WARS AGAINST PERSIANS

BATTLE OF JASR

The battle of Jasr took place in around 635 AD. The Persians were furious at the loss of Hira,
and the defeat at the battle of Namarraq. They prepared a huge army to avenge the Muslims
and win these places back. Both the armies faced each other on either side of the Euphrates –
Muslims under Abu Ubaidah Thaqifi and Persians under the command of Bahman.

The Persians asked the Muslim army if they were willing to cross over the river to start the
fight. Muslims wanted to fight from the bank, but going against the advice of eminent
companions, Abu Ubaidah decided to go over the river. A bridge of boats was built over which
the Muslim army crossed. The disadvantage was that the ground was uneven and it made it
hard for the Muslims to move around freely. Furthermore, the Persians were shielded by a wall
of war elephants. Each elephant had a howdah over which a Persian soldier was seated with a
bow and arrow – giving them an advantage of attacking Muslims from above.

The Muslim horses who had never seen elephants before went out of control. Abu Ubaidah
ordered the soldiers to abandon their elephants and fight on foot, and led the attack himself.
The Muslim soldiers started cutting the ropes of the howdahs, bringing down the Persian
soldiers which were then killed. However, hundreds were trampled including Abu Ubaidah who
was killed by a white elephant, which was the leader of the herd. His brother took over the
command but he was trampled too. Then, his son led the army but one by one the Muslim
commanders were martyred one after another. The Muslim army couldn’t retreat because the
bridge had been cut off by a man from Banu Thaqif so the Muslims didn’t abandon the fight.
When the command came to Muthana, he ordered the rebuilding of the bridge while he held
the Persians off with a small force. He was the last to cross back. This battle was a very bid
defeat for the Muslims as they lost 6,000 men out of 9,000 – 2,000 of which died fighting, 2,000
drowned, and 2,000 fled to Madinah or other places.

BATTLE OF BUWAIB

Umar was shocked to hear about the defeat at Jasr and to avenge the death of the Muslims he
decleared Jihad all over Persia. Messenegers were sent to all parts or Arabia to collect an army.
The army numbered 20,000 and was put under the command of Muthan Syabbani. It also
included Christian tribes Taghlb and Narmr.

The Muslims camped at Buwaib in 634 AD on the eastern side of River Euphrates – which is
opposite to Modern Kufa. The persians were under the command of Mehran Hmadani who
was considered an expert in the Arabian way of war. He asked the Muslims if they’d like to
cross over. Given past experience, the Muslims refused and the Persians crossed over to
Buwaib.

A fierce battle was fought in which Muthana asked his soldiers to target Mehran. The Persians
were defeated and Mehran was killed. After his death, the Persians started to retreat in
confusion and disorder but the bridge had been captured by Muthana so they couldn’t run
away. Thousands of Persian soldiers were killed, and thousands drowned in the river. Because
of this battle, all of the western part of Persian (modern day Iraq) fell into Muslim hands.

BATTLE OF QADSIYAH

The battle of Qadsiyah took place in 636 AD when the Persian King Yazdgard was infuriated at
the previous defeat of Buwaib, and wanted to recapture the lands lost in it. He began to
prepare a huge army to fight the Muslims and when Umar heard about this, he declared jihad
all over the land and started collecting his own soldiers. Saad bin Abi Waqas was ordered to
lead this army 0f 28,000 because the important commanders like Khalid bin Waleed and Abu
Ubaidah bin Jarrah were away fighting in Syria. The Muslim army included 70 participants of the
Battle of Badr and 300 of Hudaibiya. The Persian had an army which numbered 120,000 under
the command of Rustum, their most famous general.

The Persians were first offered surrender on the condition of either Islam or jizya but they
refused arrogantly. Yazdgard insulted the envoy and turned him out of court, which hastened
the war. Muslims were camped near the Euphrates at Qadsiyah, on the instruction of Hazrat
Umar. When Rustum came to meet them with his army, he was offered Islam but he refused
arrogantly and bragged about crushing Arabia. Meanwhile, 6,000 fresh troops came to
reinforce the Muslims. Saad bin Abi Waqas fell ill and directed the battle from his bed.

The war started and for three months, there was no outcome. In the month of Muharram, a 3
day fierce battle took place. This time, he Muslims dealt with Persian elephants wisely. They
attacked their eyes and cut their trunks, which made them go out of control and caused havoc
in the Persian ranks. They trampled their own people. The Persian troops started retreating and
Rustum was killed fleeing the battlefield.

This battle was a very significant victory for the Muslims because it destroyed about 2/3 rd of the
Persian army (80,000 people), including their most famous general. It also caused Muslims to
capture Madain the Persian Capital. All the territory between the Tigris and the Euphrates now
fell into Muslim hands. Lots of people in the conquered territories accepted Islam and it led to
further conquests like Nahawand.
 WARS AGAINST BYZANTINES
BATTLE OF YARMUK

The Battle of Yarmuk took place in 636 AD in the reign of Hazrat Umar. During Abu Bakrs time
the Muslims had fought and defeated the Romans at the Syrian Frontier under Khalid bin
Waleed, after which – he proceeded to win over Damascus, Emessa and Jordan one by one. The
Romans were infuriated at the loss of these three important cities and after the fall of
Damascus, they asked Hercalius for help who was staying in Antioch. Heraclius wanted to
protect Palestine, which was the holy land for Christians, so he sent 280,000 men for help.

To face this huge army, Muslims left some of their occupied places, returning the jizya saying:
“Since we can’t protect you anymore, we’re returning it.” Then they marched with 40,000 men
to meet the Romans who were encamped at the Valley of Yarmuk. Hazrat Umar was in contact
with the army, and for a while negotiations took place. Romans offered the Muslims money to
leave Syria and return to Arabia, which was refused. Muslims gave the Romans three usual
options – jizya, Islam or war. The Romans chose to fight.

At this time Hazrat Umar appointed Abu Ubaidah bin Jarrah as military chief but Khalid bin
Waleed led the fight. Abu Ubaidah reached Yarmuk with a further 40,000 men to reinforce the
army. The fighting started on 15th August, 636 AD and there was no outcome for three days. On
the 4th day – 19th August Muslims attacked with full preparations. Heavy fighting took place
where the Romans were defeated. A storm broke out making the situation worse. Only 1/3rd of
the Roman army remained after the rest were killed or fled the battlefield. After hearing the
news of the defeat, Heraclius fled to Constantinople. This was a very important victory for the
Muslims as they were able to capture Syria and establish Muslim rule there. It also led victories
of Egypt, Palestine and Alexandria. 3000 Muslims and 80,000 Christians lost their lives in this
battle.

FALL OF JERUSALEM

After the Battle of Yarmuk, Muslims made their way in the Byzantine Empire capturing
Palestine and Jordan and soon reached Jerusalem under Amr bin Aas. However, it was strongly
fortified and naturally protected by the presence of valleys around it. The Muslims laid siege
around the city, which dragged on very long and soon the winters came, making it very hard for
the besieging forces to continue.
Amr bin Aas wrote to the Muslim commander asking for reinforcements. Abu Ubaidah bin
Jarrah and Khalid bin Waleed soon joined him with their own forces. When the Romans heard
that the Muslim army had been reinforced, they lost heart and laid down their arms.

However, they laid one condition before giving up the city completely. They wanted the caliph –
Hazrat Umar to come and and collect the keys in person. After consulting the companions,
Hazrat Umar put Ali in charge and left for Jerusalem with a single camel and a slave. The camel
was ridden in turns with the slave.

When Hazrat Umar arrived at Jerusalem, the people were surprised to see that Hazrat Umar
was walking while the slave rode the camel. The patriarch of Jerusalem is known to have said:
“Verily, Islam has excelled all other religions.”

A deputation awaited Hazrat Umar and thereby a treaty was drawn up, which guaranteed
security of life, religious places and freedom of religion. The citizens were also asked to pay
jizya tax, and those who didn’t were asked to leave the city. After this treaty, the keys were
handed over to Umar – who then expressed the desire to offer Thanksgiving prayers. He was
led to the church of Holy Sepulchre but he politely refused. He prayed outside the compound,
so he didn’t set an example for any Muslim to start converting churches into mosques. He was
then led to where the Prophet David used to pray for further prayers. He stayed a little longer
in Jerusalem, before appointing a governor, reorganising administration, and building Masjid e
Umar.

CONQUEST OF EGYPT

The conquest of Egypt took place in 639 AD. Amr bin Aas felt that the people of Egypt were
oppressed by their emperor. With the permission of Umar, he set out with 4000 men, capturing
small towns along the way. He made his way through Wadi al Qarsh and laid siege to and
Egyptian fort called Fustat. The siege lasted seven months until the fort was finally conquered.

When the King of Egypt heard about this, he was furious and he sent a vast army to the capital
– Alexandria with 50,000 men. Umar also sent reinforcements which included four eminent
and experienced leaders – Zubair bin Awwam, Makhdad bin Omer, Maslama bin Mukhalid, and
Ubaidah bin Samit. The Muslim force then numbered 12,000.

When the Muslims arrived to Alexandria, they found it heavily fortified. The Egyptians had also
set up contraptions on the walls which hit the Muslims with boulders every time they came
close to the city. Furthermore, the city had direct sea access which linked them to
Constantinople and other cities – from where they could ask for armed reinforcements. This
made it hard for the Muslims to carry out a proper attack.
But, they laid siege accordingly which lasted 6 months. When the Byzantines came out of their
forts they were beaten back in. Meanwhile, Heraclius in Constantinople died. This made the
Egyptians lose heart and gave Muslims confidence since they realised no Roman help could
come for the Egyptians. After this, a fierce battle took place where Alexandria was conquered
along with the rest of Egypt.