1137
Tikrit, Iraq

March 4, 1193
Damascus, Syria

Muslim warrior and leader

"I have become so great as I am because I have won men's hearts by gentleness and kindliness."

—Saladin to his son, Zahir; quoted in Saladin.

The most famous of all heroes of the Islamic faith, Saladin (pronounced sa-la-DEEN) attempted to unite the Islamic world to fight the Christian Crusaders who had taken over the Holy Land of Palestine. The two centuries of conflict between East and West, Islam and Christianity, began in 1095 with the First Crusade, when the Christians tried to recapture the holy city of Jerusalem from the Muslims. This was accomplished in 1099, leading to two centuries of intermittent (on and off) warfare between the European Christians and the mainly Arab followers of the...