Saladin: Was he really a horrible man or hero of Islam?

[Mig el Pig]

Another of the things I admire is the fact that he remained sane, while having real assassins (those hasshajins) out to get him.

[christof139]

Yeah, but he did make peace with them and was scared to death by the assasins at the siege of their main fortress in Palestine.

Chris

[Kiljan Arslan]

Yeah well when they are able to get undetected into your tent with guards posted around every part I'd try to make peace with them to.

[IndianPrince]

Like all men (and women) on earth he probably was good & bad. Smart guy who played his cards well & took back what he considered his. I have immense respect for him not because he's "eastern" or "enemy of the crusaders" but because he was Sala-uddin

Prince

[christof139]

Yeah well when they are able to get undetected into your tent with guards posted around every part I'd try to make peace with them to.

Ha ha ha!!! Yep!!! That's so true and funny!!! Rep to you.

Chris

[jankren]

AFAIK, Saladin didn't slaughter Christians.

Which was actually a bad thing in terms of war strategy. His chivalry that was actually hated by his military advisers prevented him from achieving larger military gains.

Yeah well when they are able to get undetected into your tent with guards posted around every part I'd try to make peace with them to.

Goddammit, you somehow work up my urge again to play Assasin Creed which I have tried hard to control for a long time!

[nce_wht_guy]

IMO salah al-din was certainly an inspirational leader and (for his time) a rightous and merciful ruler. I mean he wasn't perfect, he did execute prisoners, sell quite a few people into slavery, and looted frankish settlements. But for that time he was a model leader and a great general

[King of Axum]

Saladin was not just a defender of islam he was a defender of his country men/ women, when the crusaders showed up in the middle east they raped, killed, and enslaved many peoples. when the took over Jerusalem they killed most inhabitants even Eastern Christians. Saladin was a hero and saviour of his people in that time

[Kiki52]

Saladin was not just a defender of islam he was a defender of his country men/ women, when the crusaders showed up in the middle east they raped, killed, and enslaved many peoples. when the took over Jerusalem they killed most inhabitants even Eastern Christians. Saladin was a hero and saviour of his people in that time

Too bad Saladin didn't live long enough to fight the Mongols when they came. But if he did, he would probably be really really old.

I do know that if the Mamluks didn't fight the Mongols, the Mongols would have went their way to Jerusalem and did the same thing it did to Baghdad. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Al-Aqsa, Wailing wall all of it would have been destroyed by the Mongols.

[Trax]

Don't think so, they were allied with the Crusaders at the time IIRC

[Sher Khan]

I believe the Crusaders approached them with an offer of alliance, but the Mongols thought nothing of it.

[hellheaven1987]

I believe the Crusaders approached them with an offer of alliance, but the Mongols thought nothing of it.

Actually Mongols allied with Kingdom of Jerusalm, but Mongols could never reach that far anyway...

[PointOfViewGun]

They mention that he ordered the beating of the cross but I haven't see any mention of him letting the anyone out of the city freely.

[Oswald von Wolkenstein]

Or perhaps even a delicate term for a "side salad"

Here, Sir, here is your main course, would also like a saladin, to complement your meal"

As far as Salah al-Dīn Yusuf ibn Ayyub (Arabic: صلاح الدين الأيوبي, Kurdish: سه*لاحه *دينێ ئه *يووبى / Silhedînê Eyûbî) is concerned -- all contemporary chroniclers --both Christian and Muslim -- praise him and depict him as a fair and pious man. In fact, the image of him remains almost universally positive well into the modern period. So I would have to say that the overwhelming majority of evidence we have about صلاح الدين الأيوب suggests that he was a great hero and good and pious man. Unless you think all the Muslim and Christian chroniclers are liars.



He also has a Federation Starship named after him -- pretty spiffy:

[nce_wht_guy]

Actually Mongols allied with Kingdom of Jerusalm, but Mongols could never reach that far anyway...

i don't think so, i do know Louis IX try to get an alliance with the great khan Mongka and tried to convert him to christianity, Mongka agreed to an alliance as long as Louis became his vassel wich he naturally rejected.
but i don't recall there ever being an actual alliance between the crusaders and the mongols.

[Medicus]

He also has a Federation Starship named after him -- pretty spiffy

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

[hellheaven1987]

i don't think so, i do know Louis IX try to get an alliance with the great khan Mongka and tried to convert him to christianity, Mongka agreed to an alliance as long as Louis became his vassel wich he naturally rejected.
but i don't recall there ever being an actual alliance between the crusaders and the mongols.

Sometimes around 1260s some Franks actually tried to seek an alliance with Mongols, and because of this reason Sultan Qalaun smashed Latin States after he dealed Mongols in 1280s (second wave). The alliance probably had nothing to do with Saint Louis since he actually left at 1254.

[jankren]

I do know that if the Mamluks didn't fight the Mongols, the Mongols would have went their way to Jerusalem and did the same thing it did to Baghdad. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Al-Aqsa, Wailing wall all of it would have been destroyed by the Mongols.

I think it might have beeen a good thing if those buildings were destroyed by them so that today Christians and Muslims won't fight one another over that stupid little piece of holy land or whatever and instead join forces to bomb the hell out of Mongolia.

[Kiljan Arslan]

Yes we do need to show those mongols a lesson with their Supercomputers and everything.

[Primvs Sextvs Loverlord]

Saladin the Kurd zOMG bad guy must kill with pistol!

Anyway, just like different_13 posted, Saladin became the most popular Saracen or any outsider in Europe instantly. Most people who didn't even know who Mohammad was knew Saladin. Perhaps that's due to the high regard for the chivalrous traditions laid down by Charlemagne.