Salah al-Din belongs to a Kurdish family of noble origin and great honor. The Ayyubids belong to Ayyub ibn Shadi, and Ibn al-Atheer considers them the most honorable of the Kurds. Because none of them were ever subjected to slavery, just as Saladin’s father, Najm al-Din Ayyub, and his uncle Asad al-Din Shirkuh when they came to Iraq and the Levant were not among the shepherds, but rather they were highly experienced in political and administrative affairs. (The brilliant history of the Atabeg Zangid state, p. 119).
Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi was born in 532 AH / 1137 AD in the citadel of Tikrit, an ancient town closer to Baghdad than to Mosul.
And the owner of the deaths of notables mentions: Ayoub may be pessimistic about his newborn, Salah al-Din, and Ayoub was about to kill his son when he was shouting. as a child; They were leaving the city, but one of his followers warned him against this action, saying: O my lord! I have seen what happened to you of piety, and pessimism about this boy, and what is his fault? And by what he deserves that from you, and it does not benefit, does not harm, and does not avail anything, and this is what happened to you by a decree from God, Glory be to Him, and destiny, then what makes you realize that this child is a king of great fame, great destiny, and perhaps God will make him a matter, so precede him, for he is A child, who has no sin, and does not know what you are in of distress and grief. (Salahuddin, Abdullah Alwan, p. 20).
These words affected the soul of Ayoub, and he quickly returned to the truth, repented to reason, and followed the true path of Islam. (Saladin Lalwan, p. 21).
First: The upbringing of Saladin (may God have mercy on him):
Salah al-Din lived his first childhood in Baalbek in the year (534 AH / 1140 CE) and he used to watch and hear from time to time the Crusaders’ attack on the Islamic countries. of them are prisoners.
In the same year, Salah al-Din joined the service of his uncle, Asad al-Din Shirkuh. (Ayyubid Seljuk thought, p. 82).
Asad al-Din was the companion of Nur al-Din; Who assumed the leadership of the Zengids after the killing of his father, and it seems that Nur al-Din had realized Salah al-Din’s military and administrative capabilities. And he is still making progress, and it seems that he has reasons to submit him to what is higher.
Nur al-Din used to assign him to go to his uncle to consult him on issues pertaining to the state, excise, and guarantees. (Ayyubid Seljuk thought, p. 83).
As for how Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi assumed his official duties, Ibn al-Furat explained this to us by saying: Salah al-Din was still in the care of his father; Until he grew up, when the just king Nur al-Din ruled Damascus; Prince Najm al-Din Ayoub committed his son Yusuf to his service, and the imagination of happiness was upon Salah al-Din, and from him Salah al-Din learned the path of goodness, doing good, and diligence in matters of jihad. Until he appeared to walk with his uncle Asad al-Din Shirkuh to the Egyptian lands, and Asad al-Din was still a forbidding commander in the Egyptian lands, and his nephew Salah al-Din handled matters himself with all care, good opinion, and politics. (The Near East in the Middle Ages, p. 54).
Second: The Moral Balance of Salah Al-Din: His Taqwa and Worship:
The personality of Sultan Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi was distinguished by a great moral balance, which helped him achieve his great goals, the most important of which are: courage, generosity, loyalty, tolerance, forbearance, justice, forgiveness, chivalry, the intensity of his resort to God, his love for jihad, his patience, his reckoning, and his eagerness to Knowledge, humility, etc.
In this article, I mention the most important qualities of Saladin related to fearing God and worshiping Him:
1- His creed:
And he, may God have mercy on him, had good faith, a lot of remembrance of God Almighty, and he took his faith from the evidence by researching with the sheikhs of the people of knowledge, and the greatest jurists, so he obtained from that the integrity of his faith from the turmoil of analogy, without the arrow of looking in it deviating into obfuscation and camouflage, continuing in the style of righteousness, Consistent with the law of correct consideration, satisfactory to the greatest scholars, and Sheikh Imam Qutb al-Din al-Nisaburi, may God have mercy on him, had compiled for him a creed that gathered all that he needed in this matter, and he was very keen on it, teaching it to his young children so that it became entrenched in their minds at a young age, and I saw him And he takes them, and they read it from their memorization in his hands, may God have mercy on him!.
2- Prayer:
As for prayer: he, may God have mercy on him, was very diligent about it in congregation, so much so that he mentioned one day that he had years of praying only in congregation, and if he fell ill he would summon the imam alone and charge himself to stand up, and pray in congregation, and he was persevering in the regular Sunnahs, and he had rak’ahs that he prayed if he woke up in time. at night, otherwise he would perform it before the morning prayer, and he would not leave prayer as long as his mind was upon him, and I saw him – may God sanctify his soul – pray standing during his illness in which he died, and he did not leave prayer except in the three days during which his mind was absent, and it was if he caught up with prayer ; while walking; Come down, pray. (Biography of Sultan Al-Nasir Salah Al-Din Al-Ayyubi, p. 58).
3- Zakat:
As for zakat, he died, may God Almighty have mercy on him, and did not keep what was obligatory upon him of zakat, and as for al-Nafl alms, it used up all his money, because he owned what he owned, and he died and left nothing in his treasury of gold and silver except forty-seven Nasserite dirhams, and one crime. fictitious gold, and he did not leave behind any property, house, real estate, orchard, village, farm, or any kind of property, may God have mercy on him!
4- Fasting during Ramadan:
Because he had missed it due to illnesses that recurred to him in multiple Ramadans, and the virtuous judge had taken charge of establishing those days, and he, may God have mercy on him, proceeded to make up for those missed ones, and that was in the honorable Jerusalem in the year in which he died, and he persevered in fasting an amount in excess of a month, because he had to He missed two Ramadans, illnesses occupied him, and the continuity of jihad stopped making them up, and fasting did not agree with his mood. Because the judge was absent, and the doctor blamed him, but he did not hear, and he said: (I do not know what will happen) as if he was inspired by the innocence of his guilt, may God have mercy on him! And he didn’t stop until he spent what he was.
5- Hajj:
For he was still determined to do it, and intended for it, especially in the year in which he died, so he determined the determination on it, and ordered the preparedness, and the Al-Rifada worked, and there was nothing left but the march, so he freed himself from that due to the lack of time, and the free hand of what befits his likes, so he postponed it to the next year So God decreed what He decreed, and this is something that the specific and the general share in knowledge about. (Biography of Al-Nasser Salahuddin, Ibn Shaddad, p. 59).
6- Listening to the Holy Quran:
And he, may God have mercy on him, loved to hear the great Qur’an, so much so that he used to seek guidance from its imam, and it was stipulated that he be knowledgeable of the sciences of the Great Qur’an, mastering its memorization, and he used to read from those who attended it at night while he was in his constellation of the two parts, the three, and the four parts, while he listened, and he used to read in his general assembly from the events that took place. His habit with that verse, twenty, and more than that, and he passed on a young boy in the hands of his father while he was reading the Qur’an, so he recited it well, so he brought him closer, made him a portion of his special food, and stood on him and his father part of a farm, and he, may God Almighty have mercy on him, was soft-hearted, abundant with tears If I hear the Quran; His heart is humbled, and his eyes shed tears most of his time.
The personality of Sultan Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi was distinguished by a great moral balance, which helped him achieve his great goals through which he was able to achieve a large part of his program, and to carve out for himself a special place in Islamic history as a skilled politician, an able military man, and a conscious Muslim. Realize the danger that surrounded the Islamic world by the Crusaders.
Important note: The article benefited from its material from the book: “Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi and his efforts to eliminate the Fatimid state and liberate Jerusalem,” by Dr. Ali Muhammad al-Sallabi.
the reviewer:
- The Book of Al-Rawdatain in the news of the two states, Al-Nuriyyah and Al-Salahiyyah, Al-Risala Foundation, first edition 1418 AH 1997 AD. Salah Al-Din, Abdullah Alwan, Dar Al-Salam, Egypt.
- Al-Kawakeb Al-Duriyyah in Al-Sira Al-Nouriyyah, Taqi Al-Din Ahmed Bin Qadi Shahba, investigation, Mahmoud Zayed, first edition, Beirut 1971 AD.
- The Near East in the Middle Ages, Mr. El-Baz El-Arini.
- Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi and his efforts to eliminate the Fatimid state and liberate Jerusalem, d. Ali Muhammad Al-Sallabi.
The opinions, facts and content presented herein are those of the author alone. Eye Libya assumes no responsibility.
