WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.000 In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. 00:00:04.000 --> 00:00:09.380 The Mawaddah Association presents: 00:00:09.380 --> 00:00:13.380 "Events in Ramadan." 00:00:13.380 --> 00:00:16.739 By Ra'd al-Rahman Ra'fat al-Basha. 00:00:16.739 --> 00:00:21.019 The Demolition of the City of Ashkelon. 00:00:21.019 --> 00:00:26.019 On the first of Ramadan in the year 587 AH. 00:00:26.019 --> 00:00:29.019 There was a hero among the heroes of the Muslims, 00:00:29.019 --> 00:00:33.020 gripping a large pickaxe with both of his strong hands, 00:00:33.020 --> 00:00:37.020 and swinging it against the fortifications of a city belonging to his Ummah, 00:00:37.020 --> 00:00:41.020 a precious pearl among the gems of his kingdom. 00:00:41.020 --> 00:00:44.340 With him were his sons and his brothers, 00:00:44.340 --> 00:00:46.340 his forces and his soldiers, 00:00:46.340 --> 00:00:49.340 and vast throngs of his people. 00:00:49.340 --> 00:00:55.340 In the hand of each of them was a pickaxe, striking at a side of the city. 00:00:55.340 --> 00:00:58.380 As for the one holding the large pickaxe, 00:00:58.380 --> 00:01:02.380 he was the great hero, Salah al-Din. 00:01:02.380 --> 00:01:06.379 And as for the stricken city, it was Ashkelon. 00:01:06.379 --> 00:01:12.540 Ashkelon was not, at that time, some remote village abandoned by its inhabitants, 00:01:12.540 --> 00:01:17.540 left to the elements to demolish and ruin. 00:01:17.540 --> 00:01:21.540 Nor was it a small, crumbling village 00:01:21.540 --> 00:01:24.540 that one would find easy to abandon, 00:01:24.540 --> 00:01:28.569 or easy to set one's hands to destroy. 00:01:28.569 --> 00:01:32.569 Rather, it was one of the greatest cities of Palestine, 00:01:32.569 --> 00:01:35.569 situated between Gaza and Bayt Jibrin, 00:01:35.569 --> 00:01:39.569 resting on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea, 00:01:39.569 --> 00:01:42.569 with towering heights and impregnable fortifications. 00:01:42.569 --> 00:01:46.569 It stood like a giant in the middle of the road between Egypt and the Levant. 00:01:46.569 --> 00:01:51.569 It watched like a vigilant sentry over the approaches of the sea. 00:01:51.569 --> 00:01:55.629 Ashkelon combined majesty with beauty; 00:01:55.629 --> 00:01:59.629 for in addition to its formidable fortifications 00:01:59.629 --> 00:02:05.629 and its towering battlements, it possessed clear signs of splendor and grace, 00:02:05.629 --> 00:02:09.629 such that historians called it the "Bride of the Levant." 00:02:09.629 --> 00:02:15.629 It was a title they were stingy with, bestowing it only upon Ashkelon and Damascus. 00:02:15.629 --> 00:02:21.759 The demolition of Ashkelon at the hands of Salah al-Din has a long, stirring story, 00:02:21.759 --> 00:02:26.759 beginning in the era of the Rightly Guided Caliph, Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him), 00:02:26.759 --> 00:02:29.889 and continuing to this very day. 00:02:29.889 --> 00:02:34.889 The Muslims conquered the city of Ashkelon during the era of al-Faruq (may Allah be pleased with him), 00:02:34.889 --> 00:02:38.889 when he sent word to Mu'awiyah ibn Abi Sufyan, 00:02:38.889 --> 00:02:43.889 commanding him to conquer Ashkelon and the neighboring coastal cities. 00:02:43.889 --> 00:02:47.889 Mu'awiyah obeyed the command and conquered the fortified city, 00:02:47.889 --> 00:02:52.889 and stationed guards there to protect it from the raids of the Byzantines. 00:02:52.889 --> 00:03:00.889 Then, groups of the noble Companions and the great Tabi'un began to flock to Ashkelon, 00:03:00.889 --> 00:03:04.889 until it became a center of knowledge and religion, 00:03:04.889 --> 00:03:07.889 and a refuge for the memorizers of the Qur'an and scholars of hadith. 00:03:07.889 --> 00:03:11.889 The fortified city of Ashkelon remained in the hands of the Muslims 00:03:11.889 --> 00:03:14.889 for five centuries and a quarter of a century, 00:03:14.889 --> 00:03:17.889 holding the reins of the road between Egypt and the Levant, 00:03:17.889 --> 00:03:21.889 and blocking the sea routes against every aggression. 00:03:21.889 --> 00:03:25.979 In the year 548 AH, 00:03:25.979 --> 00:03:30.979 the Crusader invasion swept over it, along with other Muslim lands they had overrun. 00:03:30.979 --> 00:03:35.979 Its fall, along with the fall of its sister city Acre, into the hands of the Franks, 00:03:35.979 --> 00:03:40.979 was a thorn in the throats of the Muslims and a speck of dust in the eyes of the mujahidin. 00:03:40.979 --> 00:03:45.979 This is because whoever possessed Acre and Ashkelon possessed Jerusalem, 00:03:45.979 --> 00:03:48.979 and severed the route between Egypt and the Levant. 00:03:48.979 --> 00:03:55.400 Ashkelon and Acre remained in the hands of the Crusaders for nearly thirty-five years, 00:03:55.400 --> 00:04:02.400 until Allah decreed that they be conquered at the hands of the hero of Islam and the Muslims, Salah al-Din. 00:04:02.400 --> 00:04:06.530 On the day Salah al-Din conquered the city of Ashkelon, 00:04:06.530 --> 00:04:08.530 hopes blossomed in his heart, 00:04:08.530 --> 00:04:13.530 and he was overcome with a joy he had not felt with any previous conquest. 00:04:13.530 --> 00:04:18.560 It is no wonder, for Ashkelon would bring him closer to his greatest aspiration: 00:04:18.560 --> 00:04:21.560 the aspiration of liberating Jerusalem. 00:04:21.560 --> 00:04:25.560 Salah al-Din sent a message to his people in Egypt 00:04:25.560 --> 00:04:27.560 following the conquest of Ashkelon, 00:04:27.560 --> 00:04:32.560 in which he said, after praising Allah as He deserves: 00:04:32.560 --> 00:04:34.560 "We descended upon Ashkelon, 00:04:35.560 --> 00:04:40.560 the impregnable stronghold, the fortified fortress, and the towering mountain. 00:04:40.560 --> 00:04:44.560 It possessed a strength that exceeded all expectations. 00:04:44.560 --> 00:04:49.560 We conquered it fourteen days after we descended upon it, 00:04:49.560 --> 00:04:52.560 and the banners of Tawhid were raised upon its walls, 00:04:52.560 --> 00:04:55.560 its homes were inhabited by Muslims, 00:04:55.560 --> 00:04:59.560 and the mu'adhdhins called the takbir in all its quarters. 00:04:59.560 --> 00:05:02.560 Our resolve is set on heading toward Jerusalem; 00:05:02.560 --> 00:05:07.560 if Allah grants victory, we shall then turn to the city of Tyre. 00:05:07.560 --> 00:05:09.560 Peace be upon you." 00:05:09.560 --> 00:05:12.819 After the conquest of Ashkelon, Salah al-Din realized 00:05:12.819 --> 00:05:16.819 that a door of goodness had been opened for him, 00:05:16.819 --> 00:05:18.819 and that he must enter it. 00:05:18.819 --> 00:05:22.819 He used to repeat the saying of the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): 00:05:22.819 --> 00:05:26.819 "Whoever has a door of goodness opened for him, let him seize it, 00:05:26.819 --> 00:05:29.819 for he does not know when it will be closed against him." 00:05:31.009 --> 00:05:34.009 At that, he gathered his scattered troops, 00:05:34.009 --> 00:05:37.009 consolidated his divided forces, 00:05:37.009 --> 00:05:40.009 assembled the elite of his soldiers and the best of his commanders, 00:05:40.009 --> 00:05:43.009 and set out for the great conquest. 00:05:43.009 --> 00:05:46.199 On Sunday, the 15th of Rajab, 00:05:46.199 --> 00:05:50.199 in the year 583 AH, 00:05:50.199 --> 00:05:55.199 Salah al-Din descended upon the Crusaders in Jerusalem like the hand of fate. 00:05:55.199 --> 00:05:57.199 On the 27th of that month, 00:05:57.199 --> 00:06:01.199 the hero liberated the city from the hands of the Crusaders, 00:06:01.199 --> 00:06:05.199 and brought down the Great Cross from atop the Noble Rock, 00:06:05.199 --> 00:06:10.199 after it had remained in the grip of the Crusaders for over ninety years. 00:06:10.199 --> 00:06:13.329 The fall of Jerusalem stirred the fury of Europe; 00:06:13.329 --> 00:06:15.329 it rose up in an uproar. 00:06:15.329 --> 00:06:18.329 This great event shook the throne of the Pope, 00:06:18.329 --> 00:06:21.329 who began to warn of woe and destruction, 00:06:21.329 --> 00:06:23.329 and called for a holy war. 00:06:23.329 --> 00:06:26.329 Men rushed from every direction, 00:06:26.329 --> 00:06:29.329 wealth flowed from every pocket, 00:06:29.329 --> 00:06:32.329 and weapons poured in from every path. 00:06:32.329 --> 00:06:34.389 The road to Jerusalem 00:06:34.389 --> 00:06:37.389 was through Acre and Ashkelon. 00:06:37.389 --> 00:06:42.620 The Crusaders attacked Acre with an assault the likes of which history had never witnessed, 00:06:42.620 --> 00:06:47.620 and the Muslims defended it with a defense the likes of which history had never witnessed. 00:06:47.620 --> 00:06:51.870 Salah al-Din stood alone against all of Europe, 00:06:51.870 --> 00:06:54.870 and he and his army suffered such exhaustion 00:06:54.870 --> 00:06:56.870 that they could no longer bear it. 00:06:56.870 --> 00:06:59.870 He realized that he would inevitably be defeated 00:06:59.870 --> 00:07:03.870 if a helping hand did not reach him from the Caliph of the Muslims. 00:07:03.870 --> 00:07:06.870 So he sent a message from the fields of jihad 00:07:06.870 --> 00:07:10.870 to the calm and tranquil Caliph in Baghdad, 00:07:10.870 --> 00:07:12.870 in which he said: 00:07:12.870 --> 00:07:14.870 "The long duration and the heavy expense 00:07:14.870 --> 00:07:17.870 have taken their toll on us and our soldiers. 00:07:17.870 --> 00:07:19.870 The disbelievers are being reinforced by the sea; 00:07:19.870 --> 00:07:22.870 the sea brings them ships more numerous than its waves, 00:07:22.870 --> 00:07:25.870 and soldiers more plentiful than its foam. 00:07:25.870 --> 00:07:29.870 If the Muslims kill one of them on land, 00:07:29.870 --> 00:07:32.870 the sea sends a thousand in his place, 00:07:32.870 --> 00:07:36.899 and if one rank of them is wiped out, they bring twenty more." 00:07:36.899 --> 00:07:38.899 Then he said: 00:07:38.899 --> 00:07:41.899 "The King of the Germans has come out against us, 00:07:41.899 --> 00:07:43.899 along with the kings of the Cross, 00:07:43.899 --> 00:07:45.899 the masses from beyond the sea, 00:07:45.899 --> 00:07:47.899 and the hordes of all the nations of disbelief. 00:07:47.899 --> 00:07:50.899 Their Pope has forbidden them every comfort, 00:07:50.899 --> 00:07:53.899 extracted every reserve from their treasuries, 00:07:53.899 --> 00:07:56.899 clothed them in mourning garments, 00:07:56.899 --> 00:07:58.899 and bound them to the plan of jihad, 00:07:58.899 --> 00:08:02.899 so that they might seize from our hands the tomb of Christ 00:08:02.899 --> 00:08:05.899 and rescue the Church of the Holy Sepulchre from us." 00:08:05.899 --> 00:08:07.939 Then he continued: 00:08:07.939 --> 00:08:11.939 "This requires us to exhaust the resolve of men 00:08:11.939 --> 00:08:14.939 and deplete our financial treasuries. 00:08:14.939 --> 00:08:17.939 It is incumbent upon the Caliph of the Muslims 00:08:17.939 --> 00:08:20.939 to protect the qiblah of his subjects, 00:08:20.939 --> 00:08:22.939 and to remove their affliction." 00:08:22.939 --> 00:08:24.939 Then he said: 00:08:24.939 --> 00:08:28.939 “He said: My Lord! I have control of none but myself and my brother, so distinguish between us and the wrong-doing folk.” (5:25) 00:08:28.939 --> 00:08:31.939 "My brother has already joined your side, 00:08:31.939 --> 00:08:33.940 and here are my children; 00:08:33.940 --> 00:08:37.940 I have exposed their faces to your enemy, 00:08:37.940 --> 00:08:41.940 and for your sake, I would not mind seeing them suffer harm." 00:08:41.940 --> 00:08:44.970 Then he implored the Caliph, saying: 00:08:44.970 --> 00:08:49.970 "O kin of Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), 00:08:49.970 --> 00:08:51.970 be his successor in his Ummah, 00:08:51.970 --> 00:08:53.970 and fulfill your duty toward them. 00:08:53.970 --> 00:08:55.970 Do not delay our aid, 00:08:55.970 --> 00:09:00.970 for the benefit of relief is only found before it is too late." 00:09:00.970 --> 00:09:04.000 Then he concluded his sorrowful letter, saying: 00:09:04.000 --> 00:09:06.000 "Furthermore, 00:09:06.000 --> 00:09:09.000 even if time has bitten us, we remain. 00:09:10.000 --> 00:09:14.000 We pledge to Allah that we shall remain standing 00:09:14.000 --> 00:09:16.000 until we are victorious or we have fulfilled our duty. 00:09:16.000 --> 00:09:20.000 And that no one shall reach the descendants of Ahmad 00:09:20.000 --> 00:09:24.350 as long as there remains one of the descendants of the Ayyubids to be remembered." 00:09:24.350 --> 00:09:30.350 Salah al-Din's letter did not find a listening ear from the Caliph and his men, 00:09:30.350 --> 00:09:33.419 nor did it find receptive hearts. 00:09:33.419 --> 00:09:36.419 The Muslims continued to defend Acre 00:09:36.419 --> 00:09:39.419 until it fell into the hands of the Crusaders, 00:09:39.419 --> 00:09:44.419 after swords had become blunt, arms had grown weary, and resolve had faltered. 00:09:44.419 --> 00:09:48.480 It was a day of great calamity for the Muslims. 00:09:48.480 --> 00:09:50.480 The Crusaders did not miss the opportunity; 00:09:50.480 --> 00:09:53.480 they directed their armies toward Ashkelon, 00:09:53.480 --> 00:09:56.480 and beyond Ashkelon lay Jerusalem. 00:09:56.480 --> 00:10:02.480 Salah al-Din found himself unable to repel the Crusaders from Ashkelon, 00:10:02.480 --> 00:10:07.700 and realized he had to make a firm decision in a critical situation. 00:10:07.700 --> 00:10:11.700 Making firm decisions in critical situations 00:10:11.700 --> 00:10:15.700 is a matter that only the greatest of men can handle. 00:10:15.700 --> 00:10:20.700 Umar ibn al-Khattab made a firm decision in a critical situation 00:10:20.700 --> 00:10:23.700 the day he pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr at the Saqifah, 00:10:23.700 --> 00:10:26.700 thereby ending evil and establishing order. 00:10:26.700 --> 00:10:30.700 Abu Bakr made a firm decision in a critical situation 00:10:30.700 --> 00:10:34.299 when he resolved to fight those who withheld zakat, 00:10:34.299 --> 00:10:37.100 thereby protecting Islam and preserving the religion. 00:10:37.100 --> 00:10:41.769 Salah al-Din made a firm decision in a critical situation, 00:10:41.769 --> 00:10:43.970 and decided to demolish Ashkelon 00:10:43.970 --> 00:10:46.169 and remove it from existence, 00:10:46.169 --> 00:10:50.970 so that the enemy would not use it as a fortress, a residence, or a base. 00:10:50.970 --> 00:10:55.259 It would have been difficult for Salah al-Din to make his decision 00:10:55.259 --> 00:10:59.059 had he not been a leader who was fully empowered and obeyed. 00:10:59.500 --> 00:11:02.700 And it would have been difficult for the Muslims to execute it 00:11:02.700 --> 00:11:05.700 had they not been on the same level as their leader. 00:11:05.700 --> 00:11:09.299 Salah al-Din said on the day he issued his decision: 00:11:09.299 --> 00:11:12.299 "By Allah, to lose all my children 00:11:12.299 --> 00:11:16.899 is dearer to me than to demolish a single stone of Ashkelon, 00:11:16.899 --> 00:11:21.879 but there is a benefit for Islam and the Muslims in doing so." 00:11:21.879 --> 00:11:24.080 In late Sha'ban, 00:11:24.080 --> 00:11:29.679 Salah al-Din sent his army to hinder the Crusader advance toward Ashkelon. 00:11:29.679 --> 00:11:31.879 On the first of Ramadan, 00:11:31.879 --> 00:11:36.480 he raised his pickaxes to demolish the great, ancient city, 00:11:36.480 --> 00:11:40.340 with vast throngs of Muslims alongside him. 00:11:40.340 --> 00:11:42.740 Then time turned its cycle, 00:11:42.740 --> 00:11:47.139 and the swords of the Muslims drove the remnants of the Crusaders into the sea. 00:11:47.139 --> 00:11:51.139 The descendants of Salah al-Din rebuilt Ashkelon, 00:11:51.340 --> 00:11:54.340 and settled their children and offspring there. 00:11:54.340 --> 00:11:59.340 It remained in the hands of the Muslims until the Jews took it from them, 00:11:59.340 --> 00:12:02.539 and gave it the name Ashdod. 00:12:02.539 --> 00:12:06.139 The city, stricken by its new invaders, 00:12:06.139 --> 00:12:10.940 awaits today the liberating leader and the saving hero. 00:12:10.940 --> 00:12:14.940 So, congratulations to the one through whose hands salvation will come.