Hundred Great Muslims

36 Hundred Great Muslims
In the second year of his caliphate, the Romans poured into Syria through
Asia Minor. The garrison at the disposal of Amir Muawiya, Governor of Syria,
was numerically much inferior to the invaders, and could hardly cope with the
situation. The arrival of fresh reinforcements routed the Romans who were
hotly pursued as far as the shores of the Black Sea. Armenia, Azerbaijan and
Asia Minor fell into Muslim hands and Tiflis on the Black Sea, was also captured.
In 32 A.H., Amir Muawiya laid siege to Constantinople. Strong fortifications
were raised on the frontiers in order to check further Roman inroads into
Muslim lands.
The Romans had set up in Egypt and West Africa spring boards for the
invasion of Muslim lands. They captured Alexandria in 25 A.H. (646 A.C.)
but Muslims under the command of Amr bin al-Aas soon recovered it. Gregory,
the Roman Commander of Tripoli, had a strong army of 120,000 soldiers under
his command. It was a constant menace to the neighbouring Muslim State.
A strong contingent which included great veterans like Abdullah bin Zubair,
was hurriedly despatched from Medina to face the desperate situation. The
Romans offered a stubborn resistance, but, at last, with the fall of their commander
at the hand of Abdulla bin Zubair, their resistance crumbled down and
they were routed with heavy losses.
It was during Usman's reign that the Muslims first launched a naval warfare.
Earlier, Muawiya was prevented by the Caliph to attack Cyprus, which was a
Roman stronghold alongside Syria and was a constant danger for her security. It
was from this strategic island that the Romans made repeated incursions on the
Syrian coast. Hazrat Usman allowed Muawiya, under certain conditions, to
invade the island. Muawiya built a strong naval fleet, which was the first of its
kind in Islam. Curiously enough, Cyprus was occupied by the Syrians, without
much resistance.
In 31 A.H. (654 A.C.), the Romans launched an invasion of Egypt with
500 ships. The Muslim Governor of Egypt met them with a small fleet. He tied
his ships with one another and in a hand to hand fight inflicted a crushing
defeat upon the Romans. This established the reputation of Muslim Navy in
the Eastern Mediterranean.
The reasons underlying the dissensions among the Muslims which
culminated in an open revolt against the authority of an elected Caliph are
manifold. But the main factor at the back of this conspiracy was a hatred for
Muslim power, which Ibn Saba and his followers wanted to fan from Within.
The democratic principles practised in Islam and the simplicity as well as the
piety of Hazrat Usman who, at any cost, could not contemplate the horrid
prospect of bloodshed among the Muslims, gave a free hand to the conspirators
to malign and undermine his regime. The entreaties of the Administrators of
affected provinces to be allowed to deal firmly with the agitators could not
move the pious Caliph.