Salah ad Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub (Arabic: صلاحالدイنイوسفبنأイوب; English full name: An Nasir Salah ad Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub; 1137-1193) was a Kurdish man, an outstanding military strategist and politician in the medieval Muslim world, and the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty in Egypt (reigned from 1174 to March 4, 1193).
Saladin fled to the Zengid dynasty with his father in his early years and went on expeditions to Egypt with his uncle. In 1169, he served as the vizier (prime minister) of the Fatimid dynasty. In 1171, the Fatimid Caliph was deposed and the Ayyubid dynasty was established. In 1174, it was called Sudan. After the founding of the country, he devoted himself to unifying Syria and most of Mesopotamia, bringing Egypt and the vast regions of West Asia back under the rule of the same regime. In 1187, he defeated and captured the King of Jerusalem and the commander of the Knights Templar in the Battle of Hardin, and subsequently made an emergency landing in Jerusalem. During the Third Crusade, they also resisted the attack of King Richard I of England. During his reign, he recognized the Abbasid Caliph as the religious leader and replaced the senior military and political positions of the Egyptian Shia aristocratic elders with Sunni elders. He also established religious schools in Cairo and Alexandria to promote Sunni doctrine. The main focus of one's life was on the war against the Crusades, being diligent and honest in governance, developing the economy, respecting scholars, and sponsoring academia. In 1193, Saladin died of illness in Damascus and was buried next to the Umayyad Mosque. [11]
Saladin was generous, honest and upright, and widely praised. Renowned in the Christian and Muslim world for their military prowess and leadership style demonstrated in the Islamic civilization's resistance against the Crusades. Western scholars praise it as a monarch with "knightly demeanor"; The Egyptian and Arab people gave him the honor of a "national hero".

Early period
Saladin's full name is Amalik Nasser Saladin Abu Musa Yusuf Ibn Ayub. [3] His father Ayub was a Kurdish man who moved his family from Tbilisi (now Tbilisi, Georgia) to Tikrit in northern Iraq in his early years. He was enfeoffed by the Seljuk Sultan Maliksha and became the ruler of the area.
In 1138, Ayyubid was dismissed and forced to flee to the Zengid dynasty in Mosul. That year, his son Yusuf was born in Tikrit. He named his son 'Saladin' (meaning 'faith of justice' or 'honor of faith'). In 1146, the ruler of the Zengid dynasty, Imaddin Zengid, died and the dynasty split. The eastern Mosul region is ruled by Saifuddin Ghazi I, the eldest son of Imaddin Zengi, while the western Aleppo region is under the jurisdiction of another son, Nuruddin Mahmoud. Young Saladin fled to Nur ad Din with his father Ayub. Ayub assisted Nur ad Din in capturing Damascus and resisting the Crusaders' attack, becoming Nur ad Din's trusted general and appointed as the commander of Damascus. In Damascus, Saladin spent his teenage years. In his youth, Saladin was not only skilled in horseback riding and archery, but also had a great love for Islamic scriptures. He was a devout Sunni and proficient in Kurdish and Arabic. [4] [20]
Rise of Egypt
Saladin lived in a turbulent era. At that time, the Seljuk Empire, which spanned Central and West Asia, began to disintegrate. The Abbasid Caliph of Baghdad, under the protection of the Seljuk Empire, existed in name only. [4] The Zengid dynasty firmly controlled modern northern Iraq and Syria, and was occasionally threatened by the Crusaders due to its borders with Christian Crusader kingdoms. Nur ad Din intended to occupy Egypt and launched a pincer attack on the Crusaders from both the east and west sides. The Crusaders, in order to expand their aggression and avoid encirclement, also turned their greedy gaze towards Egypt, which was located in a strategic location with abundant resources.

At this time, Egypt was under the rule of the Fatimid dynasty, which regarded Shia as the state religion and was on the brink of collapse. In 1164 and 1167, Nur ad Din sent Saladin's uncle, Shlko, to Egypt twice, with Saladin accompanying him as a vanguard, exceptionally brave. During the second expedition, Nur ad Din's army learned that the enemy had an advantage in numbers and developed a sense of fear. Saladin encouraged his soldiers to reduce the enemy's numbers. He took the lead, bravely killed the enemy, and achieved victory. Later, Saladin was appointed as the commander of Alexander and led a 1000 strong garrison to confront enemy forces invading from both sea and land. Despite being weak and lacking food, he held out for 75 days and won the battle, demonstrating outstanding military and organizational skills. [4]
In 1168, King Amalik of the Kingdom of Jerusalem attacked the Fatimid dynasty. At the request of Fatimid Caliph Adid, Nur ad Din sent Shilco and Saladin's uncle and nephew to provide assistance. In January 1169, the victorious Schr ö der was appointed as the vizier (i.e. prime minister) by Adid. Two months later, Shilco died suddenly, and the Syrian army he led was embroiled in a dispute. Adid chose Saladin to succeed as the vizier. [3-4]
Saladin is an ambitious and visionary politician. As early as his first expedition to Egypt, he had set ambitious goals of establishing his own dynasty in Egypt and driving the Crusaders out of the "holy city" of Jerusalem and Arab territories. Young Saladin was well aware that although he had seized power in Egypt, his position was unstable. He was hated by former Prime Minister Shawar's followers and supporters of the Fatimid dynasty, as well as challenged by the Crusaders and suspected by Nur ad Din. In addition, Saladin's dual vassal status also put him in a very awkward situation. On the one hand, he was the Prime Minister of the Shia Fatimid dynasty, and on the other hand, he was a general of the Sunni Sultan Nur ad Din. In order to consolidate his position, Saladin first demanded that the Egyptians be loyal to both the Fatimid dynasty and Nur ad Din Sultan, while praying for both. Then, he quickly and decisively suppressed the armed rebellion launched by eunuch Qiao Haier under the instigation of the Fatimid Caliph. Soon after, Saladin defeated Jerusalem and the Byzantine army invading from the sea in Dumyat. [3] The victory of Dumyat fundamentally changed the pattern of years of struggle between Egypt and the Crusaders, forcing them not to easily attack Egypt, stabilizing Egypt from years of chaos, freeing it from the situation of war and turmoil, and giving the people a chance to recuperate. [4]

In 1171, Saladin, who had firmly established himself in Egypt, began planning to change the dominance of Shia Islam in Egypt. He reorganized the palace's imperial guards and attendants, eliminated old officials, promoted close relatives, granted a large amount of land grants, and implemented a military enfeoffment system; Establishing religious colleges, promoting Sunni doctrine, and replacing Shia elders with Sunni elders; Developing water conservancy and agriculture; Reduce taxes; Adopting a tolerant policy towards Coptic Christians quickly won the support and love of the people, becoming an indisputable leader in Egypt. On September 10th, Saladin, the Fatimid Caliph Adid, was critically ill and ordered all mosques to resume their praise of the Abbasid Caliph at Friday's gathering ceremony, without mentioning the name of the Fatimid Caliph. The next day, he held a grand military parade in Cairo, with a total of 147 phalanxs being reviewed. According to historical records, "Those who have read it believe that no Islamic king has an army that can match it." Two days later, Adid passed away, and the Fatimid dynasty came to an end. From then on, the Ayyubid dynasty was born, and Saladin became the true ruler of Egypt. [4] [24]
Marching into Syria
After becoming the ruler of Egypt, Saladin still maintained his status as a vassal of the Zengid dynasty. Under this premise, he successively sent troops to occupy the lands of present-day Libya, eastern Tunisia, Yemen, and northern Sudan, in order to unify and disperse Islamic forces and eliminate the Crusaders based on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean. [4]
In the spring of 1174, Nur ad Din sent people to Egypt to investigate accounts and collect tribute. Saladin presented detailed accounts of the entire military and political institution to Nur ad Din's envoy, stating that maintaining such an institution would require a significant amount of money and therefore could not pay tribute to Nur ad Din. Angry Nur ad Din prepared to launch an attack on Saladin, but suddenly fell ill and passed away. Saladin broke free from the shadow of his suzerain, declared independence, and became the leader of the resistance against the Crusaders. [4]
The successor to Nur ad Din was his 11 year old son Saleh, and the Zengid dynasty was in a state of division. Saladin began to expand his influence into Syria and the Mesopotamia. Many generals in the Syrian region invited Saladin to come to Syria to govern.

In October 1174, Saladin came from Egypt to Busra, the gateway south of Damascus. The local governor of Busra, Shamsdin, believed that Saladin had too few people under his command. He said to Saladin, 'As long as the garrison in Damascus resists you for an hour, the surrounding villagers can kill you. But if you bring money, things will be simple.' Saladin's attendants replied, 'We bring 50000 dinars.' On October 28th, Saladin's soldiers entered Damascus without bloodshed. [4] On the way, a large number of Damascus defenders left the city and joined his team. Saladin spent a lot of money to appease Damascus. According to his minister Fadil, he spent all of Egypt's money on conquering Syria. Saladin traveled north and successively occupied Homs and Hama. On December 30th, he arrived at the capital of the Zengid dynasty, Aleppo, forcing Saleh to recognize the Ayyubid dynasty's rule over Syria. [4]
In 1175, Saladin was granted the title of "Sultan of Egypt, Syria, Maghreb, and Yemen" by Abbasid Caliph Mustadir, and gained control over Egypt, Syria, Hejaz, Maghreb, and Nubia. [4] [24]
Rashid Din Sinan of the Syrian Nichari faction sent assassins twice in 1174 and 1176 to assassinate their strong enemy Saladin. After the assassination attempt failed, on May 22, 1176, Saladin attacked the territory of the Nichari faction and besieged their Masyad fortress. And the local governor of Hama, which is close to the fortress, is Saladin's maternal uncle. He has always wanted to maintain peaceful relations with the Nichari faction, and under his mediation, Saladin reached a ceasefire agreement with Rashid Din Sinan. In the following twenty years, there was no further war between the two sides. Rashid al Din Sinan also dispatched his troops to support Saladin in some decisive battles. [28]
On November 25, 1177, in the Battle of Mongiza, Saladin, who personally led a 26000 strong army, was defeated by King Baldwin IV of Jerusalem, who led 375 knights and thousands of infantry. Saladin himself fled hastily on a camel from the chaotic army. In 1179, he captured the castle built by Baldwin IV's army at Jacob's Ferry in the Battle of Jacob's Ferry. [30]

In 1181, Saladin established friendly relations with the Byzantine Empire, relieving the threat of Byzantine and European feudal lords attacking Egypt from the sea. In July, Saleh passed away. Saladin intensified the siege on the pretext of marrying Nur ad Din's widow and Saleh's biological mother, who had the right to inherit Nur ad Din's country. [4]
In 1183, Saladin negotiated with the defending general Zengi and proposed exchanging five cities for Aleppo. On the night of June 11th, Aleppo opened its gates. Saladin had the defenders take away all the treasures, while he himself stated that he only wanted the stones of Aleppo. He regards Aleppo as the 'key to the earth'. In a letter to his brother Tughqin, he said, "Aleppo is Syria's eyes, and Aleppo Castle is her pupils." He mocked Zengi, who had given up Aleppo, saying, "I took a gold coin and gave him a silver coin." In 1185, Saladin captured Mosul and controlled the upper reaches of the Mesopotamia. At this point, Saladin not only firmly controlled Egypt and Sudan, but also expanded his power to parts of Syria, the Arabian Peninsula, and Iraq, unifying the previously fragmented small countries into a powerful Islamic empire.