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The Conquest of Hit and the Euphrates Forts

فتح هيت وحصون الفرات

c. 640 CE · c. 20 AH

Hit

In al-Baladhuri through Abu Ayyub the Raqqa tutor from Ali ibn Abdullah al-Qarqisani from his shaykhs: Umayr ibn Sa'd, after taking Ra's al-Ayn, worked the Khabur and its reaches until he came to Qarqisiya — whose people had broken faith — re-compounding with them on their first treaty, then took the Euphrates forts one by one on Qarqisiya's terms with little fighting, some throwing stones; finishing with Talbus and Anat he reached al-Na'usa, al-Lusa and Hit, where he found that Ammar ibn Yasir (may God be pleased with him) — then Umar's governor of Kufa — had sent an army raiding above al-Anbar under Sa'd ibn Amr ibn Haram al-Ansari, and the people of these forts had come to him seeking aman, which he granted, reserving half of Hit's church — whereupon Umayr returned to al-Raqqa; some scholars say the one who went against Hit and the forts beyond from Kufa was Midlaj ibn Amr al-Sulami, a confederate of Banu Abd Shams and a man of companionship, who took it and built al-Haditha on the Euphrates, his descendants at Hit including a man known as Abu Harun still remembered there — or, it is said, Midlaj acted under Sa'd ibn Amr ibn Haram; God knows best.

Depth

At a glance

Era
The Rashidun Caliphate
Region
Levant & Iraq
Review
Draft Completeness 2/5 · Help complete it

In time

630640650 c.
The Prophetic Era · The Rashidun Caliphate

Overview

According to al-Baladhuri, after Umayr ibn Sa'd took Ras al-Ayn, he took the Khabur as far as Circesium, whose people had broken the covenant. He made peace with them on terms like their first treaty. Then he took the forts of the Euphrates one by one on the same terms, and met little real fighting in any of them. 1

Hit and the forts

When Umayr reached Hit, he found that Ammar ibn Yasir, Umar's governor over Kufa, had sent an army under Sa'd ibn Amr ibn Haram. The people of these forts had asked for safety, and he granted it, and he excepted half of the church of the people of Hit. Umayr then returned to al-Raqqa. 1

Another account

al-Baladhuri quotes some scholars that the one who went toward Hit and what lay beyond it from Kufa was Midlaj ibn Amr al-Sulami, and that he built al-Hadītha on the Euphrates. al-Baladhuri concludes the report with: "God knows best." 1

The date is approximate and derived, around 20 AH after the conquest of Ras al-Ayn.

Connections

Explore the connections

Had participant
Midlaj ibn Amr al-Sulami· Sa'd ibn Amr ibn Haram al-Ansari· Umayr ibn Sa'd al-Ansari· Ammar ibn Yasir
Part of
The Conquest of the Jazira
Occurred at
Hit

People and things also explored

The Conquest of Ra's al-Ayn· Battle of the Yarmuk· The Conquest of Harran· The Taking and Settling of Mar'ash· The Conquest of al-Raqqa· The Conquest of Rayy and Qumis· The Conquest of Edessa (al-Ruha)· The Conquest of Shimshat

Sources

  1. Futuh al-Buldan — al-Baladhuri (Mu'assasat al-Ma'arif edition) , p.246
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “The Conquest of Hit and the Euphrates Forts”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/event/conquest-of-hit/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-16.

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The Conquest of Ra's al-Ayn

In al-Baladhuri through al-Hajjaj ibn Abi Mani' from his grandfather: Ra's al-Ayn — that is Ayn al-Warda — resisted Iyad ibn Ghanm and Umayr ibn Sa'd took it while Umar's governor over the Jazira, after its people fought the Muslims bitterly; the Muslims entered it by force then compounded with them, the land assigned them and jizya laid on their heads at four dinars each without captives of women or children; in al-Waqidi's report Umar wrote to Iyad ordering him to send Umayr against Ayn al-Warda — the advance guard took peasants and enemy herds, the citizens shut the gates and set up mangonels, Muslims were killed by stones and arrows, and a patrician mocked them 'we are not like those you have met' — then it fell afterwards by treaty; elders of the city recount that when Umayr entered he called 'no harm, no harm — to me, to me', and that was their aman; Haytham ibn Adi claimed Umar sent Abu Musa al-Ash'ari who took it with the Jazira's army after Iyad's death, but the sound report is Umayr took it by force without enslavement, laying kharaj and jizya — none but Haytham says otherwise; a body of Ra's al-Ayn's people departed and the Muslims worked their fields, sowing them by land-grants.