Behind the Mountain
بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ In al-Furqan bayna Awliya’ ar-Rahman wa Awliya’ ash-Shaythan , Shaykh Taqi’ ad-Din Ahmad ibn ‘Abd al-Halim ibn Taymiyyah ( r.a. ) wrote about the incident when Sayyidina Abu Hafsw ‘Umar ibn al-Khaththab al-Faruq ( r.a. ), helped the Muslim army in Iraq. When Sayyidina ‘Umar ( r.a. ) sent out an army, he appointed Sayyidina Sariyah ibn Zunaym al-Jabal ( r.a. ) as their commander. While Sayyidina ‘Umar ( r.a. ) was delivering the khuthbah in Madina, he started shouting, “O Sariyah, the mountain!” thrice. A month later, a messenger from the army came, and Sayyidina ‘Umar ( r.a. ) questioned him concerning the campaign. He said, “O Commander of the Faithful! We met with the enemy and they had almost defeated us. Then a voice warned us, ‘O Sariyah, the mountain!’ So, we put our backs against the mountain and Allah ( s.w.t. ) Vanquished them.” This story is well known, and there are versi...