"Joseph, pack your things! We will leave! "
It was December 1168. More than twenty years before the Second Crusade broke out which would be an important event for the Islamic Kingdom to take Jerusalem. The governed figure is the nephew of a fat bodied one-eyed swordsman. The old commander is named Shirkuh.
This young man who is being governed is very different from his uncle. Thin, frail and 31 years old. Good looking, fair skinned, and has a melancholy facial line. His name is Yusuf bin Najmuddin. From the Kurds. On that day he was assigned by Sultan Nuruddin to take Shirkuh to bring the Islamic Kingdom troops from Damascus to Egypt to free Egypt from attacks by Christians. At that time Joseph was so scared.
"Like a man who is escorted to his death," Yusuf suggested as told by Karen Armstrong in Holy War: The Crusades and Their Impacts on Today’s World (2001: 372-410).
After entering Egypt a few months later, the uncle suddenly died. Egypt has been mastered again. The problem then arises, who should replace the uncle?
Many amirs (leaders) are more worthy than Joseph, but some officials want someone who is loyal with a more friendly personality. Yusuf was the youngest and seemed inexperienced and the weakest among the emirs in the Shirkuh army, he was chosen to lead Egypt.
But who would have thought, a figure who was thought to be weak and too soft actually turned into a strong and effective figure in his jihad campaign to take Jerusalem. "When God gave me the land of Egypt, I was sure that He also intended to give me the land of Palestine," Yusuf said in his inauguration as Vizier (a kind of governor) in Egypt.
And in the end, people will get to know their nickname: Saladin, which means "religious justice". Or the crusaders knew him by the nickname "Saladin". The most respected warlord - and at the same time feared - crusaders.
Saladin did not get the throne for granted. He first had to argue with Sultan Nuruddin who gave him orders along with his uncle when he was young and so innocent a few years before. Luckily, destiny was like appointing Saladin to lead Muslim troops in his jihad campaign. In the midst of Sultan Nuruddin preparing to fight Saladin's "rebellion" in Egypt, on May 15, 1174 the Sultan died. Make the chair "caliph" empty just like that.
Saladin's reputation as a highly religious figure made it easy for fanatics to put their support in him. The scattered and scattered Islamic provinces are united beneath it.
In the end, after 1181, for the first time - and the only one - in Islamic history, a Muslim empire that was so large and united in one banner. And at the same time, the name Yusuf sank engulfed in the greatness of his own nickname: Saladin Al-Ayyubi.
Saladin's cruelty
In one of the most devastating battles in the second volume of the Crusade, there is a story that continues to be a picture of the crusaders how terrible Saladin's army in the land of Palestine. The battle that took place on Mount Hattin, the Europeans called it "Battle of Hattin".
The battle is also told - at least - by Ridley Scott in the film Kingdom of Heaven (2005). A battle that was even more fierce than the attempt to seize the City of Jerusalem itself a few months later.
The Crusaders were led by Guy de Lusignan at the time. A fanatic who became King of Jerusalem after the death of Sibylla's son, King Baldwin V who succeeded his uncle, King "Lepra" Baldwin IV who was known to be very wise. Guy is very ambitious to finish off the "infidel forces" and is convinced that his invasion of Tiberias (the place where Saladin's troops resided) was God's destiny.
The battle of Hattin also had a chance to change perceptions about Saladin who was known to be compassionate to his enemies. Imaduddin al-Ishfakhani, Saladin's secretary revealed his testimony, "That day I witnessed how Saladin killed the unbelievers to give breath to Islam and destroy polytheism to build monotheism."
It was Reynauld of Chattilon, Guy the King of Jerusalem's right hand, that made Saladin turn into a cruel figure. Four years earlier, Reynauld had killed Saladin's younger sister when a ceasefire was still established between the crusaders and Muslim troops. Raping and slaughtering all Muslim caravans passing through Palestinian land. Execute and plunder Muslim territories.
When a Muslim warns of a truce still in effect, Reynauld instead rebukes, "Let your Muhammad come and help you!"
As if it was not enough to provoke Saladin, Reynauld also had a plan to attack the Muslim holy city: Mecca. This outrageous plan actually provides a multiplied force on the part of Muslim forces. All the tribes then united under Saladin's banner and eliminated their respective disputes. Saladin also swore, "I will kill him with my own hands." Then there was the biggest battle in the history of the Second Volume Crusade which was so cruel and decisive.
The defeat of the fanatics
Although the jihad campaign is a way of bringing all Muslim forces together, on the opposite side the same campaign is carried out in a far more banal way. Deadly common sense and seem to believe that God will help the Crusaders with miracles.
One of the signs came when Guy agreed to Reynauld's proposal to go directly to Saladin's troops in Tiberias. These blind fanatics ignore military reasoning. Hunt down Shaluhddin's forces in the open instead of waiting behind the walls of the Jerusalem City castle.
With his 20 thousand troops, Guy and Raunauld crossed the Galilee valleys in the hot summer. Overburdened with their heavy armor. Saladin - although someone who is very religious - is a military commander with exceptional strategic intelligence. He knows that access to water is a decisive way for the battle this time.
Saladin dammed up water supplies and drained many springs. Instruct small group archers to target enemy soldiers who are separated from the group. The crusaders were half crazy because of thirst. Eventually they arrived at the Sea of Galilee in a state of exhaustion and realized that the only source of water was the place where Saladin's army camp was located.
Even without this tactic, Saladin actually could still win the battle - more than 10,000 Muslim troops, but Saladin knew, behind Guy and Reynauld, there was the City of Jerusalem that must be captured. In Saladin's plan, it would be futile if the victory at Bukit Hattin did not continue to the next victory.
Under conditions of extreme fatigue and dehydration, the crusaders rested on Mount Hattin. The cheers of Saladin's army were heard from afar. Shows how ready Saladin's troops welcomed the victory that coincided on the 26/27 Ramadan. The Muslim holy day which Saladin finally commemorated as the night of the "nuzulul Quran" - the first day that the verses of the Koran were revealed to the world.
Finally at dawn on July 4, 1187 Saladin's army set out to invade Hattin Hill where the crusaders were camping. Beating so hard and leaving only a few of them. Some of the barons and knights did escape the siege of Saladin's army. Some of them were Balian de Ibelin, a figure who would lead the militia and the army of the people of Jerusalem to defend the city from Saladin's army a few months later.
After the battle, Saladin brought the two most valuable prisoners into his tent. King Guy and Reynauld. Two men who were very tired and thirsty at the same time. Saladin gave Guy a refreshing ice water. Guy drank it, then gave it to Reynauld.
It is an Arabic tradition that a host cannot kill a man he feeds and drinks. When Reynauld drank so lightly without the host's orders, Saladin asked, "Who allowed you to drink?"
Reynauld just didn't budge. Saladin continued his sentence, "Therefore I am not required to show mercy to you." As soon as the sentence was over, Saladin immediately pulled the sword out of his belt and beheaded Reynauld in the presence of a frightened and confident Guy that his turn would come.
Seeing Guy who was afraid Saladin then said, "The king did not kill the king. Why don't you approach a great king to learn from his example? "
The great king in question is King Baldwin IV, the king who suffered from leprosy until he finally died. Leaving the Christian Kingdom of Jerusalem in the grip of King Guy the blind fanatic and making the Islamic Kingdom finally able to master it.
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