Gems Of Ramadan ✔

DAY 18 - OUR SPAIN IN RAMADAN :)

We spoke about many spiritual aspects of Ramadhaan and we will continue to do so Inshaa Allah Ta'aala. However, just as Ramadhaan was the month of worship, it was also the month of some of the greatest Islamic victories and some very important historical events occurred in Ramadhaan.
The victory of Badr (the one that is called the criterion in the Qur'an):

The Day of criterion (between right and wrong), the Day when the two forces met (The Battle of Badr).
(Surat al-Anfaal: 41)

The battle that Allah honoured Islam with took place in Ramadhaan.
The conquest of all conquests (the entry to Makkah) took place in Ramadhaan.

Verily, We have given you (O Muhammad sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam) a manifest victory.
(Surat al-Fath: 1)

The Battle of 'Ayn Jaaloot (عين جالوت) and many other historical events took place in Ramadhaan. One of the greatest Islamic victories after the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam and the Sahaabah, was a great victory that took place in Ramadhaan ninety two years after the Hijrah. It was a great victory that many Muslims do not know about (especially the young youth growing up), and many of the others who do know about it do not take pride in it.

The roots of it was during the time of Uthmaan Ibn Affaan - he attempted to conquer Qustanteeniyyah (قسطنطينية) but he was not able to. At-Tabari, Ibn Katheer and al-Humyari (historians) said when Uthmaan was not able to enter Qustanteeniyyah (which is Constantinople), he gave advice as to how it would be opened. He said it needs to be opened through the waters - you can only get there through the waters. That was the goal of many Muslim leaders and it was an honour for them to go and conquer Qustanteeniyyah. Uthmaan Ibn Affaan radhiallahu 'anhu said whoever conquers Spain (Andalus) will be a partner in reward for whoever conquers Qustanteeniyyah. Why did he say that? Because it is the path to Qustanteeniyyah.

When the Muslims reached North Africa (by Morocco), there was a governor there in North Africa called Musa Ibn Nusayr. He was born during the time of Umar Ibn al-Khattaab radhiallahu 'anhu, and he is one of the greatest Islamic heroes. He wanted to expand and there were two directions they could go in - they could go to the desert or they could go to Andalus. They chose Andalus because they wanted to liberate people and deal with people - Muslims deal with people, not with sand. He wanted to conquer Andalus but he faced many obstacles and difficulties. First of all, the water - there was 13km of water they had to cross before they got to Andalus, and him and his army did not have ships. They were also facing the obstacle of crusaders on islands behind them. Before they got to the main enemy, there were little islands behind them and he feared they may attack them from the back if they reached Andalus. He did not have enough Muslim soldiers to face the massive crusader army, and he also had no idea about the geographic details in Andalus. However, he was determined and those obstacles and more only made him even more determined. That is when he began to build ships and he learned that from Mu'aawiyah Ibn Abi Sufyaan radhiallahu 'anhu, because he lived around him and he saw how they build ships. His father was also a close friend of Mu'aawiyah Ibn Abi Sufyaan radhiallahu 'anhu. So he began to build the ships eighty eight years after the Hijrah, which would be about 706 in the western calendar.

If you look at Musa Ibn Nusayr, his biggest accomplishment in preparing was teaching Muslims Islam (especially the new reverts). Do not minimise the structured teaching of Islam. That is the path to victory and without it many get moved by emotions, which he could have done. If you look at Noor ad-Deen and the category of Noor ad-Deen, they prepared men through knowledge and Halaqaat. Many do not know those people. Salah ad-Deen did not just wake up one day, take an army and go fight the crusaders. There was a lot of work done behind the scenes (in teaching) that many do not know about - teaching Islam, Qur'an, Tajweed, Fiqh, Usool and everything.