AhleSunnah Library ( nmusba.wordpress.com ) Like Alexander or Caesar, the name of Saladin carries a timeless quality. As famous today as he was when he drove the Crusaders out of Jerusalem, the historical Saladin has dissolved into legend with each generation's retelling of his story. Dante placed him in the first circle of Hell with the heroes of Troy and Rome; Rex Harrison played him as a cad in the film King Richard and the Crusaders. In Youssef Chahine's epic film Saladin, he emerged as a hero of Arab socialism, and he has even made an appearance in an episode of Dr Who. Today, Saladin's name continues to resonate with Osama bin Laden, Saddam Hussein and Colonel Gaddafi all, at one stage, claiming to be his military and spiritual heir. But who was the real Saladin? To answer this question, A. R. Azzam argues, it is essential to appreciate the age Saladin lived in. The Islamic world had been completely transformed by the Sunni Revival in the 10th and 11th centuries, the great intellectual renaissance, which integrated the different strands of Islamic thought under one orthodox umbrella. Saladin was a child of the Sunni Revival and the movement was key to his extraordinary success - as it is to any consideration of the background of today's Middle East. In that sense, Saladin's true greatness, Azzam contends, lay not on the battlefield, as has commonly been accepted, but in his spiritual and political vision. An honest and guileless leader, Saladin baffled his enemies by refusing to play their political games and succeeded in uniting an army from all parts of the Muslim world. Although he was an outsider he managed - almost seamlessly - to become the most powerful man in Islam. The first major biography of Saladin for twenty years, A. R. Azzam's timely and fascinating account is essential reading for anyone interested in the medieval Crusades, Islamic history and the origins of the modern Middle East. Saladin Saladin Dr A.R. Azzam ii> PEARSON Harlow, England • London • New York • Boston • San Francisco • Toronto • Sydney • Singapore • Hong Kong Tokyo • Seoul • Taipei • New Delhi • Cape Town • Madrid • Mexico City • Amsterdam • Munich • Paris • Milan PEARSON EDUCATION LIMITED Edinburgh Gate Harlow CM20 2JE United Kingdom Tel: +44 (0)1279 623623 Fax: +44 (0)1279 431059 Website: www.pearsoned.co.uk First edition published in Great Britain in 2009 © Pearson Education Limited 2009 The right of Abdul Rahman Azzam to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. ISBN: 978-1-4058-0736-4 British Library Catalo^uins in Publication Data A CIP catalogue record for this book can be obtained from the British Library Library of Congress Catalo^in^-in-Publication Data 'Azzam, 'Abd al-Rahman, Dr. Saladin / A.R. Azzam. - 1st ed. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-4058-0736-4 (hardback) 1. Saladin, Sultan of Egypt and Syria, 1137-1193. 2. Egypt-Kings and rulers-biography. 3. Egypt-Kings and rulers-Biography-Juvenile literature. 4. Syria-Kings and rulers-Biography. 5. Crusades. 1. Tide. DS38.4.S2A93 2009 956'.0I4092—dc22 [B] 2008026385 All rights reserved; no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without eidier the prior written permission of the Publishers or a licence permitting restricted copying in the United Kingdom issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency Ltd, Saffron House, 6-10 Kirby Street, London ECIN 8TS. This book may not be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise disposed of by way of trade in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published, without the prior consent of the Publishers. 10 987654321 12 11 10 09 08 Set by 35 in 10/14pt Galliard Printed and bound in China (SWTC/01) The Publisher's policy is to use paper manufactured from sustainable forests. Contents Glossary of Main Names viii Map X Prologue Separating the Man from the Myth 1 Chapter 1 The Weakening of the Abbasid Caliph and the Sunni Revival 9 Disputes between Sunnis and Shiites 10 Building a new Sunni orthodoxy 14 Chapter 2 The Turning of the Tide 20 The arrival of the Crusades in Syria 22 The establishment of Saladin's father and uncle 25 The rise of Nur al-Din and the spread of madrasas 29 Chapter 3 The Young Saladin 36 The religious milieu in which Saladin grew up 37 The beginning of the Islamic counter-crusade 41 The education of Saladin 44 Chapter 4 The Battie for Egypt 51 The Fatimids: the sick man of the Nile 54 Shirkuh's campaign 62 The emergence of Saladin and the siege of Alexandria 66 CONTENTS Chapter 5 The Unlikely Vizier 69 The death of Shirkuh and the appointment of Saladin as vizier 73 The rise of al-Qadi al-Fadil 77 Chapter 6 Master of Egypt 82 The crushing of the Sudanese uprising and the dismantlement of the Fatimid state 84 The establishment of Saladin's authority in Egypt 89 The introduction of Sunni orthodoxy to Egypt 91 Chapter 7 The Prize of Syria 98 The death of Nur al-Din and Amalric 100 The power struggle in Syria 106 Saladin marches into Syria, and the challenge of Aleppo 109 Chapter 8 The Meddlesome Priest: Saladin and al-Khabushani 120 Madrasa building in Egypt 120 The relationship between Saladin and the ulama 125 The Sunnification of Egypt 132 Chapter 9 Saladin and the Leper King 137 Baldwin IV and the Kingdom of Jerusalem 137 Saladin's defeat at Mont Gisard 140 The death of Nur al-Din's son and the struggle for northern Syria 148 Chapter 10 Sailing Close to Disaster: Saladin's Illness at Harran 157 The death of Baldwin IV 160 Saladin's march on Mosul 162 Saladin's illness 163 Saladin and al-Qadi al-Fadil: renewed vows 164 CONTENTS Chapter 11 Victory at Hattin 168 Saladin gathers his army 170 Deliberations in the Franks' camp 172 The march to Tiberias 174 The capture of the True Cross 179 Saladin slays Reynald of Chatillon 182 Chapter 12 The Return of Jerusalem 184 The collapse of the Latin Kingdom 185 Saladin besieges Jerusalem 190 The triumphant entry into Jerusalem 191 Chapter 13 The Arrival of Richard 196 Conrad fortifies Tyre 196 The siege of Acre 200 The fragmentation of Saladin's army 204 The fall of Acre and the massacre of the 3,000 206 The march towards Jaffa 211 Saladin's defeat at Arsuf 214 Chapter 14 A Bitter Siege of Attrition: Saladin, Richard and Jerusalem 218 The death of Taqi ul-Din 218 Saladin fortifies Jerusalem 223 The attack on Jaffa and the defiance of Richard 226 Peace negotiations and the departure of Richard 229 Chapter 15 Death in Damascus: Saladin's Last Days 232 The return to Damascus 233 Saladin's illness 234 Saladin's death and the mourning of the people 235 Saladin: an assessment 237 Notes 243 A Note on the Arabic Sources 259 Bibliography 261 Index 266 Glossary of Main Names Since some of the Muslim names can appear confusing and repetitive, this is a brief glossary which is by no means comprehensive but which attempts to distinguish between the names. Names which are distinctive and over which there can be no confusion (al-Khabushani for example) are omitted. In addition, the full names of the individuals are not included (Saladin's brother al-Adil's full name is Saif al-Din Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn Ayyub) since the main aim of the glossary is an aide-memoire, and the listing of the full name can add, rather than alleviate, confusion. The names of the most famous characters have also been simplified so, for example, throughout the name Zengi is used to refer to Nur al-Din's father and the founder of the Zengid dynasty. Although his full name was Imad al-Din Zengi, this was also the name of Nur al-Din's nephew and ruler of Sinjar. Similarly, Nur al-Din's other nephew Saif al-Din (the ruler of Mosul) was named after Nur al-Din's brother, Mawdud. So it is important not to confuse Saif al-Din ibn Mawdud ibn Zengi (Nur al-Din's nephew) with Saif al-Din ibn Zengi (Nur al-Din's brother). It is precisely to avoid such confusions that the names have been simplified as much as possible. Al-Adil, nl-Malik a-l-Adil Brother of Saladin Al-Afdal, d-Mctlik al-Afdal Saladin's eldest son Al-Qpidi al-Fadil Head of Saladin's chancery and one of his closest advisers Al-Sdlih ibn Nur d-Din Son and successor of Nur al-Din Al-ZMr, Abu Mansur Ghazi Saladin's son and his favourite Ayyub, Najm ctl-Din ibn Shadi Saladin's father GLOSSARY OF MAIN NAMES Fctrrukh-Shah, Izzal al-Din Saladin's nephew Ibn al-Athir Mosuli historian of Saladin Ibn al-Muquddam, Shams al-Din The man who invited Saladin into Syria, and later the governor of Damascus Ibn Mnsnl, Najm cil-Din Companion of Saladin and one of his supporters during the siege of Alexandria Ibn Shadda-d, Baha ul-Din Judge of Saladin's army and his biographer Imad al-Din al-Isfahani Nur al-Din and Saladin's secretary, and biographer of both men Imad al-Din Zengi Nur al-Din's nephew and ruler of Sinjar Ismat al-Din Khatun Wife of Nur al-Din and Saladin Ka-mal a-l-Din al-Shahmzuri Scholar, counsellor and qadi for Zengi, Nur al-Din and Saladin Keukburi, Muzaffar al-Din Married to Saladin's sister and one of Saladin's senior military commanders T^^asir al-Din Muhammad ibn Shirkuh Son of Shirkuh Qutb al-Din al-Nishapuri Religious scholar and Saladin's teacher Saif al-Din Ghazi Nur al-Din's nephew and ruler of Mosul Shirkuh, Asad al-Din ibn Shadi Saladin's uncle and vizier of Egypt Taqi ul-Din al-Malik al-Muzaffar Nephew of Saladin and one of his most trusted generals Turan Shah, al-Malik al-Muazzam Saladin's brother The Kingdom of Jerusalem, 1099-1187 Prologue Separating the Man from the Myth What is true in a, man's life is not what he does, but the legend which£!rows up around him.