while preferring to lead a very simple and austere lifestyle himself. Indeed, he refused to live in the pompous and extravagant Caliphal palaces built by the Fatimids, choosing instead to live in his rather old and dated residence in Cairo. When this residence eventually became too small for the smooth and effective operation of his Government, he built himself a simple but elegant building in Cairo so that he could perform his duties as the ruler of Egypt with efficiency and effectiveness. Soon after consolidating his power in Egypt, Salah al-Din received the news of Nur al-Din’s death in 1174. He understood the gravity of the situation and moved swiftly to avert any internal conflict in Syria, and in so doing he assumed full control of that strategically important country. Following his annexation of Syria, he appointed his nephew, Farooq Shah, to be governor of that territory. Still only thirty-six, he now embarked on a series of military campaigns in order to strengthen and unify the warring neighbouring Muslim lands. In addition to Syria and Mesopotamia, he successfully captured a large part of North Africa including Tunisia, Libya and much of Arabia, as well as Yemen. Salah al-Din soon carved out a huge empire and as a result he became the undisputed leader of the Muslim world at the time.
As one of the most powerful Muslim rulers of his time, Salah al-Din could have chosen to spend the rest of his life in peace and comfort, if he wished, but instead he focused his attention on the subversive activities of the Crusaders who, at the time, maintained a tight grip on Palestine. After establishing themselves in that country, the Crusaders began to wreak havoc throughout the entire region. So much so, that on one occasion they marched very close to the precinct of Madinah, the city of the Prophet, and threatened to overwhelm the city. When Salah al-Din received news of the Crusaders’ outrageous behaviour towards the people of Madinah, he vowed to punish the culprits with his own hands. As commander-in-chief of the armed forces, he left Egypt and marched with his army towards Palestine in order to confront the threat of the Crusaders. He came face to face with his opponents at a placed called Tiberias, near the Sea of Galilee, in 1187 and a fierce clash ensued. His troops launched such a vicious and co-ordinated attack on the Franks that soon the latter began to lose heart. In desperation, some Frankish generals abandoned their forces and came directly to Salah al-Din to plead with him to speed up his victory and ease their pain and agony. During this historic encounter, known as the Battle of Hittin (Hattin), Salah al-Din also taught the Frankish Crusaders a good lesson in kindness, generosity and compassion. From that day on, his name became a symbol of bravery and heroism both in the East and the West.
Victory at Tiberias opened the door to the rest of Palestine. He moved swiftly, before the Franks could regroup again, and Salah al-Din was able to offer his Friday congregational prayer inside the same mosque which had been converted into a church three generations earlier by the Crusaders. Salah al-Din single-handedly took on the combined might of Europe and cut it to pieces. It did not take him long to capture the rest of Palestine including, of course, Jerusalem – and he did so without shedding any innocent blood. By contrast, when the Crusaders first entered Jerusalem they put all its inhabitants to the sword, so that the entire city ran red with blood. But Salah al-Din’s acts of kindness, generosity and benevolence won the hearts and minds of all its population, and even the Christian chroniclers of the Crusades could not help but lavish much praise on him for his exemplary behaviour and attitude towards the people of Jerusalem.
Thanks to Salah al-Din, al-quds – the third sacred city of Islam – again came under Islamic rule. With his mission accomplished, Salah al-Din returned to Damascus where he built many schools, mosques and hospitals, and passed away around the age of fifty-five; he lies buried within the precinct of the city’s historic Umayyad mosque. But his name and fame continue to reverberate throughout the Muslim world, as well as the West, to this day. A man of truly remarkable character and sublime qualities, it is not surprising that Salah al-Din is today considered to be one of history’s most famous and influential Muslims.
ALTHOUGH THE MAIN sources of early Islamic thought were the Qur’an and Prophetic sunnah, following the rapid expansion of Islam into Egypt, Persia and Syria the Muslims – for the first time – came directly in contact with foreign ideas and thoughts (such as ancient Greek philosophy) which subsequently exerted a profound influence on the Muslim intelligentsia. As a result, Islamic thought began to manifest itself in several different ways. For a start, although Mu’tazilism initially emerged as a political movement, it later assumed a wholly rationalistic contour under the influence of Wasil ibn Ata. Influenced by Hellenistic thought, the falasifah (or the Muslim philosophers) then emerged to pioneer a largely philosophical interpretation of Islam. Under Abul Hasan al-Ash’ari’s guidance, speculative theology (ilm al-kalam) also became a powerful force within the Islamic intellectual firmament. Prior to that, under Hasan al-Basri’s tutelage, Sufism (or Islamic mysticism) had become a potent force in the Muslim world. These rationalistic, philosophical, theological and mystical trends continued to compete for the hearts and minds of Muslims until the indomitable personality of al-Ghazali emerged in the eleventh century to champion and reassert traditional Islamic thought and practices as never before.
Abu Hamid Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Tusi al-Ghazali, known in the Latin West as Algazel, was born in the historic town of Tus in Khurasan (in present-day Mashhad in Iran). As the birthplace of the celebrated Sufi master Abul Hasan Ali al-Hujwiri, the outstanding epic poet Firdawsi and the renowned scholar and statesman Nizam al-Mulk, Tus was the hub of Islamic learning and scholarship at the time. Al-Ghazali’s father was a devout Muslim, who died when his son was an infant. He and his brother Ahmad were, therefore, raised by their mother who ensured her two sons received a good education. Al-Ghazali attended the class of a local Sufi tutor and attained proficiency in Arabic language, grammar, Qur’an, hadith, jurisprudence (fiqh) and aspects of Sufi thought and poetry before he was fifteen. He then conducted a detailed study of fiqh under the guidance of Shaykh Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Radhkani in Tus and Abul Qasim Ismail ibn Mas’ada al-Ismaili, who was a leading expert on the subject, at the seminary in Jurjan. He was seventeen when he successfully completed his study of fiqh, and returned home to Tus to continue his higher eduaction. Al-Ghazali was a gifted student who needed minimal guidance and supervision from his tutors. His unusual ability to grasp complex ideas and thoughts enabled him to absorb the principles and practices of Islam with ease.
He was barely twenty years old when he travelled to Nishapur to pursue advanced instruction in Islamic sciences. He was fortunate to study Islamic theology (ilm al-kalam) and fiqh under imam al-haramayn Abul Ma’ali Abd al-Malik al-Juwayni. Al-Juwayni was not only an outstanding exponent of Ash’arite theology, he was also one of the foremost Islamic scholars of his generation and lectured at the famous Nizamiyyah College in Nishapur. Al-Ghazali sat at the feet of this master, and became one of his favourite students. Like al-Juwayni, he became an Ash’arite theologian and a Shafi’i faqih (jurist). It was al-Juwayni who introduced him to the science of logic (mantiq) and the philosophical thought of the falasifah (Muslim philosophers). However, it was al-Ghazali’s intellectual brilliance and analytical ability which impressed al-Juwayni the most; so much so that he nominated him to become his teaching assistant. This established al-Ghazali’s credentials and enhanced his newfound reputation as a young Islamic scholar. It was during this period that he composed his al-Mankhul min Ta’liqat al-Usul (The Sifted Notes on the Methods of Fundamentals), wherein he elucidated the fundamental principles of Islamic law and legal methodology.
As a leading centre of Islamic learning, Nishapur also attracted eminent Sufi personalities who lived there and imparted knowledge of Islamic esoteric (batin) sciences to their followers and sympathisers. Al-Ghazali also attended these Sufi lodges (zawiyyah) and received training in the theoretical and practical dimensions of Sufism under the able guidance of Abu Ali Fadl ibn Muhammad ibn Ali al-Farmadhi, who was a widely respected Sufi personality of Nishapur and a pupil of the renowned al-Qushairi. In 1085 al-Juwayni died and al-Ghazali was asked to become professor of Islamic thought at the Nizamiyyah College in Baghdad by none other than Nizam al-Mulk himself, the great Seljuk Prime Minister
