Episode 35: Life of Umar ibn al-Khattab
Surrender at Aleppo:
After Heracles fled from Ash-Sham, Abu Ubaydah, the main commander of the Muslims, took his army to Aleppo.
The people of Aleppo locked themselves in the fortresses of the city but they soon realised that they would not be able to withstand the Muslim army.
They surrendered and Abu Ubaydah agreed to this, under the condition that some land in Aleppo would be taken to build a Masjid there.
Surrender at Antakya:
Abu Ubaydah continued to Antakya (Turkey), and the citizens of Antakya surrendered immediately and made a peace treaty with the Muslims, agreeing to pay the Jizyah.
The conquest of Antakya for the Muslims was a huge blow to the Byzantine Empire.
When Umar ibn al-Khattab received news of the victory at Antakya, he was very pleased, but he ordered Abu Ubaydah to leave a strong military presence in Antakya.
This was because, Umar thought that the Byzantines would try to take Antakya back from the Muslims because of the significance of the city to them.
Conquest of Ma’arra and Further Cities:
After Antakya, Abu Ubaydah continued to Ma’arra and this city was conquered peacefully as well.
The cities of Sham now realised that the Muslim army were always successful in their battles and if it ever got to fighting, the Muslims would always win. This is why they decided to surrender peacefully.
Abu Ubaydah and the Muslim army continued city by city until the Muslims conquered the majority of the land in Sham.
Planning the Conquest of Palestine:
After this, Abu Ubaydah and the Muslim army headed towards Palestine.
The governor of this area was Amr ibn al-A’as, who was one of the great companions of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.
At this point, the Muslims had not conquered Jerusalem yet and Amr ibn al-A’as received intelligence that the Byzantine soldiers were gathering and organising themselves in Palestine to fight them.
The Byzantines were gathering in a place called Fallujah and they also gathered in Ramla and Palestine.
Amr ibn al-A’as Faces the United Byzantine Armies at Al-Najdi:
Amr ibn al-A’as knew that he had to prevent these three armies from joining together, so he decided to dispatch his army to each of these three places to prevent them from joining forces.
The brother of Heracles, Theodore was able to unite the three Byzantine armies to form one big army and he gathered them in a place called Al-Najdi, near Ramla.
Theodore was a military genius himself, just like Amr ibn al-A’as was.
When Umar ibn al-Khattab heard about this, he said: we are going to strike the commander of the Byzantines with the commander of the Arabs.
When Amr ibn al-A’as reached the place Al-Najdi, the Byzantines had already fortified themselves behind the walls of the city.
Negotiation between the Muslims and Byzantines:
The Muslims surrounded the walls and started to negotiate with the Byzantines, but no progress was made during the negotiations.
It was a common rule that messengers from both sides should not be harmed.
Amr ibn al-A’as’ Clever Use of Diplomacy:
Amr ibn al-A’as wanted to know what the set up was for the Byzantine army, how they were organised and where their weak points were for the Muslims to target.
Amr devised a plan where he sent a message to Theodore saying: I want to send another messenger to you to continue with these negotiations.
Theodore agreed to this and Amr ibn al-A’as himself went as a messenger. He did this because Theodore did not know how he looked.
Amr ibn al-A’as was given permission to enter into the walls of Al-Najdi, where he looked around very carefully and observed how the army was organised and he was trying to find their weak points.
Amr ibn al-A’as then went to meet Theodore and he spoke with confidence and conviction.
Amr warned Theodore about what would happen if they didn’t accept the terms, but this was something that a messenger would not normally do as their role simply was to deliver a message.
Theodore realised that something strange was going on and he knew that the other messengers that they interacted with before, was not the same as this messenger. He thought to himself: Either this man is Amr ibn al-A’as himself, or one of the top commanders of the Muslim army.
Theodore’s Plan to Kill the Messenger:
Theodore decided to have this messenger killed as he knew that if he killed this man, it would be a big blow to the Muslim army.
Theodore knew the common ruling that messengers could not be killed, so he decided to quietly tell some of his soldiers: Follow this man out when he leaves and keep a close eye on him. As soon as he gets out of the walls of the city, then kill him. Then we can say that we didn’t kill him. We can deny our part in this as it didn’t happen in our walls.
When Amr ibn al-A’as finished speaking with Theodore, he started to leave and realised that the Byzantines were keeping an eye on him and watching him very carefully.
Amr realised that Theodore had figured out he wasn’t just a messenger and knew he ordered for him to be killed as soon as he left the city.
Amr ibn al-A’as’ Strategic Deception:
Before he left the city, Amr ibn al-A’as came up with a counter-plan and said: There is one more thing that I need to discuss with Theodore.
The Byzantines agreed to this and Amr ibn al-A’as met with Theodore again, where he said: Actually, I am a commander of the Muslim army. Umar has sent ten total commanders, there are nine more. now you and I have spoken and tried to negotiate, I have heard what you have had to say but I want to bring in the other nine commanders as well and we can all talk together. Maybe we can all come to an agreement. Let me go and bring them.
After hearing this, Theodore thought to himself: I was going to kill one commander, but now he is going to bring nine more. now, I can kill all ten commanders, and if I can kill all ten, that will be the end and there wouldn’t even be a battle.
Theodore agreed to this and instructed his soldiers not to kill Amr ibn al-A’as.
Amr was able to leave the walls of the city peacefully and went back to the Muslim camp.
Amr ibn al-A’as’ Letter to Theodore:
Amr ibn al-A’as then sent a letter to Theodore saying: You figured out who I am, and I also figured out who you are. I know you were trying to kill me, and I know the only reason why you let me go is because you thought I was going to bring nine more commanders for you to kill all of us together. But guess what, I tricked you. There are no ten commanders, I am the commander alone.
Theodore was very upset by this but at the same time, he was impressed and amazed by the genius of Amr ibn al-A’as. He said: Wallahi, this is the smartest and the most genius man amongst the Arabs!
Umar ibn al-Khattab on Amr ibn al-A’as
When Umar ibn al-Khattab found out about this, he was very impressed and said: Allah guided Amr to be able to make these right decisions.
Battle of Al-Najdi:
After this incident, both sides prepared for battle. Amr ibn al-A’as was able to use the knowledge that he obtained when he was inside the walls of the city and because of this, he devised a strategy to penetrate into the fortress of the Byzantines.
Victory at Al-Najdi:
The Muslims were able to defeat the Byzantines once again at Al-Najdi, with Theodore and the remaining Byzantine armies fleeing to Al-Quds (Jerusalem).
The Approach to Jerusalem:
Amr ibn Al-A’as followed them to Jerusalem and the Muslims surrounded the Byzantines.
Abu Ubaydah also brought his army to Jerusalem to join forces with the army of Amr ibn al-A’as.
The Muslims knew that this was going to be a very important conquest as this was to take control of one of the greatest cities on Earth.