Abdul Rahman Azzam - Saladin (2009).pdf

This is the first serious biography of Saladin in over 20 years and the first ever by a non Western scholar.

This is the first major biography of Saladin, arguably the greatest figure in Islamic history, for 20 years. As famous today as he was when he drove the Crusaders out of Jerusalem, the real Saladin has dissolved into legend with each retelling of his story. This book seeks to redress the balance.

A unique non-Western perspective on the life of a heroic leader who united Sunni and Shi'ite against the infidel, this is the first biography of Saladin by a Muslim historian in English

Offers a context for today's struggles in the Middle East

Contains dispatches and letters of his most trusted adviser and secretary of state, al-Qadi al-Fadil, which reflect Saladin's motives and ideals.

"absorbing" - FT Weekend 17 January 2009 (circulation 500,000) "timely and well-written" - Irish News, 10 January 2009 (readership 180,000) "His book is a comprehensive survey not just of the man, but of the age in which he lived" - Edinburgh Evening News, 10 January 2009 (readership 272,000)

"The strength of Azzam's study lies in illuminating Saladin's many connections with Sunni theologians, jurists and teachers, and their mutually reinforcing activities, such as his foundation of numerous madrassas that embedded Sunni orthodoxy among the Egyptian population, but also turned out trained administrators for his growing empire".
Times Higher Education