The Biography of Uthman Ibn Affan R Dhun Noorayn

Conquests on the Egyptian front 297
five hundred ships and headed towards 'Abd-Alltih ibn
Sa'd bn Abi'l-Sarh and the Muslims in the Maghreb.
0 Tare& al-Umam al-~slami~~ah[~~ makes no mention of
where the battle took place either.[21
Dr. Shawqi Abu Khaleel thinks it most likely that the battle
took place off the coast of Alexandria, for the following reasons:
0 The book al-Nujoom al-Zihirahfi Mulook Misr wa'l-Qiihirak
clearly states that the battle of Dhtit al-Sawtiri took place
on the sea, near Ale~andria.~~]
0 The Tareekh of Ibn Kh~ldoon[~~ says: Then Ibn Abi'lSarh
sent out detachments and they subjugated many lands,
and they obeyed him and he went back to Egypt. When
Ibn Abi'l-Sarh had achieved what he achieved in North
Africa and gone back to Egypt, Constantine the son of
Heraclius set out to attack Alexandria with six hundred
ships.
0 Although the Arab sources did not describe the precise
location of the battle, they made a connection between
this battle and the Byzantine losses in North Africa.
The Byzantine navy had a long history and had been in
control of the Mediterranean before Dhtit al-Saw&, so it
was more audacious in attacking the Muslim coastlines.
Hence Dr Shawqi Abu Khaleel thinks it most likely that
the Byzantine navy came to the coast of Alexandria in
order to regain it, because of its importance to the
Byzantines and because its people had written to their
previous ruler. By regaining Alexandria they would be
able to destroy the new navy that the Arabs had started to
build in Alexandria and nip it in the bud, thus regaining
control over the waters and islands of the Mediterranean.
['I al-Shaykh al-Khudri, 2/29
!" Dhiit al-Sawin, p. 62
al-Nujoom al-Ztkirah, 1/80
Tareekh roll Khuldoon, 2/468