The Muslim leader who recaptured Jerusalem from the Crusaders in 1187 was Saladin. His victory followed the Battle of Hattin, where his forces decisively defeated the army of the Kingdom of Jerusalem on 4 July 1187.
Saladin was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty and had united Egypt and much of Syria under his rule. This political and military consolidation gave him the resources to challenge the Crusader states, which had controlled Jerusalem since the First Crusade captured it in 1099.
After Hattin, Saladin captured or compelled the surrender of several Crusader strongholds before besieging Jerusalem from 20 September to 2 October. Balian of Ibelin negotiated the city’s surrender. Unlike the Crusader conquest of 1099, the 1187 takeover was relatively restrained, with many inhabitants allowed to leave after paying ransom.
A common mix-up is confusing Saladin with Nur ad-Din, his earlier Syrian patron, or Baybars, a later Mamluk sultan. Saladin’s capture of Jerusalem helped trigger the Third Crusade.