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Conquest of al-Sus

فتح السوس

al-Sus (Shush)

Abu Musa besieged al-Sus till its food failed; its marzban bought aman for eighty named men — excluding himself — to open the gate; Abu Musa beheaded him, spared the eighty, killed the other fighters and took the wealth and children. In the citadel stood a curtained house: the body of the prophet Daniel, whom a drought had moved them to ask Babylon's people to bury among them for rain — Bukhtanasar had carried him captive to Babylon and he died there. Abu Musa wrote Umar, who answered 'shroud and bury him' — he dammed the river, buried him and released the water. Khalid ibn Zayd, who lost an eye there, tells the dahqan's hundred-man aman and the spared 'enemy of God' who cried 'wait, I give great wealth' — refused and beheaded.

Depth

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Era
The Rashidun Caliphate
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Overview

Abu Musa marched to al-Sus and fought its people, then besieged them until their food ran out, and they asked for safe conduct. 1

Safe conduct

Their marzban asked that eighty of them be granted safe conduct, on condition that he open the city's gate and hand it over. He named the eighty and took himself out of them. Abu Musa ordered his neck struck, and did not touch the eighty. He killed the rest of the fighting men, took the property and enslaved the families. 1

The house of Daniel

Abu Musa saw in the fortress a house with a curtain over it. It was said that it held the body of the prophet Daniel. Al-Baladhuri relates that the people of al-Sus were struck by drought and asked the people of Babylon to bury him with them so that they might pray for rain through him. Abu Musa wrote to Umar, who wrote to him to shroud the body and bury it. 1

Another account

Khalid ibn Zayd al-Muzani, whose eye had been struck by a worm, relates that the landowner made peace with Abu Musa on terms of safety for a hundred persons. He separated out the hundred and remained himself, and Abu Musa ordered him killed. 1

The data gives no specific date, and this needs an additional source.

Connections

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Had participant
Abu Musa al-Ashari· Khalid ibn Zayd al-Muzani
Occurred at
al-Sus (Shush)

People and things also explored

The Asawira's Conversion Compact· The Conquest of al-Dinawar, Masabadhan and Mihrajanqadhaf· The Conquest of Qumm and Qashan· The Conquest of Ra's al-Ayn· Conquest of Sabur· Digging of the Ubulla Canal· The Expedition of Dhat al-Riqa'· Tustar's Fall and Hurmuzan's Capture

Sources

  1. Futuh al-Buldan — al-Baladhuri (Mu'assasat al-Ma'arif edition)
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Conquest of al-Sus”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/event/siege-of-al-sus/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Accessed 2026-10-17.

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The Asawira's Conversion Compact

Siyah al-Uswari led Yazdgard's vanguard; sent to Ahwaz he camped at al-Kalbaniyya while Abu Musa besieged al-Sus — then seeing Islam's ascendancy he offered: we enter your religion, fight your enemies among the Persians, fight none of you in your internal disputes, you defend us if Arabs attack, we settle where we wish among you and rank in the highest stipend — compact sealed with the amir. Abu Musa countered 'you have what we have and owe what we owe'; they refused, so he wrote Umar, who wrote back: grant them all they asked.