Hero's of Islamic history - Muhammad Ibn Al-Qaasim: a young leader

Al-Hajjaaj Ibn Yoosuf At-Thaqafee,the ruler of Iraq was sitting in his
court surrounded by his dignitaries and army commanders (chief of
staffs). They were discussing the affairs of the state trying to find
solutions to people's problems. One of Al-Hajjaaj's men entered and
whispered some words to him, so he stopped the conversation and said
loudly: "Lethim enter immediately!"
The man entered with a messageand said to Al-Hajjaaj: "This is an
urgent message that has just been brought by the messenger from
'Sindh' territories". Al-Hajjaaj took the message and began to read
it. Before he had finished, he stood up abruptly in a rage. The
attendants got worried, and one of them said:
"May Allaah rectify your affairs? What was said in this message
toupset you? Has anything wrong happened to the Caliph 'Al-Waleed Ibn
`Abdul-Malik'? Has any of our enemies attacked any part of our land?"
Al-Hajjaaj did not speak for a while then he erupted in a rage and
started to tell them the content of the message. He said,"The king of
the island of Sri Lanka sent us some ships full of gifts. On board,
there were some Muslim women. On their way, some pirates from the city
of 'Daibul' (a port at the mouth of the River Sindh in Pakistan )
attacked it. They stole the gifts and took the women as captives.
When Al-Hajjaaj became calm, he wrote a message to 'Daahir' the king
of Sindh demanding him to release the Muslim women, but the king was
unable to do so. He sent a message to Al-Hajjaaj telling him that the
captives had been caught by notorious thievesand that he could not
rescue them. Al-Hajjaaj was not convinced with the answer of theking
of Sindh, so he intended to punish those pirates and restore dignity
to the Muslims. He sent a military expedition to fight the pirates,
but they were completelydefeated on the land of Sindh . So,he sent
another expedition, but italso failed to fulfill its mission.
After the defeat of his expeditions, Al-Hajjaaj realized that he must
plan and prepare himself so his enemies would notunderestimate the
Muslim state. He intended to send a huge army to conquer the
territories of Sindh, propagate Islam there, and help its people get
rid of the injustice of their governors. At the same time, he wanted
to secure the borders of the Islamic state and trade routes. He sent
for the Umayyad Caliph in Damascus Al-Waleed Ibn `Abdul-Malik' asking
for his permission to prepare and equip the army. Ittook Al-Hajjaaj
some months to prepare the army and recruit thousands of experienced
and brave soldiers. He equipped themwith the most powerful weapons,
supplies, and food sufficient for their expedition.
After preparing the army, he began to review the names of thearmy
leaders he had in order to choose one who could fulfill this mission.
Then he decided to choose his cousin Muhammad Ibn Al-Qaasim whose
reputation had begun to increase even though he was still less than
twenty years old. He was an emerging star who was known for his power,
bravery, and skill instrategies of war and undertaking military
campaigns. He had the ability to lead soldiers to victory. He was
patient in fighting and firm in the battlefield. The news that
Muhammad Ibn Al-Qaasim had been chosen to lead the army, spread, so
the soldiers were optimistic and were confident that Allaah would
grant them victory. The young leader began to survey the army
preparations, set the military plans, explored his enemy's position,
and came to know the points of their power and weakness. When he was
sure that everything was all ready, he ordered his soldiers to depart.
The army set out towards its target, fully equipped and thoroughly
prepared. The soldiers were shouting "Allaahu Akbar" (Allaah is the
Greatest). When the army reached 'Makraan', they rested there for some
days. The young leader started to split his army into two divisions.
One division went through the land route and the other through the
sea.
Then Muhammad Ibn Al-Qaasim went to the city of 'Daibul' and started
to besiege it. All of this happened on Rabee' Al-Awwal, 89A.H. At the
same time, the Islamicwarships carrying the soldiers, supplies, and
weapons arrived. They completely besieged the city. The leader ordered
the soldiers to strike the city with catapults and to target the huge
idol that was being worshiped bythe people of the city. This idol was
named 'Budh'. The idol was destroyed under the heavy stone shots of
the catapult.
The courageous soldiers climbed the walls of the city using ropy
ladders. After three days of the siege, the Muslims were able to flood
into the city after the soldiers of 'Daahir - the king of Sindh -
escaped.
The Muslims entered the city and treated its people with justice and
kindness. Muhammad Ibn Al-Qaasim planned to establish a camp for the
Muslims in the city and he built a mosque there. He also prepared the
city to be a sea base for Muslims in the Indian Ocean .
After Muhammad Ibn Al-Qaasim was sure the city of 'Daibul' was stable,
he left some Islamic guardforces there. Then he led his armyto conquer
more cities. He won all the battles because he only fought to free all
people from slavery and tyranny, and to implement justice and spread
peace and security.
The policy of Muhammad Ibn Al-Qaasim towards the people of Sindh
encouraged many people to join him. He conquered all the territories
of Sindh one after the other yet, he was not content until all Sindh
become under the Islamic state. He fought with Daahir who wanted to
ambush Muhammad Ibn Al-Qaasim by dragging him inside the city and then
kill him.
Muhammad Ibn Al-Qaasim realized the king's plan, so he prepared his
own plan that would surprise the king. He crossed the river of
'Mahraan' at night with thousands of his soldiers. After few hours,
the whole army was on the other side facing the army of 'Daahir'.
In the morning, the battle flared and Daahir was leading the battleon
the back of an elephant surrounded by other elephants. The battle
lasted for few hours, and the Muslims were victorious. Daahir was
killed, and his soldierswere scattered and ran away from the
battlefield.
After this great victory, Muhammad Ibn Al-Qaasim continued conquering
the remaining territories of Sindh. Hestarted to establish the
foundations of the Islamic rule. He spread justice, so people welcomed
him and gave their allegiance to the Muslims who protected their souls
and money. A lot of them became Muslims and their response to Islam
was great despite their different social backgrounds. In addition to
the public, governors, leaders, ministers, and princes of different
areas became Muslims like prince Kaakah Ibn Jandar the cousin of
Daahir the king of Sindh.