Gems Of Ramadan ✔

DAY 22 - 'AYN JAALOOT IN RAMADHAAN PART 1

Throughout this month, we spoke mostly about spiritual matters. We gave a little talk about Spain, and today Inshaa Allah we will mention another historic victory that Allah blessed this Ummah with in Ramadhaan.

This Ummah needs to have a bond with its honourable beginning. This is an Ummah that will not be a righteous Ummah, unless it knows about its beginning – it has to have ties to its early generations. There is no good in an Ummah that has leaders who taint and twist the glorious history – those who make it seem like it is the norm that Muslims should always live defeated and surrenderous, and Muslims are always supposed to live under tyranny and oppression. The submission is to the enemies of Allah – deluded in their Deen and lacking in their manhood.
The final ten days of Ramadhaan commemorate worship, but at the same time the final ten days of Ramadhaan commemorate defeats of some of the worst enemies of Allah. The defeat of the Tartar and The Battle of ‘Ayn Jaaloot – the battle that put an end to the transgression of an empire that massacred the Muslims for a long time. That was 658 after the Hijrah, on the 25th day of Ramadhaan. The Mongols came out of the area of China and their first leader was Jinkeez Khaan (جنكيز خان) (Genghis Khan). Just to give you a brief introduction, you will know what they were about and how arrogant they were when you know what the name of their leader (Jinkeez Khaan) means. It means the compeller of the universe, the king of all kings and the strongest of all the strong, depending on the variations in translations.

He was a man who loved bloodshed, but at the same time he had the ability to gather people. He took advantage of the weak Ummah, even though the Islamic Ummah back then was nearly half of the globe. Back then it went from the borders of China down to Asia, down to Africa, and down to Europe and Spain. Nearly half of the globe was for the Muslims, but there were divisions and problems – things that the Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam warned about. It is not about numbers and it is not about size, it is about being close and near to Allah.

There was the Khilaafah Abbaasiyyah, but it was a mere name and not a reality. They were busy gaining wealth and making sure that they remain leaders, and not caring about the Ummah and neglecting the Ummah. That was in Iraq and then if you move a little bit down to Egypt, ash-Shaam, Hijaaz and Yemen – it was under the rule of some of the descendants of Salah ad-Deen al-Ayyoobi, but they were nothing like their father. They cared about power and they split the solid nation that their father established and united – the nation he took off from to destroy the crusaders in Hitteen. The kids and grandkids of Salah ad-Deen brought that strong nation into ruins with their divisions, problems and love of leadership. There were small kingdoms, each one fighting and quarrelling with the other over power.

To make this introduction short so we can get to our talk, it is sufficient to know a paragraph that Ibn al-Atheer wrote in his book on the situation back then. Ibn al-Atheer is one of the top Islamic historians, and this is in his book Al-Kaamil Fit-Taareekh (الكامل في التاريخ). When he talks about it, he says I remained silent about this dark era for a long time. For years, I tried to avoid writing about it. I put a leg forward and a leg backwards, hesitant to write about this era and what the Muslims went through. I wish my mother never gave birth to me, I wish I died before this, I wish I was forgotten and out of sight. Ibn al-Atheer is in agony – he is melting in agony over atrocities that happened back then. Basically, if you say it was among the biggest massacres this earth has seen since the time of Aadam, you would probably be accurate and not exaggerating. Anything close to it would be what Bukhtanasar did to Bani Isra’eel back in Bayt al-Maqdis, five hundred and sixty three years before Eesa ‘alayhis-salaam. It was a massacre.
Ibn al-Atheer goes on to say a woman from the Tartar would enter a house with men, women and children, she would kill the men, women and children, and not one would even think to defend himself because of the defeatist, surrenderous and enslaved mentality. Not a single person in that area would think to defend themselves. He goes on to say I was told that in Muraaghah (مراغة), a man from the Tartar would enter an area with a hundred men, he would kill one after another and not a single one of them would raise his hands or even try to defend himself or his brothers.