The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #103975   Message #2125242
Posted By: Azizi
14-Aug-07 - 11:53 AM
Thread Name: Arabic & African names in English songs & stories
Subject: RE: Arabic & African names in English songs & stories
Re: Saladin

See this info from http://www.allbiographies.com/biography-Saladin-28014.html

"Saladin
in full Salah al-Din Yussuf ibn Ayub
lived: (1137–93)

biography: Sultan of Egypt and Syria, the leader of the Muslims against the crusaders in Palestine, born in Tekrit, Mesopotamia. He entered the service of Nur al-din, Emir of Syria, and on his death (1174) proclaimed himself sultan, asserted his authority over Mesopotamia, and received the homage of the Seljuk princes of Asia Minor. His remaining years were occupied in wars with the Christians, whom he defeated near Tiberias in 1187, recapturing almost all their fortified places in Syria. The Third Crusade, headed by the kings of France and England, captured Acre in 1191, and he was defeated."

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Pittsburgh, PA had an African American city councilman 1995-2005 who had changed his name {during the late 1960s or early 1970s} to
Sala Udin. He and everybody else pronounced his name SAH-lah DEEN}. Btw, he was not Muslim.

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Here's the meaning of the names Sala and Sala al Din from various online/offline sources:

Salah - Righteousness
Salah al Din - Righteousness of the Faith; name of the Muslim leader who liberated Jerusalem from the Crusaders