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معركة حطين
The Battle of Hattin stands as one of the defining moments in Islamic military history. Fought on 4 July 1187 CE (25 Rabi' al-Akhir 583 AH) near the Horns of Hattin in Palestine, it shattered Crusader military power in the Levant and opened the path for the liberation of al-Quds (Jerusalem) after 88 years of Frankish occupation.
By the mid-twelfth century, the Muslim world had suffered decades of division while the Crusader states consolidated their hold on the coast of Sham. The fall of Jerusalem in 1099 CE and the massacre of its Muslim and Jewish inhabitants remained a wound in the collective memory of the ummah. Scholars and preachers called repeatedly for unity and jihad, but political fragmentation between the Fatimids of Egypt, the Zengids of Mosul and Aleppo, and various local emirs prevented any coordinated response.
Salah ad-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub (Saladin), a Kurdish officer who had risen through the ranks under Nur ad-Din Zengi, spent nearly two decades methodically unifying Egypt and Syria under one command. He abolished the Fatimid caliphate in Cairo, restored Sunni authority, and brought Damascus, Aleppo, and Mosul into a single alliance. By 1187, for the first time since the Crusaders arrived, the Muslim states surrounding the Crusader kingdoms were united under a single leader committed to the recovery of Jerusalem.
The immediate cause of the campaign was the repeated treachery of Raynald of Chatillon, lord of Kerak. Despite truces negotiated between Saladin and the Kingdom of Jerusalem, Raynald attacked Muslim trade caravans passing through his territory and even launched a naval expedition into the Red Sea threatening the Hijaz and the pilgrim routes to Makkah and Madinah. When King Guy of Lusignan failed to restrain Raynald or return the plundered goods, Saladin declared the truce void and mobilized the largest Muslim army assembled in a generation.
Saladin crossed the Jordan River with an army estimated between 20,000 and 30,000 soldiers and laid siege to the city of Tiberias on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. The move was calculated. Tiberias belonged to Countess Eschiva, wife of Raymond III of Tripoli, and its fall would compel the Crusaders to march out from their fortified positions.
The Crusader army, numbering around 20,000 including 1,200 heavily armored knights, gathered at Saffuriyya where water was plentiful. Raymond of Tripoli, an experienced commander who understood the terrain, advised against marching in the July heat across the waterless plateau toward Tiberias. Raynald of Chatillon and Gerard de Ridefort, Grand Master of the Templars, accused Raymond of cowardice and pressured King Guy into ordering the advance.
The decision proved catastrophic. On 3 July, the Crusader column set out across arid, exposed ground with no reliable water sources. Muslim cavalry harassed the flanks continuously, setting fire to the dry brush to increase the soldiers' thirst and confusion. By nightfall, the Crusaders had failed to reach the lake and were forced to make camp on the barren plateau near the twin peaks known as the Horns of Hattin.
At dawn on 4 July, Saladin's forces encircled the exhausted, dehydrated Crusader army. Muslim archers poured volleys into the densely packed formations while cavalry charges broke up attempts to reach the water. The Crusader infantry, maddened by thirst, broke ranks and fled toward the hilltops where they were surrounded. Several charges by the Crusader knights failed to break through Saladin's lines.
By midday, the battle was over. King Guy was captured in his royal tent along with the relic the Crusaders called the True Cross. The bulk of the Crusader army was killed or taken prisoner.
Saladin treated King Guy with the courtesy expected of a noble prisoner, offering him chilled water. Raynald of Chatillon, however, was brought before Saladin and reminded of his crimes against Muslim pilgrims and caravans. When Raynald showed no remorse, Saladin struck him and he was executed. Captured Templars and Hospitallers, the military orders most hostile to the Muslims, were also put to death.
With the Crusader field army destroyed, the fortified cities of the coast fell one after another. On 2 October 1187 (27 Rajab 583 AH), the anniversary of the Prophet's Isra and Mi'raj, Saladin entered Jerusalem. In stark contrast to the Crusader conquest of 1099, there was no general massacre. Residents were allowed to ransom themselves, and many who could not pay were released freely. Churches were left intact, and Eastern Christians were permitted to remain.
Hattin demonstrated what unified Muslim leadership could achieve. Saladin's victory was built not on a single day of fighting but on years of patient coalition-building, strategic discipline, and adherence to the principles of just warfare. His conduct after the battle, his mercy toward civilians and prisoners of rank, and his respect for places of worship earned recognition even from his enemies and remain a model of chivalry grounded in Islamic ethics.