Source of video / Courtesy: BBC

Written and collected by Zia H Shah MD, Chief Editor of the Muslim Times

This is an hour and a half movie or documentary about Saladin and Richard the Lionheart by BBC.  If the movie inspires you in some ways, remember that the Latter Days, which is our times, are an era of Jihad with pen and the Holy Prophet Muhammad, may peace be on him had prophesied this.  Come join the editorial team of the Muslim Times to sharpen your pens and invite people to better theology and universal brotherhood.

According to Wikipedia: “Saladin’s chivalrous behavior was noted by Christian chroniclers, especially in the accounts of the Siege of Kerak, and despite being the nemesis of the Crusaders, he won the respect of many of them, including Richard the Lionheart; rather than becoming a hated figure in Europe, he became a celebrated example of the principles of chivalry.”

Saladin did not destroy the True Cross, on which Jesus, may peace be on him, was put on the cross, even though he had it after the Battle of Hattin.  In the same spirit we want to preserve everything that is wonderful in the Christian tradition and useful for humanity, as we engage in our ‘Jihad with Pen, Keyboards and Internet!’

Saladin’s statue in Damascus

When Saladin finally captured Jerusalem, he did not kill the Christian population of Jerusalem, the descendants of the crusaders of the First Crusade, who had killed each and every Muslim inhabitant of Jerusalem during the First Crusade.  He was following in the footsteps of his master, the Holy Prophet Muhammad, may peace be upon him, and trying to mimic his mercy and forgiveness that he had shown to the polytheist population of Mecca a few centuries before.

To read the account of the First Crusade:

Richard the Lionheart killed three thousand prisoners of war in cold blood.  To read an account of the Holy Prophet Muhammad and prisoners of war, please click here.

Suggested Reading by Zia H Shah MD, Chief Editor of the Muslim Times for Jihad with the pen, the Jihad of our times

Different Muslim scholars and even the warriors have been engaged in the struggle between pure Monotheism and Triune understanding of God and have had variable success and received sometimes fair and sometimes not so fair credit in history.  Interestingly, at this time in our history of our global village, the best champions are coming from different walks of life and faith. They are agnostic, atheists and Muslims, who conventionally do not carry the label of being scholars:

24 Video lectures: The Great Courses: How Jesus Became God?

Refuting William Lane Craig’s: ‘The Birth of God’

If the Atheists and the Christians Debate, Islam Wins!

Charles Darwin: An Epiphany for the Muslims, A Catastrophe for the Christians