ابن الأثير الجزري
Ali ibn al-Athir and other Muslim historians recorded that Raynald made a truce with Saladin in 1186. This "seems unlikely to be true", according to historian Bernard Hamilton, because the truce between the Kingdom of Jerusalem and Saladin covered Raynald's domains. In late 1186 or early 1187, a rich caravan travelled through Oultrejordain from Egypt to Syria. Ali ibn al-Athir mentioned that a group of armed men accompanied the caravan. Raynald seized the caravan, possibly because he regarded the presence of soldiers as a breach of the truce, according to Hamilton. He took all the merchants and their families prisoner, seized a large amount of booty, and refused to receive envoys from Saladin demanding compensation. Saladin sent his envoys to Guy of Lusignan, who accepted his demands. However, Raynald refused to obey the king, stating that "he was lord of his land, just as Guy was lord of his, and he had no truces with the Saracens". Saladin proclaimed a "jihad" (or holy war) against the kingdom, taking an oath that he would personally kill Raynald for breaking the truce.