Salahuddin al ayyubi biography

Early Life and Rise to Power in Egypt

Saladin was born Yusuf Ibn Ayyub in the central Iraqi city of Tikrit in or His family was of Kurdish descent, and his father Ayyub and uncle Shirkuh were elite military leaders under Imad al-Din Zangi, a powerful ruler who governed northern Syria at the time.

After growing up in Damascus and rising through the military ranks, the young Saladin joined an army commanded by his uncle Shirkuh, who served Zangi’s son and heir, Nur al-Din, on a military expedition to Egypt.

Saladin, depicted circa

In , after Shirkuh’s death, Saladin was chosen to succeed him in command of Nur al-Din’s forces in Egypt.

He was also appointed vizier of the crumbling Fatimid Caliphate, which ruled Egypt at the time. With the death of the last Fatimid caliph in , Saladin became governor of Egypt, and set about reducing the power and influence of Shia Islam and reestablishing a Sunni regime there.

Governing in the name of Nur al-Din, he strengthened Egypt as a base