Birth: Abu Ubayda ibn al-Jarrah

All stops in this story

1. Birth: Abu Ubayda ibn al-Jarrah — c. 583 CE

   An early Qurayshi convert the Prophet called the trustworthy man of this community; he commanded the armies in Syria at the height of the conquest and died in the plague of Amwas.

2. The three years of the secret call — c. 610 CE

   The first stage of the call to Islam — individual and secret for three years — in which the first band believed: Khadija, Ali, Zayd and Abu Bakr on the first day, then those whom Abu Bakr called, then a company Ibn Hisham numbers at over forty from every clan of Quraysh; during it prayer was first prescribed.

3. The Hijra — c. 12 September 622 CE · c. 29 Safar 1 AH†

   The migration of the Prophet Muhammad and his followers from Mecca to Medina in 622 CE, the event from which the Islamic calendar is counted.

4. The Battle of Badr — 13 March 624 CE · 17 Ramadan 2 AH

   The first major battle between the Muslims of Medina and the Quraysh of Mecca, fought at the wells of Badr on 17 Ramadan 2 AH.

5. The Battle of Uhud — March 625 CE · Shawwal 3 AH

   A battle near Mount Uhud in which the Quraysh gained the upper hand and Hamza, the Prophet's uncle, was killed.

6. Abu Ubayda ibn al-Jarrah's detachment to the sea coast (the Khabat raid) — c. 629 CE · c. 8 AH

   A detachment the Prophet sent to the sea coast under Abu Ubayda ibn al-Jarrah, provisioned with a single bag of dates; Ubada ibn al-Samit tells it: Abu Ubayda rationed the dates until each man received one a day, and when hunger wore them down God brought out for them a sea creature on whose flesh and fat they lived twenty nights until they grew fat; the commander propped up one of its ribs and the tallest man on the biggest camel passed beneath it. When they asked the Prophet about having eaten it he said: a provision God provided you.

7. The delegation of Najran — c. 631 CE · 9 AH

   Sixty riders of Christian Najran came to Medina in 9 AH led by the Aqib, the Sayyid and Bishop Abu Haritha; when they declined Islam the Prophet offered the mutual invocation of God's curse (mubahala) with Fatima, al-Hasan and al-Husayn, they asked instead for terms, and a treaty granted them God's protection in exchange for two thousand garments a year.

8. The meeting at Saqifa — 8 June 632 CE · 12 Rabi' I 11 AH

   After the Prophet's death, leaders of the Ansar and Muhajirun met in the hall of the Banu Sa'ida and chose Abu Bakr as leader of the community. ونص الاجتماع كاملاً عند البخاري من رواية عمر: اجتماع الأنصار في السقيفة، ومشي أبي بكر وعمر وأبي عبيدة إليهم، والخطابان، ويدا عمر وبشير بن سعد، فالبيعة .

9. The Conquest of Syria — c. 633 CE · c. 12 AH

   In al-Baladhuri: when Abu Bakr finished with the apostates he dispatched the armies to Syria, binding three banners — for Khalid ibn Sa'id (whom he deposed), Shurahbil ibn Hasana and Amr ibn al-As — directing them and Yazid ibn Abi Sufyan by the Ayla and Tabuk roads until their number completed at twenty-four thousand; their first fighting came at Dathin and al-Araba, and al-Waqidi's account assigns Amr Filastin, Shurahbil al-Urdunn and Yazid Dimashq; Khalid ibn al-Walid then marched from Iraq reaching them in Rabi' al-Akhir year 13, and they made him commander in every battle; the great battle of Ajnadayn fell on Monday twelve nights remaining of Jumada I year 13, Busra fell by treaty, Shurahbil conquered al-Urdunn by force save Tabariyya, the battle of Fihl came five months into Umar's caliphate with Abu Ubayda ibn al-Jarrah commanding by Umar's investiture, the day of Marj al-Suffar at the new moon of al-Muharram year 14, and then the conquest of Damascus and Bayt al-Maqdis.

10. The Conquest of Busra — c. 634 CE · c. 13 AH

    In al-Baladhuri: when Khalid ibn al-Walid reached the Muslims at Busra — the city of Hawran — they joined upon it and commissioned Khalid for its war, then pressed against it and fought its patrician until they forced it (some say Yazid ibn Abi Sufyan was the one undertaking the war, its governorship being his as it belonged to Dimashq); its people then made terms to be secured for their lives, wealth and children upon paying the jizya — some transmitters say they compounded for a dinar and a jarib of wheat per adult; the Muslims conquered all the land of the Hawran district and mastered it; Abu Ubayda ibn al-Jarrah then went with a dense company of the commanders' men joined to him and came to Ma'ab in the land of al-Balqa' holding a gathering of the enemy, and conquered it by treaty on the like of Busra's terms — some say Ma'ab's conquest preceded Busra's, others that Abu Ubayda took it as commander of all Syria in Umar's days.

11. The Dispatch of the Armies to Syria — c. 12 April 634 CE · 1 Muharram 13 AH

    In al-Baladhuri: when Abu Bakr had finished with the apostates he resolved to direct the armies to Syria, writing to the people of Mecca, al-Ta'if, Yemen and all the Arabs of Najd and the Hijaz summoning them to jihad and stirring their desire for Byzantine spoil, and they hastened from every quarter; he bound three banners for three men — Khalid ibn Sa'id ibn al-As, Shurahbil ibn Hasana (per al-Waqidi son of Abdullah ibn al-Mutta' al-Kindi with Hasana his mother, per al-Kalbi son of Rabi'a ibn al-Mutta' of the children of Sufa) and Amr ibn al-As al-Sahmi — the binding being on Thursday at the opening of Safar year 13, after the armies had camped at al-Jurf the whole of al-Muharram, with Abu Ubayda ibn al-Jarrah leading their prayers; Abu Bakr had wanted to bind a banner for Abu Ubayda who begged off — some report he did bind it, which is not established — and Abu Yakhnaf records Abu Bakr telling the commanders 'if you join in battle your commander is Abu Ubayda, otherwise Yazid ibn Abi Sufyan', while Amr is said to have been only a reinforcement and commander over those joined to him; when he bound Khalid ibn Sa'id's banner Umar disliked it and spoke to Abu Bakr of deposing him — 'he is a proud man who carries his charge with contentiousness and partisanship' — so he deposed him and sent Abu Adwa' al-Dawsi to take his banner, who met him at Dhu al-Marwa and took it, and it was given to Yazid ibn Abi Sufyan, who marched with his brother Mu'awiya bearing it before him — others say it was handed to him at Dhu al-Marwa and he took over Khalid's army, Khalid ibn Sa'id marching on as a volunteer in Shurahbil's army; he ordered Amr to take the Ayla road toward Filastin, Yazid the Tabuk road and Shurahbil likewise; each commander set out with three thousand men, then he kept sending reinforcements until each had seven thousand five hundred, and their total completed at twenty-four thousand; al-Waqidi reports Abu Bakr gave Amr Filastin, Shurahbil al-Urdunn and Yazid Dimashq — 'if you have fighting, your commander is the one in whose charge you stand' — and that he ordered Amr verbally to lead the people in prayer.

12. The Conquest of Hims — c. 635 CE · c. 14 AH

    In al-Baladhuri: when Abu Ubayda ibn al-Jarrah finished with Damascus he put before him Khalid ibn al-Walid and Milhan ibn Zayyar al-Ta'i, then followed them; passing Ba'labakk, whose people sought safety and terms, he compounded with them securing themselves, their wealth, churches and houses inside and outside the city and their mills, the Byzantines to graze their flocks between them and fifteen miles without settling a peopled village, free to depart where they would after Rabia and Jumada I passed, whoever converted having our rights and duties, their merchants free to travel through the treaty lands, and jizya and kharaj upon whoever stayed; per al-Waqidi, while the Muslims stood at Damascus's gates a dense cavalry of the enemy approached and a company met them between Bayt Lahya and al-Thaniyya, routing them toward Hims on the Qara road and pursuing them to find they had passed it by — the people of Hims, already shaken by Heraclius's flight and by reports of the Muslims' might, offered their hands and sued for safety, which was granted, bringing out supplies and food while the Muslims stayed on the Asi under al-Simt ibn al-Aswad al-Jundi; when Abu Ubayda finished with Damascus he left Yazid ibn Abi Sufyan over it and came to Hims by way of Ba'labakk, camping at Bab al-Rastan, and its people compounded for safety of themselves, wealth, city wall, churches and mills, a quarter of the church of John being excepted for the mosque — compounding for a hundred and seventy thousand dinars; afterwards Hims and Qinnasrin became one.

13. The Conquest of Damascus — c. 19 March 635 CE · Jumada I 14 AH

    In al-Baladhuri: when the Muslims finished fighting those who had gathered at the Marj they stayed fifteen nights, then returned to Damascus fourteen nights remaining of al-Muharram year 14, taking the Futa and its churches by force while the townsfolk fortified themselves and shut their gate; Khalid camped at the eastern gate with some five thousand joined to him by Abu Ubayda (some say Khalid was commander and his deposition reached them while besieging), the monastery at his side being named Dayr Khalid; Amr ibn al-As camped at Bab Tuma, Shurahbil at Bab al-Faradis, Abu Ubayda at Bab al-Jabiya, and Yazid ibn Abi Sufyan at the small gate to Bab Kaysan, Abu al-Darda' posting Uwaymir ibn Amir al-Khazraji on a watch at Barza; the bishop who had hosted Khalid would call and converse with him, saying one day 'Abu Sulayman, your affair ascends — I hold a pledge over you, so make terms with me for this city', and Khalid wrote his famous charter: 'In God's name, this is what Khalid ibn al-Walid grants the people of Damascus when he enters it: safety for themselves, their wealth, their churches and their city wall — it shall not be demolished nor any of their houses dwelt in; they have for it God's covenant and the protection of His messenger, the caliphs and the believers, and nothing but good shall befall them if they pay the jizya'; one of the bishop's men then told him it was a feast-night for the town, the eastern gate being blocked with stones, and advised a ladder — men of the monastery brought two ladders and a company of Muslims climbed the wall, descended on the gate held by a man or two, overpowered it and opened it at sunrise; Abu Ubayda meanwhile had struggled at Bab al-Jabiya, raised men on its wall, the Roman fighters inclining to him until they broke — he forced it open and entered, and he and Khalid met at the Maqsilat, the coppersmiths' quarter, the Baris of Hassan ibn Thabit's verse 'they give to drink whoever comes to Baris — Barada clapping with sweet wine'; Maytham ibn Adi claimed Damascenes compounded for half their houses and churches, but al-Waqidi says he read Khalid's charter and found no halves in it; many Damascenes joined Heraclius at Antioch leaving surplus houses the Muslims occupied; al-Waqidi dates the conquest to Rajab year 14, Khalid's charter being dated Rabi' al-Akhir 15 because he wrote it undated and it was renewed at the Yarmuk; the volume's editor judges the sound account to be Khalid entering the eastern gate by force and Abu Ubayda entering peacefully by Bab al-Jabiya, reasoning that the Muslims held only the mosque's eastern side before its rebuilding and the church stood west of it until al-Walid demolished it; afterwards the Muslims chose churches for which no jizya was paid and kept the church of John until the Christians surrendered all the churches of the Futa, Mu'awiya writing to Umar who was pleased and ratified it.

14. The Conquest of Antioch — c. 637 CE · c. 16 AH

    In al-Baladhuri: Abu Ubayda went from Aleppo to Antioch, where a body of the people of the Qinnasrin jund had fortified themselves; at Haruba — near two farsakhs from the city — an enemy gathering met him and he scattered them back into the city, besieging it at all its gates, the bulk of the army at Bab Faris and the gate called Bab al-Bahr; they then compounded for jizya and evacuation, some departing and some staying, and he secured them setting on each adult a dinar and a jarib; when they broke the covenant he sent Iyad ibn Ghanm and Habib ibn Maslama, who retook it on the first treaty — others say they broke it after he returned to Filastin and Amr ibn al-As was sent from Iliya' to take it; Umar wrote to Abu Ubayda to station at Antioch a company of Muslims of right intent and scruple as murabita, withholding no mounts from them, and Mu'awiya received the same when in office while Uthman ordered him to settle men there and grant land — which he did; Mu'awiya transferred to Antioch in year 42 companies of Persians and people of Ba'labakk, Hims and the two Misrs, and al-Walid ibn Abd al-Malik granted troops land at Saluqiyya by the coast rating the filthir at a dinar and two mudds of wheat — they cultivated it and he built Hisn Saluqiyya; among the transferees was Muslim ibn Abdullah — grandfather of Abdullah ibn Habib ibn al-Nu'man al-Antaki — whom a Byzantine killed with a stone on the wall, a gate of Antioch being named Bab Muslim after him.

15. The Taking and Settling of Mar'ash — c. 637 CE · c. 18 AH

    In al-Baladhuri: Abu Ubayda ibn al-Jarrah — he being at Manbij — sent Khalid ibn al-Walid to the Mar'ash region, and he took its fortress on condition its people evacuate, then demolished it; when Sufyan ibn Awf al-Ghamidi raided the Byzantines in year 30 he set out from before Mar'ash and ranged their lands; Mu'awiya built the city of Mar'ash and garrisoned it, but at Yazid ibn Mu'awiya's death Byzantine raids multiplied and its people left, and Abd al-Malik — after his father Marwan ibn al-Hakam's death — compounded with the Byzantines for tribute while seeking the caliphate; in year 74 Muhammad ibn Marwan raided and the truce broke, and in year 75 he again led the summer expedition, the Romans coming out in Jumada I by way of Mar'ash into the depths, where the Muslims under Aban ibn al-Walid ibn Uqba ibn Abi Mu'ayt — with him Dinar ibn Dinar, mawla of Abd al-Malik and governor of Qinnasrin and its districts — met them at Amq Mar'ash in a hard battle, routed them and pursued killing and capturing — Dinar having that same year met a Roman body at Jisr Yaghra, some ten miles from Shimshat, and overcome them; then al-Abbas ibn al-Walid ibn Abd al-Malik went to Mar'ash, rebuilt and fortified it, transferred people to it, built its congregational mosque and levied an annual contingent on Qinnasrin; in Marwan ibn Muhammad's days — he busy fighting Hims — the Romans besieged Mar'ash until its people compounded to evacuate toward the Jazira with the Qinnasrin troops and their families, then demolished it — Marwan's governor being al-Kawthar ibn Zufar ibn al-Harith al-Kilabi, the tyrant being Constantine son of Leo; when Marwan had finished with Hims and razed its wall he sent an army to rebuild Mar'ash, and built it was and made a city — but in his civil war the Romans wrecked it again; Salih ibn Ali rebuilt and fortified it in al-Mansur's caliphate, calling people to it with increased pay, and al-Mahdi enlarged its garrison and strengthened its people.

16. Death: Abu Ubayda ibn al-Jarrah — 639 CE · 18 AH†

    An early Qurayshi convert the Prophet called the trustworthy man of this community; he commanded the armies in Syria at the height of the conquest and died in the plague of Amwas.