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alah al-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub, which means "righteousness of the faith",
was a champion of the Muslim faithful during The Middle Ages.  In the late 1100's,
he defended Muslim lands by fighting against Christian crusaders in The Levant.
Saladin, as he is known in the West, unified the region and rekindled muslim resistance
to the western overlords, his army regained the Holy City of Jerusalem, and generally,
he pushed back Christian control to lands confined along the Mediterranean coast.
His victories over the Christian feudal knights became the pivot on which The Crusades
turned in favor of the Muslims.  In time, all the Christian, or Latin, kingdoms that were
established after the First Crusade were dissolved and The Levant returned to Muslim
rule once again.  Legend portrays him as the model prince.  He was known for
his modesty, compassion, just rule, and chivalry (although, in reality, he could be
as violent and  as ruthless as any other conqueror).  Believe it or not,
Saddam Hussein viewed himself asa modern-day Saladin.
 

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	Shared Traits

Saladin  was born and raised in Tikrit (a city in modern northern Iraq).  Saddam was born and raised in Tikrit. Tikrit was the last bastion of Saddam's armies in the 2003 Iraq War.  Saladin  surrounded himself in his government with trusted Tikrit and ethnic brothers.  Saddam surrounded himself in his government with trusted Tikrit and ethnic brothers.  Saladin  was a Sunni muslim who competed against Shi'a muslim rulers.  Saddam was a Sunni muslim who competed against Shi'a muslim rulers.  Saladin  considered himself a champion of Islam against the western invaders.  Saddam considered himself a champion of Islam against the western invaders.  Saladin  set up a dynasty and ruled over Mesopotamia (plus Egypt, Syria, and Palestine).  Saddam set up a dynasty and ruled over Mesopotamia  (and may have wanted to rule a Pan-Arabic region, but was denied and his "dynasty" was nipped in the bud).  Saladin  negotiated with the western infidels.  Saddam negotiated with the western infidels (even once allies with U.S.S.R. and U.S.).  Saladin created a new, more secular, muslim state.  It was not modeled on the traditional spiritual/temporal leadership of a Sunni caliph (successor of Muhammad).  Government melded the ethics of  Turkish 'men of the sword' with bureaucracy / law.  Saddam created a new, more secular, muslim state. It was not a tribal kingdom like Saud's Arabia, a caliphate, or theocracy run by ayatollahs.  His government combined ruthless 'men of the sword' with the secular, socialist bureaucracy / law of the Ba'ath Party. The irony is:  Saladin was a Kurd, but Saddam oppressed and had Kurds murdered. 0

Salah al-Din

Holy Wars in The Holy Land

An oxymoron?  Jihad in Arabic means "holy war" waged by Muslims against non-believers.
It is a supreme duty for Muslims to perform. To die in a jihad makes one a martyr and
a martyr is allowed to enter Paradise immediately (no penance or time in Purgatory).
In time, the concept also applied to every individual's spiritual struggle to resist temptation.
Martyrdom is a strong tradition in Islam especially in the Shi'a sect.  Islam underwent
a schism, or split, very early on in its development.  A disagreement ensued over
the ascension to spiritual and governmental leadership following Muhammad's death.
'Ali ibn Abi Talib, husband of Muhammad's daughter Fatima, made a claim to become caliph.
His advocates are called Shi'at 'Ali [ taking the part of 'Ali ] or Shi'ites.  The rival group,
called Sunnis, assassinated 'Ali in Kufah, a town in southern Iraq.  His tomb in nearby
Najaf is one of the most sacred Shi'ite shrines.  Disagreement led to warfare.  His son,
al-Husayn ibn Ali, was later killed in the Battle of Karbala, also south of Baghdad.
His tomb is the most sacred.  Najaf and Karbala were towns that witnessed extensive
fighting in the 2003 Iraq War.  Two early Shi'ite martyrs.

Holy war and martyrdom are not foreign concepts to Jews and Christians.  Jewish
Maccabees had several martyrs in their rebellion against Antiochus IV, the Hellenized^*
Greek ruler of Palestine [Antiochus IV, like Saladin, was also a ruler of Syria, Palestine,
and Egypt].  There have been many Christian martyrs, too.  St. Peter, St. Paul,
Pepetua and Felicitas quickly come to mind.  The theologian Tertullian commented,
"the blood of the martyrs is seed [to gain converts]."  As for a Christian holy war, what
do you think The Crusades were?  In 1095, Pope Urban II called for a crusade to wrest
Jerusalem from Muslim hands.  The idea spread that if a warrior got killed during
the crusade, then he could forego penance or even have all his sins immediately forgiven.
Whether the pope actually made that promise, Christian warriors believed he had.

A holy war has to be a "just war."  There was a lot of discussion prior to
the 2003 Iraq War as to whether it fit the criteria of being a just war.  Around
the decades of the First Crusade, the Church came up with the concept of a just war.
Christendom was awash with violent, lawless marauding barbarics of the warrior class.
Vikings and Normans roamed far afield.  At the same time, European kings, who could
muster a king's army, were having power struggles with the popes. The concept of
a just war, placed under the leadership of the pope, seemed like a way to lessen
the horrors of raids and warfare. The Peace of God was authorized by Church councils
at Limoges (994) and Poitiers (999).  It forbade acts of war against Church property
or officials, noncombatants, and livestock.  It also set standards about the justification
for and conduct of war. For example, a just war must be a defensive war.  Or,
keep suffering after conquest to a minimum.  The Peace of God also                                  ^ top
established the principle of proportion.  That is, the ferocity of the fighting,
the weapons used, and the destruction caused must be in proportion to the injuries
the enemy has inflicted upon your side.  Within a few decades, the Truce of God was also
added.  The Truce of God established rules of warfare that seem a bit strange in this day
and age.  For example, it banned fighting on Sundays and during the Lent and Advent
seasons.

The Latin feudal kingdoms in the Levant was an affront to the Muslim mind.  In addition
to the imposition of taxes and coercion to convert, the two major issues were:

• disruption in the hajj (the duty to make a pilgrimage to Mecca)
• the presence of Latin kingdoms and armies in the region was an offense to Islam

Epilogue: o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

The Crusades were not a vital threat to Christianity, Christendom, Islam, or Muslim kingdoms.  Despite keen interest by history buffs, they were only a nuisance to Muslim rulers.  They were only a sideshow on the world stage.  Christian warriors gained a foothold in areas not far inland for awhile but were pushed out in time.  Western influence and western armies did not return to the area until the 19th and 20th centuries. The effects of The Crusades in the West, however, were enormous.  Westerners gained access to Muslim ideas and philosophy, science and medicine, art and literature.  Europeans rediscovered classical knowledge that had been preserved in the East after the Fall of the Roman Empire. Trans-continental trade expanded. Goods like spices, fruits, cotton, and silk became available in Europe.  The need for transportation during The Crusades and the trade that swelled afterward gave rise to the merchants and shipbuilders of Genoa and Venice in Italy.  All that led to the Italian Renaissance and the flowering of Western civilization.  Improvements in shipping and other technologies shifted power to The Atlantic States (like Spain, France, and Great Britain) and they ventured into ocean exploration.  Western culture soon outpaced Muslim culture and became the dominant force in the world. That cultural dominance is what offends Mideasterners so much.   Today, western armed forces are present in the region again.  So, new martyrs, like suicide bombers, and Saladin what-to-bes, like Saddam Hussein, are emerging.  It's come full circle.

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	Saladin's Deeds and Times: With Explanations

600'so  638  661 o  680 o  999 1040's o 1070

Islam founded and Arab Saracen* conquests begin Muslims gain city of  Jerusalem 'Ali ibn Abi Talib, the 1st Shi'ites imam, is assassinated; tomb is important      shrine Imam al-Husayn killed at Battle of Karbala; tomb is important Shi'ite martyr      shrine Peace of God authenticated at Council of Poitiers; Truce of God follows Rise of Seljuk power in Iran; Seljuk rulers called sultans [ not caliphs ];      were Sunni Order of the Knights of St. John (Hospitallers) founded 00Krak des Chevaliers, key Hospitaller castle

1191 o o o o o o o o o o o o o 1192 o o o o o o o oo o o o o ooo

Richard regains   Acre, slaughters   Muslims there;   beats Saladin at    Battle of Arsuf;   Crusaders gain   Jaffa and are   within miles of   Jerusalem;   Ashqelon falls to   Saladin; Philip    returns to France Acre Crusaders led  on     disastrous march     toward Antioch;      force decimated,      reduced from     100,000 to 5,000;      Richard leaves for     England but is     captured while      enroute and     eventually held for     ransom by new     Holy Roman      Emperor

Map of the Holy Lands ^ top

^** Saracen means "empty of Sarah."  Islam shares the story of the patriarch Abraham and expands
                     upon it.  Arabs come from Ishmael, Abraham's first son begot by the slave woman named
                     Hagar.  Hebrews trace their lineage from Isaac, Abraham's second son but begot by
                     his wife Sarah.  So, the Arabs do not descend from the Sarah/Isaac line.  Hence,
                     the term Saracen meaning not from, or empty of, Sarah.  Sara-cen.
+ Richard the Lion-Hearted (Richard III) is the "good" king in the Robin Hood stories.
                     His brother John is the "bad" king who runs England in Richard's absence.  John is forced
                     to raise taxes in order to finance the crusade and, later, to pay ransom to get the captured
                     Richard released.  John is crowned king after Richard's death in 1199.  During John's
                     reign, the Magna Carta is passed.  The charter places limits on the king's power.  It is
                     the foundation that led to the U.S. Constitution centuries later.

Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Encyclopedia, by Merriam-Webster, Inc., Springfield, Mass., 2000.
The Oxford Illustrated History of Christianity, ed. by John McManners, Oxford Univ. Press, New York, 1990.
The Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages, gen. ed. Norman F. Cantor, Viking Penquin, New York, 1999.
The People's Chronology: A year-by-Year Record of Human Events . . ., revised and updated edition,
    James Trager,  Henry Holt & Co., New York, 1992.

meander bar clipart are royalty-free icons.
home leaves by Jelane.
compass rose at www.barrysclipart.com.
"S" letter and "S" header are royalty-free clipart on Starshine CD "1000 Borders and Backgrounds."
Saladin portrait in public domain.
castle photos are in the public domain and not copywrited.
columbus gif in public domain found using Google Image Search from http://198.62.75.1/www1/ofm/crus/CRUmain.html.
Israel blank outline map available at geography.about.com.
Viking ship from B & W Antique Clip Art