The Crescent of the Sultan

After passing through the Kurdish region, Emperor Cyprus had already led his army to Mesopotamia.

The governor here was Kuchuk Pasha, who left Constantiniya and was sent here to restore the environment and organize production. He was also the person who set off tyranny in the eyes of the locals.

Its tyranny includes, but is not limited to, asking Shia believers to build roads, plant trees, confiscate their food, and provide logistics and transportation for the army.

You said that the Sultan asked him to do it, which is simply an empty slander. This is because the officials below have subjective initiative. It has nothing to do with the Sultan. The Sultan tolerates all lost sheep.

In February 1790, Emperor Said stopped in Baghdad with his army and refused to leave.

As time went by, soldiers recruited from the Kurdish region also rushed to Baghdad and began to repair environmental and water conservancy facilities and farm fields.

While Selim was stationed in Baghdad with his troops, Muhammad Ali Pasha in Syria and Ishak Pasha in Egypt also sent troops to start fighting against the Dirayei Emirate.

The commander of the army under Ishak Pasha was Hassan Pasha. Before fighting against the emirate of Diriyai, he and Ishak Pasha went on a pilgrimage to Mecca.

In the eyes of Emperor Sai, the effect of this kind of thing is probably similar to that when Xu Shouhui rebelled in the late Yuan Dynasty, he wrote on the backs of the soldiers, "If you die, you are not sincere, but if you don't die, it is God's protection."

However, the soldiers trained by these farmers are probably more willing to believe the latter, because for Muslims, Mecca and Medina are really holy cities.

They were not the group of crusaders who said that they could not lose Jerusalem and wanted to punish the heretics, but in the end they did a poor job of saying goodbye to them, and almost made them say goodbye.

According to the records of the Koran, the history of Mecca can be traced back to the time of Ibrahim (Abraham, I can’t remember his Jewish name). Building the Kaaba.

The local population is said to have strayed away from monotheism under the influence of the Amalekites.

Historians believe that the Kaaba was later displayed with 360 idols and tribal idols from all the nomadic tribes of Arabia.

By the seventh century, the most important god in Mecca was Hubal, whose idol the Quraysh placed.

Mecca is known as "Macolaba" in Ptolemy's writings. In the fifth century, the Quraish tribe took control of Mecca and became outstanding merchants. They also joined the lucrative spice trade in the sixth century, as parts of the world were embroiled in war, shifting trade routes from dangerous seas to the relative safety of land.

The Byzantine Empire originally controlled the Red Sea, but pirates became increasingly rampant. Another older route was from the Persian Gulf through the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, but the merchants passing through were greatly exploited by the Sasanian dynasty. The interference between the two countries was at war.

Mecca's prominent commercial status made it surpass Petra and Palmyra, which was one of the reasons why Muhammad later chose this place.

In the mid-sixth century, there were three main communities in northern Arabia, connected with the southwest coast near the Red Sea, and an inhabitable place between the Red Sea and the eastern desert.

This area is the famous Hijaz area. The three communities are close to the oasis, and there is no problem with the water source.

In the middle of Hijaz was Yashrib, which was later renamed Medina.

Four hundred kilometers south of Yasrib is Taif, a mountain city, and to the northwest of Taif is Mecca.

Although the surrounding areas of Mecca are barren, Mecca is still the richest and most important of the three communities.

The reason is that Mecca has abundant water resources due to Zamzam spring.

The location of Zamzam Well is the Kaaba, the holiest site in Arabia, and is also the main gathering route for camel caravans.

In fact, the water source of Zamzam spring is already insufficient for the locals, and the Kaaba is just one of the many polytheistic temples on the peninsula.

In addition, for camel caravans, if they only go from Mecca to Syria without going back and forth, then such a one-way route makes Mecca the terminus of trade.

The harsh environment on the Arabian Peninsula often leads to conflicts between tribes, but every year they have a truce and go to Mecca for the Hajj.

The journey had a religious reason, namely to pay homage to the Kaaba and drink from the spring water of Zamzam. However, this was also the time of year when disputes were arbitrated, debts were settled, and people traded in the bazaars of Mecca.

The tribes developed a common belief in these annual events, making Mecca extremely important on the peninsula.

Muhammad's great-grandfather was the first to install camel mounts for caravans, which became part of the local economy.

Tribal alliances traded with merchants, and local nomadic tribes brought leather, livestock and metals mined from the local mountains.

Camel caravans were thus able to return fully loaded from Mecca and travel to the cities of Syria and Iraq to trade.

Islamic tradition claims that goods from all continents also flowed to Mecca.

North Africa and the Far East should circulate spices, leather, medicines, clothes, and slaves to Syria; Mecca would make a fortune and buy weapons, grain, and wine, and distribute them to all parts of Arabia. The Meccans signed contracts with the Byzantines and Bedouins to coordinate safe routes for caravans, which also included rights to water and pasture.

These additional services strengthened Mecca's political and economic power and led to it becoming the leader of a loose alliance of trading tribes, including the Bannu Tamim. Other powers such as the Abyssinians, Ghassans, and Lachemites have declined, but Mecca was the primary political and economic hub in Arabia in the late sixth century.

When Muhammad was born in 570 AD, the gears of destiny began to turn, and Islam has inevitably had a relationship with Mecca.

Muhammad was born into the Hashemite family, a small branch of the ruling Quraysh tribe. After the sealed prophet accepted the revelation in 610 and began to preach monotheism, he became incompatible with Mecca.

After enduring 13 years of persecution, Muhammad migrated to Medina with his followers in 622.

However, the conflict between the Quraysh and the Muslims still existed: the two armies broke out at the Battle of Badr, and the Muslims defeated the Quraysh outside Medina; but the Mecca army defeated the Muslims at the Battle of Uhud.

Unfortunately, I don’t know why. It seems that monotheism had become the mainstream at that time. In the Battle of the Trench in 627, the Muslims had gained an absolute advantage and defeated the pagans in one fell swoop. Muhammad returned to Mecca.

However, the Quraish tribe rebelled again. Unfortunately, they were just clowns in front of God.

Afterwards, Muhammad announced an amnesty for the Meccans and gave special gifts to the ruling class. The Kaaba in Mecca was cleared of all its idols and ritual murals.

Muhammad immediately declared Mecca the holiest place in Islam, making it the center of Muslim pilgrimage, and the holy city was established.

The place where Hassan Pasha came to Mecca to worship was the Kaaba, the Forbidden Temple.

Seen from a distance, the Kaaba is a cubic stone building made of granite from the mountains near Mecca and built on a marble platform. The four corners of the building face the four directions of southeast, northwest and northwest. The southeastern corner is called the "Black Stone Corner" and is inlaid with a black meteorite, generally known as the "Black Stone". It was the only one that was retained after Muhammad cleared the idols. The remaining three corners are called "Iraq Corner" (northeast), "Sham Corner" (northwest, Sharm means Levant/Syria) and "Yemen Corner" (southwest).

The Kaaba Temple is covered with black silk cloth and embroidered with gold Quranic verses.

This cloth is called "kiswa" in Arabic and must be replaced every year before the Hajj (this cloth was supplied by Egypt starting from the Fatimid Dynasty).

The northeast wall of the Kaaba Forbidden Temple is equipped with a gate 2 meters high from the ground, which is the front of the Kaaba.

Access to this gate is via wooden stairs on wheels.

The floors and interior walls of the Kaaba are paved with marble, and the roof is supported by three pillars. The marble paving height of the interior wall is only close to half of the roof, and the upper half of the interior wall is covered with green cloth and embroidered with gold Quranic verses.

There are no windows in the Kaaba, and the door is the only access.

There is a semicircular marble stone structure on the northwest side of the outside of the Kaaba, called "Hatim" in Arabic), but it is not directly connected to the Kaaba.

This ring of buildings was once part of the Kaaba, so Muslims do not enter its ring space when visiting the Kaaba.

Today, it was Ishak Pasha who found members of the Hashemite family and the lord of Mecca and organized the army's pilgrimage.

Thousands of Muslim soldiers gathered in the center of Mecca from all directions. They wore neat red and black uniforms, shouldered their faith and mission, and marched in unison toward the same goal. They come from different nationalities, tribes and regions and become one, showing great unity across cultures and regions.

The red crescent flag flew: in the ranks of the army, each brigade, company and group was equipped with its own flag. These flags are printed with crescent moons and words of admiration for God. The flags flutter in the wind, symbolizing faith and glory.

With solemn steps and a pious attitude, Muslim soldiers marched through the streets and squares of Mecca towards the Kaaba, following in the footsteps of their predecessors.

As the army marched, the soldiers' clear and powerful slogans, chants and cries of hadith reverberated throughout the city of Mecca, forming an exciting chorus.

"Praise be to Allah, the Almighty One, who causes His servants to travel from the Masjid to the Far Mosque in one night. We blessed the surroundings of the Far Mosque, so that We might show Him some of My signs. Indeed, Allah is All-Hearing. , is indeed fully enlightened.

Then We restored to you superiority over them, We supported you with wealth and descendants, and We enriched you.

(If you repent), perhaps your Lord will have mercy on you. If you disobey me again, I will punish you again. I made the Fire a prison for the disbelievers.

This Quran will guide people to the right path and predict that believers who do good deeds will enjoy the greatest reward.

(Also predicted) For those who disbelieve in the Hereafter, We have prepared a painful punishment for them. "

The soldiers shouted feverishly the mantras left by the prophet. Ishak Pasha looked at the crowd with a smile and couldn't help but sigh.

“Allah always gives us blessings.”

The Lord of Mecca said next to him.

"This is a necessary position, they are His Majesty's army and they are the beloved of God.

And those heretics who show off their ferocity will be punished by God. "