By destroying the apostates, Abu Bakr Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) made the Arabian Base a stronghold for Muslims. Abu Bakr Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) focused on spreading Islam throughout the world through jihad. He began sending armies to various states and the Muslim army began to mount one victorious campaign after another. Abu Bakr Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him)’s victorious campaign began through Iraq. A man from the Saiban tribe of Iraq came to the Caliph. That person’s name was Musanna bin Harith Ash-Shaybani. He came to the Caliph with a plan that Abu Bakr Siddiq had already thought of. He came and said to the Caliph that you give me authority over the people of my region and I want to wage war against the enemies of Allah who are in Iraq. At that time, Iraq was part of the vast Persia. Then Abu Bakr Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) gave him permission and he did not have to send additional troops. Because Musanna bin Harith Ash-Shaybani was already a highly respected figure in his tribe and had loyal troops. All that was needed here was his permission, which the Caliph had already granted him.
Musanna bin Harith Ash-Shaybani began to attack small tribes. He would attack first, then flee, then attack again. This was how he conducted the attack because his army was small compared to the Persian Empire. Meanwhile, another man from Musanna bin Harith Ash-Shaybani tribe wrote to the Caliph saying that he wanted to lead this war and that he was the most qualified person. But Abu Bakr Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) was a very capable ruler. He understood what kind of conflict there could be, so he read his letter and told him to go to war with Khalid, meaning that he should follow him wherever Khalid went. And everyone knew about Khalid bin Walid how skilled he was at leading in battle. And Abu Bakr Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) ordered Khalid bin Walid to go directly to Iraq from Yamama, meaning that bin Walid did not get any chance to return to Medina, he went directly from one battlefield to another.
Abu Bakr Siddiqa (may Allah be pleased with him) wrote to Musanna bin Harith Ash-Shaybani and informed him that he was sending Khalid bin Walid to Musanna bin Harith Ash-Shaybani and you would obey him and that he would remain there as the Emir.
Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddiq (RA) ordered that you start the campaign from the southeastern region of Iraq. The area is now called Bastra. Then he instructed Khalid bin Walid that you would go to the highlands and treat the people of Iraq well, then offer them Islam. If they refused to accept Islam, ask them to pay the Jizya, and if they refused to pay it, then fight against them. We see from this that Abu Bakr Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) had previously taken a tough stance against the apostates in wars, but in this war he was quite soft because this war was not against any apostates or those who insulted the religion, rather it was for the establishment of the religion of Allah. He also instructed Khalid bin Walid that if anyone did not want to go to war, he should not be forced to do so. He also ordered Khalid bin Walid not to allow those who had recently converted to Islam to participate in the war. Because Abu Bakr Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) wanted to observe those who had recently converted to Islam, because they had previously left Islam or abandoned Islam and later converted to Islam due to war, Abu Bakr Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) could not fully trust them.
Meanwhile, Khalid bin Walid was fighting one battle after another, causing the army to desert and return exhausted, thus the number of the army dwindled to eighteen thousand. In response to Khalid bin Walid’s request, Hazrat Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) sent a thousand soldiers.
Abu Bakr Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) sent two armies to Persia, the main objective of which was to reach the region of Hira, where he wanted to capture the region and establish a Muslim base there, so that it would be easier to attack from there. Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) wanted to directly attack Mada’in, the capital of Persia. Because at that time, the people within the Persian Empire were quarreling among themselves and were not loyal to the rulers. And Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddiq (RA) wanted to take advantage of this opportunity. That is, all the countries that run on man-made laws do not recognize the laws of all the countries that Islam recognizes, and that is why such chaos was going on there.
In this regard, Allah Almighty says in the Quran:
And fight them until there is no fitnah and [until] the religion, all of it, is for Allah. And if they cease – then indeed, Allah is Seeing of what they do.
(Quran 8-39)
And there is a rule in Islam that if someone wants to leave his religion, he will not be forced to do so. In this regard, Allah Almighty says that there is no compulsion in Islam.
This Persian campaign did not only start with the reign of Hazrat Bakr Siddique (RA), but it began during the time of the Prophet (PBUH). During the time of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), he wrote a letter to the Persian emperors, but they were overcome by pride and tore it up as soon as they received it. When this news reached the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), he smiled and said that Allah, the Exalted, would tear their kingdom apart like this by making them their emperor.
And in the continuation of that, we later see that chaos began in the Persian Empire, even minor boys and women sat on their thrones and it was at this opportunity that Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) decided to attack Persia.
Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddiq (RA) instructed Khalid bin Walid to start the expedition from the place Ubolla. This city was near the city of Basra and was called the gateway to the Indian Ocean.
Abu Bakr Siddiq (RA) sent two armies, the second army was led by Ayaz Bin naah. Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) ordered two armies to simultaneously march towards the city of Hira. Abu Bakr Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) ordered that when the city of Hira was captured, one army of Muslims would be responsible for guarding against attacks from the rear, while another army would be responsible for attacking the Persian city from the south.
Khalid bin Walid was fighting in the south of Persia and he wrote to the governor of Iraq saying that they should either convert to Islam or pay the Jizya tax or fight. The governor of Iraq, Hormuz, decided to fight. This war is sometimes called the War of Chains because at that time, the non-Muslim armies would chain their soldiers to each other on the battlefield so that they would not flee from the battlefield or through this they would create a kind of barricade so that the enemy forces could not attack them. In this battle, the enemy forces were in control of the water supply, so Khalid bin Walid was trying to take control of the water supply. Then rain came from Allah, which eliminated the lack of water for the Muslims. At one point in this war, the governor or commander of Iraq, Hormuz, called Khalid bin Walid or called for a frontal battle, and the rule of the frontal battle was that no one would help them except two people. But Hormuz ordered his army that if he continued to lose, they should attack Khalid bin Walid, and as a result, when he continued to lose, Hormuz’s army suddenly attacked Khalid bin.
Then immediately, the commander Kakar took his horse and quickly brought Khalid bin Walid free from there. From there, we can remember that Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddique (may Allah be pleased with him) said about Kakar that an army with a commander like Kakar would never be able to lose.
In this battle, the Muslims achieved an absolute victory and the next battle was Madar and in that battle too the Muslims achieved victory. From history, we can see that Khalid bin Walid led a total of 10 to 12 wars to conquer Persia. Khalid bin Walid was staying in the city of Hira, which was surrounded by fortresses and was safe, and from there he wrote letters to various rulers and governors, as well as to the people, inviting them to Islam. The battles that Khalid bin Balite was conducting were mainly fought along the banks of the Euphrates River. Because there were large cities on the banks of the river and after capturing them, Khaled bin Walid was moving forward.
Khalid bin Walid crossed the city of Hira and went to a place called Al-Anbar and fought there. This battle was called the Battle of the Eyes, meaning that in this battle, many enemy soldiers were blinded by arrows fired by the Muslim army. Khaled bin Walid reached the very border where Shamnagari originally began. On the other hand, Ayaz bin Imt-e-Anam sent a letter of help to Khalid bin Walid. He was originally besieged in a place called Du’mar al-Zangar. In response to his letter, Khalid bin Walid said, “Wait a few days, and in a few days a pack of lions will come to you, carrying food on their backs.” Khalid bin Walid set out in that direction of Du’mar al-Zangar. The governor of this region was Ukaida, who had previously been captured by the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and had sworn that he would not plot against the Muslims again, but he returned to his hometown and started plotting against the Muslims again. When he received news that Khalid bin Walid was approachin Du’mar al-Zangar, he became terrified. He started telling his people that I know what kind of person Khalid bin Walid is and I have a clear idea about him. Do not fight him. But his tribe did not listen to him, as a result of which Khalid bin Walid arrested him and punished him for his treachery.
Khaled bin Walid conducted the next trial in Fura. The Euphrates was strategically important because on one side were Christian forces loyal to the Roman army. And on the other hand, he was standing on the last frontier of Persia. Then, the people of the surrounding area formed an international alliance against Khaled bin Walid. The various tribes of Arabia united and the Christian tribes allied themselves with the Romans. Khalid bin Walid was stationed on the bank of a river and waited for a month and did not fight any battle but rather observed the situation. That is, here the two armies were testing their patience, neither attacking the other, but in the end it turned out that the Roman army became impatient and decided to cross the river and attack Khalid bin Walid. They knew that Khalid bin Walid was a brave warrior who would never abandon them. Rather, Khalid bin Walid would chase the enemies and kill them so that they would not return and engage in any conspiracy again. The Roman army and the Persian army knew how brave a warrior Khaled bin Walid was and the stories of Khaled bin Walid’s bravery had spread through their mouths, so they were already psychologically weakened.
Abu Bakr Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) always maintained contact with Khalid bin Walid and gave him various instructions through letters. He instructed Khalid bin Walid through a letter that he would divide his army into two parts, one of which would be under the leadership of Harish, who would be stationed in Iraq and Syria. And be careful not to take more than half of your warriors with you. Then you will finish your campaign in Syria and return to Iraq and take your previous path. Another instruction he gave to Khalid bin Walid was to never let pride enter your heart. Thus began Khalid bin Walid’s new campaign from Iraq to Sham, where he took command of his forces. Note here that when Khalid bin Walid divided the Muslim army into two, he kept in his group all the Sahabis who were with the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him).
The companions who fought with the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) were all unique. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) prepared them in such a way that they could later lead the war, and each of them was a visionary. But even then, the people of the Roman or Persian empires did not know what Medina was or even knew anything about them, but the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) prepared them or the Companions in such a way that they could lead the war after the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) to destroy the Roman and Persian empires.
Musannah bin Harith Ash-Shaybani (may Allah be pleased with him), a companion of the Prophet (peace be upon him), objected to Khalid bin Walid keeping a large number of companions in his group. He continued to object, and in response, Khalid bin Walid left some companions in Syriah. And then Khalid bin Walid set out for Sham with his army.
