In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
Mawaddah Association presents:
"Events in Ramadan."
By Abd al-Rahman Ra'fat al-Basha.
The Battle of Amorium.
In the year 223 AH.
During the blessed month of Ramadan.
Al-Mu'tasim ibn al-Rashid stormed the fortresses of Amorium.
With 150,000 of his soldiers.
He conquered the city that had defied all conquerors.
From the era of Alexander the Great until his own day.
The Battle of Amorium was a shining star on the forehead of time.
A pearl in the history of Islam.
And a crown that adorned the brow of al-Mu'tasim.
Regarding the impregnable, fortified Amorium.
And its glorious, celebrated day.
And the Caliph who shook its foundations.
And dismantled its structures.
It is an exciting story, whose warp is faith.
And whose woof is chivalry.
So come, let us contemplate this great day.
For it is one of the magnificent days of Allah.
This story begins.
The day Babak al-Khurrami sent a letter.
One of the tyrants of the Persians.
Who rebelled against Islam and the Muslims.
A letter to Theophilus, the King of the Romans.
In which he said:
"I have resisted the Muslims for twenty years.
And I have finished off 250,000.
Of their finest soldiers.
And I have defeated seven of their greatest commanders.
And I have exhausted thousands upon thousands.
Of their precious wealth.
And I have stood between them and their ability to tread upon the mountain passes.
Of the region located in the highlands of Persia.
And al-Mu'tasim al-'Abbasi.
Wanted to take revenge for himself.
And al-Ma'mun had carried out [campaigns] before him.
So he sent all his armies to fight me.
And he dispatched his elite men to combat me.
To the point that among their soldiers.
Was his tailor who sews his clothes.
And his cook who prepares his food.
So if you wish to take revenge for your religion and your people.
Against the Muslims and their Caliph.
Then seize this opportunity that will not be repeated.
And beware of letting it slip away, for you will regret it.
Where regret will be of no avail."
Theophilus became certain of the truth of what was reported to him.
By Babak al-Khurrami.
And he knew that the Caliph of the Muslims.
Had resolved to put an end to Babak's movement.
No matter how high the price.
So Theophilus did not want to miss this opportunity.
For himself and his people.
And he resolved to take revenge on the Caliphs of the Muslims.
Who had forced them more than once.
To pay the jizya while they were in a state of humiliation.
So Theophilus prepared his equipment for the matter.
And made his preparations.
And headed toward the city of Zibatra.
The birthplace of al-Mu'tasim.
With 170,000 of his soldiers.
And he descended upon the stricken city like death itself.
He demolished its fortresses.
And violated its land.
And took its defenders captive.
And enslaved its women and children.
And all of that did not quench the rage in his chest.
Until he mutilated his captives in the worst possible way.
He gouged out their eyes.
And cut off their noses and ears.
And paraded them throughout his lands.
Meanwhile, the Khurrami movement.
Had breathed its last.
Under the weight of al-Mu'tasim's massive armies.
And its idol, Babak.
Had fallen captive into the hands of the brave Muslim soldiers.
And the Caliph al-Mu'tasim would go out to review his victorious army.
And would bestow upon his triumphant commander two jeweled scarves.
And would reward him and his soldiers with 20,000,000 dirhams.
And while the celebrations were reaching their peak throughout the lands of the Muslims.
And the soldiers were parading the head of Babak al-Khurrami.
News of the Zibatra catastrophe reached al-Mu'tasim.
And it was reported to him that a Muslim woman, one of the chaste and virtuous.
Had fallen into the hands of a brute from among the Romans.
And when he intended to enslave her, she cried out:
"Wa Mu'tasima!" (Oh, Mu'tasim!)
The call shook his chivalry and stirred his manhood.
And he rose from his throne saying:
"At your service, at your service!"
Al-Mu'tasim rose immediately.
And donned his armor and girded his weapon.
And carried a bag and placed his provisions in it.
And mounted his horse.
And called for mobilization while at the gates of his palace.
And swore not to return to it except as a martyr carried on shoulders.
Or victorious, avenging the precious, stricken city.
And the wronged Muslim woman.
Then he left the Caliphate palace immediately.
And stayed ten nights in the public house in Baghdad.
To prepare the equipment, draw up the plan, and mobilize the army.
And when he had prepared an equipment the likes of which no Caliph of the Muslims had ever prepared.
He brought the judge of Baghdad, 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Ishaq.
And brought with him three hundred men of integrity.
And he had them witness his will and the distribution of his estate.
He gave a third of his wealth to Allah.
And the rest to his wives, children, and freedmen.
And he took from all his wealth only his shroud.
Al-Mu'tasim set out to meet the enemy of Allah and his own enemy with a massive army.
In it, as the historians say.
Were 80,000 piebald horses.
And 80,000 black horses.
And whatever Allah willed of catapults, equipment, and war machinery.
And that is in addition to what the soldiers needed.
Of leather water basins, water skins, and flasks.
And he set his destination for Amorium.
That is because it was the heart of Christianity.
And the road leading to Constantinople.
And the city that conquerors had desired.
From the era of Alexander until the day of al-Mu'tasim.
But it defied them and turned them back defeated.
And that was only because it had fortified walls.
And towering battlements.
And furthermore, it was the city of the ruling family.
And the birthplace of Theophilus, the Emperor of the Romans.
Al-Mu'tasim sent a large division of his massive army to Ankara.
To confront Theophilus and distract him from himself.
And he headed with the rest of his army toward Amorium.
And when he approached the great city.
He divided his army into three armies.
And assigned to each of them a commander to lead it.
And designated for each army a day to fight in rotation.
And when the first army arrived.
It circled Amorium twice.
Then took its position at its walls.
Then the second army followed it.
And circled it once.
And occupied its designated position.
Then the third army followed them.
And settled in the place allotted to it.
And in the first week of the blessed month of Ramadan.
In the year 223 AH.
The catapults had been set up around the walls of Amorium on every side.
And the three Muslim armies.
Were surrounding the fortified city.
Like waves surrounding an island in the sea.
And encircling it like shackles on wrists.
The first army fought in its turn.
And performed the greatest of deeds in its fighting.
Then the second army followed them in its turn.
And exceeded the first army and surpassed it.
Then the third army followed them.
And it was under the command of al-Mu'tasim himself.
And he displayed such forms of courage and types of skill.
That it almost made people forget the merit of the two previous armies.
And the fighting continued in this manner for several days.
However, the city's towering walls.
Stood firm against the blows of the Muslims' catapults.
And were not significantly affected by them.
But that did not weaken the resolve of al-Mu'tasim and his army.
And it did not trouble them, due to their confidence in victory.
Rather, they were troubled by another matter.
Which Abu Bakr al-Suli narrated, saying:
Ya'qub ibn Ja'far ibn Sulayman narrated, saying:
"I campaigned with al-Mu'tasim on the day of Amorium.
And there was a man from the Romans who would stand every day.
On one of the walls of the city.
And would insult the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
In Arabic, with the most vile insults.
And would mention his name and lineage.
This weighed heavily on the Muslims.
And stirred their emotions.
And they began to shoot arrows at him, but they would not hit him.
And I was a good archer.
So while the man was performing that heinous act.
I aimed at him with an arrow.
And I hit his throat.
He fell from atop the wall.
The Muslims shouted 'Allahu Akbar' and praised Allah.
And al-Mu'tasim was pleased and said:
'Bring me the man who shot him.'
So I stood before him.
And he welcomed me most warmly.
And praised me most generously.
Then he said:
'Who are you?'
So I told him my lineage.
And I was from Banu Hashim.
So he said:
'Praise be to Allah who made the reward for this arrow.
For a man from my own family.'
Then he turned to me and said:
'Sell me your reward for this arrow.'
I said:
'The reward is not something that can be sold, O Commander of the Faithful.'
He said:
I desire to reward you.
He offered me one hundred thousand dirhams.
I said, "I will not sell my reward."
He kept increasing the amount,
until it reached five hundred thousand dirhams.
I said,
"I will not sell my reward for the world and all that is in it."
"However, I have gifted you half the reward of this specific military campaign."
"And Allah is my witness to that."
Al-Mu'tasim was overjoyed and said,
"May Allah reward you with goodness."
He then turned away from me to fight the enemy of Allah and his own enemy.
The Muslim siege engines continued,
striking the city for ten consecutive days.
Hoping to create a breach in it, but they did not succeed.
Then, destiny aided Al-Mu'tasim through a man from among the Muslims.
The Byzantines had captured him some years prior.
He had converted to Christianity and resided in Amorium.
But as soon as he saw the Islamic army raising the call to prayer across the horizon,
and heard the declaration of Allah's oneness and greatness,
his soul yearned for the religion of Allah.
Faith in Allah awakened in his heart.
He snuck out of the fortified city,
and sought refuge with the Muslim armies.
He declared the two testimonies of faith.
He revealed a great secret to Al-Mu'tasim.
He informed Al-Mu'tasim,
that a section of the city wall had collapsed,
due to a violent flood that had swept through it.
The Byzantine Emperor Theophilus had written to his governor in Amorium to rebuild it.
The governor had been negligent in doing so.
As soon as he learned of your approach,
he rushed to build the outer face of the wall with stones,
while leaving the interior deceptively hollow.
He then guided Al-Mu'tasim to that exact spot.
The Caliph directed the siege engines toward that location.
He began to bombard it with a continuous, relentless barrage.
Until the wall cracked,
and a breach opened up in it.
At that moment,
the Muslim soldiers rushed toward the open breach,
like the thirsty rushing to a cool spring on a scorching day.
They crowded shoulder to shoulder to meet the enemy of Allah and their own enemy inside the city.
A fierce battle ensued between the small group that managed to penetrate Amorium,
and the vast multitude of the Byzantines.
It was a brutal conflict.
In which nothing could be heard but the clashing of swords,
the murmurs of the combatants,
the rattling of spears, and the groans of the wounded.
The sun of the seventeenth day of Ramadan did not set,
in the year two hundred and twenty-three after the Hijrah,
until the ancient and formidable city,
had been opened before the victorious Muslim armies.
Al-Mu'tasim ibn al-Rashid was seen,
entering the city of Amorium on the back of his reddish-brown horse.
His head was bowed in submission to Allah,
and in gratitude for His blessings.
On this day of Amorium, the Muslims gained,
spoils that could not be counted and were beyond price.
They took seventy thousand of its inhabitants captive.
They brought the spoils and the captives out to the outskirts of the city.
Then Al-Mu'tasim ordered that Amorium be dealt with;
its walls were leveled,
its structures demolished,
and its landmarks erased.
Fires were set to burn in it for many days,
until he left it as a barren, leveled plain,
as if it had not flourished just yesterday.
The victorious Caliph returned to Baghdad, the seat of his kingdom.
The glad tidings of the great conquest had preceded him.
The people came out in their entirety,
welcoming him with the declaration of Allah's oneness,
greeting him with the declaration of His greatness,
and scattering basil and flowers upon his procession.
Poets met him with panegyrics.
Abu Tammam recited before him his famous ode that will endure for all time.
Addressing him in it, he said:
"O Caliph of Allah, may Allah reward your efforts on behalf of,
the root of religion, Islam, and noble lineage."
"You sought the greatest comfort, yet you saw it could not be,
attained except upon a bridge of hardship."
"If there is any kinship among the vicissitudes of time,
that is connected or a bond that is not severed,"
"then between your days in which you were granted victory,
and the days of Badr, there is the closest of kinships."
And it is no wonder,
for Badr was on the seventeenth of Ramadan,
and Amorium was on the seventeenth of it as well.
How excellent is Ramadan,
and how excellent are its glorious, blessed days.