The first military encounter of the Muslims with the...

The first military encounter of the Muslims with the Christian army of Byzantine was in 8 AH in Palestine. This encounter ended in a sorrowful defeat of the Muslim army and the killing of three commanders: Ja‘far ibn Abi Talib at-Tayyar, Zayd ibn Harithah and ‘Abd Allah ibn Rawahah. The withdrawal of the army of Islam in the fight against the army of kufr gave courage to the army of Caesar to think that one day the Islamic capital would be under his control.

For this reason, in 9 AH the Prophet (S) moved with a huge and equipped army toward the coasts of Sham[^1] so as to personally conduct every military activity. In this journey which was full of difficulties and vicissitudes, the army of Islam was able to regain its former glory and revive its political status. This victory did not convince the Prophet (S) and a few days after his ailment, he decided to send an army under the command of Usamah ibn Zayd to the coasts of Sham.

The second side of the challenging triangle was the King of Persia. Out of rage, Khosroe of Persia tore the letter sent to him by the Prophet (S) and insultingly dismissed his envoy. Khosroe wrote to his governor in Yemen a letter in which he ordered him to capture the Prophet (S) and threatened to kill him if he refused.

Although Khosroe Pervez, the King of Persia, died in the lifetime of the Prophet (S), the issue of independence of the territory of Yemen, which was one of the Persian colonies for long time, was not away from the perspective of the Persian Sassanid kings. Arrogance and conceit would never allow the Sassanid statesmen to tolerate the existence of such a power.

The third side of the challenging triangle was the threat of the group of hypocrites { munafiqun }, who formed a fifth column in the midst of Muslim comunity, and were always busy creating discord and intended to kill the Prophet (S) en route from Tabuk to Medina.