Salah Al-Din’s name is so closely tied to the history of Jerusalem that, oftentimes, people instinctively associate Jerusalem with him. In this article, we will learn about the life and achievements of Salah Al-Din.

Who is Saladin? 

Salah Al-Din, also known as Yusuf Ibn Ayyub 1138-1193,^[1] was a Kurdish leader who ruled over Egypt and Syria in the Middle Ages. He was born near Baghdad in 1137 to the well known Ayyubi family. ^[2]His father and uncle moved to Mousel, where they formed an alliance with the ruler of Iraq at the time, Imad Al-Din Zengi. The strong Sultan Zengi took care of the new family, who ultimately prospered under his government. .^[3] The family was known for their military intelligence and soon reciprocated the sultan’s kindness by conquering new territory for him. This territory included Damascus, where Salah Al-Din was later sent to receive an education.^[4]

After Imad Al-Din’s death, his son Nour Al-Din Zengi took over. The close relationship with the Ayyubi family continued, and the new sultan became particularly close to Salah Al-Din, who showed early signs of brilliance.^[5] Soon after, Salah Al-Din progressed rapidly to high ranks in Nour Al-Din’s military. Eventually, became his confidant and assistant..^[6]

^Achievements

^{Salah Al-Din was the real founder of the Ayyubid dynasty [7]} that ruled in Egypt and Syria for decades.^[8]The Arab hero who came from Kurdish origins was able to unify wide territories of the Arab and Islamic world. He ruled over Egypt, Syria, Mesopotamia, the Hejaz and Yemen.^[9]

Why is Saladin Important? What is He Most Famous For?

Salah Al-Din is best known for his role as a leader, liberating Jerusalem from the Crusaders, but even before that, Salah Al- Din played an important role in the history of the region. Nour Al-Din Zengi sent Salah Al-Din and his uncle to Egypt, which, at the time, was the capital of the Fatimid Dynasty.^[10] Once in Egypt, Salah Al-Din started calling for the establishment of a Sunni state in support of the Abbasid dynasty in Syria. Upon the death of the last Fatimid ruler,.^[11]Salah Al-Din was able to take over Egypt where he built the walls of Cairo, established a great army, and fought internal discord and rebellion .^[12]

^{Only then, after 16 years of hard work, was he able to attack Crusaders in Palestine and surrounding territories, which later became known as his crowning military victory[13]}

Liberating Jerusalem

Upon establishing a strong army in Egypt and Syria, other suitable circumstances paved the way for Salah Al-Din to fight Crusaders and restore Jerusalem to Muslim rule. Most notably, the death of the Crusaders King Baldwin V caused the Crusaders to suffer from internal weakness, as power struggles took the stage. Salah Al-Din took advantage of an incident, known historically as Safouria, when the Crusader ruler of Kerak attacked a pilgrimage convoy in violation of a peace agreement with the Muslims.^[14]This incident led to the Battle of Hattin, which liberated Jerusalem from Crusader rule and established Muslim governance over the region. ,^[15]Shortly before his death, Salah Al-Din stopped another Crusade attack that was led by Richard the Lionheart, King of England, by signing a peace treaty with him. which allowed western Christians access to Jerusalem for pilgrimage, so long as the Crusader Christians formally left the city and did not live within its boundaries.^[16]

Religious Tolerance

Salah Al-Din, after liberating Jerusalem, was gracious and noble in his governance. The Muslim leader indeed gained his fame not from the success of his battles, but from his personal traits and noble characteristics .^[17]Despite the atrocities committed by the Crusaders, Salah Al-Din allowed them to leave Jerusalem upon paying a ransom in which men paid ten Dinars, women paid five and children paid two. He paid money for those who were not able to do so from his own pocket, while he allowed the Arab Christians who were original inhabitants of Jerusalem to stay in the city. He also allowed the Jews to return to the city after years of exclusion.^[18]

Influence on Jerusalem

Salah Al-Din and his ancestors from the Ayyubid dynasty left a great influence on Jerusalem and its rich cultural heritage. Jerusalem gained a special status in the newly emerging power. Right after the liberation, Salah Al-Din started extensive renovations and construction in Jerusalem, where he and his followers cleaned Al-Aqsa mosque, rebuilt the walls, and washed the mosque with rose water. ^[19]Salah Al-Din personally worked on these projects, using his own two hands to aid in the construction projects .^[20] There is a stone monument in the southern part of Al-Aqsa Plaza that mentions the work of Salah Al-Din in Jerusalem.^[21]

Personal Traits and Characteristics

Although Salah Al-Din was a well known militant ruler, he never liked the sight of blood, as it indicated too much killing. He advised his sons after him not to shed blood as, according to him, “blood does not sleep.” ^[22]

Many influential characters in modern history praised Salah Al-Din and considered him a rare example of a great leader. The British Prime Minister Churchill considered him one of the greatest kings humanity has ever known, while the British author Reid Richard described him as the greatest man on earth.^[23]

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Aref al-Aref (1892-1973) iwas a historian, journalist, and politician born in Jerusalem. Along with other pioneering intellectuals like : Musa al-Hussaini, Isa’af al-Nashashibi, and Khalil al-Sakakini, Aref created the Palestinian Nahda  or Renaissance in Jerusalem.^[1]

Education and Early Profession:

Aref was born and grew up in a time when Palestine was under the Ottoman Empire’s control. Like many of his generation who lived under the Turkish rule, Aref was fluent in Turkish and demonstrated intelligence as a young student.^[2] long with other Jerusalemites, he was granted a scholarship to study in Turkey during the era of the first world war, during which he served as a member of the Turkish army.^[3]

Soon after the war, Aref was captured and had to spend three years in a camp in Siberia. he unrest caused in the region by the Russian Revolution allowed him to escape and return to Palestine.^[4] There, he engaged in political activism and began working as an editor to the first Arab nationalist newspaper published in Jerusalem in 1919 Suriyya al-Janubbiyya in which he called for the unity of Palestine with Greater Syria.^[5]

Advocacy against Zionism:

Aref was a young man when the first clashes took place between the Jews immigrating to Palestine under the British Mandate and the native Arab citizens. He was known for his ability to mobilize and assemble youth  against the colonization of Palestine. He was arrested by the British mandate during the 1920 riots in Jerusalem, but  he managed to escape to Syria. The British court sentenced him to 10 years in prison in absentia on charges of fomenting the riots.^[6]

In Syria, Aref became a deputy in the General Syrian Congress. Along with Hajj Amin Husseini and others he  formed the Palestinian Arab Society and became its Secretary General. His stay in Syria was short-lived because  the new High Commissioner of Palestine Herbert Samuel issued a pardon that allowed Aref to return to Jerusalem, but the British government didn’t didn’t allow his newspaper office to re-open.^[7]

Positions held:

Upon his return from Syria, Aref was appointed as a civil servant under the British mandate. Later, he became the district administrative officer in Bir al-Sabi’ and many other Palestinian cities such as Jenin, Nablus, Bisan, Gaza and Jaffa.^[8] He also held the position of a ministerial officer in Jordan. Aref was appointed as the mayor of Jerusalem twice between the years of 1950 and 1955 at a time when the West Bank was under Jordanian rule. In 1967, Aref was appointed director of the Rockefeller Museum in Jerusalem–he was the last Arab to hold this position.^[9]

Books and intellectual works:

Aref left a legacy of historical, social and intellectual work. He was known for his pioneering work on the history of Jerusalem, Gaza and Asqalan, as well as his analysis of The Nakba.His close relationship to the bedouins during his job as a district administrative officer in Bir al-Sabi’ helped him in providing an ethnographic work on the Bedouin tribes and their traditions.^[10] His collection of works on the history of the Palestinian cities provides   detailed descriptions of the cities’ histories and their Arab character and culture..^[11] Some of his works include:^[12]

• Bedouin Love: Law and Legend, A History of Bir al-Sabi’ and its Tribes.
• History of Gaza
• History of Jerusalem
• Al-Nakba : the Catastrophe of Jerusalem and the Lost Paradise.

In his book he Detailed History of Jerusalem, Aref provides a thorough description of the city’s history from its early times to the modern era. The book also provides a valuable description of the city’s crafts, markets, mosques, schools, and water systems. This book is considered a treasure for any research into the city’s culture, economy,education,  religious landscape, and history,  .^[13]

Death and legacy:

Aref died in Ramallah on July 30, 1973.^[14] His beautiful villa in Bir al-Sabi’ which he built during his time working in the area,  is now a museum under Israeli control. Although Aref’s children tried to buy it to preserve their father’s literary and intellectual heritage, their efforts were denied. His extensive library was donated by his family to the universities of al-Quds and Bir Zeit.^[15]

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