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Saladin, the Western
name for the ruler Salah al-Din ibn Ayyub, was the great Muslim general
who confronted the Crusaders in the Near East. Born to a Kurdish family
active in Syria, Saladin reestablished a Sunni regime in Egypt in 1171
by putting an end to the last Shiite Fatimid caliph there.
Saladin, now sultan
of Egypt, returned to Syria and soon captured Damascus, Aleppo, and Mosul
from other Muslim princes. From this strong Syrian base, he then turned
against the Crusaders, decisively defeating them at the battle of Hattin
on July 4, 1187. The victory at Hattin was followed by the easy recon
quest of various Crusader lands and towns, above all the holy city of
Jerusalem, which had been in Christian hands for 88 years. Saladin waited
to take possession of the city until October 2, because the date corresponded
with the anniversary of the Prophet's miraculous ascension to heaven,
according to the Muslim calendar. In contrast to the Crusaders' bloodbath
when they had taken Jerusalem, Saladin acted with great magnanimity to
the Christian and Jewish residents. He forced the Franks to retreat to
the coast of Syria and Palestine. In 1192 he signed a truce with Richard
the Lionhearted. He died in the following year, but his descendants in
the Ayyubid dynasty continued to rule in Egypt and Syria for several generations.
Considered the model prince by Muslim admirers and Christian foes alike,
Saladin has been memorialized in history and legend to the present day.
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