Part 38

The Muslim army stayed in Hims till spring. Afterwards they thought it was high time for them to march on. Abu *Ubaydah therefore headed northwards, conquering Adistan, Hamah, Shezaar and Salamiyah, all of which surrendered to the Muslims. The Muslim troops then arrived at the port of AlLathiqiyah, which they managed to conquer via a clever strategem contrived by Abu ~Ubaydah, thus taking its people off guard. Next, they conquered a small town called Ma’ arrat Hims, which later came to be called Ma*rrat An-No* maan. Meanwhile, Khalid Ibn Al-Waleed was dispatched to invade Qinnisreen, Well-aware that the city was well-fortified, Khalid did not for a minute feel dismayed. He rather confidently went ahead and besieged the city. For a long time, people of Qinnisreen obstinately refused to respond to Khalid’s repeated warnings and persisted in their stubbornness, heedless of the sad fate people in their neighbouring cities came to face. At length, realizing the futility of their adamant stance, they decided to surrender and accept the settlement. However, Khalid, a man of rigorous relentless nature, decided to punish them for resisting and so destroyed the entire city causing all residents to flee to

Antakiyah, leaving their properties, women and children to face an unknown fate.

Antakiyah was the last of the Syrian cities that Muslims had not conquered yet; and it was different from all other cities, as it was magnificent city and was constantly favored by almost all Byzantine emperors. Likewise, the vanquished remnants of their armies had fled to the city hoping to pull themselves together and deal the Muslims a heavy blow. Abu ~Ubaydah marched straight to Antakiyah where fierce fighting broke out, which ended in the Muslims’ favor. Abu ~Ubaydah then besieged the city on all side, though not for long, as its heads soon waved their white flag and requested a settlement. Finally, Abu ~*Ubaydah invaded Qoros and Manbig and dispatched Khalid to invade Mar*ash, which he easily did. At that point, the Muslim conquests reached the Euphrates and the troops fighting in Syria met their counterparts in Iraq, having crushed the then world's two major powers, the Persians and the Byzantines, and introduced people outside the Arab Peninsula to the Right Path; to Islam. Hence, it was under the command of Al-Faroog, ~Umar Ibn Al-Khattaab, that more and more people were salvaged from Hellfire and more and more people were delivered out of the darkness of ignorance to the light of Islam.

The Battles in Iraq:

With the political arena as previously described, no sooner did “Umar become the Caliph than he stepped out to urge people to join the troops and head for Iraq in order to gain Allah's reward. However, no one responded to his call, as people hated to fight the Persians who were powerful rigorous people. “Umar repeated his call the next day and again did so for the third day in a row, Al-Muthannah Ibn Harithah took the floor and eloquently spoke to Muslims of how Allah granted Khalid Ibn Al-Waleed victory and enabled him to conquer many

parts of Iraq and explained that enormous booty comprising money, properties, possessions and provisions awaits Muslims there. None of the Muslims answered the call to Jihad on the third day though. Yet, on the fourth day, Abu ~Ubayd Ibn Mas*ood Ath-Thaqafeyy was the first to volunteer and was followed by a good number of Muslims who thronged to answer ~Umar's call. Though not a Companion of the Prophet, ~ Umar then appointed Abu * Ubayd as the leader of the troops. ~ Umar was asked: "why not appoint one of the Prophet's Companions instead?" He replied: "I will appoint as the leader the first to answer the call. You outdid all people in supporting the call of Islam. He was the first to answer the call." “Umar then talked to Abu ~Ubayd in person and advised him to fear Allah and to take good care of the Muslim troops he was in charge of. He also ordered him to seek the counsel of the Prophet's Companions as well as Sulayt Ibn Qays as he was well-versed in warfare.

~Umar sent a message to Abu * Ubaydah commanding him to send back to Iraq Muslim soldiers whom Khalid Ibn AlWaleed had marched to Syria to aid the troops there. As a result, he sent back ten thousand Muslim soldiers to join their fellow Muslims in Iraq. At the time, when the Muslim troops arrived in Iraq, the Persians were divided over their sovereign. They finally agreed to crown Buran, daughter of Khosrau, who, in turn, entrusted a man called Rostom with all the kingdom's affairs, including the war they were engaged in against Muslims.

The Battle of the Bridge:

Rostom mobilized a huge army, which set out to meet the Muslims. The Persians stood facing the Muslim army, separated only by a river across which a bridge was built. It was Abu ~Ubayd's dauntless idea that the Muslims cross the river

because, he thought, the atheist Persians could never be more fearless of death than the steadfast Muslims, Abu * Ubayd even had_ the bridge destroyed so that victory would be the Muslims’ only choice.

The Muslims obeyed the command of their ruler, crossed the river and engaged in ferocious fighting against ten thousand Persian soldiers who rode elephants with bells hung around their necks. The Muslim horses were intimidated by the Persian elephants and the chimes of their bells, and the Muslim army were being targeted at by the arrows of the Persians. Nonetheless, they managed to kill six thousand of their atheist enemies. Abu ~*Ubayd ordered the Muslims to focus on killing the elephants first; so they killed almost all of the Persian elephants. The Persians had brought along to the battlefield a big white elephant. Abu * Ubayd stepped forward and chopped off its trunk. Enraged and furious, the elephant killed Abu ~Ubayd and stepped on him. A long line of successors he had named before the battle were killed, too. Finally, Al-Muthannah Ibn Harithah became in charge of the troops, as was planned by Abu *Ubayd. Just as the Muslims were about to conquer their enemies and declare themselves to be victorious, frailty got the better of them and they showed their heels. The Persians hurried in their pursuit killing many of them. The situation was, in every sense, grave. The Muslims had no choice but to reconstruct the bridge and cross the Euphrates. Al-Muthannah stood by the bridge and addressed his troops saying: "O people, take your time. I will wait here by the bridge till everyone has crossed the river." So when everyone did, Al-Muthannah led his troops till they reached their first stop. He stayed up all night, along with some intrepid Muslims to guard his soldiers, many of whom were seriously wounded. Others chose to wander aimlessly in the wilderness. Others yet, panic-stricken as they were, headed straight for Madinah to break the news to the Commander of the Faithful. *Umar however did not

reproach the defeated Muslims for retreating and explained: "I am your troops (that you can retreat to), in accordance with Allah's verse:

"If any do turn his back to them on such a day unless it be in a stratagem of war, or to retreat to a troop (of his own) he

draws on himself the wrath of Allah, and his abode is Hell, an evil refuge (indeed)!" (Al-Anfaal: 16)

This battle is reported to have taken place in Sha* baan, 13 AH, 40 days after the battle of Al-Yarmook.

The Battle of Al-Qadissiyah:

With the beginning of the year 14 AH, conditions in Iraq were hardly favourable after the Muslims’ sad defeat. The nonMuslims there violated every agreement they had concluded with the Muslims, abused them and expelled their governors. Deeply aggrieved, ~ Umar, at the helm of a huge army, marched out of Madinah with the intention of conquering Iraq himself. He consulted the Prophet's Companions and they all approved of his plans with the exception of * Abdur-Rahmaan Ibn ~ Awf who pointed: "I am afraid that frailty may set in throughout the Muslim state. I think you should dispatch someone and go back to Madinah." ~Umar as well as all Muslims present saw the point in ~Abdur-Rahmaan Ibn *Awf's opinion. ~Umar thus asked: "Who do you think we ought to dispatch?" He replied," I know someone." ~Umar asked, "Who?" * AbdurRahmaan returned: “A true dauntless lion, Sa*d Ibn Malik Az-Zuharyy." ~Umar approved of ~ Abdur-Rahmaan's choice and did dispatch Sa*d. He appointed him as leader of the