Part 8

When the reader reached the verse in which Allah says, iLd ildha ilia Huwa (none has the right to be worshipped but He)! In Him is my trust' (Quran 13:30), Salah ad-Deen smiled and his face lit up, and he surrendered his soul to its Creator, glory be to Him. He did not leave behind in his stores any gold apart from one dinar and a few dirhams.9 He did not leave behind any house, property, farm, garden or any kind of wealth or property. People were moved by the death of Salah ad-Deen. Even European historians prayed for mercy for Salah ad-Deen and praised his justice, strength and tolerance. They regarded him as the greatest character of the entire Crusader era. And the life of Salah ad-Deen will, by Allah's leave, continue to offer to the Muslims the example of his resolve, which may bring back to life the brilliance, delight and beauty of those glorious days of the past, and highlight to coming generations of Muslims the importance of bringing the great mission of Islamic civilisation completely under the banner of the People of the Sunnah and the Community. With the death of Salah adDeen, one of the brightest chapters of history ended, in which human society had seen a brilliant man of the likes of Noor ad-Deen Mahmood ashShaheed. He had no interest in amassing wealth, he was never attracted to power, and he never diverted from his greatest aim, which was to cleanse the Muslim lands of the Crusaders, to impose defeat upon them and make them go back whence they had come. One of the important lessons of this book is to understand the conflict in courses of action at the time of Salah ad-Deen. There were three ventures in constant conflict and at the peak of the conflict was the Crusader mission which had been led by the church from the time of Urban II, the Rafidi Shiite venture led by the Fatimid state in Egypt, and the true Islamic endeavour, the banner of which was carried after Noor ad-Deen by Salah ad-Deen. The core issues on which the People of the Sunnah were focusing at the state and local levels were enhancing the Sunni identity, reviving true Islam in people's hearts, confronting and refuting the specious arguments of the Shiite and preparing the Ummah to resist the Crusaders. These fundamental issues were interconnected and were being dealt with at the same time; the liberation of Jerusalem and defeat of the Crusaders in the battle of Hattin only came about after the Fatimid state had been quashed, both politically and militarily. It was preceded by ideological, intellectual, educational, historical and cultural victories for the Sunni madh-hab. Those who were able to liberate Jerusalem and capture other cities, citadels and fortresses from the Crusaders were those who were distinguished by their sound Islamic mission. They understood the dangers of the endeavours of those groups that espoused esoteric interpretations alien to Islam, resisted them with complete resolve and determination. Any nation that wants to revitalize itself and rise again must revive its historical memory and learn lessons from history which may benefit it in the present and help it to plan for its future. Reading history gives the researcher, commander, leader, king or president an idea of the lives of those who went before. Awareness of history bears fruit by enabling people to change the reality of the present and plan for the future. Without this it is impossible to advance; there will never be a revival among those who do not understand or learn the laws of Allah and the lessons to be learned from history. Resurgence in general terms requires the tools of the pen and the tongue. No revival effort in history has ever succeeded without the strength of words written by pens or spoken on the tongue, expressing sincere hearts which call for it and propagate its principles among the people. Producing useful books on this topic is essential in the world of conflict, debate and argument, which comes under the heading of the law of 'checking one set of people by means of another'10 in ideas, beliefs, culture and methods. This comes before checking one set of people by means of another in a political or military sense. Any ambitious, expansionist political program requires beliefs and ideas to motivate it: the pen is what begets the sword, the tongue is what begets the spear and the book is what begets battalions. The Encyclopedia of the Crusades (Mawsoo 'ah al-Huroob asSaleebiyah) — of which as-Salajiqah wa 'Asr ad-Dawlah az-Zinkiyah (The Seljuks and the era of the Zangid state) and this book have been published so far — answers many of the questions that have been asked locally, regionally and internationally. This era of history offers convincing historical evidence that Islam is able at any moment, when intentions are sincere, faith is true, commitment is responsible, intelligence is aware and there is understanding of the laws of revitalization and of building civilisations and states, to reclaim its leading role in forging civilisations and bringing people out from the confines of their societies to the justice of Islam. I completed this introduction on the 15th of Sha'ban 1428/28 August 2007, at 4 pm after 'asr11 prayer. Praise be to Allah first and last.