Conquest of Qinnasrin

The conquest of Qinnasrin took place in 15 AH. Hazrat Abu Ubaidah (ra) sent Hazrat Khalid (ra) bin Walid towards Qinnasrin, which was a dynamic city in the province of Aleppo. The fort of Qinnasrin was situated on the road to Aleppo between the mountains. Hazrat Khalid (ra) bin Walid reached a place called Hadir. Hadir was also a place near Aleppo. Over here, the Byzantine commander Menas arrived with his army to confront the Muslims. After Heraclius, Menas was the most renowned commander-in-chief amongst the Byzantines. Nonetheless, the residents of Hadir and the Christian Arabs fought against the Muslims.

As was the Arab custom, in order to protect the city, they would head out of the city and pitch their tents. In line with this custom, the Christian Arabs set up their tents outside of the city. After a fierce battle, Hazrat Khalid (ra) had killed a large part of the Byzantine forces, including their commander Menas. The people [of Hadir] sent a message to Hazrat Khalid (ra) bin Walid stating that they were Arabs and never wished to fight, in fact they were forced to fight and therefore they should be forgiven.

Hazrat Khalid bin Walid (ra) accepted their plea and stopped any further attack. Some of the Byzantine forces ran to seek shelter in the fort at Qinnasrin. Hazrat Khalid (ra) bin Walid chased them to Qinnasrin, but by the time he reached there, the gates of the city had been sealed shut. Upon seeing this, Hazrat Khalid (ra) bin Walid sent a message to them stating, “Even if you sought shelter in the clouds, Allah the Almighty would raise us up to you or throw you down to us.”

A few days passed by and they remained in the fort. Eventually the people of Qinnasrin realised that there was no option left to escape. Thus they wished to enter a peace treaty on the same conditions as the people of Homs. However, Hazrat Khalid (ra) bin Walid had already issued the verdict of punishment owing to breaching the treaty – they had broken the treaty previously and Hazrat Khalid (ra) bin Walid was intent on punishing them – and thus he was intent on destroying the city. Leaving their wealth and families to their fate, the people of Qinnasrin [i.e. soldiers] ran away to Antakya.

When Hazrat Abu Ubaidah (ra) bin Al-Jarrah reached Qinnasrin, he found Hazrat Khalid (ra) bin Walid’s judgement to be just and fair. Thus, the fort of the city and the [exterior] boundary walls were destroyed. After this, they thought that alongside justice, an act of benevolence ought to follow suit, i.e. the Muslims had dispensed justice to the enemy and now they ought to show benevolence. In line with this, they gave protection to the people of the city in accordance with their request. It is said that the church and other homes were divided and Muslims occupied half of the area and half of the area was left to them.

According to one narration, it is said that the Muslims took one part of the land and built a mosque there and left the remaining area to its residents. The people that had fled to Antakya returned on the condition of paying the jizya. Just like the people of the other conquered lands, they were also treated with compassion. Justice was upheld between all of them equally and no powerful person could commit any injustice against a weaker person.

(Sayyiduna Umar Farooq A‘zam, Muhammad Husain Haikal, [translated], pp. 333-339, Islami Kutub Khana, Lahore) (Muhammad Ibn Jarir al-Tabari, Tarikh al-Tabari, Vol. 2 [Beirut, Lebanon: Dar al-Kutub al-Ilmiyyah, 1987], p. 445) (Yaqut Ibn Abd Allah al-Hamawi, Mu‘jam al-Buldan, Vol. 2, p. 238)