Shawah, the wazir of the Fatimids, had allied himself with the Crusaders. When the Crusaders attacked Egypt, the Sunni caliph beseeched Nooruddin for help. Nooruddin ordered his Kurdish General Asad-ud-Din Shirkuh to go and defend Iskander (Alexandria). Shirkuh took with him his young nephew Salahuddin. After three months, the Crusaders were forced to retreat and the treacherous wazir was banished.

In 1168, the Crusaders attacked Egypt again. The exiled wazir sent a proposal to Nooruddin that if he had him re-instated as wazir, he would give Nooruddin one third of Egypt’s revenue. Nooruddin dispatched Shirkuh once again to Egypt. When Nooruddin’s army arrived in Egypt, they found that the people welcomed their return. Shawah was re-instated, but promptly refused to pay his liberators, thus Shirkuh had the betraying wazir executed. Shirkuh was made wazir to the Fatimid ruler, but died soon after and was succeeded by Salahuddin. Salahuddin would send gifts to Damascus for Nooruddin and urged the Muslims to pray for him. At around this time (1167-1168), Nooruddin ordered his carpenters to build a magnificent mimbar. He foretold that the Muslims would one-day give the Jumaah khutbah (Friday sermon) upon this mimbar, inside masjid al-Aqsa. It was a wish that he would not live to see discharged.

The Legacy of Nooruddin

Shortly after the conquest of Egypt, Nooruddin died of throat cancer, in the year 1174. He had fought the Crusaders for 28 consecutive years. Before Nooruddin, the Muslims were divided, weak and had failed to present a unified force. By the time of his death, at the age of 56, he had united most of the Arab world under his command.

Nooruddin was a successful ruler in both domestic and foreign affairs. He was responsible for the building of numerous masjids, public baths and hospitals — some of which are still in use today. The most important hospital built in Damascus in the Middle Ages was named Al-Nuri Hospital in his honour. The poor were taken care of, in particular the widows and orphans.

Although Nooruddin did not live to realize his life-long ambition to liberate Jerusalem, he paved the way for Salahuddin. Jerusalem was finally conquered by Salahuddin in 1187 CE. The mimbar that Nooruddin had had constructed almost 20 years beforehand was brought to masjid al-Aqsa and the first Jumaah khutbah was delivered from it.

One of the greatest lessons that can be learned from the life of Nooruddin is that a person might not see the fruits of their efforts during their own lifetime, but they will always be rewarded for their contribution. Also, one must realise that success and failure are decided by Allah SWT, and should not be gauged by what we see in our short lives.

Bibliography

The Crusades Through Arab Eyes — Amin Maalouf
Muslim Heroes of the Crusades — Shahnaz Husain
The Story of Nooruddin Zinkee (Audio) — Sheikh Ahmad Jibril (listen online or buy CD)
The Chronicle of Ibn al-Athir for The Crusading Period from al-Kamil fi'l-Ta'rikh — D.S. Richards

Source: al-istiqamah.com

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