Hazrat Umar Farooq — Page 18
C H A P T E R 3 CONQUESTS DURING HADHRAT UMAR’S KHILAFAT: It was during the Khilafat of Hadhrat Umar that the Muslims conquered the two great empires of the time, Rome and Persia, and the flag of Islam was hoisted in Iraq, Syria, Palestine, Egypt and Persia. By following the principles of Islam, the Muslims ensured fair dealings and justice among the people of the occupied territories and Islam soon spread throughout those countries. THE CONQUEST OF IRAQ When Hadhrat Umar became Khalifah, the Muslim forces were already engaged in war with Iraq and Syria. In those days the Persians governed Iraq while the Romans ruled over Syria. After becoming the leader of the Muslims, Hadhrat Umar devoted his attention first of all to Iraq. Hadhrat Khalid bin Waleed, who had made spectacular conquests in Iraq, was called back and posted in Syria by Hadhrat Abu Bakr because of the great threat by the Syrian Christians, who were making preparations for war on an unusually large scale. After the withdrawal of Hadhrat Khalid bin Waleed there was not much progress on the Iraqi front. Meanwhile the Persians gathered a large force in order to drive the Muslims out of Iraq. In the fighting that followed the Muslims had to abandon parts of Iraq. Hadhrat Musanna, the Commander of the Muslim force in Iraq, asked Hadhrat Umar for help. As a result, a Muslim force numbering four thousand soldiers was sent under the command of Hadhrat Abu Obaidah Saqafi to Iraq. Some Muslim soldiers joined the force on the way. Hadhrat Abu Obaidah Saqafi was the chief of Saqeef tribe. He was well versed in matters of warfare. It should be noted that he was not a Companion of the Holy Prophet. THE BATTLE OF NAMARAQ The Muslim force reached Namaraq where Hadhrat Musanna and his men were waiting for them and thus the total number of Muslims reached eleven thousand approximately. They faced the huge army of non-believers. After fierce fighting, the Muslims won the battle. An interesting incident happened during the battle that demonstrated that a Muslim is always true to his word. An enemy soldier called Japan was overpowered by a Muslim soldier and was about to be killed when he pleaded, “Don’t kill me. I’ll give you two slaves if you spare my life. ” The Muslim soldier agreed. Japan said, “Take me to your Commander so that we can make the deal official. ” The Muslim soldier took him to Hadhrat Abu Obaidah and the agreement was made. Immediately after the agreement someone recognised Japan and shouted, “Kill him because he is Japan, the enemy commander. ” Hadhrat Abu Obaidah replied, “We have promised to spare his life, so no harm can come to him now, even if he is the commander of the enemy forces. ” THE BATTLE OF SAQATIAH From Namaaraq, the Muslim Force marched to Kaskar, which lies between the Euphrates and the Tigris. The Muslim force met the Persian army at a place called Saqatiah. The Muslims destroyed the 18