# The Victory That Reopened Jerusalem | Ep. 8 | The Salahuddin Generation

**Author:** Dr. Hassan Elwan
**Series:** The Salahuddin Generation
**Published:** 2026-01-25
**YouTube:** https://youtu.be/H7AYYy-oJ-0
**URL:** https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/the-salahuddin-generation/the-salahuddin-generation-episode-8
**Topics:** History

## Description
Salahuddin lures the massive Frankish army out of their forts using Raymond’s wife as bait. The Crusaders march into a strategic trap — a desert without water, poisoned wells, and burning shrubs. By the time they realize what they’ve walked into… there is no way back.

## Chapters
- 0:00 The Largest Crusader Army Assembled
- 2:54 The Battle of Hattin Begins
- 7:33 The Capture of the "True" Cross
- 12:52 A Decisive Victory Without Slaughter
- 15:17 Why Jerusalem Was Not Taken Immediately
- 22:10 Balian’s Moral Dilemma
- 26:46 The City Is Taken Without Bloodshed
- 32:13 Al-Aqsa Found in Ruins
- 34:37 The Pulpit of Nur ad-Din Is Installed

## Transcript
**[0:00]** Raymond started speaking. Do not go out and fight Salahuddin. I fought Muslims many times before. I've never seen an army like the army that Salahuddin has and are not stood up.

**[0:17]** What kind of talk is this? You're scaring us of Muslims? You need to renew your faith in Christ. Anybody who does not stand up and fight, irrespective of the consequences, is a traitor.

**[0:46]** The king gathers all the armies. Remember now, this is all the Franks. The Franks in all the cities is the biggest army they can muster. It is said it was more than 60,000. And they head out to meet Salahuddin. When Salahuddin saw this, he said, it worked.

**[1:04]** They swallowed the bait. That was a bait. They reacted in the way I wanted them to react. They went out and started heading towards the city of Tiberias. And Salahuddin says, جاءونا ونحن قولوا قوة

**[1:20]** They came to us and we are in the position of strength. He made them fight where he wants, when he wants, and how he wants. And that's a recipe of victory. And Salahuddin had a plan already laid for them. The march from their city all the way to Tiberias, it's dry land, desert and shrubs and it's

**[1:41]** very dry. And it was summer, the month of July, hot. And you can imagine the Templars, the knights of the Crusaders, the armor they wear. Can you imagine wearing the helmets and chain mail and shields and swords and walking in

**[1:56]** the heat of the sun? So he ordered his army in three parts. A part that he has himself, the center, where the special forces of Salahuddin are. Another part with Taqi al-Din, his nephew. And the third part with Muzaffar al-Din Gökböri. Muzaffar al-Din Gökböri, one of the best knights of Salahuddin al-Ayyubi.

**[2:14]** He was married to his sister. Muzaffar al-Din Gökböri, a very generous person. It is said that in the time when people think that the Prophet (ﷺ) was born, Muzaffar al-Din Gökböri used to slaughter 5,000 cows, 10,000 chickens and he would feed

**[2:30]** the whole people. Why? Because he loved the Prophet (ﷺ). He was a man of piety and taqwa and those were the leaders of Salahuddin. And now Salahuddin's plan, delay them. He ordered Muzaffar al-Din Gökböri, go to the rear end of the army, attack them so that

**[2:46]** you slow them down. And here comes the army of the Franks. And you have the king, King Guy in the middle. And then you have the Templars in the front with Raymond. And then you have Balian in the rear end with the Hospitallers. Three portions and Salahuddin surrounds them.

**[3:04]** And Muzaffar al-Din Gökböri starts attacking them with a very interesting technique, the mounted archers. It is said the attack of Muzaffar al-Din was so fierce. And then the Hospitallers would start to repulse the attack. Muzaffar al-Din would withdraw.

**[3:20]** Once they start going back, he attacks again. He pinned them in their place. They could not move. The army of the Franks extended over more than one and a half miles. Can you imagine? The front, you know, the vanguard and the center and they became separated.

**[3:37]** And now the king had to make a decision. He was told the rear end, the Hospitallers cannot even move. Muzaffar al-Din is attacking and giving them no break. If you choose to move yourself, you'll have to leave one third of the army behind. So he was forced, I have to camp the night.

**[3:53]** Their advancement came to a halt and they had to camp in the desert, in this dry area, nighttime. Salahuddin gave his orders, do not give them a break. They will not be able to sleep. They would throw rocks during the night, drums all around, you know, and they would

**[4:10]** throw arrows at them. They would ambush them. They would go try to burn their tents. They gave them no break. And Salahuddin spends the night with his soldiers between attacking and praying qiyam and making du'a to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Next morning comes, the Franks run out of water and now they're very thirsty and they

**[4:28]** did not get a chance to sleep. They are trapped in the middle of the desert with no water. If they do not reach a water source, they would die out of thirst. Ibn Shaddad describes, he says, those who looked like lions yesterday when they first came look like hedgehogs today.

**[4:45]** Hedgehogs. They threw so many arrows at them that when the morning came, they didn't have time to unplug the arrows. Tells you about the strategy of Salahuddin. And now Salahuddin orders, Taqi al-Din, stand between them and the water source, the lake

**[5:01]** of Tiberias. You must never reach that lake. And Muzaffar al-Din Gökböri, you start harassing them and attacking them from behind. And indeed, the Franks started attacking, attempting with every force they can to reach the lake. And unfortunately, the day passes for them and they are again unsuccessful.

**[5:20]** Forced to stay in the middle of the desert. And Salahuddin realizes, next day, they are going to really, really put all their efforts to reach the water source. So he gives the order to Taqi al-Din again. You have to prevent them from reaching the water source.

**[5:35]** And gives the order to Muzaffar al-Din Gökböri, start attacking their rear. And Raymond, realizing what's happening, gathers his knights, the most powerful of the Templars knights. And he puts them together the way they used to charge. You know, the Crusader knights, the forts of iron, they gather together with such a

**[5:53]** momentum and then they attack like tanks. And he made it clear, we have to reach the water source. And they charge the position of Taqi al-Din. And to their surprise, Taqi al-Din did a very interesting maneuver. He did not defend his position.

**[6:08]** He waited, waited, waited. And in the right moment, they opened the space and the knights of the Franks passed through only to discover it's going downhill to the lake. And they couldn't stop. You know, you're charging, it's going downhill. Now Taqi al-Din ordered his forces to what?

**[6:23]** Gather up again. Now he isolated the best knights of the Templars with Raymond at the lake. And Raymond realized what's going on. And Taqi al-Din makes an exit for him. If you choose to exit the battle, that's a way out.

**[6:39]** Raymond said, alas, God, the battle is lost. And he took all the knights with him and ran away all the way to the city of Tyre. Now Taqi al-Din turned back. And the soldiers of the Franks are now exhausted. And Salahuddin, he started realizing the wind is blowing in the face of the Franks.

**[6:58]** So he ordered his soldiers, burn all the shrubs. Heat, not having enough water supply, tired, not sleeping with now the smoke coming in your face, Salahuddin's soldiers attacking you. People started to surrender. And SubhanAllah, the Franks had a relic with them.

**[7:16]** They had what they called the True Cross. According to them, this is the cross upon which Jesus was crucified according to their faith. And anybody with the True Cross, they cannot be defeated. And Taqi al-Din attacked. And he focused his attack at the holy cross.

**[7:34]** And he succeeds in going in, defeating the people around it. And Allahu Akbar, and he captures the holy cross, takes it back to the Muslim camp, shouting, Allahu Akbar, we got their cross. At that point, the Franks were completely demoralized.

**[7:50]** And the foot soldiers started to surrender and started to drop on the ground, tired and exhausted. Now the king gathered some of the Templars around him. They went to a hill and the king ordered his tent to be built. And now those fanatical knights gathered around him, trying to save their king.

**[8:08]** And Salahuddin started ordering his troops, attack the tent of the king. And the son of Salahuddin was with him. And he reports, I saw our knights attacking uphill, coming close to the tent. And I look to my father and say, we won. But then I see the Templars pushing our men back.

**[8:26]** And then my father, Salahuddin, would become very upset. He would say, Shaytan should not win. Shaytan should not win. And he gives his order for another attack. Our men attack again, and they're reaching up. And I look to my dad and I say, we won. But then I see the Franks pushing back the men and our knights back.

**[8:43]** And Salahuddin is furious again, commanding them to attack again. And then I say, we won. And then my father looked at me and he said, listen, we are not going to win. He points with his finger to the tent of the king, till this tent falls down. And as he says this, the tent of the king falls down.

**[9:02]** Which means the Muslims have reached the tent of the king. And at that point, his son says, we won. And he says, I look back. I don't see my dad. I don't see Salahuddin. Where is he? He says, I look down. I see Salahuddin in the position of sujood.

**[9:18]** Sujood al-shukr. That is how a Muslim receives good news. Making sujood that Allah enabled him to defeat the big army of the Franks in just 2-3 days. The Muslims reached the tent of the king.

**[9:33]** That was the end. This is the greatest battle of Salahuddin. The battle of Hattin. As a matter of fact, they say, why did Salahuddin achieve this great victory in Hattin? What is a lesson that we can learn from this? Yes, it's his iman. Yes, it's his faith.

**[9:49]** Yes, it's the state of himself and the soldiers. Yes, it is indeed the help of Allah. But also, Salahuddin planned well. When secular scholars analyze the battle of Hattin as one of the most amazing battles in history.

**[10:05]** Where Salahuddin, he destroyed his opponent. And they say, why did this happen? How did he do this? And their conclusion is the following. The reason Salahuddin won such a big battle, it was because he was able to make his enemy fight where he wants, how he wants, when he wants.

**[10:25]** He was able to trick them. He predicted their moves. It is not enough to be zealous. It is not enough to be sincere. Those are important things. But do I have a plan? As a matter of fact, I can say the following. The reason Salahuddin was able to achieve this victory, it's because of the zealousness

**[10:43]** of his opponent. He utilized the zealousness of Arnaut, the Templars, the Hospitallers. He played on that. They're very faithful people. They really believe they can win. He used that to his advantage. It blinded them. It blinded them. And he was able to bait them.

**[10:58]** He utilized that to make them go fight in the middle of the desert with no support, no water, the way he wants, in summer, in heat. Sometimes, many of us are sincere people, zealous. We really believe in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

**[11:14]** In tansurullaha yansurkum wa yuthabbit aqdamakum. Many of us say. And therefore, if there is an enemy, you just charge with no plan, no tactics, no strategy. And sometimes, this is exactly how our enemy baits us.

**[11:29]** This is exactly why we lose. Because we are predictable. We just rush into any trap that is prepared for us. Are we like Arnaut? Are we like the Templars? That whenever something happens, we just rush in? We're not able to put ourselves in the shoes of our opponent.

**[11:46]** The reason this battle was so great and such a big victory, as historians write, they said, if you look to the amount of people that died, you would think nobody was spared. If you look to the amount of prisoners Salahuddin has, you say, nobody was killed.

**[12:01]** The reason it was a decisive victory, all the leaders of the Franks and the Crusaders got captured. King Guy of Jerusalem got captured. The master of the Templars got captured. Arnaut got captured. Everybody. And that meant something very significant.

**[12:18]** There were no more forces left to check Salahuddin. Those were the unified forces of the Franks. Now their cities are exposed. That night, Salahuddin and his men, how did they spend their night? They spent the entire night in dhikr, du'a, qiyam, hamd, tasbih, tahlil.

**[12:37]** They showed their happiness with Allah's victory by celebrating through worshipping Allah. This is the type of men that Salahuddin had. Those are the type of men that Allah would grant the victory and Allah will give them the ability to recover Jerusalem.

**[12:53]** And next day, Salahuddin orders, bring me the prisoners. Bring me the king. Bring me Arnaut. Bring me the master. And Salahuddin sees the king of Jerusalem in front of him, tired, exhausted, thirsty.

**[13:12]** And Salahuddin gets a cold cup of water, gives it to the king, telling him, drink. Muslims, if you give water to someone, it means he's safe. And Salahuddin gave that to the king, meaning what? You are safe. And the king drank.

**[13:27]** And then he gives the cup to Arnaut. And Salahuddin says, no, no, no. He is not safe. I did not give him the cup. I gave it to you. And then he goes forward to Arnaut. And then he tells him, here am I, aiding and bringing victory to the Prophet (ﷺ), the one

**[13:48]** that you mocked. How much you betray. What kind of a man is this? And Arnaut looks at him with arrogance, says, this is the way of kings and the way of politics. And politicians, what do they expect from politicians?

**[14:03]** Of course we lie. And Salahuddin was upset and furious at the vices in this man. And then he gave him one choice, one choice that can spare his life. He said, say, La ilaha illallah, the only way to spare your life.

**[14:20]** Become a Muslim. That's it. And of course, Arnaut refused. And Salahuddin unsheathed his sword and strikes Arnaut to death, fulfilling his vow to kill the one that attempted to attack and dig the grave of Muhammad (ﷺ).

**[14:36]** The king started shaking. And Salahuddin looks to him and says, no, it is not the habits of kings to kill any other king. But that one transgressed all bounds. That is why what happened to him happened. And people now are celebrating.

**[14:52]** It's a big victory for Salahuddin. And the question was, now that we crushed the biggest army of the Franks in the Levant, what is next? And the heart yearned and said, Jerusalem, finally, Al-Aqsa Mosque.

**[15:07]** It has been more than 90 years. The Al-Aqsa Mosque had no adhan. Nobody worshipped there. Finally, the tables turned. The Muslims can finally recover Al-Aqsa. But Salahuddin did not go for Jerusalem. Why? Because he understood when you look to the map, Jerusalem is inland.

**[15:25]** All the coastal cities, Acre, Caesarea, Tyre, Sidon, Ashkelon, Jaffa, they're under the Franks' control. If he was to take Jerusalem, what do you think will happen? Many Muslims will be so excited. They will want to worship and they will say mission accomplished.

**[15:41]** Many of them will go home and they will not continue the mission. They will leave the rest of the cities. Salahuddin is thinking as a strategist. If you take Jerusalem, what do you think Europe will do? They're probably going to send another crusade to recover Jerusalem.

**[15:56]** If the coastal cities are available, they're a beachhead. The crusaders will land and their next task will be Jerusalem. So his idea was before taking Jerusalem, let me take all the coastal cities first. Let me secure the coast so now the crusaders are isolated.

**[16:14]** And later on, if they attempt to come, they don't have a landing spot. And once I do that, the Muslims will stay because they want to recover Jerusalem. Then after liberating all the coastal cities, we can go and liberate Jerusalem.

**[16:29]** And Salahuddin orders his army to divide. Taqi al-Din in one part orders his brother to get some of the Egyptian troops, the Egyptian fleet and everybody would go to a city. They head for Acre, they head for Caesarea, Jaffa, the city of Ashkelon and the forces

**[16:45]** of Salahuddin lay siege. And Salahuddin was very generous. See his character was, once he breaks his opponent, there is no reason to shed more blood. Khalas, let them be. So he would go to those cities and tell them, surrender the city in peace and we'll be done.

**[17:00]** And they oftentimes will mock Salahuddin, start resisting him. He would attack, breach the wall and then they would send back to him, Khalas, Khalas, we want to take your treaty. And he would agree. And in the city of Ashkelon, after this thing happened and he broke the walls and they sent

**[17:16]** back to him, no, no, no, no, we want the treaty. We want the truce that you mentioned. And he agrees. And he tells them, if you go out of the city in peace, I'll even host you in Alexandria. If you need ships to go back to Europe, I'll provide the ships, but deliver the city in peace.

**[17:31]** And he would let the people go out. The cities of Jaffa, Acre, Caesarea, all the cities on the coast started falling to the hands of Salahuddin with the same pattern. He was interested in what? Peace. He would let everybody go. Now all those people that left, where did they go?

**[17:50]** Some went to Jerusalem. The others went to the city of Tyre. The only city that resisted was the city of Tyre. All the other cities, Sidon, Acre, Caesarea, every city fell to Salahuddin. The city of Tyre was ready to surrender.

**[18:05]** However, an Italian knight came from Europe. His name is Conrad. And he saw people ready to surrender. He said, no, no, what is this speech about surrender? Tyre is a very powerful city. It is well fortified. Put up a resistance. The forces from Europe, they heard what happened in the battle of Hattin.

**[18:24]** Another crusade is forming already. Don't give up. All the countries in Europe, they're coming to your help. And the city of Tyre started to resist. And Salahuddin orders his fleet to come. And the siege drags. And Salahuddin insists to take the city. His commanders started to differ with him.

**[18:41]** And they started telling him the time for winter is coming. And the soldiers are tired. And he insists we're not going to go to Jerusalem till we get the city of Tyre. But then his brother comes to him and tells him, Salahuddin, you are growing older and his health was not doing well all these years of fighting.

**[18:59]** I'm afraid something is going to happen to you. And if you die, I'm afraid all those soldiers will disperse and we will not take Jerusalem. Please, let's take Jerusalem now. And I promise you, once we take the city, we'll come back and we will deal with the

**[19:15]** city of Tyre. And Salahuddin implementing the principle of shura, taking the opinion of others, not a dictator, although he disagreed, but he ended up going with the opinion of the majority. And reluctantly, he left the city of Tyre.

**[19:31]** And now Salahuddin announces it's time to head for the city of Jerusalem. Can you imagine the news? All the soldiers now are flocking to Salahuddin. Scholars came, the likes of Ibn Qudamah al-Maqdisi, this great scholar, the one that wrote Minhaj

**[19:47]** al-Qasidin, and a great scholar of Ibn al-Jawzi, and a great scholar of Shaykh Abdul Qadir al-Jilani was with Salahuddin. And SubhanAllah, you have Salahuddin the Shafi'i and Ibn Qudamah al-Maqdisi the Hanbali together a century before.

**[20:03]** The Shafi'is and the Hanbalis used to fight each other, used to call each other names, used to call each other, Kafir, and now you see the Hanbalis and the Shafi'is united together. And they are marching towards Jerusalem. And Salahuddin reaches the city of Jerusalem.

**[20:19]** The city of Jerusalem had more now than 60,000 people. All the people who he let go now are amassed inside the city. And Salahuddin wanted peace. So he sends to them, asking them to acknowledge he has the upper hand.

**[20:34]** He has the army. And he's saying this is a holy city. I don't want to do anything. Deliver the city in peace and all of you will go free. Let's not fight over the city. You're already defeated. Don't make me attack the city. The response that came from the city of Jerusalem, they insulted Salahuddin.

**[20:52]** They insulted the Prophet (ﷺ). Their response was so insulting that Salahuddin made an oath. He will open the city by the sword. And now Salahuddin's forces gather. And as they lay siege around the city, something interesting happened.

**[21:07]** Balian who escaped from the battle of Hattin comes to Salahuddin. He says, Salahuddin, my wife is inside the city of Jerusalem. Please give me permission to take my wife and my family out. That's all what I want. And Salahuddin agrees with a condition.

**[21:25]** You only stay there for three nights and you do not fight against me. And Balian gave his word to Salahuddin. And Salahuddin allows him to go in. And Balian goes inside the city, goes for his wife. And the people inside the city looked and they know who he is.

**[21:43]** Balian, the great knight, the formidable warrior. You should be the one to lead the defense against Salahuddin. And he said, but I gave him my word that I will not fight against him. And the response came back from the religious leaders in Jerusalem.

**[21:58]** It's your duty to fight with us. Disregard any promise you gave to Salahuddin. Balian was very disturbed between the chivalry of Salahuddin and what he sees from his own people. He felt something. This is not right. Being an honorable man, he sent to Salahuddin a letter telling him, I made a promise to

**[22:17]** you that I should not fight against you. But my people, the religious people are telling me that it's my duty to fight against you. What should I do? And Salahuddin sends back, if your religion calls for it, so be it.

**[22:32]** You're absolved from your promise. You can stay and you can fight against me. And Balian responds, what about my wife? I don't want her to be here. What will happen to her? The response comes back from Salahuddin, as for your wife, she will be safe.

**[22:49]** I will provide a Muslim escort that will take your wife to any place she wants. I guarantee myself. Her safety and the safety of her kids. Look at the chivalry of Salahuddin. That is the man that embodies the character of the Prophet (ﷺ), a warrior.

**[23:06]** Yes, he's very firm in the battleground, but not against women. This is what masculine traits are like. Yes, power, strength, but compassion, kindness, trustworthiness. And indeed, Balian's wife goes out, received by some of the best knights of Salahuddin

**[23:24]** and they take her to the tent of Salahuddin and he receives her, gives her gifts, gives the kids of Balian gifts and provides them escort all the way to the city of Tyre. Next day, the bombardment starts and they start bombing the walls of Jerusalem.

**[23:40]** And Salahuddin orders his engineering brigade to go all the way to the wall, covered by what they call the tank protection under the bombardment of the trebuchets and the arrows and they reach the wall of Jerusalem. And they start digging a 30 meter trench and start putting wooden planks under the

**[23:58]** wall of Jerusalem and they set the planks of wood to fire and the wall collapses. And now they can see inside the city and the Franks realize the city is going to be taken. They attempt to make a sortie, they open the gate, start to charge, but the army of Salahuddin

**[24:15]** intercepts them, defeats them, forces them back in the city. And they realize Salahuddin next day is going to take the city by force. And they send back to him, telling him, well, we're now ready to surrender the city.

**[24:30]** And Salahuddin sends them a letter telling them, I made an oath to take the city by the sword. Do you remember what you did when you took that city 90 years ago? And they were terrified. What is he going to do? Because they know what happened.

**[24:45]** They know what they did in the Aqsa Mosque. They know the killings and now see, subhanAllah, subhanal khafid al-rafi, the one that raises and the one that lowers. Those that yesterday were powerful, tables turned. Those that were besieged, the Muslims, now they are the ones laying siege.

**[25:02]** And now the crusaders are in the weak position and Salahuddin is about to enter the city and they're terrified. What is he going to do? They told Balian, you're his friend, go out, tell him we're ready to deliver the city in peace. And Balian goes to Salahuddin and tells him, you know, we're ready to take your agreement.

**[25:19]** We'll deliver. Let us go take the city in peace. Right? And Salahuddin said, after I made an oath to take the city by the sword. So Balian starts threatening. If you attempt to attack the city, here is what we're going to do. We have 5,000 Muslim prisoners.

**[25:35]** We're going to kill all of them. Then we're going to go to all the holy places, every single one of them, and we're going to burn them to the ground. Then we're going to kill our women and children and we're going to go out and fight you. And you will get nothing but a completely destroyed city.

**[25:51]** Is that what you want? And Salahuddin, of course, it's not about vengeance. It's not about revenge. That's the last thing he wants. And he goes to the scholars and the scholars told him, you already opened the city with the sword. Holy place, the sanctity of the city is more important than anything.

**[26:07]** And Salahuddin tells Balian, OK, if you were to deliver the city in peace, you have the agreement. All of you can live in peace. You can take all your properties. I will touch no one of you. At that point, the financial advisors of Salahuddin were really upset because it cost a lot, those campaigns.

**[26:26]** And they said, hey, we're almost going to bankruptcy. You spent so much money. And every time you try to open a city, people go to you and you let them go. Then we get nothing. Can you at least ask that everybody that comes out, if they're poor, just pay one dirham. And Salahuddin agrees.

**[26:42]** And they sign the agreement. And then everybody is waiting. Will Salahuddin betray? Because they betrayed before. Will he really let them go in peace? Or Salahuddin is going out of anger because of the crimes of those people.

**[26:57]** Will pour his vengeance and his wrath on them. And people watch as the doors of Jerusalem open and people start coming out to find the soldiers, the knights of Salahuddin guarding all doors. And to their surprise, they're safe.

**[27:13]** Salahuddin even offered, if you want to go and sail to Europe, if you need ships, go to Alexandria. We have, you know, free hotels, if you will. You know, the guest houses, you can go there and we will send you to Europe. No problems. If you want to go to the city of Tyre, you are free to go. You're safe.

**[27:28]** And people started going out in peace. And Qutb al-Din al-Naysaburi, one of the scholars around Salahuddin, noticed something. Where are the poor people? The rich people are going out with wealth and gold and silver. Nobody's paying anything for the poor people. And then he noticed something.

**[27:44]** The priest, the patriarch of the church of Jerusalem is coming out himself with gold and silver and wealth. And he was so disgusted. And he looks to Salahuddin and he says, what kind of a man is this?

**[27:59]** He's leaving the poor people, taking the wealth of the church and going out. We did not promise them this. Confiscate it. This is not his personal property. This is the wealth of Jerusalem. And Salahuddin responds. He says, no, no, no. Let them know that a Muslim never betrays his word.

**[28:18]** Let them know that when Muslims say something, they are truthful. We said they're free. Let him go. No matter what. And at that moment, the brother of Salahuddin comes. Ya Salahuddin, here is 1000 dinar. The poor people inside the city.

**[28:34]** Nobody's paying for them. I am giving you on their behalf freedom for my sake. At that point, Salahuddin takes note and he announces any person who is in need. Any person who wants some help that cannot pay, come to me.

**[28:50]** Salahuddin will pay on your behalf. And poor people started going to Salahuddin al-Ayyubi and asking him to pay for them. He's paying for them and they go free. At that point, a woman came to Salahuddin. Yelling and shouting and disrespecting Salahuddin.

**[29:06]** Yelling at him. Murderer. You killed my father in the battle of Hattin and my husband is your prisoner. And you're asking me to pay one dinar. Murderer. Emotionally upset. And Salahuddin responded.

**[29:22]** He said, as for your dinar, I am paying it for you. As for your father, he died in an unjust battle that he started himself. As for your husband, get the prisoner. Your husband is free for your sake and for your children's sake.

**[29:38]** And the woman, shocked completely by the generosity of Salahuddin, paused and then said a statement that's very powerful. She said, sir, I am sorry. May God curse the ones that told us lies about you.

**[29:55]** They made you seem that you're the devil. I see what they were saying about you is a lie. I am sorry. And she starts making du'a for Salahuddin. And he sees a group of women crying and he starts asking, why are they crying? And they tell him, those are the widows of the people, the knights and the

**[30:15]** soldiers that fought you in the battle of Hattin, those are their widows. And Salahuddin starts to become teary eyed. And he announces any woman that her husband died fighting Salahuddin, come forth, Salahuddin will take care of you. If your husband is a prisoner of Salahuddin, your husband is free for your

**[30:33]** sake. The compassion of Salahuddin that he showed and people were really, really touched and people started to leave the city of Jerusalem in peace. That's what he wanted. That is who Salahuddin was. That is a person that embodies the prophetic character.

**[30:51]** And the day came where now Salahuddin can enter Jerusalem. And SubhanAllah, Salahuddin, this man of ihsan, this man that really followed the Prophet (ﷺ), enters Jerusalem on the night of Friday, the 27th of Rajab.

**[31:09]** And why is that significant? Not only it's a Friday night, the 27th of Rajab. This is the time where Muslims celebrate Al-Isra wal-Mi'raj. This is the time where Muslims think that the Prophet (ﷺ) made his night journey to Jerusalem.

**[31:26]** Salahuddin enters the city of Jerusalem the same night, 27th of Rajab, that the Prophet (ﷺ) entered the city. هل جزاء الإحسان إلا الإحسان? Is the reward of being a Muhsin anything other than Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala shows

**[31:42]** you ihsan and wellness and beauty? A beautiful character like Salahuddin deserves a beautiful entry to Jerusalem. And it is said he enters the same way the Prophet (ﷺ) entered head down, tears coming out.

**[31:58]** And it is said all what he wanted is to go visit the holy places and pray. And the knights of Salahuddin now rush to the Aqsa Masjid, to Aqsa. Finally, am I going to be the first person to pray in the Aqsa Masjid? Can you imagine?

**[32:13]** Can you imagine how you would feel the liberation of the Aqsa Masjid? And the Muslims run to the Aqsa Masjid and they are shocked. What happened? The Aqsa Mosque, half of it has been turned into a toilet. Half of it is a stable for the horses. The Masjid of Umar.

**[32:29]** You know, when Umar ibn al-Khattab (رضي الله عنه) entered Jerusalem, as we all know, and it was time for salah and he was in the church and he was about to pray and people told him pray in the church. And he said, no, no, no, because people will come and they might take that away from you. And he went outside and he prayed.

**[32:44]** Surely enough, later people built a masjid where Umar ibn al-Khattab (رضي الله عنه) prayed and they called it Masjid Umar. If anything, it's a masjid of tolerance. The crusaders destroyed the Masjid of Umar. They defiled the Dome of the Rock and the Muslims were so offended and they went to

**[33:01]** Salahuddin and they said, look what they did. Destroy their church. Now that we're in a position of power, reciprocate. Destroy their church. The response that came from the heart of Salahuddin. Umar ibn al-Khattab (رضي الله عنه) left this church alone and you want me to destroy it?

**[33:21]** They are not our teacher. The teacher of Salahuddin is Umar ibn al-Khattab (رضي الله عنه) and the teacher of Umar ibn al-Khattab (رضي الله عنه) is the Prophet (ﷺ). The way Salahuddin entered Jerusalem is the same way Umar ibn al-Khattab (رضي الله عنه) earlier on

**[33:38]** entered Jerusalem. The way Umar ibn al-Khattab (رضي الله عنه) entered Jerusalem is the same way the Prophet (ﷺ) entered Mecca. Salahuddin mirrored prophetic light, prophetic compassion and mercy to mankind. That is why he was so beloved and he left the church alone.

**[33:56]** And now the knights that used to fight in the battlefield became the janitors of the Aqsa Mosque and they started getting rose water, cleaning the Aqsa Mosque, preparing for the first Friday prayer in that place. And scholars rushed to Salahuddin, everybody who's going to give the first khutbah in the

**[34:14]** Aqsa Mosque. And can you imagine? Salahuddin assigned the judge Muhyi al-Din ibn al-Zaki to be the person that gives the first khutbah in the Aqsa Mosque. But then he did something else. He said, where is the pulpit that Nur al-Din Zangi built? Remember years ago when Nur al-Din Zangi ordered a pulpit to be built and he said, this is a

**[34:34]** pulpit I'll place in the Aqsa Mosque when Allah frees it. Salahuddin remembers his teacher, loyal to Nur al-Din, bring the pulpit of Nur al-Din Zangi and he placed it in the Aqsa Mosque. And Friday day comes and Muhyi al-Din ibn al-Zaki stands up, gives a beautiful khutbah, a

**[34:51]** powerful khutbah. What lessons he told the people, lessons in humility, telling the soldiers of Salahuddin about this is so great and this is a favor that Allah bestowed upon you. Don't think that is you that did this. Don't think it is your bravery or it's your arms or it's your swords.

**[35:07]** It is Allah. And be happy not only that you did this, that Allah chose you to be the ones that He grants this on your hand and know that it's not over. You have to continue. The Franks are not out yet and you have to be modest. And at the end of the khutbah, he makes a beautiful du'a for Salahuddin.

**[35:26]** And it tells us about the state of Salahuddin. And he says, Ya Rabb, make your angels surround your servant Salahuddin. And then he asks Allah, Ya Rabbi, respond to his du'a. Salahuddin used to make a du'a every single place that he used to pray.

**[35:43]** And what was the du'a of Salahuddin in this situation? Rabbi awzi'ni an ashkur ni'matika allati an'amta alayya wa ala walidayya wa an a'mal salihan tardah. A verse from the Qur'an. Dear Lord, grant me the ability to show gratitude and appreciation for this big blessing that you gave to me and my family.

**[36:01]** So what happened is what a blessing that he needs to spend the rest of his life thanking Allah for. And he all what he wanted from Allah grant me the ability to be appreciative and grateful for this big blessing that you gave to me and to the Muslims on my hand. And the Imam, Muhyi al-Din ibn Zaki, makes a du'a, Ya Rabb, grant Salahuddin

**[36:21]** this da'wah of his when he asks this. And subhanAllah, Salahuddin orders the renewal of the Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock. And it is written in the Dome of the Rock.

**[36:47]** Ordered the renewal of this holy place and the reestablishment of the Aqsa Mosque. The one that is in taqwa, the wellness of dunya and deen. When Allah opened it on his hands. Notice this. It's not when he did. He did nothing when Allah opened it on his hands.

**[37:05]** And he is asking Allah to grant him the ability to be grateful and appreciative of such kind of a blessing and to make his share of Allah's forgiveness and compassion and mercy abundant. This was Salahuddin al-Ayyubi. And Salahuddin spends the following month in the city of Jerusalem doing what?

**[37:23]** Schools, hospitals, taking care of the Muslims. These dinars that he got before leaving Jerusalem, Salahuddin already spent it all. This is who Salahuddin is. That is why we love him. We do not do him justice when we think that Salahuddin is just one of those.

**[37:41]** And he was one of those strong warriors that just destroyed the crusaders. He was much more than that. The character of Salahuddin, the compassion of Salahuddin, the clemency of Salahuddin was more amazing. Before he leaves Jerusalem, something else happened.

**[37:58]** What is it? The wife of the king came to him, King Guy, and said, Ya Salahuddin, my husband, the king is your prisoner. Can you please release him? And Salahuddin said, yes, under one condition. You promise not to fight me.

**[38:14]** And the king said, of course. He said, go, you are free. No money, no ransom. And at that point, the wife of Arnaut came. The son of Arnaut is your prisoner. Can you free him for my sake? And he said, yes. He is safe, but promise not to fight against me.

**[38:33]** The master of the Templars, his wife, can you release the master of Templars? And Salahuddin looks at him and he says, promise not to fight against me. And you're free. Salahuddin started freeing people. What do you think happened next? The same people that Salahuddin freed, you think they kept their promise?

**[39:05]** [End of transcript]

## 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 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)
- [Salahuddin’s Revolution Begins | Ep. 6 | The Salahuddin Generation](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/the-salahuddin-generation/the-salahuddin-generation-episode-6-salahuddin-revolution-begins.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)