List of battles fought during Ramadan by Muslims
History List of Islamic Battles Fought During Ramadan
*
624 -
Battle of Badr. On 17 Ramadan,
Muhammad led his forces in
Arabia to victory over Makkan idolaters. "The great battle of Badr" or "Conquest of Mecca", was the first battle between believers and infidels.
*
627 - The
Battle of the Ditch. Muslims trained for this battle during Ramadan, though it occurred in the following month of
Shawal.
*
630 -
Battle of Tabouk (also called the Battle of Tabuk). The soldiers of Islam, under the leadership of Muhammad, established a training and fighting camp in Tabouk during the month of fasting, and attacked the
Byzantine army.
*
653 - Conquest of Rhodes. Muslims plundered the
Colossus of Rhodes, melted it and turned it into arms for the soldiers.
*
710 - Muslims led by
Tarek bin Ziyad, invaded
Spanish southern frontier cities on the Andalusian coast defeating
King Roderick. They stayed for eight hundred years, disseminating Islam. From there, Islam spreads out through
Europe.
*
1099 -
Battle of Ascalon. Took place on 22 Ramadan (August 12), the newfound
crusader
Kingdom of Jerusalem defeated
Fatimid Egypt.
*
1187 -
Battle of Hattin. Took place at dawn -- after the
Night of Power (
Lailat ul-Qadr); a night during the last ten days of Ramadan when tradition says that the angel
Gabriel descended and God called
Muhammad to be His messenger. (It is sometimes translated as the Night of Destiny.) Sultan
Saladin (Salah Al-Din Al-Ayubi) wiped out the
Frankish army and went on to reclaim
Jerusalem for
Islam. The battle took place on
July 4.
*
1260 -
Battle of Ain Jalut.
Qutuz defeated the
Mongols in
Palestine.
*
1962 to
1970 -
Yemeni Civil War. Fighting continued through nine Ramadans.
*
1973 -
Ramadan War (Elsewhere known as the
Yom Kippur War).
Egypt and
Syria launched their attack on
Israel it was called Operation Badr, and foot soldiers were given religious slogans. The Yom Kippur War is also known as the 6th of October war of 1973 and the 10th of Ramadan War.
*
1975 to
1990 -
Lebanon's civil war. Fighting took place over the course of seventeen Ramadans.
*
1981 - Iran rejected Iraqi offers for a Ramadan cease-fire.
*
1982 -
Iran launched an attack on
Iraq that they explicitly called "Operation Ramadan."
*
1986 - Christian forces called for a Ramadan cease-fire, which lasted two weeks.
*
1987 - Iran again rejected Iraqi offers for a Ramadan cease-fire.
*
1987 to 1993 - The
first Palestinian Intifada was waged over six Ramadans.
*
1990s - There were at least 20 examples of Ramadan violence by Muslims during the
Algerian civil war.
*
2000 - Indian
Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee stated that
India would initiate a unilateral cease-fire in observance of the holy month of Ramadan as a step towards peace in
Kashmir. Nonetheless, widespread fighting continued between Indian forces and the guerrillas in
Jammu-Kashmir.
*
2000 -
Al-Qaida operatives tried to bomb a U.S. destroyer,
USS The Sullivans, in the harbor at
Aden,
Yemen. It was the Night of Power. The suicide boat was overloaded with explosives and sank.
*
2000 - Al-Qaida successfully bombs the
USS Cole in the same harbor at Aden.
*
2003 - After the
2003 Iraq war, suicide bombers struck at four locations, including the
Red Cross headquarters, killing at least 35 people.