İshak Sağlam: Salahuddin Ayyubi has made his mark in history

Underlining that Salahuddin Ayyubi was is a scholar, a commander and a statesman who had made his mark in world history, Sağlam said that what makes Saladin's name in history was undoubtedly his struggle for Jerusalem and Masjid Aqsa and his being the second conqueror of Jerusalem after 88 years of occupation.

Here is the full text of his speech at the symposium:

In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful

“Exalted is He who took His Servant by night from al-Masjid al-Haram to al-Masjid al- Aqsa, whose surroundings We have blessed, to show him of Our signs. Indeed, He is the Hearing, the Seeing.” (Surah Al Isra, Ayat 1)

Welcome to the International Salahuddin Ayyubi Symposium, where we held the second one. I pray to Allah Almighty that this symposium will be an occasion for good and the freedom of Jerusalem.

We held the symposium in a hall in Diyarbakir last year and we announced that we would hold it annually on the anniversary of the conquest of Jerusalem. As you know, due to the covid-19 outbreak that affected the whole world this year, we had to do our program this year via video conference.

With Allah's permission and grace, we are determined to continue with the third symposium at the same venue in Diyarbakir next year.

Salahuddin Ayyubi was is a scholar, a commander and a statesman who had made his mark in world history. What makes Saladin's name in history was undoubtedly his struggle for Jerusalem and Masjid Aqsa and his being the second conqueror of Jerusalem after 88 years of occupation. It is very important to compare the geopolitics of Salahuddin’s era to today’s and to take lessons from the practices of Salahuddin.

Unfortunately, we observe that our scholars and philosophers have not done enough studies on this enormous example in history. Undoubtedly, what prompted Salahuddin to conquer Jerusalem was not natural beauty of the city. Jerusalem is not an ordinary piece of land for the Islamic world, nor is Bayt al-Maqdis an ordinary Masjid.

Blessed by Allah, the Lord of the worlds, Jerusalem is the place where the “Isra” incident occurred, and the Prophet of Islam designated as one of the three masjids for which to go on an expedition on earth. Therefore, Jerusalem has great spiritual significance for Islamic World.

The zionists have established many institutes studying on the personality of Salahuddin Ayyubi in their universities in order to prevent a new Saladin from emerging from the Islamic world. In the Islamic world, unfortunately, there is no work other than writing a limited number of theses about Salahuddin.

However, history serves to determine the path to understanding the past and making an example, as well as to building the future. If we can read, analyze and read our history well, we will have the opportunity to develop solutions to our current problems.

Political, social and economic situations of Islamic World in the era when Saladin lived was no better than today's situation in which the Ummah live. So, what could Saladin do that we have not been able to do for a century to achieve his goal and liberate Jerusalem? I hope that today we will look for the answer to this question with our esteemed scholars.

To learn the exemplary personality of Salahuddin and to implement this experience in our lives will be an important step in the way to liberate Jerusalem. But as much as knowing the process of the conquest of Jerusalem, it is equally important to know the circumstances that caused us to lose Jerusalem. Because the purpose of the Zionists’ establishment of Salahuddin institutes is to learn the reasons and conditions that caused Jerusalem to lose to the Crusaders.

If we compare the conditions in which the Islamic world is in now and the relations of the elements that make up the Ummah with each other at the moment, with the conditions in which the ummah was in when we entered 1099, we will not encounter a very different picture. As long as this situation of the Ummah continues, there will be nothing much we can do. For this reason, the scholars, rulers and thinkers of the Ummah should establish the terms of the year 1187, which Saladin prepared with very careful and great efforts.

The first condition of the conquest is to believe in it. The first condition for Conquest is to believe in Conquest. It's believing that we can do it, that we can afford it. Because effort and work will not occur without faith and perseverance. This table, formed today, shows that the necessary faith and perseverance continue to exist in this Ummah. From Indonesia, the Balkans, from Australia to America, from Pakistan to the Maghreb, the gathering of all the colors of the ummah from all over the world for Jerusalem and Aqsa is a glad tidings to our Ummah that this faith is still alive and victory is not far away.

Palestine territories and Jerusalem are under occupation for more than a century. Islamic World is praying and crying for Jerusalem. For more than a hundred years, the Ummah has been giving martyrs for Jerusalem and sacrificing their lives and property for this purpose. This perseverance, which has not slowed down for more than a hundred years, has proved that the Palestinian territories are not an ordinary geography, and the Aqsa is not an ordinary Masjid. As long as the occupation continues, the resistance will continue.

Normalization steps taken by those who give up their dignity and honor to protect their positions have no importance for Islamic World. Jerusalem is the common value of the Ummah. Nobody has the right to limit this value to the Palestinian people and geography. This cause is the cause of every member of the Ummah. The picture in this symposium is the clearest indication of this. If eminent scholars and politicians of the ummah from all over the world come together on Jerusalem, no one can show this problem as a nation or a geographical problem or a local problem.

One of the basic conditions for the formation of faith and perseverance necessary for the re-conquest of Jerusalem is to put aside conflicts within the Ummah and ensure unity, or at least to stop Muslims from dealing with each other. The following sayings attributed to Salahudddin sums it up very well: “Those who deal with their friends cannot fight their enemies.”

The Islamic world has been dealing with each other for two centuries. Instead of uniting and becoming stronger, it is falling apart and weakening. They fight over artificial conflict with their brothers, who are supposed to be friends, and try to make friendship agreements with their enemies.

The picture that emerged today has also shown us something else: Bayt al-Maqdis is the common denominator of Islamic World. Ummah is able to put aside differences. No matter how big the problem between them is, it turns into a trivial in the face of the liberation of Jerusalem. We must put aside all differences and conflicts as Salahuddin did 833 years ago and find ways to come together under the same banner in order to liberate Jerusalem from the occupation of the Zionist regime.

Discussing the life of Salahuddin and trying to understand his struggle for liberating Jerusalem will shed a light on the present day. Symposia should be organized across the Islamic World and the liberation of Jerusalem should always be on our agenda. Saladin and Jerusalem have taken their place in the Islamic world as two names identified with each other. When Jerusalem is mentioned, Salahuddin, when Salahuddin is mentioned, Jerusalem comes to mind. I hope that Muslims will continue to talk about Salahuddin and Jerusalem. We will never make our present and future generations forget Saladin's struggle and the cause of Jerusalem.

Today, we expect each of our scholars, politicians and academics who participated in this symposium to contribute to the Saladin Institute, which we intend to establish.

I ask our Lord to grant us the days when we will pray together at the free Masjid Al-Aqsa.

I again thank all the participants of the symposium and wish this organization to be a step towards the freedom of Jerusalem. (ILKHA)