In short
- In Arabic
- صلاح الدين الأيوبي
- Name
- Yusuf ibn Ayyub ibn Shadhi; title al-Malik al-Nasir Salah al-Din, "righteousness of the religion"
- Family
- A Kurdish family from Dvin, in Armenia; the Ayyubid dynasty is named after his father Ayyub
- Born
- Tikrit, Iraq, 532 AH (1137 or 1138 CE)
- Ruled
- Egypt from 564 AH (1169 CE); Egypt and Syria until his death
- Known for
- Hattin and the return of Jerusalem, 583 AH (1187 CE)
- Died
- Damascus, 27 Safar 589 AH (4 March 1193 CE)
- Buried
- Beside the Umayyad Mosque, Damascus
Not a Companion. Salahuddin lived in the 6th century of the Hijrah, long after the Sahaba. He is on this page because people search for him alongside them, and because his life shows what the example of the Companions meant to later Muslims.
In short: Salahuddin grew up in the service of Nur al-Din Zangi, the ruler of Syria. He went to Egypt with his uncle Shirkuh, became vizier there in 1169, and in 1171 ended the Fatimid caliphate and returned Egypt to the Sunni Abbasid caliphate. After Nur al-Din's death he united Egypt and Syria. On 4 July 1187 he destroyed the Crusader army at Hattin, and on 2 October 1187 Jerusalem surrendered to him. He held off the Third Crusade, made peace in 1192, and died in Damascus the next year, leaving almost no money.1
Early life and Egypt
He was born in Tikrit in 532 AH, where his father Ayyub was governor of the castle, and grew up in Baalbek and Damascus under the Zangid rulers. He went with his uncle Asad al-Din Shirkuh on Nur al-Din's campaigns to Egypt, then ruled by the Fatimid caliphs. When Shirkuh died in 564 AH (1169 CE), Salahuddin became vizier of Egypt. In 567 AH (1171 CE) the Friday sermon in Cairo was read in the name of the Abbasid caliph in Baghdad, ending two centuries of Fatimid rule.2 He founded madrasas for the Sunni schools of law; he himself followed the Shafi'i school and the Ashari creed.1
Hattin and Jerusalem
After Nur al-Din died in 1174, Salahuddin spent years bringing Damascus, Aleppo and Mosul under one rule. In 1187, after Crusader raids on Muslim caravans and pilgrims, he met the army of the Kingdom of Jerusalem at the Horns of Hattin, near Tiberias, on 24 Rabi al-Akhir 583 AH (4 July 1187). The Crusader army, cut off from water in the summer heat, was destroyed and its king captured.2
Jerusalem surrendered on 27 Rajab 583 AH (2 October 1187). His secretary Ibn Shaddad noted that it was the night on which Muslims remember the Prophet's ﷺ night journey to al-Aqsa.1 In 1099 the Crusaders had killed much of the city's population. Salahuddin let the people leave for a ransom, freed many who could not pay, and allowed the Eastern Christians to stay. The cross was taken down from the Dome of the Rock, and al-Masjid al-Aqsa was cleaned and returned to prayer.2 See al-Aqsa and the Dome of the Rock and the Isra and Miraj.
The Third Crusade
The fall of Jerusalem brought the Third Crusade, led by Richard I of England, Philip II of France and the German emperor. The Crusaders took Acre in 1191 after a long siege, and defeated Salahuddin's army at Arsuf, but could not retake Jerusalem. In Shaban 588 AH (September 1192) the two sides agreed the Treaty of Jaffa (also called the Treaty of Ramla): the Crusaders kept a strip of coast, Jerusalem stayed under Muslim rule, and Christian pilgrims were allowed to visit it.2
His character
The best source on his character is Baha al-Din Ibn Shaddad, a judge who served him for years. He describes Salahuddin as keeping to the five prayers in congregation, loving to hear the Quran, gentle with his companions, generous to the point that his treasurers hid money from him, and tireless in the cause he believed in.1 His generosity and fairness were recorded by his enemies too, and the Crusader chronicles remember him with respect. Like every ruler, he was also criticised for some of his wars against other Muslim princes while he united Syria.
His death
He fell ill with a fever in Damascus soon after the peace, and died on 27 Safar 589 AH (4 March 1193 CE). Ibn Shaddad reports that he left forty-seven Nasiri dirhams and a single piece of gold, and that money had to be borrowed for his burial.1 He is buried in a small mausoleum beside the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus.
For the Companions themselves, see the Sahaba; for the life of the Prophet ﷺ, see the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ life timeline.
What Muslims remember him for
- Unity before victory: he spent years joining Egypt and Syria first.
- Mercy in victory, as the Prophet ﷺ showed at the Conquest of Makkah.
- Spending everything for a cause, and dying with nothing.
- Respect for al-Aqsa, the third holiest mosque in Islam.
Questions
Was Salahuddin a Companion (sahabi)?
No. A sahabi is someone who met the Prophet ﷺ as a believer. Salahuddin lived in the 12th century CE, more than five hundred years later.
When did Salahuddin take Jerusalem?
Jerusalem surrendered to him on 27 Rajab 583 AH, 2 October 1187 CE, three months after his victory at the Battle of Hattin.
Was Salahuddin Arab?
No. He was from a Kurdish family. He was born in Tikrit in Iraq and ruled Egypt and Syria.
What does Salah al-Din mean?
"Righteousness of the religion" or "goodness of the faith". It was a title; his name was Yusuf ibn Ayyub. Saladin is the European form.
Where is Salahuddin buried?
In a mausoleum beside the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, Syria. He died there in 589 AH (1193 CE).
Sources
- Baha al-Din Ibn Shaddad, al-Nawadir al-Sultaniyyah wa al-Mahasin al-Yusufiyyah (The Rare and Excellent History of Saladin).
- Ibn al-Athir, al-Kamil fi al-Tarikh; Imad al-Din al-Isfahani, al-Fath al-Qussi fi al-Fath al-Qudsi; Ibn Kathir, al-Bidayah wa al-Nihayah.
- Quran: Arabic from the Tanzil Uthmani text, transliteration from Tanzil, English by Sahih International. Hadith Arabic is the standard wording of the collection named; gradings are given for every hadith outside al-Bukhari and Muslim.