"...Like Kings On Thrones."

When Mu‛awiyah ibn abu Sufyaan (may Allah be pleased with them both) was the governor of Syria, he urged ‛Umar ibn al-Khaṭaab (may Allah be pleased with him) to Campaign by sea, and told him how close the Byzantines were to Homs.

Mu‛awiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) said, “In one of the villages of Horns, the people can hear the barking of their dogs and the crowing of their roosters.”

‛Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) was almost convinced, and he wrote to ‛Amr ibn al-‛Aas (may Allah be pleased with him) saying, “describe to me the sea and those who sail on it, for I Am thinking about it. ‛Amr (may Allah be pleased with him) wrote back to him, saying, “It is like a huge creature being ridden by a small creature; if it stays still it will scare you and if it moves it will make you lose your mind; there is no certainty about it and great doubts about it. They (sailors) are like worms on a stick; if it tilts they will drown and if it is saved you will be astonished.” When‛Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) read the letter of ‛Amr (may Allah be pleased with him), he wrote back to

Mu‛awiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) saying, “No, by the One Who sent Muhammad with the truth, I will never let a Muslim campaign by sea. By Allah, a Muslim is dearer to me than all that the Byzantines have. Stop suggesting that to me.”

The idea kept nagging at Mu‛awiyah (may Allah be pleased with him); he saw the Byzantines and their land, and kept hoping to conquer it. When ‛Uthmaan (may Allah be pleased with him) became the caliph, he brought the matter up again and urged ‛Uthmaan (may Allah be pleased with him) to consider it.
‛Uthmaan (may Allah be pleased with him) replied by saying, “I am aware of how ‛Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) responded when you asked him for permission to campaign by sea.”
Then Mu‛awiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) wrote to him again, trying to convince him that it was no major thing to travel by sea to Cyprus.
‛Uthmaan (may Allah be pleased with him) wrote back to him saying, “If you take your wife with you, then you have our permission to go, otherwise no.”

‛Uthmaan (may Allah be pleased with him) stipulated further conditions by saying, “Do not select people and do not draw lots; give them the choice, and whoever chooses to go willingly, let him go with you and help him.” When Mu‛awiyah read the letter of ‛Uthmaan (may Allah be pleased with them both) he started mobilizing people to travel by sea to Cyprus.

Mu‛awiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) wrote to the people on the coast ordering them to repair their ships and bring them close to the coast in Palestine at ‛Akka (Acre), which he had refurbished so that the Muslims could travel from there to Cyprus.


Mu‛awiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) prepared the ships needed to transport the campaigning army, and he took the port of ‛Akka as the point of departure for the ships, of which there were many. He took his wife Faakhitah bint Qarzah with him, and ‛Ubaadah ibn aṣ-Ṣamit also took his wife, Umm Ḥaraam bint Milhan (may Allah be pleased with them all), with him on that campaign.

This Umm Ḥaraam (may Allah be pleased with her) is the lady mentioned in the famous hadith. It was narrated from Anas ibn Maalik (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (May the Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) used to enter upon Umm Ḥaraam bint Milhan and she would give him food. Umm Ḥaraam was married to ‛Ubaadah ibn aṣ-Ṣamit. One day the Messenger of Allah (May the Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) entered upon her, and she provided him with food and started grooming his head. Then the Messenger of Allah (May the Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) slept, then he woke up smiling. Umm Ḥaraam (may Allah be pleased with her) asked, "What is making you smile, O Messenger of Allah?" He (May the Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) said, “Some people of my ummah were shown to me (in my dream) campaigning for the sake of Allah, sailing in the middle of the sea like kings on thrones."
Umm Ḥaraam (may Allah be pleased with her) added, "I said, 'O Messenger of Allah! Pray to Allah to make me one of them" So the Messenger of Allah (May the Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) prayed to Allah for her and then laid his head down (and slept). Then he woke up smiling (again). (Umm Ḥaraam added), I said, "What is making you smile, O Messenger of Allah? He (May the Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) said, "Some people of my ummah were shown to me (in my dream) campaigning for the sake of Allah." He (May the Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) said the same as he had said before. I (Umm Ḥaraam) said, "O Messenger of Allah! Pray to Allah to make me one of them." He (May the Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) said, "You will be among the first ones." Then Umm Ḥaraam (may Allah be pleased with her) sailed across the sea during the time of Mu‛awiyah ibn abu Sufyaan (may Allah be pleased with them both), and she fell down from her riding animal after coming ashore, and died.

Although Mu‛awiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) did not force the people to go out on this campaign, a huge army of Muslims set out with him, which indicates that this world and everything in it were insignificant to the Muslims, and they did not care about it even though its doors were open to them and they were all enjoying its luxuries.

The Muslims had come to learn that that which is with Allah is better and more lasting, and that Allah had chosen them to support His religion, establish justice, spread virtue and strive to make the religion of Allah prevail over all else. They believed that this was their true mission, and that jihad for the sake of Allah was the way to attain Allah's pleasure. If they fell short in their mission and failed to fulfil their duties, Allah would withhold His support from them in this world and deprive them of His pleasure in the Hereafter, and that would be a true loss. Because of that, they rushed to go with Mu‛awiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) and raced to embark on the ships. Perhaps they were aware of the hadeeth of Umm Ḥaraam (may Allah be pleased with her) and it motivated them to go out and fight for the sake of Allah, in confirmation of the hadeeth of the Messenger of Allah (May the Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him). That was at the end of winter in 28 AH (649 CE)

The Muslims travelled from Syria, embarking from the port of ‛Akka and heading for Cyprus. The Muslims landed on the coast and Ḥaraam (may Allah be pleased with her) went to ride her mount, but the animal spooked and Ḥaraam (may Allah be pleased with her) fell to the ground and broke her neck and died. The Muslims left Umm Ḥaraam (may Allah be pleased with her) after burying her on the island, as a symbol of the extent of the sacrifices made by the Muslims for the sake of spreading their religion, and her grave became known there as the grave of a righteous woman.

Mu‛awiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) held a meeting with his companions, among whom was Abu Ayyoob al-Anṣaari, Abu ad-Dardaa’, Abu Dhar al-Ghafaary, ‛Ubaadah ibn aṣ-Ṣamit and many more of the companions (may Allah be pleased with them all) of the Messenger of Allah (May the Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him). They discussed among themselves, then sent word to the people of Cyprus telling them that they were not invading to take over their island, rather they wanted to call them to the religion of Allah, then secure the borders of the Islamic state in Syria, because the Byzantines were using Cyprus as a rest station during their campaigns and taking provisions from it when their supplies ran low, thus it posed a threat to Syria, which was at its mercy. If the Muslims could not be certain that this island was at peace with them and subjugated to their will, then it would remain a thorn in their sides and an arrow aimed at their border. But the inhabitants of the island did not submit to the invaders and did not open their land to them, rather they barricaded themselves in their capital and did not come out to confront the Muslims. The islanders were waiting for the Byzantines to come and save them.

The Muslims came to the capital of Cyprus (Qustantina) and besieged it, but it was only a few hours before the people asked for a peace treaty, and the Muslims granted them that. They offered conditions to the Muslims and the Muslims stipulated conditions. The condition stipulated by the people of Cyprus was that the Muslims should not stipulate any condition that would cause trouble for them with the Byzantines, because they could not handle them and were not able to fight them.
The Muslims' conditions were:
1- The Muslims would not defend the island if it was attacked by outsiders
2- The islanders would tell the Muslims about the movements of their Byzantine enemies
3- The islanders would give the Muslims seven thousand and two hundred dinars every year
4- They would not help the Byzantines if they tried to attack the Muslim lands, or tell them about their secrets.

Then the Muslims returned to Syria. This campaign proved the ability of the Muslims to engage in naval campaigns with competence and gave them the opportunity to gain experience in fighting this kind of battle against an enemy who was always watching for an opportunity to attack them in Syria or Alexandria.

A few years passed in 32 AH, the people of Cyprus came under intense pressure from the Byzantines, who forced them to send ships to the Byzantine army with which to attack the Muslim lands. Thus the Cypriots broke the conditions of the treaty. When Mu‛awiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) learned of the Cypriots' betrayal, he decided to invade the island and bring it under Muslim control. The Muslims attacked the island, the army of Mu‛awiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) attacked it from one side and ‛Abdullah ibn Sa‛d ibn Abu as-Sarḥ (may Allah be pleased with him) attacked it from the other, and they killed many people and captured many prisoners, and seized a great deal of booty. Under pressure from the Muslim forces, the ruler of Cyprus had no choice but to yield to the conquerors and seek a (new) treaty with them, and Mu‛awiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) agreed to the same conditions as in the first treaty, however this time Mu‛awiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) did not want to leave them without a guard stationed on the island to protect it from enemy raids and establish security so that they would not rebel against the Muslims. So he sent twelve thousand troops and brought a group from Baalabek, and he built a city there, complete with a mosque, and paid a stipend to the troops. Things continued in this vein, with the island at peace and the Muslims safe from sudden attacks by the Byzantines.

The Muslims noticed that the Cypriots had no military forces and they were being oppressed by those who attacked them, and they realized that the Byzantines were controlling them and subjugating them to their own interests. So they felt it was their duty to protect them from Byzantine oppression and prevent the Byzantines from taking control of them. Ismaa‛il ibn ‛Ayyash (may Allah be pleased with him) said, “The people of Cyprus are being humiliated and oppressed by the Byzantines who control their affairs and their women; it is our duty to protect them.”

During this campaign, when Abu ad-Dardaa’ (may Allah be pleased with him) saw the enemy prisoners, he wept and said, “How insignificant are the people to Allah if they disobey Him. Look at these people: they were powerful and prevailed over their enemies, but when they ignored the commands of Allah - may He be glorified and exalted - and disobeyed Him, they ended up as you see.” According to another report, Jubayr ibn Nufayr (may Allah have mercy on him) said to him, “Why are you weeping when Allah has caused Islam and its people to prevail?”

Abu ad-Dardaa’ (may Allah be pleased with him) said, “Woe to you, this was a powerful nation that prevailed, but when they neglected the commands of Allah, they ended up as you see. Allah has punished them by making them prisoners. And when a people end up prisoners, Allah has no need of them.” He said, “How insignificant are the people to Allah if they disobey him.”