Ibn Fadlallah al-Umari

Shihab al-Din Abu al-Abbas Ahmad ibn Fadlallah al-Umari (Arabic: شهاب الدين أبو العبّاس أحمد بن فضل الله العمري, romanized: Shihāb al-Dīn Abū al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad ibn Faḍlallāh al-ʿUmarī), commonly known as Ibn Fadlallah al-Umari or Ibn Faḍl Allāh al-‘Umārī (1301 – 1349) was an Arab historian born in Damascus. His major works include at-Taʾrīf bi-al-muṣṭalaḥ ash-sharīf, on the subject of the Mamluk administration, and Masālik al-abṣār fī mamālik al-amṣār, an encyclopedic collection of related information. The latter was translated into French by Maurice Gaudefroy-Demombynes in 1927.

Quotes

• The Sultan is not slack in jihad. He never lets go of his spear or bridle in pursuing jihad by land and sea routes. This is his main occupation which engages his eyes and ears. He has spent vast sums for the establishment of the faith and the spread of Islam in these lands, as a result of which the light of Islam has reached the inhabitants and the flash of the true faith brightened among them. Fire temples have been destroyed and the images and idols of Budd have been broken, and the lands have been freed from those who were not included in the darul Islam, that is, those who had refused to become zimmis. Islam has been spread by him in the far east and has reached the point of sunrise. In the words of Abu Nasr al-Aini, he has carried the flags of the followers of Islam where they had never reached before and where no chapter or verse (of the Quran) had ever been recited. Thereafter he got mosques and places of worship erected, and music replaced by call to prayers (azan), and the incantations of fire-worshippers stopped by recitations of the Quran. He directed the people of Islam towards the citadels of the infidels and, by the grace of Allah, made them (the believers) inheritors of wealth and land and that country which they (the believers) had never trodden upon.
  • Masãlik’ul Absãr fi Mamãlik’ul Amsãr by Ibn Fadlallah al-Umari .Sultãn Muhammad bin Tughlaq (AD 1325-1351) Tughlaq Kalina Bharata, Persian texts translated into Hindi by S.A.A. Rizvi, 2 Volumes, Aligarh, 1956-57. p. 325 ff. Vol I. (Shihabuddin Al Umari.) Also quoted (using a different translation) in Jain, Meenakshi (2011). The India they saw: Foreign accounts. 8th to 15th Centuries, p. 274.
  • Variant: This Sultan is not slow in waging Holy War (Jihad). In the holy war by land or by sea his bridle or his spear do not deviate (from it). This is the sole object which engages his eye and his ear. He has spent a large amount in exalting the word of Faith and in spreading Islam in these regions, so that the light of Islam was spread in these parts and the lightning of the true guidance flashed in these regions and the fire-temples were destroyed and the Buddha’s statues and idols were broken and the land was freed from those who were not (included) in the land of security, that is, those who had not entered the contract of a Zimmis and through him Islam was spread up to the farthest East, and reached up to where the Sun rises, and he carried the banners of the Islamic people as Abu Nasr-al-Aini says, to where never a banner had reached and no chapter, surat, or verse (ayat) was read of the Quran. Then he built mosques and places of worship and replaced music by prayer-call and silenced the mumblings of the Magians by the recitation of the Quran, and he directed the people of this faith (Islam) against the fortresses of the infidels. And he has appointed them with the help of God as the heirs of their property and their lands and the country which they had never trodden under foot: land after land was placed under the banner of this Sultan. On land his banners are like eagles and on sea the banners are like the crows of the running ships, so that no day passes without the sale of thousands of slaves for the lowest prices on account of the great number of captives and prisoners. in Jain, Meenakshi (2011). The India they saw: Foreign accounts. 8th to 15th Centuries

• The Sultan who is ruling at present has achieved that which had not been achieved so far by any king. He has achieved victory, supremacy, conquest of countries, destruction of the forts of the infidels, and exposure of magicians. He has destroyed idols by which the people of Hindustan were deceived in vain.
  • Masãlik’ul Absãr fi Mamãlik’ul Amsãr by Ibn Fadlallah al-Umari .Sultãn Muhammad bin Tughlaq (AD 1325-1351) Tughlaq Kalina Bharata, Persian texts translated into Hindi by S.A.A. Rizvi, 2 Volumes, Aligarh, 1956-57. p. 327 ff. Vol I.