Battle of Qadissyah (Hazrat Musleh Mau’d’s (ra) Narration)

I will present a portion of what Hazrat Musleh-e-Maud (ra) has stated regarding the Battle of Qadisiyyah:

“During the time of Hazrat Umar (ra), Yazdegerd, the grandson of Khosrow Parviz ascended to the throne and began to make extensive preparations to fight against the Muslims. In response to this, Hazrat Umar (ra) sent an army under the command of Hazrat Saad (ra) bin Abi Waqas. Hazrat Saad (ra) chose Qadisiyyah as the location for battle and also sent a map of the area to Hazrat Umar (ra). Hazrat Umar (ra) expressed his approval of the location but along with this, instructed that it was his duty to first send a delegation to the King of Iran and invite him to accept Islam. And so, upon receiving this instruction, he sent a delegation to meet Yazdegerd.

“When this delegation arrived at the royal court of the King of Iran, he asked his translator to enquire why they had come and why had they created so much disorder in their land. When he asked them this question, Hazrat Nu‘man (ra) bin Muqarrin, who was the leader of the delegation, stood up and after mentioning the advent of the Holy Prophet (sa), said, ‘The Holy Prophet (sa) has commanded us to spread the message of Islam and invite the entire world to the true faith. In accordance with this commandment, we are here before you and invite you to Islam.’

“Yazdegerd became infuriated at this reply of his and said, ‘You are a nation that are like wild beasts and who eat carrion. If it is owing to hunger and scarcity of provisions that has compelled you to fight then I am willing to grant all of you enough provisions of food and drink that you will be able to comfortably live for the rest of your lives. I shall also provide you with clothes and you can take all of these provisions and return to your country. Why would you want to endanger your lives by engaging in a battle with us?’

“When he finished saying what he had to say, Hazrat Mughirah (ra) bin Zurrarah stood up on behalf of the Muslim delegation and said, ‘Whatever you have said about us is absolutely true. Indeed, we were a nation like wild beasts and would eat carrion. We would even eat snakes, scorpions, locusts and lizards. However, Allah the Almighty bestowed His blessings upon us and sent His Messenger (sa) to guide us. We accepted him and acted in accordance with what he said and as a result, a revolutionary change has taken place within us. Thus, those ills which you have spoken of no longer remain in us and we are not going to be tempted by anything you offer. The battle between you and us has now commenced and the matter will be settled in the battlefield.’”

That is, if he failed to listen to what they had to say and did not wish to accept their invitation and wanted to fight against them, then it would be fine and they would fight against them.

“‘However, the temptation of offering worldly wealth and material cannot deter us from our objective.’

“When Yazdegerd heard this, he became extremely angry and told one of his servants to go and bring a sack of soil. When the sack of soil arrived, he called the leader of the Muslim delegation to step forward and said that since they had rejected his offer, therefore they would receive nothing except for a sack of soil. The companion earnestly stepped forward and lowered his head” as has been mentioned once before as well but this is more detailed “and had the sack of soil placed on his back. He then sharply stood up and they all swiftly made their way out from the royal court. Whilst departing from there, he loudly said to the fellow members of the delegation, ‘Today, the king of Iran has handed us the soil of his land with his own hands.’ They then mounted their horses and raced off.

“When the king heard this, he was shocked and ordered the servants of his royal court to go after them and bring back the sack of soil because giving them the soil of his land with his own hands was a bad omen. However, by then they had travelled far off into the distance.

“In the end, it turned out exactly as they had said and within a few years, Iran came under Muslim rule.”

Hazrat Musleh-e-Maud (ra) further writes:

“How did this extraordinary change come about within the Muslims? This is because the Quranic teachings brought about a revolutionary change in their morals and conduct. It brought an end to their lowly way of life and instead, elevated them to possess the most excellent morals and character.”

(Tafsir-e-Kabir, Vol. 6, pp. 204-205)

This is why they were able to bring about a revolutionary change. Thus, true revolution can only come about by adhering to the teachings of the Holy Quran.