use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) --> , death_place = , death_cause = , body_discovered = , resting_place = , resting_place_coordinates = , burial_place = , burial_coordinates = , monuments = , rank =

General A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...

, battles = Battle of Babylon (634)

Battle of Namaraq Battle of Namaraq ( ar, معركة النمارق) (634 CE) was a conflict between Muslims and the Sasanians that occurred in Namaraq, near modern-day Kufa (Iraq). During the Khilafat of Abu Bakr, Muslims under the command of Al-Muthanna ibn H ...

Battle of the Bridge The Battle of the Bridge or the Battle of al-Jisr ( ar, معركة الجسر) was a battle at the bank of the Euphrates river between Arabs led by Abu Ubaid al-Thaqafi, and the Persian Sasanian forces led by Bahman Jaduya. It is traditionally ...

Battle of Buwaib Battle of Buwaib ( ar, معركة البويب) was fought between the Sassanid Empire and the Rashidun Caliphate soon after the Battle of the Bridge. Prelude Battle of the Bridge was a decisive Sasanian victory which gave them a huge boost to e ...

Al-Muthanna ibn Haritha al-Shaybani ( ar, المثنى بن حارثة الشيباني) was a Muslim

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

general A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...

in the

army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

of the Rashidun Caliphate.

Career

Al-Muthanna was commander of the Muslim Arabs in

al-Hira Al-Hirah ( ar, الحيرة, translit=al-Ḥīra Middle Persian: ''Hērt'' ) was an ancient city in Mesopotamia located south of what is now Kufa in south-central Iraq. History Kingdom of the Lakhmids Al-Hirah was a significant city in pre- I ...

, from which they were conducting raids in the plains of Sasanian Mesopotamia. He asked

Abu Bakr Abu Bakr Abdallah ibn Uthman Abi Quhafa (; – 23 August 634) was the senior companion and was, through his daughter Aisha, a father-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, as well as the first caliph of Islam. He is known with the honor ...

for reinforcements against the Sasanians, as they started fighting back. As

Umar ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb ( ar, عمر بن الخطاب, also spelled Omar, ) was the second Rashidun caliph, ruling from August 634 until his assassination in 644. He succeeded Abu Bakr () as the second caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate ...

became caliph, he dispatched a force under

Abu Ubayd al-Thaqafi Abū 'Ubayd ibn Mas'ūd ibn 'Amr ibn 'Umayr ibn 'Awf ibn Uqda ibn Ghayra ibn Awf ibn Thaqif al-Thaqafi

, who took over command from al-Muthanna for the second time. In the upcoming battle at the coast of the

Euphrates The Euphrates () is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia ( ''the land between the rivers''). Originating in Turkey, the Eup ...

river, known as the

, Abu Ubayd was killed and the Arab Muslims were defeated, but al-Muthanna, although wounded, survived with 3,000 soldiers who deserted to Medina and elsewhere in the Arabian desert. In 634, al-Muthanna led his army to defeat the Persians in

. He was among the commanders at the Battle of al-Qādisiyyah in 636. In the same year, after the capture of Persian territory in Iraq by Muslim Arab forces and the departure of Khalid ibn al-Walid, al-Muthanna was put in charge of the Muslim Arab occupied territories of Iraq.Ghareeb & Dougherty (2004), p. 1. Al-Muthanna relied on his tribe, the

Banu Bakr The Banu Bakr bin Wa'il ( ar, بنو بكر بن وائل '), or simply Banu Bakr, were an Arabian tribe belonging to the large Rabi'ah branch of Adnanite tribes, which also included Abd al-Qays, Anazzah, Taghlib. The tribe is reputed to have e ...

along with other powerful Arab tribes including the

Taghlib The Banu Taghlib (), also known as Taghlib ibn Wa'il, were an Arab tribe that originated in Najd (central Arabia), but later migrated and inhabited the Jazira (Upper Mesopotamia) from the late 6th century onward. Their parent tribe was the Rabi ...

and the Tamim to maintain control over the territories.

Legacy

Due to his victory he became a celebrated historical figure in modern Iraq. His name was used as a title by the pan-Arab nationalist political movement called the

al-Muthanna Club The Al-Muthanna Club ( ar, نادي المثنى) was an influential pan-Arab fascist society established in Baghdad ca. 1935 to 1937 which remained active until May 1941, when the coup d'état of pro-Nazi Rashid Ali al-Gaylani failed. It was nam ...

.Ghareeb & Dougherty (2004), p. 167. His name was also given to the Muthanna Province in the south of the country and is mentioned in the former Iraqi national anthem, which was used from 1981 to 2003.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Muthanna Ibn Haritha Year of birth missing Year of death missing 7th-century Arabs Generals of the Rashidun Caliphate People of the Muslim conquest of Persia Banu Shayban