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Volume :17 Issue : 65 1999
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The Importance of Al-Jabiya City during the Islamic Conquest of Al-Sham (in Arabic)
Auther : Ahmad Al-Hasan
Al-Jabiya city is situated approximately 80 km. south of Damascus in AI-Sham. It was very important in the period before Islam specially during the reigns of the Ghassanids, as it was a capital for some of their kings, due to its central situation be in the lands they ruled and its healthy weather in addition to its natural protection.
In the beginning of the Islamic occupation of AI-Sham, Muslims conquered Al-Jabiya in the year 13/634 during the reign of Abu Bakr AI-Siddiq, (11/632 - 13/634) and after occupation, the Muslims used it as a base for their military expeditions due to its proximity to the Arabian peninsula. It was separated from the succeeding capital by natural obstacles such as mountains and rivers. In addition, its weather was similar to Arab tribes who cooperated in expeditions, were used to.
After occupying most of the Syrian lands, Jabiya was the place where the Caliph Umar Ibn Al-Khattab had gone (13/634 - 23/643) on different visits to AI-Sham to meet the Islamic armies. It was also in Jabiya the Caliph Umar Ibn Al-Khattab made several expeditions to guarantee the domination on all AI-Sham lands.
After the last visit of the Caliph Umar Ibn Al-Khattab to Jabiya in 18/639, it had lost its importance in Islamic History. The main reason was that the importance of Al-Jabiya was related to its military role in the AI-Sham occupation, but after the Muslim domination, this role ended.