Episode 33: Life of Umar ibn al-Khattab
The Continuation of the Conquest of Sham:
The conquest of Ash-Sham (Syria) started during the Khalifah of Abu Bakr, but it picked up when Umar ibn al-Khattab was in charge of the Muslims.
Abu Ubaydah, the head of the army in Sham sent a message to Umar ibn al-Khattab seeking his advice.
After consulting with his men, Umar commanded Abu Ubaydah to send a number of soldiers to Fihl, which was where the remaining defeated Byzantine soldiers from the Battle of Yarmuk were based.
Umar ibn al-Khattab instructed Abu Ubaydah and the majority of the Muslim army to go to Damascus to fight Heracles’ army, who came from Constantinople.
Strategic Division of the Muslim Army:
Umar ibn al-Khattab did not want the remaining Byzantine soldiers at Fihl and Heracles’ army to unite in their quest against the Muslims, and this is why he divided the Muslim army.
Umar said: Damascus is the fortress of Sham. It is the most important city to conquer in Sham. It is the seat of power, if you conquer Damascus, then the rest of Sham will fall to us very easily.
Blocking Enemy Reinforcements:
Umar ibn al-Khattab also ordered Abu Ubaydah to send some soldiers to station themselves between Hims and Damascus.
Also, he ordered soldiers to be stationed between Palestine and Damascus in order to block all avenues of support for the enemies.
Siege of Damascus:
Abu Ubaydah and his army then headed from Yarmuk to Damascus and when they arrived, the Byzantine soldiers locked themselves behind the walls of the city.
The Byzantine army consisted of around 100,000 soldiers, whereas the Muslim army had around 30,000.
The siege of Damascus began and the Muslims were trying to find a way to penetrate through to the Byzantine soldiers.
Division of the Muslim Army:
Abu Ubaydah decided to divide the army into two parts. One part of the army would stay on the north side of Damascus and the rest of the army would be stationed on the South side.
Abu Ubaydah sent a group of people under the command of Khalid ibn al-Walid to the north side of Damascus, and they began to attack the fortress from the outside but it was very strongly fortified.
This siege lasted for weeks with the Muslims unable to enter the city.
Exploiting the Enemy’s Weakness:
One night, Khalid ibn al-Walid heard some sounds on the other side of the wall and he could hear the Byzantine Christians celebrating something. He investigated this and found out that the Mayor of Damascus had a baby.
Khalid ibn al-Walid knew that this was their weakness as the Christians would be partying and drinking a lot of alcohol.
Golden Opportunity for the Muslim Army:
Khalid ibn al-Walid saw this as a golden opportunity to penetrate through the Byzantine army.
He decided to take Al-Qa’qa ibn Amr and a few other soldiers and they used their ropes and threw them on top of the fortress, to make some sort of a ladder for them to climb upon.
Only two of the ropes actually stuck on the walls of the fortress. Khalid ibn al-Walid and Al-Qa’qa ibn Amr climbed these ladders and they reached the gates of the fortress, but before opening the door, they said: Allahu Akbar!
When the Byzantine soldiers heard this, they came out rushing.
Conquest from the north to the South
Khalid ibn al-Walid and Al-Qa’qa ibn Amr killed all of the soldiers and opened the gate from the north side of Damascus.
They called the rest of the Muslim army to come in and they started to fight the Byzantine soldiers.
Negotiation and Peace on the South Side of Damascus:
The mayor of Damascus realised what was happening and quickly sent a messenger to the South side of Damascus where Abu Ubaydah was, and the message said: We want to make a peace treaty with you.
Abu Ubaydah didn’t have any idea of what Khalid ibn al-Walid and the Muslims did in the north side of Damascus, and by the time this message was sent to Abu Ubaydah, the siege had lasted seventy days.
The Byzantines opened the South gate of Damascus and Abu Ubaydah and his army entered the city peacefully.
The city of Damascus was conquered simultaneously by force on the north side and by peace on the South side.
Umar’s Decision on the Treatment of the City:
The Muslims then sent a message to Umar ibn al-Khattab to ask him what they should do and Umar commanded that this victory should be treated as a victory of peace and not of force.
These rules applied to the whole of Damascus and this is how the city was conquered.
This was a very important victory that set the stage for the conquest of the rest of Sham.
Appointment of the Governor of Damascus
Abu Ubaydah then appointed Yazid ibn Abi Sufyan to be in charge of the city of Damascus.