point_in_time battle of al-anbar
Syria was an early Roman province , annexed to the Roman Republic in ___MASK32___ BC by Pompey in the Third Mithridatic War , following the defeat of Armenian King Tigranes the Great . Following the partition of the Herodian Kingdom into tetrarchies in ___MASK94___ AD , it was gradually absorbed into Roman provinces , with Roman Syria annexing Iturea and Trachonitis . Later , in 135 AD , in the aftermath of the Bar Kokhba revolt , Syrian province was merged with Judea province , creating the larger province of Syria Palaestina . Islam (' ;) is a religion articulated by the Quran , a text considered by its adherents to be the verbatim word of God ('), and , for the vast majority of adherents , the teachings and normative example ( called the " sunnah ", composed of accounts called " hadith ") of Muhammad ( ___MASK78___  8 June 632 CE ). It is the world ' s second - largest religion and the fastest - growing major religion in the world , with over 1 . 7 billion followers or 23 % of the global population , known as Muslims . Islam is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion that upholds that God is one and incomparable and that the purpose of existence is to worship God . Muslims consider Muhammad to be the last prophet of God . Ab Bakr  Abdallh bin Ab Qufah a - iddq ( ___MASK43___ CE22 August ___MASK90___ CE ) popularly known as Abu Bakr , was a senior companion (" Sahabi ") and  through his daughter Aisha  the father - in - law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad . Abu Bakr became the first openly declared Muslim outside Muhammad ' s family . Abu Bakr served as a trusted advisor to Muhammad . During Muhammad ' s lifetime , he was involved in several campaigns and treaties . The Rashidun Caliphate (') was the Islamic caliphate in the earliest period of Islam , comprising the first four caliphs  the " Rightly Guided " or Rashidun caliphs ('). It was founded after Muhammad ' s death in 632 ( year ___MASK100___ AH in the Islamic calendar ). At its height , the Caliphate controlled an empire from the Arabian Peninsula and the Levant , to the Caucasus in the north , North Africa from Egypt to present - day Tunisia in the west , and the Iranian plateau to Central Asia in the east . A Muslim is someone who follows or practises Islam , a monotheistic Abrahamic religion . Muslims consider the Quran ( Koran ), their holy book , to be the verbatim word of God as revealed to the Islamic prophet and messenger Muhammad . They also follow the teachings and practices of Muhammad (" sunnah ") as recorded in traditional accounts (" hadith "). " Muslim " is an Arabic word meaning " one who submits ( to God )". The Ridda wars ( Arabic :   ), also known as the Wars of Apostasy , were a series of military campaigns launched by the Caliph Abu Bakr against rebel Arabian tribes during 632 and ___MASK95___ AD , just after Muhammad died . The rebels ' position was that they had submitted to Muhammad as the prophet of God , but owed nothing to Abu Bakr . Some rebels followed either Tulayha or Musaylima or Sajjah , all of whom claimed prophethood . Most of the tribes were defeated and reintegrated into the Caliphate . The peoples surrounding Mecca did not revolt . A head of state ( or chief of state ) is the public persona that officially represents the national unity and legitimacy of a sovereign state . In developing the current Constitution of France ( ___MASK99___ ), former French president Charles de Gaulle said the head of state should embody " the spirit of the nation " (""). In some countries , typically those with parliamentary governments , the head of state is a ceremonial figurehead that does not actually guide day - to - day government activities and may not even be empowered to exercise any kind of political authority ( e . g ., Queen Elizabeth II in the United Kingdom ). In other countries , the head of state is also the head of government , such as in the U . S ., where the president is both a public figurehead and the actual highest ranking political leader who , in practice , oversees the executive branch . The Akkadian Empire was the first ancient Semitic - speaking empire of Mesopotamia , centered in the city of Akkad and its surrounding region , also called Akkad in ancient Mesopotamia and Accad in the Bible ( Genesis ___MASK64___ : ___MASK64___ ). The empire united all the Akkadian and Sumerian speakers under one rule . The Akkadian Empire controlled Mesopotamia ( modern Iraq , Kuwait , northeast Syria and southeast Turkey ), the Levant ( modern Syria and Lebanon ), and eastern and southern parts of Anatolia ( modern Turkey ) and Iran , sending military expeditions as far south as Dilmun and Magan ( modern Bahrain and Oman ) in the Arabian Peninsula . Muhammad ( c . ___MASK78___ CE  8 June 632 CE ) is the central figure of Islam and widely regarded as its founder by non - Muslims . He is known as the " Holy Prophet " to Muslims , almost all of whom consider him to be the last prophet sent by God to mankind to restore Islam , believed by Muslims to be the unaltered original monotheistic faith of Adam , Abraham , Moses , Jesus , and other prophets . Muhammad united Arabia into a single Muslim polity and ensured that his teachings , practices , and the Quran , formed the basis of Islamic religious belief . Babylon ( or ; Aramaic :  , " Babel ", , " Bavel ", , " Bbil ") was a major city of ancient Mesopotamia in the fertile plain between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers . The city was built upon the Euphrates and divided in equal parts along its left and right banks , with steep embankments to contain the river ' s seasonal floods . Babylon was originally a small Semitic Akkadian city dating from the period of the Akkadian Empire c . ___MASK61___ BC . Umar , also spelled Omar ( born c . ___MASK29___ CEdied 3 November 644 CE ), was one of the most powerful and influential Muslim caliphs in history . He was a senior Sahabi of the Islamic prophet Muhammad . He succeeded Abu Bakr ( 632  634 ) as the second caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate on 23 August 634 . He was an expert Islamic jurist known for his pious and just nature , which earned him the epithet Al - Farooq (" the one who distinguishes ( between right and wrong )"). He is sometimes referred to as Umar I by historians of Islam , since a later Umayyad caliph , Umar II , also bore that name . Ab Sulaymn Khlid ibn al - Wald ibn al - Mughrah al - Makhzm (; ___MASK84___  642 ), also known as Sayf Allh al - Masll (" Drawn Sword of God "), was a companion of Muhammad . He is noted for his military tactics and prowess , commanding the forces of Medina under Muhammad and the forces of his immediate successors of the Rashidun Caliphate , Abu Bakr and Umar ibn Khattab . It was under his military leadership that Arabia , for the first time in history , was united under a single political entity , the Caliphate . Commanding the forces of the nascent Islamic state , Khalid was victorious in over a hundred battles , against the forces of the Byzantine - Roman Empire , Sassanid - Persian Empire , and their allies , in addition to other Arab tribes . His strategic achievements include the conquest of Arabia during the Ridda Wars , Persian Mesopotamia and Roman Syria within several years from 632 to ___MASK65___ . He is also remembered for his decisive victories at Yamamah , Ullais , and Firaz , and his tactical successes at Walaja and Yarmouk . A governor is , in most cases , a public official with the power to govern the executive branch of a non - sovereign or sub - national level of government , ranking under the head of state . In federations , " governor " may be the title of a politician who governs a constituent state and may be either appointed or elected . The power of the individual governor can vary dramatically between political systems , with some governors having only nominal and largely ceremonial power , while others having a complete control over the entire government . The Muslim Arab army was under the command of Khalid ibn al - Walid and the battle took place at Anbar which is located approximately 80 miles from the ancient city of Babylon . Khalid besieged the Sassanian Persians in the city fortress , which had strong walls . Scores of Muslim archers were used in the siege . The Persian governor , Shirzad , eventually surrendered and was allowed to retire . The Battle of Al - Anbar is often remembered as the `` Action of the Eye '' since Muslim archers used in the battle were told to aim at the `` eyes '' of the Persian garrison .