Saladin
Saladin (al-Malik al-Nasir Salah al-Din Yusuf) (Salah al-Din) (Yusuf Salah ad-Din ibn Ayyub) (Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb -- “Righteousness of the Faith, Joseph, Son of Job”) (b. 1137/38, Tikrīt, Mesopotamia [now in Iraq] — d. March 4, 1193, Damascus [now in Syria]). Ayyubid ruler and Sultan of Egypt and Syria. He was a Kurdish Muslim and led the Islamic opposition to the Third Crusade.
At the height of his power, the Ayyubid dynasty he founded, ruled over Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Hijaz, and Yemen. He led Muslim resistance to the European Crusaders and eventually recaptured Palestine from the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem. As such, Saladin is a notable figure in Arab, Kurdish, and Muslim culture.
Saladin was a strict practitioner of Sunni Islam. He did not maim, kill or retaliate against those whom he defeated, with the notable exception of certain events following the Battle of Hattin. His generally chivalrous behavior was noted by Christian chroniclers, especially in the accounts of the siege of Krak in Moab.
Saladin came from a predominantly Kurdish background and ancestry. His family lived in Tikrit, Iraq, where he was born during the Islamic world's Golden Age. His father, Najm ad-Din Ayyub, was banned from Tikrit and moved to Mosul where he met Imad ad-Din Zengi, the Turkish atabeg (regent) of Mosul. At the time, Imad ad-Din Zengi, the founder of the Zengid dynasty, was also the leader of Muslim forces against the Crusaders in Edessa. Imad ad-Din Zengi appointed Najm ad-Din as the commander of his fortress in Baalbek. After the death of Imad ad-Din Zengi in 1146, his son, Nur ad-Din, became the regent of Mosul. Saladin received his name from Nur ad-Din and was sent to Damascus to continue his education and this was where he also completed his educational studies. Several sources claim that during his studies he was more interested in religion than joining the military. Another factor which may have affected his interest in religion was that, during the First Crusade in 1099, Jerusalem was taken by force from the Christians by surprise when the Islamic world had done nothing to start the offensive. Muslim culture and the city were pillaged. Much of Muslim culture would lay in ruins for over one hundred years. It would be Saladin who would later rebel against Christian-held Jerusalem to win back the city.
The career of Saladin in the military began when his uncle Asad al-Din Shirkuh started training him. Shirkuh was an important military commander under the emir Nur al-Din, who was the son and successor of Zengi. Saladin accompanied Shirkuh during three military expeditions led by Shirkuh into Egypt to prevent its falling to the Latin Christian Crusaders who already ruled Jerusalem. In 1154, Saladin went with his uncle Shirkuh to the court of the Zangid Nur al-Din Mahmud at Damascus, accompanied him on his military mission to Egypt in 1164, and again in 1168, when he withstood the siege of Alexandria by Amalric I, king of Jerusalem. When the latter besieged Cairo, the last Fatimid Caliph al-‘Adid li-Din Allah sent for assistance to Nur al-Din, while his vizier Shawar negotiated with Amalric. Shirkuh and Saladin were hailed at Cairo as rescuers, and Saladin had Shawar executed as a traitor. The caliph appointed Shirkuh as vizier and, when the latter died after two months, he appointed Saladin as such and gave him the title “al-Malik al-Nasir.”
Saladin's aims were to secure power for himself and his family, to put down Shi‘ism and to fight the Crusaders to the utmost. He attained these aims to a great degree.
He put down a rebellion of the caliph’s black guards and in 1169 resisted the siege of Damietta by Amalric, who was assisted by a fleet from Constantinople and an auxiliary force from southern Italy. In 1171, Saladin abolished the ineffective Shi'ite Fatimid caliphate and led a return to Sunni Islam in Egypt. When the caliph died in 1171, Saladin had the 'ulama pronounce the name of al-Mustadi bi-Amr Allah, the Sunni -- and, more importantly, 'Abbasid -- caliph in Baghdad at sermon before Friday prayers (salat) instead of the name of the Shi'a Fatimid Caliph. Thus, the Fatimids and Shi‘ism came to an end in Egypt.
Saladin effectively ruled Egypt, but officially as the representative of the Turkish Seljuk ruler Nur ad-Din, who himself conventionally recognized the 'Abbasid caliph. Although he remained for a time a vassal of Nur ad-Din, and although their relationship became strained, the relationship only came to an end in 1174 when Nur ad-Din died.
After the death of Nur ad-Din, Saladin quickly used the emir's rich agricultural possessions in Egypt as a financial base. He defeated the Normans of Sicily, who had landed at Alexandria, and captured an enormous booty. He then turned his attention to Syria.
On two occasions, in 1170 and 1172, Saladin retreated from an invasion of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. These had been launched by Nur ad-Din and Saladin hoped that the Crusader kingdom would remain intact, as a buffer state between Egypt and Syria, until Saladin could gain control of Syria as well. Nur ad-Din and Saladin were headed towards open war on these counts when Nur ad-Din died in 1174. Nur ad-Din's heir, as-Salih Ismail al-Malik, was a mere boy in the hands of court eunuchs, and died in 1181.
Immediately after Nur ad-Din's death in 1174, Saladin marched on Damascus and was welcomed into the city. He reinforced his legitimacy there in the time-honored way, by marrying Nur ad-Din's widow Ismat ad-Din Khatun. Aleppo and Mosul, on the other hand, the two other largest cities that Nur ad-Din had ruled, were never taken but Saladin managed to impose his influence and authority on them in 1176 and 1186 respectively. While he was occupied in besieging Aleppo, on May 22, 1176, the shadowy Ismaili assassin group, the Hashshashin, attempted to murder him. They made two attempts on his life, the second time coming close enough to inflict wounds.
While Saladin was consolidating his power in Syria, he usually left the Crusader kingdom alone, although he was generally victorious whenever he did meet the Crusaders in battle. One exception was the Battle of Montgisard on November 25, 1177, where he was defeated by the combined forces of Baldwin IV of Jerusalem, Raynald of Chatillon and the Knights Templar. Only one tenth of his army made it back to Egypt.
Saladin spent the subsequent year recovering from his defeat and rebuilding his army, renewing his attacks in 1179 when he defeated the Crusaders at the Battle of Jacob's Ford, after which a truce was declared between Saladin and the Crusader States in 1180. However, Crusader counter-attacks provoked further responses by Saladin. Raynald of Chatillon, in particular, harassed Muslim trading and pilgrimage routes with a fleet on the Red Sea, a water route that Saladin needed to keep open. In response, Saladin constructed a fleet of 30 galleys to attack Beirut in 1182. Raynald threatened to attack the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. In retaliation, Saladin twice besieged Kerak, Raynald's fortress in Oultrejordain, in 1183 and 1184. Raynald responded by looting a caravan of pilgrims on the Hajj in 1185.
Following the failure of his Kerak sieges, Saladin temporarily turned his attention back to another long-term project and resumed attacks on the territory of 'Izz ad-Din (Mas'ud ibn Mawdud ibn Zangi), around Mosul, which he had begun with some success in 1182. However, since then, Mas'ud had allied himself with the powerful governor of Azerbaijan and Jibal, who in 1185 began moving his troops across the Zagros Mountains, causing Saladin to hesitate in his attacks. The defenders of Mosul, when they became aware that help was on the way, increased their efforts, and Saladin subsequently fell ill, so in March 1186, a peace treaty was signed.
In July 1187, Saladin captured most of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. On July 4, 1187, Saladin faced at the Battle of Hattin the combined forces Guy of Lusignan, King Consort of Jerusalem and Raymond III of Tripoli. In this battle alone, the Crusader army was largely annihilated by the motivated army of Saladin in what was a major disaster for the Crusaders and a turning point in the history of the Crusades. Saladin captured Raynald de Chatillon and was personally responsible for his execution in retaliation for previously attacking Muslim pilgrim caravans. Guy of Lusignan was also captured but his life was spared. However, that night with uncharacteristic cruelty, Saladin ordered the execution of the hundred or so Templar and Hospitaller knights among the prisoners. Because of their religious devotion and rigorous training, they were the most feared of the Christian soldiers. Seated on a dais before his army, Saladin watched as the executions were carried out.
Saladin captured almost every Crusader city. Jerusalem capitulated to his forces on October 2, 1187 after a siege. Before the siege, Saladin had offered generous terms of surrender, which were rejected. After the sieged had started, he was unwilling to promise terms of quarter to the European occupants of Jerusalem until Balian of Ibelin threatened to kill every Muslim hostage, estimated at 5000 and to destroy Islam's holy shrines of the Dome of the Rock and the al-Aqsa Mosque if quarter was not given. Saladin consulted his council and the terms of the Crusader surrender were again offered. Ransom was to be paid for each Frank in the city whether man, woman or child. Saladin allowed many to leave without having the required amount for ransom for others.
Tyre, on the coast of modern-day Lebanon was the last major Crusader city that was not captured by Muslim forces (strategically, it would have made more sense for Saladin to capture Tyre before Jerusalem -- however, Saladin chose to pursue Jerusalem first because of the importance of the city to Islam). The city was now commanded by Conrad of Montferrat, who strengthened Tyre's defenses and withstood two sieges by Saladin. In 1188, at Tortosa, Saladin released Guy of Lusignan and returned him to his wife, Queen Sibylla of Jerusalem. They went first to Tripoli, then to Antioch. In 1189, they sought to reclaim Tyre for their kingdom, but were refused admission by Conrad, who did not recognize Guy as king. Guy then set about besieging Acre.
Hattin and the fall of Jerusalem prompted the Third Crusade, financed in England by a special "Saladin tithe." Richard I of England led Guy's siege of Acre, conquered the city and executed 3000 Muslim prisoners including women and children. Saladin retaliated by killing all Franks captured from August 28 to September 10.
The armies of Saladin engaged in combat with the army of King Richard I of England at the Battle of Arsuf on September 7, 1191, at which Saladin was defeated. However, all attempts made by Richard I -- Richard the Lionheart -- to re-take Jerusalem failed. Nevertheless, Saladin's relationship with Richard was one of chivalrous mutual respect as well as military rivalry. When Richard became ill with fever, Saladin offered the services of his personal physician. Saladin also sent him fresh fruit and fruit juice, with snow to chill the drink as treatment. At Arsuf, when Richard lost his horse, Saladin sent him two replacements. Richard suggested to Saladin that Palestine, Christian and Muslim, could be united through the marriage of his sister to Saladin's brother, and that Jerusalem could be their wedding gift. Ironically, the two men never met face to face and communication was either written or by messenger.
As leaders of their respective factions, the two men came to an agreement in the Treaty of Ramla in 1192, whereby Jerusalem would remain in Muslim hands but would be open to Christian pilgrimages. The treaty reduced the Latin Kingdom to a strip along the coast from Tyre to Jaffa. This treaty was supposed to last three years.
Saladin died of a fever on March 4, 1193, at Damascus, not long after Richard's departure. When they opened Saladin's treasury they found there was not enough money to pay for his funeral. He had given most of his money away in charity.
Saladin is buried in a mausoleum in the garden outside the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, Syria. Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany donated a new marble sarcophagus to the mausoleum. The body of Saladin, however, was not placed in it. Instead, the mausoleum, which is open to visitors, now has two sarcophagi: one empty in marble and one in wood containing the body of Saladin.
Despite his fierce struggle against the crusades, Saladin achieved a great reputation in Europe as a chivalrous knight, so much so that there existed by the fourteenth century an epic poem about his exploits, and Dante included him among the virtuous pagan souls in Limbo. Saladin is portrayed in a sympathetic light in Sir Walter Scott's The Talisman (1825). Despite the Crusaders' slaughter of Muslims when they originally conquered Jerusalem in 1099, Saladin granted amnesty and free passage to all common Catholics and even to the defeated Christian army, as long as they were able to pay a ransom. Indeed, Greek Orthodox Christians were treated even better, because they often opposed the western Crusaders.
Notwithstanding the differences in beliefs, the Muslim Saladin was respected by Christian lords, especially Richard the Lionheart. Richard once praised Saladin as a great prince, saying that he was without doubt the greatest and most powerful leader in the Islamic world. Saladin, in turn, stated that there was not a more honorable Christian lord than Richard. After the treaty, Saladin and Richard sent each other many gifts as tokens of respect, even though they never met face to face.
In April 1191, a Frankish woman's three month old baby had been stolen from her camp and had been sold on the market. The Franks urged her to approach Saladin herself with her grievance. After Saladin used his own money to buy the child, he gave the child to its mother. She took the child and with tears streaming down her face, she suckled the child to her breast. The Muslim people watched her with her child and they wept. The woman suckled the child for some time and then Saladin ordered a horse to be fetched for her and she went back to the Christian camp.
The name Salah ad-Din means "Righteousness of Faith," and through the ages Saladin has been an inspiration for Muslims in many respects. Modern Muslim rulers have sought to commemorate Saladin through various measures. A governorate centered around Tikrit and Samarra in modern day Iraq, Salah ad-Din Governorate, is named after Saladin, as is Salahaddin University in Arbil. A suburb community of Arbil, Masif Salahaddin, is also named after him.
Few structures associated with Saladin survive within modern cities. Saladin first fortified the Citadel of Cairo (1175-1183), which had been a domed pleasure pavilion with a fine view in more peaceful times. In Syria, even the smallest city is centered on a defensible citadel, and Saladin introduced this essential feature to Egypt.
Among the forts Saladin constructed was Qalaat al-Gindi, a mountaintop fortress and caravanserai in the Sinai. The fortress overlooks a large wadi which was the convergence of several caravan routes that linked Egypt and the Middle East. Inside the structure are a number of large vaulted rooms hewn out of rock, including the remains of shops and a water cistern. A notable archaeological site, it was excavated in 1909 by a French team under Jules Barthoux.
Although the Ayyubid dynasty he founded would only outlive him by fifty-seven years, the legacy of Saladin within the Arab World continues to this day. With the rise of Arab nationalism in the Twentieth Century, particularly with regard to the Arab-Israeli conflict, Saladin's heroism and leadership gained a new significance. The glory and comparative unity of the Arab World under Saladin was seen as the perfect symbol for the new unity sought by Arab nationalists, such as Gamal Abdel Nasser. For this reason, the Eagle of Saladin became the symbol of revolutionary Egypt, and was subsequently adopted by several other Arab states (Iraq, Palestine, and Yemen).
A brief chronology of Saladin reads as follows:
Saladin was born in Tikrit in Iraq, the son of the Kurdish chief Ayyub in 1138. In 1152, he began to work in the service of the Syrian ruler, Nur ad-Din (Nureddin).
In 1164, he started to show his military and strategical qualities under three campaigns against the Crusaders who were established in Palestine, with the first campaign this year.
In 1169, Saladin served as second to the commander in chief of the Syrian army, his uncle Shirkuh. Shirkuh became vizier of Egypt, but died after only two months. Saladin then took over as vizier. Despite the nominal limitations to the vizier position, Saladin took little regard to the interests of his superiors, the Fatimid rulers. He turned Cairo into an Ayyubid power base, where he used Kurds in leading positions.
In 1171, Saladin suppressed the Fatimid rulers of Egypt, whereupon he united Egypt with the Abbasid Caliphate. However, he was not as eager as Nur ad-Din to go to war against the Crusaders, and relations between him and Nur ad-Din became very difficult.
In 1173, Saladin sent his brother, Turan-Shah, to Yemen, which was subjugated.
In 1174, Nur ad-Din died, and Saladin used the opportunity to extend his power base. Saladin defeated the Normans of Sicily, who had landed at Alexandria, and captured an enormous booty. Saladin turned his attention to Syria, where he defeated the troops of Nur ad-Din’s son al-Salih Isma‘il (r. 1174-1181) at Qurun Hamat, but left al-Salih Isma'il in the possession of Aleppo and gave Hamat, Homs and Ba‘albek, which had surrendered, to relatives as fiefs. In 1175, he was granted by the caliph rule over Egypt, Nubia, Yemen, North Africa from Egypt to Tripoli, Palestine and Central Syria. After a final attempt by the Zangids against him in 1176, he made peace with them. He was however unable to take the fortress of Masyad in central Syria from Shaykh Rashid al-Din al-Sinan, the leader of the Syrian branch of the Isma‘ilis and known to the West as “the Old Man of the Mountain.” The latter promised Saladin that he would not attack him.
In 1175, the Syrian Assassin leader Rashideddin’s men made two attempts on the life of Saladin, the leader of the Ayyubids. The second time, the Assassin came so close that wounds were inflicted upon Saladin.
In 1176, Saladin besieged the fortress of Masyaf, the stronghold of Rashideddin. After some weeks, Saladin suddenly withdrew, and left the Assassins in peace for the rest of his life. It is believed that he was exposed to a threat of having his entire family murdered.
In 1177, he met at Ramla the troops of Baldwin IV, reinforced by many Knights under the leadership of Raynald de Chatillon of al-Karak. Saladin suffered a crushing defeat. But the next year (1178) he was able to defeat Baldwin, and again in 1179. In the following years, he gained suzerainty over Mesopotamia.
In 1183, Saladin signed a four years’ peace with Baldwin V, who was soon succeeded by Guy de Lusignan. But when Raynald de Chatillon fell upon a large caravan and refused to give any satisfaction, fight became inevitable.
In 1183, Saladin conquered the important north Syrian city of Aleppo.
In 1186, Saladin conquered Mosul in northern Iraq.
In 1187, with his new strength, he attacked the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem, and after three months of fighting he seized control of the city. On July 4, 1187, at the Battle of Hattin (Hittin), the Crusaders were utterly defeated. Saladin gave Guy de Lusignan a friendly reception, but slew Raynald with his own hand, and hall the Templars and Knights of St. John executed. He now was master of Palestine, including Tiberias, Nazareth, Samaria, Sidon, Beyrouth, Acre, Ramla, Gaza. Hebron also fell into his hands, and on October 2, 1187, Jerusalem was conquered. The inhabitants who could not pay the ransom were sold into slavery, but many were released at the intercession of Muslim and Christian persons of standing, as were a large number of poor people by Saladin himself. Only Antioch, Tripolis, Tyre and a number of smaller towns and castles remained in the possession of the Christians. At the siege of Tyre, Saladin suffered a severe reverse. He had Acre rebuilt, and in 1188 went to Damascus from where he captured many places.
In 1189, a third Crusade managed to enlarge the coastal area of Palestine, while Jerusalem remained under Saladin’s control.
In 1192, with The Peace of Ramla, an armistice agreement with King Richard I of England, a strip of land along the coast was defined as Christian land, while the city of Jerusalem remained under Muslim control.
Saladin died of a fever on March 4, 1193, at Damascus, not long after Richard's departure.
Since Saladin had given most of his possessions and money away for charity, when they opened his treasury, they found there was not enough money to pay for his funeral.
Saladin was buried in a mausoleum in the garden outside the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, Syria.
Seven centuries later, Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany donated a new marble sarcophagus to the mausoleum. Saladin was, however, not placed in it. Instead the mausoleum, which is open to visitors, now has two sarcophagi: one, empty made of marble and the original, which holds Saladin, which is made of wood. The reason why Saladin was not placed in the tomb was most likely respect and a desire to not disturb his body.
According to Imad al-Din, Saladin had fathered five sons before he left Egypt in 1174. Saladin's eldest son, al-Afdal was born in 1170 and Uthman was born in 1172 to Shamsa who accompanied Saladin to Syria. Al-Afdal's mother bore Saladin another child in 1177. A letter preserved by Qalqashandi records that a twelfth son was born in May 1178, while on Imad al-Din's list, he appears as Saladin's seventh son. Mas'ud was born in 1175 and Yaq'ub in 1176, the latter to Shamsa. Nur al-Din's widow, Ismat al-Din Khatun, remarried to Saladin in September 1176. Ghazi and Da'ud were born to the same mother in 1173 and 1178, respectively, and the mother of Ishaq who was born in 1174 also gave birth to another son in July 1182.
His fierce struggle against the crusaders was where Saladin achieved a great reputation in Europe as a chivalrous knight, so much so that there existed by the fourteenth century an epic poem about his exploits. Though Saladin faded into history after the Middle Ages, he appears in a sympathetic light in Sir Walter Scott's novel The Talisman (1825). It is mainly from this novel that the contemporary view of Saladin originates. Despite the Crusaders' slaughter when they originally conquered Jerusalem in 1099, Saladin granted amnesty and free passage to all common Catholics and even to the defeated Christian army, as long as they were able to pay the aforementioned ransom (the Greek Orthodox Christians were treated even better, because they often opposed the western Crusaders). An interesting view of Saladin and the world in which he lived is provided by Tariq Ali's novel The Book of Saladin. Though contemporary views on Saladin are often positive, Saladin's qualities are often exaggerated, mainly under influence of the image created during the 19th Century.
Notwithstanding the differences in beliefs, the Muslim Saladin was respected by Christian lords, Richard especially. Richard once praised Saladin as a great prince, saying that he was without doubt the greatest and most powerful leader in the Islamic world. Saladin in turn stated that there was not a more honorable Christian lord than Richard. After the treaty, Saladin and Richard sent each other many gifts as tokens of respect, but never met face to face.
In April 1191, a Frankish woman's three month old baby had been stolen from her camp and had been sold on the market. The Franks urged her to approach Saladin herself with her grievance. According to Bahā' al-Dīn, Saladin used his own money to buy the child back:
In 1898 German Emperor Wilhelm II visited Saladin's tomb to pay his respects. The visit, coupled with anti-colonial sentiments, led nationalist Arabs to reinvent the image of Saladin and portray him as a hero of the struggle against the West. The image of Saladin they used was the romantic one created by Walter Scott and other Europeans in the West at the time, as Saladin had been a figure entirely forgotten in the Muslim world. This was mainly because of Saladin's short-lived "quasi-empire" and evident lack of commitment to religion, plus his eclipse by more successful figures such as Baybars of Egypt.
Modern Arab states have sought to commemorate Saladin through various measures, often based on the false image created of him in the 19th century west. A governorate centered around Tikrit and Samarra in modern-day Iraq, Salah ad Din Governorate, is named after him, as is Salahaddin University in Arbil. A suburb community of Arbil, Masif Salahaddin, is also named after him.
Few structures associated with Saladin survive within modern cities. Saladin first fortified the Citadel of Cairo (1175–1183), which had been a domed pleasure pavilion with a fine view in more peaceful times. In Syria, even the smallest city is centered on a defensible citadel, and Saladin introduced this essential feature to Egypt.
Among the forts he built was Qalaat al-Gindi, a mountaintop fortress and caravanserai in the Sinai. The fortress overlooks a large wadi which was the convergence of several caravan routes that linked Egypt and the Middle East. Inside the structure are a number of large vaulted rooms hewn out of rock, including the remains of shops and a water cistern. A notable archaeological site, it was investigated in 1909 by a French team under Jules Barthoux.
Although the Ayyubid dynasty that he founded would only outlive him by 57 years, the legacy of Saladin within the Arab World continues to this day. With the rise of Arab nationalism in the Twentieth Century, particularly with regard to the Arab-Israeli conflict, Saladin's heroism and leadership gained a new significance. Saladin's liberation of Palestine from the European Crusaders was put forth as the inspiration for the modern-day Arabs' opposition to Zionism.
Moreover, the glory and comparative unity of the Arab World under Saladin was seen as the perfect symbol for the new unity sought by Arab nationalists, such as Gamal Abdel Nasser. For this reason, the Eagle of Saladin became the symbol of revolutionary Egypt, and was subsequently adopted by several other Arab states (Iraq, the Palestinian Territory, and Yemen).
Malik al-Nasir Salah al-Din Yusuf, al- see Saladin
Salah al-Din see Saladin
Salah al-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub see Saladin
Yusuf Salah ad-Din ibn Ayyub see Saladin
Saladin (al-Malik al-Nasir Salah al-Din Yusuf) (Salah al-Din) (Yusuf Salah ad-Din ibn Ayyub) (Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb -- “Righteousness of the Faith, Joseph, Son of Job”) (b. 1137/38, Tikrīt, Mesopotamia [now in Iraq] — d. March 4, 1193, Damascus [now in Syria]). Ayyubid ruler and Sultan of Egypt and Syria. He was a Kurdish Muslim and led the Islamic opposition to the Third Crusade.
At the height of his power, the Ayyubid dynasty he founded, ruled over Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Hijaz, and Yemen. He led Muslim resistance to the European Crusaders and eventually recaptured Palestine from the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem. As such, Saladin is a notable figure in Arab, Kurdish, and Muslim culture.
Saladin was a strict practitioner of Sunni Islam. He did not maim, kill or retaliate against those whom he defeated, with the notable exception of certain events following the Battle of Hattin. His generally chivalrous behavior was noted by Christian chroniclers, especially in the accounts of the siege of Krak in Moab.
Saladin came from a predominantly Kurdish background and ancestry. His family lived in Tikrit, Iraq, where he was born during the Islamic world's Golden Age. His father, Najm ad-Din Ayyub, was banned from Tikrit and moved to Mosul where he met Imad ad-Din Zengi, the Turkish atabeg (regent) of Mosul. At the time, Imad ad-Din Zengi, the founder of the Zengid dynasty, was also the leader of Muslim forces against the Crusaders in Edessa. Imad ad-Din Zengi appointed Najm ad-Din as the commander of his fortress in Baalbek. After the death of Imad ad-Din Zengi in 1146, his son, Nur ad-Din, became the regent of Mosul. Saladin received his name from Nur ad-Din and was sent to Damascus to continue his education and this was where he also completed his educational studies. Several sources claim that during his studies he was more interested in religion than joining the military. Another factor which may have affected his interest in religion was that, during the First Crusade in 1099, Jerusalem was taken by force from the Christians by surprise when the Islamic world had done nothing to start the offensive. Muslim culture and the city were pillaged. Much of Muslim culture would lay in ruins for over one hundred years. It would be Saladin who would later rebel against Christian-held Jerusalem to win back the city.
The career of Saladin in the military began when his uncle Asad al-Din Shirkuh started training him. Shirkuh was an important military commander under the emir Nur al-Din, who was the son and successor of Zengi. Saladin accompanied Shirkuh during three military expeditions led by Shirkuh into Egypt to prevent its falling to the Latin Christian Crusaders who already ruled Jerusalem. In 1154, Saladin went with his uncle Shirkuh to the court of the Zangid Nur al-Din Mahmud at Damascus, accompanied him on his military mission to Egypt in 1164, and again in 1168, when he withstood the siege of Alexandria by Amalric I, king of Jerusalem. When the latter besieged Cairo, the last Fatimid Caliph al-‘Adid li-Din Allah sent for assistance to Nur al-Din, while his vizier Shawar negotiated with Amalric. Shirkuh and Saladin were hailed at Cairo as rescuers, and Saladin had Shawar executed as a traitor. The caliph appointed Shirkuh as vizier and, when the latter died after two months, he appointed Saladin as such and gave him the title “al-Malik al-Nasir.”
Saladin's aims were to secure power for himself and his family, to put down Shi‘ism and to fight the Crusaders to the utmost. He attained these aims to a great degree.
He put down a rebellion of the caliph’s black guards and in 1169 resisted the siege of Damietta by Amalric, who was assisted by a fleet from Constantinople and an auxiliary force from southern Italy. In 1171, Saladin abolished the ineffective Shi'ite Fatimid caliphate and led a return to Sunni Islam in Egypt. When the caliph died in 1171, Saladin had the 'ulama pronounce the name of al-Mustadi bi-Amr Allah, the Sunni -- and, more importantly, 'Abbasid -- caliph in Baghdad at sermon before Friday prayers (salat) instead of the name of the Shi'a Fatimid Caliph. Thus, the Fatimids and Shi‘ism came to an end in Egypt.
Saladin effectively ruled Egypt, but officially as the representative of the Turkish Seljuk ruler Nur ad-Din, who himself conventionally recognized the 'Abbasid caliph. Although he remained for a time a vassal of Nur ad-Din, and although their relationship became strained, the relationship only came to an end in 1174 when Nur ad-Din died.
After the death of Nur ad-Din, Saladin quickly used the emir's rich agricultural possessions in Egypt as a financial base. He defeated the Normans of Sicily, who had landed at Alexandria, and captured an enormous booty. He then turned his attention to Syria.
On two occasions, in 1170 and 1172, Saladin retreated from an invasion of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. These had been launched by Nur ad-Din and Saladin hoped that the Crusader kingdom would remain intact, as a buffer state between Egypt and Syria, until Saladin could gain control of Syria as well. Nur ad-Din and Saladin were headed towards open war on these counts when Nur ad-Din died in 1174. Nur ad-Din's heir, as-Salih Ismail al-Malik, was a mere boy in the hands of court eunuchs, and died in 1181.
Immediately after Nur ad-Din's death in 1174, Saladin marched on Damascus and was welcomed into the city. He reinforced his legitimacy there in the time-honored way, by marrying Nur ad-Din's widow Ismat ad-Din Khatun. Aleppo and Mosul, on the other hand, the two other largest cities that Nur ad-Din had ruled, were never taken but Saladin managed to impose his influence and authority on them in 1176 and 1186 respectively. While he was occupied in besieging Aleppo, on May 22, 1176, the shadowy Ismaili assassin group, the Hashshashin, attempted to murder him. They made two attempts on his life, the second time coming close enough to inflict wounds.
While Saladin was consolidating his power in Syria, he usually left the Crusader kingdom alone, although he was generally victorious whenever he did meet the Crusaders in battle. One exception was the Battle of Montgisard on November 25, 1177, where he was defeated by the combined forces of Baldwin IV of Jerusalem, Raynald of Chatillon and the Knights Templar. Only one tenth of his army made it back to Egypt.
Saladin spent the subsequent year recovering from his defeat and rebuilding his army, renewing his attacks in 1179 when he defeated the Crusaders at the Battle of Jacob's Ford, after which a truce was declared between Saladin and the Crusader States in 1180. However, Crusader counter-attacks provoked further responses by Saladin. Raynald of Chatillon, in particular, harassed Muslim trading and pilgrimage routes with a fleet on the Red Sea, a water route that Saladin needed to keep open. In response, Saladin constructed a fleet of 30 galleys to attack Beirut in 1182. Raynald threatened to attack the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. In retaliation, Saladin twice besieged Kerak, Raynald's fortress in Oultrejordain, in 1183 and 1184. Raynald responded by looting a caravan of pilgrims on the Hajj in 1185.
Following the failure of his Kerak sieges, Saladin temporarily turned his attention back to another long-term project and resumed attacks on the territory of 'Izz ad-Din (Mas'ud ibn Mawdud ibn Zangi), around Mosul, which he had begun with some success in 1182. However, since then, Mas'ud had allied himself with the powerful governor of Azerbaijan and Jibal, who in 1185 began moving his troops across the Zagros Mountains, causing Saladin to hesitate in his attacks. The defenders of Mosul, when they became aware that help was on the way, increased their efforts, and Saladin subsequently fell ill, so in March 1186, a peace treaty was signed.
In July 1187, Saladin captured most of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. On July 4, 1187, Saladin faced at the Battle of Hattin the combined forces Guy of Lusignan, King Consort of Jerusalem and Raymond III of Tripoli. In this battle alone, the Crusader army was largely annihilated by the motivated army of Saladin in what was a major disaster for the Crusaders and a turning point in the history of the Crusades. Saladin captured Raynald de Chatillon and was personally responsible for his execution in retaliation for previously attacking Muslim pilgrim caravans. Guy of Lusignan was also captured but his life was spared. However, that night with uncharacteristic cruelty, Saladin ordered the execution of the hundred or so Templar and Hospitaller knights among the prisoners. Because of their religious devotion and rigorous training, they were the most feared of the Christian soldiers. Seated on a dais before his army, Saladin watched as the executions were carried out.
Saladin captured almost every Crusader city. Jerusalem capitulated to his forces on October 2, 1187 after a siege. Before the siege, Saladin had offered generous terms of surrender, which were rejected. After the sieged had started, he was unwilling to promise terms of quarter to the European occupants of Jerusalem until Balian of Ibelin threatened to kill every Muslim hostage, estimated at 5000 and to destroy Islam's holy shrines of the Dome of the Rock and the al-Aqsa Mosque if quarter was not given. Saladin consulted his council and the terms of the Crusader surrender were again offered. Ransom was to be paid for each Frank in the city whether man, woman or child. Saladin allowed many to leave without having the required amount for ransom for others.
Tyre, on the coast of modern-day Lebanon was the last major Crusader city that was not captured by Muslim forces (strategically, it would have made more sense for Saladin to capture Tyre before Jerusalem -- however, Saladin chose to pursue Jerusalem first because of the importance of the city to Islam). The city was now commanded by Conrad of Montferrat, who strengthened Tyre's defenses and withstood two sieges by Saladin. In 1188, at Tortosa, Saladin released Guy of Lusignan and returned him to his wife, Queen Sibylla of Jerusalem. They went first to Tripoli, then to Antioch. In 1189, they sought to reclaim Tyre for their kingdom, but were refused admission by Conrad, who did not recognize Guy as king. Guy then set about besieging Acre.
Hattin and the fall of Jerusalem prompted the Third Crusade, financed in England by a special "Saladin tithe." Richard I of England led Guy's siege of Acre, conquered the city and executed 3000 Muslim prisoners including women and children. Saladin retaliated by killing all Franks captured from August 28 to September 10.
The armies of Saladin engaged in combat with the army of King Richard I of England at the Battle of Arsuf on September 7, 1191, at which Saladin was defeated. However, all attempts made by Richard I -- Richard the Lionheart -- to re-take Jerusalem failed. Nevertheless, Saladin's relationship with Richard was one of chivalrous mutual respect as well as military rivalry. When Richard became ill with fever, Saladin offered the services of his personal physician. Saladin also sent him fresh fruit and fruit juice, with snow to chill the drink as treatment. At Arsuf, when Richard lost his horse, Saladin sent him two replacements. Richard suggested to Saladin that Palestine, Christian and Muslim, could be united through the marriage of his sister to Saladin's brother, and that Jerusalem could be their wedding gift. Ironically, the two men never met face to face and communication was either written or by messenger.
As leaders of their respective factions, the two men came to an agreement in the Treaty of Ramla in 1192, whereby Jerusalem would remain in Muslim hands but would be open to Christian pilgrimages. The treaty reduced the Latin Kingdom to a strip along the coast from Tyre to Jaffa. This treaty was supposed to last three years.
Saladin died of a fever on March 4, 1193, at Damascus, not long after Richard's departure. When they opened Saladin's treasury they found there was not enough money to pay for his funeral. He had given most of his money away in charity.
Saladin is buried in a mausoleum in the garden outside the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, Syria. Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany donated a new marble sarcophagus to the mausoleum. The body of Saladin, however, was not placed in it. Instead, the mausoleum, which is open to visitors, now has two sarcophagi: one empty in marble and one in wood containing the body of Saladin.
Despite his fierce struggle against the crusades, Saladin achieved a great reputation in Europe as a chivalrous knight, so much so that there existed by the fourteenth century an epic poem about his exploits, and Dante included him among the virtuous pagan souls in Limbo. Saladin is portrayed in a sympathetic light in Sir Walter Scott's The Talisman (1825). Despite the Crusaders' slaughter of Muslims when they originally conquered Jerusalem in 1099, Saladin granted amnesty and free passage to all common Catholics and even to the defeated Christian army, as long as they were able to pay a ransom. Indeed, Greek Orthodox Christians were treated even better, because they often opposed the western Crusaders.
Notwithstanding the differences in beliefs, the Muslim Saladin was respected by Christian lords, especially Richard the Lionheart. Richard once praised Saladin as a great prince, saying that he was without doubt the greatest and most powerful leader in the Islamic world. Saladin, in turn, stated that there was not a more honorable Christian lord than Richard. After the treaty, Saladin and Richard sent each other many gifts as tokens of respect, even though they never met face to face.
In April 1191, a Frankish woman's three month old baby had been stolen from her camp and had been sold on the market. The Franks urged her to approach Saladin herself with her grievance. After Saladin used his own money to buy the child, he gave the child to its mother. She took the child and with tears streaming down her face, she suckled the child to her breast. The Muslim people watched her with her child and they wept. The woman suckled the child for some time and then Saladin ordered a horse to be fetched for her and she went back to the Christian camp.
The name Salah ad-Din means "Righteousness of Faith," and through the ages Saladin has been an inspiration for Muslims in many respects. Modern Muslim rulers have sought to commemorate Saladin through various measures. A governorate centered around Tikrit and Samarra in modern day Iraq, Salah ad-Din Governorate, is named after Saladin, as is Salahaddin University in Arbil. A suburb community of Arbil, Masif Salahaddin, is also named after him.
Few structures associated with Saladin survive within modern cities. Saladin first fortified the Citadel of Cairo (1175-1183), which had been a domed pleasure pavilion with a fine view in more peaceful times. In Syria, even the smallest city is centered on a defensible citadel, and Saladin introduced this essential feature to Egypt.
Among the forts Saladin constructed was Qalaat al-Gindi, a mountaintop fortress and caravanserai in the Sinai. The fortress overlooks a large wadi which was the convergence of several caravan routes that linked Egypt and the Middle East. Inside the structure are a number of large vaulted rooms hewn out of rock, including the remains of shops and a water cistern. A notable archaeological site, it was excavated in 1909 by a French team under Jules Barthoux.
Although the Ayyubid dynasty he founded would only outlive him by fifty-seven years, the legacy of Saladin within the Arab World continues to this day. With the rise of Arab nationalism in the Twentieth Century, particularly with regard to the Arab-Israeli conflict, Saladin's heroism and leadership gained a new significance. The glory and comparative unity of the Arab World under Saladin was seen as the perfect symbol for the new unity sought by Arab nationalists, such as Gamal Abdel Nasser. For this reason, the Eagle of Saladin became the symbol of revolutionary Egypt, and was subsequently adopted by several other Arab states (Iraq, Palestine, and Yemen).
A brief chronology of Saladin reads as follows:
Saladin was born in Tikrit in Iraq, the son of the Kurdish chief Ayyub in 1138. In 1152, he began to work in the service of the Syrian ruler, Nur ad-Din (Nureddin).
In 1164, he started to show his military and strategical qualities under three campaigns against the Crusaders who were established in Palestine, with the first campaign this year.
In 1169, Saladin served as second to the commander in chief of the Syrian army, his uncle Shirkuh. Shirkuh became vizier of Egypt, but died after only two months. Saladin then took over as vizier. Despite the nominal limitations to the vizier position, Saladin took little regard to the interests of his superiors, the Fatimid rulers. He turned Cairo into an Ayyubid power base, where he used Kurds in leading positions.
In 1171, Saladin suppressed the Fatimid rulers of Egypt, whereupon he united Egypt with the Abbasid Caliphate. However, he was not as eager as Nur ad-Din to go to war against the Crusaders, and relations between him and Nur ad-Din became very difficult.
In 1173, Saladin sent his brother, Turan-Shah, to Yemen, which was subjugated.
In 1174, Nur ad-Din died, and Saladin used the opportunity to extend his power base. Saladin defeated the Normans of Sicily, who had landed at Alexandria, and captured an enormous booty. Saladin turned his attention to Syria, where he defeated the troops of Nur ad-Din’s son al-Salih Isma‘il (r. 1174-1181) at Qurun Hamat, but left al-Salih Isma'il in the possession of Aleppo and gave Hamat, Homs and Ba‘albek, which had surrendered, to relatives as fiefs. In 1175, he was granted by the caliph rule over Egypt, Nubia, Yemen, North Africa from Egypt to Tripoli, Palestine and Central Syria. After a final attempt by the Zangids against him in 1176, he made peace with them. He was however unable to take the fortress of Masyad in central Syria from Shaykh Rashid al-Din al-Sinan, the leader of the Syrian branch of the Isma‘ilis and known to the West as “the Old Man of the Mountain.” The latter promised Saladin that he would not attack him.
In 1175, the Syrian Assassin leader Rashideddin’s men made two attempts on the life of Saladin, the leader of the Ayyubids. The second time, the Assassin came so close that wounds were inflicted upon Saladin.
In 1176, Saladin besieged the fortress of Masyaf, the stronghold of Rashideddin. After some weeks, Saladin suddenly withdrew, and left the Assassins in peace for the rest of his life. It is believed that he was exposed to a threat of having his entire family murdered.
In 1177, he met at Ramla the troops of Baldwin IV, reinforced by many Knights under the leadership of Raynald de Chatillon of al-Karak. Saladin suffered a crushing defeat. But the next year (1178) he was able to defeat Baldwin, and again in 1179. In the following years, he gained suzerainty over Mesopotamia.
In 1183, Saladin signed a four years’ peace with Baldwin V, who was soon succeeded by Guy de Lusignan. But when Raynald de Chatillon fell upon a large caravan and refused to give any satisfaction, fight became inevitable.
In 1183, Saladin conquered the important north Syrian city of Aleppo.
In 1186, Saladin conquered Mosul in northern Iraq.
In 1187, with his new strength, he attacked the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem, and after three months of fighting he seized control of the city. On July 4, 1187, at the Battle of Hattin (Hittin), the Crusaders were utterly defeated. Saladin gave Guy de Lusignan a friendly reception, but slew Raynald with his own hand, and hall the Templars and Knights of St. John executed. He now was master of Palestine, including Tiberias, Nazareth, Samaria, Sidon, Beyrouth, Acre, Ramla, Gaza. Hebron also fell into his hands, and on October 2, 1187, Jerusalem was conquered. The inhabitants who could not pay the ransom were sold into slavery, but many were released at the intercession of Muslim and Christian persons of standing, as were a large number of poor people by Saladin himself. Only Antioch, Tripolis, Tyre and a number of smaller towns and castles remained in the possession of the Christians. At the siege of Tyre, Saladin suffered a severe reverse. He had Acre rebuilt, and in 1188 went to Damascus from where he captured many places.
In 1189, a third Crusade managed to enlarge the coastal area of Palestine, while Jerusalem remained under Saladin’s control.
In 1192, with The Peace of Ramla, an armistice agreement with King Richard I of England, a strip of land along the coast was defined as Christian land, while the city of Jerusalem remained under Muslim control.
Saladin died of a fever on March 4, 1193, at Damascus, not long after Richard's departure.
Since Saladin had given most of his possessions and money away for charity, when they opened his treasury, they found there was not enough money to pay for his funeral.
Saladin was buried in a mausoleum in the garden outside the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, Syria.
Seven centuries later, Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany donated a new marble sarcophagus to the mausoleum. Saladin was, however, not placed in it. Instead the mausoleum, which is open to visitors, now has two sarcophagi: one, empty made of marble and the original, which holds Saladin, which is made of wood. The reason why Saladin was not placed in the tomb was most likely respect and a desire to not disturb his body.
According to Imad al-Din, Saladin had fathered five sons before he left Egypt in 1174. Saladin's eldest son, al-Afdal was born in 1170 and Uthman was born in 1172 to Shamsa who accompanied Saladin to Syria. Al-Afdal's mother bore Saladin another child in 1177. A letter preserved by Qalqashandi records that a twelfth son was born in May 1178, while on Imad al-Din's list, he appears as Saladin's seventh son. Mas'ud was born in 1175 and Yaq'ub in 1176, the latter to Shamsa. Nur al-Din's widow, Ismat al-Din Khatun, remarried to Saladin in September 1176. Ghazi and Da'ud were born to the same mother in 1173 and 1178, respectively, and the mother of Ishaq who was born in 1174 also gave birth to another son in July 1182.
His fierce struggle against the crusaders was where Saladin achieved a great reputation in Europe as a chivalrous knight, so much so that there existed by the fourteenth century an epic poem about his exploits. Though Saladin faded into history after the Middle Ages, he appears in a sympathetic light in Sir Walter Scott's novel The Talisman (1825). It is mainly from this novel that the contemporary view of Saladin originates. Despite the Crusaders' slaughter when they originally conquered Jerusalem in 1099, Saladin granted amnesty and free passage to all common Catholics and even to the defeated Christian army, as long as they were able to pay the aforementioned ransom (the Greek Orthodox Christians were treated even better, because they often opposed the western Crusaders). An interesting view of Saladin and the world in which he lived is provided by Tariq Ali's novel The Book of Saladin. Though contemporary views on Saladin are often positive, Saladin's qualities are often exaggerated, mainly under influence of the image created during the 19th Century.
Notwithstanding the differences in beliefs, the Muslim Saladin was respected by Christian lords, Richard especially. Richard once praised Saladin as a great prince, saying that he was without doubt the greatest and most powerful leader in the Islamic world. Saladin in turn stated that there was not a more honorable Christian lord than Richard. After the treaty, Saladin and Richard sent each other many gifts as tokens of respect, but never met face to face.
In April 1191, a Frankish woman's three month old baby had been stolen from her camp and had been sold on the market. The Franks urged her to approach Saladin herself with her grievance. According to Bahā' al-Dīn, Saladin used his own money to buy the child back:
In 1898 German Emperor Wilhelm II visited Saladin's tomb to pay his respects. The visit, coupled with anti-colonial sentiments, led nationalist Arabs to reinvent the image of Saladin and portray him as a hero of the struggle against the West. The image of Saladin they used was the romantic one created by Walter Scott and other Europeans in the West at the time, as Saladin had been a figure entirely forgotten in the Muslim world. This was mainly because of Saladin's short-lived "quasi-empire" and evident lack of commitment to religion, plus his eclipse by more successful figures such as Baybars of Egypt.
Modern Arab states have sought to commemorate Saladin through various measures, often based on the false image created of him in the 19th century west. A governorate centered around Tikrit and Samarra in modern-day Iraq, Salah ad Din Governorate, is named after him, as is Salahaddin University in Arbil. A suburb community of Arbil, Masif Salahaddin, is also named after him.
Few structures associated with Saladin survive within modern cities. Saladin first fortified the Citadel of Cairo (1175–1183), which had been a domed pleasure pavilion with a fine view in more peaceful times. In Syria, even the smallest city is centered on a defensible citadel, and Saladin introduced this essential feature to Egypt.
Among the forts he built was Qalaat al-Gindi, a mountaintop fortress and caravanserai in the Sinai. The fortress overlooks a large wadi which was the convergence of several caravan routes that linked Egypt and the Middle East. Inside the structure are a number of large vaulted rooms hewn out of rock, including the remains of shops and a water cistern. A notable archaeological site, it was investigated in 1909 by a French team under Jules Barthoux.
Although the Ayyubid dynasty that he founded would only outlive him by 57 years, the legacy of Saladin within the Arab World continues to this day. With the rise of Arab nationalism in the Twentieth Century, particularly with regard to the Arab-Israeli conflict, Saladin's heroism and leadership gained a new significance. Saladin's liberation of Palestine from the European Crusaders was put forth as the inspiration for the modern-day Arabs' opposition to Zionism.
Moreover, the glory and comparative unity of the Arab World under Saladin was seen as the perfect symbol for the new unity sought by Arab nationalists, such as Gamal Abdel Nasser. For this reason, the Eagle of Saladin became the symbol of revolutionary Egypt, and was subsequently adopted by several other Arab states (Iraq, the Palestinian Territory, and Yemen).
Malik al-Nasir Salah al-Din Yusuf, al- see Saladin
Salah al-Din see Saladin
Salah al-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub see Saladin
Yusuf Salah ad-Din ibn Ayyub see Saladin
Salafiyya
Salafiyya (Salafiyah). Arabic term which means “The Path of Forefathers.” The term Salafiyya refers to a nineteenth and twentieth century orthodox reformist movement espousing a return to the sources of the Muslim community in reaction to the ossification of Muslim thought. The term is connected with the Arabic word for forefathers, i.e. the predecessors whose perfect orthodoxy, piety, holiness, and religious knowledge make them worthy of being taken as models and guides. Inaugurated by Jamal al-Din al-Afghani, Muhammad ‘Abduh and ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Kawakibi, the idea of reform (in Arabic, islah) spread in Syria, Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, Iran, Turkey, India and Pakistan.
Salafi is a word denoting one who ascribes her/himself to the Salaf of [Islam], based on its meaning in the Arabic language. Amongst contemporary historians, it denotes a follower of a Sunni Islamic movement that takes the pious predecessors, the Salaf of the patristic period of early Islam, as exemplary models. The word Salaf is an Arabic noun which may be translated as "predecessor" or "ancestor". In Islamic terminology, it is generally used to refer to the first three generations of Muslims: the Sahaba ("Companions"), the Tabi‘un ("Followers") and the Tabi‘ al-Tabi‘in ("Those after the Followers"). These three generations are looked upon as examples of how Islam should be practiced. Salafis tend to use a stricter interpretation of scripture. It has grown to prominence ever since the First Saudi State captured Mecca and Medina in 1803.
Salafiyah see Salafiyya
Salafiyya (Salafiyah). Arabic term which means “The Path of Forefathers.” The term Salafiyya refers to a nineteenth and twentieth century orthodox reformist movement espousing a return to the sources of the Muslim community in reaction to the ossification of Muslim thought. The term is connected with the Arabic word for forefathers, i.e. the predecessors whose perfect orthodoxy, piety, holiness, and religious knowledge make them worthy of being taken as models and guides. Inaugurated by Jamal al-Din al-Afghani, Muhammad ‘Abduh and ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Kawakibi, the idea of reform (in Arabic, islah) spread in Syria, Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, Iran, Turkey, India and Pakistan.
Salafi is a word denoting one who ascribes her/himself to the Salaf of [Islam], based on its meaning in the Arabic language. Amongst contemporary historians, it denotes a follower of a Sunni Islamic movement that takes the pious predecessors, the Salaf of the patristic period of early Islam, as exemplary models. The word Salaf is an Arabic noun which may be translated as "predecessor" or "ancestor". In Islamic terminology, it is generally used to refer to the first three generations of Muslims: the Sahaba ("Companions"), the Tabi‘un ("Followers") and the Tabi‘ al-Tabi‘in ("Those after the Followers"). These three generations are looked upon as examples of how Islam should be practiced. Salafis tend to use a stricter interpretation of scripture. It has grown to prominence ever since the First Saudi State captured Mecca and Medina in 1803.
Salafiyah see Salafiyya
Salar Jang I
Salar Jang I (Mir Turab ‘Ali) (1829-1883). Indian statesman of Persian descent. During the Sepoy mutiny in 1857, he was on the British side and strengthened the hands of his master the Nizam of Hyderabad. Salar Jang I was a young nobleman who succeeded his uncle as diwan of Hyderabad State in the Deccan in 1853. He established himself with the support of indigenous bankers and the British East India Company, and he remained diwan of the subcontinent’s largest princely state for the next thirty years. British officials initially viewed him as a modernizer. He supported them in the Mutiny of 1857. Traditionally educated, he carried out limited administrative reforms while trying to preserve the Mughal nobility and bureaucracy. He strove to maintain Hyderabad’s autonomy and had to contend with three successive nizams, eleven British residents, and powerful Hyderabad nobles, bankers, and military men to do so. His pride, strength of character, and aggressive efforts to regain the Berar districts, ceded to the Company in early 1853, later provoked British hostility. Following Salar Jang’s sudden death in 1883, British Indian policies and administrators increasingly dominated Hyderabad affairs.
Mir Turab Ali Khan was an Indian statesman of Hyderabad. He was considered the greatest Prime Minister of Hyderabad. He was given the title Salar Jung and first of the three with that title. The British knighted him as Sir Salar Jung, and he was thereafter addressed by that name. He was styled by native officials of Hyderabad the Mukhtaru 'l-Mulk, and was referred to by the general public as the Nawab Sahib.
Khan was born in Bijapur. He was a descendant of a family which had held various appointments, first under the Adil Shahi kings of Bijapur, then under the Delhi emperors and lastly under the Nizams. He succeeded his uncle Suraju 'l-Mulk as the prime minister in 1853 at the age of 23.
The condition of the Hyderabad state was, at that time, a scandal to the rest of India. Salar Jung began by infusing a measure of discipline into the Arab mercenaries, the more valuable part of the Nizam's army, and employing them against the rapacious nobles and bands of robbers who had annihilated the trade of the country. He then constituted courts of justice at Hyderabad, organized the police force, constructed and repaired irrigation works, and established schools.
At the outbreak of the Indian rebellion of 1857, Salar Jung supported the British. Although unable to hinder an attack on the residency, he warned the British minister that it was in contemplation. The attack was repulsed; the Hyderabad contingent remained loyal, and their loyalty served to ensure the tranquility of the Deccan. Salar Jung took advantage of the preoccupation of the British government with the Rebellion to push his reforms more boldly, and when the Calcutta authorities were again at liberty to consider the condition of affairs his work had been carried far towards completion.
During the lifetime of the Nizam Afzulu'd-dowla, Salar Jung was considerably hampered by his master's jealous supervision. But when Mir Mahbub Ali Khan, succeeded his father in 1869, Salar Jung, at the instance of the British government, was associated in the regency with the principal noble of the state, the Shamsu 'l-Umara or Amir Kabir, and enjoyed a greater authority.
In 1876, Salar Jung visited England with the object of obtaining the restoration of Berar. Although he was unsuccessful, his personal merits met with full recognition.
He died of cholera at Hyderabad on February 8, 1883.
Mir Turab 'Ali see Salar Jang I
'Ali, Mir Turab see Salar Jang I
Jang, Salar see Salar Jang I
Mukhtaru 'l-Mulk see Salar Jang I
Salar Jang I (Mir Turab ‘Ali) (1829-1883). Indian statesman of Persian descent. During the Sepoy mutiny in 1857, he was on the British side and strengthened the hands of his master the Nizam of Hyderabad. Salar Jang I was a young nobleman who succeeded his uncle as diwan of Hyderabad State in the Deccan in 1853. He established himself with the support of indigenous bankers and the British East India Company, and he remained diwan of the subcontinent’s largest princely state for the next thirty years. British officials initially viewed him as a modernizer. He supported them in the Mutiny of 1857. Traditionally educated, he carried out limited administrative reforms while trying to preserve the Mughal nobility and bureaucracy. He strove to maintain Hyderabad’s autonomy and had to contend with three successive nizams, eleven British residents, and powerful Hyderabad nobles, bankers, and military men to do so. His pride, strength of character, and aggressive efforts to regain the Berar districts, ceded to the Company in early 1853, later provoked British hostility. Following Salar Jang’s sudden death in 1883, British Indian policies and administrators increasingly dominated Hyderabad affairs.
Mir Turab Ali Khan was an Indian statesman of Hyderabad. He was considered the greatest Prime Minister of Hyderabad. He was given the title Salar Jung and first of the three with that title. The British knighted him as Sir Salar Jung, and he was thereafter addressed by that name. He was styled by native officials of Hyderabad the Mukhtaru 'l-Mulk, and was referred to by the general public as the Nawab Sahib.
Khan was born in Bijapur. He was a descendant of a family which had held various appointments, first under the Adil Shahi kings of Bijapur, then under the Delhi emperors and lastly under the Nizams. He succeeded his uncle Suraju 'l-Mulk as the prime minister in 1853 at the age of 23.
The condition of the Hyderabad state was, at that time, a scandal to the rest of India. Salar Jung began by infusing a measure of discipline into the Arab mercenaries, the more valuable part of the Nizam's army, and employing them against the rapacious nobles and bands of robbers who had annihilated the trade of the country. He then constituted courts of justice at Hyderabad, organized the police force, constructed and repaired irrigation works, and established schools.
At the outbreak of the Indian rebellion of 1857, Salar Jung supported the British. Although unable to hinder an attack on the residency, he warned the British minister that it was in contemplation. The attack was repulsed; the Hyderabad contingent remained loyal, and their loyalty served to ensure the tranquility of the Deccan. Salar Jung took advantage of the preoccupation of the British government with the Rebellion to push his reforms more boldly, and when the Calcutta authorities were again at liberty to consider the condition of affairs his work had been carried far towards completion.
During the lifetime of the Nizam Afzulu'd-dowla, Salar Jung was considerably hampered by his master's jealous supervision. But when Mir Mahbub Ali Khan, succeeded his father in 1869, Salar Jung, at the instance of the British government, was associated in the regency with the principal noble of the state, the Shamsu 'l-Umara or Amir Kabir, and enjoyed a greater authority.
In 1876, Salar Jung visited England with the object of obtaining the restoration of Berar. Although he was unsuccessful, his personal merits met with full recognition.
He died of cholera at Hyderabad on February 8, 1883.
Mir Turab 'Ali see Salar Jang I
'Ali, Mir Turab see Salar Jang I
Jang, Salar see Salar Jang I
Mukhtaru 'l-Mulk see Salar Jang I
Salars
Salars (Salirs) (Salazus) . Salars have a reputation of being the most zealous Muslims in China, having participated in every Muslim uprising since the seventeenth century. Today, nearly all are concentrated in the Zunhua Salar Autonomous County in the eastern part of Qinghai Province in north central China. Most of the rest live in small groups in Gandu of neighboring Hualong County and in Linxia, a city southwest of Lanzhou, capital of Gansu Province. A few Salars are scattered in other parts of Qinghai and Gansu provinces as well as in the Zinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Xinhua Salar County, with its seat at Jishi, was established in 1954.
The self-appellation “Salar” is believed to have derived from the word “Salor,” the name of a Turkmen tribe. This tribe was mentioned in the eleventh century by Mahmud al Kashgari and later by Rashidu-‘d-din (fourteenth century) and Abu-‘l-Gazi (seventeenth century). The Salars’ oral history supports the idea of the Salars having originated as a Turkmen tribe when speaking of the progenitors Haraman and Ahman setting out from Samarkand and arriving in the Xunhua area around 1370. While still in Central Asia, the Salars were governed by a hereditary darugachi, a post established by the Mongols to supervise both military and civilian affairs in the conquered territories. After arriving in the Xunhua area during the Ming dynasty, the Salars were governed by their own hereditary tusi, a kind of headman, of whom there were three grades; one in charge of 100 households, and two (a chief and an assistant) for each 1,000 households. They had authority over the militia, taxation legal matters, and the provisioning of officials passing through the area.
By the time of the Yongzheng reign (1723-1735, the Salar population had increased to the point that the area was divided into 13 gong. At the same time and continuing almost until the end of the eighteenth century, the Qing dynasty extended its control of the Salars by establishing military and civilian posts in Xunhua.
The Salars are devout Muslims. They are Hanafi whose religion was introduced to the area around 1750 by a certain Muhammad Amin. Every village has one mosque. Before the attack against the clergy in 1958, there was a chief mullah for the entire county, and each gong had its own mullah, assistant (fu) mullah and junior (xiao) mullah, known collectively as the “three heads” (san tou). During the so-called Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) all religious practices were banned.
Salirs see Salars
Salazus see Salars
Salars (Salirs) (Salazus) . Salars have a reputation of being the most zealous Muslims in China, having participated in every Muslim uprising since the seventeenth century. Today, nearly all are concentrated in the Zunhua Salar Autonomous County in the eastern part of Qinghai Province in north central China. Most of the rest live in small groups in Gandu of neighboring Hualong County and in Linxia, a city southwest of Lanzhou, capital of Gansu Province. A few Salars are scattered in other parts of Qinghai and Gansu provinces as well as in the Zinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Xinhua Salar County, with its seat at Jishi, was established in 1954.
The self-appellation “Salar” is believed to have derived from the word “Salor,” the name of a Turkmen tribe. This tribe was mentioned in the eleventh century by Mahmud al Kashgari and later by Rashidu-‘d-din (fourteenth century) and Abu-‘l-Gazi (seventeenth century). The Salars’ oral history supports the idea of the Salars having originated as a Turkmen tribe when speaking of the progenitors Haraman and Ahman setting out from Samarkand and arriving in the Xunhua area around 1370. While still in Central Asia, the Salars were governed by a hereditary darugachi, a post established by the Mongols to supervise both military and civilian affairs in the conquered territories. After arriving in the Xunhua area during the Ming dynasty, the Salars were governed by their own hereditary tusi, a kind of headman, of whom there were three grades; one in charge of 100 households, and two (a chief and an assistant) for each 1,000 households. They had authority over the militia, taxation legal matters, and the provisioning of officials passing through the area.
By the time of the Yongzheng reign (1723-1735, the Salar population had increased to the point that the area was divided into 13 gong. At the same time and continuing almost until the end of the eighteenth century, the Qing dynasty extended its control of the Salars by establishing military and civilian posts in Xunhua.
The Salars are devout Muslims. They are Hanafi whose religion was introduced to the area around 1750 by a certain Muhammad Amin. Every village has one mosque. Before the attack against the clergy in 1958, there was a chief mullah for the entire county, and each gong had its own mullah, assistant (fu) mullah and junior (xiao) mullah, known collectively as the “three heads” (san tou). During the so-called Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) all religious practices were banned.
Salirs see Salars
Salazus see Salars
Magda Saleh (b. April 2, 1944, Cairo, Egypt – d. June 11, 2023, Cairo, Egypt) was an Egyptian ballet dancer.
Saleh was born in Cairo in 1944, the daughter of an Egyptian father and Scottish mother. She studied English literature before attending the Higher Institute of Ballet and receiving a scholarship to attend the Moscow State Academy of Choreography. Upon her return to Egypt, Saleh became a founding member of the Cairo Opera Ballet Company. In 1966, she staged her first performance, The Fountain of Bakhchisarai. The performance was viewed by President Gamal Abdel Nasser, who was so impressed that he awarded her the Order of Merit and sent her and her co-stars on a tour of Egypt, notably to Aswan, where the Aswan Dam was being built. By the end of the 1960s, she had become the most notable ballerina in Egypt, having been invited to perform at the Bolshoi Theatre and the Mariinsky Theatre.
In 1971, the Khedivial Opera House burned down, which dealt a fatal blow to Saleh's ballet company. Additionally, President Anwar Sadat severed ties with the Soviet Union. In response, many Egyptian ballerinas emigrated to Europe, Russia, or the United States. Saleh chose to settle in the United States. She received a master's degree in modern dance from the University of Southern California and a doctorate from New York University, for studies in traditional Egyptian dance.
After the assassination of Anwar Sadat and Hosni Mubarak's rise to power, Saleh returned to Egypt in 1983 to chair the Higher Institute of Ballet and later, 1988, the Cairo Opera House. At the beginning of the 1990s, she was forced to give up power and returned to the United States, where she lived on Shelter Island, New York. She was married to Egyptologist Jack Josephson from 1993 until his death in 2022.
After Josephson's death, Saleh returned to Cairo to be closer to family. Magda Saleh died on June 11, 2023, at the age of 79.
Salghurids
Salghurids. Name of a dynasty of atabegs in Fars, Iran. Salghur, the founder of the dynasty, was the chief of a band of Turkmen who migrated into Khurasan and attached themselves to the first Great Saljuq Tughril I. One of his descendants, Sunqur ibn Mawdud, rose against the Saljuqs and in 1148 established his independence in Fars. The dynasty was to rule until 1270, remaining however tributary to the Saljuqs of Iraq, the Khwarazm-Shahs and lastly the Mongols. The great Persian poet Sa‘di derived his pen name from the Salghurid Sa‘d II (r.1260).
The Salghurid dynasty (1148–1270) was an Iranian dynasty that ruled in Fārs in southwestern Iran as vassals of the Seljuq, Khwārezm-Shāh, and Il-Khanid dynasties.
The Salghurids were one of the several dynasties of atabegs (notables who acted as guardians and tutors of infant Seljuq princes) who were deputized to govern Iranian provinces on behalf of Seljuq kings. The Salghurids in origin belonged to the Salor (Salghur) Turkmen tribe and moved into Fārs early in the 12th century. The founder of the dynasty was Muẓaffar ad-Dīn Sonqur (r. 1148–61), who took advantage of a disturbed state in Fārs to expel his reputed uncle Boz-Aba, the local atabeg. Muẓaffar ad-Dīn’s son Zangī (r. 1161–c. 1175) was confirmed in his possession of Fārs by the Seljuq ruler Arslan ibn Toghrïl.
With the decline of Seljuq power, the Salghurids enjoyed virtual autonomy. During the reign of the fifth Salghurid ruler, ʿIzz ad-Dīn Saʿd (r. 1203–31), however, the Salghurids were forced to acknowledge the suzerainty of the Khwārezm-Shāh dynasty. With the eclipse of the Khwārezm-Shāhs, the Salghurids transferred their allegiance to the Il-Khanid rulers of Iran. The last Salghurid ruler, Ābish Khātūn (r. 1265–70), was a woman who married the son of the Il-Khanid ruler of Iran. With Ābish Khātūn’s death in 1270, the Il-Khanids assumed direct control over Fārs.
Salghurids. Name of a dynasty of atabegs in Fars, Iran. Salghur, the founder of the dynasty, was the chief of a band of Turkmen who migrated into Khurasan and attached themselves to the first Great Saljuq Tughril I. One of his descendants, Sunqur ibn Mawdud, rose against the Saljuqs and in 1148 established his independence in Fars. The dynasty was to rule until 1270, remaining however tributary to the Saljuqs of Iraq, the Khwarazm-Shahs and lastly the Mongols. The great Persian poet Sa‘di derived his pen name from the Salghurid Sa‘d II (r.1260).
The Salghurid dynasty (1148–1270) was an Iranian dynasty that ruled in Fārs in southwestern Iran as vassals of the Seljuq, Khwārezm-Shāh, and Il-Khanid dynasties.
The Salghurids were one of the several dynasties of atabegs (notables who acted as guardians and tutors of infant Seljuq princes) who were deputized to govern Iranian provinces on behalf of Seljuq kings. The Salghurids in origin belonged to the Salor (Salghur) Turkmen tribe and moved into Fārs early in the 12th century. The founder of the dynasty was Muẓaffar ad-Dīn Sonqur (r. 1148–61), who took advantage of a disturbed state in Fārs to expel his reputed uncle Boz-Aba, the local atabeg. Muẓaffar ad-Dīn’s son Zangī (r. 1161–c. 1175) was confirmed in his possession of Fārs by the Seljuq ruler Arslan ibn Toghrïl.
With the decline of Seljuq power, the Salghurids enjoyed virtual autonomy. During the reign of the fifth Salghurid ruler, ʿIzz ad-Dīn Saʿd (r. 1203–31), however, the Salghurids were forced to acknowledge the suzerainty of the Khwārezm-Shāh dynasty. With the eclipse of the Khwārezm-Shāhs, the Salghurids transferred their allegiance to the Il-Khanid rulers of Iran. The last Salghurid ruler, Ābish Khātūn (r. 1265–70), was a woman who married the son of the Il-Khanid ruler of Iran. With Ābish Khātūn’s death in 1270, the Il-Khanids assumed direct control over Fārs.
Salih
Salih (Saleh). Prophet who was sent to the Arab Banu Thamud. He is mentioned several times in the Qur’an and presented as a sign and a warning in the style of the Prophet.
Saleh or Salih (Arabic: meaning Righteous) is a man mentioned as a prophet of Islam in the Qur'an. He is mentioned 9 times throughout the Qur'an. Chronologically, scholars believe Saleh to have lived before Abraham, though the true time of his preaching is unknown. In the Qur'an, Saleh's people are frequently referenced as a wicked community who, because of their sins, were ultimately destroyed.
Salih is described as having been born and raised among the Thamud, a group of people who lived in an area between Palestine and the Hijaz (called Mada'in Saleh) . The Thamud are said to have lived in stone houses carved into mountains, and to have worshipped idols made from stone. Saleh tried to convince his people not to worship idols and to embrace Tawhid, but they refused, insisting that Saleh obtain a miracle. The narrative goes on to state that God responded by creating a female camel (the she-camel of God), which the Thamud were allowed to milk for sustenance, but were not allowed to harm. Despite the instruction, the Thamud slaughtered the camel because of their rebellion, so God ordered Saleh to leave his people. When Saleh had complied by leaving, there was a large thunderous sound that destroyed the people of Thamud.
Thamud cannot be equated with the Edomites at Petra. Salih was born before Abraham and Edom is a Semitic race. Historic Petra had several places of worship, and the main mountain at the site - Jebel al-Madhbah - is topped by two stone obelisks, suggesting the worship of deities via stone phallic symbols. The narrow gorge leading to the site - known as the Siq - can sometimes channel the wind to produce a loud trumpet-like sound, and it is known by local Bedouin as the trumpet of God. The Edomites occupants of Petra were, however, not obliterated, but instead just migrated to the Negev. Neither were the subsequent Nabataean occupants of Petra destroyed by divine command, but instead were weakened by Trajan, and reduced to mere peasants. The name of Saleh may originate in the name of the city, as it was historically known as Sela, a word deriving from the Hebrew term Se'lah, meaning rock; the Greek name Petra has the same meaning.
While there are people in the Bible who bear similar names to the Islamic prophet Saleh, for example Shelah (son of Judah), there is no one in the Old Testament who has a similar narrative and therefore Saleh's Biblical identity remains unknown.
Saleh see Salih
Salih (Saleh). Prophet who was sent to the Arab Banu Thamud. He is mentioned several times in the Qur’an and presented as a sign and a warning in the style of the Prophet.
Saleh or Salih (Arabic: meaning Righteous) is a man mentioned as a prophet of Islam in the Qur'an. He is mentioned 9 times throughout the Qur'an. Chronologically, scholars believe Saleh to have lived before Abraham, though the true time of his preaching is unknown. In the Qur'an, Saleh's people are frequently referenced as a wicked community who, because of their sins, were ultimately destroyed.
Salih is described as having been born and raised among the Thamud, a group of people who lived in an area between Palestine and the Hijaz (called Mada'in Saleh) . The Thamud are said to have lived in stone houses carved into mountains, and to have worshipped idols made from stone. Saleh tried to convince his people not to worship idols and to embrace Tawhid, but they refused, insisting that Saleh obtain a miracle. The narrative goes on to state that God responded by creating a female camel (the she-camel of God), which the Thamud were allowed to milk for sustenance, but were not allowed to harm. Despite the instruction, the Thamud slaughtered the camel because of their rebellion, so God ordered Saleh to leave his people. When Saleh had complied by leaving, there was a large thunderous sound that destroyed the people of Thamud.
Thamud cannot be equated with the Edomites at Petra. Salih was born before Abraham and Edom is a Semitic race. Historic Petra had several places of worship, and the main mountain at the site - Jebel al-Madhbah - is topped by two stone obelisks, suggesting the worship of deities via stone phallic symbols. The narrow gorge leading to the site - known as the Siq - can sometimes channel the wind to produce a loud trumpet-like sound, and it is known by local Bedouin as the trumpet of God. The Edomites occupants of Petra were, however, not obliterated, but instead just migrated to the Negev. Neither were the subsequent Nabataean occupants of Petra destroyed by divine command, but instead were weakened by Trajan, and reduced to mere peasants. The name of Saleh may originate in the name of the city, as it was historically known as Sela, a word deriving from the Hebrew term Se'lah, meaning rock; the Greek name Petra has the same meaning.
While there are people in the Bible who bear similar names to the Islamic prophet Saleh, for example Shelah (son of Judah), there is no one in the Old Testament who has a similar narrative and therefore Saleh's Biblical identity remains unknown.
Saleh see Salih
Salih Bilali
Salih Bilali (b. c. 1770). West African sold into slavery who later left an account which describes Macina before the Islamic revolutions. He was a Muslim Fula, literate in Arabic, who came from a town near Mopti. At about the age of twelve, he was captured by slave raiders and taken to Segu, and then the Gold Coast, from where he was transported to the Bahama Islands. In the 1830s, his American owner recorded his glimpse of Fula society there before the Islamic revolutions. It was originally published in William Brown Hodgson’s Notes on Northern Africa, the Sahara, and the Soudan (1844).
Bilali, Salih see Salih Bilali
Salih Bilali (b. c. 1770). West African sold into slavery who later left an account which describes Macina before the Islamic revolutions. He was a Muslim Fula, literate in Arabic, who came from a town near Mopti. At about the age of twelve, he was captured by slave raiders and taken to Segu, and then the Gold Coast, from where he was transported to the Bahama Islands. In the 1830s, his American owner recorded his glimpse of Fula society there before the Islamic revolutions. It was originally published in William Brown Hodgson’s Notes on Northern Africa, the Sahara, and the Soudan (1844).
Bilali, Salih see Salih Bilali
Salih, Nur al-Din Isma‘il al-
Salih, Nur al-Din Isma‘il al- (Nur al-Din Isma‘il al-Salih) (As-Salih Ismail al-Malik) (1163-1181). Zangid ruler of Damascus and Aleppo (r.1174-1181). He was the son of Nur al-Din Mahmud ibn Zangi, and resisted Saladin’s efforts to conquer Aleppo.
As-Salih Ismail al-Malik was only eleven years old when his father died in 1174. As-Salih came under the protection of the eunuch Gumushtugin and was taken to Aleppo, while Nur ad-Din's officers competed for supremacy. In Egypt, Saladin recognized as-Salih as his lord, although he in fact was eager to unite Egypt and Syria under his own personal rule. Saladin entered Damascus in 1174 and declared himself to be the true regent for as-Salih, and in 1176 he defeated the Zengids outside the city, married Nur ad-Din's widow Ismat ad-Din Khatun, and was recognized as ruler of Syria. As-Salih died in 1181. According to crusader legend, his mother was the sister of Bertrand of Toulouse, who had been captured by Nur ad-Din in the aftermath of the Second Crusade. A similar legend existed concerning the mother of Zengi, as-Salih's grandfather
Nur al-Din Isma‘il al-Salih see Salih, Nur al-Din Isma‘il al-
As-Salih Ismail al-Malik see Salih, Nur al-Din Isma‘il al-
Salih, Nur al-Din Isma‘il al- (Nur al-Din Isma‘il al-Salih) (As-Salih Ismail al-Malik) (1163-1181). Zangid ruler of Damascus and Aleppo (r.1174-1181). He was the son of Nur al-Din Mahmud ibn Zangi, and resisted Saladin’s efforts to conquer Aleppo.
As-Salih Ismail al-Malik was only eleven years old when his father died in 1174. As-Salih came under the protection of the eunuch Gumushtugin and was taken to Aleppo, while Nur ad-Din's officers competed for supremacy. In Egypt, Saladin recognized as-Salih as his lord, although he in fact was eager to unite Egypt and Syria under his own personal rule. Saladin entered Damascus in 1174 and declared himself to be the true regent for as-Salih, and in 1176 he defeated the Zengids outside the city, married Nur ad-Din's widow Ismat ad-Din Khatun, and was recognized as ruler of Syria. As-Salih died in 1181. According to crusader legend, his mother was the sister of Bertrand of Toulouse, who had been captured by Nur ad-Din in the aftermath of the Second Crusade. A similar legend existed concerning the mother of Zengi, as-Salih's grandfather
Nur al-Din Isma‘il al-Salih see Salih, Nur al-Din Isma‘il al-
As-Salih Ismail al-Malik see Salih, Nur al-Din Isma‘il al-
Salim, Ali
Ali Salim, also transliterated Ali Salem, (Arabic: على سالم; b. February 24, 1936 – d. September 22, 2015) was an Egyptian playwright, author, and political commentator known for controversially endorsing cooperation with Israel. The Los Angeles Times once described him as "a big, loud man known for his satiric wit".
Ali Salim, also transliterated Ali Salem, (Arabic: على سالم; b. February 24, 1936 – d. September 22, 2015) was an Egyptian playwright, author, and political commentator known for controversially endorsing cooperation with Israel. The Los Angeles Times once described him as "a big, loud man known for his satiric wit".
From the premiere of his first play in 1965, he wrote 25 plays and fifteen books. One of the best known, The School of Troublemakers, debuted in 1971 and featured a rowdy class of children transformed by a kind teacher. His plays The Phantom of Heliopolis, The Comedy of Oedipus, The Man Who Fooled the Angels, and The Buffet became classics of the Egyptian theater. Salem's plays often include allegorical critiques of Egyptian politics with a strong vein of humor and satire.
In 1994, he wrote a book entitled My Drive to Israel about a trip he took to the country to satisfy his curiosity about it following the signing of the Oslo Accords. He later claimed that the trip was not "a love trip, but a serious attempt to get rid of hate. Hatred prevents us from knowing reality as it is". He spent 23 nights in Israel and concluded that "real co-operation" between the two nations should be possible. Though the book sold more than 60,000 copies, a bestseller by Egyptian standards, it provoked controversy, and Salem was subsequently ostracized from the Egyptian intellectual community and expelled from its Writer's Syndicate as a result of his "propaganda." He did not have a play or movie script produced in Egypt after the book's publication, though he continued to contribute columns to foreign media such as the London-based Al Hayat. Salem's memoir was later adapted by Ari Roth into the play Ali Salem Drives to Israel, which had its world premiere in the United States in 2005.
In 2008, he won the Train Foundation's $50,000 Civil Courage Prize in recognition of his opposition to radical Islam and his support of cooperation with Israel. He also received an honorary doctorate from Israel's Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in 2005. He died on September 22, 2015 after a long illness.
Salimiyya
Salimiyya. School of dogmatic theologians with mystical tendencies which was formed among the Maliki Sunnis of Basra in the ninth through tenth centuries. It was based on the sayings of Sahl al-Tustari, collected by the latter’s pupil Muhammad ibn Salim (d.909).
Salimiyya. School of dogmatic theologians with mystical tendencies which was formed among the Maliki Sunnis of Basra in the ninth through tenth centuries. It was based on the sayings of Sahl al-Tustari, collected by the latter’s pupil Muhammad ibn Salim (d.909).
Salim, Mehmed Emin
Salim, Mehmed Emin (Mehmed Emin Salim) (Mirza-zade) (d.1739). Ottoman jurist and biographer of poets. He is the author of commentaries on theological works, of a Turkish-Persian dictionary and of a book on Holy War.
Mehmed Emin Salim see Salim, Mehmed Emin
Mirza-zade see Salim, Mehmed Emin
Salim, Mehmed Emin (Mehmed Emin Salim) (Mirza-zade) (d.1739). Ottoman jurist and biographer of poets. He is the author of commentaries on theological works, of a Turkish-Persian dictionary and of a book on Holy War.
Mehmed Emin Salim see Salim, Mehmed Emin
Mirza-zade see Salim, Mehmed Emin
Saljuq
Saljuq (Seljuk) (Seljuq) (Seldjuk) (Seldjuq). Central Asian Turkic tribal leader who converted to Islam around 960. Seljuk also refers to the ruling family which was descended from Seljuk.
The Saljuqs was a Turkish princely family which ruled over wide territories in Central and Southwestern Asia (in Afghanistan, Persia, eastern Anatolia, Iraq, Syria, and on the Arabian Peninsula) from the eleventh to the thirteenth centuries. For Islam the rise of the Saljuqs meant the victory of the Sunni creed, as far as their power stretched, over the Shi‘a tendencies which had been gaining more and more ground under the Buyids and the Fatimids. The following dynasties are distinguished: the Great Saljuqs of Iraq and Persia; the Saljuqs of Syria; the Saljuqs of Kirman; the Rum Saljuqs of Anatolia.
The Saljuqs were also known as the Great Seljuks. Their main capitals were Merv and Isfahan. Belonging to the leading tribe of the Oghuz Turk group, the Seljuks adopted Islam around 960 under the tribal leader Seljuk. They were initially in the service of the Qarakhanids of Transoxiana. Seljuk’s grandsons, Tughril (r. 1038-1063) and Chaghri (r. 1038-1060), divided the territory into a western half (later Isfahan) and an eastern half (Merv). Following his victory over the Ghaznavids (1040 at Dandanqan), the elder Tughril extended the empire to the west, conquered Persia, parts of Anatolia, and Iraq after 1042, and replaced the Buyids as protector of the caliph in Baghdad in 1055 (becoming an honorary caliph and a sultan). The political and cultural zenith of the Seljuks came with the overall rulers Alp Arslan (r. 1060-1072) and Malik Shah (r. 1072-1092), as well as their prominent vizier, Nizam al-Mulk (r. 1060-1092), who enforced Sunnism as the state religion with the help of the madrasa system. In 1064, the Seljuks occupied Armenia, gained sovereignty over Mecca in 1070, defeated Byzantium in 1071 at Malazgirt, and conquered the Arab Peninsula. Signs of disintegration began to emerge after 1092, due to a power struggle between pretenders, and a new empire finally emerged under Sultan Mahmud (r. 1105-1118) with a subsequent division. A weakening regime in the west (Iran/Iraq) existed until 1194, while a final period of prosperity came under Sultan Sanjar in the east (r. 1118-1157). Finding itself constantly harassed by its neighbors from 1135 onwards, the eastern empire fell to Turkish tribes and Khwarazm Shahs in 1157 and the remainder of the western empire also to the Khwarazm-Shahs in 1194. Breakaway dynasties resulted in the Shaybanids’ own branches in Kerman (r. 1041-1187; main capital: Bardashir) and Syria (r. 1094-1117; main capitals: Damascus and Aleppo), as well as the Anatolian Seljuks.
The Great Saljuqs of Iraq and Persia (1038-1194)
1038 Tughril I, Rukn al-Dunya
1063 Alp Arslan, ‘Adud al-Dawla
1072 Malik Shah I, Jalal al-Dawla
1092 Mahmud I, Nasir al-Din
1094 Berqyaruq, Rukn al-Din
1105 Malik-Shah II, Mu‘izz al-Din
1105 Muhammad I, Ghiyath al-Din
1118-1157 Sanjar, Mu ‘izz al-Din (ruler in eastern Persia 1097-1157; after 1118 supreme sultan of the Saljuq family)
The Great Saljuqs in Iraq and western Persia only:
1118 Mahmud II, Mughith al-Din
1131 Dawud, Ghiyath al-Din
1132 Tughril II, Rukn al-Din
1134 Mas‘ud, Ghiyath al-Din
1152 Malik-Shah II, Mu‘in al-Din
1153 Muhammad II, Rukn al-Din
1160 Sulayman Shah, Ghiyath al-Din
1161 Arslan, Mu‘izz al-Din
1176-1194 Tughril III, Rukn al-Din
Khwarazm-Shahs
Tughril I ruled over Gurgan, Tabaristan, Khwarazm, the territory of what is now Iran, Iraq, Mosul and Diyarbakr. Under his brother Alp Arslan the Saljuq conquests reached the Iaxartes River, and their empire also comprised Syria and almost the whole of Anatolia. Under Malik Shah even Aden and Yemen were conquered, although Saljuq rule was hardly effective there. According to the Turkish view, the right to rule belonged to the whole family, the oldest member having only a certain right as primus inter pares to the obedience of his male relatives. Malik Shah thus came in conflict with the Rum Saljuq Sulayman ibn Qutlumish, and Berkyaruq with the Saljuq of Syria, Tutush. The Great Saljuqs had their residences in Isfahan and Baghdad. Sanjar, after handing over Iraq, Fars, Khuzistan and the western provinces to the sons of his brother Muhammad, had his residence at Marw. He died childless, and with him the line of the Great Saljuqs came to an end.
The Saljuqs of Syria (1078-1117)
1078 Tutush, Taj al-Dawla
1095-1113 Ridwan (in Aleppo)
1095-1104 Duqaq (in Damascus)
1113 Alp Arslan al-Akhras (in Aleppo)
1114-1117 Sultan Shah (in Aleppo)
Burids in Damascus
Il Ghazi (Artuqid) in Aleppo
After the episode of Atsiz ibn Uvak, Tutush could establish himself only after the Great Saljuq Malik Shah had died. Under Duqaq, the real power lay in the hands of his atabeg Tughtigin ibn ‘Abd Allah, the founder of the Burids.
The Saljuqs of Kirman (1041-1186)
1041 Qawurd, ‘Imad al-Din
1073 Kirman Shah
1074 Husayn
1074 Sultan Shah, Rukn al-Dawla
1085 Turan Shah I, Muhyi al-Din
1097 Iran Shah, Baha’ al-Din
1101 Arslan Shah I, Muhyi al-Din
1142 Muhammad I, Mughith al-Din
1156 Tughril Shah, Muhyi al-Din
1170 Bahram Shah
1175 Arslan Shah II
1176 Turan Shah
Oghuz occupation
Qawurd submitted to the Great Saljuq Alp Arslan, but revolted under Malik Shah, by whom he was defeated. The line came to an end by the devastating invasions of the Oghuz.
The Saljuqs of Rum (1077-1307)
1077 Sulayman ibn Qutlumish
1086 interregnum
1092 Qilij Arslan I
1107 Malik-Shah
1116 Mas‘ud I, Rukn al-Din
1156 Qilij Arslan II, ‘Izz al-Din (division of territories amongst his sons during the latter part of his reign)
1192 Kaykhusraw I, Ghiyath al-Din (first reign)
1196 Sulayman II, Rukn al-Din
1204 Qilij Arslan III, ‘Izz al-Din
1204 Kaykhusraw I, Ghiyath al-Din (second reign)
1210 Kaykawus I, ‘Izz al-Din
1219 Kayqubad I, ‘Ala’ al-Din
1237 Kaykhusraw II, Ghiyath al-Din
1246
Kaykawus II, ‘Izz al-Din
1248 Kaykawus II and his brother Qilij Arslan IV, Rukn al-Din jointly
1249 Kaykawus II, Qilij Arslan IV and Kayqubad II, ‘Ala’ al-Din jointly
1257 Qilij Arslan IV
1265 Kaykhusraw III, Ghiyath al-Din
1282 Mas‘ud II, Ghiyath al-Din (first reign)
1284 Kayqubad III, ‘Ala’ al-Din (first reign)
1284 Mas‘ud II (second reign)
1293 Kayqubad III (second reign)
1294 Mas‘ud II (third reign)
1301 Kayqubad III (third reign)
1303 Mas‘ud II (fourth reign)
1305 Kayqubad III (fourth reign)
1307 Mas‘ud III, Ghiyath al-Din
Mongol occupation
Notwithstanding their fights with the Byzantines and the Danishmendids, the Saljuqs of Rum succeeded in establishing their rule in Konya. The territory became fragmented under the sons of Qilij Arslan II, and in 1190 Frederick Barbarossa and the Third Crusaders occupied Konya temporarily. The Latin conquest of Constantinople in 1204 gave the Rum Saljuqs the opportunity to re-establish their power. They took Antalya and Sinop and were thus able to open up relations with the Italian city states. Trade brought wealth, as is testified by the architectural and artistic glories of Saljuq Konya. But the arrival of the Mongols, who defeated Kaykhusraw II at Kose Dagh in 1243, decided the future of the sultanate of Konya. It retained its independence, but had to pay heavy tribute to the Mongols, and remained internaally divided. A number of Turkmen dynasties arose on its ruins.
Seljuk see Saljuq
Seljuq see Saljuq
Seldjuk see Saljuq
Seldjuq see Saljuq
1248 Kaykawus II and his brother Qilij Arslan IV, Rukn al-Din jointly
1249 Kaykawus II, Qilij Arslan IV and Kayqubad II, ‘Ala’ al-Din jointly
1257 Qilij Arslan IV
1265 Kaykhusraw III, Ghiyath al-Din
1282 Mas‘ud II, Ghiyath al-Din (first reign)
1284 Kayqubad III, ‘Ala’ al-Din (first reign)
1284 Mas‘ud II (second reign)
1293 Kayqubad III (second reign)
1294 Mas‘ud II (third reign)
1301 Kayqubad III (third reign)
1303 Mas‘ud II (fourth reign)
1305 Kayqubad III (fourth reign)
1307 Mas‘ud III, Ghiyath al-Din
Mongol occupation
Notwithstanding their fights with the Byzantines and the Danishmendids, the Saljuqs of Rum succeeded in establishing their rule in Konya. The territory became fragmented under the sons of Qilij Arslan II, and in 1190 Frederick Barbarossa and the Third Crusaders occupied Konya temporarily. The Latin conquest of Constantinople in 1204 gave the Rum Saljuqs the opportunity to re-establish their power. They took Antalya and Sinop and were thus able to open up relations with the Italian city states. Trade brought wealth, as is testified by the architectural and artistic glories of Saljuq Konya. But the arrival of the Mongols, who defeated Kaykhusraw II at Kose Dagh in 1243, decided the future of the sultanate of Konya. It retained its independence, but had to pay heavy tribute to the Mongols, and remained internaally divided. A number of Turkmen dynasties arose on its ruins.
Seljuk see Saljuq
Seljuq see Saljuq
Seldjuk see Saljuq
Seldjuq see Saljuq
Salman al-Farisi
Salman al-Farisi (Salman e Farisi) (Salman the Persian). Companion of the Prophet of Persian origin. He has become one of the most popular figures of Muslim legend, the national hero of Muslim Persia and one of the favorite personages of the Shu‘ubiyya. He is venerated as the patron of barbers.
Salman the Persian was one of Muhammad's companions. During some of his later meetings with the other Sahaba, he was referred to as Abu Abdullah ("Father of Abdullah").
Salman the Persian was born with the Persian name Rouzbeh, in the city of Isfahan in Isfahan Province, Iran. He grew up in the town of Isfahan in Persia, in the village of Jayyan. His father was the Dihqan (chief) of the village. He was the richest person there and had the biggest house. His father loved him, more than he loved any other. As time went by, his love for Salman became so strong and overpowering that he feared to lose him or have anything happen to him. So he kept him at home, a virtual prisoner, in the same way that young girls were kept.
Salman’s father had a vast estate, which yielded an abundant supply of crops. He himself looked after the estate and gathered harvest. One day as he went about his duties as Dihqan of the village, he said to Salman, ‘My son, as you see, I am too busy to go out to the estate now. Go and look after matters there for me today. On the way to the estate, Salman passed a Christian church and heard voices raised in prayer, which attracted his attention. He did not know anything about Christianity or, for that matter, about the followers of any other religion. His father had kept him in the house away from people. When he heard the voices of the Christians, he entered the church to see what they were doing. He was impressed by their manner of praying and felt drawn to their religion. He said, ‘This religion is nice. I shall not leave them until the sun sets.’ Salman asked and was told that Christianity originated in Syria. He did not go to his father’s estate that day and at night, he returned home. His father met him and asked where he had been. Salman told him about his meeting with the Christians and how he was impressed by their religion. His father was dismayed and said: ‘My son, there is nothing good in that religion. Your religion and the religion of your forefathers is better.”
‘No, their religion is not better than ours,’ he insisted. His father became upset and afraid that Salman would leave their religion. So he kept Salman locked up in the house and shackled his feet. Salman managed to send a message to the Christians, asking them to inform him of any caravans going to Syria. Before long they contacted him with the information he wanted. He broke the fetters and escaped his father’s estate to join the caravan to Syria. When he reached Syria, he asked regarding the leading person in Christianity and was directed to the bishop of the church. He went up to him and said: ‘I want to become a Christian and would like to attach myself to your service, learn from you and pray with you.’
The bishop agreed and Salman entered the church in his service. Salman soon found out, however, that the bishop was corrupt. He would order his followers to give money in charity while holding out the promise of blessings to them. When they gave the bishop anything to spend in the way of God, he would hoard it for himself and not give anything to the poor or needy. In this way, he amassed a vast quantity of gold. When the bishop died and the Christians gathered to bury him, Salman told them of his corrupt practices and, at their request, showed them where the bishop had kept their donations. When they saw the large jars filled with gold and silver they said, ‘By God, we shall not bury him.’ They nailed him on a cross and threw stones at him. Salman stayed on, in the service of the person who replaced him. The new bishop was an ascetic who longed for the Hereafter and engaged in worship day and night. Salman was devoted to him and spent much of the time in his company.
After the new bishop died, Salman attached himself to various monotheistic Christian scholars, in Mosul, Nusaybin and Amorium. The last one told him that there was none left on the earth that were following the correct path. He also told him that the time had arrived for the advent of a Prophet in the land of the Arabs, who would have a reputation for strict honesty, one who would accept a gift but would never consume charity (sadaqah) for himself.
A group of Arab leaders from the Kalb tribe passed through Amorium. Salman asked them to take him with them to the land of the Arabs, in return for whatever money he had. They agreed to take him along. When they reached Wadi al-Qura (a city near Mecca), the Kalbites broke their agreement and made him a slave, then sold Salman to a Qurayzite Jew. Salman worked as a servant for him but he eventually sold him to a Cousin of his. This Cousin took Salman with him to Yathrib, the city of palm groves, which is how the Christian scholar at Amorium had described it. At that time the Prophet was inviting his people in Makkah to Islam but Salman did not know of this because of the harsh duties slavery imposed upon him. When the Prophet reached Yathrib after his hijrah from Mecca, Salman was on top of a palm tree doing some work. Salman’s master was sitting under the tree. A nephew of Salman’s master came up and said, ‘May God declare war on Bani Qaila (i.e. Banu Aws and Banu Khazraj, the two main Arab tribes of Medina). By God, they are now gathering at Quba to meet a man, who has just today, arrived from Makkah and who claims to be the Prophet.’
Salman felt light-headed upon hearing these words and began to shiver so violently that he had to climb down, in fear that he would fall. He quickly swung down from the tree and spoke to his master’s nephew. ‘What did you say? Repeat the news for me.’ Salman’s master grew angry at this breach of protocol and struck him a terrible blow. ‘What does this matter to you’? Go back to what you were doing,’ he shouted.
That evening, Salman took some dates that he had gathered and went to the place where the Prophet had alighted. He went to him and said, ‘I have heard that you are a righteous man and that you have companions with you who are strangers and are in need. Here is something from me as sadaqah. I see that you are more deserving of it than others are.’
The Prophet ordered his companions to eat but he himself refrained. Salman gathered some more dates and when the Prophet left Quba for Madinah, Salman went to him and said, ‘I noticed that you did not eat of the sadaqah I gave. This however is a gift for you.’ Of this gift of dates, both he and his companions ate. The strict honesty of the Prophet was one of the characteristics that led Salman to believe in him and accept Islam. Salman was released from slavery by the Abu Baker, who paid his Jewish master a stipulated price, and who himself planted an agreed number of date palms to secure Salman’s manumission. After accepting Islam, Salman would say when asked whose son he was, ‘I am Salman, the son of Islam from the children of Adam.’
It was Salman who came up with the idea of digging a great trench around the city of Medina to defend the city and its people from the army of 10,000 non-Muslims of Arabia. The Prophet and his companions agreed and accepted Salman's plan because it was safer and there would be a chance for the Non-Muslim army of Arabia to have a large number of casualties. Salman came up with that idea from remembering doing the same in Persia; when the Persians heard about and feared an attack led by their enemies coming to their territory, they suggested to dig a trench around them to be safe. So during the Battle of the Trench, what the Muslims had expected occurred.
Salman the Persian died during the reign of the third Caliph, Uthman ibn Affan. He died at the age of 78. He is buried in Ctesiphon, Al-Mada'in in present-day Iraq. Though that city fell into abandon, there is still a town there named after him, Salman Pak.
Farisi, Salman al- see Salman al-Farisi
Salman the Persian see Salman al-Farisi
Salman e Farisi see Salman al-Farisi
Farisi, Salman e see Salman al-Farisi
Abu Abdullah see Salman al-Farisi
Rouzbeh see Salman al-Farisi
Salman al-Farisi (Salman e Farisi) (Salman the Persian). Companion of the Prophet of Persian origin. He has become one of the most popular figures of Muslim legend, the national hero of Muslim Persia and one of the favorite personages of the Shu‘ubiyya. He is venerated as the patron of barbers.
Salman the Persian was one of Muhammad's companions. During some of his later meetings with the other Sahaba, he was referred to as Abu Abdullah ("Father of Abdullah").
Salman the Persian was born with the Persian name Rouzbeh, in the city of Isfahan in Isfahan Province, Iran. He grew up in the town of Isfahan in Persia, in the village of Jayyan. His father was the Dihqan (chief) of the village. He was the richest person there and had the biggest house. His father loved him, more than he loved any other. As time went by, his love for Salman became so strong and overpowering that he feared to lose him or have anything happen to him. So he kept him at home, a virtual prisoner, in the same way that young girls were kept.
Salman’s father had a vast estate, which yielded an abundant supply of crops. He himself looked after the estate and gathered harvest. One day as he went about his duties as Dihqan of the village, he said to Salman, ‘My son, as you see, I am too busy to go out to the estate now. Go and look after matters there for me today. On the way to the estate, Salman passed a Christian church and heard voices raised in prayer, which attracted his attention. He did not know anything about Christianity or, for that matter, about the followers of any other religion. His father had kept him in the house away from people. When he heard the voices of the Christians, he entered the church to see what they were doing. He was impressed by their manner of praying and felt drawn to their religion. He said, ‘This religion is nice. I shall not leave them until the sun sets.’ Salman asked and was told that Christianity originated in Syria. He did not go to his father’s estate that day and at night, he returned home. His father met him and asked where he had been. Salman told him about his meeting with the Christians and how he was impressed by their religion. His father was dismayed and said: ‘My son, there is nothing good in that religion. Your religion and the religion of your forefathers is better.”
‘No, their religion is not better than ours,’ he insisted. His father became upset and afraid that Salman would leave their religion. So he kept Salman locked up in the house and shackled his feet. Salman managed to send a message to the Christians, asking them to inform him of any caravans going to Syria. Before long they contacted him with the information he wanted. He broke the fetters and escaped his father’s estate to join the caravan to Syria. When he reached Syria, he asked regarding the leading person in Christianity and was directed to the bishop of the church. He went up to him and said: ‘I want to become a Christian and would like to attach myself to your service, learn from you and pray with you.’
The bishop agreed and Salman entered the church in his service. Salman soon found out, however, that the bishop was corrupt. He would order his followers to give money in charity while holding out the promise of blessings to them. When they gave the bishop anything to spend in the way of God, he would hoard it for himself and not give anything to the poor or needy. In this way, he amassed a vast quantity of gold. When the bishop died and the Christians gathered to bury him, Salman told them of his corrupt practices and, at their request, showed them where the bishop had kept their donations. When they saw the large jars filled with gold and silver they said, ‘By God, we shall not bury him.’ They nailed him on a cross and threw stones at him. Salman stayed on, in the service of the person who replaced him. The new bishop was an ascetic who longed for the Hereafter and engaged in worship day and night. Salman was devoted to him and spent much of the time in his company.
After the new bishop died, Salman attached himself to various monotheistic Christian scholars, in Mosul, Nusaybin and Amorium. The last one told him that there was none left on the earth that were following the correct path. He also told him that the time had arrived for the advent of a Prophet in the land of the Arabs, who would have a reputation for strict honesty, one who would accept a gift but would never consume charity (sadaqah) for himself.
A group of Arab leaders from the Kalb tribe passed through Amorium. Salman asked them to take him with them to the land of the Arabs, in return for whatever money he had. They agreed to take him along. When they reached Wadi al-Qura (a city near Mecca), the Kalbites broke their agreement and made him a slave, then sold Salman to a Qurayzite Jew. Salman worked as a servant for him but he eventually sold him to a Cousin of his. This Cousin took Salman with him to Yathrib, the city of palm groves, which is how the Christian scholar at Amorium had described it. At that time the Prophet was inviting his people in Makkah to Islam but Salman did not know of this because of the harsh duties slavery imposed upon him. When the Prophet reached Yathrib after his hijrah from Mecca, Salman was on top of a palm tree doing some work. Salman’s master was sitting under the tree. A nephew of Salman’s master came up and said, ‘May God declare war on Bani Qaila (i.e. Banu Aws and Banu Khazraj, the two main Arab tribes of Medina). By God, they are now gathering at Quba to meet a man, who has just today, arrived from Makkah and who claims to be the Prophet.’
Salman felt light-headed upon hearing these words and began to shiver so violently that he had to climb down, in fear that he would fall. He quickly swung down from the tree and spoke to his master’s nephew. ‘What did you say? Repeat the news for me.’ Salman’s master grew angry at this breach of protocol and struck him a terrible blow. ‘What does this matter to you’? Go back to what you were doing,’ he shouted.
That evening, Salman took some dates that he had gathered and went to the place where the Prophet had alighted. He went to him and said, ‘I have heard that you are a righteous man and that you have companions with you who are strangers and are in need. Here is something from me as sadaqah. I see that you are more deserving of it than others are.’
The Prophet ordered his companions to eat but he himself refrained. Salman gathered some more dates and when the Prophet left Quba for Madinah, Salman went to him and said, ‘I noticed that you did not eat of the sadaqah I gave. This however is a gift for you.’ Of this gift of dates, both he and his companions ate. The strict honesty of the Prophet was one of the characteristics that led Salman to believe in him and accept Islam. Salman was released from slavery by the Abu Baker, who paid his Jewish master a stipulated price, and who himself planted an agreed number of date palms to secure Salman’s manumission. After accepting Islam, Salman would say when asked whose son he was, ‘I am Salman, the son of Islam from the children of Adam.’
It was Salman who came up with the idea of digging a great trench around the city of Medina to defend the city and its people from the army of 10,000 non-Muslims of Arabia. The Prophet and his companions agreed and accepted Salman's plan because it was safer and there would be a chance for the Non-Muslim army of Arabia to have a large number of casualties. Salman came up with that idea from remembering doing the same in Persia; when the Persians heard about and feared an attack led by their enemies coming to their territory, they suggested to dig a trench around them to be safe. So during the Battle of the Trench, what the Muslims had expected occurred.
Salman the Persian died during the reign of the third Caliph, Uthman ibn Affan. He died at the age of 78. He is buried in Ctesiphon, Al-Mada'in in present-day Iraq. Though that city fell into abandon, there is still a town there named after him, Salman Pak.
Farisi, Salman al- see Salman al-Farisi
Salman the Persian see Salman al-Farisi
Salman e Farisi see Salman al-Farisi
Farisi, Salman e see Salman al-Farisi
Abu Abdullah see Salman al-Farisi
Rouzbeh see Salman al-Farisi
Salur
Salur. Name of an Oghuz tribe, who migrated from the banks of the Iaxartes into Transoxiana and finally to eastern Anatolia. The Salghurid dynasty arose from them and they played a role in the history of the Saljuqs in Anatolia. Under the general name of Turkmen, a certain number of them went eastwards and settled in Kansu, northwestern China. They are Hanafi Sunnis and in recent times have always been Naqshbandis.
Salur. Name of an Oghuz tribe, who migrated from the banks of the Iaxartes into Transoxiana and finally to eastern Anatolia. The Salghurid dynasty arose from them and they played a role in the history of the Saljuqs in Anatolia. Under the general name of Turkmen, a certain number of them went eastwards and settled in Kansu, northwestern China. They are Hanafi Sunnis and in recent times have always been Naqshbandis.
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