Battle of Caesarea ⦗1⦘
Ibn Jarir ⦗2⦘ reports: In this very year ‘Umar appointed Mu‘awiyah ibn Abi Sufyan over Caesarea and wrote to him: “To proceed: I have placed you in charge of Caesarea; therefore march to it and seek Allah’s help against its people. Make frequent mention of the phrase la hawla wa-la quwwata illa billah al-‘Aliyy al-‘Azim (there is no power and no strength except through Allah, the Most High, the Most Great). Allah is our Lord, our trust, our hope and our Protector—an excellent Protector and an excellent Helper.”
Mu‘awiyah set out, besieged the city, and its inhabitants attempted to sally forth against him many times. In their final attempt a fierce battle was fought. Mu‘awiyah stood firm and strove hard in combat until Allah granted him victory. The fighting did not cease ⦗3⦘ until roughly eighty thousand of them had been killed, and the figure reached one hundred thousand including those who fled the field. He then forwarded news of the conquest and the one-fifth share to the Commander of the Believers, ‘Umar—may Allah be pleased with him.
Ibn Jarir ⦗4⦘ further says: That same year ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab wrote to ‘Amr ibn al-‘As instructing him to march upon Iliya’ (Jerusalem) and confront its ruler. On the way, near al-Ramla, he met a detachment of the Romans, and so ⦗5⦘
The Battle of Ajnadayn ⦗6⦘
This happened ⦗7⦘ when ‘Amr advanced with his army: his son ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Amr commanded the right wing, Junadah ibn Tamim al-Maliki—of the clan of Malik ibn Kinana—the left, and Shurahbil ibn Hasana marched with him, while Abu al-A‘war al-Sulami was left in charge of the Jordan. Reaching al-Ramla he found a large Roman force led by the Artabun, the shrewdest, most deep-thinking and most damaging of the Romans. The Artabun had stationed a sizeable army at al-Ramla and another at Iliya’. ‘Amr therefore wrote to ‘Umar with this news.
When ‘Umar read the letter he said, “We have thrown the Artabun of the Romans against the Artabun of the Arabs; let us see how the matter unfolds.” ⦗8⦘
‘Amr ibn al-‘As then dispatched ‘Alqamah ibn Hakim al-Farasi and Masruq ⦗9⦘ ibn Bilal al-‘Ukki to fight the people of Iliya’, and he sent Abu Ayyub al-Maliki toward al-Ramla, where al-Tadharuq was in command, so that they would keep those forces occupied and away from ‘Amr and his main army. Whenever reinforcements arrived from ‘Umar, ‘Amr would send part of them to one front and part to the other. He himself remained encamped at Ajnadayn.