1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,469 In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. 2 00:00:05,469 --> 00:00:07,469 A summary of the book: 3 00:00:07,469 --> 00:00:11,470 *Ramadan: Events and Lessons*. 4 00:00:11,470 --> 00:00:18,379 The Conquest of the City of Amorium. 5 00:00:18,379 --> 00:00:21,379 The date: the sixth of Ramadan, 6 00:00:21,379 --> 00:00:25,379 in the year 223 AH. 7 00:00:25,379 --> 00:00:33,810 The forces of evil never cease warring against goodness and its people, 8 00:00:33,810 --> 00:00:38,810 inflicting upon them every manner of torment whenever an opportunity arises. 9 00:00:38,810 --> 00:00:43,810 They possess no inner restraints to curb their diabolical impulses, 10 00:00:43,810 --> 00:00:49,810 nor do they follow any sacred law that would halt their doctrine of harm and aggression. 11 00:00:49,810 --> 00:00:53,810 Nothing turns them back from their tyranny except the strength of the people of truth, 12 00:00:53,810 --> 00:00:57,810 their repelling of the aggressors' evil, 13 00:00:57,810 --> 00:01:00,810 and their capacity to halt that oppressive power 14 00:01:00,810 --> 00:01:06,030 through their means of deterrence and their disciplining of assailants. 15 00:01:06,030 --> 00:01:10,030 When the Muslims held firmly to their religion, 16 00:01:10,030 --> 00:01:13,030 adhered to the bastions of honor, 17 00:01:13,030 --> 00:01:16,030 and took hold of the means of strength, 18 00:01:16,030 --> 00:01:19,030 awe of them was cast into the hearts of their enemies, 19 00:01:19,030 --> 00:01:22,030 preventing them from transgressing against them 20 00:01:22,030 --> 00:01:24,189 or subjecting them to humiliation. 21 00:01:24,189 --> 00:01:27,189 But when they began abandoning the religion of Allah 22 00:01:27,189 --> 00:01:29,189 and clinging to the life of this world, 23 00:01:29,189 --> 00:01:31,189 they fell back from the horizons of honor, 24 00:01:31,189 --> 00:01:34,189 and the enemy did with them as they pleased. 25 00:01:34,189 --> 00:01:39,189 This is the confirmation of what the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, foretold 26 00:01:39,189 --> 00:01:44,189 in the hadith of Thawban, the freed slave of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), 27 00:01:44,189 --> 00:01:46,189 who said: 28 00:01:46,189 --> 00:01:50,260 The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: 29 00:01:50,260 --> 00:01:54,260 "The nations are about to gather against you from every horizon, 30 00:01:54,260 --> 00:01:58,260 just as diners gather around their dish." 31 00:01:58,260 --> 00:02:00,260 He said: 32 00:02:00,260 --> 00:02:02,260 We asked: "O Messenger of Allah, 33 00:02:02,260 --> 00:02:05,260 will it be because of our small numbers on that day?" 34 00:02:05,260 --> 00:02:06,260 He replied: 35 00:02:06,260 --> 00:02:09,259 "No, on that day you will be many, 36 00:02:09,259 --> 00:02:13,259 but you will be scum like the froth of a torrent. 37 00:02:13,259 --> 00:02:17,259 Awe of you will be stripped from the hearts of your enemy, 38 00:02:17,259 --> 00:02:20,419 and *wahn* (enervation) will be cast into your hearts." 39 00:02:20,419 --> 00:02:21,419 He said: 40 00:02:21,419 --> 00:02:22,419 We asked: 41 00:02:22,419 --> 00:02:24,419 "And what is *wahn*?" 42 00:02:24,419 --> 00:02:25,419 He said: 43 00:02:25,419 --> 00:02:29,419 "Love of this worldly life and hatred of death." 44 00:02:29,419 --> 00:02:34,610 In eras of glory, the Ummah was like a single body: 45 00:02:34,610 --> 00:02:36,610 if any limb complained, 46 00:02:36,610 --> 00:02:39,610 the rest of the body responded to it. 47 00:02:39,610 --> 00:02:44,669 Whenever any Muslim was attacked by the disbelievers, 48 00:02:44,669 --> 00:02:47,669 the Muslims exacted justice from that aggressor; 49 00:02:47,669 --> 00:02:50,669 whoever cried out to them for rescue was answered, 50 00:02:50,669 --> 00:02:53,669 and whoever sought their aid was delivered. 51 00:02:53,669 --> 00:02:54,669 But today, 52 00:02:54,669 --> 00:02:58,669 the body of the Ummah has been torn into scattered pieces; 53 00:02:58,669 --> 00:03:01,669 one part no longer feels the pain of another, 54 00:03:01,669 --> 00:03:03,669 nor does it come to its rescue in distress, 55 00:03:03,669 --> 00:03:06,669 nor does it assist it in its need. 56 00:03:06,669 --> 00:03:11,830 How many cries of those pleading for rescue have pounded upon our ears, 57 00:03:11,830 --> 00:03:13,830 alongside the voices of the tortured! 58 00:03:13,830 --> 00:03:16,830 How hoarse have grown the throats of those crying: 59 00:03:16,830 --> 00:03:18,830 "O Islam!" 60 00:03:18,830 --> 00:03:20,830 "O Muslims!" 61 00:03:20,830 --> 00:03:22,830 "O brethren!" 62 00:03:24,120 --> 00:03:27,120 Yet the Abbasid Caliph al-Mu'tasim Billah, 63 00:03:27,120 --> 00:03:30,120 along with the Muslims of his day, 64 00:03:30,120 --> 00:03:33,120 were nothing like our state today. 65 00:03:33,120 --> 00:03:37,120 The conquest of Amorium remains an honorable memory for them, 66 00:03:37,120 --> 00:03:41,120 engraving their chivalry and protective honor across the brow of time, 67 00:03:41,120 --> 00:03:47,120 enduring as a historic exploit recounted across generations with utmost pride and dignity. 68 00:03:48,659 --> 00:03:51,659 The Conquest of Amorium and Its History 69 00:03:51,659 --> 00:03:53,789 Amorium 70 00:03:53,789 --> 00:03:55,789 was a city in the land of the Byzantines. 71 00:03:55,789 --> 00:03:56,789 It was said 72 00:03:56,789 --> 00:03:59,789 to be named after Amorium, daughter of ar-Rum, 73 00:03:59,789 --> 00:04:03,789 son of Eliphaz, son of Shem, son of Noah, peace be upon him. 74 00:04:03,789 --> 00:04:08,789 This city was situated in Phrygia in Asia Minor; 75 00:04:08,789 --> 00:04:11,789 it was founded during the Hellenistic period, 76 00:04:11,789 --> 00:04:14,789 flourished under the Byzantine Empire, 77 00:04:14,789 --> 00:04:20,790 and was eventually abandoned following the campaign of the Abbasid Caliph al-Mu'tasim. 78 00:04:20,790 --> 00:04:24,860 Its ruins lie near the village of Hisarköy 79 00:04:24,860 --> 00:04:27,860 in the Afyon Province of Turkey. 80 00:04:27,860 --> 00:04:32,860 Its conquest and the entry into it took place on the sixth of Ramadan 81 00:04:32,860 --> 00:04:36,860 in the year 223 AH. 82 00:04:36,860 --> 00:04:40,939 The Cause of the Conquest of Amorium 83 00:04:40,939 --> 00:04:43,939 The reason for this great conquest 84 00:04:43,939 --> 00:04:47,939 was that the Byzantine Emperor Theophilus, son of Michael, 85 00:04:47,939 --> 00:04:49,939 marched forth with one hundred thousand troops 86 00:04:49,939 --> 00:04:51,939 and reached Zibatra. 87 00:04:51,939 --> 00:04:54,939 There, he slaughtered its men, 88 00:04:54,939 --> 00:04:57,939 took the women and children captive, 89 00:04:57,939 --> 00:05:00,939 utterly laid waste to the city, 90 00:05:00,939 --> 00:05:05,939 raided the people of Malatya and other Muslim fortresses, 91 00:05:05,939 --> 00:05:07,939 captured Muslim women, 92 00:05:07,939 --> 00:05:11,939 mutilated those Muslims who fell into his hands, 93 00:05:11,939 --> 00:05:13,939 gouged out their eyes, 94 00:05:13,939 --> 00:05:17,069 and cut off their noses and ears. 95 00:05:17,069 --> 00:05:20,069 Regarding this, Ibrahim ibn al-Mahdi said: 96 00:05:20,069 --> 00:05:25,199 "O protective jealousy for the sake of Allah, you have witnessed this, so take vengeance! 97 00:05:25,199 --> 00:05:29,199 Women have been violated, though they committed no crime! 98 00:05:29,199 --> 00:05:33,259 Granted, the men were slain for supposed misdeeds, 99 00:05:33,259 --> 00:05:38,579 but what of their children, plundered and slaughtered?" 100 00:05:38,579 --> 00:05:43,579 A dispatch then arrived by courier to al-Mu'tasim from the Byzantine frontier, 101 00:05:43,579 --> 00:05:47,579 reporting that the Byzantine Emperor had encroached upon Islamic territories, 102 00:05:47,579 --> 00:05:50,579 extended his aggression against several villages, 103 00:05:50,579 --> 00:05:53,579 and captured a group of people from them, 104 00:05:53,579 --> 00:05:56,579 among whom 105 00:05:56,579 --> 00:05:58,579 was a Hashimite woman 106 00:05:58,579 --> 00:06:03,639 who had cried out: "O Mu'tasim!" 107 00:06:03,639 --> 00:06:07,930 The Caliph al-Mu'tasim's Stance Toward the Event 108 00:06:07,930 --> 00:06:11,930 When this grave news reached al-Mu'tasim, 109 00:06:11,930 --> 00:06:13,930 he took it with the utmost gravity and solemnity; 110 00:06:13,930 --> 00:06:15,959 it grieved him deeply and consumed his thoughts. 111 00:06:15,959 --> 00:06:19,959 He prepared for it with immense resolve through deeds, 112 00:06:19,959 --> 00:06:24,180 not through mere words or telegrams of condemnation. 113 00:06:24,180 --> 00:06:26,180 Historians have recorded 114 00:06:26,180 --> 00:06:31,180 that the Byzantine Emperor had sent a letter to al-Mu'tasim threatening him, 115 00:06:31,180 --> 00:06:34,180 whereupon al-Mu'tasim was enraged 116 00:06:34,180 --> 00:06:36,180 and ordered a reply to be written. 117 00:06:36,180 --> 00:06:38,180 A response was drafted for him, 118 00:06:38,180 --> 00:06:41,180 but none of the several drafts prepared satisfied him. 119 00:06:41,180 --> 00:06:44,180 So he tore up the letter that had arrived from the Emperor 120 00:06:44,180 --> 00:06:48,180 and commanded that there be written on the back of a piece of it: 121 00:06:48,180 --> 00:06:51,180 "In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. 122 00:06:51,180 --> 00:06:55,180 The answer is what you will see, not what you will read. 123 00:06:55,180 --> 00:06:59,310 'And the disbelievers will come to know who has the ultimate reward of the Home.'" 124 00:06:59,310 --> 00:07:01,310 He immediately mobilized for war, 125 00:07:01,310 --> 00:07:03,310 but astrologers attempted to dissuade him, 126 00:07:03,310 --> 00:07:07,310 telling him that the ascendant star portended misfortune. 127 00:07:07,310 --> 00:07:08,310 He said to them: 128 00:07:08,310 --> 00:07:11,310 "It portends misfortune for them, not for us!" 129 00:07:11,310 --> 00:07:15,310 He set out that very day, with armies following in succession. 130 00:07:15,310 --> 00:07:17,500 As for the woman, 131 00:07:17,500 --> 00:07:20,500 he answered her cry while still on his couch, saying: 132 00:07:20,500 --> 00:07:23,500 "Here I am at your service! Here I am at your service!" 133 00:07:23,500 --> 00:07:25,500 He sounded the general call to arms, 134 00:07:25,500 --> 00:07:28,500 rose immediately and mounted his steed, 135 00:07:28,500 --> 00:07:33,500 carrying along hobbling ropes and an iron peg inside his cloak. 136 00:07:33,500 --> 00:07:35,500 He gathered the troops, 137 00:07:35,500 --> 00:07:39,500 summoned the Chief Judge of Baghdad, Abd ar-Rahman ibn Ishaq, 138 00:07:39,500 --> 00:07:41,500 along with Ibn Sahl 139 00:07:41,500 --> 00:07:44,500 and three hundred and thirty certified witnesses, 140 00:07:44,500 --> 00:07:48,500 and had them bear witness to the endowment of his estates: 141 00:07:48,500 --> 00:07:50,500 one third for his children, 142 00:07:50,500 --> 00:07:52,500 one third for his freed slaves, 143 00:07:52,500 --> 00:07:54,500 and one third for the sake of Allah. 144 00:07:54,500 --> 00:07:58,430 The Course of the Battle and the Conquest of the City 145 00:07:58,430 --> 00:08:02,750 When al-Mu'tasim reached the gates of the city, 146 00:08:02,750 --> 00:08:05,750 he assigned its towers among his commanders, 147 00:08:05,750 --> 00:08:09,750 apportioning a number of towers to each of them 148 00:08:09,750 --> 00:08:13,750 according to the size of their respective forces, 149 00:08:13,750 --> 00:08:18,750 so that each commander was allotted between two and twenty towers. 150 00:08:18,750 --> 00:08:21,750 The inhabitants of Amorium fortified themselves inside. 151 00:08:21,750 --> 00:08:26,750 Al-Mu'tasim encamped opposite a specific section that had been pointed out to him, 152 00:08:26,750 --> 00:08:30,750 shown by a Muslim who had lived within the city, 153 00:08:30,750 --> 00:08:34,750 having previously embraced Christianity among them and married one of their women. 154 00:08:34,750 --> 00:08:38,850 But when he saw the Commander of the Faithful and the Muslims, 155 00:08:38,850 --> 00:08:40,850 he returned to Islam, 156 00:08:40,850 --> 00:08:43,850 went out to the Caliph, reaffirmed his faith, 157 00:08:43,850 --> 00:08:45,850 and informed him of a vulnerable section in the wall 158 00:08:45,850 --> 00:08:47,850 that had once been destroyed by a flood 159 00:08:47,850 --> 00:08:51,850 and was rebuilt flimsily without solid foundations. 160 00:08:51,850 --> 00:08:55,850 The Byzantine Emperor had previously written to the governor of Amorium 161 00:08:55,850 --> 00:08:57,850 instructing him to fortify that section properly, 162 00:08:57,850 --> 00:09:00,850 but they had been negligent in doing so, 163 00:09:00,850 --> 00:09:05,850 which proved to be the gateway of triumph for the Muslims to enter Amorium. 164 00:09:05,850 --> 00:09:09,980 Al-Mu'tasim positioned the mangonels all around Amorium, 165 00:09:09,980 --> 00:09:13,980 and the very first breach made in its wall 166 00:09:13,980 --> 00:09:17,980 was at that location pointed out by the former captive. 167 00:09:17,980 --> 00:09:20,070 The defenders scrambled 168 00:09:20,070 --> 00:09:23,070 and blocked it with large, closely lashed timbers, 169 00:09:23,070 --> 00:09:26,070 but the mangonels pounded it incessantly. 170 00:09:26,070 --> 00:09:28,070 They then placed pack-saddles over the breach 171 00:09:29,070 --> 00:09:31,070 to cushion the impact of the stones, 172 00:09:31,070 --> 00:09:33,070 but it availed them nothing, 173 00:09:33,070 --> 00:09:37,070 and the wall collapsed and fractured on that side. 174 00:09:37,070 --> 00:09:42,360 When al-Mu'tasim observed the depth of its moat and the height of its wall, 175 00:09:42,360 --> 00:09:46,389 he directed the mangonels to batter the ramparts. 176 00:09:46,389 --> 00:09:49,389 While the men were working on the filled causeway, 177 00:09:49,389 --> 00:09:53,389 the mangonels brought down that defective section. 178 00:09:53,389 --> 00:09:56,389 When the wall collapsed between two towers, 179 00:09:56,389 --> 00:09:59,389 the people heard a tremendous crash, 180 00:09:59,389 --> 00:10:01,389 which those who could not see it thought 181 00:10:01,389 --> 00:10:05,389 to be a sudden Byzantine sally against the Muslims. 182 00:10:05,389 --> 00:10:08,389 Al-Mu'tasim dispatched a herald to announce among the troops: 183 00:10:08,389 --> 00:10:11,389 "It is merely the collapse of the wall!" 184 00:10:11,389 --> 00:10:15,389 The Muslims rejoiced exceedingly at that. 185 00:10:15,389 --> 00:10:18,389 However, the breach made 186 00:10:18,389 --> 00:10:21,389 was not yet wide enough for cavalry and infantry to pour through, 187 00:10:21,389 --> 00:10:23,419 so the siege intensified. 188 00:10:23,419 --> 00:10:27,419 The Byzantines had placed each tower of the ramparts 189 00:10:27,419 --> 00:10:29,419 under the command of an officer tasked with guarding it. 190 00:10:29,419 --> 00:10:32,419 The officer whose section of the wall was breached grew too weak 191 00:10:32,419 --> 00:10:36,419 to withstand the fierce assault of the siege, 192 00:10:36,419 --> 00:10:41,519 so he went to Monatses, the Byzantine governor of Amorium, 193 00:10:41,519 --> 00:10:43,519 requesting reinforcements, 194 00:10:43,519 --> 00:10:46,519 but none of the Byzantines agreed to assist him, 195 00:10:46,519 --> 00:10:51,519 saying: "We will not abandon the posts we have been charged to defend." 196 00:10:51,519 --> 00:10:55,519 Al-Mu'tasim then ordered the Muslims to storm the city 197 00:10:55,519 --> 00:10:59,519 through that breach left stripped of defenders. 198 00:10:59,519 --> 00:11:01,679 The Muslims charged toward it, 199 00:11:01,679 --> 00:11:04,679 The Romans began making gestures toward them, 200 00:11:04,679 --> 00:11:07,679 unable to repel them, 201 00:11:07,679 --> 00:11:10,679 but the Muslims paid them no heed. 202 00:11:10,679 --> 00:11:14,679 Then the Muslims overwhelmed them and took the city by storm, 203 00:11:14,679 --> 00:11:18,679 pouring into it in waves while proclaiming the takbir. 204 00:11:18,679 --> 00:11:21,679 The Romans abandoned their positions and scattered, 205 00:11:21,679 --> 00:11:27,679 so the Muslims began striking them down wherever they encountered them. 206 00:11:27,679 --> 00:11:31,679 They had driven them into a massive church of theirs, 207 00:11:31,679 --> 00:11:33,679 which the Muslims then breached by force, 208 00:11:33,679 --> 00:11:35,679 killing those inside. 209 00:11:35,679 --> 00:11:37,679 They set fire to the church doors, 210 00:11:37,679 --> 00:11:39,679 causing it to burn, 211 00:11:39,679 --> 00:11:41,679 and everyone inside was burned to the very last man. 212 00:11:41,679 --> 00:11:44,710 Then al-Mu'tasim gave orders concerning Amorium, 213 00:11:44,710 --> 00:11:46,710 and it was demolished and burned. 214 00:11:46,710 --> 00:11:51,710 His initial encampment against it had begun on the sixth of Ramadan, 215 00:11:51,710 --> 00:11:55,710 and he laid siege to it for fifty-five days. 216 00:11:55,710 --> 00:11:58,710 He then distributed the captives among the commanders 217 00:11:58,710 --> 00:12:01,710 and marched toward Tarsus. 218 00:12:01,710 --> 00:12:05,450 The outcomes of the conquest of Amorium: 219 00:12:05,450 --> 00:12:10,580 First, this decisive battle and manifest triumph 220 00:12:10,580 --> 00:12:14,580 served as a direct, practical response to the arrogance of the Byzantines. 221 00:12:14,580 --> 00:12:18,580 Justice was thus fully exacted on behalf of the Muslims and their cities, 222 00:12:18,580 --> 00:12:23,580 as a fitting recompense for what those aggressors had done, 223 00:12:23,580 --> 00:12:27,580 whom Abu Ishaq disciplined through his decisive actions— 224 00:12:27,580 --> 00:12:30,580 an extraordinary chastisement immortalized throughout history. 225 00:12:30,580 --> 00:12:32,860 Second, 226 00:12:32,860 --> 00:12:36,860 a vast number of Byzantine combatants were killed, 227 00:12:36,860 --> 00:12:38,860 an equal number were taken captive, 228 00:12:38,860 --> 00:12:41,860 and immense spoils of war were seized. 229 00:12:41,860 --> 00:12:44,019 Third, 230 00:12:44,019 --> 00:12:49,019 the rescue of that woman who had called upon al-Mu'tasim for help, as is reported. 231 00:12:49,019 --> 00:12:51,019 Ibn Kathir said: 232 00:12:51,019 --> 00:12:57,019 "The Muslims seized incalculable and indescribable wealth from Amorium, 233 00:12:57,019 --> 00:13:00,019 carrying away whatever they were able to transport, 234 00:13:00,019 --> 00:13:04,019 while al-Mu'tasim ordered the remainder to be burned, 235 00:13:04,019 --> 00:13:10,019 along with all the mangonels, siege engines, and instruments of war found there, 236 00:13:10,019 --> 00:13:16,500 so that the Romans could never use them to reinforce themselves in any future war against the Muslims." 237 00:13:16,500 --> 00:13:19,700 Lessons from the conquest of Amorium: 238 00:13:19,700 --> 00:13:21,700 First: 239 00:13:21,700 --> 00:13:24,700 Muslims will never remain secure and dignified 240 00:13:24,700 --> 00:13:29,730 except through a strength of their own that repels the onslaught of aggressors. 241 00:13:29,730 --> 00:13:31,730 Second: 242 00:13:31,730 --> 00:13:34,730 The enemy understands only the language of force, 243 00:13:34,730 --> 00:13:39,080 without which they will only spread corruption across the earth. 244 00:13:39,080 --> 00:13:40,080 Third: 245 00:13:40,080 --> 00:13:44,080 Allah may prepare for the Muslims circumstances originating from within the enemy's own ranks 246 00:13:44,080 --> 00:13:47,080 through which their victory over them is achieved. 247 00:13:47,080 --> 00:13:48,240 Fourth: 248 00:13:48,240 --> 00:13:53,240 When the ruler is righteous, Allah rectifies the people and the lands through him, 249 00:13:53,240 --> 00:13:55,240 the religion is strengthened by him, 250 00:13:55,240 --> 00:13:58,240 and goodness prevails among the Muslims. 251 00:13:58,240 --> 00:14:00,460 Fifth: 252 00:14:00,460 --> 00:14:05,460 If a prominent Muslim leader falls into a sin or an innovation, 253 00:14:05,460 --> 00:14:09,460 that does not mean forgetting a momentous deed of his 254 00:14:09,460 --> 00:14:12,460 through which he benefited Islam and the Muslims. 255 00:14:12,460 --> 00:14:19,190 Ramadan: Historic Events and Enduring Lessons.