Uthman Ibn Affan has always been compared to others. Both during his lifetime and after, he has been compared to the Caliph that came before him and the one that would come after him.
2-12: Assassination And Election
The assassination of Umar ibn al-Khattab and the election of Uthman ibn Affan.
2-11: Nihavand And Caltrops
By 641, the Muslims had captured most of the Southwestern part of the Persian Empire.
This area contained the best and most fertile lands and would be modern day Iraq, Kuwait, and parts of northwestern Iran.
2-10: Alexandria And Fustat
The Muslims arrived at Alexandria in July 641 It was perhaps the most magnificent and biggest city they’ve encountered so far.,
2-9: Amr And Cyrus
The Romans, either from fear or incompetence, had done little to stop Amr ibn al-As during this time. He will take advantage of their laxness.
2-8: Copts And Egypt
In 451, 115 years before Prophet Muhammad, several men representing various facets of Christianity met in Chalcedon in modern Turkey.
2-7: Plague And Famine
In 639, a plague broke out, originating in Nicopolis, or Imwas, in the modern state of Israel. It is estimated around 20000 people died from this plague. Among them were many prominent Sahabas.
2-6: 636 and 637 CE
Battle of Qadisiyyah was more devastating for the Persians than the Battle of Yarmouk was for the Romans
Their defeat at Qadisiyyah left the Persian capital exposed to Muslim forces
However, the Roman capital was hundreds of miles away in Constantinople and very safe from Muslim forces
The Romans still had the ability to wage war against the Muslims
However, the Persians were now just trying to survive
We’ll look at the events in Syria after Yarmouk first, and then take a look at Persia after Qadisiyyah
2-5: Yarmouk And Qadisiyyah
– Where we are so far
— In 632 CE Prophet Muhammad died and Abu Bakr was chosen by the residents of Medina as the Caliph
— Soon after, several of the Arab tribes that were allied with the Prophet rebelled against Abu Bakr
— Abu Bakr and his general KIW led a successful campaign to bring these tribes back in line
— These were known as the Ridda, or Apostasy Wars
— Abu Bakr commanded KIW to begin an invasion of southern Persia.
— KIW was successful and conquered most of the area around the Euphrates River
— At the same time, Abu Bakr also ordered Abu Ubaidah to lead an invasion into Syria
— Abu Ubaidah ran into strong resistance so Abu Bakr had KIW come from Persia to assist
— KIW led the Muslims to conquer Syria all the way up to Damascus
— Back in Medina, Abu Bakr died and Umar ibn Al-Khattab became the Caliph
— Umar removed KIW as the leader of the Muslim armies and put Abu Ubaidah back in charge
— The Romans and Syrians got over their initial shock of the Muslim invasion and began a strong counterattack.
– In the last episode we discussed how the Romans and Persians began to make a comeback
– Now we’ll go into the details of that comeback and the result
– We will first discuss the events in Syria and then those in Persia
2-4: Umar and Syria
Most armies have to deal with supplies and feeding thousands of people. Many of the soldiers traveled with their families- The Arabs didn’t have that problem as they carried their food with them and were used to living on very little- They could live for days, even weeks on just dates, water, and camel milk.