Yaqeen Institute Releases Crusades-Themed Series Comparing Israel and the U.S. to Medieval Invaders
The Texas-based Islamic institution presents current conflict as civilizational struggle requiring armed resistance and criticize Arab leaders who "normalize" relations with Israel
The Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research, a prominent Texas-based Muslim think tank, released a promotional video this week for an upcoming series titled “The Salahuddin Generation,” which draws explicit parallels between the medieval Crusades and the current Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The promotional video, posted to the organization’s social media accounts, opens with a hypothetical scenario set during the Crusades, describing foreign invaders “supported by a superpower” who claim land based on “historic and religious rights.” The narrator then asks viewers if this “sounds familiar?” The series, premiering December 6, takes its name from Salahuddin al-Ayyubi (Saladin), the 12th-century Muslim military leader who recaptured Jerusalem through armed conquest in 1187.
“Witness how Salahuddin al-Ayyubi, surrounded by scholars and resolute warriors, united the ummah and reclaimed our honor,” the organization wrote in its caption, describing the series as mapping “the solution to our crisis today.”
The video’s coded language draws direct parallels to contemporary events. References to invaders “supported by a superpower” mirror critiques of U.S. support for Israel, while criticism of rulers who “normalize” relations echoes opposition to the Abraham Accords peace agreements. By invoking Salahuddin as the model solution, the series frames military reconquest rather than diplomatic resolution as the appropriate response.
The promotional material depicts how prayer for deliverance eventually produces what the narrator describes as “a new generation” raised with different values. The video shows this generation engaged in combat—warriors on horseback charging into battle, archers drawing bows and firing arrows at enemy forces, and soldiers wielding swords.
According to the narrator, this generation ultimately achieves liberation of “your[our] land” through armed resistance, directly paralleling the historical reconquest of Jerusalem by Salahuddin’s forces in 1187.
Controversial Background
Founded in 2016 by Omar Suleiman, the Yaqeen Institute has nearly $9 million in annual revenue and over two million YouTube subscribers, according to Wikipedia. While Suleiman has been embraced by mainstream institutions, the organization faces mounting criticism over alleged extremist associations.
According to the Middle East Forum’s Islamist Watch project, photographs published in August 2022 show Suleiman meeting with Zakir Naik, an Indian televangelist accused of terror recruitment who has declared that “every Muslim should be a terrorist” and expressed praise for Osama bin Laden. Naik is banned from the UK and Canada and faces extradition requests on terrorism-related charges. In the photos, Suleiman called Naik “our dear Dr. Zakir Naik” and asked Allah to “protect him.”
Following the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack, Suleiman declined to condemn Hamas and referred to the attacks as “the current escalation of Israeli aggression and Palestinian resistance.” InfluenceWatch reports he also promoted debunked claims about Israeli actions, including hospital bombing allegations later attributed to misfired rockets from the terror group Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ).
The Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) published an analysis in November 2025 noting that Suleiman and affiliated scholars have adopted “increasingly hardline positions against Israel” since October 7, with rhetoric intensifying “from general criticism to fierce and direct attacks on senior Israeli officials.”
The INSS report described such figures as representing “soft Islamism”—publicly rejecting violence while promoting strongly anti-Israel positions that risk “fueling antisemitism, particularly among young Muslims with polarized worldviews.”
By presenting medieval conquest as “the solution to our crisis today,” the series promotes a worldview fundamentally incompatible with peace agreements or coexistence. The premiere on December 6 is expected to reach millions through the organization’s extensive social media platforms.