Saladin was born in Tikrit (present Iraq) in the year of 1138. His father, Najmuddin, was a Kurdish from Azarbaijan. On the night of his birth, his father, Najmudin, decided to move to Aleppo and worked for Imaddin Zangi, the powerful Turkish governor in northern Syria. He received a taste of military life under the guided eyes of his uncle, Asaddin, and the academic and religious elements from his father. Following the tradition in those days, Saladin was trained to be expert horse rider and handled various weapons of combat, such as the sword in and archery. While growing up, Saladin was an ordinary undistinguished youth, with a greater interest in religious studies, rather than military achievement.

Uniting the Muslims. Egypt became the stepping stone for Saladin’s ambition to recapture Jerusalem. This opportunity came when he was part of the triumphant army sent to Egypt by the Emir of Damascus to face the onslaught of the Crusaders. Upon the death of the vizier and his uncle, (army commander Asaddin), he was appointed as the Vizier of Egypt, keeping alliance to the emir in Damascus. When the Emir in Damascus died, Saladin proceeded in his plan to unite the fractional Muslims states with single minded intention to stage a holy war. costituzione.