Arfajah
Arfajah was one of the commanders of the eleven corps of army sent by the first caliph, Abu Bakr, to quell a rebellion after Muhammad died.
[2] Arfajah was one of the first caliphate naval commanders, as Abu Bakr dispatched him with Hudaifa bin Mihsan's corps to fight opponents of Islam in Oman.
[3][4][5] as he was entrusted to lead the Azd naval forces from Bahrayn to invade Fars province in order to stop Sassanid coastal incursions.
[20] Until further instruction arrived for Arfaja and his Azd army to assist the Al Azdi Ruler, Abd Al-Juland and his brother Jayfar, who ruled the interior of the Oman peninsula who travelled to Medina in 632 to swear fealty to the Caliph Abu Bakr, who received him with pleasure.
A natural rival to the Julanda kings, he forced them into retreat before the army from Medina completed its arduous journey through the Rub Al Khali to reach the Oman peninsula.
[23] After the rebellion of Laqit were put down, Hudhayfah ibn Muhsin stayed in the area to consolidate the place, while Ikrimah commence mop up operations against remnants of rebels left in Mahra, while Arfajah tasked to escort the spoils of war brought to Caliphate citadel, Medina.
[24] It is said by Yaqut al-Hamawi, in the aftermath of this conflict Arfajah found and brought a boy named Al-Muhallab ibn Abi Sufra, a future famous anti-Kharijites general, to Medina.
[25] In the year 12 AH, Arfajah led the first Arab-Islamic naval invasions in history, and conquered a large number of islands in the Gulf of Oman.
[26] Ahmed Jawdat Pasha, who narrated from the text of Al-Waqidi, pointed that Arfajah did not have trouble to raise an army and ships which needed to mount this naval invasion without the support of central caliphate, due to his notably wealthiness and powerful influence of followers from within his clan.
[30] responded to this calamity, caliph Umar reacted to send the contingent of Bajila tribe under the leadership of Jarir ibn Abdullah al-Bajali [ar; id] for reinforcement.
the Muslim armies began attacking the capital of Darin and killing the rebels there, pacified the eastern Arab coasts.
[37] Then, on their own initiative, Arfajah, under instruction from al Ala, started to send ships towards Sassanid coast in Tarout Island.
This continued until Arfajah reached the port of Borazjan, where according to Ibn Sa'd Arfajah sunk many Persian navy ships in a battle,[38] Shuaib Al Arna'ut and al-Arqsoussi recorded the words of Al-Dhahabi regarding Arfaja naval campaign during this occasion: "...Arfaja sent to the coast of Persia, destroying many(enemy) ships, and conquered the island and build mosque".
[49] As the Muslims has emerged victorious from the hard battle in Qadisiyah, they immediately marched towards the Sassanid capital, which are nicknamed by the Arabs as Al-Mada'in.
[52] Later, at the month of Safar in the year 16 A.H., the supreme commander of eastern theater, Sa'd ibn abi Waqqas, was informed that the people of Mosul had gathered in Tikrit with a man from the Byzantine called Al-Antiqa.
[9] The Rashidun cavalry which led by Arfajah were the first to arrive in Tikrit, where they facing the Byzantine army allied with Iyad and Taghlib ibn Wa'il tribe.
[57] Due to instruction from caliph Umar, Arfaja Al-Bariqi set up a garrison (Amsar) in Mosul,[58] and was appointed Wali (governor) there,[59][60] particularly managing the revenue.
[71] 'Umar responded in the month of Shaban of 17 AH, Umar wrote to Utbah to mobilize army forces to assist Al-Ala Al-Hadrami to the province of Persia and set sail by sea.
[78] These Basra contingents were further reinforced by garrison of Kufa, governed by Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas, before the battle against Hormuzan.
[79] Before they engage Hormuzan, Arfajah and the Muslim armies marches to the vicinity of the area, to subdue several places including Kashkar, to cut off supply route and reinforcements for the Sassanids in Ahvaz.
[88] In the year 29 AH the next wave of Arab Muslim settlers arrived in Iraq under the leadership of Abdallah ibn Amir, the governor of Basra at that time.
[2] Thus to assist their conquest, Arfajah sent out settler contingents numbered 4,000 soldiers came from the tribe of Azd, Kindah, Tayy, and Abdul Qays.
[90] For the rest of Arfajah tenure in Mosul, Mosul became one of the most important city in Iraq that were immediately filled by immigrant Arab soldiers, and non-Arab Arameans and Persians, who also poured into the city in large numbers,[91] as the settlements within Arfajah jurisdictions was growing and extended between the borders of Euphrates Region in the north towards Kufa in the south.
[12][13] In modern era, Nineveh Governorate municipality announced on 18 February 2019 that reconstruction of the mosque was resumed, albeit damages caused by ISIS, with a 50 million dollar grant from the United Arab Emirates.
[95] It is said that Hurqus ibn Zuhayr as-Sa'di, more famously known as Dhu al-Khuwaysirah at-Tamimi, a Tamim tribe chieftain, first generation Kharijites[96] and veteran of the Battle of Hunayn participated among the Arab settler hosts brought by Arfajah during Conquest of Khuzestan, Hurqus participation recorded particularly when he was sent by Rashidun army superiors to defeat Hormuzan in 638 at Ahvaz (known as Hormizd-Ardashir in modern era), and forced the city to pay jizya (poll-tax).
[101] It is appeared that the Bajilas at first has followed Arfajah from Omani at certain point during the early phase of the Conquest of Persia,[102] Before Arfajah abandon them after the conquest of Ubulla, and relinquish the leadership of Bajalis to Jarir ibn Abdullah al-Bajali [ar; id] in the instruction of Caliph Umar, who then further instructed the Bajalis to move toward Kufa.
[104] The Kharijites were collectively called as Haruriyya/Haruri, as their first open rebellion against the authority in history occurred during their gathering in a village named al-Haruri.
[104] Mahmoud Sheet Khattab, an Iraqi minister, military commander, historian and writer (1919–1998), noted that Arfajah was fine example of the rare Arab courage, that even after the devastating defeat in the Battle of Bridge, caliph Umar continue to trust him.
[8] Caliph Umar praise Arfajah as military strategy expert at one time and urged Utbah ibn Ghazwan, the first governor of Basra, to rely on his counsel.
[105] While Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani in his biography remarks the charismatic leadership of Arfajah as his presence can raise the morale of his soldiers.
