Summary of Sira
After ‘Uthmaan ibn ‘Affaan was appointed as the new Caliph, and seeing as how ‘Amr ibn al-‘Aas had been governor of Egypt since before the reign of ‘Umar, ‘Uthmaan appointed ‘Abdullah ibn S’ad ibn Abee al-Sarh as a replacement. He was to be governor of Egypt and its surrounding areas. He then ordered that the Muslims continue their forays into the rest of the African continent and to complete its conquest.
The conquests which had begun during the reign of ‘Umar ibn al-Khattaab were completed during the reign of ‘Uthmaan ibn ‘Affaan. Habeeb ibn Maslamah made military incursions into Al-Shaam territory which were still under Byzantine control. Many of the battles took place on the shores as well as in other places.
When Abdullah ibn Abee al-Sarah took his post as governor, the Byzantines used the opportunity to repudiate the agreement that had been between them and the Muslims up until that time. The people of Alexandria wrote to Constantine III (the son of Heraclius) and convinced him to try and re-conquer Alexandria mentioning that the number of the Muslim army there is too little and cannot stand his attack. Constantine III dispatched Manuel the Armenian at the head of a massive army which was able to take control of Alexandria. As a result, ‘Uthmaan wrote to ‘Amr that he has appointed him as the governor of Alexandria and ordered him to reclaim it from the Byzantines. So, he made his way over to them and launched a counterattack; fighting began at the city of Nikiou (Niqiyoos). However, fortune was on the side of the Muslims. ‘Amr soon stopped the fighting and then continued his voyage to Alexandria where he had its walls destroyed and returned power over it to the Muslims.
‘Uthmaan ibn ‘Afaan, may Allah be well pleased with him, ordered that the limits of Sacred Place in Makkah be renewed and with that came the expansion of its mosque. He approached the owners of the surrounding lands to sell their lands for this purpose; those who agreed, he purchased land from them, while those who refused to sell, he destroyed their homes (and paid them for it) and placed the money in the Bayt al-Maal. This made them to deplore what ‘Uthmaan was doing, so he ordered that they be imprisoned. He said to them: “Do you know what emboldened you against me? It is only my forbearance. ‘Umar had done this to you all, but you did not deplore or raise your voices against him!” However, the governor of Makkah, Abdullah ibn Khaalid ibn Aseed interceded for those he imprisoned, and so he released them.
He is K’ab ibn Zuhayr ibn Abee Sulama al-Muzanee, Aboo al-Mudarrib; he was poet just like his father, yet his father was more knowledgeable and able a poet than he was. K’ab used to be a well-known poet in the Time of Ignorance (al-Jahiliyyah), and when Islam emerged, he lampooned the Prophet ﷺ and he wrote (inappropriate) love poems about Muslim women. As a result, the Prophet ﷺ put a ransom on his blood (e.g., considered it of no consequence to kill him because of the ridicule and disrespect he had of him and the Muslims). However, afterwards, K’ab the came to the Prophet ﷺ begging for him for his safety, which he did ﷺ and accepted his Islam from him. He then proceeded to recite to him what became his famous poem in praise of the Prophet, ﷺ which begins with: “Su’aad has left, and my heart now is broken…”. It has been said that the Prophet ﷺ gave him his cloak which was then purchased by Mu’aawiyyah from one of his sons, and it was then passed between the caliphs as an inheritance.
S’ad ibn Abee Waqqaas had replaced al-Mugheerah ibn Shu’bah as the governor of Koofah. However, an incident happened that made ‘Uthmaan afterwards to remove him from his post and replaced him with al-Waleed ibn ‘Uqbah. The incident was that he had borrowed money from Bayt al-Maal which was under the management of Ibn Mas’ood (may Allah be pleased with them). But when the due date of the repayment has passed, Ibn Mas’ood had requested that he pay the money back, but he did not have any money to repay; thus, they got into an argument and terrible feud ensued between them. ‘Uthmaan became very angry at them both and decided to remove S’ad from his post and place al-Waleed ibn ‘Uqbah instead. ‘Umar ibn al-Khattaab has used him as a governor over the Arabs of Al-Jazeerah. So, when arrived to take his post, people came to him willingly and he stayed there for five years, without there ever being a door installed on his dwelling. He governed there with mercy and gentleness towards the people of that province.
‘Uthmaan had ordered Abullah ibn S’ad ibn Abee al-Sarh to make military forays into North African territory, and that if Allah would open its land to him, in conquest, then he would be rewarded of a fifth from The Fifth of the spoils of war. (Abdullah) then marched at the head of an army of 10,000 fighters and proceeded to conquer all of it, including all its plains and mountain tops. He slew Jurjeer, the Byzantine king there at the time, and a large number of his people. After the outstanding victory, the people of Africa agreed that they should all become Muslims, and they made good their adherence to the faith. As promised, Abdullah ibn S’ad took a fifth of The Fifth from the spoils of war, and sent The Fifth to ‘Uthmaan, while he distributed the rest amongst his soldiers. The horseman’s share was 3,000 [gold] dinars while the foot soldier’s was 1,000 [gold] dinar. Abdullah then demarcated a city on the place where is now Qayrawaan. He then dispatched a delegation of his army to ‘Uthmaan, who then complained to him about ‘Abdullah regarding what he had taken for himself from the booty. To which ‘Uthmaan said: “I gave it to him as a gift and I had even ordered for him to do so. But I put the matter to you now: if you are pleased with the matter, then it shall remain so, and if you maintain your displeasure at what I have done, then I shall rescind my decision (and he will have to return the booty I had given to him).” They replied: “We maintain our displeasure.” And ‘Uthmaan replied: “Consider what I have done to be rescinded.” He then wrote to ‘Abdullah regarding his decision and that he had done so in order to pacify them.
The delegation then said: “Remove him as governer over us, for we do not want him to lead us any longer because of what happened.” ‘Uthmaan then wrote to Abdullah ordering him to appoint someone instead of him who will please him and please them as a governor of North Africa; redistribute the fifth that he had given to him in the way of Allah, for his soldiers were displeased with the gift he had given him. Accordingly, Abdullah complied with ‘Uthmaan’s orders, and then returned to Egypt after having conquered parts of North Africa.
When North Africa was conquered, ‘Uthmaan ibn ‘Affaan ordered ‘Abdullah ibn Naafi’ and ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abd al-Qays to make their way to Andalusia. They attacked it from the sea, and then ‘Uthmaan wrote to them: “As to what shall proceed, verily Constantinople shall only be conquered through Andalusia.” The Berber’s of North Africa joined the army of ‘Abdullah ibn Naafi’ and Abdullah ibn ‘Abd al-Qays, and the Muslims were aided by Allah and their territorial power increased the likes of which they gained in North Africa.
Mu’aawiyyah ibn Abee Sufyaan had tried to convince ‘Umar ibn al-Khattaab that they should take to the seas to expand their conquests, but ‘Umar had refused due to his concern over the safety of Muslims. However, during the reign of ‘Uthmaan, again, Mu’aawiyyah revisited the topic, and he conceded to the request under the condition that he not force anyone to take to the seas, but rather that he gives them the choice. Whosoever wants to go out fighting over the sea, let him go, and whosoever does not, then they shall not. Mu’aawiyaah did just that, he then placed ‘Abdullah ibn Qays al-Jaasee at the head of the naval detachment. They then attacked Cyprus and were able to establish a treaty with them in which they agreed to pay 7,000 gold dinars per year. The naval detachment received reinforcements and help from the people of Egypt under the leadership of Ibn Abee al-Sarh, and Mu’aawiyah was the one who led all of them.
A large number of the Companions were in that expedition, including Umm Haraam the wife of ‘Ubaadah ibn al-Saamit. She died in Cyprus and was buried there as well. The Prophet ﷺ had given her glad tidings that she was going to be of those who set out for battle on sea just as kings lay on their (royal) mattresses.
The construction of the Prophet’s Mosque was made from mudbricks, palm leaves, and wooden columns. During the reign of ‘Uthmaan ibn ‘Affaan (may Allah be well pleased with him), he expanded the Prophet’s Mosque such that its length became a total of 160 cubits and its width 150 cubits. He replaced the mud bricks with stones cut properly for such a construction, and he placed the columns on bases of lead in order to better support the weight of the structure, and its roof was replaced with teak. He also re-installed the six doors which ‘Umar ibn al-Khattaab had done.
Sa’eed ibn al-‘Aas reconquered Tabaristaan because they had reneged on the treaty that had been originally concluded with Suwayd ibn Muqarrin, who had fought them in the time of ‘Umar ibn al-Khattaab. He had agreed with them that he would no longer attack them in exchange for monetary compensation to be paid by the Spahbed of Tabaristaan, but they decided to rescind this agreement.
To reclaim the city, Sa’eed led an army which had a large number of Companions in it, such like: al-Hasan and al-Husayan, ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abbaas, ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar, ‘Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr, ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Amr ibn al-‘Aas, and Hudhayfah ibn al-Yamaan. They journeyed through many different territories and cities and concluded treaties with all of them in exchange for monetary compensation. They reached the provinces of Gurgaan, fighting therein to such an extent that they had to pray the Prayer of Fear.
Sa’eed ibn al-‘Aas attacked Gurgaan after its people had reneged on the terms of the treaty they had agreed with the Muslims that had been agreed upon during the time of ‘Umar ibn al-Khattaab.
After having completed his battles with the Byzantines in North Africa at the side of Ibn al-Zubayr, Abdullah ibn Abee al-Sarh went back to Nubia which bordered Egypt to the north. He attacked them once more, as a follow up to the campaigns which ‘Amr ibn al-‘Aas had conducted before him. He fought them fiercely, however, he was not able to consolidate his power over them and so he concluded a peace treaty with them and was able to secure economic exchanges.
He is Yazdajird ibn Shahrayaar ibn Barweez, a Manichean and Persian, the last of the Khosrows. The armies of ‘Umar had vanquished him, and the Muslims were able to establish their power over ‘Iraq as a result. After being vanquished, Yazdajird fled to Marw where he spent the rest of his days; then the governors of his dominion revolted against him and killed.
It has been said that that he had escaped with his pride amongst a small group to Marw. He then requested from some of the people of Marw for some money, but they refused to give him anything and they became afraid of him. They then sent word to the Turks in order to instigate and incite them towards him. [The Turks] then went out to Yazdajird, killed his guards and he fled until he reached the home of a man who was carving out a grinding stone on the banks of a river. So, he sought refuge with him during the night and whilst he was sleeping, the man killed Yazdajird.
The people of Khurasaan, (which is an area that today covers Iran, Afghanistan and Russia) rebelled against ‘Uthmaan ibn ‘Affaan, may Allah be well pleased with him. In response, he dispatched ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Aamir to deal with the situation, who was the governor of Basrah at the time. When he arrived, he battled with the people from those regions at Marw, Naysaboor, and neighboring areas until he had conquered them once more. Then, Abdullah’s general, al-Ahnaf ibn Qays, directed himself to Takhaaristaan and sieged it until he concluded a treaty with them. But the people of Marw al-Rooth joined them as well as others, and al-Ahnaf and his army had to fight once more, who vanquished them once more, and then he conquered Joozajaan by force, then a treaty was concluded with Taalaqaan, as well other territories.
