34 ISLAM AT WAR
of the second. This amazing feat was accomplished by previously disor-
ganized and unruly tribal nomads who lacked wealth, equipment, and
large numbers.
The question is, how did this great feat take place? Certain facts must
be considered. Obviously the Persians and Byzantines were exhausted and
may not have given much credence to the Islamic threat at first. However,
neither great state seemed able to instill much loyalty in its subjects. Great
cities and whole provinces meekly accepted the new conquerors. Like-
wise, neither of the mighty empires could compete with the Arabs on the
battlefield. Between them, they lost every serious engagement except the
Battle of the Bridge in Iraq in 634. This Arab superiority is even more
telling, for Byzantium was led by Heraclius, one of her most notable
soldier-emperors. Additionally, Persia and Rome represented the most ad-
vanced cultures in the world. Their religion art, literature, and architecture
were the products of many proud centuries. With these facts in mind, only
one possible explanation remains for the Arab success—and that was the
spirit of Islam.
There is no question that Muhammad inspired his early followers with
a profound spiritual zeal. That zeal, shared by soldiers and commanders
alike, made the Arab armies more than a match for their better equipped
and more formally disciplined opponents. It is a military truism that a
willing soldier is a good soldier. The generous terms that the invading
armies usually offered made their faith accessible to the conquered pop-
ulations. And if it was a new and upstart faith, its administration by simple
and honest men was preferable to the corruption and persecution that were
the norm in more civilized empires.
In the end, the Great Arab Conquests were won by the faith of the
conquerors, nothing else. The unified Arab Empire built from the con-
quests would last only a short time. Greed, corruption, inefficiency, and
civil war would break the monolithic caliphate irredeemably—but the
faith remained. After nearly fourteen centuries Islam has surrendered al-
most nothing of the great conquest.
CHRONOLOGY
622–28 Final stages of Persian-Byzantine War
622–29 Abu Bekr succeeds Muhammad as the first caliph.
632 Khalid defeats apostates at the Battle of Buzakha.
633 Khalid marches on Persia.