The Isolation Policy against the Intellectual Elites and Religious Leaders Opposing the Ayyubid Rule (570-648 A.H/1174-1250 A.D)
Jehad Suleiman Salem Al Masri

Abstract
This research deals with the isolation policy against the intellectual elites and religious leaders opposing the Ayyubid rule. The importance of this topic lies in that the Arab Sunni historians refrain from dealing with such sensitive topic as they tend to avoid defaming the glories the Ayyubids era. This is based on their belief that the Ayyubid rulers lead the Islamic Jihād Movement against the Crusaders, especially the founder of the Ayyubids State, Sulṭān Ṣalāḥ Al-Dīn Al-Ayyūbī, who liberated Jerusalem from the Crusader occupation. The researcher applied the historical analytical method to explore the extent of the effect of this policy on the decline of the scholarly movement and the culture of the era. The rulers of Banī Ayyūb gave priority to the policy which protected their regime. Therefore, they eradicated any scholarly movement if scholars were among the opposition which aimed to eradicate their regime through spreading ideologies and thoughts that were contrary to their religious ideology and political orientations. The researcher consulted Arabic and European historical resources to review different opinions in an attempt to discover the historical approaches behind the objectives, motives and results of the isolation policy adopted by the rulers of Banī Ayyūb against the opposing intellectual elites and religious leaders. In addition, the researcher reached logical historical findings that changed the stereotype of religious theorizing for Banī Ayyūb, especially the founder of the Ayyubid State, Sulṭān Ṣalāḥ Al-Dīn Al-Ayyūbī. Most previous studies dealt with argumentative issues in the Ayyubid era. They were religious rather than historical, aiming to support the merits and advantages of the era. Those studies disregarded the disadvantages of the Ayyubid era which such studies referred to as an Islamic example for Al-Jihād and liberation.

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