# Salahuddin’s Revolution Begins | Ep. 6 | The Salahuddin Generation

**Author:** Dr. Hassan Elwan
**Series:** The Salahuddin Generation
**Published:** 2026-01-10
**YouTube:** https://youtu.be/w63qW_tFMA4
**URL:** https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/the-salahuddin-generation/the-salahuddin-generation-episode-6-salahuddin-revolution-begins
**Topics:** History

## Description
Salahuddin has finally come to power. But ruling Egypt is harder than taking it. As reform begins, the weight of old systems, old loyalties, and unseen enemies presses in. Change is necessary—but it’s dangerous…

## Chapters
- 0:00 Salahuddin’s major sin during his youth
- 4:56 Salahuddin as an example of Muslim masculinity
- 8:51 The scholars around Salahuddin
- 13:24 Generosity of Rabia Khatun, Salahuddin’s sister
- 14:07 The Crusaders’ navy attacks Egypt
- 19:06 Abolishing the Ismaili caliphate
- 24:30 Time to liberate Jerusalem, or too soon?
- 30:00 A conspiracy by the Assassins, Crusaders, and Ismaili loyalists

## Transcript
**[0:00]** Who is the most inexperienced youngest man in the world? His nephew Yusuf. Let's bring him. And he calls him to the palace. And he starts telling him, you are going to be my new wazir.

**[0:17]** And he starts giving him a title. He says, now you are al-Nasir. And you are my wazir of Egypt. And here comes the power. Al-Nasir, Yusuf, Najmuddin, Ibn Shadi, Ibn Ayyub.

**[0:34]** Known as Salahuddin Al-Ayyubi.

**[0:56]** SubhanAllah. The khalifa picked him with his own hand. The Ismaili khalifa thought he is going to pick someone that he can control. He didn't realize, you just picked Salahuddin Al-Ayyubi, the one that is going to abolish the Ismaili khalifa from Egypt.

**[1:12]** He picked him with his own hand. When Salahuddin was appointed by the Ismaili khalifa to be the wazir, what he expected happened. Everybody around Salahuddin, they felt that this is not the right choice. He is not the most experienced.

**[1:27]** He is the weakest among us. Why is the khalifa choosing for us? He is playing us off. And they started to differ. It was al-Faqih Isa Al-Hikari that came and explained to them, this is exactly what they want us to do. Do not swallow the bait.

**[1:43]** Do not do what your opponent want to do. That's exactly the point. He appointed Salahuddin, so that would happen. We'd argue, disunite, and then he drives a wedge between us. Do the opposite. And Faqih Isa Al-Hikari spoke to all of them, convinced all of them to unite and support

**[2:03]** Salahuddin and not fall in the trap that the Ismaili khalifa laid for them. Salahuddin didn't want to be a part of this. As a matter of fact, he said later, I didn't want to come, especially after the second campaign and what happened in Alexandria. When my uncle came for the third time, I was very reluctant to go, but he went and spoke

**[2:22]** to Nureddin Zinki. And Nureddin Zinki came and spoke to me that I have to go with my uncle. And subhanAllah, it is the decree of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that Salahuddin finds himself in that position. Who is Salahuddin Al-Ayyubi? Who are those knights that are around him and those scholars that surrounded him?

**[2:41]** Salahuddin, as we saw this young man, Yusuf, who was raised in Damascus, his father is Najmuddin Ayyub, one of the men that was with Imaduddin Zinki and Nureddin Zinki. And Najmuddin was a loyal person to Nureddin Zinki. Now his son, Yusuf, if you will, was raised mainly in Damascus.

**[3:00]** Life was kind of easy for him. As a young man, people say even he used to, although he's raised in a religious place, but he used to even sometimes drink. SubhanAllah, he used to be that way. And many people got surprised. Salahuddin, the great Muslim ruler, the great pious person.

**[3:17]** Yes, many of the people that are extremely pious had a very humble beginning. And that, I insist on saying this, because that brings us hope. If we see some of our youth today, perhaps some of our kids, deviate a little bit left or right, don't give up on them.

**[3:33]** Because we can always return back to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. The door of repentance and tawbah is always open. Salahuddin started that way, but look what happened to him. His uncle noticed that this young man is living an easy life and he doesn't have a lot of

**[3:49]** aspiration. He noticed that one of the worst diseases that can affect a human being is what? Comfort. Ease. We all want ease, but we get too much used to it. We become too entitled and we become not used to life.

**[4:04]** We live in a bubble and we become isolated. And sometimes as parents, because we love our kids, we want an easy life for them. But if we prevent them from seeing anything hard or a little bit negative, we're not doing them a favor.

**[4:20]** And it was this expedition with Asaduddin Shirkuh that Salahuddin joined that actually changed his character. He got to see firsthand people like al-Faqih Isa al-Hikari, who used throughout the journey to read books of creed and fiqh and hadith to everybody.

**[4:35]** And Salahuddin saw firsthand the reality of what the Muslims are facing, the reality of life, death, challenges, sacrifice. He saw his uncle and those wonderful and beautiful knights of Nureddin Zinki. That touched his heart. That changed him. It is said that he completely repented.

**[4:52]** Now Salahuddin got really affected by those scholars and his character was so beautiful. Yes, like Nureddin Zinki, he's adamant about fighting the Franks. But one key element that Salahuddin had was compassion, gentleness, clemency, generosity.

**[5:10]** If you want a character that explains what a man should look like, you know masculinity, something that we often discuss nowadays, what is it like to be a real man? Wallahi Salahuddin embodies that so much. On the battlefield, he is a striking force.

**[5:28]** One of the bravest of knights, really a warrior, really formidable, very steadfast. But you take him to the side, extremely gentle. He was such a gentle heart to the extent that whenever he fought wars, after defeating the enemy, he would stand at the side of the defeated people, helping them out.

**[5:47]** He felt the pain of others. He was extremely compassionate. And you will see through his biography and what will happen next, how he truly embodied this prophetic character of being compassionate, tender, and gentle hearted. Another character that he was characterized with his generosity.

**[6:04]** It was phenomenal. To the extent that his financial advisors had to hide his money from him. Because you leave money around Salahuddin, what does he do? He spends it for the sake of Allah. And he used to say, there are some people that money and dirt are the same for them.

**[6:20]** And people said he's speaking about himself. Anytime he has money in his hands, anyone who is poor, anybody who wants anything, he would give it to him. As a matter of fact, we have a narration that later on in life, after he became the sultan, one person accused him of taking some of his properties and he said, we need to go

**[6:37]** to the court. Salahuddin was shocked. But he went with him, being very humble, and stood in front of the judge. And the man brought forth his claims. Salahuddin brought nine witnesses that he is right and this other man, the accuser, is wrong.

**[6:53]** And the judge ruled in the favor of Salahuddin Al-Ayyubi. And the man was so embarrassed, he actually made it up, thinking that he can get something from Salahuddin Al-Ayyubi. And the man now is walking away and Salahuddin stops him. He says, why did you do all this? What was it for?

**[7:09]** Money? Wealth? Here, take. And he started giving him gifts. What do you want? Horses? Take. New clothes? Money? Take. And subhanAllah, Salahuddin was so forgiving. As you will see, that some scholars sometimes would blame him because he would forgive some

**[7:24]** of his enemies and some of the worst people that fought him and they would betray and end up fighting him again. So he was known for his compassion, for his clemency, for his generosity. He was known that he loved the Qur'an.

**[7:40]** Back in the day, if you want to hear the Qur'an recited beautifully, what do you do? SubhanAllah, they didn't have YouTube and they didn't have internet that I can sit back, choose a shaykh and, I mean, you have to go to the shaykh. So Salahuddin had a reciter of Qur'an accompany him throughout his journeys.

**[7:57]** Why? I want to hear two or three juz of Qur'an recited. It is something that soothes the heart of Salahuddin. They say, if you recite Qur'an, tears will come out of his eyes. He was known for love of salah. He prayed all the salah in time.

**[8:13]** He prayed all the sunan, all the extra prayers to the extent later in his life, he told Ibn Shaddad, it has been 40 years. I can't remember one time I did not pray salah in jama'ah. How? You're on the battlefield.

**[8:29]** He had his own mu'adhin. No matter where I am, we are a group, we make adhan, we always pray in jama'ah. Never miss that. He also loved the Prophet (ﷺ), like Nureddin Zinki. Had a love for the hadith of the Prophet (ﷺ).

**[8:44]** He wanted to learn the hadith of the Prophet (ﷺ) so much, but he's always on, you know, always on the battlefield. He spent 17 years on a horseback. As you'll see, he really struggled a lot. SubhanAllah, when life is hard, it doesn't mean I stop learning.

**[9:00]** I have to learn my regular diet of ilm, regular diet of knowledge is necessary for the heart. So he went to this shaykh Ibn Shaddad, one of those hadith scholars, and he asked him, can you please accompany me wherever I go in all the battles or expeditions?

**[9:18]** Why? Companionship of a scholar is crucial for one's heart. I don't want to read about the hadith. I want to learn the hadith from a scholar. So would you please, please accompany me so every single night we can study hadith together. And Ibn Shaddad reported every night he would go to Salahuddin and they would sit down and

**[9:37]** go to hadith by hadith by hadith. And anytime he comes across a narration from the Prophet (ﷺ) that had anything of, you know, admonishment, he would stop and I would see him teary eyed. We said Al-Hafidh Ibn Asakir was there in Damascus. Egypt had Al-Hafidh Al-Salafi, great hadith scholar, second to Ibn Asakir.

**[9:57]** And Salahuddin goes to him and he sits. And in one narration, he's sitting with his brother and, you know, they're listening to the hadith being recited properly. And Salahuddin leans to speak to his brother quietly. And it is said Al-Hafidh Al-Salafi said, stop, stop the narrator of the hadith and looked

**[10:15]** at the Sultan Salahuddin and his brother. And he said, what is this? The words of the Prophet (ﷺ) are being narrated and you are talking to each other. If you do this again, both of you will be kicked out. Look at the honor and the izzah of a scholar.

**[10:32]** And it also told Salahuddin about what? The adab. It later on, if anybody is reciting a hadith of the Prophet (ﷺ), he would order everybody, stay quiet. Everybody, nobody talks. Why? Somebody's narrating a hadith of Muhammad (ﷺ).

**[10:48]** That's how much he loved and he honored the Prophet (ﷺ). One other thing, he was a great strategist. Salahuddin, not only a pious, merciful, compassionate soul, not only a formidable warrior, but when it came to strategy, how to plan warfare, even in politics, as we'll see, he was a great

**[11:09]** strategist and Salahuddin was surrounded with some of the best people of Nureddin Zinki. I want here to again notice that Salahuddin by himself wouldn't have been able to do anything. The reason he was successful is because when he came to Egypt, he came with people that

**[11:25]** helped him. He came with the likes of al-Faqih Isa al-Hikari, this fighting imam that we spoke about, the one that unified everybody around Salahuddin. He was the right hand of Salahuddin al-Ayyubi. He always took his opinion in everything, but he was surrounded with great men also.

**[11:41]** Who are those men? I'll just give some examples. Husam al-Din Lulu is the commander of the fleet of Salahuddin al-Ayyubi. And that man, when you look at his biography, known to be a righteous person, but known for his generosity. It is said that he used to donate 12,000 loaves of bread every single day.

**[12:02]** He had people like Baha'uddin Qaraqush. Baha'uddin Qaraqush was the one that built the citadel in Egypt. He was a builder. He excelled in the art of fortification, and Salahuddin used him immensely to rebuild the economy of Egypt, if you will.

**[12:20]** Many scholars were around Salahuddin. We spoke about al-Faqih Isa al-Hikari. We spoke about al-Hafidh Ibn Asakir, but also there were scholars from Egypt. One prominent name from Egypt is al-Qadhi al-Fadhil. This judge of Egypt, Salahuddin said, I did not open cities with my sword.

**[12:39]** I really opened cities with the pen of al-Qadhi al-Fadhil. He was in Egypt before Salahuddin came, so he knew the ins and outs of the systems there. And he really managed the affair of Egypt for Salahuddin. Consistently, you would see al-Qadhi al-Fadhil sending letters to Salahuddin, and we have

**[12:56]** those letters in the times of, you know, times of ease and the time of hardship. And he had a great effect on making Salahuddin steadfast in some of the darkest moments that he faced. We have a person like al-Wa'id ibn Najah, ibn Najah the admonisher, who was a student

**[13:12]** of Shaykh Abdul Qadir al-Jilani, subhanAllah, and you see here the link. And Salahuddin loved him, and he made him one of his private admonishers to admonish him and his own family. And he was always close to Salahuddin. The men around Salahuddin had such beautiful akhlaq, such good qualities. They were very generous people. For example, Rabi'ah Khatun, the sister of

**[13:33]** Salahuddin al-Ayyubi, being very generous, built schools herself. She studied pharmacology, and she built the greatest pharmacy in her time. And she would supply all the hospitals in Sham and Egypt with medicine free for people. But she didn't even stop there. Every night

**[13:49]** she would go out, find some people that are in need of medicine, and would give them medicine herself. So Salahuddin was surrounded with a group of knights and scholars, not only in Egypt, but also all around. And this was the core that was required to make the change

**[14:06]** in Egypt. In Egypt, Salahuddin faced tremendous challenges. His struggle was from outside and inside. Outside, you have the Franks, the crusaders. They're not happy that Egypt fell to him, whether it's the crusaders in Jerusalem or in Europe. Second, you have the

**[14:24]** assassins. The assassins are loyal to the Ismailis. They did not like the fact that Egypt, the place of the Ismaili khilafah, is ruled by him. So they presented a threat. Immediately, something happened in the year of 564 Hijri, maybe less than one year that

**[14:40]** Salahuddin was in power in Egypt. The Ismailis were not happy that the wazara is with Salahuddin. And they started to conspire. And they called the Franks. And they said, you know what? Salahuddin being in Egypt and Egypt under the control of Nureddin Zinki is not good

**[14:56]** for either of us. Let's join forces and attempt to overthrow Salahuddin and remove all the troops back so Nureddin Zinki does not have any control over Egypt. And they made a plot. They will make an internal revolt in Cairo while the Franks would attack from the sea.

**[15:14]** The fleet will come and attack the city of Dumyat. And surely Salahuddin finds himself between those two forces. A coup that's happening. The Egyptian army is revolting and is attacking his forces in Cairo. And news came that a big fleet of the Franks and the crusaders

**[15:32]** arrived in the city of Dumyat and the city is under siege. And Salahuddin sends to Nureddin Zinki asking him for help. And Nureddin Zinki's response was amazing. Nureddin Zinki started immediately fasting every single day, making intense du'a for Allah to help him and help

**[15:52]** Salahuddin in this situation. Nureddin starts dispatching soldiers immediately to Egypt and starts attacking the Franks around Antioch and putting pressure on them, helping Salahuddin in two fronts by attacking in Sham and sending troops to Dumyat. And the siege of Dumyat dragged.

**[16:10]** And the battle raged in Cairo. And Nureddin Zinki was very worried. And something happened that's very interesting. One night, one of the shuyukh around Nureddin Zinki, he said, I had a dream and I saw the Prophet (ﷺ). And the Prophet (ﷺ)

**[16:26]** came to him and told him, go tell Nureddin Zinki not to be worried anymore. Tell him that the siege in Dumyat is over. The Franks will be defeated. And same thing in Cairo. This calamity is done for. And the man said, O Prophet of Allah, he's not going

**[16:43]** to believe me. And in his dream, the Prophet (ﷺ) told him, tell him by the sign of the battle and the day of Haram and he will understand. And the man wakes up for Salat al-Fajr, goes to the masjid. Nureddin Zinki is there and the shaykh is

**[17:00]** now, how am I going to tell Nureddin Zinki? What should I tell him? And subhanAllah, Nureddin Zinki looks at him and he tells him, should I tell you or should you tell me? And the man was shocked. And Nureddin told him, yes, you saw the Prophet (ﷺ).

**[17:17]** What did he tell you to tell me? The man said, well, he told me to tell you that don't worry about Dumyat and the situation with Salahuddin. It's all over. And he stops. And Nureddin Zinki, what else? What did you tell him? And the man said, well, I told him that

**[17:34]** you won't believe me. And the man said, sayyidi, he told me to tell you by the sign of the day of Haram. And he didn't know what that means. And Nureddin Zinki started crying and broke into tears. And the shaykh asked him, what is this sign of the day of Haram? By

**[17:49]** your du'a in the day of Haram? Haram was the battle when Asaduddin Shirkuh was trapped in Egypt, remember? And Nureddin Zinki took his troops and a major battle happened. And that night, Nureddin Zinki spent the night up making sincere du'a of his du'a. He reached a point

**[18:06]** that he started asking Allah, Ya Rabbi, do not let the Muslims be defeated because of the sins and the mistakes of Nureddin Mahmud. Ya Rabbi, please grant victory to the Muslims and forgive this abd of yours. Do not let Muslims be defeated because any of my shortcomings.

**[18:25]** And that's how we know about that du'a. And subhanAllah, it was true. That day, something interesting happened. The winds, the wind usually blows from the sea inward. That day, the wind shifted and started blowing from inland towards the sea. And Salahuddin sent

**[18:42]** a fire-throwing equipment to the city of Dumyat. And it is said that fire-throwing equipment fire went so far, it burned all and most of the ships of the Franks. And most of the ships got burned in one day and the siege was over. And the same thing happened

**[18:57]** in Cairo. They succeeded in defeating the Egyptian army and Salahuddin was spared and the coup was abolished. After the battle of Dumyat, Salahuddin realized that Egypt needs a major reform. That there's so many internal challenges in Egypt. And Salahuddin immediately

**[19:17]** starts taking some serious steps. The first thing he does is what Nureddin Zinki always does. 0% taxes. And people could not believe their ears. No more taxes? And he started again with his generosity and giving and with his forgiveness. People were not used to this.

**[19:34]** So the Egyptian population started to love Salahuddin Al-Ayyubi. He realized that the Egyptian army is still not loyal to him. Their loyalty is with the Ismaili khilafah. So Salahuddin takes a major decision. The entire Egyptian army had to be let go. He disbands all the

**[19:52]** Egyptian army. Nicely. But tells them basically that it's done. And he starts establishing a new army in Egypt from scratch. And by the way, the method that Salahuddin used was not only to establish people that are strong in the military sense, but also they need to

**[20:12]** be patient. They need to be steadfast. They need to be connected to Allah. They need to have ilm. They need to have deen. And one technique that was often used was the dhikr of Allah. And again, was scholars that helped the soldiers of Salahuddin through certain

**[20:30]** things like qiyam al-layl and fasting to be steadfast in the battlefield. To have a cause. To build them inside out if you will. And the efforts of reform started. And Salahuddin followed if you will the same road map that Nureddin followed. The same road map that

**[20:46]** Nizam al-Mulk decades ago followed. Salahuddin started building schools in Egypt. Realizing that it all starts with education. It all starts with ilm. The process of tazkiyat an-nafs by the way. The purification of the soul. The first step in it is what? Ilm. That's

**[21:04]** on the individual level. And on the national level, it's essential if we want a good civilization. Knowledge is a first step. And Salahuddin started a massive wave of building schools in Egypt. And he starts with the prison that the Ismailis built to imprison people that

**[21:22]** don't pay taxes or the hujjaj that come and they do not pay taxes. And they called it dar al-ma'una. Big prison. Salahuddin comes and abolishes that prison. And instead of it, builds one of the biggest schools in the region. And Salahuddin made it a point

**[21:38]** that for a reform to happen in Egypt, it starts by reforming the hearts of the people. But what was interesting and subhanAllah a competition started happening between Salahuddin, his family and his leaders. And the competition was who would build more schools. SubhanAllah

**[21:56]** Zumurrud Khatun, Salahuddin's sister built two schools and established all the endowments to cover their expenses. She was taking care of two schools by herself. Al-Adil, Salahuddin's brother built a school dedicated to the Maliki madhhab. Remember Asaduddin Shirkuh, how he

**[22:11]** took care of his nephew Salahuddin when he was young? Salahuddin did the same thing. He had a nephew by the name of Taqiyyuddin. And he's a young man. And he was one of the most formidable soldiers of Salahuddin Al-Ayyubi. And Salahuddin loved Taqiyyuddin so much.

**[22:27]** And he brought him close and Taqiyyuddin took the area of Al-Fayyum and he built by himself a full school dedicated to the Maliki madhhab. And again, he built another school dedicated to the Shafi'i madhhab. All those schools were funded by their own endowments.

**[22:44]** And subhanAllah, Egypt started thriving. At this point, Nureddin Zinki sent to Salahuddin a message. It's time to abolish the Ismaili khilafah. And Salahuddin was worried what will happen. Egypt is still not fully loyal to him. Will people that have been accustomed

**[23:01]** to this for like two centuries, will they revolt? What about people that are still loyal to the Ismailis? What about the judges? What about the remnants of the old soldiers that he let go of? It might cause a coup and it might cause a problem. But yet, Nureddin insisted. And Salahuddin took the advice. And he ordered that next Friday prayer, the du'a at the end

**[23:22]** of the khutbah will be for the Abbasid khilafah, not for the Ismaili khalifah. For two centuries, that was not the case. Egypt and all the masjids in it will make du'a for the Ismaili khalifah as the khalifah of the Muslims. And in Iraq and Syria, all the Muslims will make du'a for

**[23:39]** the Abbasid khalifah. Now, Nureddin is attempting to unify the Muslims. That there is only one khalifah. And the time comes. And Salahuddin issues his orders. And all the masjids in Egypt, on that Friday, they all of the sudden switch. And at the end of the khutbah, everybody

**[23:55]** makes du'a to the Abbasid khalifah in Baghdad. And to the surprise of Salahuddin, nothing happened. Egyptian people did not revolt. And it is obvious, people didn't like the Ismaili khalifah so much. They did not like the rule. They did not like the taxes. They

**[24:11]** did not like the oppression. And they liked Salahuddin and what he did. He really won their hearts by his good character, compassion, abolishing taxes. They could see the difference. So people did not revolt. To the surprise of Salahuddin Al-Ayyubi. And the Ismaili khalifah

**[24:27]** got abolished on the hands of Salahuddin Al-Ayyubi. Now, an interesting thing happened. A difference between Nureddin Zinki and Salahuddin. Nureddin said, now that we have abolished the Ismaili khalifah, we have full control of Egypt. Egypt and Sham is united. It is

**[24:44]** time. It is time to attack and maybe the time to liberate Jerusalem is here. And he orders one of his workers and he said, build me a minbar, a pulpit. And build it in the most beautiful of ways. And he said, that is a pulpit that by the grace of Allah, I will

**[25:02]** put in Al-Aqsa Mosque when Allah enables us to free it from the hands of the Franks. And you see what the goal of Nureddin Zinki is. What is he aspiring for? Perhaps he didn't live long enough to see that. However, actions are by intentions. And he sends to Salahuddin,

**[25:23]** now bring your army and come. And Salahuddin responds that it's not time yet. Egypt is not stable. I cannot leave Egypt in that state. The assassins are not happy because the Ismaili is abolished. The Egyptian army that I disbanded might revolt. The remnants of the Ismaili

**[25:42]** legacy is still there in Egypt. I'm not in control yet. If I attempt to leave Egypt now, a revolt might happen. And that was a difference between Nureddin Zinki and Salahuddin. And Salahuddin started a major reform. He went to the Azhar University, the one that was established

**[26:00]** to spread the Ismaili madhhab. And Salahuddin stopped that and returned the Azhar to the Sunni madhhab. His second step were the governance. Egypt had judges that used to rule between people based on what? The Ismaili madhhab. He removed all the judges from power. And he assigned new judges

**[26:20]** based on Muslim scholars that were basically more Shafi'i in their madhhab. Now replacing the jurisprudence system, if you will, in Egypt. So when Salahuddin built schools, the educational system had two parts. Part is to fix the creed, to fix the identity, to fix beliefs and thoughts that were in confusion because of the long rules of the Ismaili.

**[26:44]** And he realized that because of the Ismailis and their presence, and they distant people so much from the sunnah of the Prophet (ﷺ). So Salahuddin, like Nureddin Zinki, emphasized hadith. And he started supporting hadith schools in Egypt.

**[27:00]** The same way like Nureddin Zinki built a hadith school in Damascus and put Al-Hafidh Ibn Asakir to be the leader in that school to teach the science of hadith. Salahuddin did the same thing. Tie people back to the sunnah. The schools are starting to teach the proper creed, the proper narrations of the Prophet (ﷺ).

**[27:21]** But he realized another factor that was very important. The presence of the Ismailis in Egypt over two centuries, they introduced so many innovations in Egypt, so many bid'ahs. Whether it's celebrations, rituals, things that people would do around the graves.

**[27:39]** And it was so spread even between the people of sunnah. What is the best way to change this? And this, subhanAllah, this is a very big lesson. As human beings, yes, it's important to have sound intellectual belief.

**[27:55]** But the human being is ritualistic in nature. And if we only address the intellect with no rituals, whatever we're trying to put in our minds will not stick with us. So Salahuddin realized this. To combat the innovations, he cannot just stop them.

**[28:12]** People need proper rituals to replace improper rituals. Al-Qadhi al-Fadhil came with a brilliant idea. He said, I'm going to build a school dedicated for the Qur'an and the science of the Qur'an. And notice this, the best ritual we can have is the recitation of the Qur'an.

**[28:30]** So he established a school and invited one of the top scholars of recitation of the time, Imam al-Shatibi. And that school placed a great emphasis on the seven recitations of the Qur'an. It is said the school had more than 100,000 books in its library.

**[28:46]** Scholarship for studying Qur'an, memorizing the Qur'an, Qur'an competitions was all over the place. He even started building dormitories for orphaned children so that they can come and to encourage them to study and understand the Qur'an.

**[29:01]** And you can see it as an effort. And this effort was not only in the schools and theology and scholarship, but also building the infrastructure of Egypt. So he started to dedicate enormous amount of money to build the Egyptian fleet. Because the ports of Egypt, whether it's the Mediterranean or the Red Sea, need the presence of a strong fleet.

**[29:21]** He started investing in hospitals, pharmacies, gardens, parks. He even did something amazing, the pilgrims, the people that are going for Hajj. Instead of taking taxes from them, Salahuddin started building what? Hotels. And he called it Dar al-Diyafah.

**[29:37]** If you're a pilgrim coming through Egypt, guess what? You can stay there, eat, drink, sleep, have people to serve you for free. You're the guest of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. It's the honor of people in Egypt to be your host. Anybody coming for Hajj, passing through Egypt, don't worry about anything.

**[29:54]** You're going to be taken care of. No wonder people really loved Salahuddin because of his generosity. But what Salahuddin feared happened. Despite the changes, despite his generosity and his kindness, there were people and there will always be people that are not happy with the truth.

**[30:11]** They're not happy with seeing things change and the remnants of the Ismaili khilafah. And their plan had a number of elements in it. One was to use the assassins. The assassins were not happy. Salahuddin abolished the Ismaili khilafah.

**[30:26]** So they realized we can use the assassins to assassinate Salahuddin. That's one element. Number two, the old army of Egypt that Salahuddin let go of. They're not happy either. So they contacted the leader of this army. His name was Kanz al-Dawla. And notice again, not Kanz al-Din.

**[30:42]** Kanz al-Dawla, the treasure of the state. Right? The old way of names, right? They contacted him. Come, we have a plot against Salahuddin. Then they contacted some of the remnants of the people still in power in Cairo. And they started, we revolt from inside of Cairo and we'll take control in Cairo.

**[31:00]** And the fourth element, the Franks. The Franks, whether in Jerusalem or in Europe, they were really worried. When the Ismaili khilafah was abolished, Nureddin Zinki is becoming too powerful. And they were really not happy with this.

**[31:16]** They could not let Egypt fall under Nureddin Zinki. So they were ready for action. And they contacted the Franks, the crusaders of Jerusalem and even from the islands of Sicily. And the plan was as follows. The Franks will attack from the north. They attack the city of Alexandria.

**[31:32]** Meanwhile, the old army of Egypt will attack from the south with Kanz al-Dawla. And while this is happening, they will make a revolt inside of Cairo. And the assassins will assassinate Salahuddin. And indeed, a huge fleet. It is said more than 200 ships with more than 40 ships to carry supplies.

**[31:50]** They had six ships carrying what? Siege equipment so that they can take the city of Alexandria. It is said more than 50,000 Franks. At least 5,000 knights came with their horses. A major force was going to attack Egypt. While this was happening in Alexandria, the news came that you know what?

**[32:08]** Kanz al-Dawla is on the march from the south. And the assassins started what? Infiltrating Salahuddin's camp, pretending to be soldiers, looking for an opportunity to come and attack Salahuddin. And there was already a plan in Cairo to revolt.

**[32:26]** And subhanAllah, it started with the plan in Cairo. One of the people around Salahuddin, Al-Wa'id ibn Najah, ibn Najah the admonisher, the student of Shaykh Abdul Qadir al-Jilani that now is with Salahuddin, he found out about this conspiracy.

**[32:42]** And he did something really interesting. He pretended not to like Salahuddin. So he approached the people that are conspiring and says, Yeah, can I have a place here too? I'm willing to help you. And they started including him. And he went with them and took all the information. Who is involved? What is their plan?

**[32:58]** When are they going to attack? Got all the names and went to Salahuddin and gave it to him. So Salahuddin acted in a preemptive way. Before they did anything, Salahuddin arrested all of them. And this conspiracy and this coup in Cairo failed.

**[33:16]** But nevertheless, Salahuddin was out actually fighting the crusaders in Sham. He didn't know about what's going to happen in Alexandria or Kanz al-Dawla when the assassins wanted to attack Salahuddin for the first time. They made two or three attempts on him.

**[33:32]** This was the first one. They came, of course, disguised as if they're soldiers of Salahuddin Al-Ayyubi and one of the umara of Salahuddin. He recognized some of them. And he went to them and he said, What are you doing here? I know who you are. What are you doing in this army of Salahuddin?

**[33:49]** And they realized that they were discovered. And they started to fight. But the soldiers of Salahuddin got them. And the plot of the assassin got foiled before it even did anything to Salahuddin Al-Ayyubi. Nevertheless, this fleet showed in front of the city of Alexandria.

**[34:06]** A huge fleet. And the people of Alexandria were really disturbed. What should we do? And immediately Salahuddin issued his order and command. All my emirs, all the soldiers should head immediately to the city of Alexandria. But the news came. There is an attack happening from the south.

**[34:23]** Kanz al-Dawla with the Egyptian army is moving ahead. So he orders his brother, Do not wait for him to reach Cairo. Go south, meet him before he comes. And Al-Adil, the brother of Salahuddin, takes a part of the army and heads south. So now we have two battles.

**[34:39]** The battle in the city of Alexandria against the crusaders and the Franks. And the battle happening in the south against Kanz al-Dawla. And Salahuddin is on his way back. And the battle of Alexandria starts. And the people wanted to go out, meet the army, you know, on the battle scene.

**[34:55]** But the more experienced generals of Salahuddin said, No, no, no, go inside the walls of the city of Alexandria. And everybody went in, sought refuge in the city. The Franks landed. And it is said they were shocked. Shocked when they saw the walls and the fortifications of Alexandria.

**[35:13]** It is said they didn't realize how well fortified the city was. What happened? After the attack on Dumyat, Salahuddin realized the portal cities of Egypt, especially Dumyat and Alexandria. They are points where the Franks can always attack.

**[35:30]** So he spent the last three years with the help of his builder, if you will, Baha'uddin Qaraqush, fortifying Dumyat and fortifying Alexandria. Trebuchets, you know, fire-throwing equipment, catapults, walls, trenches.

**[35:45]** The city was very well fortified. Nevertheless, the Franks started building their siege engines. And it is said they built three giant trebuchets. Trebuchets is a counterweight sling, if you will, that the Franks used often. And then they built four siege towers.

**[36:01]** And it is said they were four stories high. Can you imagine? Four of those towers, they'll move them. They go to the wall and then soldiers will go in. And they started, next day, we're going to attack the city. And the soldiers of Salahuddin, the third day, they realized what's happening.

**[36:17]** So they ordered a sortie. They opened the gate around Fajr time and they went out of the city. And they started fighting the Franks. And a long battle happened between the soldiers of Salahuddin and those invaders that came. And at about Asr time, they succeeded in reaching the trebuchets and the siege towers.

**[36:36]** And they set fire to them. They destroyed all the siege equipments. And then they decided it's time to go back to the city. On their way back, something happened. They saw flags coming on the horizon. What flags? The flag of Salahuddin al-Ayyubi.

**[36:52]** Salahuddin is here himself. People loved Salahuddin so much. When they saw that the Sultan is here himself, the soldiers turned back and started fighting again. Joined the army of Salahuddin. And the fight continued.

**[37:08]** To Maghrib time, night time, people were exhausted. They've been fighting since Fajr time. It's night time. But to the surprise of the Franks, the Muslims continued to fight during the night time. Why? The soldiers of Salahuddin were accustomed to the concept of qiyam al-layl.

**[37:24]** That Muslims pray one third of the night and two thirds. So they're used to little sleep and we can stand up in the night and pray. So yeah, we can fight by night time. But at that time, the Franks with their heavy armor and heavy swords and helmets, they were drained and they could not put a fight.

**[37:41]** And they started retreating. And they started jumping in the sea trying to swim to their ships. And it is said that some Muslims actually started jumping in the sea and they started sinking some of the ships. It was a major defeat. Major defeat for this Frankish invasion against the city of Alexandria.

**[37:59]** Salahuddin won a big victory in the city of Alexandria. Meanwhile, south, the brother of Salahuddin with a small portion of the army of Salahuddin meets Kanz al-Dawla. And some reports say maybe 30,000.

**[38:14]** You know, this is the whole Egyptian army that Salahuddin let go of. Now they're coming back. And a battle happened. And they crushed the army of Kanz al-Dawla. And Salahuddin usually had a policy, if you're attacking Muslims, once they start running, don't follow them.

**[38:31]** Let them be. He is very compassionate. But this time, the brother of Salahuddin decided not to do that. So once the army of the Ismaili started running towards the south, Al-Malik al-Adil, or the brother of Salahuddin, did not stop.

**[38:46]** He started following them. South, after them, he did not give them a break. Till he fully exterminated the army of the Ismailis. This was the true end of the Ismaili rule in Egypt. Because that was the defeat of all the remnants that was remaining after the abolishment of the Ismaili khilafah.

**[39:06]** But before the Franks leave, they said something that was very surprising to Salahuddin. A shock. He received a message from them. Telling him, do not be so happy. Don't think that you won. Go see what happened to Nureddin.

**[39:21]** Salahuddin was shocked. Nureddin Zinki? Is Nureddin Zinki dead?

## Other Episodes in "The Salahuddin Generation"
- [SERIES FINALE: Salahuddin’s Legacy | Ep. 11 | The Salahuddin Generation](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/the-salahuddin-generation/the-salahuddin-generation-episode-11.md)
- [The Man Who Outsmarted Salahuddin | Ep. 10 | The Salahuddin Generation](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/the-salahuddin-generation/the-salahuddin-generation-episode-10.md)
- [One Sultan vs. All of Europe — Counterattack | Ep. 9 | The Salahuddin Generation](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/the-salahuddin-generation/the-salahuddin-generation-episode-9.md)
- [The Victory That Reopened Jerusalem | Ep. 8 | The Salahuddin Generation](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/the-salahuddin-generation/the-salahuddin-generation-episode-8.md)
- [The Plot to Dig the Prophet ﷺ’s Grave | Ep. 7 | The Salahuddin Generation](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/the-salahuddin-generation/the-salahuddin-generation-episode-7.md)
- [3,000 Riders to Egypt: An Impossible Mission | Ep. 5 | The Salahuddin Generation](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/the-salahuddin-generation/the-salahuddin-generation-episode-5.md)
- [The Rise of Zengi | Ep. 4 | The Salahuddin Generation](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/the-salahuddin-generation/the-salahuddin-generation-episode-4-the-rise-of-zengi.md)
- [How Imam Al-Ghazali Built A Generation | Ep. 3 | The Salahuddin Generation](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/the-salahuddin-generation/the-salahuddin-generation-episode-3.md)
- [Why Jerusalem Fell in the First Crusade | Ep. 2 | The Salahuddin Generation](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/the-salahuddin-generation/the-salahuddin-generation-episode-2.md)
- [The Rise of the Assassins | Ep. 1 | The Salahuddin Generation](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/the-salahuddin-generation/the-salahuddin-generation-episode-1.md)
- [The Salahuddin Generation: Knights and Scholars | OFFICIAL TRAILER](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/the-salahuddin-generation/the-salahuddin-generation-official-trailer.md)
- [The Salahuddin Generation – Official Teaser](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/the-salahuddin-generation/the-salahuddin-generation-series-official-teaser.md)