.
He was therefore a French King (but not King of France) of Britain.
But of course, he claims lineage from William the Conqueror who was a Frenchman. This historical relationship to France was the pretext used by many English Kings to vie for the French throne. A most famous example was King Edward I (Longshanks) who not only expanded England by conquest of Scotland , but also into France itself.
Syrian Lion
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@Nihonjin1051
The actor that played Saladin is Syrian actor his name Ghassan Massoud, I mentioned the actor nationality because Saladin resting place is in Damascus Syria, and I have visited many times....
This is in Damascus in front of the citadel where Saladin stayed...
Now I'm sure you can read all about Saladin, but since you are asking for opinions about him, here is mine..
He is a great leader, he managed to fight the crusades and defeat them ( Battle of Hattin is the turning point for Saladin where he heavily defeated the crusaders) he never gave up on liberating Alquds (Jerusalem).... Saladin was respected by Christian leaders, to this day...
The actor that played Saladin is Syrian actor his name Ghassan Massoud, I mentioned the actor nationality because Saladin resting place is in Damascus Syria, and I have visited many times....
This is in Damascus in front of the citadel where Saladin stayed...
Now I'm sure you can read all about Saladin, but since you are asking for opinions about him, here is mine..
He is a great leader, he managed to fight the crusades and defeat them ( Battle of Hattin is the turning point for Saladin where he heavily defeated the crusaders) he never gave up on liberating Alquds (Jerusalem).... Saladin was respected by Christian leaders, to this day...
@Nihonjin1051
The actor that played Saladin is Syrian actor his name Ghassan Massoud, I mentioned the actor nationality because Saladin resting place is in Damascus Syria, and I have visited many times....
This is in Damascus in front of the citadel where Saladin stayed...
Now I'm sure you can read all about Saladin, but since you are asking for opinions about him, here is mine..
He is a great leader, he managed to fight the crusades and defeat them ( Battle of Hattin is the turning point for Saladin where he heavily defeated the crusaders) he never gave up on liberating Alquds (Jerusalem).... Saladin was respected by Christian leaders, to this day...
Thank you sir! After reading this thread in its entirety, I have now a profound admiration for Salahuddin. I appreciate your input, too, sir.
Going back to the movie, this was my favorite line:
AUSTERLITZ
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Edward longshanks is the historic inspiration behind tywin lannister.
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