At a glance
- Era
- The Crusades, Ayyubids and Mamluks
- Region
- Levant & Iraq
- Review
- Draft Completeness 2/5 · Help complete it
In time
In space
Map: Natural Earth, public domain · places and route from the graph
Sides
Commanders: Shihab al-Din al-Suhrawardi
Summary
In 587 AH the philosopher Shihab al-Din Yahya al-Suhrawardi was killed in Aleppo. He had come there and his name had spread. The king al-Zahir Ghazi, son of the sultan Salah al-Din, held a gathering for him, where his merit showed and his learning dazzled. Al-Zahir became attached to him and favoured him 1.
The scholars' accusation
The scholars came to see heresy and moral laxity in him. They issued a legal ruling that he was an unbeliever and sent it to Salah al-Din. They warned him that Suhrawardi might corrupt his son's belief, and Salah al-Din sent word to his son to kill him without further discussion 1.
Death by starvation
He was offered a choice, and he chose to die of hunger, because he was used to fasting. He was denied food until he died. He had lived thirty-six years. The sword-bearer al-Amidi said: "I saw him, with much knowledge and little sense." Ibn Khallikan reports that he was strangled in the citadel of Aleppo on 5 Rajab 587 AH 2.
Connections
- Occurred at
- Aleppo
- Had participant
- Shihab al-Din al-Suhrawardi· صلاح الدين يوسف بن أيوب الملك الناصر
People and things also explored
the Ayyubid shuffle — al-Adil to Aleppo, al-Aziz to Egypt· Saladin's first siege of Aleppo — the boy-king's speech and the Ismaili knives· Salah al-Din takes the north and Aleppo in 578· al-Malik al-Muhsin ibn Salah al-Din· Ending the Ubaydid Khutba and Restoring the Abbasid Khutba in Egypt· the great battle at Acre — the sieges fiercest day· al-Malik al-Ṣāliḥ moved to Aleppo — Saʿd al-Dīn Kumashtakīn seizes the regency· The exchange of Aleppo, from Mosul to Sinjar
Sources
- Shadharat al-Dhahab — Ibn al-Imad al-Hanbali , p. 770
- Shadharat al-Dhahab — Ibn al-Imad al-Hanbali , p. 770; wafayat-ayan
- Wafayat al-A'yan wa-Anba' Abna' al-Zaman — Ibn Khallikan
Cite this page
islam.museum contributors. “Killing of Shihab al-Din al-Suhrawardi in Aleppo, 587”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/event/suhrawardi-execution-587/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-22.