Did You Know?
‘Amwas, a former township six miles south of Ramallah in
Palestine (Mu‘jam al-Baldan; ‘Amwas), was one of the first of
the Byzantine lands to be conquered after Nablus, Lod, and
Gaza by Amr bin al-As g during the caliphate of Abu Bakr g
(Futuh al-Baldan; Amr Filisteen). The Muslim army had set up
a cantonment in ‘Amwas due to its proximity to Jerusalem and
the new Byzantine borders where the Muslim army was most
concentrated. The Ta‘un of ‘Amwas or Plague of ‘Amwas hit the
encampment during the caliphate of Umar bin al-
Khattab g in 18 A.H. and killed between 20-25,000
Muslim soldiers (roughly 1/3 of the Muslim army
stationed in Sham at the time) and took the lives of
many famous Sahaba l.
Umar bin al-Khattab g dispatched an
official letter to his trusted friend and
the commander-in-chief of the army
in Sham, Abu Ubayda bin al-Jarrah g,
instructing him to depart for Madina
Munawwara upon receipt of the
letter to discuss a highly confidential
matter as a pretext to save him
from the epidemic. Abu Ubayda g
responded, “O Ameer al-Mu’mineen!
I know what you need of me, but I am
presently with the Muslim army and
do not see within myself to separate
from them. I will not leave them
until Allah has decreed for them and
myself whatever He has decreed.
So, release me from executing your
order.” When the letter reached Umar
g, he wept. The people around him
asked, “Has Abu Ubayda g passed
on?” He said, “No, but it is as though
he has” (al-Kamil fi al-Tareekh;
Dakhalat Sanatu Thamana‘Asharat
2/376).
Ta‘un, often translated as plague in
English, can also mean epidemic. It
literally means ‘to pierce or penetrate’
but often is used in the meaning
of widespread death. Some Arabic
linguists take it as a synonym of waba’
(infectious disease; e.g. influenza)
(look in Fat-h al-Bari; Ma Yudhkaru fi
al-Ta‘un).
View of the city of Ramallah in West Bank in Palestine Israel
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