The Battle of Ajnadayn

وقعة أجنادين

c. 16 July 634 CE · 12 Rabi' II 13 AH

In al-Baladhuri: then came the battle of Ajnadayn — also Ajtadayn — attended by near a hundred thousand Romans, Heraclius chaining most of them and their bravest gathering from the districts, Heraclius then residing at Hims; the Muslims fought them fiercely, Khalid ibn al-Walid (may God be pleased with him) showing fine valour that day, then God defeated His enemies and scattered them utterly, killing many; martyred that day were Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr ibn Abd al-Muttalib (may God be pleased with him) ibn Hashim, Amr ibn Sa'id ibn al-As ibn Umayya and his brother Aban (some say Aban died in year 29), Tulayb ibn Umayr (may God be pleased with him) ibn Wahb ibn Qusayy — a Byzantine champion challenged him and severed his right hand so his sword fell with his palm, then covered and killed him, his mother Arwa bint al-Muttalib the Prophet ﷺ's aunt, his kunya Abu Adi — Salama ibn Hisham ibn al-Mughira (may God be pleased with him) (some say he fell at Marj al-Suffar), Ikrama ibn Abi Jahl ibn Hisham al-Makhzumi (some say at Mu'ta), Nu'aym ibn Abdullah al-Nahham al-Adawi (some say at the Yarmuk), Hisham ibn al-As ibn Wa'il al-Sahmi (some say at the Yarmuk), Amr ibn al-Tuqayl ibn Amr al-Dawsi (some say at the Yarmuk), Jundub ibn Amr al-Dawsi, and Sa'id, al-Harith and al-Hajjaj sons of al-Harith ibn Qays ibn Adi al-Sahmi — Hisham ibn Muhammad al-Kalbi placing al-Na'am at Mu'ta, Sa'id at the Yarmuk, Tamim at Ajnadayn and his brother Ubaydullah ibn Abd al-Asad at the Yarmuk — and al-Harith ibn Hisham (may God be pleased with him) ibn al-Mughira fell at Ajnadayn; when the report reached Heraclius his heart sank, his hand failed and he was filled with terror, fleeing from Hims to Antioch — some say his flight came at the Muslims' very arrival in Syria; the battle fell on Monday twelve nights remaining of Jumada I year 13 — some say two nights into Jumada II, some say two remaining of it; the Romans then massed at al-Yaqusa — a valley whose mouth is al-Fawwara — where the Muslims met, exposed and routed them killing many, their remnant reaching Syria's towns; Abu Bakr died in Jumada II year 13, his obituary reaching the Muslims at al-Yaqusa.

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Era: The Rashidun Caliphate
Region: Levant & Iraq
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In time

The Prophetic Era · The Rashidun Caliphate

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Overview

al-Baladhuri relates that the Byzantines gathered about a hundred thousand for the battle of Ajnadayn, and that Heraclius was staying at Homs that day. The Muslims fought very fiercely, Khalid ibn al-Walid distinguished himself greatly, and the battle ended in the defeat of the Byzantines. ¹ It is part of the conquest of Syria.

The martyrs

al-Baladhuri names among those who were martyred there Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr ibn Abd al-Muttalib and Tulayb ibn Umayr, whose right hand was struck in a duel before he was killed. He also names others, such as Salama ibn Hisham and Ikrima ibn Abi Jahl, and he relates that some were said to have been killed at Mu'ta or at the Yarmuk or Marj al-Saffar. ¹

Heraclius and the date

al-Baladhuri says that when the news reached Heraclius he was alarmed and moved from Homs to Antioch, and it was said that his flight came when the Muslims arrived in Syria. ¹

Most sources place the battle on Monday, twelve nights before the end of Jumada al-Ula 13 AH, and two other reports place it in Jumada al-Akhira. The Gregorian conversion is derived. ¹ It took place at Ajnadayn.

Encyclopaedia of Islam account

The Encyclopaedia of Islam (2nd ed.), unsigned, describes Adjnadayn as the traditional name of the site of a battle fought in Jumada I or II 13 (July–August 634) between the Muslim Arab invaders and the Greek defenders of Palestine. Topographical reasoning places the battle on the Wadi al-Samt near the two villages of al-Dabbana, and the traditional name seems to have arisen from the dual al-Dabbanatayn, conflated with the Arabic plural adnad, "armies". The Greek forces were commanded by Theodorus, brother of the emperor Heraclius. The Arab forces, three contingents that had been operating in Palestine and Transjordan, were united under the command (most probably) of Khalid b. al-Walid, who had reached Syria from the Euphrates three months earlier; a less probable version names 'Amr b. al-'As. The Arabic sources greatly exaggerate the numbers, and the forces on each side probably scarcely reached 10,000 men. The Greeks were severely defeated and withdrew to Damascus, leaving Palestine open to the invaders. ²

Connections

Explore the connections

Had participant: Salama ibn Hisham ibn al-Mughira· Tulayb ibn Umayr· Khalid ibn al-Walid· Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr ibn Abd al-Muttalib· Ikrima ibn Abi Jahl· Heraclius
Part of: The Conquest of Syria
Occurred at: Ajnadayn

People and things also explored

Battle of the Yarmuk· Muhammad· The Battle of Fihl· The Battle of Hunayn· The Battle of Marj al-Suffar· The Conquest of Busra· The Conquest of Damascus· The Conquest of Hims

Sources

Futuh al-Buldan — al-Baladhuri (Mu'assasat al-Ma'arif edition) , p.157
Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd edition (Leiden: Brill, 1954–2008), 13 volumes , vol. 1 p. 227

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islam.museum contributors. “The Battle of Ajnadayn”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/event/battle-of-ajnadayn/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-25.

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Battle of the Yarmuk

A great battle between the Muslims and the Byzantines at the Yarmuk river. After the defeat Abu Ubayda called for withdrawal, and the Muslims moved until they set their camps at Marj al-Suffar, then encamped at Damascus. Al-Waqidi reported that it was in 15 AH; al-Tabari's report of the account of Sayf places it in 13 AH. According to al-Baladhuri: Heraclius gathered a host of Byzantines, Syrians, people of al-Jazira and Armenia numbering some two hundred thousand, put one of his intimates in command, and sent Jabala ibn al-Ayham al-Ghassani at its vanguard, with the Arabized Syrians of Lakhm and Judham. The Muslims numbered twenty-four thousand. The Byzantines and their followers were chained together so that they would not be tempted to flee. They fought at the Yarmuk with the fiercest of battles; God slew some seventy thousand of them, and their remnant fled to Palestine, Antioch, Aleppo, al-Jazira and Armenia. Muslim women also fought hard on the day of the Yarmuk, and Hind bint Utba, mother of Mu'awiya, kept calling out: bite the sheaths with your swords. On that day the eye of al-Ash'ath ibn Qays was lost, as were the eye of Hashim ibn Utba ibn Abi Waqqas al-Zuhri, called al-Mirqal, and the eye of Qays ibn Maksuh. Amir ibn Abi Waqqas, who had carried Umar's letter to Abu Ubayda confirming his governorship of Syria, was martyred; it is also said that he died in the plague, or at Ajnadayn, but this is not established. Abu Ubayda appointed Habib ibn Maslama al-Fihri over the pursuing cavalry, to kill whoever they overtook. Jabala ibn al-Ayham sided with the Ansar and said: you are our brothers and the sons of our father; he showed Islam, then apostatised and entered Byzantine lands when Umar sought retaliation from him. In another account, Umar found him still a Christian; he refused the jizya out of pride and entered Byzantine lands with thirty thousand men. Umar regretted it, and Ubada ibn al-Samit reproached him that had he accepted his alms, he would have become a Muslim. So Umar sent Umayr ibn Sa'd al-Ansari with an army in 21 AH and ordered him to coax Jabala and bring him back, on condition that he pay what he had offered in alms and keep his religion; but Jabala refused except to stay, and Umayr reached a place known as al-Himar, fell upon its people and laid it waste. On the day of the Yarmuk the Muslims returned to the people of Homs the tribute they had taken from them, saying they had been too occupied to aid them. The people of Homs replied that the justice of their rule was dearer to them than the oppression they had suffered, and that they would repel Heraclius's troops from the city alongside their governor. The Jews rose and said: by the Torah, Heraclius's governor shall not enter the city of Homs unless we are overcome and worn out; they shut the gates and guarded them, and the Christians and Jews of the other cities under treaty did likewise. When news of the Yarmuk reached Heraclius he fled from Antioch to Constantinople, and when he crossed the pass he said: farewell, O Syria. The battle was in Rajab of 15 AH.