Episode 10: Life of Umar ibn al-Khattab
Preparations and Diplomatic Efforts Before the Battle of Qadisiyyah:
One of the messages that Umar ibn al-Khattab sent to Sa’d ibn Abi Waqqas was: I have a strong intuition that when you meet the enemy, you will defeat them.
Umar ibn al-Khattab said: If you even accidentally give a sign to someone from the enemy to signal that they are safe, even if you didn’t mean to do this, and the enemy misunderstood, then you must give him safety. Because if you make a mistake in terms of loyalty, then that is fine. But if you make a mistake in terms of treachery, then this is destruction. So, make sure that everything is clear and if something is unclear, you must give them safety.
Sa’d ibn Abi Waqqas reached Al-Qadisiyyah and waited there for a month, with no sign of any confrontation.
Sa’d divided his army into small groups and sent them to the neighbouring lands to recapture some of the lands that they lost.
Persian Response and Army Preparations:
During the time of Abu Bakr, Khalid ibn al-Walid had captured much of these lands. However, after this, some of the lands were re-captured by the Persians again.
The Persians sent multiple letters to the Kisra (Yazdegerd) to inform them that the Muslims were here and were trying to recapture their cities.
They were complaining and wrote in the letters: we are not receiving any help from you. Where are you? Where is your army? We cannot fend the Muslims off by ourselves. We need help from you and you are nowhere to be found.
Yazdegerd received these letters and he told his main commander, Rustum: prepare the army and get ready to fight Sa’d’s army.
Rustum didn’t think that this was the best strategy and told Yazdegerd: Islam has spread, it is not a weak group of people anymore. The Muslims have become strong and powerful. They are not normal people. They are very sincere and dedicated and they are not afraid of death. They are very courageous and brave. They are not like us. I don’t think this is the best time to fight them. We should wait until things calm down and maybe we can fight them later on.
Yazdegerd was under a lot of pressure from the public and they were turning against him because he was not sending his forces to support the Persians. Because of this, he did not accept this advice from Rustum and he ordered him to prepare his army to fight the Muslims.
Rustum had no choice but to obey the command of Yazdegerd.
Rustum’s Procrastination:
Rustum started to prepare an army but he procrastinated in doing this because he didn’t want to fight the Muslims. He spent four months preparing his army.
Number of Soldiers in Each Army:
At the beginning of the battle, the army of Rustum consisted of 100,000 men, in comparison to Muslim army which started out with 12,000 soldiers.
In the end, the army of Sa’d ibn Abu Waqqas grew to 36,000 and the army of Rustum eventually grew to 240,000 soldiers.
Rustum’s Army Head Towards Qadisiyyah:
Rustum finally prepared his army and started to move towards Qadisiyyah.
The capital of the Persian Empire was Mada’in and Rustum and his army were travelling from Mada’in to Qadisiyyah.
Rustum’s Interaction with a Muslim Arab:
On the way, they reached a city called Kuci, which was a city in between Mada’in and Babylon.
In this city, Rustum came across a Muslim Arab and asked: why are you here? Why do you want to fight us?
The Muslim man replied: the reason why we are here is because we are seeking the promise of Allah SWT. He has promised us that we will take your land and children, if you refuse to accept Islam.
Rustum was shocked by this and he said to the Muslim: Ok, you are saying that Allah has promised you this, what if you are killed before you are able to do that?
The Muslim man replied: if any of us are killed before we get to see this, then we get Jannah, and if we live, then we will see the promise of Allah in our lifetime. We are winners in either situation. If we die we win, and if we don’t die, we will win.
Rustum asked: this is the only option with you people? Either you die or you conquer us?
The Muslim replied: your evil has put you in this position. You are people who don’t have the right belief and you are people whose actions are ugly and evil. Because of this, Allah SWT has put you in the situation you are in right now. Even though you have so much in terms of wealth and manpower, you are still in a difficult situation right now because of your evil.
The Muslim man then said: when you are fighting with us, you are not fighting human beings. You are fighting the Qadr of Allah (destiny). It has been destined and we have been promised that we will take this land.
Rustum was angered by this and he killed this Arab man.
The Persian Army Attack Their Own People:
As his army continued to Qadisiyyah, they stopped by a Persian village, where the army of Rustum started to attack the people situated there and the Persian army were also attacking their own people.
The people of this village went to Rustum and said: what is your army doing? We are your own people and you are attacking us? This is how you treat your own people?
Rustum then thought about what the Muslim man said to him, and realised that the reason why they were in this situation was because of their own evil character. He said to himself: Wallahi, what that Muslim man said was correct.
Rustum realised that the Arabs treated their enemies better than the Persians treated their own people and when the Muslims came into the Persian lands, they would surrender.
When Rustum found out about this, he was very angry and said: why did you people surrender to the Muslims?
The people of the cities and villages replied: who are you to ask these questions? Where were you when we needed your help? We needed help and you were nowhere to be found. We did not get any support from you so what did you expect us to do?
Muslim Spy Operations:
Sa’d ibn Abi Waqqas was still waiting in Qadisiyyah and he decided to send a group of spies to go and see what was going on. There were ten spies under the command of two very powerful fighters.
They were led by Amr ibn Ma’adi Yakrib and the other commander was Tulayha ibn Khuwaylid.
Both men were said to be equivalent to one thousand soldiers.
Rustum’s Army Increases:
Rustum’s army continued to grow and it eventually grew to 240,000 people.
Rustum divided his army into three parts. He put 70,000 people at the front of the army, 100,000 people in the middle and 70,000 people at the end.
Rustum sent the front of the army to go towards Qadisiyyah first. A few days later, he sent the 100,000 people in the middle to follow them and a few days after this, he sent the 70,000 people in the end to follow him.
The Spies Observe the Persian Army:
Tulayhah ibn Khuwaylid and Amr ibn Ma’idi Yakrib saw the 70,000 men in the front of the army.
Tulayhah and Amr were very experienced and they knew that the 70,000 soldiers did not consist of the whole army and in fact, it was just the front of the army.
The rest of the spy expedition said: No, it is 70,000 men, there is not going to be any more than this. We must not delay the news and we must tell Sa’d as soon as possible.
Amr ibn Ma’idi Yakrib and Tulayhah ibn Khuwaylid decided to remain and the rest of the expedition went back to Sa’d ibn Abi Waqqas.
After a few days, the second part of the army came, which consisted of 100,000 men with weapons, armour and supplies.
Amr and Tulayhah both agreed that there probably would be one more part of the army to come. They waited a few more days and finally, the last part of the army came which consisted of another 70,000 soldiers.
The military commander of the Persians, Rustum was part of the final group of the army.
Infiltration of Rustum’s Army:
Amr ibn Ma’adi Yakrib said: Now we have the whole picture, we know how many people are in the army of Yazdegerd. now we can go back to Sa’d and tell him the situation.
However, Tulayha ibn Khuwaylid said: Let’s not go back yet. Let’s go attack this part of the army (the 70,000 men).
Amr replied: are you kidding me? We are two people and they are 70,000. You are saying we should go fight with them? Tulayha said: Yes.
Amr responded: you must be out of your mind, how could we do such a thing. Khuwaylid then replied: You are just a coward. You go back, don’t worry. I will take care of this myself.
Amr ibn Ma’adi Yakrib was shocked but he stayed behind to see what Tulayha ibn Khuwaylid would do.
Tulayha in the night, went and infiltrated himself into the army of 70,000 people and was able to reach the middle of the army, which caused a lot of chaos.
Tulayha reached the tent of Rustum, where he cut the ropes attached to it, forcing his tent to collapse.
Tulayha ibn Khuwaylid then took Rustum’s horse and escaped.
The Morale of the Persian Army:
When the Persians realised what happened, it affected their morale and they thought to themselves: We are 70,000 people and we are already facing such humiliation.
Instructions from Umar ibn al-Khattab:
Tulayha and Amr returned to Sa’d ibn Abi Waqqas and told him about the situation and the strategy behind Rustum’s army being divided into three different groups.
Sa’d ibn Abi Waqqas sent a message to Umar ibn al-Khattab, who replied: Don’t worry. Don’t be afraid. Seek help in Allah and you will be victorious. But before the fighting starts, send a group of knowledgeable people from your army to Yazdegerd to give him dawah. At least give him the chance to accept Islam or accept the Jizyah.
Dawah to Yazdegerd:
The dawah group was led by An-Numan ibn Muqarrin and this group left Qadisiyyah and headed towards the capital of Mada’in.
When they entered the palace of Yazdegerd, they had to communicate with him through a translator.
Yazdegerd through his interpreter asked the Muslims: why are you here? Why did you come to fight us? Is it because you saw the fighting taking place amongst ourselves so you saw this as an opportunity to come and fight us.
An-Numan ibn Muqarrin replied: That’s not why we are here. The reason why we are here is because Allah had mercy upon us. Allah sent a Messenger to us who called us to good and forbade us from evil. He promised that the one who answers his call will have good in this life and the next life.
An-Numan ibn Muqarrin explained to Yazdegerd how Islam started in Makkah and then it was established in Madinah and how it spread throughout the Arabian Peninsula.
An-Numan then said: And our Prophet told us to continue with this dawah and to continue calling neighbouring nations to Islam. If you refuse to accept Islam, you can pay the Jizyah to us and you will be safe under our protection. But if you refuse to accept Islam and also refuse to accept the Jizyah, then we will fight you.
An-Numan continued: If you accept Islam, then you can stay in power. You can keep your kingdom but you have to rule according to Islam (i.e. the Quran and the Sunnah).
Yazdegerd’s Response:
Yazdegerd was angered by this and he said: I don’t know anyone who is poorer than you Arabs, who is weaker than you Arabs, who is more dis-united than you Arabs. But now, it seems like you think you have become some important big-shots.
Yazdegerd continued: if the reason for why you are here is because you Arabs are poor and we Persians are rich, if this is why you want to take over our lands, then you do not need to do that. We will give you food, we will give you clothes. We will take care of you, don’t worry about that. You Arabs, you were people that didn’t have the respect of this World, so why are you here now?
The Terms of Submission:
A man from the Muslim delegation, Qays ibn Zurarah said: Yes, what you are saying about the Arabs is true. We will not deny this. We were dis-united, weak and poor. This is true. But then Allah blessed us with a Messenger and Allah blessed us with Islam. So now our situation is not the same. You can accept Islam, but if you do not accept Islam, your only other choice is to pay the Jizyah and you are Saghir.
The translator did not know how to translate the Arabic word ‘Saghir’.
Yazdegerd then said: My interpreter can’t translate this word, explain what this word means.
Qays ibn Zurarah replied: it means you have to pay the Jizyah when you are in a state of subservience and humility. We will be sitting down and you will come with the Jizyah standing up. We will not get up for you and you will come with the Jizyah and beg us to take it from you.
Yazdegerd’s Threat:
Yazdegerd got very angry at this and he said: If it wasn’t for the fact that messengers should not be killed, I would have killed you right now.
The Dirt as a Symbolic Gesture:
Yazdegerd told some of his people in the palace: Bring some dirt from the ground and put it on the head of the most honourable from the Muslims.
Asim ibn Amr Accepts the Symbol:
One of the Muslims from the delegation, Asim ibn Amr quickly said: I am the most honourable one amongst us, so come and put it on my head.
Yazdegerd’s man came with the dirt and put it on the head of Asim ibn Amr, who kept this dirt with him and got on his horse before going back to Sa’d ibn Abi Waqqas in Qadisiyyah.
Turning the Disrespect into a Sign of Victory:
Asim ibn Amr still had the dirt on his head and he went back to Sa’d and said: Glad tidings ya Sa’d. I have good news. Yazdegerd himself, the Kisra and the ruler of the Persian Empire has given us his land. This is the dirt from his land. He gave it to us.
Asim ibn Amr interpreted this as a sign of victory, even though Yazdegerd did this as a sign of disrespect to the Muslims.