In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful.
Summary of the book:
"Ramadan:
Events and Lessons."
The Battle of Guadalete (Wadi Lakkah).
The Time:
On the twenty-eighth of the month of Ramadan,
in the year 92 AH.
Allah Almighty sent His Messenger,
Muhammad ibn Abdillah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
with the religion of Islam,
to be His final religion for all mankind,
both Arab and non-Arab,
across all corners of the globe.
Allah Almighty said:
“And We have not sent thee (O Muhammad) save as a bringer of good tidings and a warner unto all mankind; but most of mankind know not.” (34:28)
"...as a bearer of glad tidings and a warner to mankind,
but most
of the people do not know."
For in following this religion
lies the attainment of immense good
for its adherents in this world and the Hereafter.
Thus the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, called
all of mankind,
and his Ummah after him called
to that which he had called to.
However, the darkness of falsehood
could never allow the light of truth
to flow freely to the people without standing
in its way.
It was therefore inevitable to take the path of force
to remove that obstacle
which stood between the people
and following the truth.
For that reason, Allah Almighty revealed
to His Messenger in the Noble Qur'an
numerous verses
granting permission to fight,
and commanding it thereafter.
Allah Almighty said:
"And fight them until there is no fitnah..."
“And fight them until persecution is no more, and religion is for Allah. But if they desist, then let there be no hostility except against wrong-doers.” (2:193)
"But if they cease..."
“And fight them until persecution is no more, and religion is for Allah. But if they desist, then let there be no hostility except against wrong-doers.” (2:193)
Thus the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, obeyed
the command of his Lord,
setting out with his noble Companions
to combat those who barred people from the path of Allah.
The very first expedition he undertook,
the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
was the Expedition of al-Abwa',
or Waddan,
and that took place in Safar
of the second year of the Hijrah.
Before it, there had been three reconnaissance detachments
that he had dispatched.
Thereafter, the expeditions of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, followed in succession,
beginning with Badr
and culminating with Tabuk.
His Companions then followed in his footsteps
during the era of the Rightly-Guided Caliphate,
conquering the lands of Iraq and the Levant,
and subduing the Persians and the Byzantines.
Then came the Umayyad Caliphate,
and the dominion of the Muslims expanded
across vast territories,
among which was the Far Maghreb.
The Muslims at that time continued
to look forward to conquering the lands beyond it,
such as al-Andalus and the like,
until Allah prepared the favorable conditions for its conquest
and eased the path for people to enter Allah's religion in crowds without hindrance.
Musa ibn Nusayr
and the Path to al-Andalus:
Musa ibn Nusayr assumed leadership in the year 89 AH,
corresponding to 707 CE,
over the governance of the Maghreb,
succeeding Hassan ibn al-Nu'man,
who was dismissed due to a disagreement between him and the governor of Egypt.
The Berbers revolted at the beginning of his rule,
but he suppressed their rebellion with great resolve
and conquered Tangier, where their remaining remnants had taken refuge,
appointing Tariq ibn Ziyad as its governor.
He then pursued a wise policy
to halt the recurring Berber uprisings,
namely the Islamization of the region,
that is, bringing its people into Islam.
He succeeded in winning the hearts of the Berbers to Islam,
and thousands of them enlisted in his army.
He also established a formidable navy to defend the frontiers against Byzantine raids,
and began attacking the islands and naval bases
off the African coast,
raiding the Balearic Islands
and attacking Sicily and Sardinia.
Nothing remained outside his authority
except the outpost of Ceuta, east of Tangier,
as it was heavily fortified.
Ceuta was under the suzerainty of the Visigoths,
the rulers of Hispania.
While he was attempting to conquer it,
its governor, known as Julian, negotiated with him for peace
and offered to aid him in fighting the ruler of Hispania,
named Roderic,
whom the Muslims called Ludhriq.
Musa consulted Caliph al-Walid ibn Abd al-Malik regarding this offer,
and he approved it,
alerting Musa to the importance of exercising caution and prudence,
lest the matter be a deception.
Tariq crossed the Strait of Gibraltar—
which later came to be known by his name—
aboard the ships of Julian, the governor of Ceuta,
in the year 92 AH,
corresponding to 711 CE,
and anchored his ships by the Rock of Gibraltar,
which is now known as the Rock of Gibraltar (Jabal Tariq).
He then began advancing inland
until he reached Lake La Janda.
When he learned of the mobilization of the Visigothic king Roderic to confront him,
he requested reinforcements from Ibn Nusayr,
who supplied him with ships and five thousand soldiers,
bringing his army to twelve thousand men.
Some historians recounted:
While Roderic was occupied with suppressing uprisings in Pamplona,
in the north,
news reached him of the arrival of the Muslim armies
and their victory over his forces in several skirmishes.
He was stunned by what had transpired,
struck with intense panic and dread,
and rushed back to Toledo.
He then began mobilizing his army to confront the Muslims.
The Visigothic army appears to have been confident in its might,
and was certain of its ability to overcome the Muslims,
to the extent that they prepared gear to haul Muslim captives,
as mentioned by Ibn al-Kardabus:
"When news reached Roderic,
he marched out to confront him at the head of one hundred thousand horsemen,
accompanied by carts
carrying wealth and apparel.
He rode upon a litter carried by three harnessed mules,
beneath a canopy crowned with pearls and rubies,
adorned in a robe of pearls
woven with silk thread.
With him were countless pack animals carrying nothing but ropes
to bind the prisoners,
for he harbored no doubt of capturing them."
When Tariq learned of the massive Visigothic mobilization to fight the Muslims,
he wrote to Musa ibn Nusayr requesting reinforcements.
Musa dispatched to him an army of nearly five thousand fighters
under the command of Tarif ibn Malik,
transported aboard ships built by the Muslims,
and it was perhaps Julian
who facilitated the crossing of these reinforcements to al-Andalus.
Thus the number of the Muslim army in al-Andalus reached
twelve thousand fighters,
the vast majority of whom were Muslim Berbers.
Concerning this, the author of *Akhbar Majmu'ah* states:
"Tariq
wrote to Musa requesting reinforcements, informing him that Allah had granted victory over the peninsula,
that they had taken control of it and the lake,
and that the king of al-Andalus had marched against him with forces beyond his capacity.
Ever since dispatching Tariq, Musa had set to work building ships
until he possessed a substantial fleet.
He thus transported five thousand men to him,
bringing the Muslims in al-Andalus assembled with Tariq to twelve thousand."
The Causes of the Battle of Guadalete:
When Musa ibn Nusayr conquered the Maghreb
and established his control over all Moroccan cities,
there remained only the city of Ceuta,
situated on the Mediterranean Sea,
which served as an impregnable stronghold for the Visigoths of Hispania.
The Visigoths had appointed a governor over it named Julian.
During this time, an internal power struggle erupted in Hispania,
wherein Commander Roderic usurped the throne from King Wittiza (Wamba),
sparking a civil war in Hispania
between the supporters of Roderic and those of the deposed faction.
The war initially saw the ascendancy of Roderic's partisans.
Julian was among the supporters of the deposed monarch,
and Julian had sent his daughter to the royal court,
where Roderic violated her,
which became one of the prime motives to seek revenge against Roderic.
Thus the deposed faction sought the assistance of the Muslims through Julian,
agreeing to surrender the city of Ceuta to the Muslims
so that Tariq's army could launch from it to fight Roderic's forces.
Tariq's army entered Ceuta, setting out for Cádiz in al-Andalus,
entering it without significant resistance.
They then proceeded toward Algeciras and the Rock of Gibraltar,
where they encountered fierce resistance
that resulted in heavy casualties among the Muslim ranks.
He promptly appealed to Musa ibn Nusayr for aid,
who reinforced him as previously mentioned.
The Date of the Battle:
The battle took place on the twenty-eighth of the month of Ramadan,
in the year 92 AH,
corresponding to the nineteenth of July,
711 CE.
The battle lasted for eight days,
continuing until the fifth day of Shawwal.
The Bloody Clash:
Tariq ibn Ziyad continued advancing with his troops,
marching along the coastline,
and pitched his camp in a vast plain
in the district of Medina-Sidonia,
in southwestern Spain,
near the Barbate River
and the Guadalete River,
which flows into the ocean near the coastal city of Cádiz.
Thus, the two armies met, vastly unequal in numbers;
yet the Muslims possessed a strength unmatched by any force of their enemy,
namely, the power of firm, unshakable faith.
A fierce battle erupted between the two sides,
and both forces clashed with intense savagery,
to the point that they thought it would end in total annihilation.
This bloody engagement raged on for eight days.
The Barbate River had previously
separated the two warring armies for three days,
which were spent in mutual skirmishing.
The Visigothic army occupied the northern bank of the river,
while Tariq stood on its southern bank.
On the fourth day,
the two armies clashed in full force,
and a violent, all-out battle broke out between them.
Roderic appeared in the center of the battlefield,
dressed in royal vestments,
atop a chariot drawn by noble steeds.
The Muslim Berbers of the Ghomara tribe displayed
extraordinary fighting prowess,
as they were handpicked elite members of that tribe,
renowned for their daring and bravery,
and thoroughly trained in military maneuvers of the highest order.
Tariq had positioned a contingent of black soldiers at the vanguard of his army
to absorb the initial shock of the assault,
owing to their well-known patience and steadfastness.
The Outcome of the Battle:
First:
The Muslims were victorious and the Visigoths were routed,
though it was an exceptionally arduous victory,
and an exhausting one at that,
due to the prolonged duration of the battle
and the overwhelming numerical strength of the Visigoths.
Second:
A quarter of the Muslim army was slain,
amounting to three thousand men.
Third:
As for Roderic,
his fate remains unknown,
except that the Muslims found his dapple-gray horse that he had ridden,
along with his saddle encrusted with rubies,
its legs stuck fast in the mire into which it had plunged,
but they found no trace of its rider, dead or alive.
It was also said
that he drowned instead.
Fourth:
The senior commanders of Roderic's army were slain.
Fifth:
The Muslims pursued the remnants of the Visigoths, killing and capturing them,
and the sword was not lifted from them for three full days.
Sixth:
Immense spoils of war were seized.
Consequences of the Muslim Victory at the Battle of Guadalete:
This Ramadan battle is regarded
as the master key to the land of al-Andalus,
and the pivotal encounter in which the power of the Visigoths was utterly broken,
through which the Muslims advanced to conquer the remaining Spanish cities.
This battle was truly decisive,
sealing the fate of Spain into Muslim hands,
such that one can say
all the battles that took place afterward across the rest of the peninsula
were merely minor skirmishes,
even if some were significant and fierce,
when compared to this decisive confrontation.
The Muslim conquest of Spain thereafter did not take,
despite its rugged terrain and harsh climate,
more than three years,
which demonstrates that resistance had practically crumbled.
Tariq capitalized on this great victory
to prevent the Visigoths from regrouping their ranks,
so he immediately marched toward the city of Écija,
in pursuit of the fleeing Visigoths.
Its inhabitants met him, joined by a great multitude of the defeated troops,
and they engaged him in fierce combat;
but the people of al-Andalus were routed once more,
and the Muslims never encountered another battle of such intensity thereafter.
Tariq then encamped by a spring situated between that point and the city of Écija,
four miles away,
which has been known as 'Ayn Tariq down to this day.
Following this battle, Tariq conquered
Sidonia, Almodóvar, Carmona,
Seville, and Écija.
He then dispatched Mughith al-Rumi,
who conquered Córdoba,
and sent out military detachments
that conquered Málaga, Elvira,
Granada,
the district of Tudmir,
Orihuela, and Murcia.
He then set his sights on Toledo,
entering it in the year ninety-three of the Hijrah
without encountering resistance,
finding it completely deserted except for a small group
of Jews.
Its governor had fled alongside his companions—the leading Visigothic nobles and priests—
toward the northeast,
carrying the church's treasures with them.
Tariq left a garrison of his troops in Toledo
and continued pursuing the fugitives along the route known to the Arabs as
Wadi al-Hijarah (Guadalajara).
Near a small town
called Alcalá de Henares,
which the Arabs named Qal'at 'Abd al-Salam
and also referred to as Madinat al-Ma'idah,
the Muslims overtook the fugitives fleeing from Toledo
and captured the immensely valuable treasures they carried.
Tariq ibn Ziyad did not advance beyond the region he had reached,
perhaps fearing the enemy might cut off his route in these mountainous lands,
exhausted as his men were from the toll of their exertions
and weighed down by the extensive spoils they had amassed;
so he returned to Toledo thereafter.
From the Battle of Guadalete,
we derive the following lessons:
First:
If the people of Islam truly adhere to their faith as it ought to be upheld,
purify their intentions for Allah,
and prepare whatever strength they are able to muster,
no force of falsehood will ever be able to stand in their way,
no matter its numbers or equipment,
for the power of faith surpasses every power that mortals possess.
Second:
Lofty goals cannot be attained except through immense sacrifices and redoubled efforts.
Third:
Internal dissension and infighting
are among the greatest causes leading to the collapse of states,
the disintegration of their armies, and the humiliation of their peoples;
and that is precisely the breach through which their enemies infiltrate,
which is the very affliction plaguing our Ummah today.
Fourth:
A recognition of the virtue and merit of the Muslim Berbers in introducing Islam to Spain.
Fifth:
The permissibility of utilizing the cooperation of certain disbelievers
against other disbelievers who are actively warring against the Muslims,
provided that utmost caution and vigilance are strictly observed.
Ramadan: Events and Lessons.