Muhammad (saw) – The Perfect Man — Page 205
Muhammad sa The Perfect Man 205 Muslims. Before this time the Muslims did not even own a boat. During the Khilafat of Hadrat ‘Uthm a n ra , Hadrat Mu‘ a viyah took the naval command of the Muslim armies and set off for the island of Crete. This was the first naval Jih a d in Islamic history. As a result, Crete was conquered and the foundations of future naval victories were laid. In this way the words of the Holy Prophet Muhammad sa that Islam would be victorious, its message would reach across the oceans and the mounted Muslim battalions would cleave the oceans were fulfilled. 13 This prophecy was so splendidly fulfilled that in the time of Roman and Persian naval domination, the Muslims asserted their superiority. Under the command of ‘Abdull a h bin Sa‘d bin Ab i Sara h the Muslim naval fleet established the supremacy of Islamic regime in the waters of the Mediterranean sea. After the conquest of Crete, the Muslim armies on one hand reached the lands across the Black sea and the Red sea and on the other hand Muslim victories crossed the Mediterranean and conquered the island of Raus S aqaliyyah and Constantinople. Their third adventure was led by Ta riq bin Ziy a d, the conqueror of Spain. He sailed across the Mediterranean and on reaching Gibraltar; he burnt his boats without caring for the consequences. On the fourth adventure, Muhammad bin Q a sim sailed across the Arabian and Indian Ocean. Thus the