One Sultan vs. All of Europe | The Salahuddin Generation | Ep. 9 | Dr. Hassan Elwan

The Counter-Attack Begins

Last time, we saw how Salah al-Din and the generation of Salah al-Din, throughout years of work, finally, the fruits of this hard work that started long time ago is paying off. We saw how Salah al-Din and his forces defeated the Franks in the great battle of Hattin and that opened the doors in front of Salah al-Din and he started capturing many cities and finally, he crowned this with liberating Jerusalem. Some people would say the story of Salah al-Din, this is the end, here is our hero, he achieved his victory, the struggle paid off, good news and let's go home and we're done.

That is not the case. The biggest battles of Salah al-Din, his biggest agonies, his biggest struggles, it's yet to come because after Salah al-Din conquered Jerusalem, a new chapter, a new crusade is about to happen, what we call the principle of the counter-attack. When I'm fighting an opponent, what happens if I all of the sudden achieved victory and I won and I pushed my opponent back and you know, and I won a major battle? Most of us sit down and say, hey, it's time to celebrate.

What do you think my opponent will be doing? And similarly for Salah al-Din, he realized very well what's going to happen. Now that Jerusalem fell to his hands, the crusaders and the Levant, they were not alone. They were supported by a superpower, Europe, where through sea they can get whatever reinforcements they need.

They can get soldiers, they can get arms, they can get swords, they can get knights, they can get siege engines, they can get grains, they can get supplies and Europe is big and therefore the Franks in the kingdom of Jerusalem, they're very, very well supported. And Salah al-Din realized he's not just fighting them, he's fighting against Europe and Europe will retaliate. He needs to prepare for the counter-attack.

Europe's Response: The Third Crusade

And when the news of Jerusalem reached Europe, the Pope Urban III was so devastated, so aggrieved, it is said that he died out of a heart attack. The new Pope, he announced the necessity of fighting back Salah al-Din and that they must attack and regain everything that they lost. And as such, he sent letters to all of the kings of Europe.

And I'm speaking about powerful kings, the likes of Richard the Lionheart, Philippe Augustus of France, William II of Sicily, Frederick Barbarossa of Germany. And it is said all of the kings of Europe gathered together as the third crusade. And their destination is to attack Salah al-Din, regain everything that Salah al-Din gained.

And they even sent letters to Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi. And they told him, if you do not give us back Jerusalem and all the other cities that you took, we are going to come. And it's not going to be just Jerusalem.

We will take everything out of your hand. All the kings are going to come your way. You're going to lose everything.

Salah al-Din did not compromise. And he sent a letter back and he said the following, anyone who's going to set foot into this land, he's going to meet the fate of his brothers in Hattin. I am not afraid.

If you come here, you're going to die here. No compromise. I'm giving nothing back.

That was the tawakkul of Salah al-Din. But nevertheless, he understood the concept of a counterattack. He understood what he's facing.

Strategic Preparations

That is why after he liberated Jerusalem and spent maybe four weeks, one month in Jerusalem, worshiping and reestablishing the city, he immediately set out, gathered his troops. And he did two things. One thing that he did, all the cities on the coast must be fortified.

And he started with the city of Akka. Why? The city of Sur is still not in his hand. And if a counterattack comes, they'll probably land in the city of Sur.

The first city to the south on the way of Jerusalem is Akka. That is where the attack is going to happen. And therefore, he asks one of his top commanders, Baha'i al-Din Qaraqosh, the one that built the citadel in Egypt, a man that knows how to fortify cities very well.

He puts him in charge and asks him to fortify the city of Akka. And Baha'i al-Din Qaraqosh spends his time and a lot of money and wealth and energy, and he fortifies the city of Akka in such a way that we will see the consequences of this. The second thing, the city of Sur.

The Siege of Sur

So Salah al-Din orders his troops to gather and attack the city of Sur. But unfortunately, the time that Salah al-Din has spent to open Jerusalem and take care of it, this more than a month, gave the people inside the city of Sur time to fortify the city. The city now is well fortified, and it is said they dug trenches all the way surrounding the city.

The city is like an island except for a very narrow piece of land. Any army attempting to attack Sur has to go into that narrow piece of land. Also now, the crusader ships from both sides can start throwing arrows and fire and bombard the Muslim army.

And Conrad, this Italian knight that led the defenses, zealous, has really, really ignited the passion and inspired steadfastness in all the hearts of the people defending Sur. And how many people were defending Sur? Guess what? All the people that Salah al-Din freed. Where do you think they went? They went to the city of Sur.

So now the city has enough men, enough weapons. Now the supplies are coming from the sea, from Europe, and Conrad is there determined to fight, and a battle starts between the army of Salah al-Din and the army of Conrad. And winter is approaching, and Ibn al-Athir narrates something.

He said, Salah al-Din tries a trick. He brings forth an old man and asks Conrad, to come on the walls for some discussion. What's going on? Well, that old man was Conrad's father.

Salah al-Din captured him. And he tells Conrad, I have your father. Give up the city.

There is no need for more bloodshed. I'll let him go. If you don't, you see what will happen to your dad.

To his surprise, Conrad comes up with a crossbow and shoots at his father and tells him, the old man lived long enough. He might die if necessary. It is not a problem.

Go ahead. Kill him. I do not care.

I'm not going to deliver the city. What do you think Salah al-Din did? Being Salah al-Din, being with the heart that follows the Prophet ﷺ, if you do not care about your father, it was just a bluff. Salah al-Din releases Conrad's father.

Go. The trick didn't work. And he starts attacking the city.

Now, Salah al-Din insisted that this city must fall to the Muslims. We cannot leave the city of Sur. But something happened.

One day it is said, the people on the boats decided to sleep. They usually are up at night, sometimes reading Qur'an, praying the night. But that night they were tired and he said most of them fell asleep.

The Franks was on the watch. They saw this. They attacked the Muslim ships.

And a battle happened and they were not ready. And unfortunately, the Muslims started losing a couple of their ships and the rest of the ships started fleeing away. And Salah al-Din realizes his fleet has been defeated at that point.

And winter is coming. The Mediterranean Sea is getting turbulent. And Salah al-Din has more ships.

But winter time is not a good time for a naval battle. Also, the troops of Salah al-Din starts asking him, we've been fighting for so long. Give us a break.

And after winter, we promise to come back and we'll finish the city of Sur off. It had been more than four months and some of the soldiers used some fiqh issue against Salah al-Din. They went and told him, the Islamic law says that any woman whose her husband is away for four months, she has the right to divorce him.

No, no, no, we need to go back. It was just an excuse. And Salah al-Din understood.

The men are tired. Many of them wanted to go tend to their families. And anyway, it is winter time and it's very difficult to fight in those conditions.

So Salah al-Din reluctantly agreed. While all men dispersed, Salah al-Din retained his own regiment. And after a short visit to Damascus, he starts going back to attack different forts, Safad, Kawkab, and Ladaqiya.

And he starts to liberate one after the other while everybody had a break. Salah al-Din fought in winter time and one can imagine how difficult that is. He had a serious mission.

He understood what he's facing and he understood the seriousness of this matter. And Salah al-Din continued this effort. His teacher, the Hadith scholar, Ibn Shaddad says, I was with Salah al-Din.

The Vision of Salah al-Din

It was winter time. And we were both on the walls of the city of Akka looking at the Mediterranean Sea. And the Mediterranean Sea was very rough.

The waves were so high. And Ibn Shaddad said, it was my first time to see the sea this way. And it looked very scary, very turbulent.

And then he said, I now change my Fiqh opinion. I approved of the Fiqh opinion that sailors, their witness and testimony in court should not be taken seriously. What is he speaking about? He's saying, after I saw the sea, anybody that sails in this, anybody that works in such kind of an environment, he must be out of his head.

So therefore, if he comes to the court and testifies, maybe you should not take his testimony because it has to be crazy. Anybody that works in this is not in his right mind. So that's what Ibn Shaddad is saying.

And he said, all of the sudden, the Sultan, Salah al-Din al-Ayyub, looks at him and says something very profound. He tells him, I find in my heart that whenever Allah enables me to open all the coastal cities and get done with the Franks here, I will put governors on all the city and take my fleet myself and go into that sea all the way to Europe to attack them till I open the whole Europe for Islam. Look at the himmah of Salah al-Din al-Ayyub.

Look at his aspiration. Look at how big it is. It's like his dream is not just recovering Jerusalem and unifying the Muslims and it's done.

No, no, no, no. I know our enemy is determined. I'm going to go after them because if I don't, they will come back.

It's not over. And his goal is what? I don't stop. I go on and on.

And Ibn Shaddad says, Sayyidi, you must be very brave. And then Salah al-Din tells Ibn Shaddad something really interesting that tells you about the heart of Salah al-Din. He tells him what is the most noble and honorable way to die.

And Ibn Shaddad tells Salah al-Din is to die for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And Salah al-Din looks down, tears coming from his eye. This is my utmost desire is to die in the service of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

This is the most honorable way to die. This is the aspiration of Salah al-Din. Now something surprising happened.

The March to Akka

While Salah al-Din is in the midst of this, all the people that Salah al-Din released, remember King Guy, the king of Jerusalem, the master of the Templars, all the people that he released and he asked them, do not fight against me. What do you think happened? They all gathered in the city of Sur and they betrayed their promise. And they had gathered more than 30,000 and now supplies are coming from the sea.

And they started heading towards the city of Akka as Salah al-Din predicted. He understands this is the start of the counterattack and he gathers his troops into one encounter, an epic encounter, one of the greatest battles of Salah al-Din, the battle of Akka. The battle of Akka was not a battle that took a week, a month, it's a battle that took more than two years.

Salah al-Din on one hand, against the unified forces of Europe on the other hand. By the time Salah al-Din reaches the city of Akka, the Franks, they already laid siege with his leader Baha'i al-Din Qaraqosh inside. But Alhamdulillah the city now is well fortified.

Salah al-Din calls the Egyptian fleet to come and try to relieve the city and protect the city from the sea. And he starts gathering his troops telling them we have to attack as soon as possible. He used to start such kind of attacks on Friday morning.

The Power of Du'a

Why Friday? He would send to all the scholars, tell them about the news of what's happening and he told them the following, I'm about to attack the Franks around the city of Akka. I want everybody on the Friday prayer, all the Muslims throughout his kingdom, everybody including in Mecca and Medina, make du'a.

Du'a is the weapon of the believer. He really believed in the power of du'a. So he ordered, we start the attack on Friday and we start the attack when the people are praying the Friday prayers.

And I will ask everybody in my kingdom to join in this battle, if not physically, through their du'a. Can you imagine being in a Friday khutbah and sitting there and the imam is raising his hand and you know as you're raising your hand and making your du'a, your brothers are fighting to liberate and rescue your dear brothers and sisters from the clutches of the Franks and the crusaders. That du'a will be very powerful.

And Salah al-Din starts an attack. Spend the entire day, all the way from noon time till maghrib time. A ferocious battle happened between the army of Salah al-Din and the Franks around the city of Akka.

He could not push them away. The city is still surrounded. Next day, Salah al-Din announces, we have to attack again.

And a pattern starts to happen. They pray Fajr in Jama'a and they start to attack and nothing happens. The third day, Salah al-Din reinforces Taqi al-Din, his nephew, this hero of Hattin and they switch tactics.

Taqi al-Din decides to gather all his forces and instead of attacking at all fronts, he gathered his forces and attacked in one point only, by the beach. His idea was to make a breach to reach the city and he attacks. A ferocious battle happened and by the grace of Allah, Taqi al-Din succeeds in pushing the Franks.

Now they have a path, they have a way to go inside the city and now the army of Salah al-Din inside the city of Akka can be resupplied. And they all start saying, next day inshallah, we are going to start the attack. And this kept on and on for one week and the Franks could not be dislodged.

Al-Waq'a Al-Kubra - The Great Battle

And a pattern started to happen. The Muslims, they wake up in the morning, they pray Salatul Fajr, after Salah, they gather their troops and then they attack the Franks all the way. The battle rages till Maghrib, when both parties rest, next day, the Franks notice the pattern.

Then they decided to do something, see, it is dangerous if one becomes predictable. Now they know the Muslims' plan, they always attack after Salatul Fajr. The Franks decided to do something different.

While the Muslims are praying Salatul Fajr, they decided to attack first. While the Muslims are not prepared. And that's what happened, Al-Waq'a Al-Kubra, the great battle around Akka.

And in that battle, as the Muslims were praying, the Franks gathered their knights, the Templars, the Hospitallers, and charged against the Muslims. And it is said the Muslims were not prepared. And they started to fall back even more.

And they concentrated their attack against Taqi al-Din. They wanted this breach that the Muslims did, they wanted to get rid of it. When he saw them attack, he said that's a good opportunity.

If I retreat, and they keep following me, I can take them away from the city, then we can surround them. So Taqi al-Din started retreating, Salah al-Din in the center, looking at his right side, looking at Taqi al-Din, it appears that Taqi al-Din is defeated, he's running away. So Salah al-Din took his elite warriors, they called them Al-Halaqa of Salah al-Din, ordered them, go at once, support Taqi al-Din, give him aid so that he stops their advance.

And the best of the troops of Salah al-Din leaves his position, the center, goes to the right side to help Taqi al-Din. The Franks were monitoring this. They saw the elite warriors of Salah al-Din leave.

Now he's with some of the volunteers, soldiers from an area called Diyarbakir. And the Franks switched their tactic, and they charged towards the position of Salah al-Din himself. Now those volunteers, they were not as experienced as the warriors of Salah al-Din, and they could not withstand the attack of the Templars and the hospitalists, the knights of the Franks.

And they started to fall back. And Salah al-Din, with whatever men is left, started to order them and sound the drums and do not retreat. But they didn't hear, and they started retreating.

And the Franks started to follow. And it is said the Franks reached the tent of Salah al-Din himself and killed some of the scholars there. And Ibn Shaddad narrates, being an eyewitness news, I was there, I saw the panic, and I saw Salah al-Din fighting himself with arrows, flying around, and ordering the drummers, trying to gather everybody around.

And they started to retreat, and it looked like it's going to be a defeat. Salah al-Din now is retreating, the center is moving back, they're being crushed. But something saved the day.

The people inside Akka, Baha al-Din Qaraqosh, when he saw what's happening, ordered the doors of Akka to be open. They went out and attacked the rear of the army of the Franks. Now there is a gap, the knights are running after the center of Salah al-Din, there is a gap between them and the infantry.

And Saif al-Din al-Mashtub al-Hikari from the left, and Taqi al-Din from the right, they surround the knights of the Franks. Salah al-Din succeeds in putting a stand, gathers his people around him, and moves forward. And a battle raged.

And by Allah's grace, the tide turned. And it was a massacre. Ibn Shaddad narrates that he himself counted more than 10,000 of the Franks dead in this battle.

The knights got completely decimated. It was a massive defeat for the Franks. And by Allah's grace, Allah saved Salah al-Din and his brave men from such kind of a defeat.

That battle, called al-Waq'a al-Kubra, it was a disaster for the Franks. And Salah al-Din captured the master of the Templars. Remember the one that he released? He captured him again.

And Salah al-Din used to say about the Templars that, هُمْ أَخْبَثْ أَهْلِ الْأَرْضِ Those are the worst of the people on this earth. لَا يَزَلُونَ يُعَادُونَ Their orders has such an animosity against the Muslims. It's almost, there is no hope in them.

So he ordered that the master of the Templars be put to death. And Salah al-Din gathers his army and gives a speech. Telling them, you are the only soldiers left in the land of Islam.

And this is the enemy of Islam. And they came to your land and it is wajib. It's fiqhan by fiqh.

It is our duty in front of Allah. We're the ones responsible to push them back. And then he tells them, if we delay, if we choose not to act right now, their numbers will continue to increase.

It will be more difficult. The more we wait, the more difficult it is. We have to act now.

The Epidemic and Its Challenges

But what's going on? There is something that was causing his soldiers to kind of be reluctant to fight. What is it? 10,000 people dead. Summer, heat.

What do you think happens? All those bodies. An epidemic started to happen. And people started to fall sick.

And as we said before, the epidemic affected the Franks more, much, much more than the Muslims. Why? Because of a simple fact. Hygiene and cleanliness.

Muslims are clean. We eat with the right hand. We shake hands with the right hand.

We clean ourselves with the left hand. We take a shower at least every Friday. And we said Salah al-Din army had mobile bathrooms.

They're clean people. The Franks, on the other hand, weren't this way. So the epidemic started spreading.

And people on both sides started dying. And indeed, some of the commanders of Salah al-Din themselves were starting to get sick. And that's why they were telling him, we have to leave.

And Salah al-Din insisted, we can't leave. We have to continue the fight. But something more serious happened.

Some of the commanders of Salah al-Din, the likes of al-Faqih Issa al-Hikari, got sick. And indeed, al-Faqih Issa al-Hikari dies in that epidemic. And Salah al-Din loses one of his bravest knights.

His right hand, as we said before. Faqih Issa al-Hikari had such a profound effect on Salah al-Din. A beautiful soul that was with him since the beginning.

Since the very first days that he was the wazir of Egypt. Through the battle of Hattin. Through the liberation of Jerusalem.

Now he gives his life. He dies around Akka. It is said even one of the cousins of Salah al-Din died.

And surely enough, Salah al-Din got sick. And people were really worried. The Sultan is sick.

What will happen to Salah al-Din? And they called the doctor of Salah al-Din. Interestingly enough, do you know who the doctor of Salah al-Din was? Maimonide. Maimonide is one of the most famous Jewish theologians that lived in the time.

A Jewish theologian is the doctor of Salah al-Din. We never, never were anti-Semitic. Salah al-Din was not about, I'm anti-Christian or anti-Jew.

No, no, that's not the case. Jews, Christians, Ismailis, Shia, Sunna, they can live in peace under him. And that was the spirit of Salah al-Din.

And he comes and he looks at Salah al-Din and tells everybody, this is not a place to stay. The Sultan and everybody needs to leave else this epidemic is going to spread. It's going to be a disaster.

And he tells Salah al-Din that the only way to recover, they have to leave this place, go into a higher ground, where the air is fresh. And Salah al-Din was reluctant. And the commanders of Salah al-Din come to him.

And they tell him, you know what? The Franks are tired too. They're exhausted. They've been defeated so many times on our hands.

Many people died. And maybe it's because we're surrounding them. We're not giving them a chance to retreat.

Maybe if we leave, maybe they will leave and head back to Sur. And Salah al-Din disagrees. And he predicts again what his enemy is going to do.

And he tells him, I disagree. If we leave, I know those people, they're determined. They're not going to leave.

They're going to sit in and they're going to entrench their positions. And it's going to be harder for us to attack them later. Nevertheless, the Shura, the concession with everybody, everybody agreed that the army should leave.

And Salah al-Din orders his army to pull back so that everybody can recover. It is said he himself was seriously sick. Ibn Shaddad said he was laying on his bed and he was really, really unable even to sit straight.

The Character of Salah al-Din

And in that very difficult time, Salah al-Din is really concerned. There is an epidemic. There is war.

And he's in this situation, a situation that Ibn Shaddad records that tells us about the Sultan's heart. And I want you to look at this. This is who Salah al-Din is.

It is said that he orders one time in the midst of all this and concern and worry. He asks, can somebody get me some water, please? And one of the servants goes and it is said he got water and it was very hot. And he comes out and he trips and he spills the water on the Sultan, Salah al-Din.

And it is said the Sultan, of course, he's already sick. It's hot, very hot water. It was really painful.

And everybody said the man is going to get it. Can you imagine having a hard day at work and you're tired and you go back and your son messes up. What do we do to our children? Yeah, we take it out on them.

And the man, this is the Sultan, and he started something. And Salah al-Din looked up to him and smiled and said, can you make it colder, please? And the man was, Alhamdulillah, look at the clemency of the Sultan. And he said he goes, comes back, ice cold water.

The Sultan is so forgiving. And guess what happened? He trips and he spills it again on the Sultan. People said the Sultan almost died.

Hot water than cold water. He's sick. And people said, that's it.

This man is, I mean, twice he's going to get it. And the man started trembling. This is the Sultan, what is he going to do? And Salah al-Din looks up to him, smiles.

And then he tells him the following. If you want to kill me, let me know and do it quickly, please. Look at his inner peace.

Despite the situation, despite his anguish, despite his concern, despite him being sick, despite his pain, despite the mistake of this other person. He didn't even blame him. He used a technique that scholars at the time taught.

The art of chivalry. They tell you the first level of chivalry is what? That when somebody slips, you overlook their slip. You don't put them in a position that they have to apologize.

And Salah al-Din used humor to make that person laugh and everybody laugh. This is how the Sultan was. This is Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi.

This is his character. Something we want to learn, not only of his military victories. We want to see the beauty of this man and the beauty of the generation of Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi.

And what they embodied of prophetic character. And nevertheless, now Salah al-Din is worried because what he predicted happened. The Franks did not leave.

The Fortification of the Enemy

They started digging trenches on both sides. One trench between them and the city of Akka. And another trench between them and the forces of Salah al-Din.

So now they have trenches on both sides. The sand and soil they got out of the trench, they build a sand wall. Can you imagine why? If you throw trebuchets or arrows, they have a barrier of sand.

So they fortified their position. And now they're heavily entrenched. And now the army of the Franks, the ships are starting to arrive.

Many of the people around Salah al-Din, they said we were really concerned. And one of them said, I saw with my own eyes more than 70 Frankish ships arriving at the port of Akka. 70 ships.

Every ship has how? Can you imagine the amount? And he said, I started to become anxious. And I started to get worried. How are we going to encounter this? Al-Ahmad Al-Asfahani says, our arrows will finish before the resupplies.

They had more men than we had arrows. And it's interesting the way he described it. He said, we fight one group.

Next day, we find people dressed in a completely different way. What is he referring to? Those are newcomers. We fought the different countries of Europe.

And it went on and on. And Al-Ahmad Al-Asfahani said, I become worried. But when I look at the face of the Sultan with every single ship that arrived, I saw his peace of heart.

I saw his determination. I saw his tawakkul. In that, it brought certitude to my own heart that with this, the Muslims will be victorious.

Looking at Salah al-Din and the firmness of his heart and his yaqeen in Allah increased the certitude of his soldiers. That is who Salah al-Din was. At this point, Salah al-Din gathers his troop and gives a speech again.

And he tells them that it's their duty to remove this enemy. And they cannot let the city of Akka fall in their hands. And he orders the Egyptian fleet to come.

And now we have battles in the sea and battle on the land. And numerous battles are raging. And Salah al-Din tells them, I have only one army that I did not call yet.

The army of Egypt under his brother, Al-Malik Al-Adl. Now, the army of Egypt comes to the south part of the city of Akka, building their camp. But to their surprise, the Franks attacked the army of Egypt before they lay their camp down.

And the army of Egypt started to fall back. And Salah al-Din at the time was sick. And the news came to Salah al-Din about what's happening.

Ibn Shaddad narrates, he said, I saw him sitting in pain. And all of a sudden, he jumps up, puts his armor, runs, jumps on his horse. And Ibn Shaddad said, I was shocked.

The man couldn't sit. What happened? Where did he get this energy from? And Salah al-Din looks at him and tells him something, knowing what Ibn Shaddad is thinking. He says, yes.

إِذَا رَكِبْتُ الْجِهَادِ زَالَ الْأَلَمُ حَتَّى أَعُودُ When the call for jihad and fighting for the sake of Allah is called, I run and I do not feel any pain till I come back. Allah removes my pain as long as I'm on my horseback and fighting. Once I come back, I feel it again.

And he started to charge. His brother did something that's actually, again, very interesting. Strategy.

He noticed that, yes, the Muslim troops are retreating. He said, okay, I have an idea. Actually, retreat.

Why? The soldiers had a marketplace. Again, remember, like the soldiers of Salah al-Din, very civilized. The army of Salah al-Din, as we said, has bathrooms, a marketplace, a judge.

So there is a marketplace. He told them, retreat. Leave everything in the marketplace as it is.

Because I know what they will do. Prediction. Prediction.

He predicts his enemy. Strategy. And he retreated and he appeared to be defeated.

And the Franks were so happy. We defeated the army of Egypt. And then they entered the marketplace to find what? All the goods.

Oh, all these valuable things unguarded. What do you think they did? They fell in the trap that was laid for them. He knew that they're going to drop their weapons, start gathering things, carrying it.

The love of dunya can kill a person even in the battlefield. And that's what happened. And they started, every man for himself.

Everybody started to gather what they can. At that point, Malik al-Adil said to his troops, now attack them while they're busy with the booty of the life of this world. And the army of Egypt attacks.

And Salah al-Din starts joining. And the tide turns again. And a major defeat happens to the Frank.

And Allah grants victory to the army of Salah al-Din. Meanwhile, some disturbing news came to Salah al-Din. While he's fighting in Akka and the enemy is getting supplies and getting more troops on a daily basis.

The German Threat

And the number is swelling already around the city of Akka. News came to Salah al-Din. The German army.

The army of Frederick Barbarossa has just landed in Asia Minor. Tens of thousands on the march heading towards Salah al-Din. And the Seljuks could not face the army of Frederick Barbarossa.

So he decided to call a truce and back up and show them the way to Salah al-Din. Now, where are they going to head? To Akka? Or maybe they attack Sham? Maybe they attack Aleppo? Maybe they go to Mosul? And Salah al-Din's all his commanders, they told him, Salah al-Din, we don't have the resources. We either fight Akka or we retreat, leave Akka to its fate and maybe stop this campaign.

And Salah al-Din, seeing the situation, disagrees. And he said, we'll fight on both fronts. And he commands one of his top commanders, Taqi al-Din, take some of the best of the troops.

Go ahead, lead a campaign. On your way, gather as many of the knights as you can and put an end to this German invasion. And we will be in Akka trying to put an end to the siege of the city of Akka.

And Salah al-Din sends letters asking everybody to help, announcing, this is not the battle of Salah al-Din. This is not a battle for Palestine. This is not a battle for Jerusalem.

And he says, non-believers that used to fight each other, the Germans and the English and the French, they're enemies. But disbelievers aided disbelievers. Shouldn't Muslims aid to each other? And what do you think happened? Will Salah al-Din get help from the Muslims to face this impossible encounter? Or will he be left alone? And if he's left alone, what can he do? That is what we're going to find out in our next episode.