Abdur Rahman ibn Yusuf Mangera – Salahuddin Ayyubi at Oxford University
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Bismillah
hamdulillah Al Hamdulillah cathedral by human robotic and fee
of our Canady.
Can I your headboard Abu whalebone Jana Jana wireman Allah. Wa Salatu
was Salam ala SAY THAT HAVE YOU BEEN Mustafa Salah with our either
on a URL he
was set up with the Sleeman Cathedral on a young Indian. Mr.
Barrett got a load of article with Terada for the Quran material for
clouded Hamid wasn't alone in going to mean. So the color and
I'll be
nice to be here today to speak about this great personality.
Salahuddin a UB
Rahim Allah.
What we want to do today well to discuss the events before he is
before he came to the fore. And also maybe some characteristics
regarding him, which we can try to benefit from because the purpose
of this is not just to
view some kind of history, but rather to try to see what made him
who he was and how we can maybe find parallels with with that, and
to try to benefit in child law because that should be the purpose
for which we listen to anything.
Because the situation that we have now.
Definitely there's a lot of parallels to what Salahuddin was
facing when he first started.
And I think there's gonna be several things that we can insha
Allah gained from this Inshallah, when we listen to this story, it's
up to Allah subhanho wa Taala at the end of the day, but we can
have a desire and a dream and an ambition and Allah subhanaw taala
would inshallah accept us for with that ambition to hopefully get us
somewhere. So we can't start Salahuddin until we speak about
his predecessors because the ground was laid for what
Salahuddin could do, by some of his predecessors. So what exactly
happened is
the, the lens of Islam after having that the glorious Ambassade
caliphate, see, after the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam
departed this world, eventually after the 400 Thieves. Then we had
more IWEA Radi Allahu Anhu. That was then eventually followed by
the omae. It's the rule was under the Omega dynasty that lasted
until about 132 years after the migration, which is called 132
Hijiri. Right the 132 years after migration.
The omegas were then the post and Abbas it's took over the Abbas
it's, we're descendants of a bus of the Allahu anhu, the uncle of
the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam.
So they remain beliefs of the entire Muslim world for about 500
years, from 132 Hijiri to about 600 and something following this
period.
But while they were the sole rulers in the beginning of all the
areas under them, Harun Rashid, you may have heard of him, right.
Eventually, after about 200. After about 200 years, that was the
glorious period 100 to 200 years, but then after that, they started
to stagnate. So while they were maintained as the Khalifa in
Baghdad, they're the ones who actually established the city of
Baghdad. It didn't exist in the town, their office of the Lord.
It was the Abbasids after 132, the second Hadith, Abuja for the
monsoon of the Abbasids, he established the city of Baghdad,
it then became probably one of the greatest cities of the Muslim
world. I mean, it was the Dar Al Qaeda, the the center of the
caliphate, they ruled the whole world from there, meaning the
whole Islamic world, that's where they rolled it from.
But slowly, slowly, their influence waned, and many other
smaller dynasties crept up in different parts of the world of
the Muslim world. They would be allied to the Abbas is the
Abbasids. Would the still leaves in Baghdad, but those areas were
ruled by the hundreds. So you had the Summon, it's up in the
Uzbekistan area, though they were affiliated to their buses or buses
with a hadith, but that area was ruled by them then you had Howard
is him Shah. The whole reason is, eventually you had the husband
with the cell jokes. The mom Luke's they maintain the Khalif
down there? It was only after
The Ottomans after actually the sack of Baghdad by the Mongols,
which is going to happen soon after Salahuddin Rahim Allah, that
the last Khalifa was, was killed. And then after that, they say that
the Ottomans who had arisen after that, while they were Sultan's,
they then became officially the Khalifa as well, when that
caliphate or such was transferred. Now there's a big discussion about
that. But to be the Abbasids, were there for about 600 years, 500
years. And during this time,
there was another major dynasty that was not under the Abbasids
that didn't like that, versus that was the Fatimid dynasty. Now the
big difference was the obverse it's the main orthodox Sunnis, the
Fatimids, were here is smiley Shia group, right. And they had Egypt,
parts of North Africa. Right. And they, they will over 200 years,
they ruled Egypt for us, the university was actually started by
them. In fact, Cairo was founded by them, even though that area was
first conquered by Aboriginal as to the Allahu Anhu. He was the
conqueror of Egypt. But later as a city, they had a small garrison
towns, but as a major city, Cairo was actually established by the
Ottoman Empire, but and they weren't eventually overtaken. And
Salahuddin took over Egypt after a very long time. And that was a big
favor that he did to a lot of people by doing that. So
initially, what happened is that while this is going on in the
Muslim world,
there's quite a few live rivalries and a lot of other problems that
are going on in the Muslim world. After the weakening of the
Abbasids, the Crusaders, they had been overcome, meaning the
Christian world had been overcome. Most of their holy places had come
in the Muslim rule, including Jerusalem.
Right, so including Jerusalem, Palestine, many of these areas had
come under Islamic rule.
So they were extremely up in arms about this, they were always
planning to take it back. That was the Byzantine Empire.
So
they had a lot of vengeance in their heart to try to take it
back. So they tried to many of these states, they tried to
consolidate their forces to try to come and take a take down, take
back their their lands. However,
until now, they couldn't do it because Muslims are very powerful.
Now, this is around the time
when the cell Jukin Empire, which was one of which was a very
powerful empire data precursors of the Ottomans, the Ottomans are
from the same forefathers as the Seljuks, that Turkic group.
So the Seljuks had actually now been
weakened, extremely right after one of the main leaders. So when
this happens, some of the Christian world, they decided that
this is going to be the right time to try to get back there learns
that there were a number of people involved in this to try to rally
the Christian forces, the Christian people, the Christian
leaders around the whole of Christian them again, same thing,
it was actually split up, they had different rulers, the Christian
world was not necessarily under one, though they had a pope was
very, very powerful.
So the First Crusade, they started, they're much eastward
towards Syria, Syria, which was under the Muslim rule at the time.
So Syria had been under Muslim rule for a very long time,
Damascus, the OMA years had actually made that before the
Abbas is made actually made Damascus, the center of Caliphate.
So that's older than Baghdad itself, right.
So they marched towards Syria, that started around 490 Hijiri.
Right, so that's 490 Hijiri, which is around 11. Just around 10,
something right around 10 something already.
The Seljuks have had this major victory, right? In the place
called Mon zeker, where the Byzantines lost a huge battle
that's like remembered, like all the time, right? They've had their
glory, glory, the cell jokes, the Muslim cell jokes and then after
the Mongols have come in, and started causing havoc already,
right before the onslaught of Baghdad,
but in two years from 490 Hijiri, which is just before that 1100s of
Gregorian, as you may be used to like that's, you can say about
1000 years ago, right?
So in two years
They took many of the major cities so Antioch which is today in
Turkey, and takia Antioch.
Sorry if you guys are not into geography I mean this I'm gonna
have to try to help but I really enjoyed this stuff. Antioch is in
Turkey, right Edessa which is in Orissa is called Shanley or for
right now it's a royal city of Ottawa intercuts amazing city.
I've actually been for a conference down there. It's in
southern Turkey, and many other fortresses they took over and they
started controlling them by 492. So in two years, Christians
finally actually regained Jerusalem itself.
Now when you're disparate when you're disunited, the Muslims lost
Jerusalem.
Now they lost a lot of other areas, but Jerusalem was the big
one. Right, so to lose Jerusalem was for them a really big deal.
Within a few years, the greater part of Palestine, currently
Palestine, Syria, a
number of other areas in Lebanon, etc. In the Middle Eastern area,
they were taken.
So essentially Stanley Lane Poole, who's a biographer of Salahuddin,
I know he's a Christian, but he's a biography and a wonderful
biography of Salahuddin, right with a lot of facts in there. He
says that the Christians they finally the Christian well, they
wedge themselves in for some time. And they basically you can say,
split the Muslim ummah, right, in some of their main lands, they
didn't have Mecca, Medina then have Arabia. But in terms of the
Middle East, they had split. The capture of Jerusalem made them
very excited. brought them into a frenzy. That's what they say.
Right? And basically gave rise to their wildest patients we got,
we've got Jerusalem now. So that's it. We've got you know, we've got
the main area that we wanted. Now, they set their eyes on a number of
other places when they took over Jerusalem. Now, this is the
interesting part that when they took over Jerusalem, they did it
in a very wild way. It's one of the worst massacres before the
Mongols, I guess.
So, so terrible. I'm going to just report to you from the
Encyclopedia Britannica. Right What it quotes about this
massacre. So terrible, it is said was the carnage which followed,
that the horses of the Crusaders who rode up to the Mosque of Omar
were knee deep in the stream of blood. I thought that when I had
read this long time ago, I read this a long time ago, about 1015
years ago, I thought that was an exaggeration. Like, okay, maybe
it's an exaggeration. Now, if you've been to Jerusalem, you've
been to the Old City of Jerusalem, you'll see that it's actually
possible, because the streets are actually very, very narrow, right?
In a broad streets here, you need a lot of blood. Right? But in
narrow streets, I mean, that that's a, I mean, even here, it's
a possibility. It just depends on you know how many people you kill,
but they kill a lot of people. So they will need they were knee deep
in the stream of blood, infants were seized by their feet and
dashed against the walls
or world over the battlements, while the Jews were all burnt
alive in the synagogue. So the Muslims and Jews who used to be
living together, they were both massacred. Right? When they came
into Jerusalem, in the Christians case, the Crusaders came in
Jerusalem on the next day, I mean, as though that wasn't enough. On
the next day, it says the horrors of that which had preceded was
deliberately repeated again,
on a much larger scale.
tankard, who was one of the influential leaders at the time,
he'd actually given a guarantee of safety to at least 300 people like
a special guarantee, giving them his flag, giving them his flag.
But now these guys had no mercy. Despite all his protests, and
everything, even those people were killed. These guys just wanted to
just eliminate everybody.
The bodies of men, women and children were hacked and cut up
until their fragments just lay on the ground. And eventually, they
got what they say the sarin sins to eventually come and clean it
all up.
So that's happened when Jerusalem was taken from the Muslims. Now,
the fall of Jerusalem, obviously, the decline of the Islamic empire,
Islamic world, actually, Islamic rule, and the Christians were
really really they became established with four kingdoms
that were established them that of Jerusalem, Edessa, Antioch, and
Tripoli. So there's four main ones in those areas. And
they got some really, really strategic areas that x
oppose the Muslim world to an isolation, that this is going to
be very tough, because when you've just split everybody up, it's very
difficult for them to consolidate power.
Just remember one thing if you study the history of the Muslims,
or any empire for that matter, but especially for Muslims, the
weakest we've ever been, despite individual strengths is when we've
been disunited.
It is the most strategic way of controlling the Muslims is to keep
them disunited. Right, by basically befriending every
influential country and just getting them, you know, to worry
about this And subhanAllah, we've got people out there with a lot of
money to their countries, a lot of money, but
a lot of that money is sitting in the UK, and in America, and Wall
Street, and so on, they do anything, your account gets
frozen. It's a bit of a difficult one. But I'm not here to, you
know, be pessimistic here, trying to create some optimism, but
disunity is one of the biggest thing. That's why I try to work
with others as far as possible, even in your small, you know,
small areas. So listen, I mean, it's easy to blame the big rulers
of the world, the heads of countries. But if we can't even do
this at home, if we can't even do this in our little circles of
influence, then how do you expect people in bigger positions where
there's a lot more pressures to do it there? So we really need to try
to create unity, because that's exactly what Salahuddin did
eventually, Rahim Allah.
The Crusaders became extremely excited such that there was a
Reginald of Chatillon of France, he wants even expressed the desire
that we're going to take over Makkah and Madina Munawwara.
And to take out the body of the Prophet salallahu, alayhi
wasallam. Never before this time, for those glorious several 100
years, that search was ever even thought of, because this was after
the, you know, the apex of the height, the height.
Now, after the opening of the sixth century,
which is the end of Malik chars reign, Malik Shah was one of the
greatest of the Seljuk. Leaders. After him Sultan, Allah would then
try to do great, I mean, if any of you know the precursor of the
Ottomans, what's his name? Arturo. Right, he was around time with
Sultan, Allah Adim. But the glorious period of Seljuks had
already passed, which was about 50 to 100 years before that, where
Malik Shah was the was the was the Sultan,
right allowed in tried his best, but then after they just got
messed up, and then they became a vassal state of the Mongols. So
they were literally controlled by the Mongols. The Mongols allowed
them to continue. But they had to just do whatever the Mongols said.
That's why then the Ottomans came up separately, and just dominated
everything eventually. But at that same time, you had a number of
others, a number of other dynasties in the Muslim world as
well. Right? You're about to see the beginning of the Ayyubid
dynasty.
You had the mom, Luke's and a number of others. Right? Why do
you still have the Khalifa and Baba dads? Right? So now what
happens is, it's just so much information. We have a very short
amount of time, I'm just wondering how much you tell you how much not
to tell you and I hope I'm not confusing you as well, right?
Now, what happens is that at this critical time, when the whole
Muslim world is feeling the brunt of the loss of Jerusalem and the
loss of a number of other areas, and this disunity and all the rest
of it, right, you suddenly see that there's a star that raises,
right, there's a champion that comes from an unexpected quarter.
Right. And that is a person called Mr. Dean's engi.
He made the Dean's angry, right.
He was the son of a CT Chamberlain of Malaysia. So basically, this is
coming out of the Seljuks. So there's a court Chamberlain for
Malaysia who the Seljuk leader, his son is this is this Mr. demes
engi that his name's Turkic background.
Sultan Muhammad at the time had conferred on him, given him the
government of Mosul to take care of Mosul isn't was Mosul. It's in.
It's in Iraq. So that was the area that he was looking after.
And he managed to consolidate the forces in the area of Syria and
Iraq. So mashallah he managed to get a lot of influence there,
bring everybody together, and he had advanced towards one of those
Crusader forts now that had been taken from the Muslims in edesa
Edessa which is Orpha right in Turkey.
That was a major stronghold of the Christians and mashallah he
managed to take it in 539 Hijiri, he managed to take it 539 Just to
give you an idea, because Sally has just passed away in 505.
Usually, this is when she had recorded Gilani is now in Baghdad,
right, this is now his period is going to begin in Baghdad, right?
In terms of scholarship.
This conquest after all of that, all of those defeats, was
considered in Arabic, the faithful photo, the victory of all
victories, right, gave you some hope now.
After this, this helped to save the Euphrates Valley. And
unfortunately, then he was assassinated by a slave in 541. So
two years after he took over, he was assassinated. You have a
history of that as well. Right. However, his son was nurudeen.
They call him a medical adult
mannequin. Erica's want to get this going because I had this
confusion before Malik means the king, generally in Arabic, right.
However, under the Seljuks and the Turkic tribes and dynasties, Malik
was a prince. The Sultan was the king. So Sudan was the ruler, his
sons and so on. They were the Malik's right or anybody else they
were the Malik's the royal princes were Malik's.
He became known as medical Adam. That just Prince added means that
just prints nurudeen. He took up his father's cause in 541.
Now this new Rodin's engi Rahim Allah is actually referred to as
nerdiness by some Orientalist as well, right?
He became the Sultan of Aleppo, the leader of Aleppo after his
father and for him.
Jihad with the Crusaders, right, was the greatest act of piety.
Right. That's what the historian say. So in 559, he went and
captured another area called Harare. Right in the north.
And that's where he actually defeated the United armies of the
Franks and the Greeks. 10,000 Christians were slain in that
battle. So that was a huge battle. So now you can see that there's
victories are coming in new numerable innumerous innumerable
Crusaders were taken as prisoners, and they lost a lot of their big
people.
I don't know if these names mean anything to you. But, you know,
the bo Herman the prince of Antioch, Raymond of the quarter of
Tripoli, Joseline, the third, the Greek Gen, Gen, Duke of Kalama.
And all of these places, and soon a number of others forts, because
in those days, it was forts. And then you control that area around,
number of other forts fell to nurudeen. So he's laying down
this, he's laying down the grounds for this to happen.
Eventually, he managed to outnumber them in Palestine,
outmaneuver them in Palestine. So finally now he's taking parts of
Palestine as well. So they're getting closer to Jerusalem.
Jerusalem was still the coveted price. So number of the areas
around they'd managed to take. But this wasn't going to happen on the
nurudeen. This was saved for Salahuddin Rahim Allah.
So finally, nurudeen dies in 569. Henry,
he was only 56 years of age. And news of his death, obviously felt
like a thunderbolt among the Saracens, this is what Stanley
lane pool says, Because mashallah he'd been able to grow in gaining
so much victory and suddenly he died.
Is everybody following so far? Is there any confusion? Because
history can be complicated. Once you start reading more and more,
you start filling in the gaps and you start making that but Muslims
don't know their history. This is really unfortunate. So they get
really depressed and they're waiting for money to come to Seoul
to allow
but if you actually read history, you'll see that there's been so
many ups and downs and I think this is just another down we're in
we're gonna go back ups Sharla
right. So I want to give that hope today, because I really believe in
it. I don't believe their judgment is around the corner. I don't
believe that Maduro is going to come anytime soon.
He comes Alhamdulillah but I'd rather he doesn't come I'd rather
that we sorted out and because we've got our deaths to worry
about that are much closer to than any mighty Ronnie Allah one that
could come
Now what happens is Normandin, you know, okay, he does all of these
battles and you know, he takes back these lands and so on.
He was a person of a certain character, certain personality,
which made him which allowed him to be, you know, because you have
to have a number of things you can't, you can't just be a good
strategist. You know, you have to keep people going for that you
need generosity, you need kindness, you need justice,
otherwise your own people will turn against you. You know, you
can't take over a place with just yourself right? With a few of your
friends. You need a force, how would you keep the force together?
How would you make allies? How would you bring people together?
All that is required? It's a lot more complicated than people
think. Right? So he was some of the characters mentioned about
him, he was chivalrous, just generous, tender hearted, pious,
of course, high minded, and a fearless warrior. He exposed
himself to every battle, they did not sit at the back and just send
in generals, they were there in the at the forefront in a field
YBNL. Athena, who is one of our great historian, so we have a
number of famous historians, if no circuit is one of them, I'm just
going to shoot out the name just so that you've heard of them.
Right? Because you hear about a lot of other stuff, don't you? So
why not hear about some Muslim historians?
If not a circuit, ignore a theme. Ignore Josie. Ignore Kathy B.
These are great historians, you might hear the names for other
things as well, because they were masters on many subjects at that
time. But these are some of our famous ones. Like if you ever want
to study history, these are some of the original texts written by
these people. Right? So it's not a theory says that I have studied
the rulers of the past, meaning from time to prophesize and down
to this time, aside from the forehead leaves,
right, who have their celebrated position everybody accepts and
Omar Abdulaziz. Right. He is he's well known. I'm sure everybody's
heard of him.
No one yet was as pious and as just as new to Dean. Now that his
observation could be subjective, right. But he's saying from the
time that Mr. lorrison, aside from the four caliphs, and Omar,
Abdullah Aziz, there were others were pious and so on. They were,
you know, there's really good and bad, but he really was the most
pious, that's what he reckons, and Allah knows best. But I mean, he
must have something for that to be said about him. He spent his own
money, He abolished the taxes in the land because this was a big
issue. Right? Taxes, you just just put taxes on people, and you make
them suffer. This is what the bad rule is that even most bad rulers,
that's what he did. He was into his night prayers. He studied Fick
and jurisprudence. These people were into studies as well. They
actually studied Salahuddin studied. He had quite a bit of
knowledge. This was really interesting of the rulers of the
past, they will actually have time to have special teachers to teach
them that they will call database they will be called, or they were
actually taught as young Princess Princess, right. That's really
interesting. I don't know about today. You've had very few of
those who really know their stuff. Yeah, I think what I'm going to do
is I'm actually just going to move into Salah hoody now because now
Nadine has passed away. We could spend a bit of time talking about
nurudeen, but let's move on Salahuddin. sallahu Dean is
considered to be the miracle now. But you know, for a miracle to
happen, you need to prepare the ground. So Mr. Dean, a nurudeen
Rahim rahamallah have laid the groundwork done the groundwork.
Now what happens is Salahuddin Rahim Allah is that he was brought
up, he was Kurdish. Now he was not Turkic. What's really interesting
is that
most of the dynasties of the past most of the rules, the caliphates,
the
rulers of the past and the dynasties and so on. Most of them,
I would say have been Turkic. Like most of them, Turkic origin.
One has been Kurdish, which is the Salahuddin because he left his
sons unfortunately, there was division among them after they
took different areas, but they became the Ayyubid Empire
afterwards, but their Kurdish the Kurds, the Mamluks, were Turkic
both circadian and the others Turkic origin or South Asian
origin. The cell jokes were the resonant with the Arabs were the
Abbas it's the omega the two big big ones. And then the Fatimids
they were Arabs as well. And maybe one or two other Smolen in under
Lucia in in Spain that are made continued there and so on. But the
others or then you had the Berbers from North Africa. They held that
as well. But otherwise the biggest that we know about after the
mean Abbas in Romania? Were actually the turkey? Turkic,
right? And that meant sell jokes. The Mamluks and would you call the
Ottomans, which was the largest one the Turks. Then you had
Muhammad Ali Bhatia in Egypt, who was actually Albanian? Right? So
everybody's had a fair share, right? Or a bit of share in all of
this SubhanAllah. So, he was brought up like any other normal
Kurdish youth at that time. Right. That time was a time of
indulgence, a lot of money. I think there was a lot of
indulgence. So people drank as well. And it says that he used to
drink as well. Why do I highlight that point? Because it goes to
show that even if you're a sinner, you know, you could have good
things in store for you. That's the lesson I take from that when I
read that I used to drink, like, you know, and then you think,
Well, you know,
this isn't the time of the sahaba. They were problems. His father was
known to drink as well. It was a common I don't, I don't want to
say it's a common thing. But people used to drink as they do
now, as some people do now.
Normal youth, right. He studied the conventional sciences and
warfare. Nobody could have predicted that biographers say
that nobody could have predicted that he was going to be the
conqueror of Jerusalem. And then he was going to go down in
history, that there was going to be a lecture about him.
In November of 2021, in Oxford University, on Salah has been
would he have imagined would anybody have imagined that?
That's really something to think about. Probably didn't even know
it existed. I don't even know if Oxford did exist.
See what I'm saying?
And yet, he was just like any other youth at the time?
Who knows they might be somebody who is now studying at Oxford
University.
But
in 100 years, they're going to be remembered for something great.
It's not beyond the lies it to let that happen. But you can just sit
there and say, That's not me, man.
I've got my PlayStation five. I've just managed to get it.
Sorry, I'm not trying to put anybody down. But I mean, this is
the way a lot of people think. But you guys normally immature in
Oxford. You don't think like that? Do you guys are like really
studious. And cha cha Hamdulillah.
Nobody could have predicted that he would capture first Egypt.
Right. So he took he didn't capture Egypt. What happened was,
he actually was sent to Egypt by nurudeen. He didn't want to go.
Like, I don't want to go there.
He was sent there to try to help out one of the visitors or one of
the governors under 40 minutes. So he actually worked under the 40
minutes first. And then he was actually elected as a minister,
probably the first Sunni minister to be elected by the fall team at
the Shia dynasty. They were at loggerheads with the Sunnis, but
because he had been able to deal with the Crusaders that were also
had incursions into the 14th Midlands.
And he managed to thwart that he was actually eventually made a
minister
and the 40 Min Khalifa that time they had their own party medical
leave right after he died. So that would be managed to just take over
and take him on a different track. Egypt, then turned away from
Shiism, too soon to become Sunni, and that's what it's been until
now. Right?
lane pool. The biographer says about his youth that as the
favorite Governor son, he naturally enjoyed the privileged
position. But far from exhibiting any kind of symptom of future
greatness.
He was
he had a bit of tranquil virtue, but nobody could have guessed that
he was going to be the conqueror.
God had destined him to be the greatest leader of his time.
And God provides the mean there off.
Nobody told him to go to Egypt.
But he didn't want to go. So he was forced to go but as the verse
of the Quran says, Assa, Antara who Shayan Wahaha, urine locum,
you know, sometimes you may dislike something but it actually
turns out to be in your greatest interest. So I've told you what
happened. Now, when he became the minister and so on, he transformed
his life.
He became serious.
After assuming the power in Egypt, his conviction in Allah subhanaw
taala strengthened sometimes when you put into a position of
responsibility, that's when you become serious. Right until then,
you know, people don't take matters seriously. He decided that
the dunya the world and all of its indulgences that he was until now
used to he says all of that is going to be a hinderance because
he accepted his mission.
The I need to do a mission. I've got a lot a lot further to go. So
he decided to cut out everything, and to basically shun all of the
normal indulgences that people would. So, Elaine Poole says, for
example,
his entire focus became to unite the Muslims. Because he saw the
problem that this is what the problem was. Now, he had just
managed to take over the party meats and make them into Sunnis.
That was a huge after 200 and something years, that was a
massive accomplishment. So now you wanted to bring everybody else
together
to confront the Crusaders, because that was their biggest enemy at
the time. Right?
He said that I was given Egypt by Allah.
And he wants me to have Jerusalem as well. So he had his sights on
Jerusalem to take it back.
I mean, he's just accomplished a major deals. So that's another
accomplishment that he wants to do, right? That's what that's the
way the world works. You do a small accomplishment, you want to
do a bigger one. You that's how you get brave, right? That's
psychologically that's how things work in this world. But if you're
not going to take on that first step,
I'm telling you this from experience, if you don't take that
first step, you don't write your first book. You can't write any
subsequent books, right? Seems like Well, I'm gonna write a book
and you write the first book and the second book mashallah five
ideas, right? So it's in everything else is like that as
well. Your first piece of homework, then the second homework
does it become easier?
Man, I hated homework. I really hated writing essays, man, I was
just tough.
Anyway, now I make people write essays. On Sunday. hamdulillah
feels good.
Inshallah, you guys will be doing that soon as well. After you've
written your essays here. We'll be getting other guys to write essays
in sha Allah.
So he changed when assuming power in Egypt. And as I mentioned, now,
what happened is that he first won a huge battle. What put him on the
map now for the Crusaders is that he wants a massive battle against
them, in a place in Palestine to the equal have been, where he'd
been right, never near the river Tiberius, massive battle. And he
managed to
it was a very hotly contested battle against the Crusaders. And
after a series of fights and so on.
This was in 583. That was the death blow to the Crusaders
lane pool, he describes this victory.
Salahuddin camped
on the battle on the field of battle. Actually, I could have
shared it with you.
So after the battle after he won this major battle, he had a tent
pitch down there and he ordered the prisoners to be brought to
him. So the King of Jerusalem, the Reginald of Chatillon, would
consider the load of current characters in Jordan today.
Similar to that, it's it's by the area where you know the three
Sahaba buried Jaffa Zaid or the Allahu Allah and so on they, it
was a battle that they won down there and they all buried there.
If you go to Jordan, a lot of people go there to see that. So
that's kind of that area.
He received them in his tent. He seated the king close to him. He
liked the king. The king was half decent of Jerusalem, right? He was
a decent guy. It looks like from what from what he did.
Seeing his thirst he gave him a cup of water, ice didn't snow.
He drank some and then he passed it over to the other guy. The Lord
of Kerak
Saladin got very visibly annoyed, I gave you know him.
Then he got up and he went to that Reginald of Chatillon. And he
said, twice I've sworn to kill this man. Once when he sought to
invade the holy cities, meaning MacCormack or he's the guy who
wanted McCann Madina Munawwara so somebody made a pledge, then I
want to take this guy down. And second is when he took the hutch
caravan by treachery.
Right. What had happened was that, you know, they were innocent
people, but he'd killed He massacred them. Salahuddin had
really felt this and he had said, Lo I will avenge Mohamed upon you.
It said that a time. He then dropped his sword and it cutting
down his own hand straightaway. The God finished it and drag the
body out of the tent. This is Sandy Lane pools version of this.
Right? The glory bit gory, but
the King began to tremble. Because when he saw this, isn't it that's
my end as well.
But Salahuddin reassured him is not the custom of kings to slay
kings, he said.
But that man he transgressed all bounds. So what happened has
happened now?
According to him to shed dad's version
before the executor actually said, you know, be a Muslim, but the guy
was refused to do it. He gave him a chance, but he refused to do and
then he finished him off.
Not that you repeat this stuff here, okay.
Have to just go do some crazy people. And then I don't know
who's watching who's saying and what they're gonna say. I mean,
less guys come here to you know, you have to be careful nowadays.
Right.
Now, the victory of 18 was extremely,
was a prelude to the more coveted conquest of Jerusalem.
And
ignatia Dad, he's, he's a very close associate of yours. And he's
written a biography, and it's been translated into English as well.
In India, it's I don't know how good the translation is, but it's
been translated. There's two really good books on Psalm one is
by him in Russia, and the other one is by Stanley lane. Poole is a
Christian. So they really, if you really want to read more about
him, you can do that. So even you said that says that the sultan was
so keen for Jerusalem that the hills would have shrunk from
bearing the burden he carried in his heart. Like you have to have
that kind of desire to get something done. So on Friday, the
27th of Rajab, right which is generally the Mirage night, you
know, the ascension of the process of night. This is the second of
October 1187. After a full 90 years, it was actually 91 years
because Jerusalem had been taken from for 92 That's when the
Muslims lost it.
Until 583 So that was just over 90 years. 91 years had been lost.
Right now we still have Jerusalem
we lost it for 90 something years. That's why when people get really
you should get upset but when they get despondent with the situation
in Jerusalem right now Hamdulillah we still have it. They we lost it
completely to such a degree that the masjid was desecrated. The
masala Marwan Yeah, next to it is used as stables. The Dome of the
Rock had a cross placed on top of it. Right. And you saw the
massacre that took place already in there. That's what happened for
90 years.
So hamdulillah where it's better than before. That's why I said
history really helps to us to put things in perspective. So on this
Friday, the 27th Raja is when he managed to take Jerusalem back.
Right so the Crusaders, they lost Jerusalem ignatia That gives a
graphic account of this and let me just explain that to you said it
was the victory of victories allowed a large crowd they got
together. And
he says that everybody came hardly any noteworthy Person of the
Empire was left behind the joyful shouts of Allahu Akbar. Rent the
skies after 90 years. Friday prayer was again held in
Jerusalem. The cross that had glittered on the Dome of the Rock
was pulled down.
an indescribable event as it was the blessings of and help of Allah
were witnessed everywhere on that day.
Now 20 years before that new redeems engi during his life, had
designed the pulpit, a member
for Jerusalem Subhanallah made of some special wooden everything.
This was finally brought from Aleppo, right from Harlem, in
Syria. And it was erected there in the masjid. I think it's about 30
years ago that this guy, one of the settlers or somebody went and
put it on fire. That's why you don't I don't I don't think you've
got that. That special pulpits was very sentimental. Right It was
lost.
Now you remember the story of how they entered Jerusalem in the
beginning the Crusaders, when Salahuddin enters Rahim Allah, the
forbearance the humanity the magnanimity, the Islamic character
exhibited at this occasion has to be, you know, it's worth hearing.
And we're going to hear it from Elaine Poole, who is a Christian
biographer. So it's not a biased, you know, account.
He says, Never did Salahuddin show himself to be greater than during
this memorable surrender.
His Gods commanded by responsible Amir's kept orders in every street
and pray
entered violence and insults in so much that no ill usage of the
Christians or no ill treatment of the Christians was ever heard of
every exit was in his hands yet control. And
so people had to ransom themselves. And they were free to
go wherever they wanted and so on. Then it mentions that whoever
couldn't pay whoever was poor, that they could go for free. So
he actually even allowed the patriarch and the Balian of
Oberlin and others to free people as well. Just I mean, you hear
this like, the conquest of Makkah, similar kind of thing that
happened there with the promise and said, Whoever goes into house
of Abu Sofia and the leader of the Croatia at that time, enemy,
right, but now, he says whoever enters his house, he is safe. Thus
did the Saracens show mercy to the fallen city. This is what Stanley
Lane Paul says. One recalls the savage conquest by the First
Crusade crusaders in 1099. When Godfrey and tankard rode through
the seas, streets, choked with the dead and dying, when defenseless
Muslims were tortured, burnt and shot down in cold blood on the
towers and roofs of the temple, when the blood of wanton massacre
defiled the honor of so he's saying that they actually defiled
the honor of Christendom, this was not a Christian thing to do.
And they stay in the scene where once the Gospel of love and mercy
had been preached.
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy
was the forgotten beatitude when the Christians made shambles of
the holy city, he's telling them off. Fortunate where the Mercy
merciless for they obtain mercy at the hands of the Muslim Sultan.
That's why he says then there's a point he says he says the greatest
attribute of Heaven is mercy. And is the crown of Justice and the
glory where it may kill with right, but to save with pity.
Right.
Then he says that if taking Jerusalem were the only known fact
about sallahu de salud innocence, it would be enough to prove him to
be the most chivalrous and great hearted conqueror
of his own age, and perhaps any age. This is this standalone Pulu
saying this.
After that there was a third crusade, when they took Jerusalem,
the Crusaders, they tried to rally everybody together. And they came
and you know, they encamped in different areas. And then for the
next five years, there was a lot of skirmishes between them.
Eventually everybody got tired. So they made agreements. Right, that
finally Salahuddin will be the ruler of Jerusalem, and they'll
move away they got a bit of a sliver of land from Accra, from
AKQA accuray. Right, which is on the on the coast of Palestine
today and a sliver of land that otherwise, you know, the
Salahuddin takes the rest of it, and this was a huge victory for
the for the Muslims. So, now, Salahuddin, then on the 27th of
suffer 589 Hagey, which is fourth of March, in 1193.
He died in the he was only 57, when he died.
We're going to now try to just explore and understand some of his
characteristic and how he dealt with things. So I'm going to
invoke his biographer, a blue shirt that he says it was the
night of the 27th of suffer.
And the 12 days since he had fallen ill right he'd been ill for
12 days, 11 days.
The Sultan's illness took a serious turn, he became too weak
by them. There was a shake of the local madressa who had been
requested to come and read Quran by him because he was last three,
four days he was actually unconscious, he would only become
conscious once in a while.
Right?
Says Sheikh Abu Jaffa was sitting by his bedside reciting the Quran.
While the Sultan had lay unconscious for last three days,
regaining his conscious only for brief intervals.
And then the ShakeOut would he read the verse?
Who Allahu Allah de la ilaha illa, who animal Arabia shahada, that's
when Salahuddin opened his eyes and he says, Indeed, that is true.
That is correct.
After this, his soul departed.
That's amazing. Maybe we can have it as well that we're on our
deathbed and the Quran is being recited. And we can confirm, you
know, a statement in the Quran and then that's our last words. May
Allah subhanaw taala give us that kind of death as well.
It was you
The day of death, he says for the Muslims was a major misfortune.
And he says that since they'd been deprived of the forehead leaves,
it felt like this was the most greatest loss that they had born.
Right.
The fort the city, the entire world appear to be lamenting over
his death.
Now shuddered says this kadhi he says that, you know, before when
I've been told, and I've heard of others, that there's people who
have long to offer their lives so that somebody else could live, you
know, you hear about that written and willing to give my life so
that you can get five more years in your life, you know, whatever
it is, said I'd heard that before. I thought it was a figure of
speech.
But I learned on the day that this Sultan died that it could really
happen, for I myself was one of those who would have gladly parted
with their lives if there had been the slightest possibility of
saving the life of the Sudan by our sacrifice.
Now the Sultan died right. He was a Sultan, he had everything under
his command. But when he died, he left nothing except one dinar and
47. Durham's
one dinar gold coin, and 47 silver coins. Now, I could give you a
value of it today, but I don't know if it equates to the same,
right? That's all yet. He did not leave any houses, goods, property,
gardens or anything else. In fact, he did not have even enough to
cover his funeral expenses.
They were met by obtaining a loan on his name and his shoulders
provided by a minister called Colville farm bill
you really have to cut away from every you can enjoy I mean, he was
probably eating food and everything but he didn't have any
personal property. So he's there is an official so he's living
probably in a palace or whatever in a tent. I don't know. Right in
a rural place or whatever it is, but he's getting his food and
everything he doesn't own anything he just using because that's you
know, he's an he's an official so he can use it
said that.
According to an A biography, he says that. He once said, I have
not performed a single congregational prayer alone for
the past several years like never Mr. Jamar, always in congregation.
Like the last time when did we pray in congregation sometimes
that's the question we asked today, but he hardly missed it.
Even during his illness, he would send for the Imam and force
himself to stand up and perform the prayer behind him.
He also did the tahajjud at night, the voluntary prayers at night.
If he couldn't do them at night, because he couldn't wake up or
whatever he would do them in the morning, he would pray additional
records in the morning after sunrise.
Interestingly, the card never became incumbent on him. He was
never obligated to base a cut
because
he never had any extra property whatever he would get for the
giveaway anyway.
And
boundless in generosity, he gave away whatever he used to have,
like he used to just keep because I mean, you're the ruler yeah,
there's lots of people are going to come to you. Right? In those
days so established actually come to you and you have to say okay,
give him so much give him so much. He would give his own stuff as
well his own property.
At the time of his death, we already learned to what he left.
He
once said that I can you know, I can never keep money, just just
give it away.
There's one shake I heard about to use to give away a lot of his
money. But one year what he did was he kept aside like equivalent
to about 350 pounds
for a year so he could pay zakat like let me at least once pay
Zakat and get the reward of this honorable X otherwise he would
never have to do because never had enough money.
Used to delight in listening to the Quran. He loved it when people
would call people to read read the Quran you do in the battlefield.
In fact what you do in the battlefield you will have people
read Hadith when somebody told me it's a great idea that when you're
actually in the middle of the fight, listen to Hadith so you had
somebody read Hadith at that time.
Just love the words of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. When
he listened to the Quran, tears would trickle down his cheeks. Now
towards the end. It says that
when
once in Jerusalem, which then lay almost helpless before the
besieging crusaders after they taken in that third crusade time.
So the Crusaders were outside and it was quite vulnerable.
situation, the Sultan. It was a cold night, winter night before
Friday when I was alone with the Sultan. We spent the whole night
in prayer and supplication.
Late after midnight, I requested the Sultan to take a little rest.
But when he means after Marguerite, we'd spent the night
after midnight, I told him you go and take, you know, have a little
rest, he replied, I think you want to sleep right? You go and take a
nap. After a short while, when I went woke up for the dawn prayer
morning fajr prayer
which we used to perform together he says, I found him washing his
hands and feed making wudu and he said, I didn't sleep at all he
said, after the prayer was over, I said, I have I have an idea which
may be a benefit. He told him to do a special prayer in machine
lochsa and so on. And in sha Allah, Allah will give us help
because they had all the Crusaders outside. So Salahuddin did exactly
that. And
subhanAllah he said that dissension overtook the enemy camp
from where we got heartening news for the next few days until they
broke their camp from Ramallah by morning, Monday morning, and they
departed.
So
praying to Allah really, really helps. Right, especially in
difficult situations.
He used to send iced water or ice to his phone. Richard the
Lionheart when he became rich online was the king of England. He
was also one of the guys on the other side, but Saladin used to
actually send him gifts, fruits and ice when he was sick. So he
was really interesting the way he used to deal with his enemies, as
well as numerous stories about that, that you you can read about
when you do.
On one occasion, that old Christian woman came to him and
she was just in huge distress, because some guys had kidnapped
her daughter.
Right, her child, in those days, you'd keep in touch and put them
into a slave trade. Right? That was the tradition of the time. So
screaming through a flood of tears, she told us all down that
her baby had been taken away by a band of robbers.
And she'd been told to come to the Khalifa and Hillsong the soul, Van
Hill sought it out for you. He was so touched by her sorrow that he
broke into tears. And he sent some people to the slave market,
another place to go and make inquiries and finally mashallah
her child was brought back, this woman fell prostrate with a head
on the ground, uttering something for a very long time, then she
departed, rejoicing at her child's return.
I will stop here, there's a lot more to be said about him. But
what I would suggest is that you read about him. And as I've
mentioned, the two books and the lane pools called Saladin, you
check it online, I think you might even be able to download a PDF.
And the other one is by his biographer, official biographer,
Muslim militia dad, I think, and about the liberation dad, and
that's been translated into English, then the third book, I
would suggest is the status of Islamic spirit. The reason I
mentioned this is that this book, The first volume, which we
published deals with the first seven centuries of Islam.
I read it when I was about 20, something I wish I'd read it when
I was about 14 reason is that it gives you a lot of hope, remember
said that when you know history, you can see the cycles of the way
humanity works, and how things rise and fall, and really gives
you a lot of hope that you will be able to, you know, there's a
downfall, but Allah subhanaw taala has always brought it back up, and
I think encourages that, you know, maybe you can be chosen to do some
kind of elevation work, to uplift the Muslim community in sha Allah.
So it talks about the downs, the ups and downs of the first six,
seven, the book continues, but there is an older translation of
the rest of the volumes, but you should definitely try to read the
first volume, really like if you're interested in the Muslim
ummah, and the way things are going, and that's happened and you
want just better perspective, and you want some comfort in your
heart about the way Allah subhanaw taala has helped comes, I think
it's really, really useful to read about our history. So I think I'll
stop there. And if anybody has any questions in sha Allah, I think
one thing, which is
I mean, we could have a discussion on this, but I think one of the
biggest things that as the Muslim ummah is facing right now is
disunity. So everybody's worried about their own little turf.
Right.
So I think to try to just in our own lives, try to not break things
apart, but right try to mend them because I think it has to start at
home.
That's the first thing number two is to learn the history and to
which I just mentioned, which
So I just mentioned right now, which is to learn the history, so
that we can become better understanding of the way things
work in this world. Because when we've been living in, in our 30
years, 40 years, whatever it is, that's all we know, the past.
Right? And it's quite depressing sometimes. Personally, you know,
when when all of this happened was from the 1920s, when the Caliphate
was abolished, so we had literally a continuous caliphate through
different dynasties until 1924. That's when he was abolished. I
just wonder how the Muslims felt at that time. You know, some of
the teachers I studied with some of the speakers I listened to in
the 80s I used to hear the sentiment from them is changed
now, because they just come out of that. So I think we're in a low
but I see mashallah, lots of upliftment. For example, if you
just look at Turkey itself after 19 2014 went down to such a degree
that was secularized completely. And now you see that mashallah,
you know, it's changing. Egypt in the 1950s had been secularized.
There was not a woman with a hijab, very few. Now you go there
is over 90% is with hijab.
You go to Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and
Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. Now Uzbekistan, mashallah, it's come
out. I mean, it was, again 70 to 80 years under the Soviets where
everything was abolished.
That's happening in China now in eastern Turkistan.
But mashallah, now they've emerged from that, and things are getting
better.
So I see a lot of hope, yes, we still got issues in different
parts. So I think it's about first learning.
And number three distractions is what is really messing everybody
up distractions, there's just so much competition out there for our
time, whether that be a something as simple as YouTube, or Facebook,
or Twitter, right. And that, and then it's only going to get worse,
it's only going to get more, we only going to get more entangled
in the web with the meta universe and things like that as it's
coming. So I really think we need to understand versus what are our
goals in life.
And not just goals in life, but goals for the afterlife. Because
once we, if our goals are just for this life, then the afterlife does
not even figure in that. Because this life comes before the next
life doesn't mean next 50 years, or whatever it is. So if we're
planning just for this life, the other life can't even be planned
in that Canon. Because this is like, if you're just worried about
your years at university, you're not even thinking about
afterwards, then you don't even know how he's going to impact
afterwards. But if you're thinking from now of where you want to be
in 10 years,
I want to be in this company, I want to be at this position I want
to be here are there, then that is going to help you that's going to
include decisions about now. So decision about now cannot include
decision about that unless you make decisions based on what's
going to happen later. So if you start focusing on the hereafter
that we have to get there eventually as believers, then
that's going to help us to
adjust our life here. And one of the biggest things I think people
are suffering from is, I would say distractions, just indulgence and
distractions. And I think we, you know, 30 years ago was a fitna of
adversity where people were just struggling to survive. If you look
maybe, you know, for most of us grandparents, they were struggling
to survive. Now it's a time and mashallah we've got a lot of
disposable income. And think instant gratification, things like
that. So these are just some of the things that may have parallels
because he said he gave up he was part of it, but then he gave up
even drinking, for example.
So some of those things, you'd have to just learn on the job,
while other things we can actually prep for. So sincerity is
generally learned on the job. So for example, before anybody
becomes a world leader, we're probably going to have some, you
know, when nobody's going to be shot to stardom overnight, you're
going to start off with small things. And I'm here just to
encourage that maybe in sha Allah one, you know, I don't think it's
wrong to be optimistic like that, right? Nobody may be, but let's
think about it. Somebody's going to have to do that encouragement,
as far fetched as it seems. So I would say that you we first, read
the biographies. I think they're the most helpful. That's what
really helps me read the biographies, learn more about
them, right.
And then we can understand the characteristics that these people
had and hopefully, in our little
scope, and circle of influence, we can try to be like that. That's
what I think. And slowly, slowly, if Allah subhanaw taala is like we
ask Allah to accept us for a service to his Deen. That's my dua
of Allah accept
Before the service of your lead, what service I don't know. But Oh
Allah, whatever, I want to be accepted for some service. So
you're gonna take it step by step. It's not like, you know, that was
the one where they want everybody to be leaders. And then there's
some guys that tell you like, do you even know how to make your bed
at home? Like, let's check your bedroom outs, like to see if
that's tidy, because people in America, it's like that I don't
know about England as much. But I lived in America for eight years,
like everybody wants to be the next sensation, you know, whether
that be on YouTube or in France, or whatever the case is, right?
But it's like, can you even sort out your immediate surrounding?
Like, if you can't even have your bedroom to be tidied in? What kind
of leadership are you going to do? That's some basic stuff. But the
idea is that I think we just need to educate ourselves. Right? So
while you're studying for, you know, whatever you are studying,
you also continue your connection with the Quran and learn that the
Hadith of the Prophet sallallahu Sallam so you know, your deen. I
think a lot of people, a lot of the reasons why we divide between
the people just don't understand what the religious religion wants
from us. There's six simple examples of people's divorces,
marriages, when I hear the stories, because I have to hear
them, a lot of the time, it's just absolute ignorance. And then it's
ego. So it's either ignorance or ego, or bad habits like excessive
anger, or excessive desire, or selfishness, or narcissism or
something like that. So I think we need to work with all of those
things. Because if you can't maintain a marriage, how you're
going to be a leader of the world.
For example,
difficult questions brother. But Allah Allah make it easy.
While Subhan Allah Salahuddin had a motherland, right, the role of
women is that I mean, I can say the cliched expression, that
behind every successful man is a is a woman, I could tell you that.
I don't know. How do you feel about that? But I would say for
example, that I'm here in front of you, my dad plays a part, for
sure. But I think my mom plays probably a bigger part.
Right, you know, her push and her her therapy, I think it just plays
a bigger part. Right? Sometimes it is the other way around. But I
think what we have to really understand is that while women are
needed in workplaces inserted in a number of fields, but their
primary objective is to bring up that next generation in the right
way, nobody can do it better than women, like men just can't they,
they play a part, there is probably at least a 30%.
Supplementary, you know, they, they there's certain parts only
the Father can play. But the mother has the bulk of that
responsibility. And I don't think there's any job greater than that.
Don't let anybody tell you that that's not the case. We're living
in really weird times where
it's about women's liberation. It's about feminism. Right? And
that goes into a lot of extremes. And there's a valid aspect of it.
But remember, whatever you do, be successful at whatever you do, but
remember, you are responsible at the end of the day of bringing up
the next generation. Who else is going to do it?
Who else is going to do it? If my wife is going and studying or
working? And I've got a nanny in the house why? Why is she looking
after somebody else's business or maybe even her own business or
whatever, and letting somebody else o'clock after our children
like why is that right? Why is that even reasonable?
That's not right. But mashallah, like, you know, we teach so we
have male and female students, I've seen the success is when the
we have a very intense program for the Iftar program.
And the successful ones are those who mashallah had two who are over
40 when they joined and they actually managed to complete the
course they both have children and husbands obviously, right? But now
the children are at an age where they can kind of have a routine
and look after themselves. But they focused on the children first
and now Masha Allah, Allah has opened the door of them. And they
they've just graduated as you know, studied the Mufti course as
such, which is a huge accomplishment, I think. So I'm
definitely not for like saying women just must not, you know,
just parents, I said, but they have to plan things. Right? You
just have to plan things. And again, you have to have a zeal as
well. Like, I want to do this, this is what I want to do. I'm not
sure I've in my life, I've come across some really ambitious women
Mashallah. Right. And they are on their trajectory. They are on
their, you know, they are good in their family, but they also
mature, they're doing huge amounts of work outside.
Right. It's just that when you fall into the narratives,
especially the non Islamic narratives, then it just it's a
whole it's a whole thing.
straight now right Islam this whole thing about post modernism
and it's all a test we nobody knows where it's going it keeps
getting adjusted Don't Don't fall for that