The Conquests of Umar Fâruq رضي الله عنه and the First Half of the Rightly-Guided Caliphate

The Summary of Conquests

The area of the conquests of Umar Fâruq (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) is said to have spread over 22.5 hundred thousand square miles. This was the result of victories won by a wretched and small people against the mighty empires of Persia and Rome.

The Roman Empire had in its fold the Balkan Peninsula, Asia Minor, Syria, Palestine, Egypt, and Sudan. Some years back the Persian Empire had gained such a strength that it invaded victoriously in the Syrian region reaching the waters and up to Egypt after defeating the Roman Empire. The Persians had no less countries under their rule than the Romans. Those two magnificent empires ruled over the Western and the Eastern world and there was no third force to make a challenge to their might.

Christian and non-Muslim historians account for the rapid and vast Muslim conquests by the fact that both the Roman and Persian Empires were at that time in decay, with the result the Muslims had an opportunity to conquer both these powers. But, while giving reasons for the fall of both these mighty Empires, they forget to tell about the position of the Muslim State as compared to the giants of the East and the West in decay. Moreover, when they came in conflict with the Muslim forces, their mutual enmity was not at its peak. Thus each of them was in a position to mobilize massive forces against the numerically weak Muslim power.

Besides, the single Muslim force had to face the two giants simultaneously, both of them were not only mighty but also the most civilized and advanced in all respects. Both of them were old powers having well-disciplined regular forces armed to the teeth and with the most developed weapons and advanced art of warfare of the age. In administrative skills and experience they were far ahead of the Arabs and the Muslims. Again, both the powers could easily mobilize two-hundred-thousand-man armies at a time with about the same number of soldiers at their back, while the greatest number of Muslim troops never reached beyond thirty to forty thousand. The results were always the same, defeat for the anti-Islamic forces.

The fact behind the reverses and repulses of the Roman and Persian forces can be examined by their lack of true faith. The Muslims were the followers of Tauhid (Oneness of God). Lack of Faith leads to timidity while Faith makes one brave. Tauhid and Imân (Faith) instilled in the Arabs the courage of conviction, which is the logical consequence of Faith and which cannot be dominated by anything however mighty and powerful that it might be. Moreover, the principles of governance that the Qur'ân and the Prophetic examples taught to the Muslims could not be matched in the least by the developed powers of Persia and Rome.

Whenever the Muslim army halted for a few days, the populace of that territory rose to welcome the Muslims as providers of peace and prosperity. When the defeated nations watched with their naked eyes, the blessings of peace, morality, divine affection, justice, mercy, courage and the ambition of their victories, they put themselves at their service. It is an undeniable fact of history that humanity saved itself only through the marching steps of the Arab forces. Again, the unbreakable unit and the sense of supreme sacrifice, which Islam created in the Companions, could not be achieved by powers antagonistic to Islam.

First Half of the Rightly-Guided Caliphate

After the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم), the periods of Abu Bakr Siddiq (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) and Umar Fâruq (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) may be called the first half of the religious and spiritual rule of Islam, the Rightly-Guided Caliphate. The prominent feature of this period is that the material world nowhere dominates the Faith. Vested interests, relationships and friendships were not allowed to influence the work that had to be done at anytime. The people brought up under the loving care and spiritual guidance of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) dominated the scene everywhere. They were held in high esteem by everyone and worked as torchbearers. There was no trace of disunity and discord among the Muslims. Everywhere they were known for their piety, purity, simplicity and honesty.

The marching steps of the Muslim troops trampled Iraq, Syria and Egypt but, up to the end of the Fâruqi Caliphate, the Muslim conquerors were not influenced in the least by the extravagant habits and luxurious living of the Christians and the Magians. Muslim armies conquered Iraq and Persia but the conquerors used to stay under the thatched roofs and tents of Kufah and Basrah. Similarly, the conquerors of Syria hated to live in Syrian cities and preferred the deserts and hills to safeguard their simplicity and austerity. They never said goodbye to their martial prowess and life of strain, trials and tribulations, endurance and sacrifice. Abu Bakr Siddiq (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) and Umar Fâruq (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) not only took pains to make them habituated to a life of struggle and physical and spiritual exercise but they left before them the highest quality of personal examples to follow and be guided by.

They neither spent a single penny from the public treasury nor let others do it. The caliphs of Islam had no personal concern nor ever made any attempt for personal gain. But during the second half of the Rightly-Guided Caliphate, these qualities of head and heart appeared to be gradually receding and with them ended the Righteous Caliphate.