Summary of Sira
The battle of Wajalah caused the Christians from amongst the tribe of Bakr ibn Wa’il great losses in life and property. Khaalid launched attacks on them because they aided and abetted the Persians. This made other Christians rally to avenge their defeat; therefore, sent a letter to the Persians. Their forces gathered at Ullays under the leadership of ‘Abd al-Aswad al-‘Ijlee. Then, Ardasheer wrote to Bahman Jadhuwayh ordering him to march upon the Arab Christians at Ullays, who then made his way there. The Arab Christians of al-Heerah rallied around Jaabaan. Once Khaalid heard of the gathering of the Arab Christians of the tribe of Bakr ibn Waa’il, he hurriedly made his way there all the while he was not aware of how close Jaabaan was.
When Jaabaan appeared in Ullays the non-Arabs asked him: “Should we lunch our attack first, or wait and give our fighters something to eat and show the Muslims that we do not care about them and then fight them?” Jaabaan then responded: “If the Muslims leave you to feast, do so [but I doubt they would let you take a break].” But they did not heed to his advice, disobeyed him, and presented food to their people anyway.
Khaalid then arrived and unloaded his equipment, and then he made his way to Jaabaan and demanded a dual with ‘Abd al-Aswad, Ibn al-Abjar and Maalik ibn Qays; but Maalik is the only one to have accepted the challenge. Khaalid slew him and the non-Arabs hurried with their food, and Jaabaan said to them: “As you are no longer able to eat your food, then you should poison it. If you defeat them, there will be nothing to regret, and if they defeat you, they will take the food and eat it and thus cause them death.” However, they did not heed his advice again and they fought fiercely. The polytheists remained resolve and endured the heated fight because they expected arrival of Bahman Jaadhuwayh and his army. Khaalid said: “O Allah! If I defeat them, then it will be incumbent upon me to not spare a single one of them until the blood of each of their necks is spilled and let their blood flow in the river.” And so, the Persians lost the battle and then the announcer of Khaalid called out: “Take them captives! Take them captives! Except those who refuses to surrender, then slay them!” So, the Muslims then took them as captives, and they were given over to someone who would execute them night and day. Al-Qa’qaa’ and others said to Khaalid: “Were you to slay all the people of the world, their blood would not flow! We recommend sending upon their blood waters so that you fulfill your oath.” And that is what Khaalid did, and the river ran red with fresh blood. This made people call it the Blood River and it kept it name until today. Khaalid then asked about the food and said: “We have gifted this to you” and the Muslims ate supper with it. And then it came to pass that whosoever did not see the loaves of bread before would say: “What are these white loaves?”
After the conquest of al-Heerah, Khaalid marched with his army to the Anbaar, which was under the command of Sheeraazaadh. Khaalid encircled the town, which was surrounded by a moat. The Arab nomads who lived around the town had accepted the religion of its leader. And the people of the lands around (Anbaar) joined (forces) with Sheeraazadh. When the two parties met, Khaalid ordered his men to shower them with arrows until they had put out about a thousand eyes. This battle then became known as “The Battle of Eyes.” Sheeraazadh then sent a message to Khaalid asking for a truce, to which Khaalid agreed but under certain conditions and to which Sheeraazadh refused. Khaalid then approached the moat and commanded that the camels, in the worst shape, be slaughtered and thrown into the moat until it was filled with them. This allowed Khaalid and his men to cross it safely. When Sheeraazadh saw this, he quickly agreed to the terms of the truce and requested that Khaalid guarantees a safe exit to him, which Khaalid accepted. Then, Sheeraazadh surrendered its control over to Khaalid and left it, leaving it to Khaalid who stationed there for a while. The Companions learned reading and writing from the Arabs that were there. Thereafter, Khaalid made further peace treaties with the people of Bawaazeej and Kalwaadha.
After the conquer of al-Anbaar and spreading his authority over the land, Khaalid ibn al-Waleed delegated in his place al-Zibriqaan ibn Badr, and then directed himself towards ‘Ayn al-Tamr. There, a large group of non-Arabs were under the command of Mihraan ibn Bahraam Joobeen and a large group of Arabs from the tribes of al-Nimr, Taghlib, Iyaad and those who allied were to them were under the command of ‘Aqqah ibn Abi ‘Aqqah.
Upon hearing about the coming of Khaalid to ‘Ayn al-Tamr, ‘Aqqah said to Mihraan: “The Arabs know best how to fight each other, so leave us to Khaalid.” Mihraan responded: “You’re right. By my life! You are more knowledgeable of how to deal with the Arabs. And you are like us with regards to fighting the non-Arabs.” Then, he said to him: “Attack them, and if you need help then we will help you.” However, this was a trick from Mihraan to use ‘Aqqah and his army as a shield against Khaalid’s attacking army.
However, the non-Arabs, who were under the command of Mihraan were surprised and could not understand the reason that made him take such a decision; thus, they inquired about it. He said: “If he is victorious then you shall be victorious as well. And if (the battle) goes the other way, then nothing will reach of you from them until they have weakened, and then you will be able to fight them whilst they are too weak.”
Mihraan then stationed with his army next to the water source, while ‘Aqqah descended to meet Khaalid on the way. Khaalid then mobilized his army and rushed him while ‘Aqqah was still in his military formations. Khaalid said to his two flanks: “deal with them for us, for I will launch my attack personally,” and he delegated for himself protectors. Then he attacked ‘Aqqah to break his ranks. Khaalid then managed to capture him and made him prisoner, which caused his formation to be broken without a fight. (Khaalid) then took several prisoners from amongst them and the Muslim army chased their fled fighters.
When the news of this reached Mihraan, he fled with his army and abandoned the fortress. Once the remainder of ‘Aqqah vanquished soldiers from the Arabs and the non-Arabs returned to the fortress, they rushed it and entered it forcefully. Khaalid then arrived carrying ‘Aqqah who had been previously captured as well as ‘Amr ibn al-Sa’iqq, the soldiers were praying that Khaalid would be kind to them. When they saw him trying to make excuses to them, they asked him for amnesty, which he agreed to but only on his terms. Khaalid then ordered that ‘Aqqah be executed as he was the one who takes care of his people, and he was executed so that the prisoners would despair from life, which is exactly what happened when they saw his body thrown over the brigade (of the fortress). Then Khaalid ordered that ‘Amr ibn al-Sa’iq be executed, and it was done, and the rest of the fighters found in the fortress were executed. And the women were taken as captives, all of them; everything in it was taken as booty. The Muslims also found an abbey with the door locked, so they broke it down, and found in it forty young boys all learning the Gospel. (Khaalid and his army) asked them: “who are you?” They responded: “hostages…” So, they were split up amongst those who had witnessed the difficulties of the battle; among the forty boys were Nusayr, the father of Moosaa ibn Nusayr and Sireen, the father of Muhammad ibn Sireen.
After Khaalid departed from ‘Ayn al-Tamr, he set up camp in Doomat al-Jandal. The Persians had thought that he had left Iraq and was heading back towards the Arabian Peninsula with the greater part of his forces. So, they intended to expel the rest of his forces from Iraq and to regain possession of the lands that the Muslims had conquered. The non-Arabs then became greedy, and the Arabs from the Peninsula wrote to them angry over what had happened to ‘Aqqah.
[From amongst the non-Arabs], Zurmuhir and Roozabah went out towards al-Anbaar and arrived at Husayd and al-Khanaafis. When al-Qa’qaa’ ibn ‘Amr heard about this, he was the leader that Khaalid appointed him in his place in al-Heera (at the time), he sent ‘A’bad ibn Fadakyy to al-Husayd, and ‘Urwah ibn al-Ja’d al-Baariqyy to al-Khanaafis. Then, Khaalid returned to al-Heerah from Doomah with the intent to combat with the people of the Madaa’in which was where Khosrau was based. However, he disliked proceeding with his plan without receiving the express approval from Aboo Bakr. He was (too) occupied with preparing for fighting the armies of the non-Arabs and their allies from the Christian Arabs who rallied up to wage war on him. Thus, he sent al-Qa’qaa’ as a commander to the people and gathered in a place called al-Husayd. The non-Arabs were being led by Roozabah and he was supported by another commander called, Zurmahar. The armies fought fiercely in which the polytheists were defeated and greatly decimated by the Muslims. Al-Qa’qaa’ killed Zurmahar himself with his own hands. Rowzabah was killed by a man by the name of ‘Ismah ibn ‘Abd Allah al-Dabyy. (As a result of their victory), the Muslims gained much from the spoils of war.
Those who could escape from the non-Arabs sought refuge in a place called Khanaafis; Aboo Laylaa ibn Fadakyy al-Sa’dyy made his way over to them. However, when the non-Arabs realised that he was marching to their location, they fled to Misayyakh. When Aboo Layla finally made it to Khanaafis, he did not find any of the Persians there; and so, he camped there for a while. He then sent to Khaalid ibn al-Waleed informing him about having established his power over the city, and that the Persians fled to Misayyakh. Once the Persians settled themselves in Misayyakh, along with those who were allied to them of the non-Arabs and Arabs, Khaalid ibn al-Waleed set out to them with whomever was with him from his soldiers. He separated his army into three different forces and attacked (the city) under the cover of night whilst they slept and laid them to rest. Not a single soul was able to escape, and when the morning came, they looked like sheep who had suffered death from a catastrophe.
Khaalid ibn al-Waleed along with his army, made his way to al-Firaad, a place on the boundaries between Al-Shaam, Iraq, and the Arabian Peninsula. The Persians and Byzantines had mounted an alliance against the Muslims. Khaalid and his army, as a result, spent Ramadan there, non-fasting, because of their preparation to combat with the enemy. When it had reached the Byzantines that Khaalid was making his way to their territory, they became very angry and zealous and gathered a great number of people (to fight). The Byzantines then placed the Tigris between them and Khaalid and began to taunt him saying: “Cross!” And Khaalid responded: “No! You cross!” The Byzantines did finally cross over first and a fierce battle ensued. Then Allah defeated the throngs of the Byzantines and the Muslims managed to track them and chase them.
In this battle, at least 100,000 Persians, Byzantines, and Christian Arabs were killed. Khaalid then camped in al-Firaad for ten days, after which he organized his army to return to Al-Heerah. He then made his way to (Makkah) for Hajj with some of his soldiers without anyone knowing.
Khaalid camped for ten days at al-Firaad, he then permitted his army to make its way to Al-Heerah during the last five days of Dhu al-Qa’dah. He then ordered ‘Aasim ibn ‘Amr and Yaseer to head up to the front. He then ordered Shajarah ibn al-A’azz to move towards the rear; Khaalid then showed him that he was going towards the rear (as well). Then he left in amongst a squadron of his companions and travelled to Makkah on a path that no one had ever travelled before him. It was something that he managed to have that no one else before him ever managed. He travelled without knowing the directions, yet he managed to find the way, and so he made it to Makkah and caught up with the other pilgrims and performed the pilgrimage. He then returned and caught up with the rear of his army before they arrived to Al-Heerah. Aboo Bakr only came to know about this incident after the pilgrims from al-Madeenah made it back home. He then sent a message to Khaalid chastising him for leaving his army and ordered him to travel to al-Shaam in order to give his support to the Muslims who were there.
Rustom, the king of the Persians, dispatched an army to fight Aboo ‘Ubayd ibn Mas’ood al-Thaqafee; the two parties met in al-Namaariq between Al-Heerah and al-Qaadisiyyah. Leading the cavalry of the Muslims was al-Muthanna ibn Haaritah. The Persians were defeated and made to flee and made their way to Kaskar. However, Aboo ‘Ubayd chased them there and served them a second defeat. Thereupon, the Persians fled to al-Madaa’in. As a result, the Muslims gathered the spoils of war in Kaskar and found a great number of different foods; so, they portioned them out and shared them with the farmers and tillers of the land. They also sent a fifth of it to ‘Umar ibn al-Khattaab and sent with it the following message: “Verily Allah has fed us food that the Persian royalty used to hoard, and we wished for you to see it, and that you are reminded of the blessing and generosity of Allah.”
The Prophet-ﷺ-had expulsed the Jews from al-Madeenah one after the other because of their breaching of their convents and agreements, and because of their incitement of controversies and wars against the Muslims. After, the Prophet-ﷺ-said: “There shall not be two religions in the land of the Arabs.” The Jews had settled in Khaybar and its surroundings after they were expulsed from al-Madeenah and stayed there until ‘Umar expelled them from Khaybar to al-Shaam, applying the above-mentioned hadeeth from the Prophet, ﷺ.
After (Khaalid ibn al-Waleed) had completed his mission in al-Firaad, Aboo Bakr commanded him to go to al-Shaam, in order to bolster the conquering armies there. Khaalid followed the order and travelled from al-Firaad to al-Shaam until he reached a place called al-Yarmook. Then, a letter from ‘Umar arrived saying: “Begin with Damascus, for it is the fortress of al-Shaam.” When the armies of the Muslims reached Damascus, they surrounded it and led an intense siege against it over the course of seventy days, preventing any help and reinforcements from reaching it. They were able to break their morale and conquered the city after al-Ghootah was taken over to block sending them supplies and other forms of help. Yazeed ibn Abee Sufyaan was appointed as its governor. Then the Muslims travelled to Fihl, then Homs, then to Qinnisreen, the Latakia, and then to Aleppo.
After completing his war against apostasy, Aboo Bakr al-Siddeeq began to organize four brigades to dispatch them to conquer the lands of al-Shaam. He placed as their leaders Aboo ‘Ubaydah al-Jarraah and directed him towards Homs; ‘Amr ibn al-‘Aas and directed him towards Palestine; Shuraahbeel ibn Hasanah and directed him towards Jordan; and Yazeed ibn Abee Sufyaan and directed him towards Damascus. These four were instrumental in the battles of the Muslims against the Byzantines and were victorious in many different battles. All the while the Byzantines were much greater in number and weaponry (lit. provisions).
The Byzantines were entrenched in al-Shaam; thus, the Muslims wrote to Aboo Bakr requesting reinforcements, who then wrote to Khaalid ibn al-Waleed ordering him to travel to them and to do so quickly. (He also) ordered him to only take half of his soldiers and to place al-Muthanna ibn Haarithah al-Shaybaanee in charge of the other half. And that he should not take with him) great in bravery, except that he should leave someone (of equal bravery) with al-Muthannah; and that should Allah give them victory, that he must return to Iraq and his men there.
Thereupon, Khaalid directed himself towards al-Shaam from Iraq; he conquered several cities that he found on his way and concluded treaties with others who submitted and did not wish to fight. He reached the eastern face of Mount Hawraan, then Tadmur, then two villages from the environs of Homs. He then fought the Ghassanids in Marj Raahit and vanquished them. Then he made his way to Bosra al-Shaam, and it was the first city area in al-Shaam that he conquered, after which the Muslims reached al-Yarmook. The journey of Khaalid and his victorious army was difficult and full of hardships, as they had to pass a dangerous deserted area between Quraaqir and Suwa which had no water or and vegetation. However, Khaalid sought the help of a guide called Raafi’ ibn ‘Umayrah al-Taa’ee who helped him breach the desert safely with an army of 9,000 fighters.
At the beginning of the Muslims’ conquests of Al-Shaam occurred the battle of Marj al-Suffar, which was between the Byzantines, led by Maahaan, and the Muslims, led by Khaalid ibn Sa’eed. It all started when Khaalid began his journey towards Marj al-Suffar in order to attack the Byzantines. When they reached Marj al-Suffar from the eastern side of Lake Tiberius, Maahaan ordered his army to descend there quickly to bait the Muslims to fight them. The Byzantines were able to take advantage of the opportunity to attack the Muslims which led to a loss (for the Muslims). Maahaan and his fighters encountered Sa’eed ibn Khaalid ibn Sa’eed with a small detachment from the army. He attacked them and killed all of them including Sa’eed. When the news had reached Khaalid that his son had been killed, and because his army was surrounded, he escaped in a small detachment consisting of his closest companions riding horses and camels. ‘Ikrimah would later successfully retreat the rest of the army to the borders of Al-Shaam. The battle ended with the Byzantines being victorious.
He is ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Uthmaan ibn ‘Aamir ibn K’ab ibn S’ad ibn Taym ibn Murrah ibn Ka’b ibn Lu’ayy, a.k.a. Aboo Bakr al-Siddeeq. He is one of the ten Companions who were given glad tidings of Paradise. He was the first of the Rightly Guided Caliphs and was amongst the first to have believed in the Prophet-ﷺ. He stayed with him in Makkah until he immigrated with him, and so he was his travel-companion (as well).
The Prophet-ﷺ-ordered him to lead the people in prayer whilst he was ill. He (may Allah be pleased with him) spent all his wealth in the way of Allah. He was also the close advisor of the Prophet-ﷺ-and his confidant. The Muslims pledged their allegiance to him after the Prophet-ﷺ-passed away, as it is reported and mentioned.
He died after he had been the Caliph of the Muslims for only two years three months and ten days, after a short battle with an illness. Despite that short period of time, he fought a hard battle against the apostates which had taken over the entirety of the Arabian Peninsula. The ensuing wars with the Persians and Byzantines showed that the Muslims were a force to be contended with and not to be taken lightly.
He was buried next to the Prophet-ﷺ- in A’ishaa’s quarters, in order to be with his companion in the afterlife just as he was when he was on Earth. May Allah reward him all that is excellent for all the benefit and goodness he did for the Muslims, and may Allah be well pleased with him.
During the illness of Aboo Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him), he felt that his time was near, he asked a number of the Companions, whom the Prophet-ﷺ- would seek council from, to come together. Then, he ordered them to choose an individual with whom they would be pleased to follow to take his place after his death. However, they could not decide on anyone. Then he began to ask people about ‘Umar ibn al-Khattaab until he became convinced that ‘Umar should be the one to replace him. Thereupon, he wrote a letter which read: “By the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. This is what Aboo Bakr ibn Abee Quhaafah has enjoined upon the Muslims. As to what proceeds, I have placed ‘Umar ibn al-Khattaab in my place over you as your Caliph, and there is no one more befitting than he for this position.” He ended (the letter) by saying: “Oh Allah! Verily I have placed over your people the best of your people.” The people were informed of Aboo Bakr’s decision and were satisfied with it. Thus began the reign of ‘Umar as the Caliph of Muslims (may Allah be well pleased with him).
After the Persians had been defeated at al-Namaariq and in the following battles, they joined forces with Rustom, who sent a very large army, carrying the standards of Khosroe and of Afreedoon. They met the Muslims and between them stood a bridge, so Aboo ‘Ubayd ibn Mas’ood al-Thaqafee crossed the bridge over to them and fighting ensued. The elephants of the Persians were detrimental to the Muslims and their horses. As a result, a significant portion of the generals from the Muslims were killed (in battle); from amongst them, Aboo ‘Ubayd. The death toll rose rapidly amongst the Muslims, so they retreated and made their way towards the bridge. However, one of the Muslims cut off the rope of the bridge and said: “[Go back] Fight for the sake of your religion!” People then rushed into the Euphrates and many of them drowned. Then al-Muthanna fixed the bridge and behind him crossed the rest of the Muslims. On that day, 1,800 Muslims were martyred; and it was said the number reached 4,000 including those slain on the battlefield and those which drowned. Al-Muthanna ibn al-Haarth al-Shaybaanee led the people (on that day).
