The
Muslims prove themselves gracious victors when Saladin's siege of al-Quds
(The Holy) ends in the surrender of the Franks.
The Ayyubids (descendents of Saladin)displace the Fatimids ruling from Cairo
and restore religious pluralism to Jerusalem while pursuing a program
of Islamization in a city whose importance is now largely symbolic.
Encouraging the endowment of Qur'an schools (madrasas),
Muslim building activity begins to extend beyond the environs of the Noble
Sanctuary.