The Fall of Andalus and Today's Muslim World -->Recommended Audio

As soon as Tariq reached the mid of the gulf and reached the coast of Andalus, slunber overtook him and he (Tariq) saw in dream the Prophet(saws) saying, "Andalus will be conquered at your hands".

A Wonderful Verdict of Tariq on the Coast of Andalus
Tariq landed on the coast of Andalus along with his companions and the first thing he did was that he put all the ships to torch, which had been used for reaching there; destroying at sea. This act of Tariq seems very wonderful. But if we meditate on it, it seems that it is evidence of his supreme bravery and his capabilities. Tariq knew that his handful army had no reality in comparison with the huge army of the enemy. It was possible that the Barbar converts to Islam may get home-sick and the subordinate army officers may stress that they should not start a war before a large army join them and hence, they should go back to Tanjah. Therefore, in the existing state, this first expedition will meet failure and the dream of Tariq will be doubtful. Tariq had been perfectly sure of this that he considered it certain to conquer Andalus with the army. By destroying his ships at sea, he vividly told his companions that there had been no way back—behind them is the sea and before them is the enemy country; thus, there is no way except pushing the enemy and accepting his land. The more we are active, vigilant, courageous and diligent, the better it is for us, and the result of laziness, lack of courage and indolence cannot be anything except destruction and ruination.

The First Stage of the Muslim Army
The place when Tariq had landed had been named as Lions' Rock. After that, it had been named as Jabal Al- and still it is named as Jabal Al-Tariq or Jabraltar.

The First Attack of Tadmeer, the Christian General and His Defeat
The commander-in-chief of king Larzeeq, Tadmeer, by name, by chance had been in the same vicinity with a powerful army. The companions of Tariq had not longer set themselves when Tadmeer attacked them once being informed of them. Tadmeer had been a very experienced and well-known commander-in-chief. He had won a name in many battles. Tadmeer made the attack with full force; but Tariq gave him a bitter defeat and forced him to retreat. After the defeat, Tadmeer went to a safe place and informed the king thus:

"O Emperor! A strange nation had attacked on our country. I competed against them with full courage and valour; but my efforts met failure and my army could not stand before them. In this critical moment the need of the hour is that you yourself pay attention to it with a large army and force. I am unaware of the attackers —where from they have come; they have come from the sky or have emerged from the earth."

Preparation of the King Larzeeq
Getting this wild news, Larzeeq diverted all his attention in accumulating the armies,He started from Tulaitalah and came to Cardova and armies from all over the country centered there. Larzeeq lavishly spent his treasures for the army and he started from Cardova to Tariq after collecting an army of one lac (100,000) soldiers with great readiness and courage. Tadmeer also accompanied him along with his army. In the mean while, Tariq did not sit idle. He started occupying the cities and towns and conquered Al-Jazair and Shadoonah, reaching as far as valley of Luktah The army of Larzeeq not only consisted of one lac (100,000) soldiers, but had in addition all great experienced generals and well-known chiefs of every province.

The First War
Both the armies met on the bank of a small stream near the lake of Lajanda adjacent to Shadoonah.on twenty eighth ramadan, ninety two A. H. (July, 711 A.D.). After the departure of Tariq, Musa bin Nusair sent an army of five thousands Soldiers from Africa, by way of reinforcement. This army had also joined Tariq before the combat, making the army of Tariq, twelve thousand. On one side, the Muslims had twelve thousand soldiers and on the other, one lac Christians. The Muslims had been unaware of the affairs of this country and thought it quite strange. The Christian army had been from this very country and had came to the battlefield for saving their country and kingdom. On one side, there had been Tariq bin Ziyad, the freed slave of Musa bin Nusair, the governor and the commander-in-chief of the Muslim army, who could not make extra-ordinary marksmanship. On the other side, the Emperor of Andalus had been commanding the army, who had possessed of all the treasures of the country and all kinds of honours and marksmanship. The Muslim army consisted majority of the new converted Barbars.

The army of Larzeeq consisted of devoted Christians, with all great and well-known priests and bishops to persuade them for fighting and competing with bravery. In this battle, the handful army of Tariq, which had been hardly equal to one eighth of their enemy, if it had met failure, it would have been a very ordinary and negligent battle; but as the army of twelve thousand Soldiers defeated a brave army of one lac soldiers, laced with all weapons, very bitterly, this battle is counted among the great battles of the world. The examples of such grand fights can be found very rare and very few in the history of the world. In a week both the armies stood in their tents opposite to each other . When Tariq set the rows of his handful army in front of the large army of Larzeeq—the emperor of Haspaniah, he addressed his companions and made a speech arousing the zeal which had strengthen the belief in Allah and making the soldiers firm and perseverant. This speech made by Tariq effected warmth to the blood of the brave Muslims and their eagerness for martyrdom eliminated the love of the world and their families. After that, the war raged. There had been uproar in the army of the enemy and the Muslims uttered the slogan of Takbeer i.e.; 'Allah Akbar' which terrified the enemies and enhanced the courage of the Muslims. What a beautiful coupulet that had been composed by a poet—"For fighting utter the slogan of Takbeer before you use the Javelin and arrow".

The major portion of the Christian army, had been clad with mail-coats; but the whole of the Muslim army had been on fort. Whenever the army of the Christian horse-men attacked like the rebellions sea currents, it seemed that they would pass over the Muslims breaking their bodies ever and they would not have needed to use the javelins and swords; but when this large army fully laced up with weapons clashed with this rock-like army of the Muslims, it was disclosed that the majority of the sheep had attacked on the minority of the lions for dominating them. When the lighting of the Islamic swords, some of the clouds of the Christian army changed into dead bodies besmeared with mud and bloof and majority of them became visible in the shape of broken pieces of clouds. The awesome slogans of Takbeer kept on overcoming the uproar and noise of the battle-field in such a way that the cleverness of the swordsmen and smartness of spearmen raised the loftiness of this battle so high for the historians of the world that every portion of the inhabited quarter of earth and every nation of the world saw this scene of Islamic zeal with astonishment.

Absconding of Larzeeq from the Battle-field
Emperor Larzeeq i.e., the commander-in-chief of the Christian armies could not stand with his giant-bodied green horse, along with all his experience, bravery and reputation,
besmeared with mud and blood with the dead Christians and fled under great haste, considering his life more precious than honour. A few moments ago, the person who had been the
emperor of Haspania, commander-in-chief of a one lac brave army and beloved of all the priests seemed running away- under great urgency, in such a way, that he had been struggling to excel the other runners and nobody had been so conscious, worried, that he could make way for his emperor.