- Modern usage of al-Qādisiyyah
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The Battle of al-Qādisiyyah (Arabic: معركة القادسيّة; transliteration, Ma'rakat al-Qādisiyyah; Persian: نبرد قادسيه; alternate spellings: Qadisiyya, Qadisiyyah, Kadisiya) was the decisive engagement between the Arab Muslim army and the Sassanid Persian army during the first period of Muslim expansion which resulted in the Islamic conquest of Persia.
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Modern usage of al-Qādisiyyah
Academic studies of the Battle have revealed numerous topoi that make up a common schema of the Arab Muslim conquests (see Donner; Noth). These literary layers appear to have accumulated since the period immediately following the Battle, when story-tellers (quṣṣāṣ) embellished their narrative, often in an attempt to glorify past ancestors. The modern usage of the al-Qādisiyyah, thus, has heavy emotional baggage and invoking its name grants deep meaning.
Qādisiyyat-Ṣaddām: The Iran–Iraq War
Famous Baghdād mural of Ṣaddām surveying the Battle of al-Qādisiyyah, with modern tanks in the foreground
Iraqi medal issued to commemorate 'Ṣaddām's Qādisiyyah'The most notable use of Qādisiyyah's emotive power was the dubbing by Ṣaddām Ḥusayn of his eight-year war against Iran as Qādisiyyat-Ṣaddām (Ṣaddām's Qādisiyyah). The first instance of this naming occurred on 2 April 1980, a half-year before the outbreak of hostilities, on the occasion of a visit by Ṣaddām Ḥusayn to al-Mustansiriya University in Baghdād, where a bomb attack on the previous day had injured his vice-president, Tarīq ʿAzīz. Ṣaddām blamed the newly-founded Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and, drawing the parallel to the 7th-Century battle, he announced:
- In your name, brothers, and on behalf of the Iraqis and Arabs everywhere we tell those [Persian] cowards and dwarfs who try to avenge Al-Qadisiyah that the spirit of Al-Qadisiyah as well as the blood and honor of the people of Al-Qadisiyah who carried the message on their spearheads are greater than their attempts. (See Ṣaddam, E3)
Other examples of the usage of al-Qādisiyyah
Support for Ṣaddām's historical characterisation of the modern war was further bolstered through several cultural symbols. An Egyptian film released at this time cast the Battle in ethnic terms (Arab against Persian) and Iraqi scholar Kanan Makiya has commented on the significance of various building and architectural projects that evoked al-Qādisiyyah, such as the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier that contains a sword allegedly belonging to Saʿd right next to Ṣaddām's personal machine gun. Makiya has called this an attempt to make Ṣaddām 'the Sa’ad ibn-abi-Waqas of the 1980s' (see Makiya, 11).
Art, architecture, literature, cinema, and media
- Ṣaddām's victory arch, called The Sword of Qādisiyyah, opened August 1989, and one of the largest art pieces in the world. (See Makiya, 1) (image)
- Egyptian mega-film al-Qādisiyyah, released in 1981.
- Iraqi newspaper al-Qādisiyyah, established in 1981.
- Mural depicting Ṣaddām surveying the ancient Battle of al-Qādisiyyah, with modern tanks in the foreground. (photograph)
- Al-Qādisiyah Palace, designed by TIGRIS Enterprises in Iraq between 1983 and 1993. (website)
Government institutions and symbols
- Ṣaddām-era 25-Iraqi dinar note depicts the original Battle with Ṣaddām in the foreground as a field marshal. (image)
- Baghdād government compound called 'Mujammaʿ al-Qādisiyyah' ('The Qādisiyyah Compound') (map)
- Iraqi government-issued commemorative stamps of both ancient and modern Battles of al-Qādisiyyah. (image #1 image #2)
- Iraqi medal commemorating 'Ṣaddām's Qādisiyyah'. (image)
Geographical locations
- Al-Qādisiyyah Province, Iraq, with a population of nearly 900,000. (official CPA website, Google Satellite image)
- City of al-Qādisiyyah, in Kuwayt. (map)
- Al-Qādisiyyah Square, Bin Ashūr, Tripoli, in Libya.
- Al-Qādisiyyah residential district in Baghdād, located near the Tigris River and al-Yarmūk Hospital (itself named after the Battle of al-Yarmūk.
- Al-Qādisiyyah was also a historical town, near the battle-site and an important location on a Mesopotamian trade-route.
Educational institutions and recreational organisations
- Al-Qādisiyyah University, in ad-Dīwāniyyah, Iraq. (website)
- Al-Qādisiyyah University, in ʿAmmān, Jordan. (website)
- Al-Qādisiyyah primary school in Bahrayn – in addition to schools named after Qādisiyyah general Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqāṣ and his predecessor Khālid ibn al-Walīd. (See 'Plan')
- Al-Qādisiyah Girls School, Iraq. (photograph)
- Al-Qādisiyyah (Saʿūdī Arabian football club), part of the Asian Football Confederation.
- Al-Qādisiyyah (Kuwayti football club), part of the Asian Football Confederation.
- Al-Qādisiyyah Boy Scouts Group, established in March 1994, at the al-Fāraʿah refugee camp north of Nablus. (website)
- Al-Qādisiyyah car-racing club in Saʿūdī Arabia.
- Al-Qādisiyyah Sporting Club in Kuwayt.
Military forces and installations
- Palestine Liberation Army 'al-Qādisiyyah' Brigade, financed by Iraq.
- Al-Qādisiyyah Airbase, Iraq. (website)
- Husn al-Qādisiyyah, ruins of an ʿAbbassid walled fort, in Iraq. (website)
Miscellaneous
See also
- Battle of al-Qādisiyyah
- Islamic conquest of Persia
- Muslim conquests
- Islamic conquests
- Sāsānian Empire
- Shāh-nāmeh
- Shi'a–Sunni relations
Academic and primary references
- Baram, Amatzia. Culture, history, and ideology in the formation of Baʿthist Iraq, 1968 – 69. New York City: St Martin’s Press, 1991.
- Bengio, Ofra. Saddam's word. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998.
- Donner, Fred McGraw. The Early Islamic conquests. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1981.
- Makiya, Kanan. The Monument: Art, vulgarity, and responsibility in Iraq. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991.
- Lewental, D Gershon. ‘The Battle of al-Qādisiyyah and modern Middle Eastern discourse’.
- Noth, Albrecht (in collaboration with Larence I Conrad). The Early Arabic historical tradition: A Source-critical study. Translated from German by Michael Bonner. Studies in late antiquity and early Islam, 3. 2nd edition. Princeton: Darwin Press, 1994.
- ‘Plan for 34 disabled students’. Bahrain Tribune, 5 October 2001.
- Rida, Muhammad. ‘Qadisiyya: A New stage in Arab cinema’. Ur 3 (1981): 40-43.
- Ṣaddām Ḥusayn. ‘Address given’. Baghdād, Voice of the Masses in Arabic, 1200 GMT 2 April 1980. FBIS-MEA-80-066. 3 April 1980, E2-3.
- Streck, Maximillian. ‘al-Ḳādisīya’. EI¹.
- at-Tabarī, Abū Jaʿfar Muhammad. The Battle of al-Qādisiyyah and the conquest of Syria and Palestine. Edited and translated by Yohanan Friedmann. SUNY series in Near Eastern studies. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1992.
- Vaglieri, Laura Veccia. ‘al-Ḳādisiyya’. EI².
Categories:- Arabic words and phrases
- Shi'a–Sunni relations
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