Expansion of Muslim Empire during the caliphate of Abu Bakr

Caliph Abu Bakr was elected as the first caliph of Islam in 632 AD. Through his excellent administrative qualities, Abu Bakr was able to expand and consolidate the Muslim empire to the far distant areas of the Persian and the Roman empires. The Arabian Peninsula was then surrounded by the two great Empires of that time. On the north-eastern side was the border of Persian Empire (Sassanid) while the northern part of the Peninsula was bordered by the Byzantine Empire (the eastern Roman Empire). In 633 AD, when the rebels broke out in the apostasy movement they were supported by the Persians. Abu Bakr sent an army of 10000 Muslims under the leadership of Khalid bin Walid, who met the Persian force at Chaldea. Khalid bin Walid invited the Persian commander, Hurmuz, to accept Islam or pay Jizya or be ready to fight. Hurmuz accepted the third alternative. Persians were defeated in this battle and their commander was killed In this battle the Persian soldiers had tied themselves to one another with chains that showed their do or die state of mind. Due to this, the battle is known as Battle of Chains (also known as battle of Kazima). After this battle, Khalid bin Walid and his army advanced further into Iraq and the Muslims defeated the Persians at Mazar, Ulleis and Walajah. After these conquests, Khalid bin Walid conquered Hira, Dumatal-Jandal and Firad one after another. After the fall of Hira the whole of south and most of north Iraq came under the rule of Muslims. Towards the end of June 633 AD, Khalid along with his army marched towards Anbar, which is an important town protected by walls and a large moat. Khalid selected a point where the moat was the narrowest. The old and weak camels of the army were slaughtered and their carcasses were dumped into the moat. As the carcasses rose, it formed a bridge over which the Muslim army crossed the moat and attacked the fort of Anbar. Finding his position insecure, the governor offered to surrender and the Muslims occupied the town. After this Khalid conquered Ein-ut-Tamr. Heraclius was an enemy of Islam even during the lifetime of the Holy Prophet (S.A.W). In alliance with the Bedouin tribes on the Syrian borders, he started conspiring against Islam during the caliphate of Abu Bakr. Abu Bakr rased a big army and divided it into four forces. Each force was put under the command of an experienced general. The first battle took place at Basra in 634 AD, in which the Muslims were victorious. Then the famous battle of Ajnadain took place in which a huge Roman army of two hundred fifty thousand men was pitched against only 40 thousand muslims. Again the Roman were badly defeated. After this success the Muslim army advanced towards Damascus and laid siege to it. In

The mean time, Abu Bakr fell sick. He received the victory of Ajnadain when he was confined to bed. Till the death of Caliph Abu Bakr 634 AD, Muslims conquered almost all territories of eastern and western Iraq.

Expansion of Muslim empire during the caliphate of Uthman bin Affan (644-656AD)
During the early years of Uthmans caliphate, the process of expansion and consolidation of the Muslim empire continued. Foreign powers felt that with Uthman as the caliph, it would be easier for them to capture those territories from the Muslims that had been conquered during the period of Caliph Umar, as he was of a mild and lenient nature as compared to Caliph Umar. As a result thre were several uprisings in Persia in the east and Byzantines in the west. Within the first year of his caliphate, caliph Uthman was able to crush all these revolts. Conquests in East (wars with the Persians) Six months after Caliph Uthmans election, serious rebellion broke out in Persia. It was incited by Yazdgard III. Persia was under the control of the governor of Basra. Uthman dismissed Abu Musa Ashari and appointed Abdullah bin Amr as the new governor of Basra. He quickly suppressed the rebels and sent his debuties to various Persian territories. Abdullah himself captured the important Persian towns from Khurasan to Khawarism . His commander, Ahnaf bin Qais conquered Balkh, while other commanders subdued Sistan, Kirman, Harat, Kabul and Ghazna. Finally Ithmans army captured Tabaristan, Armenia and Azerbaijan. Conquests in West (wars with the Persians) Similarly on the western front, Roman forces were defeated and new lands were conquered. In the second year of Uthmans caliphate, the Byzantines invaded Syria from the north with the large army Muawiya bin Abu Sufyan, the governor of Syria, took the offensive and drove the invaders out of Syria. He also sent his forces towards Minor Asia and conquered several small areas. In 646 AD, the Byzantines tried to regain Alexandria, Caliph Uthman dispatched a force under Amr-bin-al-As and at its place appointed Abdullah bin Abi Sarah as the governor of Egypt. He marched against the Byzantines in North Africa. He advanced upon Baqra and Tripoli. After a fierce battle, the enemy was defeated and huge booty was captured. Hazrat Uthman was the first reuler in Islam who undertook naval operations. Muawiya bin Abu Sufyan was permitted to raise a fleet which he placed under the command of Abu Qais, the first

naval commander in Islam. He attacked the Island of Cyprus in 649 AD. The people of Cyprus submitted to the Muslims and agreed to pay Jizya. In 655 AD the Byzantines again assembled a large fleet and threatened to attack the Muslims. Caliph Uthman sent Abdullah bin Abi Sarah to meet the challenge. The two fleet met each other off the coast of Alexandria where the first great naval battle was fought. In this battle the Romans were defeated. The Muslim victory at Alexandria shattered the naval supremacy of the Romans , removed the danger of future attacks and made the Muslim navy supreme. Abdullah bin Abi Sarah then marched against the Romans in North Africa and conquered the present states: Morroco, Algeria, Libya and Tunisia. Finally an expedition was sent to Spain but it returned unsuccessful.

Caliphate of Hazrat Ali

Battle of Camel The caliphate of Hazrat Ali was bedeviled with the consequences of the martyrdom of caliph Uthman. But Caliph Alis lack of prompt action against Hazrat Uthmans murderers provided strong reactions from among the Muslim community. As a result the first civil war__ the Battle of Camel took place during his caliphate in 656 AD in which the Muslims fought against the Muslims. At the time of Hazrat Uthmans martyrdom, Hazrat Ayesha was in Makkah. She was not only informed about this brutal assassination, but was also told about the instability and disorder in Madina. On this, she gathered a support of 3000 men and was also joined by Hazrat Talha and Hazrat Zubair. This small force marched towards Basra in 656AD. They demanded that Hazrat Uthmans murderers should be brought to justice and that there should be reforms in the community. On the contrary, Caliph Ali was raising a force of 20,000 men against Muawiya but on hearing the advancement of Hazrat Ayeshas army, he was forced to pursue them. The two armies met at Basra. Both the groups were reluctant to fight against their fellow Muslims, thus they tried to settle their differences peacefully. Finally the matter was resolved through discussion and the enmity ended. The rebels amongst the supporters of Alis army were aware of the fact that a truce was not favourable for them. So the trouble makrs attacked late at night on Hazrat Ayeshas army. Talha and Zubair thought that Ali had broken the promise of not fighting and he had attacked in

disobedience with the treaty. A similar report was given to Ali against Ayesha. Therefore in this misconception, both the armies went into war against one another. Both sides fought boldly. Although both Talha and Zubair avoided the battle they were martyred by rebels while leaving the battlefield on the camel. This camel was brought down by cutting its legs. Thus the battle was known as Battle of Camel (Jamal). Hazrat Ali won the battle. Ten thousand Muslims were killed from both sides in this first civil war among Muslims. Hazrat Ayesha was treated with due honour by Hazrat Ali and was sent to Madina with her brother, Muhammad bin Abu Bakr. After this battle, Caliph Ali shifted his capital to Kufa.

Battle of Siffin
Hazrat Alis lack of immediate action against murderers of Uthman provoked many reactions in the Muslim community, especially from Muawiya bin Abu Sufyan, who was the nephew of Hazrat Uthman, and was the governor of Syria. Although tried to convince Muawiya to take an oath of allegiance to maintain the integrity and unity of the Islamic state, he revolted and asked that the blood of Uthman should be avenged first. He started a campaign to incite the people against Ali. He displayed the blood-stained shirt of Uthman and the chopped fingers of his wife Nyla in the mosque of Damascus. He also accused Ali of being involved in the assassination of Uthman and shielding his murderers. Ali, for these reasons, was forced to declare war against Muawiya.