History of Islam Vol 3 of 3 by Akbar Shah Najeebabadi

128
The History of Islam
The number of Muslim troops rose
to fifty thousands. As the Muslim
force advanced towards the north, the Christian troops concentrated in
Simancas. The Christians fortified the city and made a trench in front of
it along with having a huge army. Ramiro was the Commander-in-chief
of the
allied Christian forces and Umayyah bin Ishaq was his supporter
and adviser. The Muslim army initiated the attack and the Christian
troops came out to meet the challenge. The Christians were defeated in
every engagement. A few days after the initial engagements, the
Christian force was besieged in the fortifications of Simancas. The
Muslim force
walls one after another.
advanced into the fortifications and they conquered three
But as they crossed the last wall, the Christian
troops snipped at the surrounded Muslim army and they could not
move ahead or go back and they fell into the trenches only to die. Only
49 fighters were able to save their lives and Abdur Rahman III was the
50th person to remain alive. He was pulled out of the trench with much
difficulty. Ramiro wanted to send a squadron in pursuit of the fifty men
including Sultan Abdur Rahman HI but Umayyah bin Ishaq advised
against this risky step for the Muslim force might attack from an
ambush. Abdur Rahman suffered an immense setback. Never since the
first
Muslims had set foot on the soil of Spain had the Muslims suffered
such a heavy setback. The battle was known as the Battle of Trenches.
When Umayyah bin Ishaq at the end of the bloody battle witnessed the
battlefield
filled with the dead bodies of fifty thousand Muslims, he was
shocked to the core and repented his mistake and his conscience
reproved him for what he had done. He sent a petition to the Sultan
seeking pardon for his fault and he deserted the Christians. Having
returned to
Cordova Sultan Abdur Rahman built a huge army and sent
lt
the Christian countries. It went on beating and defeating the
Christian forces
and deprived them of taking advantage of the Muslim
setback of the Battle of Trenches. The Muslim force reached to the
French territories and returned with a large amount of booty.
The Abbasid Caliphate suffers
The same year, 327 A.H., the Abbasid Caliph Muqtadir was
assassinated and the Fatimids laid their claim to the caliphate. In view of
the absence of any threat from the Abbasid caliphate and the Fatimids