In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
Mawaddah Association presents
It happened in Ramadan
Id al-Rahman Rafah al-Pasha
Demolition of the city of Ashkelon
On the beginning of Ramadan in the year 587 AH
He was a Muslim hero
He holds a large pickaxe with both strong hands
And he will fall upon the fortresses of one of the cities of his nation
A precious pearl of his kingdom
His sons and brothers were with him
And his forces and soldiers
And large numbers of his people
Each of them had a pickaxe in his hand, which he used to attack one side of the city
As for the owner of the big pick
He is the great hero Saladin
As for the afflicted city, it is Ashkelon
Ashkelon at that time was not one of the remote places from which its companions had fled
They left it to the elements of nature, which demolished and ruined it
It was not one of the small, dilapidated villages
Which is easy for souls to depart from
And the hands must reach out to destroy it
Rather, it was one of the largest cities in Palestine
It is located between Gaza and Beit Jibreen
And he crouched down on the magician of the Mediterranean
High peaks, impregnable fortresses
The giant stops you in the middle of the road between Egypt and the Levant
The wary worms look at you on the outskirts of the sea
Ashkelon was filled with majestic beauty
In addition to its ruined forts, it possesses
Its towers are clear signs of splendor and beauty
Until historians called her the bride of the Levant
It was a title they cherished, and they did not take it off except over her and Damascus
The demolition of Ashkelon in the hands of Saladin has a long and exciting story
It begins from the era of the Rightly Guided Caliph Omar bin Al-Khattab, may God be pleased with him
And it continues to this day
Muslims conquered the city of Ashkelon during the reign of Al-Farouq, may God be pleased with him
That was when he was sent to Muawiyah bin Abi Sufyan
He orders him to conquer Ashkelon and the surrounding coastal cities
Muawiyah announced the order and conquered the fortified city
He set up guards over it to protect it from the Roman attacks
Then groups after groups of honorable companions and great followers flocked to Umm Ashkelon
Until it became present among the cities of science and religion
And a habitat for preservation and modernization
Fortified Ashkelon remained in Muslim hands
He said five and a quarter centuries
Take control of the road between Egypt and the Levant
The sea outlets are blocked in the face of all aggression
In the year five hundred and forty-eight
The Crusader invasion swept it away, among other things, from Muslim countries
Its fall and that of its sister Akka fell into the hands of the Franks
An insult to the throats of Muslims and filth in the eyes of the Mujahideen
This is because from the king of Acre and Ashkelon is the king of Jerusalem
The road between Egypt and the Levant was cut off
Ashkelon and Acre remained in the hands of the Crusaders for about thirty-five years
Until God decreed for them to be conquered at the hands of the hero of Islam and Muslims, Saladin
The day Saladin conquered the city of Ashkelon
Hope laughed in his chest
And he possesses happiness that he did not possess with conquest before
There is no surprise, as Ashkelon will be close to the greatest wish
It is the wish to conquer Jerusalem
Saladin sent a message to his family in Egypt
Effect of the conquest of Ashkelon
He said in it after praising God and praising Him for what He deserves
We went down to Ashkelon
It is an impregnable stronghold, a fortified fortress, and a lofty mountain
It has such strength that hopes for achieving something like it fall short
We opened it fourteen days after we landed on it
So the flags of monotheism were erected on its walls
She populated her lands with Muslims
The muezzins spoke loudly in all its regions
The intention is to head to Jerusalem
If God grants victory and victory, we will return to the city of Tyre
Peace be upon you
Saladin realized after the conquest of Ashkelon
A door of goodness has been opened for him
And he must enter it
He was repeating the words of the Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him
Whoever opens a door to goodness, let him seize it
He does not know when it will be closed without him
At that point, he was with his scattered drunkards
He united his scattered forces
He gathered his elite soldiers and his best commanders
And he aimed for the great conquest
On Sunday the fifteenth of Rajab
Year 583 AH
Saladin descended on the Crusaders in Jerusalem like the descent of Al-Manun
On the twenty-seventh of it
The hero liberated the city from the hands of the Crusaders
The largest cross was lowered from the towering rock
After being in the hands of the Crusaders for more than ninety years
The fall of Jerusalem stirred up Europe
She got up and did not sit down
The major incident shook the Pope's chair
It portends woe and destruction
He calls for holy jihad
The men rushed from every direction
Money flowed from every pocket
Weapons rained down from every direction
It was the road to Jerusalem
It is Akka and Ashkelon
The Crusaders attacked Acre in an attack unprecedented in history
The Muslims defended it with a defense unprecedented in history
Saladin alone stood against all of Europe
He and his army achieved it with great effort
The like of which they have never seen before
He realized that he would inevitably be defeated
If a helping hand is not extended to him from the Caliph of the Muslims
So he sent a message from the fields of jihad
To the gentle and reassured Caliph in Baghdad
He said in it
It affected us and our soldiers
Long period and heavy expense
And the infidels are supplied by the sea
The sea provides them with more boats than its waves
And more abundant soldiers than Agagah
If Muslims kill one of them on land
The sea sent an alpha instead
If a row of them was destroyed, they would come in twenty rows
Then he said
The king of the Germans has come out to us
And the kings of crosses
And crowds beyond the sea
And crowds of disbelief races
Their father forbade them from everything permissible
And extract from their boxes everything stored
He dressed them in mourning clothes
He committed them to the plan of jihad
Until they extract from our hands the tomb of Christ
And they save the Church of the Resurrection from us
Then follow what he says
This requires us to exhaust the resolve of men
We are depleting our coffers
It is obligatory for the Caliph of Muslims
To preserve the qibla of his subjects
And to remove their illness from them
Then he said
Lord, I only have myself and my brother
And now my brother has joined you
And these are my children
The pages have highlighted their faces to your enemy
And it is easy for me, out of love for you, to see the bad in them
Then the Caliph shouted, saying:
O group of Muhammad, the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace
I will succeed him in his nation
He gave him the right to them
And do not delay help from us
The benefit of relief comes only before the aftermath
Then he concluded his sad message by saying:
And after
For within us, even if time passes, it remains
We pledge to God that we will remain standing
Until we are victorious or excused
And that no one should reach Ahmed’s descendants
There is not a single person left in the descendants of Banu Ayyub
Saladin's message was not heeded by the Caliph and his men
It did not reach any conscious minds
The Muslims continued to fight for Acre
Until it fell into the hands of the Crusaders
After the swords were let down, the arms were exhausted, and the resolves were weak
It was a great day for Muslims
The Crusaders didn't miss the chance
He directed their armies towards Ashkelon
And after Ashkelon, Jerusalem
Saladin found himself unable to repel the Crusaders from Ashkelon
He must make a firm decision in a critical situation
And make firm decisions in critical situations
Something that only great men can do
Omar bin Al-Khattab made a firm decision in a decisive situation
The day he pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr in Saqifa
So the evil was resolved and the matter was approved
Abu Bakr took the decisive decision in the decisive situation
When he decided to fight the obstructionist of zakat
He protected Islam and preserved the religion
Saladin took the firm decision in the decisive situation
He decided to demolish Ashkelon
And remove them from existence
So that the enemy does not take it as a fortress, residence, and departure point
It was difficult for Saladin to make his decision
If he was not at the level of an authorized and obeyed leader
It was difficult for Muslims to implement it
If they were not at the level of the leader
Saladin said the day he issued his decision
I swear to God that I will lose all my children
I love it more than demolishing a single stone from Ashkelon
But this is in the interest of Islam and Muslims
At the end of Shaban
Saladin sent his army to hinder the Crusaders' advance towards Ashkelon
And at the beginning of Ramadan
He raised his shovels to demolish the large, ancient city
With him were large crowds of Muslims
Then time ran its course
The Muslim swords pushed the remnants of the Crusaders into the sea
Saladin's sons rebuilt Ashkelon
And they inhabited it with their children and descendants
It remained in the hands of Muslims until the Jews took it from them
They called it Ashdod
The city is afflicted by its new invaders
Today you are waiting for the liberating leader and the savior hero
Congratulations to the one who will be saved