Iraq

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

In the Name of Allah most Gracious most Merciful

Very Quick Summer:

•  Abu Bakr (Allah is pleased with him) dies
• Umar (Allah is pleased with him) becomes Khalifah
• At the requests of Al Muthna bin Haritha Umar (Allah is pleased with him) sends aid 
• The battles in Iraq continue
• The Muslimeen lose for the first time in the Battle of the Bridge
• Al Qadisyyah
• After Al Qadisyyah a number of battles happens
• The Army reaches Al Mada’in which was the capital of Persia at that time, and fell into our hands

The Battle of Al Qadisyyah

The battle took place on the 13th of Sha’baan year 15 After Hijrah.  The Battle lasted for Three days.  The Muslim Army was lead by Sa’id bin abi Waqas and the Persian Army was lead by Rustum.  Throughout the days of the battle, victory swung between both sides, once the upper-hand was for the Muslims, and once the upper-hand was for the Persians and so on.  The battle ended with total victory for the Muslims and ended with the death of Rustum and many others for the Persians.

During the battle, aid was sent for Shaam (who on their side were fighting the Romans), the aid was not sent all at once but was split into the front which was to go on while the rest will be on their way.  Also during the battle, one of the problems facing the Muslim Army were the elephants (and this was a problem in the other battles as well).  The problem was, the horses of the Muslims were not used to seeing elephants and so they ran away from them, and this caused disorder.

And so it was decided  among the Muslims to make their own elephant, so they came with this animal and put wood on top of it and over it they put a cloth cutting the holes for the eyes and making a trunk, then they put a carrier on top (like what the Persians did with their elephants) tied down with a belt, and the Muslims would fight from the top.  It was ready to go into battle, and when it did the Persian’s horses ran away from this unusual and strange creature.  The Muslims made these strange creatures multiple times during the battle.

Also during the Battle it was noticed by one of the Muslim leaders that the rest of the aid from Shaam was about to come, so he sent to them with a plan and it was carried out.  They were to come not all at once, but in different groups each making the dust rise to make it seem there are a big number of them, and each saying the Takbeer.  And so this happened and caused (as was intended) fright and terror among the Persians.

After Rustum was killed, the Muslimeen wrapped up the battle and total victory was for them.

This was only a short summery of the battle and some of what happened during it.  To learn more, I recommend great resources like:

• Islamstory.com

If you have any questions then please come and ask them here.

سبحان رب العزة عما يصفون، و سلام على المرسلين و الحمد لله رب العالمين

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

In the Name of Allah most Gracious most Merciful

Very Short Summary:

• The wars of Ar-Riddah end
• Al Muthna bin Haritha carries out Raids on the Persia, later on sending requests to the Khalifah
• Al Muthna bin Haritha sends a letter to the Khalifah seeking aid
• The Khalifah sends a letter to Khalid Ibnu Walid, the Sword of Allah
• Khalid Ibnu Walid sends letters out to the leaders to gather Muslims
• Abu Bakr sends two armies
• Khalid Ibnu Walid enters Iraq with his army from the south, the number of men around 18,000
• Ayyadh Bin Ghanam enters Iraq with his army from the north-east
• Khalid was victorious in all four battles before reaching Al Hayrah, which was the goal of both armies, for whoever got there first would lead
• After the fall of Al Hayrah, Khalid Ibnu Walid gave the army a break to rest

The Plan of Abu Bakr

Simply put, the plan of Abu Bakr was to send two armies into Iraq from two different locations.  One from below (South), the other from above (North), each army’s goal is to reach Al Hayrah, conquering the places on the way to it.  If one of the armies reaches the goal before the other, that army takes lead, but if both armies reach the goal at the same time, one would go on while the others stays behind to protect their backs

Abu Bakr said:

إذا اجتمعتما بالحيرة وقد فضضتما مسالح فارس وأمنتما أن يؤتى المسلمون من خلفهم فليكن أحدكما ردءا للمسلمين ولصاحبه بالحيرة وليقتحم الآخر على عدو الله وعدوكم من أهل فارس دارهم ومستقر عزهم المدائن

تاريخ الطبري (2\308)ب

If you two reached (at the same time) Al Hyrah, and have made sure you cannot be attacked from behind, then let one of  you be a shield for the Muslims, and the other forward and storm the house of the enemies of Allah and your enemies, and the residence of their glory Al Mada’in.

The Advice of Abu Bakr:

Among the Advice which Abu Bakr (May Allah be pleased with him) gave to the two armies:

واستعينوا بالله واتقوه وآثروا أمر الآخرة على الدنيا يجتمعا لكم ولا تؤثروا الدنيا فتسلبوهما واحذروا ما حذركم الله بترك المعاصي ومعاجلة التوبة وإياكم والإصرار وتأخير التوبة

And Rely on Allah and choose the hereafter over this Dunya and both will be for you.  And Do not choose this Dunya and go after it, and beware of what Allah has warned you by leaving off sins and hurrying with repentance, and do not insist on sins and do not delay repentance.

Source

He also advised to allow all those who wished to return and not fight to do so, and to get all those who fought the Murtaddeen to come with the armies and fight, and also not to allow anyone who was a Murtad (and repented) to fight until he (Abu Bakr) looks into it and allows so,  Source, Secondary Source.

And so, the two armies became ready, and the conquests of Iraq began.  If you have any questions that came to mind during your reading, I recommend you come and ask it here.

My main sources that I am using for this blog-post are:

1. Tarikh Attabari (تاريخ الطبري)
2. Islamstory.com

سبحان رب العزة عما يصفون، و سلام على المرسلين و الحمد لله رب العالمين

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

In the Name of Allah most Gracious most Merciful

In the previous blog-post, I mentioned the few places in the Quran in which Iraq was mentioned or referred to.  In this blog-post, I shall be mentioning what the Prophet ﷺ has said in regards to Iraq,making sure that my sources are Authentic.

The Prophet has said About Iraq:

• Iraq is the land of earthquakes and trials and tribulations, and from it the side of Shaytaan’s head will comes out.  Source
• There will be a time when the non-Arab world will block of the people of Iraq, and the people of Iraq will go through such a hard time that they would not be able to send out their  money and food at the same time.  Source
• There will come a time when the Ephorates would uncover a mountain of Gold, and when that time comes and people hear of the news, they would run towards that place to get some, and at that place a battle will rage over that mountain of Gold so fierce that out of every One Hundred people, one will only survive.  The Prophet ﷺ advised those who live when this time comes, to not take anything from it.  Source

Above is three Ahadeeth from the Prophet ﷺ and what he has said about Iraq, and what will happen there in the future.  I pray this post was beneficial for you, and if you have questions that arose during your reading of this post, I recommend you come ask it here.

سبحان رب العزة عما يصفون، و سلام على المرسلين و الحمد لله رب العالمين

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

In the Name of Allah most Gracious most Merciful

Iraq is mentioned (or referred to) in the Quran in a few places, this post will list them in order of the time the events mentioned in the Ayat happened along with a link to the tafseer of the Ayah for further information on the meaning of it and the different views that scholars have on it.

Ibraheem and Loot (ابراهيم و لوط) 

Iraq was the land in which Ibraheem (May Peace and blessings be upon him) was born, and the land in which he gave Da’wah to his people, and the land from which he and Loot (لوط) made hijra from to Biladu Shaam (بلاد الشام).

ونجيناه ولوطاً إلى الأرض التي باركنا فيها للعالمين

And We delivered him and Lot to the land which We had blessed for the worlds.

سورة اﻷنيباء

ِAlthough there is a small difference between scholars on the land to which Ibraheem and Loot (لوط) were saved too, some say Shaam others say Makkah.  For further information see: IslamWeb – Tafseer Attabari (Arabic)

After Sulayman (سليمان عليه السلام)

After the death of Prophet Sulayman (Peace be upon him) the nation of Bani Isra’eel started to decline, and corruption started entering the practices of traders and businessmen. The Qur’an mentions that Bani Isra’eel were prophesied to rise up and be corrupt in the land twice, and then fall.

The first prophesy was fulfilled by the Persians, then later on the Romans.  When the Persians came, they did their doings, they took a group as prisoners, and went to Babylon in Iraq (link).  Practice of magic was also prevalent among the Jews at this time, taught by the Shayateen after Sulayman, so Allah sent two angels as a test for them, those that failed the test lost the hereafter.

وَاتَّبَعُوا مَا تَتْلُو الشَّيَاطِينُ عَلَىٰ مُلْكِ سُلَيْمَانَ ۖ وَمَا كَفَرَ سُلَيْمَانُ وَلَٰكِنَّ الشَّيَاطِينَ كَفَرُوا يُعَلِّمُونَ النَّاسَ السِّحْرَ وَمَا أُنزِلَ عَلَى الْمَلَكَيْنِ بِبَابِلَ هَارُوتَ وَمَارُوتَ ۚ وَمَا يُعَلِّمَانِ مِنْ أَحَدٍ حَتَّىٰ يَقُولَا إِنَّمَا نَحْنُ فِتْنَةٌ فَلَا تَكْفُرْ ۖ فَيَتَعَلَّمُونَ مِنْهُمَا مَا يُفَرِّقُونَ بِهِ بَيْنَ الْمَرْءِ وَزَوْجِهِ ۚ وَمَا هُم بِضَارِّينَ بِهِ مِنْ أَحَدٍ إِلَّا بِإِذْنِ اللَّهِ ۚ وَيَتَعَلَّمُونَ مَا يَضُرُّهُمْ وَلَا يَنفَعُهُمْ ۚ وَلَقَدْ عَلِمُوا لَمَنِ اشْتَرَاهُ مَا لَهُ فِي الْآخِرَةِ مِنْ خَلَاقٍ ۚ وَلَبِئْسَ مَا شَرَوْا بِهِ أَنفُسَهُمْ ۚ لَوْ كَانُوا يَعْلَمُونَ

And they followed [instead] what the devils had recited during the reign of Solomon. It was not Solomon who disbelieved, but the devils disbelieved, teaching people magic and that which was revealed to the two angels at Babylon, Harut and Marut. But the two angels do not teach anyone unless they say, “We are a trial, so do not disbelieve [by practicing magic].” And [yet] they learn from them that by which they cause separation between a man and his wife. But they do not harm anyone through it except by permission of Allah . And the people learn what harms them and does not benefit them. But the Children of Israel certainly knew that whoever purchased the magic would not have in the Hereafter any share. And wretched is that for which they sold themselves, if they only knew.

سورة البقرة

The people of Yunus (Peace be upon him)

The people of Yunus, are those of the village of Ninawa in Iraq.  They are a mix of the Assyrians and Jews under the kings of Babylon.  When Yunus was sent to them he called them, and they did not listen, so Yunus became frustrated and left promising them the punishment of Allah.  Before the punishment was upon them the people repented and believed and so the punishment did not befall them.  (Link)

فَلَوْلَا كَانَتْ قَرْيَةٌ آمَنَتْ فَنَفَعَهَا إِيمَانُهَا إِلَّا قَوْمَ يُونُسَ لَمَّا آمَنُوا كَشَفْنَا عَنْهُمْ عَذَابَ الْخِزْ

يِ فِي الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَمَتَّعْنَاهُمْ إِلَىٰ حِينٍ

Then has there not been a [single] city that believed so its faith benefited it except the people of Jonah? When they believed, We removed from them the punishment of disgrace in worldly life and

gave them enjoyment for a time.

ٍسورة يونس

If you have any questions then please come ask it here.

سبحان رب العزة عما يصفون، و سلام على المرسلين و الحمد لله رب العالمين