This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts. Saladin, the 12th-century Kurd who rallied Arab armies during the ...

The image of Saladin as the ideal pious Quranic leader remained a potent symbol in regional public memory, serving as an abiding challenge to politically divisive or corrupt local rulers.

The Life and Legend of the Sultan Saladin. By Jonathan Phillips.Yale University Press; 520 pages; $32.50. Bodley Head; £25. T HE WEST has few Muslim heroes but, astonishingly, a 12th-century ...