Introduction:

 The Arab conquests expanded during the caliphate of Omar (14-23 A.H.) between Isfahan in the east of Persia to Tripoli in Libya. Iraq and the Levant were conquered within battles that continued between 14 and 18 A.H. and Egypt was conquered in 20 A.H. and Alexandria, its capital at the time, in 21 A.H. and between 22 and 23 A.H., Libya and most of Persia were conquered. Omar himself as assassinated in 23 A.H., and within such years of conquests, hundreds of thousands of innocent victims were killed unjustly in such a horrid period of aggression falsely under the name of Islam and jihad. Thousands of families were scattered and destroyed within countries and cities between Middle Asia and Libya. Arabs at the time looted all treasures of these regions, and they enslaved or sold into slavery women and children of the conquered nations. Such crimes led to the deification of Omar in the Sunnite creed, which is based, until today it its Wahabi version, on legalizing aggression, massacres, and looting of any non-Sunnites under the banner of Sunnite jihad, formulated by Omar and his contemporaries. Events of such horrendous crimes are too many to describe in our book and the limited space here; we will quote some examples only of crimes that were committed in the four sacred months in Persia and Egypt, but we remind the readers that crimes of conquests went on non-stop for the whole year of lunar months. As usual, we will enclose the sacred months between brackets.  

Firstly: Examples Showing How Omar Violated the Sacred Months while Conquering Persia:

1- In (Zu Al-Hijja) in 13 A.H., Omar began his caliphate by swiftly mobilizing all tribes of Arabia into troops to conquer Persia, which was ruled at the time by Yazdegerd III, and most men of Arabia complied with the caliph's written requests that were sent to all cities and villages of all tribes, within the season of performing pilgrimage to Mecca. This means that Omar manipulated this season to begin the military mobilization of all tribes, in flagrant violation of the rites of pilgrimage and its sacred four months.

2- After he managed to mobilize great throngs from all tribes of Arabia under his leadership, Omar led them in (Muharram) in 14 A.H. within great and enormous military procession, as mentioned by Al-Tabary.

3- Yet, eventually, it was decided that Omar would remain in Yathreb and to would appoint Saad Ibn Abou Waqqas as the military leader to conquer Persian, while another army would be directed to the area that would come to be known later as Basra, in Iraq, to prevent any military aid reaching Persia via the Persian Gulf. Al-Tabary asserts in his history that the region known now as Basra was conquered in (Rabei Awwal) in 14 A.H., and Omar ordered that its people, made enemies by Omar in his written decrees, should be made to choose between conversion to Islam, paying tributes to retain their creeds, or be put to the sword! It was Omar who began aggression against them; he was their enemy, and they never started any sort of aggression against Arabs and never sent an army to conquer Yathreb. This aggression of Omar, then, was against the Quranic teaching and against Islam.  

4- Saad defeated the Persians in the Battle of Al-Qadisyyia, and this was the onset of the destruction and ruin of the Persian Empire, and this battle took place in (Muharram) in 14 A.H., as per history of Al-Tabary, and the ensued battles went on for several months, and some of the military skirmishes and movements were extended to (Saffar) in 16 A.H.

5- Al-Tabary mentions in his history the conquest of the Persian capital in (Saffar) in 16 A.H., achieving victory and gaining much spoils left by those who fled, as spoils were said to reach 3 billion dinars, consisting mainly of priceless treasures collected by the Persian emperors over the decades, only to be confiscated wholly later on by conquering Arabs.

6- We feel no wonder why Persians and today's Iranians, especially Shiites, hate Omar and Abou Bakr so much until now; when the capital of Persian Empire was conquered, more than 60 thousands of women, men, and children were enslaved, as per history of Al-Tabary.

7- Al-Tabary mentions as well that the conquered capital of the Persian Empire yielded to the Arab conquerors priceless huge amounts of spoils, to the extent that military leaders appointed two persons to take care of the spoils: one to collect and count them and one to distribute them among cavaliers and soldiers, of course, after sending one-fifth of then naturally to Yathreb: to Omar. This indicates that Arabs looted all palaces, big houses, and the court of the Persian emperor, leaving nothing to the capital's dwellers to get away with it, as they took anything they tried to escape with in their failed attempt to flee the capital.  Al-Tabary asserts that Arabs found hidden treasures inside domes within jars sealed with lead, filled with silver and gold, in huge amounts to the extent that prices of gold declined at the time, not to mention laying their hands on treasures, precious-stones-studded an encrusted tiaras, crowns, statues, shields, saddles, swords, precious jewels and stones, fineries, and clothes of the Persian emperor, sent to Omar among his one-fifth share of spoils.

8- Concerning distribution of such spoils, Al-Tabary mentions that a cavalier's share was 12.000 dinars at least, and houses of the capital of the Persian Empire were distributed by the military leader Saad Ibn Abou Waqqas among the Arab soldiers and cavaliers, while sending the most precious items to Omar to impress him, especially items that could not be distributed like Persian rugs, statues, and other masterpieces and priceless works of art, looted and partially destroyed by the barbarian Arabs who demolished the great Persian civilization. It is noteworthy that Ali Ibn Abou Talib received a share of the looted items, consisting of a piece of finery cloth that he sold for 20.000 dinars, as he advised Omar to cut and distribute all finery pieces of cloth. This ill-gotten money did not prevent Shiites from deifying Ali just because he begot his sons, Al-Hassan and Al-Hussein, from his first wife, Fatimah, daughter of Prophet Muhammad! Shame on Ali, the eater of ill-gotten money, and shame on Shiites for worshipping mortals!      

9- During the month of (Saffar) in 16 A.H., a battle occurred where the Persians lost more than 100.000 persons killed by, according to Al-Tabary, the most prominent Arab figures among the Yathreb dwellers and Meccan ones who immigrated before to it during the lifetime of Muhammad, as well as other luminary military Arab figures, and each cavalier received from spoils a share of 7.000 dinars and nine horses from this battle alone, not to mention enslaved women and children. 

Secondly: Examples Showing How Omar Violated the Sacred Months while Conquering Egypt:

1- During the month of (Rabei Awwal) in 16 A.H., as per Al-Tabary, Egypt was conquered by Arabs, after Amr Ibn Al-'As achieved victory over Cyrus, the Roman governor of Egypt, in the Battle of Ain-Shams City. Another historical narrative asserts that Egypt was conquered during the month of (Muharram) in 20 A.H., and this discrepancy is due to the fact that Egypt was conquered by stages. What concerns us here is that both months mentioned are among the four sacred months of pilgrimage and general peace.

2- The invading Arab troops swept over the peaceful and serene Egyptian countryside, looting items and raping and enslaving women of every village, sending one-fifth of the spoils and slaves to Omar in Yathreb and distributing the rest amongst themselves; numerous Egyptian girls and women were distributed in Mecca and Yathreb, among other Arabian cities, as mentioned by Al-Tabary, who listened to the narrator who was a soldier within the Arab troops that conquered Egypt. Al-Tabary mentions that Alexandria, the Egyptian capital at the time, was conquered by troops of Omar in 22 A.H., and all its surrounding villages were looted and destroyed, sending all their beautiful women to Arabia, and when Cyrus tried to retrieve them within a peace treaty conditions with Omar, Omar refused to get them back to their homeland, according to Al-Tabary in his history. 

Thirdly: The Divine Punishment for Omar and the Arabs:

1- Because of such above-mentioned violations against the Quranic teachings, during and outside of the four sacred months, God had punished Omar and all Arabs in general, by a grave famine and a contagious pest, and later on, Omar was assassinated in one of the sacred months as well. 

2- We know quite well from the Quran that there is a divine torment in this life, before the Hereafter, to the sinners as a warning, so that they might remember God and repent: "We will make them taste the lesser torment, prior to the greater torment, so that they may return." (32:21). History of Arabia at the time has missing gaps, never spoken of or written, and among such gaps is Qorayish undergoing torment, as we find traces of it in the Quran; God says about them in Mecca the following: "Even if We had mercy on them, and relieved their torment, they would still blindly persist in their defiance. We have already gripped them with torment, but they did not surrender to their Lord, nor did they humble themselves. Until, when We have opened before them a gate of intense torment, at once they will despair." (23:75-77). As for Arab hypocrites, God mentions in the Quran that they were tested with tribulations and suffering so that they return to God and repent: "Do they not see that they are tested once or twice with suffering every year? Yet they do not repent, and they do not learn." (9:126). God in the Quran asserts that hypocrites of Yathreb will be tormented twice (after the death of Muhammad), and will suffer for eternity in Hell: "Among the Desert-Arabs and Bedouins around you there are some hypocrites, and among the inhabitants of Yathreb too. They have become adamant in hypocrisy. You do not know them, but We know them. We will punish them twice; then they will be returned to a severe eternal torment. " (9:101). As usual, they never repented and never thought of God.  

3- Narratives and accounts of Sunnite history books turn the famine and the pest into occasions to deify, venerate, and revere Omar and his contemporaries, and no one took notice of the fact that both the famine and the pest were divine punishments for all Arabs. We are in no loss at this; they considered their aggressions, occupations, invasions, and military conquests as jihad and looting as spoils sent by God to them! Hence, we can say that they worshipped other deities and not Almighty God, and such mortal deities are devils ordering them to commit horrendous crimes like aggression, rape, looting, murder, massacres, and so on, as opposed to God in the Quran Who orders true believers in Him to follow the path of righteousness, piety, charity, mercy, and justice. God says in the Quran the following about Arabs and their inherent desire to violate prohibitions and commit them willingly, while ascribing their crimes to God: "And when they commit an indecency, they say, "We found our parents doing this, and God has commanded us to do it." Say, "God does not command indecencies. Are you attributing to God what you do not know?" Say, "My Lord commands justice, and to stand devoted at every place of worship. So call upon Him, and dedicate your religion to Him alone…" (7:28-29). God says about Islam, His true religion violated on purpose by the caliphs before and after the Umayyads: "God commands justice, charity, and generosity towards relatives. And He forbids immorality, and injustice, and oppression. He advises you, so that you may take heed." (16:90).

4- Both the famine and the pest occurred in 18 A.H., according to Al-Tabary, who mentions as well that so many people died as a result. The pest in the Levant caused the death of the governor of one of the Levantine cities, Abou Obaidah Ibn Al-Jaraah, as well as the death of other well-known ones among the so-called companions: Mu'aaz Ibn Jabal, Yazeed Ibn Abou Sufyan, who was Abou Sufyan eldest and first-born son, among many others.

5- Al-Tabary mentions about the famine in 18 A.H. that this famine was severe, and people called this year the Ash-Year, because ashen dust and sands were swept by the wind all over Arabia, as the scarce agricultural lands were so dry, grey, and cracked, to the extent that people's faces turned grey. Rain never poured at all for a whole year, even all cattle died, and no one would eat any meat of any sort, however meager, and this means that God punished the Arabs with that famine, and the countless spoils did not avail them, and even savage animals did not fear humans and vice-versa. Ashen faces refer to the fact that people at the time stopped smiling and laughing because of their severe hunger, as it was rumored that Omar roamed the streets of Yathreb to find general sorrow overshadowing everyone. At one point, Yathreb dwellers were surprised to find about 60.000 persons gathered outside the city gates asking for aid, but no one had either money or victuals, even the caliphate Treasury was empty, or so it seemed. It was said that Omar spent all the money in Treasury to get food, but it was never enough, as the famine went on for a whole year. It was said that Omar wrote and sent letters to all governors of the other conquered countries in order to send victuals to relieve the severity of the famine that struck Arabia, especially Yathreb. People used to gather daily to pray to God for rain, but it never rained during 18 A.H., and Omar ordered Amr Ibn Al-'As, governor of Egypt, to empty all Egyptian storehouses of their fruits and grains to be sent to Yathreb, and that entailed creating a canal from the Nile to the Red Sea, and Amr feared Egyptians would revolt against him due to heavy taxes and sending most of Egyptian produce to Yathreb, but Omar told him that Egypt's ruin would be better than the imminent ruin of Yathreb! This was Omar, the mortal god who is being now deified and revered by Egyptian Sunnites of today!     

6- Concerning the pest spread as an epidemic in the same year 18 A.H., Al-Tabary mentions that thousands of people, both the poor & impecunious and the affluent &rich, contracted the disease and died, among those who died were Yazeed Ibn Abou Sufyan, the first-born of Abou Sufyan and the elder brother of Mu'aweiya, Mu'aaz Ibn Jabal, Abou Oubaidah, the governor, and many more from the so-called well-known companions. Some claim that the total number of those who died of this epidemic was 25.000 persons, and early Muslims feared that the pest that had taken its toll for months might encourage enemies of Arabs to attack them, but this never happened. We can read here between history lines that both the pest and the famine were divine punishment against Arabs, because both struck Arabs only in Arabia, the Levant, and Iraq, whereas people of conquered nations never suffered. Thus, non-Arabs never suffered the famine or the contagious pest, not even to the smallest degree. Even some Arabs who tried to flee their locations to avoid the pest in Arabia died eventually of it in Iraq and the Levant; for instance, Al-Hareth Ibn Hisham went away to Basra, in Iraq, with 70 members of his household, but he died like most of them, and only four persons returned eventually to Yathreb.     

7- Another divine punishment was the assassination of Omar, by Abou Louloua the Persian, in the sacred month of Zu Al-Hijja 23 A.H., but some historians assert that it was in the sacred month Muharram 24 A.H., an thus, as Omar violated the sacred months, God made his fate to be killed in them later on: "The sacred month for the sacred month; and sacrilege calls for retaliation…" (2:194).

8- The main cause behind the assassination of Omar, in our opinion, was the enslavement of women and children of the conquered nations; Ibn Saad, the historian, writes that Omar used to write letters to the military leaders of the Arab troops to order them never to bring non-Arab men or male youths to Yathreb as slaves, especially who never grow beards, but to focus on women and children. This shows to us that Omar feared a possible retaliation. Abou Louloua the Persian came to Yathreb as an exception, with a recommendation from his master, Al-Mughira Ibn Shaabah, and he was among the children enslaved from Persia, who saw as a child how Arabs caused the irretrievable loss of his family, homeland, house, and possessions; no doubt, Abou Louloua used to watch other slaves, among children and women, from Persia coming to Yathreb regularly to be distributed or sold into slavery to other people in Arabia. Of course, this scene used to remind him of injustices done to him. He had listened to their screams and cries of woe within streets of Yathreb, replaying his own scenes of suffering in his mind. Of course, Abou Louloua killed Omar and then committed suicide to avenge such oppression. It was said that Abou Louloua used to try and comfort the new children-slaves, while crying that Arabs must pay the price for their crime of destroying Persia.  

9- Pardon us, Arab readers, for we regard Abou Louloua the Persian as a hero, and we wish that he were an Egyptian man.