The Islamic conquest of Egypt

Caliph Omar bin Al-Khattab, while he was in the Levant, held a meeting in Jabiyah, attended by senior pimps to discuss the conditions of the liberated countries in the year 18 AH / 639 CE. His soldiers to carry out the task, and he persuaded the Caliph of this,

arguing that the presence of the Romans in Egypt always threatens the Muslims, especially in Palestine, and informed him of the good things that Egypt contains; As he knew it when he was working in commerce in the pre-Islamic era, as he visited it several times and knew most of its regions and cities.

The Caliph descended at Amr's wish and placed 4000 soldiers under his command and told him:

“I am sending you a message. If you arrived before entering its borders, you must leave with your soldiers, and if you received it after entering its borders, go to your destination and seek the help of God and seek his help.”

It seems that Amr delayed receiving the book of the Caliph until he reached the outskirts of Al-Arish, worked according to it, and continued his journey, liberating the city without much trouble in 18 AH / 639AD, and began to penetrate the Egyptian lands until he reached the city of Al-Farma, and its name was Pelusium, so he besieged it for about a month and opened it in a year. Hegira 19 / AD 640, then moved from there to the city of Belbeis, which fell to Amr after two months of fighting.

 History of Islam in Egypt

Amr went after that to Umm Dennin, whose name was Tendonia, where the fighting broke out between him and the Romans who rushed to fortify them in Babylon. Ibn Mukhlid, and the worship of Ibn al-Samit, all of whom are known for their courage and courage, but the periods were delayed, so Amr stopped the fighting and marched with some of his armies towards the Fayoum region to subjugate him as he decided to conquer Umm Dining.

Hercules and under his command about 20 thousand fighters and the fighting between the two armies continued, and Amr was able to his opponent thanks to the war plan that he devised, based on surprising the enemy, by placing ambushes that entered the battle at the right time and settled it.

Nothing was left in front of Amr except the fortress of Babylon and Alexandria, so the siege struck the fortress of Babylon for about seven months, making Heliopolis (Ain Shams) a center for his leadership.

The siege was prolonged and the conditions of the besieged Romans worsened and they despaired of the arrival of Madaad for them, so al-Muqawqis (Qiris) asked Amr to send a delegation to negotiate with him. Then he was stripped of his position and banished.

Defeats followed the divisions of the Roman army, so the emperor summoned al-Muqawq from his exile and allowed him to negotiate again with Amr, and conclude peace, especially after Alexandria fell into the hands of the Muslims in 21 AH / 642 CE, and the negotiations resulted in the Romans pledging to pay the tribute and that their armies would not return to Egypt again Or try to recover it.

The Romans did not fulfill their pledge, so they encouraged their agents in Alexandria, then they sent a fleet of 300 ships to help them, so they revolted, so Amr eliminated them, took control of Alexandria, demolished its walls, and seized their boats.

Amr's description of Egypt

Amr Ibn Al-Aas described the man who lived in the deserts of Arabia and its wilderness in the land of Egypt. He said: 

«The land of Egypt is visible to its inhabitants in four Khula's per year.:When irrigated with the water of the Nile, the first one becomes a white cola. It appears as a black amber if the Nile's water is exposed to its soil, and if its land is planted as a green emerald, then various colors appear in it that cater to the beholder and clarify the mind.

Then, when the harvest is planted, it appears as a plate of gold, which is palm trees with colors, grapes and grapes, and the branches of bitter orange bearing gold scams and varieties of the marvelous marvels, and it has parks, farms, fisheries, seas, and monsters.

The sea of ​​its current river which rises in the heat of the season when the rivers dry up, God Almighty willing, descends when the land is needed and stands at one boundary.

It does not descend until the end of the landing but is in progress in order for the ships to go through it in the sea, tribally, east, and west. He does not know where he came from and where he is going. Glory to God Almighty Who preferred the region of Egypt over the rest of the regions. ''

The return to Mecca

Amr bin Al-Aas returned to Mecca after his dismissal, and was not in agreement with Caliph Uthman, despite his advice to him to follow in the course of state matters the approach of his predecessors Omar and Abu Bakr.

His death

When he was attended by death and the disease of death, his son Abdullah entered him and found him crying, so he said to him: Oh, father! As for the Messenger of God's blessing, may God bless him and give him peace,? So He kissed his face and said, 'I was on three plates (three states), you saw me, and no one hated the Messenger of God, may God bless him, and give him peace, more than I did, and I don't like that I had his power and killed him, and I would be among the people of Hell if I died in that state.

When God made Islam in my heart, I came to the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, and said: Simplify your oath, let me pledge allegiance to you, so he extended his oath, and he said, I grabbed my hand, and he said: "What do you have, Amr?" He said: I said: I wanted to stipulate. He said: "What do you require?" I said: To be forgiven, he said:

“Did you not know that Islam destroys what was before it? And that migration destroys what was before it? And that Hajj erases what was before it?” And no one was dearer to than the Messenger of God, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, and there is no time in My eyes are from him, and I could not fill my eyes with him in reverence for him, and if I were asked to describe him I would not stand up.

Because I did not fill my eyes with it in reverence for him, and if I died in that state, I would hope to be one of the people of Paradise. Then we have things that I do not know what I am in, so if I die, do not mourn or fire accompany me, and if you bury me, then they wage fire on dust,

then set up around my grave as much as the slaughter of a camel (the time during which a camel is slaughtered), and its flesh is divided. So that I can take comfort with you, and see what I review the messengers of my Lord with.

Amr bin Al-Aas was buried at the foot of the Mokattam Mountain, and his last words were:

"Oh God, you commanded me, so I did not obey and rebuked me, so I did not rebuke, nor innocent, so I apologize, nor arrogant, but ask forgiveness. There is no god but you."