Part 40

Further, the two young cities,Al-Basrah and Al-Kufah, had ambitions of their own. They wished to expand their terrains to include neighbouring provinces by launching more battles and gaining more booty, hence improving their conditions. It was Al-Ahnaf Ibn Qais who suggested to the Caliph waging war against the Persians in the hearts of Khurasaan and cornering Yazdagird. When ~Umar granted his permission, Muslims fearlessly conquered one Persian city right after the other to the point that the Persian Khosrau had no choice but to cross the river “and seek refuge in Turkistaan. Though the King of Turkistaan mobilized a massive army to back the remnants of the vanquished Persian army, the Muslims displayed such valor that baffled the enemy and rendered them unable to achieve the goal they were gathered to see through. That chapter drew down the curtain on the Persian empire, one of the two world powers then. The entire Persian empire was conquered by people who would worshipped none but their Sole Creator, Allah, Exalted be He. It was therefore during the reign of “Umar Ibn Al-Khattaab that the downfall of the Persian empire took place. It is noteworthy that Yazdagird finally gave in to the fact that the days of his past glory were irretrievably over. He spent the rest of his life expatriated till he was killed by one of his compatriots during the caliphate of ~ Uthmaan Ibn * Affaan. Abu Hurayrah narrates: "The Prophet said: "Khosrau will be ruined, and there will be no Khosrau after him, and Caesar will surely be ruined and there will be no Caesar after him, and you will spend their treasures in Allah's Cause." (Reported by AlBukhari and Moslem.)

The Conquest of Jerusalem:

While *Ubaydah Ibn Al-Jarraaah and Khalid Ibn AlWaleed were marching northwards in Syria, ~ Amr Ibn Al-~ Aas along with Sharhabeel [bn Hasannah were heading for Palestine with a view to liberating Jerusalem from the hands of the

Byzantines. When they reached Ramlah, they were encountered by a host of Byzantines, led by Utrabone (Tribunus), the shrewdest, most cunning and most ruthless commander who was second in rank after Heraclius. He had stationed massive armies at both Ramlah and I[lia’a (Jerusalem) so they could all be under his unified command.

He similarly stationed a garrison at each of Ghazza, AlLid, Nablus, Jafa and Sabastiah. Having set the scene as such, Tribunus eagerly awaited Muslims’ arrival so as to bring them to their knees and take vengeance on them for what they did to them in Syria.

Being the subtle army commander that he was, ~ Amr Ibn AlAas realised the jeopardy of the situation he was up against. He knew that victory would certainly be difficult if Muslims plunged into war with the situation being the way it was. He therefore felt the need to consult the Commander of the Faithful and brief him on the precarious conditions he was faced with. “Umar then dispatched Mu*aweyiah Ibn Abi Sufyaan to Qaysariah and wrote him saying: "I have appointed you to conquer Qaysariah, so march to it, and supplicate to Allah to grant you victory and always repeat the words: There is no power nor strength save in Allah, the Sublime, the Supreme. Allah is our God , in Whom we place our trust, on Whom we pin our hope; He is our Lord. Allah is the best to protect and the best to help."

Mu*aweyiah Ibn Abi Sufyaan headed for Qaysariah, besieged it and scuffled with its people several times, during one of which they engaged in fierce fighting till Allah granted His servants victory over their enemies. He killed nearly a hundred thousand of them and sent one-fifth of the booty to ~Umar Ibn Al-Khattaab, may Allah be pleased with him. The fall of Qaysariah meant that Tribunus could no longer hope for

succour in times of distress.

Shortly afterward, ~ Amr received the news that Tribunus was marching with his troops towards Agnadeen. ~ Amr was every bit as shrewd as Tribunus. He had _ two of his commanders, along with their troops, head for Ilia'a and Ramlah to distract the enemies garrison there and keep them busy so they would not be able to leave their places. At that point, ~Amr wrote to the Commander of the Faithful asking for succor. He wrote “Umar informing him of the situation. When the Caliph read ~Amr's message, he smiled and said to those around him: “Tribunus of the Byzantines is going to be attacked by Tribunus of the Arabs (i.e. “Amr); so wait and see how things will turn out." Succour was dispatched right away. However, the city of Agnadeen was practically invisible. ~ Amr realised that he would have to resort to some artful contrivance on his part. Disguised as a messenger of Muslims' army commander, he went to meet Tribunus. He talked to him, heard what he had to say, took a good look at the place and found out what he needed to know. Tribunus thought to himself: " I swear that this is ~Amr or the man_ whose opinion ~ Amr follows. Nothing would be better than to kill them." Tribunus thereupon called one of his guards and whispered to him to ambush the messenger and kill him. Figuring out the trick, ~ Amr therefore told him: "O Prince, you listened to me and I listened to you. | am only one of ten men whom * Umar Ibn Al-Khattaab sent to accompany this commander in all he does. I would love to bring them all here to listen to you and see what I did." Tribunus returned: " All right, go bring them to me." He then called another of his guards and whispered to him to hurry to the first and bring him back. ~ Amr therefore made it back safely to his troops. When Tribunus learnt that he really was ~ Amr Ibn Al- *Aas, he said: "The man duped me! I swear that he is certainly the shrewdest of all Arabs!" When “Umar Ibn Al-Khattaab learnt of this contrivance, he wondered: "What an excellent

man you are, “Amr!" Ferocious fighting flared in Agnadeen and both sides suffered heavy casualties. Victory at Agnadeen spurred Muslims to march on to Jerusalem, which they besieged for a very longtime, after having made sure no assault was to be expected from the rear. However, Jerusalem was a city to be reckoned with and the blockade lasted for a long period of time. Tribunus then wrote to ‘Amr saying: "You are my friend and my counterpart, you enjoy among your people the same rank that I do among mine. I swear you shall not conquer any further of Palestine after Agnadeen. So go back and do not grow arrogant lest you should be defeated the way those who came before you were." Amr called a man who spoke the language of the Byzantines, sent him to Tribunus and asked him to listen to what Tribunus told him then convey it to him. * Amr then wrote Tribunus a message wherein he said: "I received your message and you are my counterpart and enjoy an equal rank as mine among your people. You know that I am the conqueror of these lands. Read this messeng of mine out loud before your ministers and escort." So when Tribunus received the message, he gathered all his ministers and read it to them publicly. They asked Tribunus: “How do you know he is not the conqueror of these lands? He answered: " The name of the conqueror is all three letters." (The name '* Umar" in Arabic is made up of three letters.)’ Amr's messenger returned to him with Tribunus’ reply so “Amr wrote to “Umar [bn Al-Khattaab saying: " I am tackling an insurmountable thwarting war and facing a territory that seems to be preserved for you. So what shall be your command?"

According to Ibn Katheer: Jerusalem adamantly refused to give in to the blockade for a long time. Eventually, they agreed to conclude a peace settlements with Muslims provided that the Commander of the Faithful comes to the city in person. When *Umar Ibn Al-Khattaab learned of their request, he consulted Muslims as to whether it would be a good idea for

him to head for Jerusalem. ~Uthmaan Ibn ~ Affaan was of the view that the Caliph should not do so in order to demean them and force them to give in. Conversely, ~ Ali Ibn Abi Taalib advised him to head for Jerusalem as this would boost Muslims’ morale who had rigorously besieged the city. “Umar was inclined to follow ~ Ali's opinion. That was why he appointed him to be in charge of Madinah while he was away and set out for Jerusalem, accompanied by Al--Abbaas Ibn ~ Abdul Mutalib. * Umar chose to travel on horseback so as to cover the distance at a faster pace. When he arrived at Al-Gabiah, he gave a long eloquent sermon to Muslim troops. Having struck a peace settlement with people at Al-Gabiah, “Umar Ibn AlKhattaab headed for Jerusalem. He had earlier sent messages to army commanders asking them to meet him at Al-Gabiah ona specified day. On the appointed day , the army commanders did head for Al-Gabiah, one after the other to meet the Commander of the Faithful. Yazeed Ibn Abi Sufyaan was the first to arrive. He was followed by Abu *Ubaydah and then Khalid Ibn AlWaleed. It is narrated that when Abu *Ubaydah received ~Umar Ibn Al-Khattaab upon the latter's arrival, he dismounted. Thereupon, ~Umar dismounted, too. Abu ~Ubaydah was about to kiss *Umar's hand, so ~ Umar prepared to kiss Abu *Ubaydah 's foot. Abu * Ubaydah had to stop and so ‘Umar stopped.

Later, all commanders arrived to see “Umar Ibn AlKhattaab with the exception of Sharhabeel Ibn Hasannah and ~Amr Ibn Al-’ Aas who were on the alert at Agnadeen. While “Umar was at Al-Gabiah, an army of Byzantine soldiers, with their swords drawn in their hands, arrived. Armed and fully prepared, Muslims immediately set out to confront them. *Umar pointed:" These are people who came seeking peace." The Muslim army marched towards them, only to realise that they were soldiers from Jerusalem who came asking to be granted security and reconciliation when they learnt that ~ Umar

Ibn Al-Khattaab had arrived. The Commander of the Faithful, may Allah be pleased with them, granted them what they requested, signed a security and reconciliation settlement, imposed on them the Jiziah, and set a few conditions mentioned in books of history. Tribunus had no choice therefore but to flee to Egypt, where he stayed till it was conquered at the hands of ~ Amr Ibn Al-* Aas as will be explained shortly.