Welcome to News Right Now - The Conquest of Rome and the Legacy to the Islamic Ummah

In the famous hadith, that Muslims have read for centuries. Amr ibn al As narrated:

“When we are around the Messenger of Allah ﷺ writing, the Messenger of Allah was asked, which of the two cities will be opened first, Constantinople or Rome?” The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

«مَدِينَةُ هِرَقْلَ تُفْتَحُ أَوَّلاً، يَعْنِي قُسْطَنْطِينِيَّةَ» “The city of Heraclius will be opened first, meaning Constantinople.” Narrated by Ahmad

After this prophecy, the Prophet (s) said:

“You will open Constantinople, its Amir is the best Amir, and the best army is that army.” narrated by Ahmad and others."

Despite numerous attempts over hundreds of years to open Constantinople to Islam, dating back to the sahabi Abu Ayyub al-Ansari, Sultan Muhammad al-Fatih liberated Constantinople on the 20th of this month, Jumad al-Awal in the 857th Hijri year.

Upon its conquest, al-Fatih entered the city, made sujood to Allah, then headed to the church and granted protection to the Byzantines and their monks. Shortly thereafter, al-Fatih decided to name the city “Islambol” or “The City of Islam” and move the capital of his state from Edirne to Islambol. As if this military feat, that had been unsuccessfully attempted multiple times over hundreds of years wasn’t impressive enough - the most stunning fact is that Muhammad al-Fatih was 21 years old at the time of this conquest.

The campaign is not only memorable because of the fulfillment of the Prophet’s (s) prophecy, but also because of the unique challenges al-Fatih faced to open the city. All in all, taking the city took two months and was one of the most ambitious projects in the history of Islam. Learning from the failures of past campaigns, al-Fatih built a fortress to shelter his troops from the cold. Doing this symbolized to both his troops and his enemies, that he was committed to his objective. He also ordered food to be grown and harvested, underscoring to all parties that this would be a long-term endeavor.
With his troops secure, he had to deal with the rings of impenetrable walls that surrounded the city.

Al-Fatih and his troops could not simply storm the city. Even their catapults were not sophisticated or powerful enough to break through the city’s defenses so al-Fatih hired engineers to create a canon powerful enough to blow holes in the massive walls. So as not to alert his enemies, he had the cannons constructed in the city of Edirne so he could test his massive cannons and their massive, 1.5 ton cannonballs.

The final obstacle he faced was that the Byzantines had lined the Golden Horn river with chains which would cause severe damage to any ships that tried to enter it. So al-Fatih’s forces were blocked not only by massive walls, but they couldn’t enter the city from the river without destroying their ships. To solve this problem, Muhammad al-Fatih performed one of the most brilliant maneuvers in military history - he ordered his 70 ships to be removed from the water and drug across 5 kilometers of land on greased tree trunks in one night - so that they could be reinserted into the water past the chains by dawn. The bold move not only stunned the Byzantines, planting the seeds for their eventual defeat, it was noted in history as one of the most ingenious moves in military history.

The conquest of Constantinople was significant because it connected the Mediterranean with the Black Sea, and Asia with Europe.

It was considered the best global trade center in the medieval ages. About it, Napoleon said: “If the world was one kingdom, there would be no better city befitting to be its capital than Constantinople.”

Because of its strategic location and the hadith of Rasul Allah (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam), Muslims tried to conquer the city for over 800 years, through 10 attempts. The first was by Othman Bin Affan (radi Allahu anhu), the second and third by Moawiya Bin Abi Sufiyan, the fourth by Sulaiman Bin Abdul-Malik and the fifth by Harun Al-Rashid. There were several other attempts, until Muhammad Al-Fateh conquered it - claiming the honor and blessings of being the best commander of the Muslims and leading the best army from this Ummah.

When asked about his capabilities and how he managed the conquest, he replied: “I have two traits: 1) a heart as hard as a rock that does not rest until I achieve what I want. 2) an eye that cries out of fear of Allah (subhana wa ta’ala). So how could I not achieve victory?”
With Constantinople liberated, the second part of the Prophetic prophecy is still unfulfilled - the conquest of Rome.

This is the time to not only celebrate the opening of Constantinople in the past, but to yearn for the opening of Rome in the future. The honor, glory, and reward awaiting the Muslims who not only liberate Rome, but liberate Palestine from the clutches of the occupying Zionists and Kashmir from the occupying Hindu state, is unique to our present day and time. At no point in Islamic history has our Ummah been at such depths of crisis and disaster; subjugated by our enemies and governed by tyrants that don’t represent us or our deen.

Victory and a vast reward awaits those who can see beyond the current reality and make the bold moves necessary to re-establish the Khilafah on the method of Prophethood, unify the Muslims, and carry Islam to the world.

Jazāk Allāhu Khayran for joining us!

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