Aslam

Praise be to Allah.

Before the Islamic conquest, Iran was under the rule of the

Sasanids, and suffered from a great deal of injustice, corruption and

oppression. Zoroastrianism was the official religion of Iran until the

Islamic conquest.

The Islamic conquest of Iran began during the caliphate of

Abu Bakr as-Siddeeq (may Allah be pleased with him), when al-Muthanna ibn

Haarithah conquered some of the neighbouring lands in the region of

Mesopotamia in 13 AH.

During the caliphate of ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with

him), Abu ‘Ubayd ath-Thaqafi (may Allah be pleased with him) tried to invade

Iran from the south-west, and faced the Persians in the Battle of the Bridge

in 13 AH. He met Jaabaan in battle, and Allah defeated the Magians and

enabled the Muslims to capture Jaabaan. Then Abu ‘Ubayd marched to Kaskar

when he and Nursi met in battle and he defeated him. Then he met Jalinus in

battle and defeated him. Then the tide of fortune turned against the

Muslims, and many of them were killed and drowned, and Abu ‘Ubayd (may Allah

be pleased with him) was killed.

Siyar A‘laam an-Nubala’

(2/421)

Then the Muslims completed the conquest of Iran under the

leadership of Sa‘d ibn Abi Waqqaas in 14 AH, when the Muslim army in Persia

inflicted a mighty defeat (on the Persians) in the Battle of al-Qaadisiyyah,

which was one of the major battles of the Muslims.

The historians stated that the Muslims were between seven and

eight thousand strong, and that Rostom, the Persian commander, had sixty

thousand troops.

On a Monday in Muharram 14 AH, a strong wind blew and lifted

the tents of the Persians from their places, and the couch of Rostom, that

had been set up for him, was overturned. He hastened to ride his mule and

flee, but the Muslims overtook him and killed him. They also killed al-Jalinus,

the commander of the Persian vanguard, and the Persians were defeated –

praise be to Allah – to the last man and the Muslims pursued them. On that

day those who were chained were killed in their entirety, of whom there were

thirty thousand. Ten thousand were killed in the battle, and before that a

similar number had also been killed. On that day and on the previous days,

two thousand five hundred Muslims were killed, may Allah have mercy on

them.

The Muslims pursued those who fled until they entered the

capital city behind them, namely al-Madaa’in (Ctesiphon), which was the seat

of the court of Chosroes.

From the battle of al-Qaadisiyyah the Muslims seized an

indescribably huge amount of wealth and weapons. The booty was gathered

after giving the troops their shares, and the khums and glad tidings of the

victory were sent to Ameer al-Mu’mineen ‘Umar ibn al-Khattaab (may Allah be

pleased with him).

Al-Bidaayah wa’n-Nihaayah

(9/630)

Then the Muslims continued their advance into Persian

territory, and were enabled to conquer the southern part of Iran, whilst the

ruler Yazdegerd III retreated to the region of Isfahan in central Iran,

where he began to assemble troops in an attempt to retake what he had lost.

The Muslims and the troops of Yazdegerd met in the Battle of Jalula in 18

AH, which ended with the defeat of Yazdegerd and his army, and his retreat

towards Isfahan.

At-Tabari (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

On that day Allah killed one hundred thousand of them, and

the slain covered [jallalat] the ground in all directions. It was called

Jalula because it was covered with the bodies of their slain.

Tareekh at-Tabari

(4/26)

Then Yazdegerd met the Muslims in the decisive Battle of

Nahawand in 21 AH, where the Muslims won a clear victory, after which the

Sasanids no longer had any power. The Muslims seized a great deal of booty,

which led to them dubbing this battle “the conquest of conquests”.

Ibn Katheer (may Allah have mercy on him) said: It was a

mighty battle of great significance and wondrous events, and the Muslims

used to call it the conquest of conquests. End quote.

Al-Bidaayah wa’n-Bihaayah

(10/111)

It took the Muslims ten years to gain control over all the

Iranian lands, because of their huge size and difficult terrain.

One of the things that played a role in the spread of Islam

in Iran was the migration of many Arab tribes to Iranians land in which they

settled and mixed with the Iranians.

For nearly nine centuries, Iran followed the madhhab of Ahl

as-Sunnah wa’l-Jamaa‘ah, until the Shi‘i Safavid state seized control of it

in 906 AH.

See:

Tareekh at-Tabari

by Ibn Jareer at-Tabari

Siyar A‘laam an-Nubala’

by al-Haafiz Shams ad-Deen adh-Dhahabi

Al-Bidaayah wa’n-Nihaayah

by al-Haafiz Ibn Katheer ad-Dimashqi

Al-Mufassal fi Tareekh al-‘Arab qabl al-Islam

by Dr Jawaad ‘Ali

Iran fi Zill al-Islam fi’l-‘Usooi as-Sunniyyah

wa’sh-Shi‘iyyah by Dr

‘Abd al-Mun‘im Hasanayn

Qaadat Fath Bilaad Faaris

– Mahmoud Sheet Khattaab

Iran wa Afghanistan

– Mahmoud Shaakir

Iran mundhu Fajr at-Tareekh hatta al-Fath al-Islami

by Dr Muhammad ‘Abd al-Qaadir Muhammad

And Allah knows best.