 Saladin structured the Ayyubid empire around the concept of collective sovereignty i.e. a confederation of principalities held together by the idea of family rule . Under this arrangement there existed numerous " petty sultans " while one family member , as @-@ Sultan al @-@ Mu 'azzam , reigned supreme . After the death of Saladin , this coveted position became open to whomever was strong enough to seize it . Subsequent rivalry between the Ayyubids of Syria and Egypt reached a point where the rulers of each territory would at times collude with Crusaders against the other . Ayyubid rule differed in these two regions . In Syria , each major city was ruled as a relatively independent principality under an Ayyubid family member , while in Egypt the long tradition of centralized rule enabled the Ayyubids to maintain direct control over the province from Cairo . It was Baghdad , seat of the Caliphate , however , that exercised cultural and political hegemony over the Ayyubid territories , particularly those in Southwest Asia . For instance , the qadi ( " chief justice " ) of Damascus was still appointed by the Abbasids during Ayyubid rule . 
