When the Battle of Yamamah was over, Shurahbil bin Hasanah proceeded with his corps,
on the orders of the Caliph, to reinforce Amr, and the two commanders operated in
unison to bring about the subjugation of the northern tribes. Most of the apostates were
concentrated in the region of Tabuk and Daumat-ul-Jandal, and it was here that Amr and
Shurahbil struck their hardest blows. In a few weeks the apostasy was destroyed and the
tribes re-entered Islam. Peace returned to Northern Arabia.
The main tribe inhabiting Oman was the Azd. The chief of this tribe was Laqeet bin
Malik, known more commonly as Dhul Taj, the Crowned One. These Arabs, like those
whose apostasy is described later in this chapter, had embraced Islam in the time of the
Prophet and agreed to abide by the terms imposed by the Muslim State.
On hearing the news of the Holy Prophet's death, the bulk of the Azd, led by Dhul Taj,
revolted and renounced Islam. It is not certain that this man was an impostor. Going by a
brief comment of Tabari that he "claimed what prophets claim",
2
we could assume that
he probably did make some claim to prophethood. Be that as it may, while Abu Bakr was
busy dealing with the immediate threat to Madinah, Dhul Taj declared himself King of
Oman and established himself as its undisputed ruler with his headquarters at Daba. (See
Map 7
)
After Khalid had left Zhu Qissa to seek Tulaiha, the Caliph despatched Hudaifa bin
Mihsan (one of the corps commanders) to tackle the apostasy in Oman. Hudaifa entered
the province of Oman, but not having strong enough forces to fight Dhul Taj, he decided
to await reinforcements. He wrote to the Caliph accordingly, who, as has already been
noted, instructed Ikrimah to march from Yamamah to the aid of Hudhaifa. On his arrival,
the two generals combined their forces and set out to fight Dhul Taj at Daba.
The Battle of Daba was fought towards the end of November 632 (early Ramadan, 11
Hijri). At first the battle went badly for the Muslims; but at a critical moment a force of
local Muslims, who had clung to their faith in spite of Dhul Taj, appeared on, the
battlefield in support of their co-religionists. With this fresh addition to their strength the
Muslims were able to defeat the infidel army. Dhul Taj was killed in battle.
Being appointed governor of Oman, Hudaifa next set about the re-establishment of law
and order. Ikrimah, having no local administrative responsibility, used his corps to
subdue the neighbourhood of Daba; and in a number of small actions, succeeded in
breaking the resistance of those of the Azd who had continued to defy the authority of
Islam. Thereafter the Azd once again became peaceful, law-abiding Muslims and gave no
further trouble to Madinah.
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