The Plague of Amwas

طاعون عمواس

c. 639 CE · 18 AH

Amwas (Emmaus)

In al-Baladhuri: the plague of Amwas came in year 18 and carried off a multitude of the Muslims, among them Abu Ubayda ibn al-Jarrah — dying commander at fifty-eight — and Mu'adh ibn Jabal of Banu Salama of the Khazraj, kunya Abu Abd al-Rahman, dying at al-Aqhwana of al-Urdunn at thirty-eight; on his deathbed Abu Ubayda had named his successor — some say Iyad ibn Ghanm al-Fihri, others that he named Amr ibn al-As who named his own son; Abdullah ibn Qays reports being among those welcoming Umar with Abu Ubayda on his coming to Syria, when the muqallisin of Adhri'at met him with swords and basil — Umar saying 'keep them off' and Abu Ubayda answering 'commander of the faithful, this is their custom, and if you bar them from it they will think you intend to break their covenant', so he said 'let them be'.