Muhammad bin Qasim
Muhammad bin Qasim's full name was Imad al-Din Muhammad bin Qasim, who was the nephew of Hajjaj bin Yusuf, a famous general of Banu Umayyah. Muhammad Bin Qasim introduced Islam in India by conquering Sindh at the age of 17.
Due to this great victory, he has the honor of a hero among the Muslims of India and Pakistan, and that is why Sindh is called "Bab al-Islam" because the door of Islam to India opened from here. Muhammad bin Qasim was born in Taif in 694 AD. .
His father was considered among the prominent members of the family. When Hajjaj bin Yusuf was appointed as the governor of Iraq, he appointed prominent people of the Thaqfi family to various positions. Among them was Muhammad's father Qasim who held the governorship of Basra.
Thus Muhammad Bin Qasim's initial training took place in Basra. From his childhood, Muhammad was seen as an intelligent and capable person of the future. Due to poverty, he could not fulfill his desire to get higher education, so he joined the army after his primary education. He received his military training in Damascus and at a very young age, due to his ability and exceptional ability, he achieved a distinguished position in the army.
At the age of 15, Muhammad bin Qasim was entrusted with the duties of a military commander to end the Kurdish rebellion in Iran in 708. At that time, the ruler of Banu Umayyad was Waleed bin Abdul Malik and Hajjaj bin Yusuf was the governor of Iraq.
Muhammad bin Qasim succeeded in this campaign and made Shiraz a special city. He showed his ability and intelligence by governing and at the age of 17, he was sent as salar on the expedition to Sindh. Muhammad bin Qasim's series of conquests started in 711 and continued till 713. He conquered important areas of Sindh and completed the conquests of Sindh by conquering Multan, but the conditions did not fulfill his desire to move towards northern India. Not only made a name for himself as a great winner but also proved to be a successful administrator.
He spent about 4 years in Sindh but in that short period he managed the empire along with the conquests and laid the foundations of a system of government in Sindh which met all the demands of justice. The book under comment "Fatih Sindh Azim" is an Urdu translation of the Arabic book "Batal-ul-Sind" written on the great general of the history of Islam, Muhammad bin Qasim. Done by Danish (Khatib Masjid Al-Badr, New York). In this book, Muhammad Bin Qasim's conquest of Sindh and the rise of Islam here, and his overthrow and imprisonment, are presented in a very heart-warming way.
Historical facts about Muhammad bin Qasim
As soon as 10 Ramadan comes, there is often a heated debate on social media about Muhammad bin Qasim's attack on Sindh, which is dominated by sentimentality. Due to the lack of historical consciousness, we continue to see the attackers in the mirror of heroes or villains and pay little attention to the facts. When the process of history is seen in the light of emotions instead of reason and evidence, it results in events being colored by prejudices and some lessons cannot be learned.Conquering Sindh has always been the dream of the Arabs
Based on the historical evidence we have, it can be said that the Arabs intended to conquer Sindh from the very beginning, but due to unfavorable conditions, they waited. When the Arabs conquered Syria, Iraq and Iran, the conquest of Sindh was also part of their plan. During this period, wealth was generated from agriculture and the Indus Valley was also rich in wealth like the Nile and Euphrates valleys. During the time of Hazrat Umar, an attack was made on Dibal without the permission of the central government, which failed. During the time of Hazrat Uthman, Hazrat Hakim bin Jablah Abdi came to see the eastern part of Balochistan and Sindh by sea and gave this report about it:
"The water there is muddy and the fruits are sour." The land is rocky, the soil sandy, and the inhabitants warlike. If a small army goes, it will be destroyed soon; if more goes, it will die of hunger.”
During the reign of Hazrat Ali (656-661), Muslims came to Makran, but did not advance due to political reasons. During the reign of Amir Muawiyah (661-680 AD), expeditions were sent for conquests, but the army was defeated in Makran and could not advance. During the Umayyad period, from the time of Amir Muawiyah to the era of Walid (705-715 AD), the Arab Makrans were equally busy fighting in the areas of Kabul and Kandahar. As these were mountainous regions and the inhabitants were warring tribes, they fought equally against the power of the Arabs. Therefore, the Arabs did not get the opportunity to attack Sindh by land route. During Walid's reign, when his dominion over Makran and Kabul was established, Sindh bordered with the Umayyad Empire by land routes and it became possible for him to extend his conquests to Sindh.
The character of Hajjaj bin Yusuf
The incident of the conquest of Sindh took place during the caliphate of Caliph Waleed bin Abdul Malik (705 AD-715 AD). Hajjaj bin Yusuf was the governor of the eastern provinces of the Caliphate. According to him, the stability of the Umayyad dynasty and the increase in its strength and power was his main goal. So he attacked Hijaz and ended the rule of Hazrat Abdullah bin Zubair, the grandson of Hazrat Abu Bakr, and hanged his body in Masjid al-Haram as a reminder. Then he went to Iraq and crushed the rebellion of Abd al-Rahman bin Muhammad bin Al-Ash'ath, the son of Hazrat Abu Bakr's nephew. His companion Hazrat Atiya Ibn Saad Aufy fled to Iran. At that time, Hajjaj's nephew and son-in-law Muhammad bin Qasim was the governor of Shiraz. Hajjaj ibn Yusuf wrote to Muhammad ibn Qasim to summon Atiya ibn Sa'd and demand that he slander Hazrat Ali and if he refused to do so, then give him four hundred lashes and shave his beard. Muhammad bin Qasim arrested him and ordered him to perform Hajj. They refused to do so, so Muhammad bin Qasim shaved his beard and gave him four hundred lashes (Ibn Hajar Asqalani, Tahbih al-Tahzeeb, Vol. 4, p. 511).
Oppressed girl of Chichnama
In general, Pakistani historians give the reason for the Arab attack on Sindh that when some Muslim women and children boarded ships from Sir Andeep and reached the port of Debal, pirates looted these ships. As the women and children were being arrested and taken away, a girl cried out to the pilgrims for help. When Hajjaj heard of this, he was greatly impressed by it and immediately set out to conquer Sind. These statements of "Chich Nama" written by the Arabs about the conquest of Sindh were copied by the following historians without much development and did not analyze the Arab attack on Sindh. First of all, it is necessary to consider the incident that when all the women, children and men were arrested, then who was the one to convey this news to the pilgrims? Because it was not an easy task for a single person to escape capture and then travel by sea or land from Sindh to Basra. Even if it is assumed that this kind of news reached Hajj, then by keeping the personality and character of Hajj in front, it can be questioned that if the deterioration of Muslim relations with Raja Dahir was only this incident and other political If there were no reasons, could the cry of a girl affect the Hajj so much that he would send a large army to Sindh against the will of the Caliph and despite the financial difficulties? Hajjaj was an emotionless politician and did not take such important decisions due to the passion of the moment. The way he imprisoned thousands of people and killed hundreds during his reign. A girl's cry had no significance in his political ambitions.
Interests of Arab merchants
Arab traders used to come and go to the coastal areas of India for the purpose of trade and their settlements were established at different places. In the Indian state of Kerala, there is also a mosque named "Cheraman Masjid" which is attributed to the early days of Islam. Sarandeep Island (Lanka) was also inhabited by Arab Muslim traders. Therefore, pirate attacks on Arab merchant ships posed the problem to the government that if the sea lanes were not protected, it would affect trade. So Hajjaj immediately wrote to Raja Dahir to inform him about the looting of the ships, but, according to the Chachnama, Raja Dahir flatly denied that the ships had been looted at his behest or by him. influence on these pirates. After this reply of Raja Dahir, Hajjaj considered it necessary to invade Sindh and conquer it so that the port of Debal and the sea route would be made safe for Muslim traders. In this context, the arrest of Muslim women and children and the cry of a girl was such a story that could create excitement among the Arabs. The publicity of this event created hatred against Raja Dahir and along with greed for booty also created a moral justification for attacking Sindh.
Suppression of Persian and Arab rebels
Apart from this, historians have searched for the reasons for the Arab attack on Sindh. For example, the king of Sindh helped the Iranians in the wars between the Iranians and the Arabs. So the Muslims had got the right to attack Sindh or that many Parsis had taken refuge in Sindh after being defeated by the Arabs. While living in this area, he was engaged in efforts to gain independence from the Arabs. Similarly, those Arabs who were not happy with the rule of the Umayyads, such as the Alafis, either went to seek refuge in Khorasan or came to Sindh.
Did Muhammad bin Qasim come to Sindh to kill Sadat?
Muhammad Bin Qasim invaded Sindh in 711 AD and was executed by the new Caliph in 715 AD. At that time, only Hazrat Ali Zainul Abidin and his children were present from Imam Hussain's generation. Imam Hasan's children also consisted of a few selected people. There is no mention of his children coming to Sindh in history. In the history books, Muslims of that period who were fed up with the rule of the Umayyads, tend to move towards Khorasan and Kandahar. However, it is not out of the question that some people tired of the Umayyads came to Sindh. But to claim their suppression as the main motive for the attack on Sindh requires strong evidence which is not there. If Abdullah Shah Ghazi is searched in history, there is a mention of Abdullah Ashtar, the son of Muhammad Nafs Zakia, who was killed by the Abbasid Caliph Mansoor Dawaniqi in 769 AD. According to Tarikh Tabari, this incident happened in 151 Hijri. (Tarikh al-Tabari, vol. 6, pp. 289-292.) Therefore, it is not correct to attribute the killing of Abdullah Shah Ghazi and his companions to Muhammad bin Qasim.
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