Part of It happened in Ramadan (the series is completed)
· Lesson 7 of 10
Event in Ramadan | D. Abdul Rahman Raafat Al-Basha | H (7) | The fall of Al-Aqsa Mosque at the hands of the Crusaders
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Transcript
Machine translation — may contain errors
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In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
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The Mawaddah Association presents:
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"Events in Ramadan,"
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by Abd al-Rahman Ra'fat al-Basha.
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The fall of al-Masjid al-Aqsa into Crusader hands,
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in the year 492 AH.
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The Islamic world was shaken from end to end
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by the Crusaders' occupation of the First Qibla,
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the Third of the Sacred Mosques,
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and the destination of the Night Journey of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him.
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It was a sorrowful day among the days of the Muslims,
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whose bitterness the passage of time could not erase,
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nor could great events wipe away its memory.
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Have you seen a palace of towering structure,
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with firm foundations,
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impregnable, filled with warmth, and overflowing with life?
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Then, the tides of fate turned against it,
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and calamities befell it,
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until it became desolate, stripped of its protectors,
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becoming haunting after having been welcoming,
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gloomy after having been radiant.
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The wind howls in its corners,
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owls nest in its balconies,
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and snakes hiss in its halls and chambers.
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Such was the state of the Islamic world
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in the late fourth century AH.
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The Caliph in Baghdad had locked his doors upon himself,
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content with the fleeting worldly goods thrown to him by the usurpers.
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The Caliph in Cairo was preoccupied with superstitions,
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using them to secure his kingdom and protect his throne.
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The Muslims were drowned in internal conflicts,
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and because the people forgot Allah, He forgot them,
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and abandoned them,
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leaving them to His enemy and theirs.
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This state of the Islamic world
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was the greatest incitement for the Pope
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and the Emperor of Constantinople to invade the lands of the Muslims
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and ignite the Crusades,
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which had not ceased for a single moment since Islam appeared on the face of the earth.
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They were like fire smoldering in the ashes;
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whenever a favorable wind blew upon them,
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they flared up and ignited.
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The Crusader hordes were driven toward the East,
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with hatred boiling in their chests,
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and their hearts fueled by malice.
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They overran the fortified walls of Antioch,
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then descended upon Ma'arrat al-Nu'man,
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the town of Abu al-'Ala.
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The brave inhabitants of Ma'arra resisted the Crusader hordes
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with a resistance far greater than their own capacity,
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but the invaders soon occupied the city at nightfall.
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They silenced the voices of the muezzins from atop the minarets,
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and put the people to the sword,
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killing every man, woman, and child.
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They began trampling with their boots upon the corpses of the slain,
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after they had filled the paths and blocked the roads.
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The Crusader army continued its march,
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reaping cities and villages like a harvest.
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Then, the Crusaders turned their faces toward Jerusalem,
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which was then in the hands of the Fatimids.
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Soon, the Islamic world was shaken from end to end
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by the Crusaders' occupation of the First Qibla,
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the Third of the Sacred Mosques,
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and the destination of the Night Journey of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
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without any notable resistance.
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The Crusaders gave themselves free rein in the City of Peace for seven days,
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each day of which was like a hundred years by our count.
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They set their swords upon necks,
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and made blood flow in the streets.
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They piled up the corpses of the slain,
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and from them, they built mounds.
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They entered the homes,
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taking those within as captives,
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and occupied the palaces,
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ripping open the bellies of the inhabitants in search of dinars hidden in their intestines.
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Then, they raided al-Masjid al-Aqsa,
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entering its secure courtyards,
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where seventy thousand had sought refuge,
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among them the scholar and the worshiper,
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the pious and the ascetic,
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the woman and the infant.
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They entered the Holy Sanctuary with their horses,
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whose hooves trampled upon the dismembered bodies,
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and whose legs were stained with blood.
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Then, they plundered the treasures within al-Aqsa,
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and among what they looted
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were the chandeliers made of pure silver and solid gold.
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Then, they left a garrison in the sorrowful city,
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and set out to conquer cities and demolish fortresses.
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The Muslims in the East and the West turned
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to the Fatimid Caliph of Egypt,
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the master of Jerusalem,
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hoping he would rescue it from the hands of its occupiers
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and cleanse it from the filth of its usurpers.
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But they found him subservient to his vizier,
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and his vizier was a man of suspicion.
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They sent a delegation, including Judge Abu Sa'id al-Harawi,
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to the Caliph of Baghdad.
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The delegation arrived at the Caliph's court,
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and recounted news that made eyes weep,
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eyelids sore, and hearts ache.
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They stood in the mosque on Friday,
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crying out for help, weeping, and making others weep,
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and they told the people what had befallen the fasting Muslims in Ramadan,
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of the killing of men, the enslavement of women, and the looting of wealth.
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But the Caliph of Baghdad
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was powerless, imprisoned within his own palace.
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At that point,
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the Muslims turned their eyes away from the two Caliphs,
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who sat on silk cushions in Cairo and Baghdad,
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and began casting their gazes toward the horizons of the Muslim lands,
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hoping for a star to rise that would guide them through the darkness of their pitch-black night.
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Thus, Allah brought forth for them Salah al-Din
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Ibn Najm al-Din Ayyub.
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Salah al-Din had
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a biography as bright as the morning light,
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as luminous as the full moon,
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illuminating the path for those who wished to follow it.
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Salah al-Din realized
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that goodness lay dormant in the Ummah of Muhammad, peace be upon him,
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like life dormant in seeds,
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awaiting pure water,
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fertile soil, and bright light,
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to awaken from its slumber
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and fill the earth with growth and giving.
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Salah al-Din knew the key to opening the hearts of his Ummah,
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so he placed his hand upon it,
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and turned it in their hearts with skill,
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opening them and entering through their widest gates.
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That key was none other than the key of the religion.
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He believed in the principle of the leader as a role model,
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so he magnified the law of Allah,
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complied with His commands, and avoided His prohibitions.
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He rarely missed a congregational prayer,
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and he made up for any fast he missed.
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As for zakat, the threshold for it never accumulated in his possession throughout his life.
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Salah al-Din did not attach his heart to wealth or inheritance,
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but rather tied it to struggle and jihad.
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He spent a quarter of a century of his life
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rarely having a roof over his head,
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for his permanent dwelling was either the back of a horse,
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or a tent pitched for him in the open.
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He was able to influence his people in the greatest of ways,
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for the jurists and scholars fought alongside him,
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as did the writers, poets, and teachers,
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and then the youth and the women.
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Allah drove the people to Salah al-Din in groups, supporting him and sacrificing for him.
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Whenever he called for jihad,
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volunteers came to him of their own free will
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and absolute liberty,
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each carrying their own provisions.
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Thus, the majority of his soldiers were volunteers
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who came seeking the reward and martyrdom that is with Allah.
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This was a major reason for his victories.
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Salah al-Din realized the value of human resources in building kingdoms and winning battles,
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so he searched in every land:
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in Egypt,
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in the Levant,
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in the Hijaz,
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in Yemen,
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in Baghdad,
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in every corner of the Muslim lands,
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for those with competence in politics,
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in the sciences,
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in warfare,
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in the arts,
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and in literature.
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He gathered them from every region,
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so he had a helper from every land,
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and a supporter and friend from every country.
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That was one of the unique qualities of Salah al-Din.
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Salah al-Din chose the most knowledgeable and truthful of scholars,
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the most profound in religion among the callers,
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the most skilled and energetic among the engineers,
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and the most experienced and discreet among the envoys.
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Furthermore, he adorned himself with the qualities of heroism,
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which never left him in health or sickness,
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in days of victory or defeat,
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or in times of hardship or ease.
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When the battle grew fierce,
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the conflict intensified,
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and death surrounded him from every side,
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he would circle the ranks of his soldiers,
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and extend his hand to shake hands with death,
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so death would recoil from him.
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With these qualities,
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Salah al-Din led the armies of the Muslims from victory to victory to victory.
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And with these traits,
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he was able to erase the shame that had befallen the Muslims
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since the Crusaders occupied Jerusalem.
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In the middle of Rajab,
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in the year 583 AH,
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the Muslim armies led by Salah al-Din surrounded Jerusalem,
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as a bracelet surrounds the wrist.
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They set up their catapults around its walls on every side,
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and drew the swords of Allah,
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to be quenched by the blood of the enemies of Allah.
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The Franks were terrified by the horror of what they saw,
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Allah cast terror into their hearts.
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It was but a single, sincere campaign,
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until the arrogant leader emerged, seeking safety for himself and his people.
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Salah al-Din granted his request.
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The Franks committed themselves
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to pay ten dinars for every man,
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five for every woman,
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and two dinars for every child.
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This was for those who wished to ransom themselves.
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Whoever could not afford the ransom fell into captivity.
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On the morning of Friday,
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the twenty-seventh of Rajab,
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in the year 583 AH,
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the Muslims entered Jerusalem, proclaiming the greatness and oneness of Allah.
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Their tongues were filled with supplication,
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and their voices rose to Allah in gratitude and praise.
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The great cross was taken down,
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which had been erected atop the Dome of the Rock.
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The images that had been engraved on the walls of the mosque were erased,
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and the bells were removed from its minarets.
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The sounds of the adhan rang out from the minarets,
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and the voices of the muezzins mingled with the recitation of the Qur'an.
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The pulpit that had been crafted by King al-Adil Nur al-Din Zengi was brought from Aleppo,
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for he had vowed it to Jerusalem upon its liberation.
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The first Friday prayer was held in Jerusalem,
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after Friday prayers had been suspended there for over ninety years.
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The sermon was delivered by the judge Muhyi al-Din Ibn al-Zaki,
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and his sermon became known as the Sermon of the Conquest.
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In it, the eloquent orator gathered
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all the praises of Allah found in the Qur'an.
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When the prayer was concluded,
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Salah al-Din sat to receive the congratulations of the Muslims on this manifest victory.
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Congratulations to the Muslims for Salah al-Din,
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and congratulations to Salah al-Din for this manifest victory.
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We beseech Allah to honor the Muslims with another day like the day of the conquest,
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in which they erase their shame and remove their disgrace,
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reclaiming the stolen Jerusalem and rescuing the usurped sanctuary.
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Thereby, the eyes of the first conqueror, Umar Ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, shall be gladdened,
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and the soul of the second conqueror, Salah al-Din, shall be comforted.