“O Allah
be Thou witness, that I have taken Thy Message up to the end of the land and if
this ocean were not in my way I would have proceeded to fight the pagans until
none would be worshipped except Thee.”Uqbah (“Akbah” bin Nafi - 622-683) on his
conquest to the westernmost.
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| Uqbah RA leading his army in conquest of Western Sahara. |
The
breeze of the southern sea greeted with comforting feel on his cheek. His gaze
was staring far into the ocean across the invisible. His hand grasped the sword
blade. But his spell that had gone far, defeating the falsehoods was not able
to cast a bit of joy in his heart. Her heart is restless and glum.
His
eyes were up to the sky. "O Allah, if not for the ocean that prevents me,
I will prepare my arm forces to spread the great sentence of your “Syahadah”, I
will advance in order to uphold the Syari'at of Islam in the western kingdom. I
will unite all the empires under this noble banner I will fight against the defamatory
falsehoods to receive the holy message of You O Allah. "
Saiyidina
Uqbah Ibn Nafi RA 'stared back at his army. Then he got up from his moody
service, re-set his steps towards his army. His heart ticked, "If the vast
ocean cannot weaken me, there is still a world that has not yet received the
beauty of this noble teaching. Come on! We continue our struggle. "
Starting
from the coast of Tangier in the Atlantic Ocean, Uqbah Ibn Nafi 'and his troops
are on their way to the south. Armed with the mandate of the Caliph Muawiyah,
they have mastered all of North Africa from Qairawan in Tunisia, to Fezzan and
eventually to the city of Elzab and Tahret.
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| Qairawan Mosque 3 Gates - 1880. |
"Praise be to Allah, Lord the
worlds", he was unafraid in his heart to think that there was still a
group of people who did not glorify Allah. His soul burns to make sure his life
will release the bonds of humanity in this world towards Ilah other than Allah.
Is the spirit of jihad flourish in our souls? The souls of the da’ie should be
fresh flowers with a sense of uplifting Islam throughout the world. Seeing
ignorance, let alone the disobedience will manifest feelings of discontent and
anger for us to eliminate any form of contravention. Sadly the situations now
are that the average youth out there is less sensitive. Indirectly flashed the
sense of spreading Islam but there is not a sense of pride in Islam.
However, the burning spirit needs to
be well-formed. It is useless if the spirit comes from its origin but
eventually goes out with only water-splashes. Mihnah-mihnah who makes these
streets often causes us to stray and more sadly lead us ashtray far from our
goal. Therefore, it is important for us to go through tarbiyah processes that
will help us organize the best possible steps.
Saiyidina Uqbah Ibn Nafi RA 'is not
only known as a war commander or general who is able to force his troops to
rally the ranks of the enemy, but he is also known as fair amateurs capable of
governing a kingdom. The city of Qairawan was founded and became the center of
Islamic governance in North Africa.
 |
| The outer wall of Qairawan. |
The purpose of Saiyidina Uqbah Ibn
Nafi RA is to make Qairawan the center of Islam in North Africa, among them to
develop Islamic teachings in the region. It is useless if many conquests are
done but there is no follow-up to show the beauty of Islam to the locals.
Tarbiyah should be implemented and emphasized that new converts to Islam fully
understand and can feel the true beauty of Islam. In addition, the
establishment of the city will also facilitate Islamic soldiers dating from
Damascus to teach Muslims to the locals and within.
The interesting lesson here is Saiyidina
Uqbah Ibn Nafi RA 'fully implement the Sunnah of Rasulullah ﷺ in spreading his teachings. Rasulullah
ﷺ was earnest in spreading the
teachings of Islam in which he not only focuses on certain people, but he is
equally entertained and not tired of expelling people back to his nature to put
their creators on. Even to the disbelievers, he treats their feelings even when
he is scorned. (Rasulullah ﷺ story with
a blind Jew, where he will daily feed the Jews. The Jews scorned and insulted
him without him knowing that feeding the food to him was the Messenger of Allah).
Until his death, where Saidina Abu Bakar Sidiq RA took over the task. However,
the Jews can feel the disparity in which the first ones are not as soft as the second people who feed him. When asked Saidina Abu Bakr
Sidiq RA who shed tears and uncovers
the secrets since the first time that the person was none other than Rasulullah
ﷺ himself. Then the Jew cried and
declared his Islam. Just as Saidina Uqbah Ibn Nafi RA, he shows "uswatun
hasanah" that causes the flocks of the original inhabitants and the
surrounding inhabitants of the masses of Berbers to embrace Islam.
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| Inside view of Al Qairawan Mosque. |
The interesting lesson here is that we
do not choose who we want to preach but the important thing is we work all the
time to attract people back to Islam. We do not choose or filter people instead
we always think of ways and try to preach. Examples of Rasulullah ﷺ have shown us that we can do so. Like
the promise of Allah in Surah Muhammad, verse 7:
"O ye Believers, if ye help
Allah, He will help you, and establish you."
In the town of Qairawan there are also
interesting stories mentioned about him. It is narrated that he once prayed
that "O Allah, let us be safe from all beasts and dangers." At that
time, Qairawan was known as a place full of wild and toxic beasts like tigers
and snakes. After he had prayed, locals saw many of the animals migrating
elsewhere. This caused them to be drawn between the factors that caused them to
embrace Islam. In addition, he also prayed to Allah to prosper Qairawan and
make it one of the centers of Islam. So far, this city, Qairawan is well-known
as one of the most valuable cities of Islamic heritage as well as being the
leading center of Islamic spread in northern Africa.
Uqbah Bin Nafi RA – The Conqueror of
North Africa.
The years 665 to 689 saw a new
Arab conquest of North Africa. This time
under the able leader ship of Saidina Uqbah bin Nafi RA.
It began to protect Egypt "from
flank attack by Byzantine Cyrene". So "an army of more than 40,000
Muslims advanced through the desert to Barca, took it, and marched to the
neighborhood of Carthage", defeats a defending Byzantine army of 20,000 in
the process.
Next came a force of 10,000 Arabs led
by the Arab general Saidina Uqbah bin Nafi RA and enlarged by thousands of
others. Departing from Damascus, the army marched into North Africa and took
the vanguard. In 670 the city of Qairawan (roughly 150 kilometers [80 mi] south
of modern Tunis) was established as a refuge and base for further operations.
This would become the capital of the Islamic province of Ifriqiya, which would
cover the coastal regions of today's western Libya, Tunisia, and eastern
Algeria.
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| Top view of the main esplanade of The Great Qairawan Mosque |
Uqbah Bin Nafi RA the fearless general
"plunged into the heart of the country, traversed the wilderness in which
his successors erected the splendid capitals of Fes and Morocco, and at length
penetrated to the verge of the Atlantic and the great desert". In his
conquest of the Maghreb (western North Africa) he besieged the coastal city of
Bugia as well as Tingi or Tangier, overwhelming what had once been the
traditional Roman province of Mauretania Tingitana.
But here he was stopped and partially
repulsed. In their conquest against the Byzantines and the Berbers, the Arab
chieftains had greatly extended their African dominions, and as early as the
year 682 Saidina Uqbah Bin Nafi RA had reached the shores of the Atlantic, but
he was unable to occupy Tangier, for he was forced to turn back toward the
Atlas Mountains by a man who became known to history and legend as Count
Julian.
But Saidina Uqbah Bin Nafi RA did it during
the second half of the first century Hijrah. If Saidina Amr ibn Al Aas RA is
called the conqueror of Egypt, Saidina Uqbah Bin Nafi RA can be called the
conqueror of Africa that includes present-day Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and
Morocco up to the Atlantic shores.
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| Qairawan Mosque - World Heritage Recognition. |
Uqba bin Nafe was born in Makkah one
year before the Hijrah of Rasulullah ﷺ. His father
Nafe bin Qais Al Fahri of Quraish had already embraced Islam. Thus Saidina
Uqbah bin Nafi RA was brought up in a Muslim environment. He was closely
related to Amr ibn Al Aas through his mother’s side. He accompanied his father
Nafi during the campaign of Amr ibn Al Aas RA in Egypt. After the conquest of
Egypt, Amr sent him to conquer the West.
In 50 Hijrah, Saidina Uqbah bin Nafi
RA, as the commander of the Muslim forces, crossed the Egyptian deserts and set
up military posts at regular intervals along his route, in a territory now
known as Tunisia. He established the city called Qairawan, about 160 kilometers
south of present-day Tunis. He used it as an advance post for future
operations.
Saidina Uqbah bin Nafi RA marched
hundreds of miles without any major confrontation. After crossing the territory
now named as Tunisia, Libya, Algeria and Morocco, he triumphantly reached up to
the shores of the Atlantic Ocean.
When Saidina Uqbah bin Nafi RA reached
the region, he selected a strategic site for his future camp city.
As the first step Uqba laid the
foundation of a grand mosque, which became a center for scholars and the first
Muslim institute on the continent. The mosque is known as the Mosque of Uqba in
Qairawan or the grand mosque of Qairawan.
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| The Well of Uqbah bin Nafi RA |
Saidina Uqbah bin Nafi RA was deposed
by Muawiyah Caliphate in 55 AH. He gladly accepted the order and passed the
command to Abu Mahajer Dinar, who later reached victoriously up to Tanja whose
Berber ruler, Kusaila accepted Islam. Saidina Uqbah bin Nafi RA was again designated
as commander of Maghrib in 62 AH. He marched westward and reached up to Tahert
where a large Roman army confronted them. Muslims were small in number and away
from their supply base. But Saidina Uqbah bin Nafi RA gave a great inspiring
speech to his fighters which energized them and they fought furiously defeating
the rival force. Later Saidina Uqbah bin Nafi RA marched triumphantly up to
Sous and then to the sea coast. He galloped his horse into Atlantic Ocean and,
according to another source, said the words which are recorded on the forehead
of Islamic history that “O Lord be Thou witness, that I have taken Thy Message
up to the end of the land and if this ocean were not in my way I would have
proceeded to fight the pagans until none would be worshipped except Thee.”
After this grand victory Saidina Uqbah
bin Nafi RA returned toward his base in Qairawan. When he reached Tanja, he
dispersed his force and kept a small contingent of about 300 fighters with him.
The enemy found an opportunity. Berber chief Kusaila who had embraced Islam
turned away and joined the Romans with his force. Thus a large enemy force
attacked small Muslim contingent. Saidina Uqbah bin Nafi RA told Abu Mahajer
Dinar to proceed to Qairawan and take the command. Saidina Uqbah bin Nafi RA said:
“I desire a martyrdom for me”. Abu Mahajer replied, “I also desire a martyrdom
for me”.
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| Tomb of Saidina Uqbah bin Nafi RA. |
They fought bravely and all the 300
fighters were martyred. They were buried at a place later called Sidi Uqbah in
Algeria and a mosque was built at that place. Uqbah’s descendants are still
found in the area stretching from Lake Chad region to Mauritania’s coast. The
trans-Sahel Arab tribe of “Kounta” traces its origins to Uqba, in Algeria,
Tunisia and Libya. Some of his descendants are known as Aulad Sidi Uqbah. That
is how Saidina Uqbah bin Nafi RA sacrificed his life for the sake of Islam at
the distant part of the world.
His heroic story was supposed to be
emulated where he often sought to uphold the word of Allah. In addition, the
missionary effort shown should be an example in which he is always trying to
bring people back to Islam regardless of their status and dignity. Saidina
Uqbah Ibn Nafi RA also often places the problem of the people as a priority
where he does not return to Damascus instead of establishing the city of
Qairawan to be the center of spreading Islam as well as the center of tarbiyah
to the surrounding people..
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| Area of Conquest by Saidina Uqbah bin Nafi RA from Egypt to Morocco. |
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| Modern day - City of Biskra - where The Great Qairawan Mosque located. |
