The caliphate of ‘Uthmaan -II

The Conquest of Africa, 26 AH
'Abdullaah bin Sa'dsought permission from 'Uthmaan bin 'Affaanto
invadeAfrica. Africa was then considered a country that included the
area stretching betweenTripoliand Tangiers. Moreover, Africa was then
considered a conglomeration of the countries which make up the
northern partof the African continent --Tripoli,Algiers,Tunis,
andMorocco. 'Uthmaan bin 'Affaanallowedhim to do what he wanted. He
marched towards his destination at the head of an army of 10,000 men.
First, he subdued the chiefs of Barqah and they agreed to pay Jizyah.
The Muslim commander then advanced towardsTripolicapturing the
territories falling on the way. At this stage the Caliph dispatched
fresh reinforcements from Al-Madeenah to help 'Abdullaah's army.
When the detachment reached Barqah viaEgypt, 'Abdullaah bin Sa'd
welcomed it and they jointly proceeded towardsTripoli. The Romans
tried to put up resistance but were repulsed. After the fall
ofTripoli, the Muslim troops marched ahead. Gregory, the King of
Africa was the vassal of Caesar. When he came to know of the march of
the Muslim army, he mobilized one 120,000 men and came face to face
with the Muslim forces. 'Abdullaah bin Sa'd first invited Gregory to
accept Islam. When Gregory flatly refused, he asked him to pay the
Jizyah )head-tax imposed by Islam on the people of the Book(. When he
rejected that also, the Muslim army drew up ranks and a fierce battle
brokeout, which remained indecisive. Fresh Muslim reinforcements
joined the battle and the Muslim army called out Allaahu Akbar)Allaah
is the Greatest(.
When Gregory inquired about thecries raised by the Muslims, he was
told that a fresh detachmenthad arrived and joined the Muslim forces.
Both the armies fought enthusiastically but the battle remained
inconclusive. When night set in, consultations were held for adopting
a new strategy. 'Abdullaah bin Zubayrsuggested that half of the troops
should go to the battlefield and the rest remain inside the camp. When
the two armies, exhausted by the daylongfighting were to leave the
battlefield for camp, the fresh half of the Muslim army should attack
the retreating Romans. The counsel received general acceptance. This
strategy was putto practice on the third day of thebattle. When the
two armies separated in the afternoon, 'Abdullaah bin Zubayrrushed out
from the camp with the freshdetachment and charged the Romans. They
could not withstand the attack and fled to their camp, but could not
save themselves because the Muslim force surrounded the camp and the
Romans were either killed or captured. Gregory also fought against the
Muslims and was put to the sword by 'Abdullaah bin Zubayr.
The next day, the Muslim army moved ahead and reached Sabitalah, the
headquarters of)northern(Africawhich was also conquered in a couple of
days, and an immense amount of spoils fell into the hands of the
Muslims. The Muslims marched further and laid siege around the fort of
Jam, which was very strong and fortified. However, they could not
stand the Muslim onslaught and yielded on the condition of paying one
million as Jizyah. 'Abdullaah bin Zubayr set out to Al-Madeenah with
the glad tidings of the African conquest and one-fifth of the spoils.
'Abdullaah bin Sa'dreturned toEgyptfromAfricaafter an absence of one
year and three months.
Conquest ofCyprusandRhodes
'Abdullaah bin Sa'dcame back toEgyptfrom the other parts of
northernAfrica.Constantineagain rose to make military preparations for
a fresh battle. In 28 AH, he dispatched a part of his navy
towardsAfrica, which reached the African coast and demanded tribute
for Caesar.But the Africans flatly refused, because Caesar had lent no
help when they were under the Muslim attack and so they no longer held
him as their ruler. This refusal led to fighting between the Africans
and the Roman army, which resulted in the defeat of Africans. The
Romans then advanced towardsAlexandria. 'Abdullaah bin Naafi' was
ready to fight them. In the meantime Caesar himself set off to
conquerAlexandriaat the headof a fleet of 600 boats. The Roman forces
proceeded toAlexandriafrom both sides. A fierce fight took place,
which ended with the destruction of the Romans. They escaped toCyprus,
which they used as their naval headquarters and an arsenal for their
weapons.
During the last days of 'Umar's Caliphate, Mu'aawiyahhad sought
permission to invadeCyprusfrom the Syrian coast. However, 'Umarhad
hesitated in giving permission forsuch a campaign and the matter
remained undecided until he passed away. 'Uthmaan bin 'Affaanpermitted
the naval attack on condition that nobody was forced to take part in
the adventure. Inspired by the effortsof Mu'aawiyah, a party agreed to
invadeCyprus. The party includedAbu Tharr Al-Ghifaari, Abud-Dardaa',
Shaddaad bin 'Aws, 'Ubaadah bin As-Saamit andhis wife Umm Haraam bint
Milhan. 'Abdullaah bin Qayswas made the commander of the detachment,
which left forCyprusby boat. WhenConstantineescaped fromAlexandria, he
had taken refuge inCyprus. An Islamic naval force chased him byboats
fromEgyptand reachedCyprus. And this, a fresh naval detachment
fromSyriaalso descended on the coast ofCyprus.Constantinecould not
withstandthe attack and fled toConstantinoplewith great difficulty,
and finally succumbed to death.
However, according to other sources, frustrated by his successive
defeats, some people killed him in his bathroom. ThusCypruseasily fell
to the Muslims. Mu'aawiyahalso arrived inCypruswith a detachment.
After finishing his job inCyprushe sailed toRhodes. The conquests
ofCyprusand Rhodes opened the door for Muslim campaigns
againstConstantinopleand other countries of the region. These events
took place at the end of 28AH or at the beginning of 29 AH.
Circulation of the Quran
When Huthayfah bin Al-Yamaanreached Al-Madeenah on route to Basrah,
Koofah, Rey andSyria, he expressed amazement over the fact that the
people ofIraq,Syria, Basrah and Koofah, andPersiahad their own way of
reciting the Noble Quran which was quite different from each other. He
thought it would be better if one and all were brought to the same way
of recitation. 'Uthmaan bin 'Affaan convened a meeting of the
distinguished Companions and placed the suggestion for their
deliberations and decisions. All ofthem endorsed the opinion of
Huthayfah. Then, 'Uthmaan bin 'Affaanhad them bring the copy of the
Quran that was with Hafsahwhich was compiled by Zayd bin Thaabit
andother Companions during the Caliphate of Abu Bakr As-Siddeeqand
which had been kept with 'Umar and then with his daughter Hafsahafter
'Umar's death. The Caliph deputed a number of qualified people to
prepare a number of copies. He then sent a copy of theQuran to each
city with the order that the Quran be copied accordingly and all the
old copies be set on fire. When the fresh copy reached Koofah, the
Companions expressed their joy over it, but 'Abdullaah bin
Mas'oodremained firm on hisown recitation.
Yezdgird killed
ThePersian Empirewas destroyedduring the Caliphate of 'Umar. The rest
of the cities and frontier provinces were conquered during the
Caliphate of 'Uthmaan bin 'Affaan. Nevertheless, Yezdgird, the Emperor
of Persia was still running from place to place for safety. Sometimes
he was in Rey and sometimes inBalkh, Marw,Isfahan, Istakhar, Turkistan
andChinaand back again toPersia. A party of several thousand
soldiersremained with him through thickand thin in the hope that one
daytheir past glory and grandeur might be restored. This was the
reason why the Persian provinces, districts and cities would so often
rise against the Muslim rule even though they were instantly put down
by the Muslim forces. In 31 AH, Yezdgird reached the suburbs ofBalkhat
the head of a party fromChinaandTurkistanand captured somecities for a
short period. His misfortunes compelled him to flee and take refuge at
the dwelling of a windmill owner. He was in deep sleep when the owner
of the house, out of greed for his costly garments, killed him and
threw his dead body into water after stripping him of his clothes,
ornaments and weapons. This event took place insuburb of Marw onAugust
23, 651CE. Yezdgird passed four yearsof his life in luxury, sixteen
years in affliction and vagrancy and the last ten years out of
sixteen, he passed as a fugitive. The Persian troubles came to an end
after Yezdgird was killed.