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As the sun dawned on the year 1170 AD, the middle aged Fatimid Sultan al-Adid lay on his deathbed, and finally succumbed to a brain tumor. Leaving no sons to continue the Fatimid Dynasty, power now shifted to Saladin, al-Adid's "Vizier".The revolts of the pro-Fatimid Dynasty loyalists led by Shawar (the ex-Vizier of the late Fatimid Sultan, al-Adid) had also been crushed this year. Ex-Vizier Shawar, the cowardly and treasonous man, who had burnt down parts of old Cairo, in attempts to stave off a Latin attack of Egypt, was taken to the central square where he was executed, for his treachery. After calming the capital of al-Qariah, the political and spiritual center of Egypt, Saladin was coronated in a lavish ceremony to commemorate the beginning of a new Dynasty, the Ayyubid Sultanate, and becameSaladin.Saladin's first act as Sultan was to send out letters to the rest of the revolting Shi'ite loyalist generals in the country side, who had continued to put up a fight against his new Dynasty. Saladin knew that many Shi'ite generals and old Fatimid bureaucrats were afraid that they would be purged by his new Sunni Dynasty. Therefore Saladin proclaimed that if they promised that they would put down their arms peacefully and swear loyalty to the new Dynasty, they would not be harmed, and they would be able to go into retirement.Saladin sent out two Sunni Missionaries from al-Qariah, one to Latin controlled Damietta (Domyat) and another to still Fatimid controlled, Al-Minya; in hopes of promoting the religion throughout Egypt, after years of Fatimid Sh'ite rule. Saladin hoped that the masses of Egyptian people, many of whom still followed the Sunni tradition, would re-embrace Sunni Islam. And with such hopes, Saladin inaugurated the construction of a new Sunni Madrasah in al-Qariah, with the hopes of increasing scientific research and also a place where new Sunni Missionaries could be taught and then sent out to other places within his realm.At the same time, Saladin sent out 6000 soldiers; one Tawashi Lancer regiment, three Egyptian spearmen and one Catapult division, towards the Kingdom of Jerusalem's frontier border in Damietta (Domyat). By positioning the army close to the border, Saladin hoped that the people of Damietta would know that Saladin had not forsaken them, and would try and overthrow the Latins. He knew they would most likely do this, as just a few years ago, the Latins had massacred the Muslim population, which was just beginning to recover.By the year 1172 AD after the execution of the corrupt Shawar, many of the old Fatimid elite agreed to Saladin's proposal, allowing them to put down their arms in exchange for amnesty and a peaceful retirement. With that, the cities of al-Iskandariyya and al-Minya declared their loyalty to Saladin and the new Ayyubid Dynasty. Later that year, the occupying Latins of Damietta (Domyat), were ejected from the city, following a popular uprising, and feeling the noose tightening over their neck with Saladin's army to their south, they decided to return to Hierosolyma (Jerusalem).Even cities such as Kerak and Al-Aqabah in the Transjordan province broke away from the Kingdom of Jerusalem, to join Saladin's rising Sultanate. But the crowning prize of all was Damascus flipping to his new Dynasty. His family in Damascus, being granted good positions and large estates in Syria, refused to continue listening to Nur ad-Din Zangi, who continuously tried to pit them against Saladin. With the unification of all his domains (Lower Egypt and Syria especially), Saladin knew the time had come to expand outside of Lower Egypt and into occupied Crusader Palestine.Saladin left the capital of Al-Qariah with 2,000 reinforcements that had joined his army after the capitulations of al-Minya and Domyat, as well as a few from al-Aqabah. He pushed forward into the Sinai, with the intention of taking Gaza first, then using that as a springboard, launch his army to recapture a weakly defended Hierosolyma.As Turan-Shah loaded his armor into the caravan that would carry it to the Holy Land, Saladin stopped his brother, saying that he would have to stay in Al-Qariah, and make sure that any Makurian advance into Lower Egypt, was met with a quick end; and when the time came, to expand into Upper Egypt, and build a new city (South of al-Minya). Turan-Shah hesitated, but agreed, knowing full well that his younger brother's advice was always good advice.Before Saladin left al-Qariah for good, he received news from Domyat that the Sunni faith had been restored in the city, but that rivalry between the Sunni's and the Catholic minority was rife. Saladin therefore decided to put the construction of his new madrasah in al-Qariah on hold, and instead ordered the training of a group of religious persecutors who would go and remove the Roman Catholic faith from Domyat. More concerning news comes from al-Minya though, where the local inhabitants, who have been nominally Christian for hundreds of years, refused the teachings of the Sunni Missionaries sent from al-Qariah in previous years; therefore forcing Saladin to begin training a Sunni Missionary in al-Iskandariyya, to try again to convert at least a portion of the Shi'ite population away from Shi'ite Islam to Sunni Islam.In 1172 AD, as Saladin continued to proceed towards Latin controlled Gaza, a message sent from the Caliph of Bagdad on behalf of some of the most prominent ulama of the Near East, urged Saladin and other prominent Muslim leaders that it was by Allah's will that al-Quds (Jerusalem) should be recaptured from the infidel Latins. Saladin, growing old now, realized that perhaps it was time to repent his sins, and launch this jihad towards a now weakly defended Hierosolyma, in the name of Allah. Gaza could wait he thought, and with this call for Jihad sent out to all the great leaders of Dar al-Islam, it was only a matter of time before another leader, like the hated Nur ad-Din Zangi also answered the call to Jihad.Saladin quickly sent out commands to the lieutenants of all the infantry and cavalry regiments ordering them to advance East, towards Hierosolyma, abandoning the Gaza campaign for now.