The invasion of Persia

The brigade of 20,000 Tatar horsemen was about 650 kilometers far from the main force of Genghis Khan in Samarqand, not to mention the mountainous ways and rivers between Samarqand and the Caspian Sea, regarded among the difficult natural obstacles. Additionally, the Tatars were not inhabitants of those regions, and knew nothing about their paths, streets and secondary roads, not to mention the severe aggression the inhabitants of those afflicted regions had towards the Tatars.

Keeping all those points in consideration, you know that the Tatarian brigade was almost entirely cut off from the main supplying army in Samarqand, which put it in an unenviable critical situation. Furthermore, it was no more than 20,000, incomparable to the great dense Islamic population of those regions, which exposed it to supposedly inevitable destruction; if the inhabitants of those countries, who were millions, came out to face them, by no means could the Tatars withstand them.
That is the theoretical analysis of the situation.

But what happened in reality?
It was amazingly disgraceful and shameful!
Psychological defeat crept into the souls of the Muslims, who were attached to their despicable world in a way that was too difficult to understand, and accepted to remain in their villages and cities, in expectation of death at the hands of this small Tatarian brigade.

It was narrated on the authority of Thawbaan, May Allaah Be Pleased with him, that he said that the Messenger of Allaah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: “‘The nations are about to call one another (to join in fighting) against you, in the same way as the eaters call one another to the bowl (of food).’ A man said, ‘Is it on account of the fact that we will be few in number at that time?’ The Messenger of Allaah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said, ‘No, for you will be great in number, but at the same time, you will be like the scum carried by a torrent, to the extent that Allaah Will Take away from your enemies the awe and respect they have for you, and instead Cast weakness into your hearts.’ A man asked, ‘From where does this weakness come?’ He said, ‘From the love you will have for the world, and the dislike you will have for death (even in the Cause of Allaah Cause).’” [Abu Daawood]

Love for this world prevailed in the hearts, to the extent that Muslims disliked death even in the Cause of Allaah, thereupon they became like the scum carried by the torrent: wherever the torrent moved eastwards or westwards, they would move in the same direction accordingly, having no aim or ambition. Therefore, Allaah The Almighty took away from the breasts of the Tatars the awe and respect for Muslims, and thus they became careless about their huge numbers, and instead cast weakness and feebleness in the hearts of the Muslims, to the extent that even as many as one hundred Muslims were too weak to face only one from among the Tatars! There is no power and no strength save in Allaah!

What did the special Tatarian brigade do?
They returned from the coast of the Caspian Sea to Mazandaran in Iran and took control of it very soon, even though it was impenetrable and its forts and castles powerfully impregnable. Indeed, it was the strongest of the Muslim cities, to the extent that when the Muslims were able to take control of all the Persian territories from Iraq to the farthest end of Khuraasaan, during the era of ‘Umar ibn Al-Khattaab, May Allaah be pleased with him, they failed to enter the city of Mazandaran; and it was not before the time of Sulaymaan ibn ‘Abdul-Malik, the famous Umayyad Caliph, that they were able to conquer it.

However, the Tatars entered it very quickly and easily, not by virtue of their power in so much as by virtue of the weak souls of its inhabitants at that time. When they entered it, they did in it the same atrocities they had previously done in the other cities, of killing, torturing, capturing, committing robbery, and burning.
From Mazandaran, they moved to Rayy, a large Iranian city. It seems as if Allaah the Almighty liked to put to humiliation Muhammad ibn Khwarezm even after his death.

On their way from Mazandaran to Rayy, the Tatars found his mother and wives, having huge wealth and matchless precious treasures. They took them as captives and what they had as booty, and sent them to Genghis Khan who was still in Samarqand.

Then, the Tatars took control of Rayy, robbed it, captured its women and enslaved its children, and committed unprecedented atrocities there. They did the same in the surrounding cities and villages until they entered Caspian, an Iranian City, and fought its inhabitants inside the town and killed more than 40,000 of its Muslim population! There is no power and no strength save in Allaah!
Assessment of the situation in 620 A.H

At that time, Genghis Khan was extending control over the Khwarezmian state, the Tatarian campaigns continued in the region of Russia.
Here, I like to comment on four incidents that took place in that year. They explain the state in which the Muslims were at that time, and why the Tatars took control of those vast countries very quickly and easily, and put our hands on some diseases that caused those terrible catastrophes:

To Continue..........

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