Incident of Maraj al-Rum

Maraj al-Rum was another place and the incident of Maraj al-Rum took place in the same year. Maraj al-Rum was a place near to Damascus.

The incident was that Hazrat Abu Ubaidah (ra) travelled from Fahl to Homs along with Hazrat Khalid (ra) bin Walid. They stopped at Dhul Kala‘. When Heraclius came to know of their movements, he despatched Theodorus. He went to Marai Dimashq and stayed to the west side. Abu Ubaidah (ra) set off from Maraj al-Rum with his army.

The situation of the Muslims at the time was such that the winter months had set in and their bodies were covered in wounds. When they arrived at Maraj al-Rum, the Byzantine commander Shans also reached there and encamped near Theodorus with his cavalry. Shans had come to assist Theodorus and to save the people of Homs. He encamped to one side with his army.

When night fell, the other commander, Theodorus, left from there. Owing to his departure, the area was vacant. Theodorus was up against Hazrat Khalid (ra) bin Walid whereas Shans was facing Hazrat Abu Ubaidah (ra). When Hazrat Khalid (ra) bin Walid learnt that Theodorus had left for Damascus, Hazrat Khalid (ra) and Hazrat Abu Ubaidah (ra) unanimously agreed that Hazrat Khalid should go after Theodorus.

Hence, Hazrat Khalid (ra) bin Walid went after Theodorus with a cavalry contingent. Yazid bin Abi Sufyan learnt about the action of Theodorus and so he set out against Theodorus; both armies confronted one another and a battle intensified.

The battle was still continuing when Hazrat Khalid (ra) bin Walid arrived on the battlefield along with his army. He attacked the rear of Theodorus’ army and as a result, the enemy was attacked from both fronts and their corpses began to pile up. The Muslims killed them on all fronts and only those who ran away survived. Among the spoils of war that were gained in this battle included mounts, weapons and armour etc. This was distributed by Hazrat Yazid (ra) bin Abi Sufyan between his soldiers and the soldiers of Hazrat Khalid (ra) bin Walid. After this, Hazrat Yazid (ra) travelled to Damascus and Hazrat Khalid (ra) bin Walid returned to Hazrat Abu Ubaidah (ra).

The infamous Yazid, who is mentioned in the history of Islam, was the son of Mu‘awiyyah. The aforementioned Yazid (ra) is the son of Abu Sufyan (ra). The Byzantine commander Theodorus was killed by Hazrat Khalid (ra) bin Walid. When Hazrat Khalid bin Walid (ra) went after Theodorus, Hazrat Abu Ubaidah (ra) chased after Shans. Both armies fought in Maraj al-Rum. The Muslim army killed many adversaries and Hazrat Abu Ubaidah (ra) killed Shans. Maraj al-Rum was filled with the bodies of the enemy and owing to this, the area was filled with a stench. From among the Byzantine forces, only the ones who ran away survived; everyone else perished. The Muslims chased those who ran away up until Homs.

(Al-Kamil fi al-Tarikh, Vol. 2, p. 321, Dar al-Kutub al-Ilmiyyah, Beirut, 2003) (Muhammad Ibn Jarir al-Tabari, Tarikh al-Tabari [translated], Vol. 2, part 2 [Karachi, Pakistan: Nafees Academy], pp. 359-360)

After this, Hazrat Abu Ubaidah (ra) set off with his army towards Hama. Hama was also an ancient town of Syria and was situated at a distance of five days travel from Damascus. The people of Hama agreed to obey their authority. When the people of Shehzar came to know of this, they also agreed to obey the Muslims like the people of Hama. Shehzar was a settlement situated at a distance of half a day’s travel from Hama. Hazrat Abu Ubaidah (ra) then conquered Salmiyyah. Salmiyyah was the name of a settlement which was located at a distance of 2 days travel from Hama.

(Sayyiduna Umar Farooq A‘zam, Muhammad Husain Haikal, [translated], p. 333, Islami Kutub Khana, Lahore) (Yaqut Ibn Abd Allah al-Hamawi, Mu‘jam al-Buldan, Vol. 2, p. 345) (Yaqut Ibn Abd Allah al-Hamawi, Mu‘jam al-Buldan, Vol. 3, p. 272)