The Caliphate A.M.S

The Red Aurora Borealis The red aurora is a luminous atmospheric phenomenon that occurs when charged particles originating from the Sun interact with gases in Earth's atmosphere, causing the sky to glow red. It may appear in the form of luminous curtains or columns. I found a mention of the phenomenon of the red aurora borealis in Al-Bidāya wa-l-Nihāya (The Beginning and the End) by Ibn Kathir. It occurred in 772 AH (1370 CE), and people were overcome with fear, weeping and fervently praying that day. Ibn Kathir states: p. 628. > “The month of Jumada al-Awwal began on Thursday. On the night of Monday, the fifth of the month, after the night prayer (ʿIshāʾ), an immense redness appeared in the sky, extending from al-Rabwa to Thaniyyat al-ʿUqab. White columns could be seen within it, and the light of the moon was obscured by it. At this, people began to weep, cry out, and climb the minarets. The callers to prayer delivered admonitions and recited verses from the Qur’an, while the people raised their voices in supplication. It would not have been unreasonable to perform a special prayer on account of this phenomenon, following the school of Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal, just as prayers are performed during solar or lunar eclipses, earthquakes, and darkness. >Reports also arrived that this redness had been seen that same night in Homs, Hama, Aleppo, and even the Noble City of Jerusalem. This was among the strangest phenomena witnessed in these times.” shamela.ws/book/30098/622

Why Did the Qarmatians Never Attempt to Capture or Besiege Medina? This is a historical question I have been trying to answer for a long time, but I have yet to find a satisfactory explanation. How were the Qarmatians able to conquer parts of Iraq, Syria, Yemen, and Oman, establish control over al-Ahsa, and capture numerous cities during their military campaigns? They even sacked Mecca in 317 AH (930 CE) and later advanced toward Cairo, besieging the city. Yet, despite their military strength and extensive influence, they never captured Medina. Other groups had successfully attacked the holy cities before them. For example, during the caliphate of al-Muʿtazz, Ismaʿil ibn Yusuf al-Saffak captured both Mecca and Medina with relative ease in 251 AH (862 CE). Why, then, did the Qarmatians never attempt to attack Medina? What prevented them from doing so, despite their ability to raid or capture other major cities?