Answer:
Known in Arabic as Salah ad-Din, this Islamic ruler of the 12th century commanded massive forces, fought the Europeans for control of the Holy Lands, started a new Islamic Empire that would reshape the world, and ended up actually improving relationships between Europe and West Asia. If ever there was a name for the history books, this was it.
Early Life
Why don't we start at the beginning? Saladin was born around the year 1137, in what is now either Syria or Iraq. His family was of Kurdish descent, and adhered to the Sunni sect of Islam. He seems to have been well educated from a young age, and while he was more of a scholar than warrior, he was entered into the military under his uncle's tutelage. It was in this position that he saw his first battles of the Crusades, leading troops against Crusaders near Giza, in Egypt. Saladin would later be credited as the architect of the Islamic victory in this battle.
Saladin in Power
By roughly 1169, Saladin had gained enough recognition and respect to catch the attention of the caliphs (Islamic rulers) of the Fatimid Caliphate in Egypt. Saladin rose quickly up the governmental ranks and was eventually named the Vizier of Egypt. This was an interesting move, since the Fatimid rulers were Shia Muslims, and Saladin was Sunni. The two sects didn't often share power. Saladin, it seems, was not about to waste the opportunity. He worked his way further into the Fatimid government, and when the caliph died in 1171, he seized control.
1171 marks the end of the Fatimid Caliphate, one of the great medieval Islamic empires. But Islamic power was far from finished. Saladin transformed Egypt into a Sunni state, aligning it with the Sunni Abbasid Caliphate based in Baghdad. He then invaded and conquered Syria in 1174, and was proclaimed the Sultan of Egypt and Syria. It was a title he'd carry with him for the rest of his life, as well as the founding of a new Islamic dynasty that would rule most of West Asia for the next century. We call them the Ayyubid Dynasty.
