If I were to tell you that in less than 30 years, a small state in Nigeria would take over the United States and large portions of the United Kingdom, what would you say?
Okay granted, lame analogy. Couldn’t think of anything else.
Point is, no one could’ve foreseen a group of Arab Muslims obliterating the entire Sassanide Empire and taking up slices of the Byzantine Empire; but when Allah is by your side, “impossible” is nonexistent.
Now let’s talk about how Sa’d bin Abi Waqqās رضي الله عنه led the Muslims to conquer the capital of the Persian Empire—Ctesiphon, also knows as Madā’in—by the will of Allah.
It was called the Battle of Qādisiyyah.
Fighting the Persians was tough for the Muslims, because they had elephants that were completely covered in armor. During the battle of Qādisiyyah, the Persians had the upper hand at first till Sa’ad told the Muslims to aim for the eyes of the elephants.
By the will of Allah, the Muslims won, even though they were outnumbered.
Keep in mind that Sa’d was amongst the earliest converts; he was amongst the ten promised jannah; he was there when the Muslims suffered persecution in Makkah; he was there when the boycott happened; he was there when they had to make Hijrah. Now here you have Sa’d, marching into the palace of Kisrah. SubhanAllah!!
And who was next to him? Salman Al Farisi رضي الله عنه. Salman left Persia in pursuit of the true religion, was sold into slavery, spent his whole like searching for the truth, and Allah honored him by giving him Islam and making him return home as a conqueror.
Fi sabilillah who could’ve ever predicted this?
And what did they do when they walked down the halls? Sa’d called the adhan!!! They stood for salah in the palace of Kisrah and prayed 8 raka’aat to thank Allah.
To put things into perspective, here’s a picture of Ctesiphon.
SubhanAllah from persecution in Makkah to conquering this in a lifetime.
Allahu Akbar!!
The takeout lessons here are things we know but always forget to remember:
وَمَن يَتَّقِ اللَّهَ يَجْعَل لَّهُ مَخْرَجًا
وَيَرْزُقْهُ مِنْ حَيْثُ لَا يَحْتَسِبُ
وَمَن يَتَوَكَّلْ عَلَى اللَّهِ فَهُوَ حَسْبُهُ
إِنَّ اللَّهَ بَالِغُ أَمْرِهِ
قَدْ جَعَلَ اللَّهُ لِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدْرًا
The promise of Allah is true: safeguard Him, and He will grant you ‘izzah; safeguard Him, and victory will be yours in this world and the next.
When Allah is with you then who/what else would you need?
Allah preserved these stories for us for a reason; don’t just listen and say “wow” without letting it affect your life. This is a reminder: whatever it is you’re going through, victory is with Allah SWT.
May Allah grant us the companionship of His Rasūl SAW and the Sahaba in Jannah.
xoxo. مع السلام
Assalaamu Alaykum
This hit hard. I needed this rn. Jazakillah khairan