Salah Ad-Deen Al-Ayubi

277 Pages·2013·2.52 MB·English

IN THE NAME OF
ALLAH
THE ALL-COMPASSIONATE, ALL-MERCIFUL

Salah ad-Deen al-Ayubi
Volume One Crusades prior to the Rise
of the Ayubid State
Table of Contents
About the word Lord ........................................................................ i
Publisher's Note ............................................................................... i
Translator's Foreword ..................................................................... ii
Introduction ......................................................................................... 1
PART ONE CRUSADES PRIOR TO THE RISE OF THE AYUBID STATE .. 14
CHAPTER I Historical Roots of the Crusades ..................................... 15
The Byzantines ............................................................................... 15
The Spanish .................................................................................... 16
The Crusaders outflanking manoeuvres ........................................ 19
Colonialism ..................................................................................... 20
CHAPTER II The Most Important Causes of the Crusader Invasion . 23
Religious motives ........................................................................... 24
Political motives ............................................................................. 27
Social motives ................................................................................ 29
Economic motives .......................................................................... 31
Tipping the balance of power in the Mediterranean ..................... 32
Andalusia ........................................................................................ 33
Sicily ............................................................................................... 34
North Africa .................................................................................... 34
The Byzantine Emperor seeks help from Pope Urban II ................ 36
Pope Urban II and his comprehensive plan for the Crusade
campaign ........................................................................................ 37
Urban II holds a church council in southern France ...................... 39
Pope Urban II's speech ................................................................... 39
Conclusions to be drawn from Pope Urban II's speech ................. 41
The Pope's consultation following his speech ............................... 45
The Crusader propaganda campaign ............................................. 46
Peter the Hermit ............................................................................ 48
The Muslims are unaware of what is being planned for them ...... 49
CHAPTER III The Beginning of the First Crusade ............................... 50
Crusader strategy after occupation ............................................... 52
Resistance movement during the Seljuk period ............................ 56
The juristic scholar 'Ali ibn Tahir as-Sulami (431-500AH/1039-1106
CE) .................................................................................................. 57
Islamic scholars and judges participate in physical Jihad .............. 60
Poets and their role in the resistance movement ......................... 63
Seljuk leaders of Jihad prior to 'Imad ad-Deen Zangi .................... 65
Kerbogha, regent of Mosul, engages in Jihad ................................ 66
Jekermish and Suqman join forces in Jihad ................................... 68
The Battle of Balikh (the Battle of Harran) .................................... 69
Jekermish and Suqman fall out ...................................................... 71
Jekermish's defeat .......................................................................... 71
The outcomes of the Battle of Balikh............................................. 73
Jekermish persists in Jihad ............................................................. 74
Jihad of Jekermish and Suqman ibn Artuq ..................................... 76
The battle of Merzifon ................................................................... 77
The first battle of Heraclea ............................................................ 78
The second battle of Heraclea ....................................................... 79
Outcome of the battles of Kilij Arslan ............................................ 80
Consequences of the death of Kilij Arslan ..................................... 81
Mawdood ibn at-Tuntash (501-507 CE/1108-1113 CE) ................. 84
Mawdood's first campaign against Edessa .................................... 84
Mawdood's second campaign against Edessa ............................... 86
Mawdood's third campaign against Edessa ................................... 89
Mawdood's campaign — the Battle of Sannabra .......................... 89
The murder of Mawdood ............................................................... 90
Consequences of the campaigns led by Mawdood ....................... 91
Najm ad-Deen Ilghazi, ruler of Mardin .......................................... 94
The Crusaders break the truce ....................................................... 95
Mobilization against the Crusaders ............................................... 95
The Battle of Ager Sanguinis (the 'Field of Blood7) ........................ 96
Consequences of the victory .......................................................... 97
The siege of Antioch and the truce with the King of Jerusalem .... 98
The truce is broken ........................................................................ 98
Rebellion of Sulayman ibn Ilghazi against his father ..................... 99
Suppression of the rebellion .......................................................... 99
The death of Ilghazi and its effect on the Muslims ...................... 100
Balak ibn Bahram ibn Artuq ......................................................... 101
Crusaders besiege Aleppo ............................................................ 102
Balak ibn Bahram is killed ............................................................ 104
Emir of Mosul, Aq Sunqur, wages Jihad to save Aleppo .............. 104
Aleppo confronts the Crusaders .............................................. 104
Betrayal by the Emir of Hillah ...................................................... 106
Crusaders provoke and taunt the people of Aleppo.................... 107
Popular resistance in Aleppo ....................................................... 107
The people of Aleppo ask for help from the Emir of Diyarbakir .. 108
Aq Sunqur al-Bursuqi' s response to the Aleppans' call for help . 108
The assassination of al-Bursuqi .................................................... 110
Deviant groups were one of the greatest obstacles to the Jihad
movement .................................................................................... 111
The conquest of Edessa: The most important deed of Imad ad-
Deen Zangi ................................................................................... 112
The internal situation in Edessa ................................................... 114
Operations that led to conquest .................................................. 114
'Imad ad-Deen Zangi7 s policies in Edessa.................................... 115
Factors which helped 'Imad ad-Deen Zangi ................................. 116
Anecdotes about the conquest of Edessa .................................... 117
The scholar Moosa al-Armani's clever approach ..................... 117
In Sicily ......................................................................................... 118
A martyr seen in a dream ............................................................. 118
Conspiracy by the inhabitants of Edessa ..................................... 119
Consequences of the conquest of Edessa .................................... 119
John LaMonte's opinion of 'Imad ad-Deen .................................. 121
Poets praise for 'Imad ad-Deen after the conquest ..................... 125
Military events after the conquest .............................................. 125
Ways in which 'Imad ad-Deen Zangi fought the Crusaders ......... 126
'Imad ad-deen's political and military role in Islamic history ...... 131
The Second Crusade ..................................................................... 133
The Seljuks destroy the German army ......................................... 133
The Seljuks of Rum slow the advance of the French army .......... 134
The Crusader attack on Damascus ............................................... 135
How the Christian clergy viewed the Second Crusade ................ 137
The Victory of Damascus in the Second Crusade ......................... 139
Scholars from the Maghreb take part in defending Damascus ... 141
Consequences of the Second Crusade ......................................... 141
CHAPTER IV Wisdom of Noor ad-Deen's Dealings with the Fatimid
State ................................................................................................. 145
Roots of the Ismaili Shiites and the Fatimid state ....................... 145
'Ubayd-Allah al-Mahdi ................................................................. 147
'Ubaydi crimes in North Africa ................................................. 148
Exaggerated claims about 'Ubayd-Allah al-Mahdi ....................... 148
Oppression of everyone who disagreed with their madh-hab .... 150
Prohibition on issuing fatwas according to the madh-hab of Imam
Malik............................................................................................. 150
Abolishing certain Sunnah practices and adding to others ......... 151
Banning gatherings ...................................................................... 151
Destroying the books of those who followed the Sunnah........... 152
Preventing Sunni scholars from teaching .................................... 152
Abolishing sharia law ................................................................... 152
Forcing people to break the fast before the moon was sighted.. 153
Erasing all reminders of the Sunni caliphs ................................... 153
Bringing their horses into the mosques ....................................... 154
The Maghrebi people's resistance of the 'Ubaydi Fatimid state . 155
Passive resistance ........................................................................ 155
Debate and dialogue .................................................................... 157
Armed resistance ......................................................................... 159
Resistance through writing .......................................................... 162
Resistance by the Sunni poets ..................................................... 163
Al-Mu'izz li Deen-Illah the Fatimid enters Egypt .......................... 163
Other examples of his odes to al-Mu'izz include: ........................ 164
Demise of the Fatimid state in North Africa ................................ 166
The Seljuks work to protect Iraq against Batini, Rafidi Shiism ..... 168
The Nizami schools: Sunni revival and confrontation with Rafidi
Shiite thought ............................................................................... 170
Al-Imam al-Ghazali7s efforts in defeating the Batini Shiites ........ 173
Noor ad-Deen's military campaigns against Egypt ...................... 175
Noor ad-Deen's motives for conquering Egypt ............................ 176
The first campaign of Noor ad-Deen - 559 AH/1164 CE .............. 178
Amalric I's second campaign against Egypt ................................. 180
Noor ad-Deen's second campaign ............................................... 182
Amalric's third campaign and Crusader-Fatimid negotiations .... 183
The battle of Babayn .................................................................... 183
The siege of Alexandria ................................................................ 186
Negotiations concerning withdrawal from Egypt ........................ 186
Noor ad-Deen's third campaign against Egypt (564 AH/1169 CE)189
Al-'Adid seeks the help of Noor ad-Deen Mahmood ................... 189
Asad ad-Deen Shirkuh enters Cairo: making the most of
opportunity .................................................................................. 190
The slaying of Shawar .................................................................. 190
Asad ad-Deen becomes al-'Adid's vizier ...................................... 191
Death of Asad ad-Deen ................................................................ 191
The conspiracy of the Caliph's confidant ..................................... 192
The battle with the Sudanese troops ........................................... 193
Dealing with the Armenians ......................................................... 195
Salah ad-Deen strengthens his army ........................................... 195
Confronting the joint Crusader-Byzantine attack: the siege of
Damietta (565 AH/1170 CE) ......................................................... 196
Reasons for the failure of the campaign against Damietta ......... 197
Factors affecting the Muslims .................................................. 197
Factors affecting the Crusaders ............................................... 198
Factors affecting the Byzantines .............................................. 198
Factors common to both the Crusaders and Byzantines ......... 199
Outcomes of the attack on Damietta .......................................... 199
Najm ad-Deen Ayub arrives in Egypt ........................................... 200
Abolition of the 'Ubaydi Fatimid caliphate .................................. 202
Phasing out sermons in the name of the Fatimid caliph ............. 203
The death of al-'Adid 567 AH/1171 CE ........................................ 205
Muslims rejoicing at the end of the Fatimid state ....................... 205
Lessons from the fall of the Fatimid state in Egypt ..................... 206
Attempted revolt aimed at restoring the Fatimid state .............. 207
The poet 'Amarah ibn 'Ali al-Yamani ............................................ 212
The siege of Alexandria ................................................................ 214
The conspiracy of Kanz ad-Dawlah .............................................. 216
How Salah ad-Deen put an end to the Fatimid madh-hab and
legacy ........................................................................................... 216
Humiliating the Fatimid caliph al-'Adid ........................................ 217
Degrading the palace of the Fatimid caliphate ............................ 217
Cancelling the Friday khutbah in al-Azhar Mosque and abolishing
the teaching of Fatimid thought there ........................................ 218
Destruction and burning of Shiite Ismaili books .......................... 219
Abolishing all sectarian festivals of the Fatimids ......................... 219
Erasing the Fatimid symbols and currency .................................. 220
Isolating members of the Fatimid dynasty .................................. 220
Weakening the Fatimid capital .................................................... 220
The Fatimids' false claim of descent from the (Messenger (SAAW)
..................................................................................................... 221
Pursuit of the remnants of Shiism in Syria and Yemen ................ 221
Incorporation of the eastern Maghreb ........................................ 225
Incorporation of Yemen ............................................................... 225
Conquest of Nubia ....................................................................... 227
The real story behind the alienation between Salah ad-Deen and
Noor ad-Deen ............................................................................... 227
The death of Noor ad-Deen Mahmood ....................................... 233
Notes ................................................................................................ 235
Appendix A ....................................................................................... 256
Appendix B .................................................................................... 261
Dynasties Mentioned in Salah ad-Deen al-Ayubi ......................... 262
Muslims .................................................................................... 262
Crusaders ................................................................................. 263
Appendix C ....................................................................................... 265