The Origins of the Islamic State/Part 7/Chapter 1

by Aḥmad ibn Yaḥyá al-Balādhurī

PART VII

ISLANDS IN THE SEA

CHAPTER I

The Conquest of Certain Islands in the Sea

Sicily. The first to invade Sicily^[1] was Muʿâwiyah ibn-Ḥudaij al-Kindi^[2] in the days of Muʿâwiyah ibn-abi-Sufyân. It was continually invaded after that. The descendants of al-Aghlab ibn-Sâlim al-Ifrîḳi conquered more than 20 cities in it, which are still in the hands of the Moslems. In the caliphate of al-Mutawakkil, Aḥmad ibn-Muḥammad ibn-al-Aghlab reduced in it the Yânah castle and Ghalyânah^[3] fortress.

It is stated by al-Wâḳidi that ʿAbdallâh ibn-Ḳais ibn-Makhlad ad-Dizaḳi plundered Sicily and carried off idols of gold and silver studded with pearls, which he sent to Muʿâwiyah. Muʿâwiyah sent them to al-Baṣrah to be carried into India and sold there with a view to getting a higher price for them.

Rhodes. Muʿâwiyah ibn-abi-Sufyân sent expeditions by sea and by land. He sent to Rhodes^[4] Junâdah ibn-abi-Umaiyah-l-Azdi. Junâdah was one of those on whose authority traditions were reported. He had chance to meet abu-Bakr, ʿUmar and Muʿadh ibn-Jabal, and died in the year 80. Junâdah took Rhodes by force. Rhodes was a thicket in the sea. In pursuance of Muʿâwiyah's order, Junâdah caused Moslems to settle in it. This took place in the year 52.

Rhodes is one of the most fertile of all islands, and is about sixty miles in size. It is rich in olive trees, vineyards, fruits and fresh water.

Muḥammad ibn-Saʿd from al-Wâḳidi and others:—The Moslems occupied Rhodes for seven years, living in a fort made for them. At the death of Muʿâwiyah, Yazîd wrote to Junâdah ordering him to destroy the fort and return. Muʿâwiyah used to alternate its occupants, making them live there in turns. Mujâhid ibn-Jabr^[5] lived in it and taught the Koran.

Arwâd. In the year 54, Junâdah ibn-abi-Umaiyah reduced Arwâd,^[6] and Muʿâwiyah made the Moslems settle in it. Among those who took part in conquering it was Mujâhid and Tubaiʿ,^[7] a son of Kaʿb al-Aḥbâr's^[8] wife. It was here that Mujâhid taught Tubaiʿ the Koran. Others say that he did it in Rhodes. This Arwâd is an island lying near Constantinople [al-Ḳusṭanṭînîyah].

Crete. Junâdah led a razzia against Crete [Iḳrîṭish],^[9] a part of which he conquered at the time of al-Walîd. Later, the island was lost to the Moslems. In the caliphate of ar-Rashîd it was invaded again by Ḥumaid ibn-Maʿyûḳ al-Ḥamdâni, who reduced a part of it. In the caliphate of al-Maʾmûn, it was invaded by abu-Ḥafṣ ʿUmar ibn-ʿÎsa-l-Andalusi, known by the name of al-Iḳrîṭishi, who first reduced one fort and occupied it. Then he kept on reducing one part after another until none of the Greeks were left. He also dismantled their forts.

Footnotes

1. Ar. Siḳilliyah. Idrîsi, "Italy", in Nuzhat al-Mushtâḳ fi-Ikhtirâḳ al-Âfâk, pp. 57–58 (Rome, 1878).
2. Kindi, pp. 17–19, 27–30.
3. Cf. Idrîsi, "Italy", p. 49; Amari, Bibliotheca Arabo-Sicula, p. 60.
4. Rûdis. See Kindi, p. 38.
5. Kindi, p. 39.
6. Ṭabari, vol. ii, p. 163.
7. Ṭabari, vol. ii, p. 163; Dhahabi, p. 69.
8. A Jewish rabbi of Ḥimyar converted to Islâm in the time of ʿUmar. Muir, Annals, p. 236, note 1.
9. Idrîsi, "Italy", p. 19; Rustah, p. 85; "Iḳrîṭiyah".