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Saladin was a hero in countries far away from here, but Malaysians can definitely learn a lot about tolerance from his history, now being brought to live through a children stories by a joint venture between Multimedia Development Corporation (MDEC) and Qatar-based Al-Jazeera Children’s Channel (JCC).
The joint-production of the animation series has taken a long time to produce and is expected to be aired in 2010.
In this era of alleged political corruptions, money politics and unethical political rivalries one simply cannot deny the legacy of Saladin as a chivalrous Muslim leader.
Saladin or Salahaddin Yusuf ibn Ayyub was a Kurdish Muslim who became the Sultan of Egypt and Syria. He led the Muslims against the Crusader and eventually recaptured Palestine from the Kingdom of Jerusalem after his victory in the Battle of Hattin.
Saladin was born in Tikrit, Iraq. His family was of Kurdish background and ancestry, and had originated from the city of Dvin in medieval Armenia.
His chivalrous behavior was noted by Christian chroniclers, especially in the accounts of the siege of Kerak in Moab, and despite being the nemesis of the Crusaders he won the respect of many of them including Richard the Lionheart. Rather than becoming a hated figure in Europe, he became a celebrated example of the principle of chivalry.
The famous relationship between Saladin and Richard the Lionheart was one of chivalrous mutual respect as well as military rivalry. When Richard became ill with fever, Saladin offered the services of his personal physician. Saladin also sent him fresh fruit with snow, to chill the drink, as treatment. At Arsuf, when Richard lost his horse, Saladin sent him two replacements.
Despite the Crusaders’ slaughter when they originally conquered Jerusalem in 1099, Saladin on July 4, 1187 after winning the Battle of Hattin, granted amnesty and free passage to all common Catholics and even to the defeated Christian army.
Richard once praised Saladin as a great prince, saying that he was without doubt one of the greatest and most powerful leaders in the Islamic world. However, the two men never met face to face and communication was either written or by a messenger.
Saladin died of a fever on March 4, 1193 at Damascus, not long after Richard’s departure. Since Saladin had given most of his money away for charity when they opened his treasury, they found there was not enough money to pay for his funeral.
Now the great chivalrous Islamic warrior is buried in a magnificent mausoleum in the garden outside the Ummayyad mosque in Damascus, Syria.
The recent political crisis between the opposition and the government, the crisis within MCA and PKR that reached to the point of our elected leaders discrediting each others with the exposure of embarassing facts. This proves that the leaders of these political parties are capable of using dirty tactics that involves a lot of money to destroy their rival's political career.
Recently the Raja Muda of Perak, Raja Dr. Nazrin Shah made a statement asking the Malaysian youth to reject the politics of hate. Such practices, according to him, should be based on respect and regard for one another whereby, one should be able to disagree without wishing ill-will on those they disagree with.
The greatness of Saladin came from his unselfish nature, his generosity, humility and the utmost respect that he had towards his enemies. These are the kind of qualities that have almost reached to the point of extinction. If Saladin existed for a reason, then it must be so that our leaders could learn that it is more important to gain the respect of our enemies rather than their hatred.
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