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The Battle of Dhat al-Sawari (31 AH)

غزوة ذات الصواري (31هـ)

c. 651 CE · 31 AH

Dhat al-Sawari, 'the Battle of the Masts' (AH 31): the first great naval armament of Islam — Constans sailed in five or six hundred ships, the Muslims under Abdullah ibn Sa'd lashed their hulls together and fought sword to sword until the Byzantines broke and their emperor fled wounded, in the Arabic telling to be killed in a Sicilian bath; Ibn al-Athir notes the victory field was also where talk against Uthman began 1.

Depth

At a glance

Era
The Rashidun Caliphate
Region
al-Andalus & Europe · Levant & Iraq
Review
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In time

640650660 c.
The Rashidun Caliphate

BattlesWars and campaigns

Overview

The battle of Dhat al-Sawari was the first great naval battle in Islam, according to Ibn al-Athir. It took place in 31 AH, or some say 34 AH, between the Muslims and the Romans. 2

Preparation

Constantine, son of Heraclius, set out with a force the Romans had not gathered like since Islam began: five hundred or six hundred ships. The Muslims went out, with Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan over the people of Syria and Abd Allah ibn Sa'd ibn Abi Sarh over the sea. 3

The fighting

The two sides spent the night, the Muslims reading the Qur'an and praying, and the Romans striking the bells. The next day they drew their ships close and tied them together, and fought with swords and daggers. Ibn al-Athir says that countless Romans were killed, and Constantine fled wounded. It is also said that he went to Sicily, where they put him in a bath and killed him. 3

Its effect on the strife

Ibn al-Athir says that Muhammad ibn Abi Hudhayfa (may God be pleased with him) and Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr began speaking about the matter of Uthman during this expedition. 3

People and things also explored

The Defeat at Balanjar (32 AH)· The Conquest of Khaybar· The battle of Samura (327 AH)· The Battle of the Trench (al-Ahzab)· The Conquest of Mecca (Fath Makka)· The Expedition of Banu al-Mustaliq (al-Muraysi')· Ibrahim Inal's raid toward Constantinople· The Siege and Judgment of Banu Qurayza

Sources

  1. al-Kamil fi'l-Tarikh of Ibn al-Athir , v.2 pp. 488–490
  2. al-Kamil fi'l-Tarikh of Ibn al-Athir , v.2 p.488
  3. al-Kamil fi'l-Tarikh of Ibn al-Athir , v.2 p.488-490
  • Muhammad Qabbani, The Umayyad State from Birth to Fall (Damascus: Dar Wahy al-Qalam, 2006)
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “The Battle of Dhat al-Sawari (31 AH)”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/event/dhat-al-sawari-31/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-22.

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The Defeat at Balanjar (32 AH)

The Balanjar disaster (AH 32): against Uthman's written warning not to plunge the army in, Abd al-Rahman ibn Rabi'a marched on Balanjar beyond Derbent and was killed — the Khazars kept his body in a coffin for rain-prayers; Salman ibn Rabi'a's relief column gathered the fugitives, among them Salman al-Farisi and Abu Hurayra, in the first Khazar triumph over the Muslim frontier.