Tareq bin Ziyad and Gibraltar

Compiled by: Syed Ali Shahbaz
On 5th of the Islamic month of Rajab in 92 AH, Tareq bin Ziyad, crossed the Mediterranean from the northwestern African coast and landed on the island known ever since in his memory as Gibraltar (European corruption of the Arabic term "Jabal at-Tareq", which means Rock or Mount of Tareq). He was governor of Tangiers under Musa bin Nusayr, the conqueror and Emir of the Province of Ifriqiya (present day western Libya, Algeria, Tunisia, and Morocco).

The Battle of Guadalete
1301 solar years ago, on this day in 711 AD, the Muslim forces, led by Tareq Ibn Ziyad won a decisive victory in the Battle of Guadalete by completing routing the Visigoth Christian army of King Roderick and thereby rapidly conquering much of southern Spain. Soon all of Spain and Portugal were liberated by the Muslim armies, which consequently crossed the Pyrenees Mountains into southern France.
Tareq had earlier crossed the Mediterranean from the northwestern African coast and landed on the island known ever since in his memory as Gibraltar (European corruption of the Arabic term "Jabal at-Tareq", which means Rock or Mount of Tareq).
He was governor of Tangiers under Musa Ibn Nusayr, the conqueror and Emir of the Province of Ifriqiyya (present day western Libya, Algeria, Tunisia, and Morocco). Tareq was made governor of Islamic Spain by Musa, but was eventually called back to Damascus by the jealous Omayyad caliph, Walid I, who also relieved Musa Ibn Nusayr of the overall charge of northwest Africa, Spain and the islands off the coast of France.
The Muslims under Tareq swept through Spain and soon conquered the whole Iberian Peninsula. Later, they crossed the Pyrenees into southern France and conquered it. Tareq was made governor of Islamic Spain but was eventually called back to Damascus by the jealous Omayyad caliph, Walid I, who also relieved Musa bin Nusayr of the overall charge of northwest Africa, Spain and the islands off the coast of France.
There are three different accounts of the origins of Tareq given by Arab historians – he was a Persian from Hamadan; he was an Arab of the Sadf tribe; he was a Berber from North Africa. Musa bin Nusayr is also said to be the son of an Iranian Christian, according to the historian Tabari; while others say he belonged to the Lakhmid Arab clan who were clients of the Sassanians.