Part of Ramadan events and lessons (series completed)
· Lesson 25 of 31
Ramadan events and lessons | Episode (25) | Battle of Ain Jalut
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Transcript
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In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
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A summary of the book:
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Ramadan: Events and Lessons.
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The Battle of 'Ayn Jalut.
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The Time:
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On the twenty-fifth of Ramadan,
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In the year 658 AH.
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Allah the Almighty has decreed that this Ummah and its upright religion shall remain until the end of time,
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No matter how much its enemies conspire against it,
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Or how much afflictions tear at its body,
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Or how many plots are woven against it,
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Or how many crises surround it.
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It is an Ummah that, even if it sleeps, it will never die,
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And even if it is defeated, it will never be annihilated.
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However, it passes through stages according to the Sunnah of Allah in life,
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Which dictates the rotation of power,
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And the exchange of roles of sovereignty on earth.
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It does not take long for it to return to wakefulness after its slumber,
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To its glory after its humiliation,
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And to its expansion after its contraction,
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Returning to the seat of leadership
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After having languished in the depths of subservience.
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There is no doubt that it is the most deserving of leading the world,
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Because its religion is the best of religions,
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And it is promised to prevail over all other religions,
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Because it is the best of nations.
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Allah the Almighty says:
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﴾ It is He who sent His Messenger ﴿
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﴾ with guidance and the religion of truth ﴿
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﴾ to manifest it over all religion, ﴿
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﴾ even if the polytheists dislike it. ﴿
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And Allah the Almighty says:
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﴾ You are the best nation ﴿
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﴾ produced [as an example] for mankind. ﴿
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﴾ You enjoin what is right ﴿
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﴾ and forbid what is wrong ﴿
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﴾ and believe in Allah. ﴿
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Yet, that entitlement
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Is conditional upon holding fast to this religion.
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Whoever adheres to it attains it,
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And whoever neglects it loses that lofty honor.
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When the early generations of this Ummah fulfilled
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That condition, they prevailed and were honored.
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But when there crept into the souls of the Ummah
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The abandonment of the religion,
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The Ummah was struck by such humiliation and disgrace
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As it was.
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Centuries ago,
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The Islamic world was swept by
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The Tatar flood.
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This was because they saw the Muslims
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Living in a state of fragmentation
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And infighting for control
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Over certain geographical regions.
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So they launched their attack from Kabul,
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Until they reached the gates of Egypt.
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After they finished with the lands of the East,
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They turned toward Baghdad,
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And entered it in Safar,
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In the year 656 AH,
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And wrought great corruption therein.
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With that, the Abbasid Caliphate ended.
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But the Tatar ambitions did not end
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At the outskirts of Baghdad;
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Rather, their eyes extended toward the Levant
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And beyond.
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Indeed, the waves of the Mongols turned
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Toward the Levant,
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And its cities fell, one by one,
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Led by Aleppo,
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Then concluding with the fall of Damascus.
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In the aftermath of that,
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The Tatars were determined to invade Egypt,
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Because it was the last stronghold that had resisted them,
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And because it was the gateway to the lands of the Maghreb.
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By controlling it,
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The authority of the Tatar Empire would extend
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From the farthest East to the farthest West.
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Such was what Hulagu,
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The grandson of Genghis Khan,
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And those with him dreamed of.
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These rapid, painful events
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Created in the Muslims a profound state
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Of terror and awe.
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It became fixed in people's minds
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That these demons,
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Coming from beyond the seas,
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Could not be stopped by anything.
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In the meantime, while
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The Levant was still bleeding from its wounds
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And groaning under the weight of the Tatars,
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Arrangements were being made in the land of Egypt
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That would overturn the scales of the conflict,
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Dispel the terror of the Tatar ogre,
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And provide people with a balm
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To heal their previous wounds.
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On the eve of the Battle of 'Ayn Jalut:
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At a time of the weakness of the Ayyubid state,
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The power of the Mamluk state in Egypt
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Was strengthening and its foundation was firming up.
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After that terrifying invasion befell the Levant,
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Sayf al-Din Qutuz
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Was making preparations
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And taking the necessary measures
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In readiness to confront the Tatars
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In a decisive battle.
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He undertook various actions
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Before the battle, including:
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First, deposing the young Sultan
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Who was over Egypt,
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Who was at that time fifteen years of age,
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Or slightly more,
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Because his age did not qualify him
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For such a major task.
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Second, Sayf al-Din Qutuz taking his place,
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Removing the emirs and commanders whose treachery he feared,
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And appointing those he trusted.
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Third, calling upon the people
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To prepare to go out for this battle.
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To those in Egypt were added
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Muslims who had fled the Levant from the might of the Tatars.
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Fourth, Qutuz consulted the scholars
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Regarding collecting taxes from the people to equip the army.
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'Izz Ibn 'Abd al-Salam forbade him from that,
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And advised him to sell everything owned
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By the Mamluks, including jewelry and precious items.
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Qutuz yielded to this advice,
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Starting with himself, and sold everything he owned.
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The Mamluk emirs and their commanders followed suit in this deed.
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From the proceeds of those sales, there was collected
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600,000 dinars,
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With which he equipped the army.
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Fifth, communicating with some emirs
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Who had made truces with the Tatars,
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To join him in fighting the Tatars.
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Only the Emir of Hama responded to him,
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While the rest sided with the enemies.
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Sixth, making a truce with the Crusader forces that were near Palestine,
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So that he might be secure from their side,
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As they were deeply resentful of the Tatars,
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So he obtained what he wanted from them.
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The reason was that his army would move along the coast, which they controlled.
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Seventh, Hulagu sent to Sayf al-Din Qutuz
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A letter with a harsh tone,
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Full of terror and threats,
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Boasting of the strength of his soldiers and their severity toward those who did not submit to them.
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Qutuz read it to the emirs,
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And they grew weak and wanted to make peace with Hulagu and offer him their submission.
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But Sayf al-Din Qutuz refused that,
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And told them that if they abandoned him,
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He would fight the battle alone.
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When the emirs saw the strength of Qutuz's resolve,
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They agreed to what he wanted.
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The Road to the Battle:
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Through the wise management of Qutuz,
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He was the one who chose the place and time of the battle.
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He did not fortify himself in Egypt
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And wait for the enemy to come to him to defend from his position,
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Because he had analyzed the reality of the surrounding provinces that had fallen to the Tatars,
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And saw that some had fortified themselves,
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But this method did not benefit them.
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Therefore, the Muslim army of 'Ayn Jalut moved out.
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It was part of Qutuz's wise plan
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To send a vanguard to fight the Tatar garrison in Gaza
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Before the start of the battle.
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He sent Rukn al-Din Baybars al-Bunduqdari
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Toward Palestine,
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And he marched until he reached Gaza
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In Sha'ban in the year 658 AH.
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Rukn al-Din Baybars was able
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To achieve a crushing victory over that garrison,
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Clearing Gaza of the Tatars.
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That crushing victory had a great effect in raising the morale of the Muslims,
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Because it was the first victory achieved against the Tatars.
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It also had a negative effect on the souls of the Tatars,
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Who believed they were the army that could not be defeated.
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The Bloody Encounter at 'Ayn Jalut:
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After Gaza,
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Qutuz sent ahead of him
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The commander Baybars,
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Who met the vanguard of the Tatar army,
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Engaged with them,
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And continued to skirmish with them
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Until Sultan Qutuz joined him
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With the main army
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At 'Ayn Jalut
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On the twenty-fifth of Ramadan,
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In the year 658 AH.
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There, the two hosts met,
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And the two parties drew up in battle lines.
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The commander of the Tatar army
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Was Kitbuqa.
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It was part of Qutuz's plan
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Not to commit his entire army to the open battlefield,
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But rather he hid groups of them behind the hills.
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When the Tatars entered the valley,
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He surrounded their army from all sides,
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And a fierce battle ensued,
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During this, the left flank of the Muslim army began to falter.
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So, Sultan al-Muzaffar personally led a charge,
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accompanied by a select group of his soldiers.
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He reinforced the left flank,
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until he had shored up its weakness.
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Then, he plunged into the thick of the fighting,
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and on that day, he displayed immense valor.
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He was encouraging his companions,
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urging them toward martyrdom in the cause of Allah,
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and leading them in charge after charge.
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He cast his helmet from his head onto the ground,
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and cried out at the top of his voice,
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"O Islam!"
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He charged with his own person and those with him in a sincere, determined assault,
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and Allah supported him with His victory.
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Not many hours had passed,
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before the tide turned in favor of the Muslims on the battlefield.
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The elite of the infidel forces were routed,
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and the army pursued the Tatars as far as Baysan.
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The Tatars then returned,
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and engaged the Muslims in a second encounter, even greater than the first.
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Allah defeated them,
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and many of their leaders and a large number of their men were killed.
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The Muslims had been shaken by a severe tremor of fear,
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so the Sultan let out a mighty cry,
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heard by most of the army, as he said:
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"O Islam!"
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Three times.
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When the Tatars were broken for the second time,
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the Sultan dismounted from his horse,
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pressed his face to the ground,
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and prayed two rak'ahs to Allah the Exalted.
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Then he remounted.
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The army returned with their hands full of spoils.
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Rukn al-Din Baybars continued to pursue the remnants of the Mongols,
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and found that they had gathered together,
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and reformed their ranks for a third time in preparation for a confrontation.
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He attacked them with great courage,
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and dealt them a crushing defeat.
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He seized from them vast wealth and many horses.
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The Results of the Battle
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The results of this battle were a great blessing for the people of Islam,
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and a great calamity for the Tatars and their allies.
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Among those results:
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First:
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The Muslims achieved a resounding victory over the Tatars,
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a victory the likes of which the Muslims had never before attained,
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against those tyrants who spread corruption in the land.
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Second:
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It brought immense joy to the entire Islamic world,
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which had been seething with resentment against the Tatars,
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because of the killing, violation, and destruction they had inflicted upon the Muslims.
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Third:
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A large number of Tatars were killed,
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led by their commander, Kitbuqa,
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whose death was a severe blow to all the Tatars,
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and a source of great anguish for Hulagu himself.
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For this commander was a great figure among the Tatars;
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they relied upon his judgment, his courage, and his strategic planning.
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He was a brave and daring hero,
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expert in warfare, the storming of fortresses, and the conquest of kingdoms.
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He was the one who had conquered most of the lands of the Persians and Iraq.
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Hulagu, the king of the Tatars,
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trusted him, never opposed his counsel, and sought blessing in his opinions.
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Many wonders were recounted about his exploits in war.
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Thus, the Muslims were relieved of his evil,
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and all praise is due to Allah for his destruction.
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Fourth:
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The acquisition of much booty that had been in the hands of the Tatars.
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Fifth:
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Retribution against those in Damascus who had allied themselves with the Tatars, whether Christians or others.
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Sixth:
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The cleansing of the lands of the Levant from the filth of the Tatars.
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Ramadan: Events and Lessons