Hazrat Umar Farooq — Page 20
Hadhrat Musanna encouraged the Muslim soldiers to fight bravely for the cause of Islam. Mehran, the enemy commander, was killed in the battle. Seeing this, the Persians panicked and fled from the battlefield. Many ran back to the bridge to cross the river but the Muslims blocked their way. The enemy could not escape and in confusion jumped into the river to save their lives but most of them drowned. The Muslims won the battle with Allah’s grace, and the enemy suffered a huge loss in this battle. The Muslims thus occupied a large part of Iraq. Seeing their fairness and justice, the local population accepted Islam in large numbers. The Commander Hadhrat Musanna was fatally wounded during the battle but he knew that the Persians would attack yet again. So he made preparations for the next battle. He also asked Hadhrat Umar for help, who sent an army under the command of Hadhrat Sa`ad bin Abi Waqqaas. But Hadhrat Musanna’s condition got worse and soon after the battle this brave soldier of Islam passed away. Hadhrat Umar was informed of his death and he was very grieved. He appointed Hadhrat Sa ‘ ad as the Commander of Muslim army and directed him to proceed to a lace called Qaadsia to hold the advances of the Persians. THE BATTLE OF QAADSIA Hadhrat Sa`ad bin Abi Waqqas was a close Companion of the Holy Prophet and was also the Prophet’s maternal uncle. Hadhrat Umar instructed him, “Do not be afraid of Persia’s might. Beware of the enemy’s trickery and be steadfast. Insha-Allah you will win the battle and the Muslim Force will march into the city of Madaain. The whole of Iraq will then fall to Muslims. ” Madaain was the Capital of Iraq at that time and was the seat of the Persian government. The Persian Emperor Yezdgird, a sixteen- year- old youth, lived there. Hadhrat Sa`ad sent a party of fourteen Arab nobles to the Royal court for negotiations and to introduce to them the salient features of the religion of Islam in order to invite them to Islam. Yezdgird arrayed his court in great pomp and splendour and sent for the Muslim Ambassadors who were ushered into his court in their flowing Arabian robes. The negotiations began but soon the emperor became very angry and remarked, “None of you would have left this place alive if it were legitimate to put Ambassadors to death. ” He was so angry that instead of exchanging gifts as a gesture of goodwill he ordered that a basket full of soil be handed over to them to show his contempt for Muslims. The Muslims, instead of being offended, took it as a good omen and hurried back to their Commander. Pointing to the basket of soil, they said to their Commander, “Accept our congratulations for the victory as the enemy has voluntarily surrendered his territory to us. ” The Persians gathered together a very large army under the Persian Commander-in-Chief Rustam. Rustam was determined to defeat the Muslims and drive them into the desert. The two armies met at Qaadsia. The enemy had a large armoury and a large number of elephants but the Muslims were not afraid of their number or their weapons. Fully confident of Allah’s help, they went into the battlefield. While the enemy had a large number of elephants, the Muslims had camels. In order to confront the elephants they thought of a brilliant plan. They covered their camels with black cloth, which gave them a frightful appearance. The enemy elephants were thus tricked and some of them refused to surge forward. The battle lasted for several days. The enemy Commander-in-Chief Rustam was killed in the battle. Seeing this the Persian soldiers fled from the battlefield and by the grace of God the Muslims won this battle as well. An interesting incident happened during the battle. Abu Mahjan, a renowned warrior and a famous poet was imprisoned and kept in chains by Hadhrat Sa`ad for some offence. He requested Hadhrat Sa`ad to allow him to take part in the battle against the Persians but Hadhrat Sa`ad declined the offer. He was extremely disappointed at not taking part in the battle. Later on he made a similar request to Sa`ad’s wife Hadhrat Salma and begged her to release him so that he could show acts of bravery in the battle. 20