Salahuddin and the Return of Jerusalem

After the victory at Hattin, Salahuddin al Ayyubi restores Jerusalem to Muslim rule with a mercy remembered by all sides.

Eighty eight years after the city had fallen to the First Crusade, Salahuddin entered Jerusalem without massacre or plunder, ransoming captives and often freeing the poor at his own expense. Chroniclers of Europe and the East alike recorded his clemency. The Aqsa sanctuary returned to Muslim worship.