Conquest of Umm Dunayn

Then, there is mention of the conquest of Umm Dunayn [Tendunyas]. After the conquest of Bilbeis, Hazrat Amr (ra) bin al-Aas was advancing along the desert’s perimeter when he reached a place close to Umm Dunayn, which was located on the Nile River at the source of Trajan’s Canal. This canal was close to Suez and joined Egypt City and the Mediterranean Sea, where Azbakeya, a district in Cairo, is located today. Umm Dunayn was located at this very place during that time, which the Byzantines had fortified. In the near vicinity were the riverbanks of the Nile, where many boats were docked. This area was to the north of Babylon, which was the largest fort of Egypt City. In this way, Umm Dunayn could be considered the foremost defensive outpost for guarding this precious region, which the Egyptians cherished as the centre of operations for many past pharaohs. The Muslims set up camp near Umm Dunayn. The Byzantines sent their finest soldiers to their fort in Babylon and heavily reinforced their fort in Umm Dunayn as they prepared for battle. According to information received from the reconnaissance, Hazrat Amr (ra) bin al-Aas estimated that his forces were not enough to conquer Fort Babylon or to besiege it. He sent a messenger with a letter to Medina detailing the circumstances of his journey to Egypt, intelligence on the enemy forts and the need for reinforcements in order to attack them. He also announced to his forces that reinforcements would join them shortly.

Following this, he advanced towards Umm Dunayn and laid siege, cutting the fort’s supply of food and military equipment. The Byzantines in Fort Babylon didn’t even consider coming out because they had witnessed Artabun’s outcome in Bilbeis and realised that they could not combat the Arabs on an open battlefield. The forces of Umm Dunayn would periodically emerge for a skirmish but would retreat in failure. Many weeks passed like this. At the same time, news arrived that the first reinforcements from the Khalifa were on their way and would arrive very soon. This news greatly supplemented the strength and resolve of the Muslims.

(Hazrat Umar Farooq A‘zam, Muhammad Husain Haikal, translated by Habib Ash‘ar, pp. 567-570, Islami Kutub Khana, Urdu Bazar, Lahore)

Hazrat Umar (ra) had sent 4,000 soldiers as reinforcements for the Muslim forces. He also appointed a leader for every 1,000 soldiers. Those leaders were, Hazrat Zubair (ra) bin al-Awam, Hazrat Miqdad (ra) bin Aswad, Hazrat Ubadah (ra) bin Samit and Hazrat Maslamah (ra) bin Mukhallad.

According to one narration, Kharijah bin Huzayfa was made the amir in place of Hazrat Maslamah (ra) bin Mukhallad. Along with sending reinforcements, Hazrat Umar (ra) wrote a letter to Hazrat Amr (ra) bin al-Aas saying, “Now you have 12,000 soldiers with you. They will never be defeated on account of being fewer in number.”

The Byzantines set out along with the Copts to fight the Muslims. A fierce battle ensued between the two sides. Hazrat Amr (ra) bin al-Aas devised a strategy whereby he divided the army into three parts; one was near Jabal-e-Ahmar, the second was by the Nile River at a place called Umm Dunayn, and the remainder of the army set out to battle the enemy.

As the two armies were engaged in fierce battle, the army hiding by Jabal-e-Ahmar came out and attacked from behind, which scattered the ranks of the opposing army and they fled towards Umm Dunayn. There, the second part of the Islamic army was waiting and stopped their path. Thus, the Byzantine army was trapped between the three Muslim armies as a result of which the opponents suffered defeat.

(Al-Salabi, Sayyiduna Umar bin Khattab (ra) translated [Khangarh, Pakistan: Al-Furqan Trust], p. 759)

It is mentioned regarding various other conquests that after the victory at Umm Dunayn, the first place Hazrat Amr (ra) bin al-Aas conquered was Fayum and the chief of that area was killed in this battle.

(Hazrat Umar Farooq A‘zam, Muhammad Husain Haikal, translated by Habib Ash‘ar, pp. 571-572, Islami Kutub Khana, Urdu Bazar, Lahore)