"To Jerusalem! To Damascus! To Rome!" Part I - The Final Battle in Iraq, Trouble in Madinah, and the Beginning of Ghazwah As-Sham
"To Jerusalem! To Damascus! To Rome!"- Part I
"Wait for us, Romans, haughty in your power!
Old and rich, sneering at the young and poor!
There will come to you fleet mounts,
Whose hooves spark against stone
Carrying lions in brilliant armour,
Brave men who wield two weapons:
Sharp swords and cutting intellect!
Battalions followed by battalions!
We ride towards the blessed land
Towards the Holy City of Al-Quds
Which you have chained for years
...
You will see, Romans, in this coming test
Who is the true possessor of craft and daring -
Which of us melts like heated copper
And which of us endures like proven steel!"
--- war poem attributed to Yazid ibn Abi Sufyan
"Many are those who fight the lesser jihad and think themselves the best of the Ummah. This is a road to falsehood, for the ones who are truly the best of the Ummah are those who smile in the faces of their fellow believers and maintain the ties of friendship between them."
--- Ayesha bint Abu Bakr, Mother of the Believers, Adviser of the Caliph Az-Zubeyr, and founder of the Ayeshi school of jurisprudence
Khalid could finally rest and recuperate, basking in the wake of his victories. In less than a month he had crushed large imperial forces in four separate battles covering an operational area whose length measured 100 miles. He had done this by exploiting the tremendous mobility of his mounted army, by the use of audacity and surprise, and by violent offensive action. He had accomplished the mission given by the Caliph; perhaps too well - there was no "pagan" opposition left for the restless soldiers of Muhammad and Jesus to war against. The Persians had ventured out of the imperial capital earlier but after Khalid's capture of Al-Hira and the installment of the Lakhmid Malik Ukayd upon his ancestral throne, Ctesiphon withdrew into its shell. Several raids were launched by Khalid into the region between the rivers. Places which had so far not felt the heavy hand of war now echoed to the tread of Muslim cavalry and the calls of "God is Great!" and "Behold the Victory of the Cross!" Khalid and his soldiers were victorious over the Persians in Iraq, but it was not in Khalid's nature to sit back and take his ease. It was in his nature to be discontented with past achievements, ever seeking fresh glory and striving towards distant horizons. The Persian capital seemed reluctant to slake his thirst for battle by sending more armies against him so it was a pleasure for Khalid to be reminded that a strong Persian garrison still existed on the Euphrates at Fouzar, which marked the frontier between the empires of Persia and Rome. This was the only Persian garrison left west of Ctesiphon; and since he had been instructed by the Caliph to "fight the Persians", Khalid decided to eliminate this force also.
He marched to Fouzar. On arrival here in the early fall of 633, Khalid found two garrisons - a Persian and a Roman. These garrisons, representing empires which in the preceding two decades had fought each other in a long and costly war, were still not united in the face of the Muslim armies. The Roman commander Theodosius told his soldiers to hold, as the Muslim force did not appear to be threatening the Roman position. Theodosius was a longtime military man, the son of a Roman man and a Ghassanid noblewoman, and took some pleasure in seeing his Sassanid foes across the border assailed by an Arab force which he assumed was a result of a wildly successful Christian Arab revolt. Indeed, the Roman soldiers and their Ghassanid foederati went to trade with the Muslims when they arrived.
For more than six weeks, nothing happened. The two armies stood and glared at each other across the Euphrates, the Muslims on the south bank and the Persians on the north bank, neither side willing to cross the river. The Romans watched the standoff bemusedly, sure that the Arab force would be slaughtered but selling them food and weapons to make their resistance against the Persians fiercer. By drawing away a number of his men in a false retreat, Khalid was able to entice the Persians across the Euphrates onto his side; but their crossing was hardly complete when he attacked them with his usual speed and intensity. Thousands of them were slain before the rest found safety in flight. This was neither a great nor a decisive battle; nor was the enemy force a very large one, as some early historians have stated (no Persian strategist in his senses would leave a powerful garrison in a minor frontier town like Fouzar while Central and Western Iraq was being lost and Ctesiphon itself was threatened.) Its importance lies only in the fact that it was the last battle in a brilliant campaign.
Khalid spent the next 10 days at Fouzar, collecting the spoils of war which were divided equally amongst the soldiers Christian and Muslim alike with the usual portion being reserved for the coffers of the Caliphate, then the army left Fouzar on its way back to the military camp of Kufa. For this march it was formed into an advance guard, a main body and a rearguard; and Khalid let it be known that he would travel with the rear guard. But as the rearguard filed out of Fouzar, Khalid and a good number of formerly Christian men who had just converted to Islam while traveling with the Muslim army struck out on their own in a southerly direction. They were off to Makkah, to perform the Pilgrimage which was due in a fortnight, for Khalid had promised the new Muslims that he would personally see to it that they were able to conduct their first Hajj and receive the blessings of the Caliph Abu Bakr.
This was to be a peaceful adventure; almost an escapade! The actual route taken by Khalid is not known. All that is known is that he and his comrades traversed a trackless waste - a difficult and inhospitable region which no guides knew and into which even bandits feared to enter, but they made it after some trial. At Makkah they performed the pilgrimage inconspicuously to avoid being recognised, but this did not succeed. Soon the people realized that the Sword of God Khalid was amongst the pilgrims and the Hajj became as much a victory celebration for Khalid and his bewildered convert soldiers as it was a ritual pilgrimage. The Caliph himself met with the men and spoke to them individually, listening to their personal stories and advising them on various issues. Many of the Iraqis even ended up marrying in whirlwind romances before they took off the white robes of pilgrimage and belted on their swords again. All was not calm, however, as the valiant knight of Islam Ali ibn Abi Talib appeared in a coat of mail with his legendary sword Zulfiqar in his hand, at the head of a strong force of Banu Hashim tribesmen. He asked for the leave of the Caliph to journey with Khalid back to Iraq, for he wished to wage the jihad and serve the Caliphate as a soldier again. Khalid was gladdened to see his old friend in high spirits again and praised the bravery of the younger man, also arguing for him to accompany his troops back to Kufa. On the other side brooded Thaqif of Banu Makhzum, a former "great clan" which had long resented the rise in fame of men from less-illustrious blood like the dashing young Usama, the son of the ex-slave Najdi Zaid ibn Haritha and the ex-slave Abyssinian Umm Ayman or the handsome Jewish-born companion Ilyas ibn Musa (Elias, son of Moses.) Even more than Thaqif hated the half-African son of Zaid or the Jewish son of Musa, he hated Ali - for the Banu Hashim was always respected, but stayed firmly in place in the lowest rung of intra-Qurayshi politics. Thaqif could tolerate the advancement of other peoples to the levels of Quraysh, but he would not tolerate the re-arrangement of the structure of Quraysh itself.
Thaqif called up his own soldiers and told Ali that he must not dare to leave Madinah and join the army, or else Thaqif would slay him for being a glory-seeking false Muslim. Aghast at the accusation, Ali and his ally Khalid said that they would be the ones to slay Thaqif for his foul statements. The pride of both men bristled and Ali's faction and Thaqif's faction both drew swords in the streets of Madinah - with the calls of the Caliph for peace forgotten about in the white-hot rage of the moment. Just as they were about to spill blood in the Holy City, the three most illustrious of the Umm al-Mumineen made a suprise apperance in the Jund Marketplace of the Radiant City with their own soldiers (rallied by Az-Zubeyr and Usama ibn Zaid, those two stalwart allies of Ayesha.) Hafsa, Ayesha, and Saffiyah declared that they would have peace amongst the Muslims, whoever they had to slay to preserve it. Ali and Khalid, sincere men who had been carried away by passion, were humbled by their chastisment and laid down their arms in the face of the Army of the Three Mothers. Thaqif was less impressed and ordered his men to block the exits to the city, but his army stood frozen. Men of Banu Makhzum though they were, Thaqif's army was mostly composed of Companions who knew the Prophet personally, and to raise a hand in war against not only one but three of the wives of Muhammad was beyond sacrilege. Soon Ayesha obtained the clearance of her father the Caliph to order Thaqif brought to her and his own soldiers obeyed the command of Ayesha over him. Collecting the necessary witnesses from the armies, she passed judgement on Thaqif, branding him a rebel and a traitor - one who would lift his sword against his brother and defied the will of the Caliph. There could only be one penalty for this: swift death by beheading. Az-Zubeyr unsheathed his sword "The Full Moon" and fulfilled the sentence of Ayesha right there at the market square. With peace restored again, the Umm al-Mumineen opened the way out of Madinah for the armies of Khalid and Ali who filed out of the city to much fanfare and celebration. Then they rushed back to Iraq. The speed at which Khalid and his wild, adventurous comrades travelled can be judged by the fact that the Muslim rear guard had not yet entered Hira when Khalid rejoined it. He rode into Hira with the rear guard as if he had been there all the time!
Only the commander of the rear guard had known the secret; but the men did wonder why Khalid and a few others had freshly shaven heads, and why Ali had suddenly appeared amongst them! Shortly after this adventure, Khalid went out on another. Tiring of the peace and quiet which now prevailed in Iraq, he decided to lead a raid in person in the area close to Ctesiphon. Along with Muthanna, Ali, and the Christian chieftain Rayyan Al-Thawr (or Rayyan the Bull), he raided the prosperous markets surrounding the area and returned laden with spoils. At Hira, in the winter of 633, Khalid opened a letter brought to him by a Tai'fan messenger from the Caliph and read:
"In the name of God, the Beneficent, the Merciful.
From the servant of God, Atiq, son of Abu Quhafa, to the servant of God, Khalid, son of Al Walid:
Peace be upon you. I render praise unto God, save whom there is none worthy of worship, and invoke blessings on His Prophet, Muhammad, may the blessings of God and peace by upon his noble person in the Afterlife.
March with your soldiers, dhimmi and Muslim, until you reach the gathering of the Muslims forces in Syria, who are in a state of great anxiety and fear the strength of the Romans...
Khalid stopped reading, fearing that this meant demotion and that at last the pressure of Banu Makhzum against him had borne fruit. And what bitter fruit! Khalid muttered, "This must be the work of those left-handed ones! They are jealous of me for conquering Iraq and supporting the cause of Ali!" But his fears turned to joy as he read on:
...I appoint you commander over the armies of all the Muslims and direct you to fight the Romans. You shall be commander over Abu Ubaidah and those with him. Go with speed and high purpose, Father of Sulaiman, and complete your task with the help of God, exalted be He. Be among those who strive mightly in the path of justice for God.
Divide your army into two and leave half with Muthanna who shall be commander in Iraq. Let not more go with you than stay with him. After victory, install Ali as the commander of your conquered land in Syria and retain command of the army.
Let not pride enter your mind, for it will deceive and mislead you. And let there be no delay! Lo, to God belongs all bounty and He is the dispenser of rewards.
You will come upon a people who live like hermits in monasteries, believing that they have given up all for God. Let them be and destroy not their monasteries. And you will meet other people who are worshippers of the Cross, who shave the centre of their heads so that you can see the scalp. These are men of wisdom - who keep ancient lore and seek no worldly gains - speak softly to them and seek out their knowledge if you can. Send the greatest of them unto me when you succeed, for I have a wish to speak to them.
Finally, you will meet some of the lords of Rome who dress in great finery. Their ways are corrupt and they only worship gold and silver. Assail them with your swords until they submit to Islam or pay the Jizya.
I entrust you to the care of God."
Thus was Khalid appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Muslim forces in Syria and the doom of the Romans was sealed. Khalid now set about the preparations for his march. He explained the instructions of the Caliph to Muthanna, divided his army into two and handed over one half of it to Muthanna. But in the division of the army, Khalid tried to keep all the Companions of the Prophet - the Emigrants and the Helpers.- men held in special esteem by the soldiers. To this Muthanna objected vehemently. "I insist on a total execution of Abu Bakr's orders", he said, "and I shall have half the Companions also, for it is by their presence that I hope to win great victories." Khalid saw the justice of Muthanna's claim. He revised the division to leave Muthanna a satisfactory share of the Companions, particularly as these included many of the finest officers of the army like the fiery youth Az-Zubeyr and the scholarly Zaid ibn Haritha. This done, Khalid was ready for the march to Syria.
It was Abu Bakr's way to give his generals their mission, the geographical area in which that mission would be carried out, and the resources that, could be made available for that purpose. He would then leave it to his generals to accomplish their mission in whatever manner they chose. This is how he had launched Khalid into Iraq, and this is how he was now launching Khalid into Syria. The mission given to Khalid was clear: he was to move with all speed to Syria, take command of the Muslim forces and fight the Romans until victory was achieved. What route Khalid should take to get to Syria was left to him, and this was the most important immediate decision that Khalid had to take. The detailed locations of the Muslim forces in Syria were not known to him. He knew, however, that they were in the general area of Bus'ra and Jabbiyah, and he had to get there fast.
Afternotes
Big changes are happening in the Ummah! If you've ever read accounts of the Rashidun conquests and wondered to yourself "Hey, where's Ali? He's a young, well-liked and skilled commander - why isn't he out there kicking ass?", well, here's your answer. In OTL, there were people who wanted to keep Ali from gaining glory in the conquests (Banu Makhzum is always making trouble) and Ali himself was somewhat sullen following the debacle of the First Great Shura. ITTL, Ali is just as enthusiastic as he was during the Prophetic days since he got a place and a fair shake at the Shura, with Khalid ibn al Walid himself using his massive political clout (something he rarely did) to shout down the naysayers.
I may have forgotten to mention it in the last few updates, but our favorite Iraqi Bedouin Muthanna did not receive the arrow wound that would eventually prove fatal to him in TTL's version of the Siege of Al-Hira, which ended quicker and with less blood ITTL thanks to the presence of Ukayd and the Muslims simply re-installing the rightful king (under them, of course...) A living Muthanna is a virtual shoe-in for the role of Military Governor of Iraq, being from the region himself and highly popular with the new converts, which means Ali is shipped off to Syria.
I never got why it is that the Shiatul Ali (which you might recall from the "Factions of the Ummah" post is mostly part of the Shiatul Shura ITTL) somehow always ends up in Iraq, with Yazid ibn Abi Sufyan and then Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan in Syria, when there are a bunch of different ways that could have turned out. In any case, without a governorship, the ambitions of the Banu Umayya are going to be dampened (which gives us the benefit of keeping around Mu'awiya for his administrative and military mind while neutering his ability to form a power base) but there is one other ambitious general with the ability to step into that void.....someone else who gets a plum governorship and turns it into a faction.
Find out in the next installment of Arab Game of Thro...uh, I mean...Rightly Guided: Zaid ibn Haritha and his Rashidun Caliphate!
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