While not historically inconceivable, (albeit only remotely likely)the character is so clearly designed for audience broadening that it can be nothing but token.

This was really stupid! He would really have fit into jolly old England.

YES! 100% Hollywood tokenism. We need a broader demographic for this film! Survivors of the Crusades weren't likely to be buddy-buddies with Muslims. . .it wasn't much of an enlightened world.

Morgan Freeman played Azeem, the sole important African-American character in the movie Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves. What the hell? The character is obviously African, but not American. The first Africans came to the New World some 400 years after this film was supposed to take place, so they took an established black actor, made him a Moor (what African Muslims are historically called) and you have your typical Hollywood movie.

As much as I like Morgan Freeman his character was indeed a token minority.