The story of the pirates and the body of the Prophet ﷺ

The high-ranking Crusader, Raynald of Châtillion, was the leader of a group of pirates who hailed from the Levant. The pirates dominated the Red Sea and all surrounding waters. These pirates were ruthless. They attacked any ship who dared cross paths with them. Often, they killed all of the crew on board the victim ship, such as an incident where they attacked and seized a ship carrying pilgrims from Jeddah. The pirates were very feared by everyone, who tried their best to avoid them. They also had a high rank in the Crusader state.

The worst of their plans was their attempt to steal the body of the Prophet ﷺ and sell it for profit. The pirates bragged about their plan to everyone they saw on land, as they knew no one could stop them. They even bragged and taunted about it to Muslims they met on the way to their headquarters or ships. But once they had done all the bragging, they wasted no more time and headed off to the largest ship they had. They then sailed off to Madinah, but on the way there they took quick breaks to raid and rob the smaller ships that passed by them.

When they were a week away from Madinah, the news of their plan reached the great Ayyubid ruler, Salahuddin al-Ayyubi. Salahuddin ordered his strongest general Hussam al-Din Lu'lu to arrest the pirates. He also ordered the Ayyubid ruler of Egypt, King Al-Adil, to send a force of at least a thousand men to accompany Hussam in his battle against the pirates. Many large ships sailed from Egypt and Alexandria, commanded by Hussam al-Din Lu'lu. On the way to Madinah, they also were assisted by the naval forces of the Almohads, who were sent down by the Almohad ruler Abu Yusuf Yaqub al-Mansur. The combined fleet of ships might have been the largest one ever seen in Islamic history.

The pirates were only about two days from Madinah. They were very excited. But their excitement was not for long. They were quickly intercepted by the Ayyubid and Almohad forces. The pirates felt fearful as they did not expect such a large fleet of ships to be chasing after them and defending Madinah. So, the pirates turned their ship around and sailed in an opposite direction. But the Muslims chased after them, and eventually, Hussam al-Din and several Ayyubid soldiers hopped onto the pirate ship. They killed the chief of the pirates, and chained up the rest of the pirates. The pirates were taken to various countries and cities to be executed, such as Alexandria in Egypt. As for the pirate ship, it was dismantled by Hussam al-Din Lu'lu once he had reached land.

When Raynald of Châtillion heard about the death of his strong pirate crew, he was angry. But he couldn't do anything about it. Raynald was eventually taken as a prisoner by Salahuddin after he had liberated Al-Quds from the Crusaders. He was then beheaded for his evil schemes against the Muslims.

Source:

The Rihlah of Ibn Jubayr, page 34 to 35