Saladin by John Man

Saladin is historical figure that has captured my imagination for quite some times but strangely, because of the interplay of circumstance and coincidence, it was only recently that I've finally grab a book that tell the story of this wonderful man. He is, without shadow of a doubt, one of the best leader from islamic world. On countless occasions, I visit and peruse his page on Wikipedia either while I was in idle situation or eating (To read while eating is a delight for me), but I always thought that in order to understand the legacy of such an amazing leader in middle east circa 12th century, a proper biography book is a requirement to satisfy my curiosity. "Saladin" by John Man is evidently just the right book that I am looking for evidently. So without hesitation, I grab this book from my local book store shelf, purchase it, and how it has became such a fascinating companion for me to kill some time.

Almost all of us, in the face of hardship and adversity in our life, has the penchant to draw certain amount of inspiration from someone in the past that has exhibit noteworthy qualities throughout the walk of their life. I am certainly not an exception for that statement and Saladin is the go to guy for me the seek the inspiration to nurture leadership, perseverance, and chivalry. Perhaps like other people who isn't came from muslim background like me, the first instance the name Saladin pop up was from the movie "Kingdom of Heaven". Even though the movie is not an accountable source of history, as the plot is somewhat sugarcoated, tweaked, and heavily dramatized as such that it diverge quite a bit from the concensus of "real" history, the figure of Baldwin, Balian, Reynault de Chautilion, and in particular Saladin has been really succesful to make me awe-struck. I want to know how this man could be the leader of the vast islamic army that manage to conquer Jerusalem. I want to know how he could overcome his oblivion and difficulties from his upbringing till he reach the pinnacle of power. So without further ado, lets probe into the life of a man who for many is the greatest leader from islamic world after Muhammad himself through the book from John Man.

Synopis of Saladin life from John Man's Book

Saladin life's story is, in my opinion, almost too good to be true as what this man has been through was like a stuff out from holywood movie. Yusuf ibn Ayub, is the name given by his father, Najm ad-din Ayub, when he was born in Tikrit, a city located on modern day Iraq, circa 1137. His childhood and upbringing were somewhat obscure, as the historical source that deemed accountable to cover this period is either absent or debatable. John Man's book itself started the early phase of Saladin life by explaining the circumstances of life and event surrounding Saladin childhood era rather then specifically depicting the first account regarding Saladin's childhood. Our world since time immemorial is perpetually stricken by upheavel, and the era in which Saladin plunge into is not an exception. But how the upheavel is trully delicate for the man of his background. As brilliantly conveyed by John Man naration, Saladin early life was entrenched between conflicting forces within the islamic realm in 12th century. At one side of the polar is the sunni muslim, an arguably predominant force represented by the Abbassid Caliphate centered in Baghdad Iraq. At the opposite side, there is shia muslim, the follower of Ali ibn Abu Talib, which is pretty much further splitted to several sects. One particular sect from shia muslim, the ismaili'sm, gave birth to the morbid syndicate of the infamous Assasin. This group was of great interest because more than one occasion in the future that they will embark on the mission to take Saladin's life.

The story of our hero started in a city located just next to the intimidating Tigris river called Tikrit, in the midst of power struggle between factions within the islamic world. Little did that saladin's father know that his good intention to help the retreat of Zengi, a warlord slash ruler of Mosul, after the failure to capture Baghdad will initiate a chain of events that will propelled his son career in the future. The benevolence from Saladin's father toward a person that suppose to be an enemy enraged Bihruz, Seljuk military governor of northern Mesopotamia, resulted in firm reprimand only in the beginning. This is further exacerbated by the accusation toward Shirkuh, Saladin's uncle, which allegedly involved in the homicide of Bihruz's friend. Running out of option, Saladin's father took bold decision to abandon his position as Tikrit warden, and subsequently brought his whole family to find refuge in Mosul. Zengi proved to be a man with some dignity, as not only he provided a shelter for Saladin's family in the city that he ruled, but also he returned the favour by appointing Saladin's father as commander of his fortress in Baalbek. It was told that Saladin was born on the same night his family leaved Tikrit for Mosul.

By the time Yusuf ibn Ayyub embraced his coming of age and ready for his own exploit in military career, Zengi has passed away and it was his son that goes by the name of Nur ad-Din that was at the helm as the emir of Damascus and Aleppo. It was under Nur ad-Din decree that Saladin, along with Shirkuh his uncle as his commander, was to be discharged to Cairo Egypt to help a falling from grace vizier of Fatymid dynasty, Shawar. Take a moment to contemplate what a strange affair this is. An important figure from Shia dynasty was requesting assistance from a ruler of Sunni empire. Strange it might seems, Shirkuh and Saladin came to the rescue, clobbered the enemy of Shawar, a man named Dirgham who was a member of the powerful Banu Ruzzaik tribe. The reinstatement of Shawar as the Vizier wasn't the happy ending though, as he subsequently clashed with Shirkuh over the withdrawal of the syrian army stationed in Cairo. In Machiavellian style deceit, Shawar double crossed to an unlikely ally, crusaders king of Jerusalem, Alamaric I. An inevitable battle between combined Shawar and Almaric force against Shirkuh & Saladin force was then erupted. This fight against crusader invasion to Egypt was the first major involvement by Saladin in theater of middle east ferocious political conflict. After years of war, betrayal (Shawar will switch side again to Shirkuh and Saladin, but that will be the last), and countless agony Shirkuh and Saladin finally prevailed, droved out Almarich force out of Egypt, and last but not least had Shawar to be executed.

Shirkuh was made to be succesor of Vizier by the de facto leader of Egypt, the Fatimid caliphate al ad-Did. It didn't last long though, as an already very obese man Shirkuh died two months later due to indisgetion problem. Our man, Saladin, despite somewhat unfavourable odds due to his young age, was chosen to succeed his uncle. This unprecedented power obtained by Saladin of course has some degree of complication as to now he was a subordinate of two not-so-in-a-good-terms masters, al-Adid the caplih of Shia dynasty and Nur ad-Din, a leader of a major sunni empire (and indirectly Saladin was also under subordination of the de facto leader of the sunni muslim realm, the then Abbassid caliph al-Mustadi). To put it in the modern context, just imagine if you are working to please both the King of Saudi Arabia and supreme leader of Iran at the same time. From the very beginning of his ascension to power, Saladin has to learn the art of diplomacy and politic in order to survive. After some witty manuevering and patience-play, Saladin managed to achieve his goal to dethrone al ad-Did in rather peacefull way (he passed away due to illness, and Saladin rejected his request to take care of his children), became the Sultan of Egypt, reinstated the authority of the Abbasid caliphate in Egypt, and signaling the end of the Fatimid dynasty in 1171. With these grand achievements at such a young age of 34, sky is only the limit for Saladin afterward.

With tremendous military power and abundant economic resource vested upon him thanks to the strategic nature of Cairo, Saladin set his sight for expansion. Outside Egypt territory, the city of Ibrim, belong to the Nubian and located adjacent to Egypt border, was the first city he managed to capture in 1173. The next stronghold that he conquered was Yemen and its port Aden without any significant difficulty. At around this point the emergence of Saladin has inevitably cause anxiety among other rulers at the vicinity of middle east region including his teacher and patron, Nur ad-Din at Syria. He surreptitiously mustering his army apparently as the preparation for an assault toward Saladin force in Egypt in the summer of 1174. But the twist of fate was once again in Saladin's hand this time, as Nur ad-Din died due to illness not long after the tension between Syria and Egypt. This event brought both agony and joy for our man Saladin. He was so saddened by the loss of a teacher and the person that gave him the first opportunity to raise for power, but at the same time he attained considerable independence to grow his influence and hegemony in middle east region. The passed away of Nur ad-Din also gave the momentum for Saladin to usurp the dominion of his former master, Syria. In a showcase of honor and wit, that will be typical of him in his career afterward, Saladin choose to wait patiently until the cities that previously belong to Nud ad-Din came to call him for aid in the midst of chaos after their leader figure was gone (Nur ad-Din heir, Ismail as-Salih was only 11 years old and was susceptible to be controlled by his regents). By the middle of 1776, the whole of Syria regions were under Saladin command. At this point perhaps some of you might think that Saladin is just another megalomaniac that on his era managed to sway Egypt and Syria under his power and charisma. Saladin is many things, but he is for certain not just another leader who seek power for the sake of etching his name of the anals of great conqueror. It is not a matter of pride for him, he simply set his sight to complete a sacred mission that he believed became a responsibility to be carried out as a pious muslim, that is to recapture Jerusalem from the crusaders.

Jerusalem was taken over by the first crusaders from the by then ruler of the holy city, the shia muslim fatimid dynasty, in what history recorded as a bloody conquest. A prolong period of muslim authority over Jerusalem, spanning from 638 to 1099, that typified by tolerance toward both Christian and Jews was abruptly ended by the vicious attack by the first crusaders, in which subsequently after they managed to subdue the fatimid, a large scale massacre was commited toward the muslim and jews inhabitants of the city, and thereafter establish the kingdom of Jerusalem. This event left an everlasting and irreperable damage to the whole muslim community. They want to take Jerusalem at all cost, but it was all but a simple task, since at the same time the muslim community was fragmented by their own ideological difference. Saladin was the man that managed to mount enough power and influence to unite the muslim community under the grand mission to reconquer Jerusalem, and he trully did. After some provocations by Reynald de Chatillon, in a showmanship of cruelty where he harrased muslim pilgrim, tension was at boiling point between kingdom of Jerusalem and Saladin. The death of the leper king, Baldwin IV, didn't help to ease it as Jerusalem was then ruled under incompetent and vicious leaders that will prove to be so detrimental for the fight against Saladin.

After series of conflicts and battle, Saladin with his enormous forces managed to capture the lion share of crusaders teritory, and the showdown between both entities was taking its final conclussion near an extinct vulcano named Kurun Hattin. In a battle that will named after the aforementioned geographical feature, Saladin managed to score a decisive victory over the combined forces of Guy of Lusignan, Raymon III of Tripoli, and the prodigal Reynald de Chattilon. The crusaders forces was annihilated as such that they were no longer capable of waging another war. Saladin personally executed Reynald de Chattilon, but give the king of Jerusalem, Guy of Lusignan a pardon. Saladin will then proceed to capture Jerusalem in a manner that will put shame on the crusaders. Blood was rarely spilled during Jerusalem capture by Saladin, as he benevolently gave a light term toward both jews and christian refugee. And after the war was over, he gave permission for jews community to resettled, and further allowed christian to visit Jerusalem as unarmed pilgrim. His victories were of course incited another crusaders attempt to invade Jerusalem from 1189 to 1192, this time under the famous Richard of the lion heart, king of England. Saladin crossed his sword with Richard, and after prolonged war, they both come into term, and arguaby become friend if not uneasy ally. After Richard left, not long after, Saladin passed away due to natural cause. A fever took away the life of a great leader and an amazing human being in 4 March 1193. Examination toward his account revealed how little worldly possession he owned by the time he passed away: one piece of gold and forty silver. Saladin has been too good to his subject and subordinate that he bestowed them his lion share of war loot and ransom.

What Make This Saladin biography book by John Man Stood Out

One particular segment of the book, brilliantly written by John Man, that become my favorite piece is the part when he tried to elaborate the very reason that make Saladin such a revered leader. for John Man, Saladin was a man who has get through a lot from his childhood, his coming of age, and all the way to his adulthood. He was born when Muslim society was devastated by their own internal schism, and crusaders run amok in the Jerusalem and middle east. On top of that his family was banished from their own city in the same day when he was born. But his family, as envisaged by John Man, has done a good job to provide a shelter for Saladin from all those maladies, and nurture him to become a man of values. John Man saw in Saladin a pattern that give rise to unquenchable drives that would inspired him to overcome all the perilous adversities. Saladin was born in time of chaos, but the combination of his own decision, his luck, and the support of all the people that hold him dear, has allowed him not to be corrupted by it. Conversely, it inspired him to go for the long miles and instigate a profound change in his era. In John Man's words "The succesful leader carries enough insecurity to inspire a desire to change the world, and enough sense of security to confront this challenge without lapsing into paranoia, criminality or any number of behaviour pattern that undermine his aim". If you, by chance, are currently stranded in the time of upheaval I hope you stumble upon this book, get the inspiration from a distinguished person and leader, enchanted with the eloquence of John man's story telling, and found just one more drive to carry on living the life the best way you could.

Source:

John Man. 2015. Saladin: The Life, The Legend, And The Islamic Empire. Great Britain. Penguin Random House Publishing.