The Conquest of Jerusalem by Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn al-Ayyūbī

The Conquest of Jerusalem by Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn al-Ayyūbī (1187 CE)

Following his resounding victory over the army of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem at the Battle of Ḥaṭṭīn, Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn al-Ayyūbī did not march directly on Jerusalem. Instead, he first secured the surrounding fortresses and towns along his route. By doing so, he ensured that no hostile force would remain behind him to threaten his advance when he reached Jerusalem, the most precious jewel in the chain of his conquests.

After Ḥaṭṭīn, the Muslim army advanced toward the coast, capturing ʿAkkā (Acre), their first major objective, after intense fighting. With the capture of the city, approximately 4,000 Muslim prisoners were freed. Acre, being a vital commercial hub with a bustling port, also yielded a significant amount of booty, including horses and weapons that were used in subsequent campaigns.

The victory at Acre paved the way for the capture of Nablus, Nāṣira (Nazareth), Caesarea, and Saffuriyya. On the 11th of Jumādā al-Awwal 583 AH (July 1187 CE), the fortress of Tibnīn was besieged. After heavy fighting and the use of mangonels, the fortress was compelled to surrender.

The army then proceeded to Ṣaydā (Sidon), which fell without major resistance after a single day. Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn next moved to Bayrūt (Beirut), an important city near Sidon. At Khalda, near Beirut, he met with Amīr Jamāl al-Dīn Ḥajjī. After a seven-day blockade, the city capitulated. Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn’s forces advanced from the southern approaches of Beirut up to the highest mountains of western Lebanon, liberating the Ijbal region from Crusader control and clearing the enemy all the way to the Biqāʿ Valley.

The next target of the great Sultan of the East was ʿAsqalān (Ascalon). On the way, several towns — most notably Ramla — were captured. After fierce battles, ʿAsqalān too was taken, while Ghazza (Gaza), Bayt Jibrīn, and Natrūn surrendered without a fight. Thus, the entire coastal plain of Bilād al-Shām fell under Ayyūbid control.

After restoring order in ʿAsqalān and placing the city under the administration of ʿAlam al-Dīn Qaysar, Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn marched toward Jerusalem.

On 20 September 1187 CE, Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn arrived at Jerusalem and established his camp to the west of the city. He conducted reconnaissance to assess the state of the city walls and assigned positions to his commanders. After careful examination, it was decided that the northern side was the most suitable for attack, and the main camp was moved accordingly. Mangonels were positioned, and on 27 September the assault began.

Initially, the defenders put up fierce resistance. However, as the Muslims intensified their attacks on the walls, the Crusaders realized that they could not withstand the siege. They convened a council and sent envoys to Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn, seeking terms. Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn initially refused to grant them amān (safe conduct), replying sternly:

“I shall take the city as it was taken from us ninety-one years ago.”

Following repeated negotiations, an agreement was reached allowing the inhabitants to depart safely within forty days upon payment of ransom: ten dinars per man, five dinars per woman, and two dinars per child. Many neutral sources report that Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn personally paid the ransom for those who could not afford it, allowing them to leave the city freely.

On Friday, 2 October 1187 CE, Jerusalem was formally surrendered. The banners of Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn were raised over the towers of the citadel. The city was taken without bloodshed or destruction. Unlike the horrific massacres and atrocities that had accompanied the Crusader conquest nearly a century earlier — when, according to their own chroniclers, some seventy thousand Muslims were slain and blood flowed up to the knees of the Crusader horses — Jerusalem now returned to Muslim control peacefully and honorably.

Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn immediately ordered a comprehensive campaign to cleanse and restore al-Masjid al-Aqṣā. Crosses and various Christian symbols that had been placed in the Qibli Mosque were removed, and the church-like decorations were eliminated. The crosses and motifs inside the Dome of the Rock (Qubbat al-Ṣakhrah) were also taken down.

Deliberately, however, Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn ordered that some traces of the Crusader occupation remain, as reminders of the past oppression. For instance, the animal figures on the right and left of the miḥrāb of Masjid ʿUmar and those above the muʾadhdhin’s platform in the Qibli Mosque were preserved so that future generations might remember the days of occupation.

To commemorate this momentous victory, Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn appointed Qāḍī Muḥyī al-Dīn ibn Zakiyy al-Dīn — who had proclaimed the glad tidings of the conquest of Jerusalem during the earlier capture of Aleppo — to deliver the khuṭbah. On Friday, 9 October 1187 CE, the khuṭbah was read in the name of Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn in al-Masjid al-Aqṣā, followed by the Friday congregational prayer.

Furthermore, Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn gave instructions to have the celebrated minbar that Nūr al-Dīn Maḥmūd ibn Zengī had commissioned twenty years before the conquest brought from Aleppo and installed in its rightful place. He also ordered that the miḥrāb be covered with marble.

The Christian inhabitants of the city were allowed to remain under the condition that they pay the jizyah and taxes. Thus, Jerusalem, which had first been incorporated into the Dār al-Islām in the time of ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (RA), was restored to Muslim rule through Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn al-Ayyūbī’s conquest. Muslim prisoners who had been languishing in Crusader dungeons were freed, and Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn faithfully upheld the covenant (ʿAhd) of safety first granted by ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (RA) after the original conquest of the city.