Part I:
In The Time of the Prophet (saws)
Chapter 1
(The Boy)
“The best
of you in Jahiliyyah are the best of you in Islam, as long as they have
understanding.”
[Prophet
Muhammad (SAWS)]1
Khalid and the tall boy glared at each other. Slowly they began to move
in a circle, the gaze of each fixed intently upon the other, each looking for
an opening for his attack and each wary of the tricks that the other might use.
There was no hostility in their eyes-just a keen rivalry and an unshakeable determination
to win. And Khalid found it necessary to be cautious, for the tall boy was
left-handed and thus enjoyed the advantage that all left-handers have over
their opponents in a fight.
Wrestling
was a popular pastime among the boys of Arabia, and they frequently fought each
other. There was no malice in these fights. It was a sport, and boys were
trained in wrestling as one of the requirements of Arab manhood. But these two
boys were the strongest of all and the leaders of boys of their age. This match
was, so to speak, a fight for the heavy-weight title. The boys were well
matched. Of about the same age, they were in their early teens. Both were tall
and lean, and newly formed muscles rippled on their shoulders and arms as their
sweating bodies glistened in the sun. The tall boy was perhaps an inch taller
than Khalid. And their faces were so alike that one was often mistaken for the
other.
Khalid threw the tall boy; but this was no ordinary fall. As the tall
boy fell there was a distinct crack, and a moment later the grotesquely twisted
shape of his leg showed that the bone had broken. The stricken boy lay
motionless on the ground, and Khalid stared in horror at the broken leg of his
friend and nephew. (The tall boy's mother, Hantamah bint Hisham bin Al Mugheerah,
was Khalid's first cousin.)
In course of time the injury healed and the leg of the tall boy became
whole and strong again. He would wrestle again and be among the best of
wrestlers. And the two boys would remain friends. But while they were both
intelligent, strong and forceful by nature, neither had patience or tact. They
were to continue to compete with each other in almost everything that they did.
The reader should make a mental note of this tall boy for he was to play
an important role in the life of Khalid. He was the son of Al Khattab, and his
name was Umar.
Soon after his birth Khalid was taken away from his mother, as was the
custom among the better families of the Quraish, and sent to a Bedouin tribe in
the desert. A foster mother was found for him, who would nurse him and bring
him up. In the clear, dry and unpolluted air of the desert, the foundations
were laid of the tremendous strength and robust health that Khalid was to enjoy
throughout his life. The desert seemed to suit Khalid, and he came to love it
and feel at home in it. From babyhood he grew into early childhood among the
Arabs of the desert; and when he was five or six years old he returned to his
parents' home in Makkah.
Some time in his childhood he had
an attack of small pox, but it was a mild attack and caused no damage except to
leave a few pock marks on his face. These marks did not, however, spoil his
ruggedly handsome face, which was to cause a lot of trouble among the belles of
Arabia - and some -to himself too.
The child
became a boy; and as he reached the age of boyhood he came to realise with a
thrill of pride that he was the son of a chief. His father, Al Waleed, was the
Chief of the Bani Makhzum - one of the noblest clans of the Quraish - and was
also known in Makkah by the title of AlWaheed- the Unique. Khalid's upbringing
was now undertaken by the father who did his best (and with excellent success)
to instil into Khalid all the virtues of Arab manhood-courage, fighting skill,
toughness and generosity. Al Waleed took great pride in his family and his
ancestors, and told Khalid that he was:
Khalid
son of Al Waleed
son of Al Mugheerah
son of Abdullah
son of Umar
son of Makhzum (after whom the
clan was named)
son of Yaqza
son of Murra
son of Kab
son of Luwayy
son of Ghalib
son of Fihr
son of Malik
son of Al Nazr
son of Kinana
son of Khuzeima
son of Mudrika
son of Ilyas
son of Muzar
son of Nizar
son of Ma'add
son of Adnan
son of Udd
son of Muqawwam
son of Nahur
son of Teirah
son of Ya'rub
son of Yashjub
son of Nabit
son of Isma'il (regarded as the
father of the Arabians)
son of Ibrahim (the prophet)
son of Azar
son of Nahur
son of Sarugh (or Asragh)
son of Arghu
son of Falakh
son of Eibar
son of Shalakh
son of Arfakhshaz
son of
Noah (the prophet)
son of
Lamk
son of
Mattushalakh
son of
Idris (the prophet)
son of
Yard
son of
Muhla'il
son of
Qeinan
son of
Anush
son of
Sheis
son of
Adam (the father of mankind)
1. Bukhari, from Abu Hurayrah. Sahih Al-Jami’
Al-Saghir No. 3267
The great tribe of the Quraish that inhabited Makkah had evolved a
clear-cut division of privilege and responsibility among its major clans. The
three leading clans of the Quraish were the Bani Hashim, the Bani Abduddar (of
which the Bani Umayyah was an offshoot) and the Bani Makhzum. The Bani Makhzum
was responsible for matters of war. This clan bred and trained the horses on
which the Quraish rode to war; it made arrangements for the preparation and
provisioning of expeditions; and frequently it provided the officers to lead
Quraish groups into battle. This role of the Bani Makhzum set the atmosphere in
which Khalid was to grow up.
While still a child he was taught to ride. As a Makhzumi he had to be a
perfect rider and soon acquired mastery over the art of horsemanship. But it
was not enough to be able to handle trained horses; he had lo be able to ride
any horse. He would be given young, untrained colts and had to break them and
train them into perfectly obedient and well-disciplined war horses. The Bani
Makhzum were among the best horsemen of Arabia, and Khalid became one of the
best horsemen of the Bani Makhzum. Moreover, no Arab could claim to be a good
rider if he only knew horses; he had to be just as good on a camel, for both
animals were vital for Arab warfare. The horse was used for fighting, and the
camel for long marches, in which horses were tagged along unmounted.
Along with riding, Khalid learned the skills of combat. He learnt to use
all weapons-the spear, the lance, the bow and the sword. He learnt to fight on
horseback and on foot. While he became skilful in the use of all weapons, the
ones for which he appears to have had a natural gift were the lance, used while
charging on horseback, and the sword for mounted and dismounted duelling. The
sword was regarded by the Arabs as the weapon of chivalry, for this brought one
nearest to one's adversary; and in sword fighting one's survival depended on
strength and skill and not on keeping at a safe distant from the opponent. The
sword was the most trusted weapon.
As Khalid grew to manhood, he attained a great height-over six feet. His
shoulders widened, his chest expanded and the muscles hardened on his lean and
athletic body. His beard appeared full and thick on his face, With his fine
physique, his forceful personality, and his skill at riding and the use of
weapons, he soon became a popular and much-admired figure in Makkah. As a
wrestler, he climbed high on the ladder of achievement, combining consummate
skill with enormous strength.
The Arabs had large families, the father often having several wives to
increase his offspring, Al Waleed was one of six brothers. (There may have been
more, but the names of only six have been recorded.) And the children of Al
Waleed that we know of were five sons and two daughters. The sons were Khalid,
Waleed (named after the father), Hisham, Ammarah and Abdu Shams. The daughters
were Faktah and Fatimah.
Al Waleed was a wealthy man. Thus Khalid did not have to work for a
living and could concentrate on learning the skills of riding and fighting.
Because of this wealthy background, Khalid grew up to disregard economy and
became known for his lavish spending and his generosity to all who appealed to
him for help. This generosity was one day to get him into serious trouble.
Al Waleed was a wealthy man. But the Quraish were a surprisingly
democratic people and everybody was required to do some work or the
other-either for remuneration or just to be a useful member of society. And Al
Waleed, who hired and paid a large number of employees, would work himself. In
his spare time he was a blacksmith 1 and butcher 2 , slaughtering animals for
the clan. He was also a trader, and along with other clans would organise and
send trade caravans to neighbouring countries. On more than one occasion Khalid
accompanied trade caravans to Syria and visited the great trading cities of
that fair province of Rome. Here he would meet the Christian Arabs of the
Ghassan, Persians from Ctesiphon, Copts from Egypt, and the Romans of the
Byzantine Empire.
Khalid had many friends with whom, as with is brothers he would ride and
hunt. When not engaged outdoors they would recite poetry, recount genealogical
lines and have bouts of drinking. Some of these friends were to play an
important part in Khalid's life and in this story; and the ones deserving
special mention besides Umar, were Amr bin Al Aas and Abul Hakam. The latter's
personal name was Amr bin Hisham bin Al Mugheerah, though he was to earn yet
another name later: Abu Jahl. He was an elder cousin of Khalid. And there was
Abul Hakam's son, Ikrimah, Khalid's favourite nephew and bosom friend.
Al Waleed was not only the father and mentor of his sons; he was also
their military instructor, and from him Khalid got his first lesson in the art
of warfare. He learnt how to move fast across the desert, how to approach a
hostile settlement, how to attack it. He learned the importance of catching the
enemy unawares, of attacking him at an unexpected moment and pursuing him when
he broke and fled. This warfare was essentially tribal, but the Arabs well knew
the value of speed, mobility and surprise, and tribal warfare was mainly based
on offensive tactics.
On reaching maturity Khalid's main interest became war and this soon
reached the proportions of an obsession. Khalid's thoughts were thoughts of
battle; his ambitions were ambitions of victory. His urges were violent and his
entire psychological make-up was military. He would dream of fighting great
battles and winning great victories, himself always the champion-admired and
cheered by all. He promised himself battle. He promised himself victory. And he
promised himself lots and lots of blood. Unknown to him, destiny had much the
same ideas about Khalid, son of Al Waleed.
1. Ibn Qutaibah: p. 575.
2. Ibn Rusta: p. 215.
(The New Faith)
"It is He who has sent His Messenger with Guidance and the Religion
of Truth, to make it prevail over all religion,and Allah is sufficient as a
witness." [Quran 48:28]
A certain Arab would walk the streets of Makkah at night, lost in
thought. He was a member, no longer wealthy, of the noble clan of Bani Hashim.
A strikingly handsome man of medium height with broad, powerful shoulders, his
hair ended in curls just below his ears. His large, dark eyes, fringed with
long lashes, seemed pensive and sad.
There was much in the way of life of the Arabs that caused him pain.
Everywhere around him he saw signs of decay-in the injustice done to the poor
and helpless, in the unnecessary bloodshed, in the treatment of women who were
considered as no better than domestic animals. He would be deeply anguished
whenever he heard reports of the live burial of unwanted female children.
Certain clans of the Arabs had made a horrible ritual of the killing of
infant daughters. The father would let the child grow up normally until she was
five or six years old. He would then tell her that he would take her for a walk
and dress her up as if for a party. He would take her out of the town or
settlement to the site of a grave already dug for her. He would make the child
stand on the edge of this grave and the child, quite unaware of her fate and
believing that her father had brought her out for a picnic, would look eagerly
at him, wondering when the fun would start. The father would then push her into
the grave, and as the child cried to her father to help her out, he would hurl
large stones at her, crushing the life out of her tender body. When all
movement had ceased in the bruised and broken body of his poor victim, he would
fill the grave with earth and return home. Sometimes he would brag about what
he had done.
This custom was not, of course, very widespread in Arabia. Among the
famous families of Makkah-the Bani Hashim, the Bani Umayyah and the Bani
Makhzum-there is not a single instance on record of a female child being
killed. This happened only among some desert tribes, and only in some clans.
But even the exceptional occurrence of this revolting practice was sufficient
to horrify and sicken the more intelligent and virtuous Arabs of the time.
Then there were the idols of Makkah. The Kabah had been built by the
Prophet Ibrahim as the House of God, but had been defiled with gods of wood and
stone. The Arabs would propitiate these gods with sacrificial offerings,
believing that they would harm a man when angered and be bountiful when
pleased. In and around the Kabah there were 360 idols, the most worshipped of
whom were Hubal, Uzza and Lat. Hubal, the pride of the Arab pantheon, was the
largest of these gods and was carved of red agate. When the inhabitants of
Makkah had imported this idol from Syria it was without a right hand; so they
fashioned a new hand of gold and stuck it on to its arm.
In the
religion of the Arabs there was a curious mixture of polytheism and belief in
Allah-the true God. They believed that Allah was Lord and Creator, but they
also believed in the idols, regarding them as sons and daughters of Allah. The
position of the deity in the
Arab mind was like that of a divine council, God being the President of
the council of which these other gods and goddesses were members, each having
supernatural powers, though subservient to the President. The Arabs would swear
by Hubal or by another god or goddess. They would also swear by Allah. They would
name their sons Abdul Uzza, i.e. the Slave of Uzza. They would also name their
sons Abdullah i.e. the Slave of Allah.
It would
not be correct to suggest that everything was wrong with the Arab culture of
the time. There was much in their way of life which was glorious and
chivalrous. There were qualities in the Arab character which would be enviable
today-courage, hospitality and a sense of personal and tribal honour. There was
also an element of vindictiveness, in the blood feuds which were passed down from
father to son, but this was understandable, and even necessary, in a tribal
society where no central authority existed to enforce law and order. Violent
tribal and personal retaliation was the only way to keep the peace and prevent
lawlessness.
What was wrong with Arab culture lay in the fields of ethics and
religion, and in these fields Arab life had hit an all-time low. This period
became known in history as the Ignorance. During the Ignorance Arab actions
were acts of ignorance; Arab beliefs were beliefs of ignorance. The Ignorance
was thus not only an era but an entire way of life.
The Arab mentioned at the beginning of this chapter took to retiring to
a cave in a hill not far from Makkah, for one month every year. In this cave he
would spend his time in meditation and reflection, and he would wait-not
knowing just what he was waiting for. Then one day, while he was meditating in
the cave; he suddenly became conscious of a presence. He could see no one and
there was no sound of movement, but he could feel that someone was there. Then
a voice said, "Read!"
Alarmed by the phenomenon of the disembodied voice, the Arab exclaimed, "What shall I read?" The voice was louder as it repeated, "Read!" Again the Arab asked, "What shall I read?" The voice
now seemed terrible as it called sternly,
"Read!" Then the voice continued
in a more gentle tone:
Read: in the name of your Lord who created,
Created man from a clot.
Read: and it is your Lord the Bountiful
Who taught by the pen;
Taught man that which he knew not. [Quran 95: 1-5]
This happened on a Monday in the month of August, 610 CE. The world
would never be the same again, for Muhammad had received his first revelation.
A new faith was born.
When Muhammad (SAWS) received
this revelation, Khalid was 24 years old.
For three years the Prophet remained silent, receiving guidance through
the Angel Jibril. Then he was ordered to start expounding the religion of
Allah, and he started with his own family and clan. Most of them, however,
scorned his teaching and made fun of the new faith.
One day the Prophet decided to collect his closer relatives and give
them a good meal at his house. This would give him an opportunity to get them
together and put them in a situation where they would have to listen to him.
The meal was duly arranged and heartily eaten by the guests. The Prophet then
addressed the assembled guests and said, "O
Bani Abdul Muttalib! By Allah, I do not know of any man among the Arabs who has
come to you with anything better than I have brought you. I bring you the best
of this world and the next. I have been ordered by Allah to call you to Him.
Who will help me in this work and be my brother and deputy?"
The response of the entire gathering was silence. No one replied, each
watching the others to see if anyone would get up to support this man. And then
a thin, under-sized boy with skinny legs, in his early teens, sprang up and
piped in a voice which had not yet broken, "I,
O Prophet of Allah, will be your helper!"
There was a roar of laughter from the guests at what appeared at the
time to be a ridiculous sight-rude and contemptuous laughter-as they stood up
and began to walkaway. But the boy was impervious to such rudeness, for the
next instant he had been clasped by the Prophet in a loving embrace. The
Prophet declared, "This is my
brother and deputy."1 The boy was the Prophet's cousin-Ali,
son of Abu Talib. He was the first male
to accept Islam at the hands of the Prophet .2
Gradually the truth began to spread; and a few individuals, mostly
youths or weak, helpless people, accepted the new faith. Their number was small
but their courage was high. And the Prophet's sphere of activity widened. In
spite of the rebuffs and insults which were hurled at him by the Quraish, he
continued to accost people at street corners and in the market place and to
warn them of the Fire which awaited the evil-doer. He would deride their idols
of wood and stone and call them to the worship of the true God. As his
activities increased, the opposition of the Quraish became harder and more
vicious. This opposition was directed mainly by four men: Abu Sufyan (whose
personal name was Sakhr bin Harb, and who was the leader of the Bani Umayyah),
Al Waleed (father of Khalid), Abu Lahab (uncle of the Prophet) and Abul Hakam.
Of the first and the last we will hear a lot more in this story.
Abu Sufyan and Al Waleed were men of dignity and self-respect. While
they directed the opposition against the Prophet, they did not demean
themselves by resorting to violence or abuse. Al Waleed's initial reaction was
one of ruffled dignity. "Is the
prophethood to be bestowed on
Muhammad," he exploded,
"while I, the greatest of the Quraish and their elder, am to get nothing?
And there is Abu Masud, the chief of the Saqeef. Surely he and I are the
greatest of the two towns."3 This
grand old man lived in a world of his own where everything depended on nobility of birth and rank. He was, of
course, being unfair to the Prophet, for the line of Muhammad joined his own
six generations back, and the family of Muhammad was no less noble than his
own. In fact, in recent history the Prophet's family had acquired greater
prominence than any other family in Makkah. The Prophet's grandfather, Abdul
Muttalib, had been the chief of all the Quraish in Makkah.
1. Tabari: Vol. 2, p. 63; Ibn Sad: Vol. 1, p. 171.
2. Ibn Hisham: Vol. 1, p. 245; Tabari: Vol. 2, p. 56.
Masudi: Muruj; Vol. 2, p. 283.
3. Ibn Hisham: Vol. 1, p. 361.Quran 95:1-5
According to Ibn Hisham, it was in connection with this statement of Al
Waleed that the Quranic verse was revealed: And they say: If only this Quran had been revealed to some man from the, two great towns! [Quran 43:31]. The two towns
were Makkah and Taif. And another
Quranic revelation believed to have referred to Al Waleed who, as we have
stated in the preceding chapter, was known by the title of Al Waheed (the
Unique), reads: Leave Me (to deal) with
him whom I created Waheed; and bestowed upon him ample means; and sons abiding in his presence; and made (life)
smooth for him. Yet he desires that I should give more. Nay, for lo, he has
been stubborn about Our revelations. On him I shall impose a fearful doom…Then
he looked; then he frowned and showed displeasure; then he turned away in pride
and said: This is nothing but magic from of old; this is nothing but the speech
of a man. Him shall I fling into the fire: [Quran 74: 11-17 and 21-26]
The most
blood-thirsty and vindictive of these leaders was Abul Hakam-cousin and friend
of Khalid. As a result of his violent opposition to Islam he was given by the
Muslims the nickname of Abu Jahl, the
Ignorant One, and it is by this name that posterity was to know him. A
small, tough and wiry man with a squint, he has been described by a
contemporary as: "a man with a face
of iron, a look of iron and a tongue of iron."1 And Abu Jahl could not
forget that in their younger days, in a fierce wrestling match, Muhammad had
thrown him badly, gashing his knee, the scar of which was to remain until his
death.2
These prominent men of the Quraish, and some others, finding it
impossible to stop the Prophet by either threat or inducement, decided to
approach the aged and venerable Abu Talib, uncle of the Prophet and leader of
the Bani Hashim. They would have killed the Prophet but for the strong sense of
tribal and family unity which protected the Prophet. His killing would have led
to a violent blood feud with the Bani Hashim, who would undoubtedly have taken
revenge by killing the killer or a member of the killer's family.
The
delegation of the Quraish now approached Abu Talib and said "O Abu Talib! You are our leader and the best among us. You have
seen what the son of your brother is doing to our religion. He abuses our gods.
He vilifies our faith and the faith of our fathers. You are one of us in our
faith. Either stop Muhammad from such activities or permit us to deal with him
as we wish." 3
Abu Talib spoke gently to them, said that he would
look into the matter, and dismissed them with courtesy. But beyond informing
the Prophet of what the Quraish had said, he did nothing to stop him from
spreading the new faith. Abu Talib was a poet. Whenever anything of this sort
happened, he would compose a long poem and pour all his troubles into it.
In the house of Al Waleed, the actions of the Prophet became the most
popular topic of conversation. In the evening Al Waleed would sit with his sons
and other relatives and recount the actions of the day and all that the Quraish
were doing to counter the movement of Muhammad. Khalid and his brothers heard
their father describe the entire proceedings of the first delegation to Abu
Talib. Some weeks later, they listened to him tell all about the second
delegation to Abu Talib, which had no more effect than the first. The Prophet
continued with his mission.
Then Al Waleed took a bold step. He decided to
offer his own son, Ammarah, to Abu Talib in return for the person of Muhammad.
Ammarah was a fine, strapping youth in whom men and women saw all the virtues
and graces of young manhood. The Quraish
delegation approached Abu Talib with Ammarah in tow. "O Abu Talib" said the
delegates. "Here is Ammarah, son of
Al Waleed. He is the finest of youths among the Quraish, and the handsomest and noblest of all. Take him as your son.
He will help you and be yours as any son could be. In return give us the son of
your brother-the one who has turned against your faith and the faith of your
fathers and has caused dissension in our tribe. We shall kill him. Is that not
fair-a man for a man?"
Abu Talib was shocked by the offer. "I
do not think that it is fair at all," he replied. "You give me your son to
feed and bring up while you want mine to kill. By Allah, this shall not
be."4 The mission failed. We do not know how
Ammarah reacted to the failure of the mission-with
disappointment or relief!
1. Waqidi: Maghazi, p.20; Ibn Rusta p. 223.
2. Tabari: Vol. 1, p. 265; Ibn Sad: p. 186.
3. Ibn Hisham: Vol. 1, p. 265; Ibn
Sad: p. 186.
4. Ibn Hisham: Vol. 1, p. 267; Ibn
Sad: p. 186.
Now seeing no hope of persuading Abu Talib to stop the Prophet and
despairing of persuading him themselves, the Quraish decided to make the life
of Muhammad and his followers so wretched that they would be forced to submit
to the wishes of the Quraish. They set the vagabonds of Makkah against him.
These hooligans would shout and jeer at the Prophet wherever he passed, would
throw dust into his face and spread thorns in his path. They would fling filth
into his house, and in this activity they were joined by Abu Lahab and Abu
Jahl. This ill treatment was soon to enter a more violent phase.
As the persecution of the Muslims gathered momentum, it also increased
in variety of method. One man got the bright idea that he would hurt Muhammad's
cause by challenging him to a wrestling match, and thus belittle and humiliate
him in a public contest. This man was an unbelieving uncle of the Prophet by
the name of Rukkana bin Abd Yazid, a champion wrestler who was proud of his
strength and skill. No one in Makkah had ever thrown him. "O son of my brother!" he accosted the Prophet. "I believe that you are a man. And I believe that you are not a liar. Come and
wrestle with me. If you throw me I shall acknowledge you as a true
prophet." The man was delighted with himself at having thought up this unusual way of lowering the stock
of Muhammad in the eyes of the Makkans. Muhammad would either decline, and thus
look small, or accept and get the thrashing of a lifetime. But that is what he
thought. His challenge was accepted, and in the wrestling match that ensued the
Prophet threw him three times! But the scoundrel went back on his word.1
The Prophet himself was reasonably safe from physical harm, partly
because of the protection of his clan and partly because he could give better
than he took in a fight. But there were other Muslims who were in a vulnerable
position-those who were not connected with powerful families or were physically
weak. They included slaves and slave girls. There was one slave girl the news
of whose conversion so infuriated Umar that he beat her. He continued to beat
the poor girl until he was too tired to beat her any more. And Umar was a very
strong man!
Many of the men and women were tortured by the Quraish, The most famous
of these sufferers, of whom history speaks in glowing terms, was Bilal bin
Hamamah-a tall, gaunt Abyssinian slave who was tortured by his own master,
Umayyah bin Khalf. In the
afternoon, during the intense heat of the Arabian summer, when the sun
would dry up and bake everything exposed to it, Bilal would be stretched out on
the burning sand with a large rock on his chest and left to the tender mercies
of the sun. Every now and then his master would come to him, would look at his
suffering, tormented face, his dry lips and his swollen tongue, and would say, "Renounce Muhammad and return to the
worship of Lat and Uzza." But
the faith of Bilal remained unshaken. Little did Umayyah bin Khalf know, while he was torturing Bilal,
that he and his son would one day face his erstwhile slave in the Battle of
Badr, and that Bilal would be his executioner and the executioner of his son.
Bilal and several other slaves, all victims of torture, were purchased
by Abu Bakr, who was a wealthy man. Whenever Abu Bakr came to know of a Muslim
slave being tortured, he would buy and free him.
In spite of all this persecution, the Prophet remained gentle and
merciful towards his enemies; He would pray: "O Lord! Strengthen me with Umar and Abul Hakam." His
prayer was answered in so far as it concerned Umar, who became the fortieth
person to embrace Islam 2; but Abu Jahl remained an unbeliever and died
in his unbelief.
In 619, ten years after the first revelation, Abu Talib died 3.
The Prophet's position now became more delicate. The hostility of the Quraish
increased, and so did the danger to the life of Muslims. The Prophet remained
surrounded by a few faithful companions to whom he continued to preach, and
among these companions were 10 who were especially close to him. These men
became known as The Blessed Ten, and were held in especial esteem and affection
by the Muslims as long as they lived.4
1.
According
to Ibn Hisham (Vol. 1, p. 390) the Prophet himself challenged Rukkana, but I
have narrated Ibn-ul-Asir's version (Vol. 2, pp. 27-28), as the event is more
likely to have happened this way.
2.
This is
Ibn Qutaibah's placing (p. 180). Tabari, however, places Umar as the 67th
Muslim (Vol. 3, p. 270).
3.
Ten years
reckoning by the lunar year, which is, at an average, 11 days shorter that the
solar year.
4. For the names of these 10 men, see the Companions or Note
1 in Appendix B.
The Prophet remained in Makkah, bearing up against what became
increasingly more unbearable. Then some men of Madinah (at the time known as
Yathrib) met the Prophet and accepted Islam. Knowing the danger to which the
Prophet was exposed, they invited him to migrate to their settlements and make
his home with them. With this invitation came Allah's permission for the
Muslims to migrate, and the Prophet sent most of them to Madinah.
In September 622, the Quraish finally made up their minds to assassinate
Muhammad. On the eve of the planned assassination, during the night, the
Prophet left his house and, accompanied by Abu Bakr, a slave and a guide,
migrated to Yathrib. With his safe arrival at Yathrib, Madinah (as the place
was now to be called) became the seat and centre of the Muslim faith and the
capital of the new Muslim State. The era of persecution was over.
Three months after the Prophet's departure from Makkah, Al Waleed called
his sons to his death bed, He knew that he was dying. "O my sons!" he said. "There
are three tasks
that I bequeath you. See that you
do-not foil in carrying them out. The first is my blood feud with the Khuza'a.
See that you take revenge. By Allah, I know that they are not guilty, but I
fear that you will be blamed after this day. The second is my money, accruing
from interest due to me, with the Saqeef, See that you get it back. Thirdly, I
am due compensation or blood from Abu Uzeihar."1 This bad man married the daughter
of Al Waleed and then put her away
from him without returning her to her father's home.
Having made these bequests, Al Waleed died. He was buried with all the
honour due to a great chief, a respected elder and a noble son of the Quraish.
The first of the problems was settled without too much difficulty; the
Khuza'a paid blood money, and the matter was closed without violence. The
second matter remained pending for many yeays, and was then shelved as
unsettled. As for the third problem, i.e. the feud with the son-in-law of Al
Waleed, Khalid's brother, Hisham, decided that he would be content with nothing
less than the blood of Abu Uzeihar. He waited more than a year before he got
his chance. Then he killed his man. The matter assumed an ugly aspect, and
there was danger of further bloodshed between the two families; but Abu Sufyan
intervened and made peace. No more blood was shed.
During the years following his father's death, Khalid lived peacefully
in Makkah, enjoying the good life which his wealth made possible. He even
travelled to Syria with a trade caravan, to a large town called Busra, which he
was to approach many years later as a military objective.
We do not know how many wives or children he had at this time, but we
know of two sons: the elder was called Sulaiman, the younger, Abdur-Rahman. The
latter was born about six years before the death of Al Waleed, and was to
achieve fame in later decades as a commander in Syria. But according to Arab
custom, it was Sulaiman by whose name Khalid became known. Thus he was called
variously: Khalid, his own name; Ibn Al Waleed, i.e. the son of Al Waleed; and
Abu Sulaiman, i.e. the father of Sulaiman. Most people addressed him as Abu
Sulaiman.
1. Ibn Hisham: Vol. 1, pp. 410-411.
Chapter 3
(The
Battle of Uhud)
"Allah did indeed fulfil His Promise to you, when you were about to
annihilate the enemy with His permission, until you flinched and fell to
disputing about the
command, and disobeyed after He showed you what you covet. Among you
were some that hankered after this world and among you were some that desired
the Hereafter. Then did He divert you from them in order to test you. But He
has forgiven you, for Allah is full of grace to those who have faith."
[Quran
3:152]
Everybody in Makkah rejoiced at tbe arrival of the caravan from
Palestine. The caravan had been in grave danger during the few days it moved
along the coastal road near Madinah and very nearly fell into the hands of the
Muslims. It was only the skill and leadership of Abu Sufyan, who led the
caravan, that saved it from capture. The caravan
consisted of 1,000 camels and had taken goods worth 50,000 dinars, on
which Abu Sufyan had made a cent per cent profit. Since every family of note in
Makkah had invested in this caravan, its return with so much profit was a matter
of jubilation for all Makkah. And it was spring in Arabia: the month of March,
624.
Even as
the people of Makkah sang and danced, and the merchants rubbed their hands
while awaiting their share of the profit, the battered and broken army of the
Quraish picked its weary way towards Makkah. This army had rushed out in
response to Abu Sufyan's call for help when he had first realised the danger
from the Muslims. Before the Quraish army could come into action, however, Abu
Sufyan had extricated the caravan and sent word to the Quraish to return to
Makkah as the danger had passed. But Abu Jahl, who commanded the army, would
have none of this. He had spent the past 15 years of his life in bitter
opposition to the Prophet, and he was not going to let this opportunity slip
away. Instead of returning, he had precipitated a battle with the Muslims.
Now this proud army was returning
home in a state of shock and humiliation.
While the Quraish army was still on its way, a messenger from it sped to
Makkah on a fast camel. As he entered the outskirts of the town, he tore his
shirt and wailed aloud, announcing tragedy. The people of Makkah hastily
gathered around him to seek news of the battle. They would ask about their dear
ones and he would tell of their fate. Among those present were Abu Sufyan and
his wife, Hind.
From this
messenger Hind heard of the loss of her dear ones; of the death of her father,
Utbah, at the hands of Ali and Hamza, uncle of the Prophet; of the death of her
uncle, Sheiba, at the hands of Hamza; of the death of her brother, Waleed, at
the hands of Ali; of the death of her son, Handhalah, at the hands of Ali. She
cursed Hamza and Ali and swore vengeance.
The Battle of Badr was the first major clash between the Muslims and
their enemies. A small force of 313 Muslims had stood like a rock against the
onslaught of 1,000 infidels. After an hour or two of severe fighting the
Muslims had shattered the Quraish army, and the Quraish had fled in disorder
from the battlefield. The finest of the Quraish had fallen in battle or been
taken prisoner.
A total of 70 infidels had been killed and another 70 captured by the
Muslims, at a cost of only 14 Muslim dead. Among those killed were 17 members
of the Bani Makhzum, most of them either cousins or nephews of Khalid. Abu Jahl
had been killed. Khalid's brother, Waleed, had been taken prisoner.
As the messenger announced the names of those who had fallen and those
who had killed them, the Quraish noted the frequency with which the names of
Ali and Hamza were repeated. Ali had killed 18 men by himself and had shared in
the killing of four others. Hamza had killed four men and shared with Ali in
the killing of another four. The name of Ali thus dominated the proceedings of
this sad assembly.
Two days later Abu Sufyan held a conference of all the leaders of the
Quraish. There was not one amongst them who had not lost a dear one at Badr,
Some had lost fathers, some sons, some brothers. The most vociferous at the
conference were Safwan bin Ummayya and Ikrimah, son of Abu Jahl.
Ikrimah was the most difficult to restrain. His father had had the
distinction of commanding the Quraish army at Badr and had fallen in battle.
The son drew some comfort from the fact that his father had killed a Muslim at
Badr and that he himself had killed another. Moreover, he had attacked and
severed the arm of the Muslim who had mortally wounded his father; but that was
not enough to quench his thirst for revenge. He insisted that as noble Quraish
they were honour-bound to take revenge.
"And I have lost my son,
Handhalah." said Abu Sufyan. "My thirst for revenge is no less than
yours. I shall be the first to prepare and launch a powerful expedition against
Muhammad."1
At this conference they all took the pledge of revenge; this time none
would stay back. An expedition would be prepared such as had never assembled at
Makkah before, and other local tribes would be invited to join the expedition
and take part in the annihilation of the Muslims. The entire profit from the
caravans, amounting to 50,000 dinars, would be spent on financing the
expedition- Abu Sufyan was unanimously elected as the commander of the Quraish
army.
Abu Sufyan now gave two decisions, the first of which was more or less
universally accepted. This was to the effect that there should be no weeping
and no mourning of any kind for those who had fallen at Badr. The idea behind
this order was that tears would wash away the bitterness in their hearts, and
that this bitterness should be kept alive until they had taken their revenge
against the Muslims. However, those whose burden of sorrow was too heavy to
carry wept secretly.
The
second decision related to the prisoners who were in Muslim hands. Abu Sufyan
forbade all efforts to get them released for fear that if these efforts were
made immediately, the Muslims might put up the price. This decision, however,
was not followed by everyone. Within two days a man left Makkah secretly at
night to ransom his father; and when others came to know about this, they took
the matter into their own hands and got their dear ones released. Abu Sufyan
had no choice but to revoke his decision.
The rate
of ransom varied. The top rate was 4,000 dirhams and there was a graduated
scale down to 1,000 dirhams for those who could not afford to pay more. A few
prisoners who were too poor to pay but were literate, earned their freedom by
teaching a certain number of Muslim children to read and write. Some destitute
ones were released by the Prophet without ransom on condition that they would
never again take up arms against Muslims.
Among
those who went to negotiate the release of the prisoners were Ikrimah, Khalid
(who had missed the battle of Badr on account of his absence from the Hijaz)
and Khalid's brother, Hisham. Khalid and Hisham arranged the release of their
brother, Waleed. When Hisham heard that the ransom would be 4,000 dirhams, he
began to haggle for a lower sum but was rebuked by Khalid. The sum of 4,000
dirhams was duly paid for the release of Waleed, whereafter the three brothers
left Madinah and camped for the night at a place called Zhul Halifa, a few
miles away. Here, during the night, Waleed slipped away from the camp, returned
to Madinah, reported to the Prophet and became a Muslim. He thereafter proved a
devout Muslim and became very dear to the Prophet; and in spite of his new
faith, his relations with Khalid remained as warm and loving as ever.
While at the Quraish conference the main theme of the discussion had
been revenge, another factor which drove the Quraish to war with the Muslims
was economic survival. The main route of the Quraish caravan to Syria and
Palestine lay along the coastal road which now, after the Battle of Badr, was
no longer open to them. In November, Safwan bin Ummayya felt the need for more
trade, and despatched a caravan towards Syria on another route which he thought
might be safe. This caravan left Makkah on the road to Iraq, and after
travelling some distance turned north-west towards Syria, bypassing Madinah at
what Safwan considered a safe distance. But the Holy Prophet came to know of
this caravan and sent Zaid bin Harithah with 100 men to capture it, which Zaid
did.
Safwan then went to Abu Sufyan, and both leaders agreed that since the
economic well-being and prosperity of the Quraish depended on their profitable
trade with Syria, the sooner the Muslims were crushed the better. Ikrimah also
was impatient and pressed for speed. Abu Sufyan, however, as a wise old chief,
knew that it would take time to prepare the expedition and purchase the camels,
the horses and the weapons. He promised to do his best.
The preparations for the expedition now began in right earnest. While
they were in progress, an unbeliever of doubtful character approached Abu
Sufyan with a proposal. This man was Abu Amir of Madinah. He had taken
exception to the arrival of the Holy Prophet at Madinah and to the speed with
which members of his own clan, the Aws, had begun to embrace Islam.
Consequently he had left Madinah and sworn never to return as long as Muhammad
remained in power. At Makkah he took to inciting the Quraish against the
Muslims. In the old days Abu Amir had been known as the Monk, but the Holy
Prophet had given him the nickname of the Knave! Thus the Muslims knew this man
as Abu Amir the Knave.2
1. Waqidi: Maghazi,
pp. 156-7
2. Ibn Hisham: Vol. 2, p. 67.
"I have 50 members of my
clan with me", he said to Abu Sufyan. "I have much influence with my clan,
the Aws. I propose that before the battle begins I be permitted to address the
Aws among the Muslims, and I have no doubt that they will all desert Muhammad
and come over to my side." 1 Abu
Sufyan gladly accepted the arrangement. The Aws were one of the two major tribes of Madinah and would comprise more
than a third of the Muslim army.
Parleys were begun with neighbouring tribes, and strong contingents were
received from the Kinana and the Thaqeef. Early in March 625, the assembly of
the expedition began at Makkah. At this time Abbas, uncle of the Prophet, wrote
to him from Makkah to inform him of the preparations being made against him.
In the second week of March, the Quraish set out from Makkah with an
army of 3,000 men, of whom 700 were armoured. They had 3,000 camels and 200
horses. With the army went 15 Quraish women in litters, whose task it was to
remind the Quraish of the comrades who had fallen at Badr and to strengthen
their spirits. Among these women was Hind, who acted as their leader, and the
role came naturally to her. Others were the wife of Ikrimah, the wife of Amr
bin Al Aas and the sister of Khalid. One of the women, whom we shall hear of
again later, was Amrah bint Alqama, and there were also some songstresses who
carried tambourines and drums.
As the expedition moved towards Madinah, one of the leaders of the
Quraish, Jubair bin Mut'im, spoke to his slave, who was known as the Savage-Wahshi bin Harb. "If you kill Hamza, the uncle of Muhammad, in revenge for the killing of my uncle at
Badr, I shall free you." 2 The
Savage liked the prospect. He was a huge, black Abyssinian slave who always fought with a javelin from his
native Africa. He was an expert with this weapon and had never been known to
miss.
After travelling a little further, the Savage saw one of the
litter-carrying camels move up beside him. From the litter Hind looked out and
spoke to the Savage. "O Father of
Blackness!" she addressed him. "Heal, and seek your reward." 3 She promised him that if he would kill Hamza in revenge for his
killing her father, she would give him all the ornaments that she was wearing.
The Savage looked greedily at her ornaments-her necklace, her bracelets,
the rings that she wore on her fingers. They all looked very expensive and his
eyes glittered at the prospect of acquiring them.
The Holy Prophet had been warned by Abbas of the Quraish preparations
before they left Makkah. While they were on their way, he continued to receive
information of their progress from friendly tribes. On March 20, the Quraish
arrived near Madinah and camped a few miles away, in a wooded area west of
Mount Uhud. On this very day the Prophet sent two scouts to observe the
Quraish, and these scouts returned to give their exact strength.
On March 21, the Prophet left Madinah with 1,000 men, of whom 100 were
armoured. The Muslims had two horses, of which one was the Prophet's. They camped
for the night near a small black hillock called Shaikhan, a little over a mile
north of Madinah.
The following morning, before the march was resumed, the Hypocrites,
numbering 300 under the leadership of Abdullah bin Ubayy, left the Prophet on
the plea that fighting the Quraish outside Madinah had no prospect of success,
and that they would not take part in an operation which in their view was
doomed to failure. The Hypocrites returned to Madinah. The Prophet was now left
with 700 men; and with this strength he marched from the camp. The Prophet had
not actually intended to fight outside Madinah. It had been his wish that the
Muslims should await the arrival of the Quraish on their home ground and fight
the battle in Madinah; but most of the Muslims had insisted that they go out to
meet the Quraish, and so the Prophet, submitting to their demand, had marched
out to give battle to the Quraish outside Madinah. But although he was going
out to meet his enemy in the open, he would nevertheless fight the battle on
ground of his own choice. He moved to the foot of Mount Uhud and deployed for
battle.
1. Waqidi: Maghazi,
p. 161
2. Ibn Hisham: Vol. 2, pp. 61-2.
3. Ibid.
Uhud is a massive feature lying four miles north of Madinah (the
reference point in Madinah being the Prophet's Mosque) and rising to a height
of about 1,000 feet above the level of the plain. The entire feature is 5 miles
long. In the western part of Uhud, a large spur descends steeply to the ground,
and to the right of this spur, as seen from the direction of Madinah, a valley
rises gently and goes up and away as it narrows at a defile
about 1,000 yards from the foot
of the spur. Beyond this defile it shrinks into nothingness as it meets the
main wall of the ridge. At the mouth of this valley, at the foot of this spur,
the Prophet placed his army. The valley rose behind him.
He
organised the Muslims as a compact formation with a front of 1,000 yards. He
placed his right wing at the foot of the spur and his left wing at the foot of
a low hill, about 40 feet high and 500 feet long, called Ainain. The Muslim
right was safe, but their left could be turned from beyond Ainain; so, to meet
this danger, the Prophet placed 50 archers on Ainain, from which they could
command the approaches along which the Quraish could manoeuvre into the Muslim
rear. These archers, under the command of Abdullah bin Jubair, were given
instructions by the Prophet as follows; "Use
your arrows against the enemy
cavalry. Keep the cavalry off our backs. As long as you hold your position, our
rear is safe. On no account must you leave this position. If you see us
winning, do not join us; if you see us losing, do not come to help us." 1 The orders to this group of archers were very definite. Since Ainain was an
important tactical feature and commanded the area immediately around it, it was
imperative to ensure that it did not fall into the hands of the Quraish.
Behind the Muslims stood 14 women whose task it was to give water to the
thirsty, to carry the wounded out of battle and to dress their wounds. Among
these women was Fatimah, daughter of the Prophet and wife of Ali The Prophet
himself took up his position with the left wing of his army.
The Muslim dispositions were intended to lead to a frontal positional
battle and were superbly conceived. They gave the Muslims the benefit of fully
exploiting their own sources of strength-courage and fighting skill. They also
saved them from the dangers posed by the Quraish strength in numbers and in
cavalry-the mobile manoeuvre arm which the Muslims lacked. It would have suited
Abu Sufyan to fight an open battle in which he could manoeuvre against the
Muslim flanks and rear with his cavalry and bring his maximum strength to bear
against them. But the Prophet neutralised Abu Sufyan's advantages, and forced
him to fight on a restricted front where his superior strength and his cavalry
would be of limited value. It is also worth noting that the Muslims were
actually facing Madinah and had their backs to Mount Uhud; the road to Madinah
was open to the Quraish.
Now the Quraish moved up. They established a battle camp a mile south of
the spur, and from here Abu Sufyan led his army forward and formed it in battle
array facing the Muslims. He organised it into a main body of infantry in the
centre with two mobile wings. On the right was Khalid and on the left Ikrimah,
each with a cavalry squadron 100 strong. Amr bin Al Aas was appointed in
over-all charge of the cavalry, but his task was mainly that of co-ordination.
Abu Sufyan placed 100 archers ahead of his front rank for the initial
engagement. The Quraish banner was carried by Talha bin Abi Talha, one of the
survivors of Badr. Thus the Quraish deployed with their backs to Madinah,
facing the Muslims and facing Mount Uhud. In fact they stood between the Muslim
army and its base at Madinah. (For the dispositions of the two armies see Map 1).
Just behind the Quraish main body stood their women. Before battle was
joined, these women, led by Hind, marched back and forth in front of the
Quraish, reminding them of those who had fallen at Badr. Thereafter, just
before the women withdrew to their position in the rear of the army, the clear,
strong voice of Hind rose as she sang:
Defenders of our homes!
We are the daughters of the night;
We move among the cushions.
If you advance we will embrace you.
If you retreat we will forsake you
With loveless separation. 2
1. Ibn Hisham: Vol. 2, pp. 65-66; Waqidi: Maghazi, p. 175.
2. Ibn Hisham: Vol. 2, p. 68. Waqidi: Maghazi, p. 176.
It was the morning of Saturday, March 22, 625 (the 7th of Shawwal, 3
Hijri)-exactly a year and a week after Badr. 1 The armies faced each
other in orderly ranks, 700 Muslims against 3,000 unbelievers. This was the
first time that Abu Sufyan had commanded in the field against the Prophet, but
he had able lieutenants and felt certain of victory. The Muslims repeated to
themselves the Quranic words: "Sufficient
for us is Allah, and what a good
protector He is." [Quran 3: 173] And they awaited the decision of
Allah.
The first event, after the forming up of the two armies, was the attempt
by the Knave to subvert the Aws. This man stepped forward ahead of the front
rank of the Quraish, along with his 50 followers and a large number of the slaves
of the Quraish. He faced the Aws and called, "O people of the Aws! I am Abu Amir. You know me!" The
reply from the Aws was unanimous: "No
welcome to you, O Knave!" This was followed by a shower of stones
hurled with great delight by the Aws at the Knave and his group, under which
the group hastily withdrew through the ranks of the Quraish. Observing the look
of derision on the faces of the Quraish, the Knave assumed a prophetic posture
and observed, "After me my people will suffer." 2 But the Quraish were not impressed!
After the encounter of the Knave, the archers opened up from both sides.
This was a kind of artillery duel between the 100 archers of the Quraish and
the Muslim archers, who were either in the group on Eniein or dispersed along
the front rank of the Muslims. Many salvoes were fired. Under cover of the
Quraish archers Khalid advanced with his squadron to attack the left wing of
the Muslims, but was forced back by accurate fire from the Muslim archers. As the
archers' engagement ended, the song of the Quraish women was again heard on the
battlefield: "We are the daughters
of the night... "
The next
phase was the phase of duels by the champions of the two armies. Talha, the
standard bearer of the Quraish, stepped out of the front rank and called "I am Talha, son of Abu Talha. Will anyone duel?" 3 On his challenge, Ali strode out and
before Talha could deliver a single
blow, Ali struck him with his sword and felled him. Talha was only wounded, and
as Ali raised his sword to strike again, Talha begged for mercy. Ali promptly
turned away. Later, however, while the general engagement was in progress, the
wounded Talha was despatched by the Muslims. On the fall of Talha, another
infidel came forward and picked up the Quraish standard. This man was killed by
Hamza, As Hamza killed him, he was noticed by the Savage who stood behind the
Quraish ranks. Stealthily the Savage began to move towards the right in order
to approach Hamza from a flank. Hamza was easily recognisable by a large
ostrich feather which he wore in his turban.
Now the duels became more general. One after the other the relatives of
Talha picked up the standard, and one after the other they were killed by the
Muslims, the largest number
falling before Ali's sword, Abu Sufyan also rode up to duel and was
faced by Handhalah bin Abu Amir, who was dismounted. Before Abu Sufyan could
use his lance or draw his sword, Handhalah struck at the forelegs of the horse
and brought it down. Abu Sufyan shouted for help and was assisted by one of his
companions, who engaged and killed Handhalah. Abu Sufyan withdrew hastily to
the safety of the Quraish ranks.
Another Quraish warrior who came forward was Abdur-Rahman, son of Abu
Bakr. He stepped out of the front rank and gave the usual challenge, whereupon
his father, Abu Bakr, drew his sword and prepared to move forward from the
Muslim position to fight him. But Abu Bakr was restrained by the Holy Prophet,
who said to him, "Sheathe your sword," 4 This Abdur-Rahman was later to become one of the most valiant
warriors of Islam and acquire glory
in the Muslim campaigns in Syria.
1.
Some
historians have placed the date of the Battle of Uhud a week later, but the
earlier date is probably more correct.
2. Ibn Hisham: Vol. 2, p. 67; Ibn Sad: p. 543.
3. Waqidi: Maghazi,
p. 176.
4. Ibid: p. 200.
Soon after the duels, the fighting became general and both armies were
locked in fierce hand-to-hand fighting. The Muslims were superior in
swordmanship and courage, but these advantages were offset by the numerical
superiority of the Quraish. As this general engagement of the main body
progressed, Khalid made another sally towards the left wing of the Muslims,
where the Prophet stood, but was again driven back by the Muslim archers on Ainain.
The Prophet himself participated in this action by firing arrows into
the general mass of the Quraish. Beside him stood Sad bin Abi Waqqas, who was
an arrow-maker by profession and was among the best archers of his time. The
Prophet would indicate targets to Sad and Sad would invariably score a hit.
Hamza was fighting near the left edge of the Muslim force. By now he had
killed two men and found a third one approaching him-a man named Saba hin Abdul
Uzza, whom Hamza knew well. "Come to
me!" shouted Hamza, "O son
of the skin-cutter!" 1 (The mother of Saba used to perform
circumcision operations in Makkah!) The colour rose in Saba's face as he drew
his sword and rushed at Hamza.
As the two men began to duel with sword and shield, the Savage, crawling
behind rocks and bushes, approached Hamza, At last he got within javelin range
and with an experienced eye measured the distance between himself and his
victim. Then he stood up and raised his javelin for the throw. Hamza struck a
mortal blow on the head of Saba, and Saba fell in a heap at Hamza's feet. At
this very moment the Savage hurled his javelin. The cruel weapon, thrown with
unerring aim, struck Hamza in the abdomen and went right through his body.
Hamza turned in the direction of the Savage and, roaring with anger, took a few
steps towards him. The Savage trembled as he waited behind a large rock, but
Hamza could only take a few steps before he fell.
The Savage waited until all movement had ceased in Hamza's body, and
then walked up to the corpse and wrenched out his javelin. He then casually
walked away from the scene of fighting. He had done his job. The Savage would
fight more battles in his life, but
2
Soon after this, the Quraish army began to waver and the Muslims pressed
harder in their assault. When several Quraish standard-bearers had been either
killed or wounded, their standard was picked up by a slave who continued to
fight with it until he too was killed and the standard fell again. As it fell,
the Quraish broke and fled in disorder.
There was now complete panic in the ranks of the Quraish. The Muslims
pursued them, but the Quraish outran their pursuers. The Quraish women wailed
when they saw what had befallen their men. They also took to their heels; and
raising their dresses in order to be able to run faster, gave a fine view of
their flashing legs to the delighted Muslims. All the women ran except Amra,
who remained where she had stood, close behind the original Quraish battle
line.
The Muslims got to the Quraish camp and began to plunder it. There was
complete confusion in the camp with women and slaves milling around, hoping not
to be killed, while the Muslims rifled everything they could find and shouted
with glee. There was now no order, no discipline, no control, for the Muslims
felt that the battle was won. The first phase of the battle was indeed over.
The casualties had been light, but the Quraish had been clearly defeated. This
should have marked the end of the Battle of Uhud, but it did not.
As the Quraish fled and the Muslims, following in their footsteps,
entered the Quraish camp, the two mobile wings of the Quraish stood firm. Both
Khalid and Ikrimah moved back a bit from their previous positions but kept
their men under complete control, not permitting a single rider to retreat. And
Khalid now watched this confused situation, looking now at the fleeing Quraish,
now at the plundering Muslims, now at the archers on Ainain. He did not quite
know what to do; but he was capable of a high degree of patience and waited for
an opportunity which would give him a line of action. Soon his patience was
rewarded.
1. Ibn Hisham: Vol. 2, p. 70.
2. Waqidi: Maghazi,
p. 225.
When the archers on Ainain saw the defeat of the Quraish and the arrival
of the Muslims at the Quraish camp, they became impatient to take part in the
plunder of the camp. The Quraish camp looked very tempting. They turned to
their commander, Abdullah bin Jubair, and asked for permission to join their
comrades, but Abdullah was firm in his refusal. "You know very well the orders of the Messenger of Allah",
he said. "We are to remain on this hill until we receive his
orders to leave it." "Yes, but that is not what the Messenger of Allah
intended," the archers replied.
"We were to hold this hill during battle. Now the battle is over, and
there is no point in our remaining here." And in spite of the protests of their commander,
most of the archers left the hill and ran towards the Quraish camp shouting, "The booty! The booty!" 1
Abdullah was left with nine archers on the hill. This movement was observed by
the keen eyes of Khalid, who waited until the archers had reached the Quraish
camp.
Then Khalid struck. He launched a mounted attack against the few archers
who remained on the hill, with the intention of capturing this position and
creating for himself room for
manoeuvre, Ikrimah saw the
movement of Khalid and galloped across the plain to join Khalid's squadron. As
Khalid's squadron reached the top of the hill, Ikrimah's squadron was just
behind while Ikrimah himself came ahead and began to take part in the assault
on the Muslim archers.
The faithful archers who had remained on the hill resisted gallantly.
Some were killed while the remainder, all wounded, were driven off the hill by
the assault of Khalid. Abdullah bin Jubair, defending to the last the position
which the Prophet had entrusted to him, suffered many wounds and was then slain
by Ikrimah. Now Khalid's squadron, followed by Ikrimah's, swept forward and
came in behind the line that had been held by the Muslims an hour ago. Here the
two squadrons wheeled left and charged at the Muslims from the rear. Ikrimah
with a part of his squadron assaulted the group which stood with the Holy
Prophet, while Khalid's squadron and the remainder of Ikrimah's squadron
attacked the Muslims in the Quraish camp.
Khalid drove into the rear of the unsuspecting Muslims, confident that
having taken them unawares he would soon tear them to pieces. But the Muslims
refused to be torn to pieces. As the Quraish cavalry reached the camp, there
was an uproar in the ranks of the Muslims, and a few of them lost their heads
and fled. Most of them, however, stayed and fought. As long as the Prophet
lived, these men were not going to acknowledge defeat. But as the Muslims
turned to fight the Quraish cavalry, Amra rushed towards the Quraish standard
which lay on the ground. She picked up the standard and waved it above her head
in the hope that the main body of the Quraish would see it.
By now Abu Sufyan had regained control over most of the infantry, He saw
the movement of the cavalry. He saw the Quraish standard waving in the hands of
Amra and he got his men back into action. Knowing that the Muslims had been
taken in the rear by the cavalry, the Quraish rushed into battle once again,
shouting their war cry: "O for Uzza! O for Hubal!" 2
The Muslims were now caught between two fires, the Quraish cavalry
attacking from the rear and the bulk of the Quraish infantry attacking from the
front. Abu Sufyan himself charged into battle and killed a Muslim. The
situation soon became desperate for the Muslims, who broke up into small
groups, each fighting on its own to repel the attacks of the cavalry and
infantry. The confusion increased, and in the dust a few of the Muslims even
began to fight each other. There was some alarm, but still no panic. Losses
began to mount among the Muslims, but they held out-determined to fight to the
last. At about this time, Khalid killed his first man-Abu Aseera-with his lance
and knocked down another Muslim. Believing him dead, Khalid rode on; but the
second man was only wounded and got up to fight again.
1. Waqidi: Maghazi,
pp. 178-179.; Ibn Sad: pp. 545, 551.
2. Waqidi: Maghazi,
p. 188; Ibn Sad: p. 545.
The battle was now divided into two separate actions. There was the main
body of the Muslims holding out against the main part of the Quraish army, and
there was the group with the Holy Prophet holding out against part of Ikrimah's
squadron and some of the; Quraish infantry which had returned to attack him.
Now began
the ordeal of the Prophet. (See Map 2. below)
When the Muslims left their positions in pursuit of the Quraish, the
Holy Prophet remained at his battle location. Here he had with him 30 of his
Companions who stuck to him and refused to be tempted by the prospect of
plunder. Among these 30 were some of the closest of his followers, including,
Ali, Abu Bakr, Sad bin Abi Waqqas, Talha bin Ubaidullah, Abu Ubaidah,
Abdur-Rahman bin Auf, Abu Dujanah and Mus'ab bin Umair. With the group were
also present two women who had busied themselves with carrying water to the
Muslims and had now joined the Prophet.
As Khalid
captured the archers' position and the Quraish cavalry began to wheel round to
attack the Muslims in the rear, the Prophet realised the seriousness of the
predicament in which the Muslims were placed. He could do nothing to control
and direct the actions of the main body, for it was too far away; and he knew
that his own group would soon be under attack. His present position was utterly
untenable, so he decided to move to the foot of the spur immediately behind him
(not the spur at the foot of which the Muslim right wing had been placed), and
with this intention he started to move backwards. But he had not gone more than
about a quarter of a mile with his 30 Companions when Ikrimah with his horsemen
moved up and barred his way. The Prophet determined to stand and fight where he
stood; and it was not long before a Quraish infantry group also arrived to
attack the Prophet.
The Prophet's group found itself assailed from front and rear. The
Muslims formed a cordon around the Prophet to defend him and the fighting
gradually increased in intensity. The Prophet himself used his bow to effect
and continued to use it until it broke. Thereafter he used his own arrows to
augment those of Sad, whose superb archery
gave a great deal of trouble to the Quraish. Every Muslim took on an
opposing group of three or four men and either fell himself or drove his
opponents back.
The first of the Quraish to reach the Prophet's position was Ikrimah. As
Ikrimah led a group of his men forward the Prophet turned to Ali and, pointing
at the group, said, "Attack those men."
Ali attacked and drove them back, killing one of them. Now another group of horsemen approached the
position. Again the Prophet said to Ali, "Attack
those men." 1 Ali drove them back and killed another
infidel.
As the fighting increased in severity, the Quraish began to shower the
Prophet's group with arrows and stones, They would use these missiles from a
distance and then charge with swords, either mounted or on foot. To shield the
Prophet from the arrows, Abu Dujanah stood in front of him, with his back to
the Quraish infantry, from which came most of the arrows. After some time the
back of Abu Dujanah was so studded with arrows that he looked like a porcupine,
but he continued passing his own arrows to Sad. Talha also stood beside the
Prophet. On one occasion, when an arrow seemed about to hit the Prophet in the
face, Talha put his hand in the arrow's line of flight and stopped it with his
hand. Talha lost a finger as a result, but saved the Prophet.
Against the main body of the Muslims, Khalid was launching assault after
assault with his squadron and doing severe damage. About now he killed his
second man-Sabt bin Dahdaha-with his lance. In this battle Khalid relied mainly
on his lance, with which he would run down and impale his adversary. Every time
he brought a man down, he would shout, "Take
that! And I am the Father of Sulaiman!" 2
The first rush of the counter-attack passed, and was followed by a lull
in the Prophet's sector, as the Quraish withdrew a short distance to rest
before resuming their attacks. During this lull, one of the Muslims, noticed
that the Prophet was looking cautiously over his shoulder. The man asked the
reason for this, and the Prophet replied casually, "I am expecting
Ubayy bin Khalf. He may approach me from behind. If you see him coming, let him
get near me". He had hardly said this when a man detached himself
from
Ikrimah's squadron and slowly advanced towards the Prophet, mounted on
a large, powerful horse. The man shouted, "O
Muhammad! I have come! It is either you or me!" At this some of the
Companions asked the Prophet for permission to deal with the man, but the
Prophet said, "Let him be!" 3 The Companions moved aside, and left the
way open for the rider to approach.
1. Tabari: Vol. 2, p. 197.
2. Waqidi: Maghazi,
p.198.
3. Ibid: pp.
195-6; Ibn Hisham: Vol. 2, p. 84.
At the Battle of Badr, a young man by the name of Abdullah bin Ubayy
(not to be confused with the Abdullah bin Ubayy who was the leader of the
Hypocrites) was taken prisoner by the Muslims. His father, Ubayy bin Khalf,
came to release his son and paid 4,000 dirhams as ransom. Once the ransom had
been paid and the young man released, while still in Madinah, Ubayy had been
insolent to the Prophet. He had said, "O
Muhammad! I have a horse which I am strengthening
with a lot of fodder, because in the next battle I shall come riding that horse
and I shall kill you" The Prophet had then replied, "No, you shall not kill me. But I shall
kill you while you are on that horse, if Allah wills it." 1 The
man had laughed scornfully as he rode away with his son.
And now Ubayy bin Khalf was approaching the Prophet on his horse. He saw
the Companions move out of the way. He saw the Prophet waiting for him, and
grudgingly he admired the man he had set out to kill. The Prophet was wearing
two coats of mail. He wore a chain helmet, the side-flaps of which covered his
cheeks; His sword rested in its sheath, tucked into a leather belt, and in his
right hand he held his spear. Ubayy noticed the powerful, broad shoulders of Muhammad;
notice the large, hard hands-hands strong enough to break a spear in two. The
Prophet looked a magnificent sight.
It is known to few people today that Prophet Muhammad was one of the
strongest Muslims of his time. Add to his great personal strength the fact of
divine selection, and one can imagine what a formidable opponent he would prove
to anybody. But Ubayy was undaunted, He had just killed a Muslim, and his
spirits were high.
The Prophet could easily have told his Companions to slay Ubayy. They
would have fallen upon him and torn him to pieces. Or he could have given Ali
the simple order, "Kill that man", and that man would be as
good as dead, for when Ali set out to kill a man nothing could save him. But the Prophet had ordered his Companions
to stand aside. This time he wanted no help from anyone. This was a matter of
personal honour-a matter of chivalry. Muhammad would fight alone as a
chivalrous Arab. He would keep his rendezvous with a challenger.
As Ubayy reached the Prophet, he pulled up his horse. He was in no
hurry. Not for a moment doubting that Muhammad would await his attack, he took
his own time over drawing his sword. And then suddenly it was too late, for the
Prophet raised his spear and struck at the upper part of Ubayy's chest. Ubayy
tried to duck, but was not quick enough. The spear struck him on the right
shoulder, near the base of the neck. It was a minor wound, but Ubayy fell off
his horse, and in the fall broke a rib. Before the Prophet could strike again,
Ubayy had risen and turned tail, running screaming towards his comrades. They
stopped him and asked how he had fared, to which Ubayy replied in a trembling
voice, "By Allah, Muhammad has
killed me."
The Quraish examined his wound, and then told him not to be silly
because it was a superficial wound which would soon heal. Ubayy's voice rose
higher as he said, "I shall die!" When the Quraish tried to
console him further, Ubayy lost all control over himself and in a frantic voice screamed, "I tell you I shall die! Muhammad had said that he would kill me. If Muhammad were to just spit on
me, I would die!" 2 Ubayy
remained inconsolable.
When the Quraish returned to Makkah, he went with them. While they were
camped at a place called Saraf, not far from Makkah, the wretched man died. The
cause of his death was certainly not the physical effect of the wound. And
Allah knows best!
1. Ibn Sad: p. 549; Ibn Hisham: Vol. 2, p. 84.
2. Ibn Hisham: Vol. 2, p. 84.
The situation gradually became more desperate as the Muslims held on
grimly and showed no sign of breaking up. Abu Sufyan and Khalid both wanted a
quick decision, for the battle had gone on long enough. The Quraish therefore
decided to press harder and if possible get at the Prophet, as his death would
have the probable effect of ending resistance.
A strong group of Quraish infantry consequently advanced against the
Prophet. The Muslim defenders continued to fight, and many of them were cut
down. Three of the Quraish managed to break through the cordon and got within
stone throwing distance of the Prophet. These three men were: Utbah bin Abi
Waqqas, Abdullah bin Shahab and Ibn Qamiah. They all began to hurl stones at
the Prophet.
The first (a brother of Sad) landed four stones on the Prophet's face,
broke two of the Prophet's lower teeth and cut his lower lip. Abdullah managed
to land one stone which gashed the Prophet's forehead, while Ibn Qamiah with
one stone cut the Prophet's cheek and drove two links of the Prophet's chain
helmet into his cheek bone.
The Prophet fell to the ground as a result of these blows and was helped
up by Talha. At this moment the few Muslims left with the Prophet
counter-attacked fiercely and drove the Quraish back. Sad dropped his bow, drew
his sword and rushed at his brother; but the latter outran him and took shelter
in the Quraish ranks. Sad was later to say that he had never wanted to kill a
man so badly as he wanted to kill his brother, Utbah, for wounding the Prophet.
There was
again a little respite in which the Prophet wiped the blood from his face. As
he did so he said, "How can a people prosper who colour the face of their Prophet
with blood, while he calls them to their Lord!" 1 Abu
Ubaidah, who was a bit of a surgeon, tried to pull out the two links
which had dug into the Prophet's cheek bone. Finally he had to use his teeth to
pull them out, and in the process lost two of his teeth. He later became known
among the Arabs as Al Asram, i.e. the
one without the incisors.
During this respite the Prophet regained his strength and recovered from
the physical shock of his wounds. A black lady by the name of Umm Eiman, who
had once nursed the Prophet in his childhood, stood near him. From the Quraish
ranks a man by the name of Haban bin Al Arqa slowly walked up to within
bow-range, and fitting an arrow to his bow, shot it in the direction of the
lady who was standing with her back to him. The arrow struck Umm Eiman in her
backside. Haban found this terribly funny and roared with laughter as he turned
and began to walk back towards the Quraish. The Prophet saw what had happened
and was deeply angered. He took an arrow from his quiver and gave it to Sad. "Shoot
that man", 2 he ordered. Sad fitted the Prophet's arrow
to his bow and, taking careful aim, fired it at the infidel, hitting him in the
neck. This time the Prophet laughed!
The Quraish now started their last onslaught with violent assaults
against the Prophet from all directions. The cordon formed by the Companions
was able to hold the attack at practically all points; but at one place it was breached,
and Ibn Qamiah broke through again and rushed towards the Prophet. This man was
one of those who had struck the Prophet with stones in the previous phase of
the attack. Near the Prophet and a bit to his right, stood Mus'ab bin Umair and
a lady by the name of Umm Ammarah. This lady had given up her task of carrying
water to the wounded, and picking up a sword and a bow from one of the dead,
had actually taken part in the recent fighting. She had brought down one horse
and wounded one unbeliever.
Ibn Qamiah mistook Mus'ab for the Prophet and rushed at him. Mus'ab was
waiting for him with drawn sword and they began to duel. After a few passes,
Ibn Qamiah struck Mus'ab bin Umair and killed him with a deadly blow.
As he fell, Umm Ammarah rushed at Ibn Qamiah and struck him on the
shoulder with her sword. Ibn Qamiah wore a coat of mail, and since the blow
lacked the power of muscle behind it, it did no damage. In return Ibn Qamiah
struck the lady on her shoulder with his sword, but as it was a hasty blow it
did not kill her. It just made a deep gash in her shoulder as a result of which
the lady fell and was unable to move for some time.
1. Ibn Hisham: Vol. 2, p. 80: Waqidi: Maghazi p. 191.
2. Waqidi: Maghazi,
p. 189.
As soon as Umm Ammarah fell, the infidel saw the Prophet standing by
himself and rushed at him. He raised his sword and struck a savage blow at the
Prophet's head. The sword cut a few links in the Prophet's chain helmet but was
unable to penetrate it. Deflected by the helmet, the sword continued in its
thrust and landed on the Prophet's right shoulder. The violence of the blow was
such, and the power of muscle behind it so great, that the Holy Prophet fell
into a shallow ditch just behind him. From here he was later lifted up by Ali
and Talha.
Seeing the Prophet fall, Ibn Qamiah turned and rushed back to the
Quraish, shouting at the top of his voice: "I
have killed Muhammad! I have killed Muhammad!" 1 This shout carried across
the battlefield and was heard by Quraish and Muslim alike. It broke the spirit
of the Muslims, and most of them turned and fled towards Mount Uhud. A few
Muslims, however, decided that if the Messenger of Allah was dead there was no
point in their living on. They rushed at the Quraish cavalry-determined to sell
their lives as dearly as possible, but were cut down in no time by Khalid and
Ikrimah. Here Khalid killed his third man-Rafa'a bi Waqsh.
As the main body of the Muslims fled to the hills, most of the Quraish
turned to loot the dead, and the Muslims defending the Holy Prophet now found
that none of the Quraish remained near them. The temptation of loot proved as
strong for the Quraish as it had proved a little while before for the Muslims.
Finding his way clear, the Prophet, surrounded by the survivors of his group,
withdrew towards the defile in the valley. In this withdrawal a few of the
Quraish followed the Prophet but were beaten off and one or two of them were
killed by the Companions. Khalid saw the movement of the Prophet's group
towards the mountain pass, but made no attempt to intercept it, for he was busy
pursuing the main body of the Muslim infantry. Thus the Prophet had no
difficulty in reaching the defile, and the group climbed the steep slope of the
spur, where it formed a rocky bluff about 400 feet high, on the east edge of
the defile. Here the Prophet stopped, in a cleft in the rock, to survey the
tragic panorama which stretched before him. (For this last phase see Map 2.)
Of the group of 30 who had fought with the Prophet in the preceding few
actions, only 14 remained and most of these were wounded. Sixteen of them had
fallen-in defence of the Prophet and in the way of Allah.
Thus the Muslims abandoned the field of battle. Some fled in panic far
away; some returned to Madinah; some did not rejoin the Prophet till two days
later. But those who intended to seek refuge in the hills moved in small
groups, fought their way through the Quraish cavalry and reached the foot of
Mount Uhud. Here they dispersed, some taking shelter in the foothills, some climbing
up to the ridge, others hiding in the re-entrants.
On arrival at the defile the Prophet had some time to see to his wounds.
Here his daughter, Fatimah, joined him. Ali brought water in his shield from a
nearby pool, and Fatimah cried softly as she washed the blood from her father's
face and dressed his wounds. In the shelter of this difficult pass, where the
Quraish could not attack in strength, the Prophet rested his weary body.
Of the Muslims who had taken shelter on Mount, Uhud, some were moving
about aimlessly, not knowing where to go or what to do. One of them, a man
named Kab bin Malik, wandering towards the defile, saw the Prophet and
recognised him. This man had a powerful voice. He climbed onto a large rock,
and facing the direction where he knew most of the Muslims had taken shelter,
he shouted, "Rejoice, O Muslims! The
Messenger of Allah is here!"2 As he shouted, he pointed with his hand
towards the Prophet. As a result of
this call, which was not heard by the Quraish, many groups of Muslims moved
over the hills and joined the Prophet. These included Umar, whose delight at
seeing the Prophet again was boundless.
Meanwhile Abu Sufyan was looking for the body of the Prophet. He
wandered over the battlefield and looked at each dead face, hoping that he
would see the face of his enemy. Every now and then he would ask his men, "Where is Muhammad?" While he
was so wandering, he came across Khalid and asked him the question. Khalid told
him that he had seen Muhammad, surrounded by his Companions, moving towards the
defile. Khalid pointed out the rocky bluff to Abu Sufyan, and the latter asked
him to take his horsemen to attack the position.
1. Ibn Hisham: Vol. 2, p. 78.
2. Tabari: Vol. 2, p. 200; Waqidi: Maghazi, p. 185.
Khalid looked at the boulder-strewn valley which led to the spur, and
then at the steep slope of the spur itself. He had misgivings about the
manoeuvre, for he knew that in this sort of terrain his cavalry would be at a
serious disadvantage. But he hoped that some opportunity might present itself,
as it had done soon after the initial defeat of the Quraish. Khalid was an
irrepressible optimist. He began to move his squadron towards the spur.
The Prophet saw this movement and prayed: "O Lord, let not those men
get here." 1 Thereupon Umar took a group of Muslims and
moved some distance down the slope to face the Quraish cavalry. As Khalid came
up with his squadron, he saw Umar and other Muslims waiting for him on higher
ground. Khalid realised that the situation was hopeless-that not only was his
enemy better placed, but his own cavalry would be unable to manoeuvre in this
difficult terrain. He withdrew. And this was the last tactical manoeuvre in the
Battle of Uhud.
Abu Sufyan and Khalid, among many others, now saw a sight which they
would never forget and of which they did not approve. The battlefield where the
Muslim martyrs lay was invaded by Hind and the Quraish women. Hind found the
body of Hamza and, knife in hand, fell upon it.
Hind was a large, heavily built woman and had no difficulty in
mutilating the corpse. She cut open the belly and pulled out Hamza's liver.
Slicing off a piece of it she put it in her mouth; and she swallowed it! She
then cut off Hamza's nose and ears, and made the other women do the same to
many of the other corpses.
The Savage now approached Hind. She turned to him, took off all her
ornaments and gave them to him. "And
when we get to Makkah," she said, "I
shall give you 10 dinars." 2 Having disposed of her own jewellery, she
made a necklace and anklets of the ears and noses of the martyrs who had been
mutilated, and she put on these grisly ornaments! Having done so, this
extraordinary woman sang:
We have repaid you for the day of Badr-
One bloody day after another.
I could not bear the loss of Utbah,
Or of my uncle, my brother, my son.
Now my heart is cooled, my vow fulfilled;
And the savage has driven the pain from my heart.
The savage shall I thank as long as I live,
Until my bones turn to nothing in my grave. 3
Soon after this gruesome drama had been enacted, Abu Sufyan walked up
the valley. He was still hoping that Muhammad might be dead; that Khalid had
made a mistake. He climbed on to a large rock some distance from the Prophet's
position and shouted, "Is Muhammad among you?" The Prophet
motioned to his Companions to remain silent. Abu Sufyan repeated the question twice, but there was no reply.
Then thrice Abu Sufyan asked, "Is
Abu Bakr among you?" And thrice he asked, "Is Umar among
you?" There was noting but silence from the spur.
Abu Sufyan now turned towards the Quraish, who stood not far from him,
and shouted, "These three are dead.
They will trouble you no more." At this Umar could no longer restrain himself and roared at Abu
Sufyan, "You lie, O Enemy of Allah!
Those whom you have counted are
alive, and there are enough of us left to punish you severely."
Abu Sufyan's response was loud and contemptuous laughter. He knew that
the Muslims were in no condition at the moment to punish anybody. But he called
to Umar, "May Allah protect you, O Son of Al Khattab! Is
Muhammad really alive?"
1. Ibn Hisham: Vol. 2, p. 86.
2. Waqidi: Maghazi,
p. 222.
3. Ibn Hisham: Vol. 2, p. 91.
"By my Lord, yes. And even now he hears what
you say."
"You are more truthful than Ibn Qamiah", replied
Abu Sufyan.
Then took place a last dialogue between Abu Sufyan and the Prophet. The
Prophet did not speak personally to his enemy, but would tell Umar what to say
and Umar would shout the reply back at Abu Sufyan.
The Prophet: Glory to Allah, Most High and Mighty!
Abu Sufyan: We have Uzza and Hubal. You have no Uzza and no Hubal.
The Prophet: We have Allah as Lord. You have no Lord.
Abu Sufyan: The deed is done. This
was our day for your day of Badr. The destiny of war is not constant. We shall meet at Badr again next year. The
Prophet: At Badr we shall meet. You have
our pledge.
Abu Sufyan: You will find among
your dead some who have been mutilated. I neither ordered this nor approved of it. Do not blame me for this. 2
Having made this last statement,
Abu Sufyan turned away and walked back to his army.
The
Quraish left the battlefield and gathered in their old camp of the day before.
As they left, the Holy Prophet sent Ali as a scout to see how the Quraish were
mounting-mounting camels or horses. Ali carried out his reconnaissance and
returned to the Prophet to report that the Quraish were mounting camels and
were leading their horses. The Prophet observed, "That means that they intend
to return to Makkah and will not attack Madinah. Had they wished to attack
Madinah, they would have mounted their horses for battle. In that case, by my
Lord, I would have gone this very instant to fight them again," 3
The Quraish spent the night in Hamrat-ul-Asad, 10 miles, from Madinah. 4
The Muslims returned to Madinah, except for some stragglers who were to turn up
the following day and the day after.
The next morning the Holy Prophet got up and put on
his armour. His face showed clear signs of the damage which it had suffered in
the battle. His cheek, forehead and lip that had been badly cut were still
swollen. The loss of his two teeth caused him pain, and his right shoulder hurt
badly where the sword of Ibn Qamiah had landed. This shoulder was to trouble
him for a whole month.
The
Prophet sent for Bilal, his Muazzin, 5
and ordered him to call the Faithful to battle. Only those would be permitted
to join this morning's expedition who had taken part in the battle of the day
before. The thundering voice of Bilal rang across the streets of Madinah and
carried the message into every Believer's home.
The Muslims rose from their mats as they heard the Prophet's orders to
assemble for battle. Most of them were wounded, some more severely than others.
They had spent a sleepless night in pain and suffering. All night long the
women had been busy nursing the soldiers, washing and dressing their wounds.
Not many of the Muslims were in fit shape for battle; but they got up from
their mats. There were no groans or cries of pain.
Some limped, others used hastily improvised crutches, yet others put
their arms around their comrades to get support as they walked. They came,
limping and staggering, towards the Prophet. They saw the Prophet and they
cried Labbeik- Present, Sir! And
these tired, wounded Muslims, led by a tired, wounded Prophet, set out to fight
the infidel. They numbered about 500.
As the Muslims were assembling for battle, a wild argument was taking
place in the Quraish camp. Ikrimah, no less aggressive than he had been the day
before, was insisting on a return to battle for the reason that the Muslims
were in a bad way as a result of the
battle and now was the time to seek them again and completely crush them
before they recovered from the setback.
1. god and goddess in the Arab pantheon.
2. Ibn Hisham: Vol. 2, pp. 93-4; Waqidi: Maghazi, pp. 229-30; Ibn Sad: p. 551.
3. Ibn Hisham: Vol. 2, p. 94.
4. This place was near the present Bir Ali, on the
main road to Makkah.
5. The one who call the Adhan-the Muslim call to
prayer.
"Enough is enough", replied Safwan bin Umayyah.
"We have won the battle, and this victory should be sufficient for us. If
the Muslims are in a bad way, we too are not in perfect condition. Most of our
horses and many of our men are wounded. In the next battle, if we fight it with
our present strength, we might not be as lucky as we were yesterday." 1
By now the Quraish leaders had also heard of the defection of the 300
Hypocrites. The fear that troubled them was the possibility of the return of
these 300 in a repentant mood to the Prophet, for this would considerably
augment the strength of the Muslims with fresh troops. While this argument was
in progress, the Quraish soldiers discovered and caught two Muslim scouts who
had been sent by the Prophet to seek information of the Quraish. These scouts
were promptly killed, but their presence confirmed the fears of Safwan and Abu
Sufyan that the Muslims were in an aggressive mood and sought battle. Abu
Sufyan promptly gave orders for the move to Makkah; and the Quraish army rode
away.
In the afternoon the Muslims arrived at Hamrat-ul-Asad and found it
deserted. They set up camp. After four nights at Hamrat-ul-Asad, they returned
to Madinah.
The campaign of Uhud was over. A total of 70 Muslims had fallen in
battle. Abu Sufyan had killed one. Safwan bin Ummayya, Khalid and Ikrimah had
each killed three Muslims. On the Quraish side, 22 unbelievers had been killed
including six by Ali and three by Hamza, It was a defeat for the Muslims, but
not a decisive one.
This was the second major battle in the history of Islam. It was the
first battle in which Abu Sufyan commanded an army against the Muslims, and the
first battle in the life of Khalid. The Holy Prophet lost this battle, and the
blame for this rests squarely on the shoulders of the fickle archers who
disobeyed the orders of the Prophet and of their own immediate commander, In
fact, in leaving their position these archers momentarily ceased to be Muslims
and became tribal Arabs, bent on plunder.
Several writers have expressed the opinion that the Arabs of this period
were ignorant about regular warfare; that militarily they were nothing better
than raiders, and that they knew nothing about regular battles. It has been
suggested by many of these writers that the Arabs learnt the art of war from
the Romans and the Persians with whom they came into military contact after the
Prophet's death. This is just not true. We have already considered the
dispositions adopted by the Prophet and the sound military reasons underlying
his deployment. It should also be noted that in selecting the bettlefield the
Prophet left Madinah open to assault by the Quraish, Madinah was the base of
the Muslims, but the route to that base, which ran south of the Muslim
position, was open to Abu Sufyan, The Muslims were not in the way of Abu Sufyan
had he decided to move to
Madinah. In this decision, the Prophet guessed rightly that Abu Sufyan
would not dare to move to Madinah, because in doing so he would expose his
flank and rear to attack by the Muslims. And this is just what happened. Abu
Sufyan did not move to Madinah for fear of the Muslims who stood on the flank
of the route. This was a classic example, repeated time and again in military
history, of a force defending its base not by sitting on it for a frontal
action, but by threatening from a flank any enemy movement towards that base.
While Abu Sufyan was forced to fight the battle under conditions not
favourable to him, the disposition of his forces was sound, following the
normal pattern, as practised by the Romans and the Persians, of having a main
body of infantry in the centre and mobile wings for manoeuvre against the
enemy's flanks and rear. So far as the selection of the battlefield and the
dispositions are concerned, it is doubtful if any Roman or Persian general
commanding these forces could have acted differently and deployed the forces in
another manner than done by the Prophet and Abu Sufyan. Certainly no critic has
offered us a better solution!
Another important fact which this battle brings out is the military
judgement and skill of Khalid. When the main body of the Quraish fled, its
smaller parts-the cavalry squadrons-remained firm on the battlefield. Generally
when the bulk of an army flees its parts do not remain. In this we see the
unusual courage of Khalid (and Ikrimah) in keeping their squadrons under
control on the battlefield, although reason could suggest no possible advantage
in doing so. We see the patience of Khalid and his refusal to accept defeat. It
was only the keen eye of Khalid which observed the opening left by the archers
when they abandoned their position. He saw the opening and took an immediate
decision to exploit the opportunity with a rapid riposte which would get him
into the vulnerable rear of the Muslims. It was this brilliant manoeuvre by
Khalid which turned the near-complete victory of the Muslims into their
near-complete defeat.
1. Ibn Hisham: Vol. 2, p. 104; Waqidi: Maghazi, pp. 231-2, 263.
We also see the determination and doggedness of Khalid in the relentless
pressure which he maintained against the stubborn Muslims until they broke. His
killing three men showed the personal courage and fighting skill of the man.
Possessing the boldness and dash of youth, and the patience and judgement of
age, Khalid showed promise of great military achievements.
This was the first battle of Islam in which a fine manoeuvre was carried
out. Henceforth manoeuvres and stratagem would achieve more prominence in
Muslim battles. Some of the names that have been mentioned in this account
would achieve undying fame within the next two decades as victor and
conquerors... Khalid, Amr bin Al Aas, Abu Ubaidah, Sad bin Abi Waqqas.
Chapter 4
(The Battle of the Ditch)
1
“You have indeed in the Messenger of Allah a
beautiful example for anyone whose hope is in Allah and the Last Day, and
remembers Allah much.
When the Believers saw the
Confederate forces, they said, ‘This is what Allah and His Messenger promised
us, and Allah and His Messenger spoke the truth.’ It added only to their faith
and obedience.
Among the Believers are men who have been true to their covenant with
Allah. Of them, some have completed their vow and some wait, but they have
never wavered in the least.
That Allah may reward the men of Truth for their
Truth, and punish the hypocrites if He wills, or turn to them in mercy, for
Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.
And Allah turned back the Unbelievers for all their
fury – no advantage did they gain, and enough is Allah for the Believers in
their fight. And Allah is full of Strength, full of Might.
He took those of the People of the Book who aided them, down from their
strongholds, and cast terror into their hearts:some you slew, and some you
captured. He made you heirs of their lands, their houses, and their goods, and
of a land which you had not frequented before. And Allah has Power over all
things.”
[Quran 33:21-27]
For
several days after his return to Makkah, the Battle of Uhud occupied the mind
of Khalid. He thought time and again of how the opportunity had arisen when the
archers abandoned their position, and how quickly and accurately he had grasped
the possibilities of manoeuvre. Khalid was to repeat such counterstrokes in
later battles of his career. But the one fact that weighed heavily on his mind,
and which he found difficult to explain, was the courage and tenacity of the
Muslims. It did not seem natural that a small force, so vastly outnumbered and
attacked from all directions, should hold out with such rocklike determination
and be prepared to fight to the end in defence of its leader and its faith.
After all, the Muslims were the same stock as the Quraish and other Arabs.
Perhaps there was something that the new faith did to its votaries which other
faiths could not do. Perhaps there was something about the personality of
Muhammad which other men lacked. Such thoughts would occupy the mind of Khalid,
but so far he was not in any way inclined towards the new faith. In fact he
looked forward to facing the Muslims again, but without bitterness or rancour.
He thought of the next battle as a sportsman might think of his next match.
And Khalid continued to enjoy the good life with the vigour and
enthusiasm which were characteristic of the man.
For the next two years there was no direct military
clash between the Muslims and the Quraish. There was, however, an incident
known as the Incident of Rajee-a brutal and horrible affair which further embittered
relations between Makkah and Madinah.
This incident took place in July 625. Some Arabs came to the Prophet as
a delegation from their tribe, expressed their desire to embrace Islam and
asked him to send some men, well versed in the Quran and the ways of Islam, to
explain the faith and its obligations to their tribe. The Prophet nominated six
of his Companions for this task, and these men, proud of being selected to
spread the true faith, set off with the delegation, entirely unaware of the
trap that awaited them. When these men, with their guides, reached a place
called Rajee, not far from Usfan, they were ambushed by 100 warriors from the
tribe which had invited them. The Muslims drew their swords, but they never had
a chance. Three of them were killed and three captured. The prisoners were led
to Makkah, en route to which one of them was able to free himself from his
bonds and attacked his captors, but he too was killed. The two captives who
eventually got to Makkah were Khubaib bin Adi and Zaid bin Al Dasinna. Both of
them had killed infidels
in battle; and their captors now
took them to Makkah and sold them at a high price to the relatives of the dead
infidels, who bought them eagerly with the intention of killing them in revenge
for those whom they had lost.
For some days no action was taken against the prisoners, as this was the
holy month of Safar. As soon as the month ended, the two captives were taken to
Tan'eem, a place by the north-western edge of Makkah, where the entire
population of the town had gathered, including, slaves, women and children. Two
wooden stakes had been dug in the ground, and to these the captives were led.
They asked to be allowed to say a final prayer and the request was granted.
When the prayer was over, the captives were tied to the stakes.
Each of
them was now given the option of returning to the idol worship of the Quraish
or death. Both the Muslims chose the option of death. Next Abu Sufyan went up
to each captive and said, "Do you
not wish that you were safe in your home and Muhammad were here in your place?" Each of them
vehemently rejected the suggestion and said that no amount of suffering could put such an idea into his mind. Vexed
and angered, Abu Sufyan turned away and remarked to his friends, "I have never seen men love their
leader as the men of Muhammad love
Muhammad." 1
Zaid was the first to die, and his death was quick and easy. A slave
walked up to him and drove a spear through his chest. Next came the turn of
Khubaib, and this was to be a show. This is what the people of Makkah had come
to watch with joyful anticipation.
At a signal, 40 boys carrying spears rushed to the stake where Khubaib
was tied and began to prick him with their spears. Sometimes they would move
away and then come rushing at him again with raised spears as if to kill him,
but would withhold the blow at the last moment and just prick
lightly?sufficient to cut and pierce the skin but not to kill. Some of the boys
were clumsy and cut deeper than others, and soon the body of Khubaib was
covered with blood that flowed from hundreds of shallow wounds. As each spear
pricked him he would wince, but not a sound escaped his lips. And the
spectators were thrilled by the spectacle of Khubaib's suffering.
1. Ibn Hisham: Vol. 2, p. 172
When this had gone on for some time, a man with a spear walked up to
Khubaib and dispersed the boys. Perhaps by now the boys had tired of the fun.
Perhaps the audience had tired of the game. This man now raised his spear and
drove it through the heart of Khubaib, putting an end to his agony. The two
bodies were left to rot at the stake.
The man who organised this show and prepared the boys for the part which
they had to play was none other than Ikrimah, son of Abu Jahl. Little did
Ikrimah know, when he arranged this horrible and gory entertainment, that he
could be forgiven his savage opposition to Islam and the Muslim, blood that he
had shed at Badr and Uhud, but this
he could not be forgiven. On this day Ikrimah became a war criminal.
It will be remembered that before leaving the battlefield of Uhud, Abu
Sufyan had thrown a challenge to meet the Muslims, again at Badr in a year's
time, and the Prophet had accepted the challenge. This would mean a rendezvous
during March 626, but as the time of the rendezvous approached, Abu Sufyan felt
disinclined to meet the Muslims. The winter rains had been even more scant than
usual, and as the winter passed there was
a sudden increase in temperature. The weather was hot and dry and the
year promised to be an unusually bad one. Abu Sufyan decided to postpone the
operation and sent an agent to Madinah to spread the rumour that the Quraish
were assembling in vast numbers, and would this time come in much greater
strength than at Uhud. His intention was to frighten the Muslims into remaining
at Madinah, but when these reports reached the Prophet, he declared, "I
shall keep the rendezvous with the infidel even if I have to go alone"
1
In late March, the Muslims marched from Madinah. They numbered 1,500
men, of whom 50 had horses. The army arrived at Badr on April 4, 626 (the 1st
of Dhul Qad, 4 Hijri), but there was no sign of the Quraish.
When Abu Sufyan received news of the movement of the Muslims from
Madinah, he got the Quraish together and rode out of Makkah. The army consisted
of 2,000 men and a hundred horses, and stalwarts like Khalid, Ikrimah and
Safwan again rode with the army. When the Quraish got to Usfan, however, Abu
Sufyan decided that he was not under any circumstances going to fight this
campaign. He turned to his subordinates and said, "This is a terrible year
in which to engage in warfare. There is drought in the land and we have seldom
known such heat. These conditions are not suitable for battle. We shall fight
again in a year of abundance." 2 Having
given these reasons for not continuing the
movement, he ordered a return to Makkah. Safwan and Ikrimah protested
vehemently against this decision but their protests were of no avail. The
Makkans returned to Makkah.
The Muslims remained at Badr for eight days. Then, on hearing of Abu
Sufyan's return to Makkah, they struck camp and went home to Madinah.
After the return of the Quraish to Makkah, peace may have prevailed
between the Muslims and the Quraish had it not been for the machinations of
certain Jews. To understand the reasons for this activity, we must go back to
the days when the Prophet arrived at Madinah after his flight from Makkah.
When the Prophet got to Madinah, in what was later to be numbered as the
first year of the Hijra, the Muslims formed into two groups, viz. the Emigrants (Muhajireen) those who had migrated from Makkah, and the Helpers
(Ansar)?the newly converted Muslims of Madinah who had invited the Prophet to
come and live with them. A third small group among the Muslims became known as
the Hypocrites (Munafiqeen), and
these were inhabitants of Madinah who had accepted the Prophet and his faith in
order to conform to the general trend of events but were not Muslims at heart.
Their leader was Abdullah bin Ubayy, a man who commanded a position of prestige
in Madinah and felt that the arrival of the Prophet had somehow reduced him in
status and influence. These Hypocrites were the people who had abandoned the
Muslim army on the eve of Uhud. They were to continue to create obstacles in
the path of the Prophet, and without openly opposing him or his faith, would
make every effort to weaken the resolution of the Muslims whenever they had to
go to battle.
1. Ibn Sad: p. 563
2. Ibid.
An important element in the population of Madinah consisted of Jews,
comprising three tribes known as Bani Qainqa, Bani Nazir and Bani Quraizah.
When the Prophet arrived at
Madinah, these Jews accepted him without reservation and could see no
possible threat to their position from the new faith. Each of the tribes
entered into a pact with the Prophet which could be described as a friendship
pact or a non?aggression pact. The pact included a clause under which one party
would not in any way assist the enemies of the other party, should the other
party be engaged in hostilities.
While the Prophet had been in Makkah, the revelations of the Quran had
dealt mainly with spiritual and religious matters. Thus the character of Islam
then was essentially spiritual and religious, dealing with man's relationship
with Allah. When the Prophet migrated to Madinah, Islam took on a more dynamic
and vital role in the affairs of men, entering the fields of society, politics
and economics. It began to deal with man as a member of society and society as
an instrument for the achievement of a more virtuous, more progressive and more
prosperous way of life for mankind. This new dynamism which entered the
character of Islam was bound to bring it into conflict with the older faiths. A
clash was inevitable sooner or later; and the nearest of the older religions
with which Islam came in conflict was Judaism. The Jews first became conscious
of the threat to their position when the Muslims won a resounding victory at
the Battle of Badr. Then the Bani Qainqa broke their pact and came out in open
opposition to the Muslims. The Prophet besieged this tribe in its strongholds
and forced it into submission. As punishment for violating their pledge, the
Bani Qainqa were banished from Madinah, and they migrated to Syria.
The next Jewish tribe to break its pledge was the Bani Nazir, which
happened soon after the Battle of Uhud. This tribe received the same punishment
from the Muslims. Some of its members migrated to Syria, while others settled
down in the area of Khaibar, north of Madinah. In the operations against both
these tribes, Abdullah bin Ubayy, the chief of the Hypocrites, first sided with
the Jews, secretly inciting them to fight the Prophet and promising active help
from his followers. Later, when he saw the fortunes of war turning in favour of
the Muslims, he abandoned the Jews to their fate.
The third
Jewish tribe, the Bani Quraizah, continued to live peacefully in Madinah. Its
relations with the Muslims were perfectly normal and entirely peaceful, each
side respecting and observing the terms of the pact. But the Jews of the Bani
Nazir who had settled at Khaibar did not forgive the Muslims the banishment
which they had suffered. After Uhud they came to know of the agreement between
the Muslims and the Quraish to fight another battle, and they waited patiently,
hoping that in that battle the Muslims would be crushed. But when they found a
year later that there was not going to be another battle, they decided to take
direct action to bring on an attack against the Muslims.
As the summer of 626 came to an end, a delegation of the Jews of Khaibar
set out for Makkah. Their leader was Huyaiy bin Akhtab, who had been the chief
of the Bani Nazir in Madinah. On arrival at Makkah this delegation conferred
with Abu Sufyan, and set about to organise an expedition against the Prophet.
It was necessary for Huyaiy to work on the fears and emotions of the Quraish,
and he started off by outlining the danger the Quraish faced from the spread of
Islam in Arabia. If the Muslims reached Yamamah, the Quraish trade routes to
Iraq and Bahrain would be blocked.
"Tell me, O Son of
Akhtab", asked Abu Sufyan. "You are one of the People of the
Book. Is it your opinion that the new religion of Muhammad is better than our
religion?" Without batting an eye Huyaiy replied, "As one who knows the Book, I can assure you that your religion is better than
Muhammad's. You are in the right." 1 This pleased the
The
Jewish delegation then went to the Ghatfan and the Bain Asad with whom it had
similar talks and achieved similar results. These and various other tribes all
agreed to take part in a massive expedition to fight and destroy the Muslims.
1. Ibn Hisham: Vol. 2, p. 214.
After Uhud the Quraish had accepted the loss of trade with Syria as
inevitable. Since the Muslims remained in power at Madinah, the coastal route
to Syria could not be used by the Makkans. So the Makkans increased their trade
with Iraq, Bahrain and the Yemen, and thus more or less made up for the loss
which they had suffered in the stop of
their trade with Syria. As a result of the conference with the Jewish
delegation, however, Abu Sufyan became more conscious of the danger to the
Meccan trade by the further spread of Islam. If the Muslims reached Yamamah,
the Quraish trade would have to be confined to the Yemen, for the routes to
Iraq and Bahrain would then be in Muslim hands. And this further curtailment of
their trade would be an economic blow which the Quraish could never survive.
Abu Sufyan had also been needled a great deal by Safwan bin Umayyah for his
lack of spirit in the last expedition. Both these factors combined to make Abu
Sufyan determined and zealous to take out another expedition to Madinah.
Preparations for the expedition were begun. Tribal contingents began to
concentrate in early February 627. The Quraish provided the largest force,
consisting of 4,000 men, 300 horses and 1,500 camels. Next came the Ghatfan
with 2,000 men under Uyaina bin Hisn, while the Bani Sulaim sent 700 warriors.
The Bani Asad contributed a contingent, whose strength is not known, under
Tulaiha bin Khuwailid. While the Quraish and some lesser tribes assembled at
Makkah, the Ghatfan, Bani Asad and Bani Sulaim concentrated in their tribal
settlements north, north?east and east of Madinah respectively, whence they
would march direct to Madinah. The total strength of the force, including
smaller tribes which have not been mentioned, was 10,000, and Abu Sufyan
assumed over?all command of the expedition. This became known as the collection of tribes. For want of a
better name, we shall call them the Allies.
On Monday, February 24, 627 (the 1st of Shawal, 5 Hijri), the Allies,
converging from their separate tribal regions, arrived near Madinah and
established their camps. The Quraish camped in the area of the stream junction
south of the wood, west of Mount Uhud, where they had camped for the Battle of
Uhud. The Ghatfan and other tribes camped at Zanab Naqnia, about 2 miles east
of Mount Uhud. Having established their camps, the Allies advanced on Madinah.
Hardly had the concentration of the Allies begun when agents brought
word of it to Madinah. As more and more tribal contingents gathered, the
reports became increasingly alarming. Finally the Prophet received the
information that 10,000 warriors bent on destroying the Muslims were marching
on Madinah. There was alarm and despondency among the Muslims as this
unpleasant intelligence was received. The Muslims had, of course, always been
numerically inferior to their enemies. The ratio of relative strengths at Badr
and Uhud had been one to three and one to four respectively, and although the
number of Muslims at Madinah had now increased to 3,000 able?bodied men, many
hundreds among them were Hypocrites on whom no reliance could be placed. And
10,000 seemed a terribly large figure. Never before in the history of
the Hijaz had such a vast army assembled for battle.
Then came light in the form of a suggestion by Salman the Persian. He explained
that when the Persian army had to fight a defensive battle against superior
odds, it would dig a ditch, too wide and too deep to cross, in the way of the
enemy. To the Arabs this was an unfamiliar method of warfare, but they saw its
virtue and the proposal was accepted.
The Prophet ordered the digging of the ditch. Many of the Arabs who
could not comprehend such tactics seemed unwilling to get down to the arduous
labour of digging, and the Hypocrites as usual went about dissuading the people
from taking all this trouble. But the Prophet got down to digging with his own
hands, and after this no self?respecting Muslim could keep away from the task.
The ditch was sited and its entire length divided among the Muslims at the
scale of 40 cubits per group of 10 men. As the Muslims sweated at this
backbreaking task, Hassaan bin Thabit walked about reciting his poetry and
infusing fresh spirit into the Muslims. Hassaan was a poet, and perhaps the
greatest poet of his day. He could extemporise verses on any subject and on any
occasion, and do it so beautifully that his listeners could hardly believe that
the composition was extemporaneous. He could move people to a frenzy of
emotion. But if Hassaan was one of the greatest poets of his age, that is where
his talents ended. To such manly pursuits as fighting, Hassaan was in no way
inclined, as we shall see later.
The ditch
ran from Shaikhan to the hill of Zubab, and thence to the Jabal Bani Ubaid. All
these hills were included in the area protected by the ditch, and on the west
the ditch turned south to cover the left flank of the western of the two hills
known as Jabal Bani Ubaid. East of Shaikhan and south?west of Jabal Bani Ubaid
stretched vast lava fields-areas of broken, uneven ground covered by, and at
times formed of, large black boulders, impassable for major military movement.
A little south of the centre of the ditch stood the prominent hill of Sil'a,
about 400 feet high, a mile long and a little less across, running generally
north?south but with spurs extending in all directions. In fact the little hill
of Zubab lay just off the north?eastern spur of Sil'a, though our map does not
show this clearly. (See Map 3 below)
Once the digging of the ditch was complete, the Muslims established
their camp just ahead of the hill of Sil'a. Their total strength was 3,000
which included Hypocrites whose fighting value and reliability were uncertain.
The Prophet's plan was to keep the bulk of his army uncommitted to strike at
any spot where the enemy managed to get a foothold across the ditch. To guard
against surprise, the ditch was lightly covered along its entire length by 200
men, most of whom were placed as picquets on the hills commanding the ditch. A
mobile force of 500 men was employed to patrol the various settlements of
Madinah and deal with any infiltrators who might enter unseen, and also give
some protection to areas not covered by the ditch. (Madinah was not then a city
as it is now but consisted of a group of settlements and forts. The centre of
Madinah, physical and spiritual, was the Prophet's Mosque.) The women and
children were placed in forts and houses away from the main front, which faced
north and north?west.
The winter that was now passing had been a severe one. It was also to
prove a long winter.
When the Quraish saw the ditch they were first dismayed and then moved
to indignation. They had come in such strength that victory had seemed certain.
Abu Sufyan had joyfully expected to fight a victorious battle, and now here was
this blessed ditch in the way!
"By Allah!" Abu Sufyan exploded. "Such
stratagems are not the way of the Arab!" 2 In the simple mind of
the average Arab there was no room for such tactics. To the chivalrous Arab
this was definitely 'not cricket'?
However,
the Allies moved up their camp, deployed along the ditch on the north and
north?west, and settled down to a siege that was to last 23 days. By day the
Allies would come up to the ditch which the Muslims covered lightly from the
home side. There would be an exchange of archery which would go on for most of
the day, and for the night the Allies would return to their camp. Mostly by day
and sometimes by night, Allied patrols would move up and down the ditch trying
to find a place at which a crossing could be attempted. They were eventually to
find one such place, but more of that later.
For 10 days the siege continued with no decision and no let?up on either
side. The morale of both sides came under considerable strain, but tended to
harden rather than weaken. The Muslims began to feel the pangs of hunger. There
were no large stocks of food in Madinah, and the Muslims were now on half
rations. The Hypocrites became louder and more open in their criticism of the
Prophet. While the ditch was being dug, the Prophet had promised the Muslims
that within a few years they would destroy the might of Rome and Persia and
possess themselves of the wealth of those empires. The Hypocrites now began to
say, "Muhammad promises us the
treasures of Caesar and Chosroes, but he cannot get us out of this simple predicament!" 3 The true Believers, however, remained firm and steadfast, and their faith in
their leader remained unshaken.
The situation gradually worsened for the Allies too, so that discontent
raised its head in their ranks. The Arabs were not used to long sieges and
preferred a quick, lively battle to this form of warfare. The weather had
remained unpleasant and began to cause a good deal of distress among the
Allies. Food also ran short, as Abu Sufyan had made no arrangements for
provisions to tide them over such a long period of time. But since the Allies
were not themselves under siege some measures were hastily taken to gather
provisions from outlying areas. The men began to grumble and Abu Sufyan had to
think hard to find some way out of this impasse. Finally, he consulted Huyaiy
the Jew, and between them they hit upon a new plan which showed every promise
of success.
1.
The
western end of the ditch is also reported to have ended at Mazad. This too is
correct, for the three western hills shown on Map 3-the two southern ones of
Jabal Bani Ubaid and the little one to their north-are also called Mazad.
2. Ibn Hisham: Vol. 2, p. 224.
3. Ibid: Vol. 2,
p. 212.
On the night of Friday, March 7, Huyaiy stole into the settlement of the
Bani Quraizah. He knocked at the door of their leader, Kab bin Asad; but the
latter, guessing that Huyaiy had come as a Jew and probably intended to incite
his fellow Jews against the Prophet, refused to see him. After some wrangling,
however, Huyaiy was allowed in, and he gently and cleverly began to work on
Kab, pressing him to join the Allies in the war against the Muslims. At first
Kab refused. "Muhammad has kept his
pact with us, and we have no reason
to complain", he said. "In
any case you have no certainty of victory. If we join you and the campaign
fails, your idol?worshippers will go back in peace to their homes and we will
have to bear the brunt of the wrath of Muhammad." 1 But the visitor continued
to press, now threatening, now tempting, now begging, and eventually got Kab to
agree to a pact with the Allies. According to the terms of this pact there
would be a simultaneous attack by the Allies and the Bani Quraizah. These Jews
had their settlement and their forts two miles south?east of Madinah, and they
would attack from this direction and draw some of the Muslims away from the
ditch while the Allies attacked frontally. In case the attack failed, the
Allies would leave a strong garrison in the Jewish forts to defend the Jews against
the Muslims who were bound to turn against them in revenge. The Bani Quraizah
asked for 10 days to prepare themselves before the attack was begun, during
which period the Allies could continue minor operations from the north.
Thus the last of the Jews of Madinah, following in the footsteps of
their co?religionists, broke their pact with the Muslims. Little did they know
how heavily they would pay for their perfidy!
It was not long before the Prophet came to know about this pact. He got
the intelligence through one of his agents who entered the camp of the Allies
one night and unknown to them, overheard certain conversations. Then rumours of
the pact also spread, and the report was ultimately confirmed by the incident
of 'Safiyyah and the Jew'.
Safiyyah was an aunt of the Prophet, and along with other women and
children had moved to a small fort in the south-eastern part of Madinah.
Present in the fort was Hassaan the Poet, and he was the only man there! One
day Safiyyah, looking down from the fort, saw a fully armed Jew moving
stealthily beneath the wall as if seeking a way around the fort. Safiyyah at
once concluded that he was a scout of the Bani Quraizah who had been sent to
reconnoitre a route which the Jews might take in their attack. This Jew would
act as a guide, leading his tribe into the unprotected rear of the Muslims.
Safiyyah went to the poet and said, "O
Hassaan! There is a Jew who is seeking a way by which he can lead the Bani Quraizah to attack our settlements from the
rear. You know that the Messenger of Allah and all the men are busy at the
front and cannot detach forces to protect us. This man must be killed. Go and
kill him at once!" "May Allah bless you, O Daughter of Abdul
Muttalib," replied Hassaan,
"you know that such work is not for me." Throwing a glance of
contempt at the poet, Safiyyah picked up a club, tied a waist?band around her waist and went down to meet the Jew. The
brave lady killed the Jew. Leaving him lying with a crushed skull in a pool of
blood, she returned to the fort and said to Hassaan, "I have killed him, O Hassaan! Now go and take the booty from his
body, for it is not right for a woman to
undress a man." "May Allah bless you, O Daughter of Abdul
Muttalib," replied Hassaan,
"I have no need for such booty!" 2
When the news of this incident reached the Muslims, there was no doubt
left in their minds about the treachery of the Bani Quraizah. The situation now
became more tense, and the Hypocrites became more outspoken. From half rations
the Muslims came down to quarter rations. (Later it was to become no rations!)
Their resolution was still unshaken; but if the siege continued very much
longer, sheer starvation would force the Muslims to submit. And the Muslims
could find no direct military solution to the problem.
1. Ibn Hisham: Vol. 2, p. 221; Waqidi: Maghazi p. 292.
2. Ibn Hisham: Vol. 2, p. 228.
7
The Prophet now decided to use diplomacy to achieve results which were
not attainable by force of arms. He started secret negotiations with Uyaina,
the commander of the Ghatfan contingent. (Uyaina was a brave and simple soul. A
one?eyed man possessing more brawn than brain, he was to earn from the Prophet
the nickname of 'the willing fool' 1). The aim of the
negotiations was to create a rift between the two major Allies, the Ghatfan and the Quraish-by drawing the Ghatfan away from
the siege. If this were achieved, other tribes might also pull away from the
Quraish; but even if they did not, the absence of the powerful Ghatfan
contingent of 2,000 warriors would reduce the Allied strength to manageable
proportions, where after military action could be taken to drive the Allies
away from Madinah.
"If the Ghatfan secede from the alliance and
return to their homes, they shall be given one?third of the date produce of
Madinah", were the terms offered by the
Prophet. This offer was accepted by
Uyaina who had by now lost all hope of military victory. The pact
was drawn up, but before it could be signed and sealed (without which it
would not be binding), the Prophet decided to mention the matter to some of the
Muslim leaders. These Muslims protested vehemently. "Dates!" they exclaimed. "Let the infidels get nothing from us but the sword!" 2 This
disagreement with the Prophet was so general and so strong that he decided to submit to the wishes of the Muslims, and
the negotiations were dropped.
These stout hearted Believers could not understand the seriousness of
the military situation or the intricacies of diplomacy as well as the Prophet
did. He knew that the only solution to the problem lay in breaking the siege by
diplomatic manoeuvre, and he now began to look about for another opening. Soon
an opening presented itself. Among the Ghatfan was a man by the name of Nuaim
bin Masud who had become a Muslim but had kept his conversion a secret. A
prominent figure in the region, he was well known to all the three major
partners in the alliance-the Quraish, the Ghatfan and the Jews of Bani
Quraizah. He was also a very capable man.
Nuaim left the Ghatfan camp one night and slipped into Madinah. He came
to the Prophet, explained his position and expressed his desire to be of
service to the Muslims. "Send me
where you will", he said 3 . This was just the opportunity for
which the Prophet had prayed. In a
conference with Nuaim the Prophet went over the entire situation and laid down
the course of action which Nuaim was to take.
The same night Nuaim stole into the settlement of the Bani Quraizah and
visited Kab. He outlined the dangers of the situation as they applied to the
Jews. "Your situation is not like the situation of the Quraish and the
Ghatfan", he explained.
"You have your families and your homes here, while their homes and
families are at a safe distance from Madinah. They have no great stake in this
battle. If they do not succeed in defeating Muhammad, they will return to their
homes and leave you to face the wrath of the Muslims. You must take no action
in collaboration with them unless they give you hostages from their best
families. Thus you will have an assurance of their good faith."
Nuaim next went to the Quraish and spoke to Abu Sufyan, who knew him
well and had respect for his judgement. "You
have made a pact", he said, "with
a people who are treacherous and
unreliable. I have come to know through friends in Madinah that the Bani
Quraizah have repented and entered into a fresh pact with Muhammad. To prove
their loyalty to Muhammad, they are going to ask you for hostages from your
best families, whom they will promptly hand over to Muhammad, who will put them
to death. The Jews will then openly come out as allies of the Muslims and both
will make a joint attack against us. On no account must you give hostages to
the Jews!"
He then went to the Ghatfan where he painted the same picture. By the
time Nuaim had finished, the seeds of doubt and discord had been firmly planted
in the minds of the Allies.
The uncertainty began to tell on Abu Sufyan, who had relied
unquestioningly on the alliance with the Jews. He decided to hasten the course
of battle and put the intentions of the Jews to test. During the night of
Friday, March 14, following the visit of Nuaim, he sent a delegation headed by
Ikrimah to the Bani Quraizah. "This
is a terrible situation", explained Ikrimah. "This cannot be allowed to continue any longer. We attack tomorrow.
You have a pact with us against Muhammad.
You must join in the attack from the direction of your settlement."
2. Ibn Hisham: Vol. 2, p. 223.
3. Ibid: Vol. 2,
p. 229.
8
The Jews hummed and hawed for a while and then came out with their
terms. "Our position is more delicate than yours. If you have no success you may
abandon us, and then we will be left alone to face the wrath of Muhammad. To
make sure that this does not happen, you must give us hostages from your best
families who will stay with us until the battle has been fought to a
satisfactory conclusion. Anyway, tomorrow is Saturday and Jews are forbidden to
fight on the Sabbath. Those who break the Sabbath are turned by Allah into pigs
and monkeys." Ikrimah returned empty?handed. Abu Sufyan then decided to make one more attempt at
persuading the Jews to join battle on the morrow, and sent another delegation
to Kab; but the stand of the two sides remained the same:
Quraish: No hostages; fight tomorrow!
Jews: No fighting on the Sabbath; anyway, hostages
first!
All three groups now said, "Nuaim was right. How wise he was in his advice to us!" 1
Nuaim had done his work well. The Bani Quraizah had been neatly detached from
the alliance.
The next morning, Saturday, March 15, Khalid and Ikrimah, tiring of the
delay and seeing no hope of concerted action by the Allies, decided to take
matters into their own hands and try to force a decision one way or another.
They moved forward with their cavalry squadrons to a place just west of Zubab,
where the ditch was not as wide as in other places and where it could be
cleared on horseback or by men scrambling across on foot. This place was right
in front of the Muslim camp, which nestled at the foot of Sil'a.
Ikrimah's squadron moved up first and a small group jumped the ditch,
the horses landing neatly on the Muslim side. There were seven men in the
group, including Ikrimah and an enormous man who urged his enormous horse ahead
of the group and began to survey the Muslims, who were surprised by the sudden
appearance of the Quraish. The stage was now set for one of the most remarkable
duels of history, which, because of its unusual course, is here described in
full detail.
This huge man was of a tremendous height and bulk, and while on his feet
would tower above his fellow men. Sitting on his great horse, he looked
positively unreal. Big, strong and fearless, he had a fierce countenance-an
aspect which thrilled his comrades and dismayed his enemies.
This was Amr bin Abdu Wud. (We shall call him the Giant!) Horse and
rider stood motionless as he let his gaze wander scornfully over the ranks of
the Muslims.
Suddenly the Giant raised his head and roared, "I am Amr bin Abdu Wud. I am the greatest warrior in Arabia. I am invincible. I... I. . ." He
certainly had a high opinion of himself.
"Is there anyone among you who has
the courage to meet me in personal combat?"
The challenge was received by the Muslims in silence. They looked at one
another. They looked at the Holy Prophet. But no one moved, for the Giant was
famous for his strength and skill, and though wounded several times, had never
yet lost a duel, nor spared an opponent. It was said that he was equal to 500
horsemen; that he could lift a horse bodily and hurl it to the ground; that he
could pick up a calf with his left hand and use it as a shield in combat; that
he could... The stories were endless. The vivid Arab imagination had created
around this formidable warrior a legend of invincibility.
So the Muslims remained silent, and the Giant laughed with contempt-a
laugh in which the Quraish also joined, for they stood quite close to the ditch
and could see and hear all that went on.
1. Ibn Hisham: Vol. 2, pp. 230 - 231; Ibn Sad: p. 574.
9
"So is there none among you
who has the courage of a man? And what of your Islam? And your Prophet?" At this blasphemous taunt, Ali left his position in the front rank of the Muslims, approached the Holy
Prophet and sought permission to engage the challenger and silence his insolent
tongue once and for all. The Prophet replied, "Sit down. This is
Amr!" Ali returned to his position.
There was another burst of scornful laughter, more taunts, another
challenge. Again Ali went up to the Prophet. Again the Prophet declined
permission. More laughter, more taunts. Again the challenge from Amr, and this
time more insulting than before. "Where
is your paradise?" He shouted, "Of which you say that those who lose
in battle will enter it? Can you not send a man to fight me?"
When for the third time Ali moved towards the
Prophet, the latter saw in Ali's eyes a look which he knew well; and he knew
that Ali could no longer be restrained. He looked at Ali fondly, for Ali was
dearer to him than any other man. He took off his turban and wound it around
Ali's head. He next took off his sword and girded it at Ali's waist. And he
prayed: "O Lord! Help him!" 1
This sword which the Prophet now gave to Ali had once belonged to an
infidel by the name of Munabba bin Hajaj. This man had been killed at the
Battle of Badr, and the sword had come to the Muslims as part of the spoils of
war. The Prophet had taken the sword for himself. Now in Ali's hand this was to
become the most famous sword in Islam, killing more men in fair combat than any
sword in history. This was the Zulfiqar.
Ali hastily collected a small group of Muslims and strode out towards
the unbelievers. The group stopped at some distance from the Giant, and Ali
stepped forward and got to within duelling distance of the challenger. The
Giant knew Ali well. He had been a friend of Ali's father, Abu Talib. He now
smiled indulgently at Ali as a man might smile at a boy.
"O Amr!" called Ali. "It is believed
that if any man of the Quraish offers you two proposals, you always accept at
least one of them."
"True."
"I have no need of them."
"Then dismount from your horse and fight
me."
"Why, O son of my brother? I have no desire to
kill you."
"But I", replied
Ali, "Have a great desire to kill
you!" 2
The Giant's face flushed with anger. With a cry of rage he sprang off
his horse, displaying a degree of agility surprising in so huge a monster. He
hamstrung his horse, drew his sword and rushed at Ali. The fight was on.
Amr struck at Ali many times, but Ali remained unharmed. He would parry
the blow with his sword or shield or nimbly step aside to let the Giant's sword
whistle past him harmlessly. At last the Giant stood back, panting and baffled.
He wondered how this could be. Never before had any man survived so long in
personal combat against him. And now this boy was looking at him as if he was
playing a game!
Then things happened so fast that no one could quite follow the
sequence-neither the Muslims nor the Quraish nor the Giant himself. Ali dropped
his sword and shield to the ground; his body shot through the air like a
missile and his hands grasped the Giant's throat; with a wrestler's kick he
knocked the Giant off balance, and the Giant came crashing to the ground-all in
a matter of seconds. Now the Giant lay on his back with Ali sitting astride his
chest. The two armies gasped and murmured, then held their breath.
1. Ibn Sad: p. 572.
2. Ibn Hisham: Vol. 2, p. 225.
10
The bewilderment on the Giant's face changed to fury. At last he had
been thrown, and by this young upstart who was less than half his size! But
although he was down, he was not finished. He would still win the battle and
re?establish his position as the greatest warrior in Arabia. He would toss this
youngster into the air as a leaf is tossed by the wind.
The Giant's face went purple, the veins stood out
on his neck and his huge biceps and forearms trembled as he strained to break
Ali's grip. But he could not move it an inch. There was the quality of steel in
the muscles of Ali.
"Know, O Amr", said Ali gently, "that
victory and defeat depend upon the will of Allah. Accept Islam! Thus not only
will your life be spared, but you will also enjoy the blessings of Allah in
this life and the next." Ali drew a sharp dagger from his waistband
and held it close to Amr's throat.
But this was more than the Giant could take. Was he whom Arabia
considered her greatest champion to live the rest of his life under the shadow
of defeat and disgrace? Was it to be said of him that he saved his life in
personal combat by submitting to the conditions of his opponent? No! He, Amr
bin Abdu Wud, had lived by the sword. He would perish by the sword. A life
spent in violence must end with violence. He gathered the spittle in his mouth
and spat into the face of Ali!
He knew what would happen. He knew that there would be a sharp intake of
breath, that Ali's right arm would shoot into the air and then plunge the
dagger into his throat. Amr was a brave man and could face death without
flinching. He arched his back and raised his chin?to offer his throat to Ali,
for he knew what was to come. At least he thought he knew!
But what happened next left him even more bewildered. Ali rose calmly
from Amr's chest, wiped his face, and stood a few paces away, gazing solemnly
at his adversary. "Know, O Amr, I
only kill in the way of Allah and not for any private motive. Since you spat in
my face, my killing you now may be from a desire for personal vengeance. So I
spare your life. Rise and return to your people!"
The Giant rose. But there was no question of his returning to his people
a loser. He would live a victor, or not at all. Intending to make one last
attempt at victory, he picked up his sword and rushed at Ali. Perhaps he would
catch Ali unawares.
Ali had just enough time to pick up his sword and shield and prepare for
the fresh assault. The blow which the Giant now delivered in furious
desperation was the most savage blow of the encounter. His sword shattered
Ali's shield, but in doing so lost its force and impetus, and could then do no
more than inflict a shallow cut on Ali's temple. The wound was too slight to
worry Ali. Before the Giant could raise his sword again, the Zulfiqar flashed in the sunlight, and
it's tip slashed open the Giant's throat. The blood of the Giant gushed forth
like a fountain.
For a moment the Giant stood motionless. Then his body began to sway as
if he was drunk. And then he fell on his face with a crash and lay still.
The earth did not shake with the impact of that colossal body. The earth
is too big. But the hill of Sil'a shook with the cry of Allah-o-Akbar that thundered from 2,000 Muslim throats. The
triumphant cry echoed through the length and breadth of the valley before it
faded away into the stillness of the desert.
The Muslim group now rushed at the six remaining Quraish. In the sword
fighting that ensued, one more Quraish was killed and one Muslim fell. A few
minutes later the Quraish group turned and hastily withdrew across the ditch.
Ikrimah dropped his spear as he jumped the ditch, on which Hassaan the Poet
wrote many a rude verse. A man known as Nofal bin Abdullah, a cousin of
Khalid's, was not successful in clearing the ditch and fell into it. Before he
could rise, the Muslims were on the bank and hurling stones at him. Nofal
wailed, "O Arabs! Surely death is
better than this!" 1 Thereupon Ali obliged the man by descending
into the ditch and cutting off his head.
1. Tabari: Vol. 2, p. 240.
11
The
Muslim group now returned to camp, and a strong guard was placed at the
crossing.
On the afternoon of the next day, Khalid moved up with a squadron,
intending to succeed where Ikrimah had failed. He tried to cross the ditch, but
this time the Muslim guard at the crossing saw him advance and deployed in
sufficient time to prevent his crossing. There was a heavy exchange of archery
in which one Muslim and one Quraish were killed, but Khalid was unable to
cross.
Since the opposition at the moment appeared too strong to overcome,
Khalid decided to resort to stratagem. He moved his squadron back, as if he had
given up his intention of crossing the ditch, and placed it at some distance
from the ditch. The Muslims took the bait, and believing that Khalid had
abandoned his attempt to cross the ditch, withdrew and began to relax, waiting
for the peace and quiet of the night. Suddenly Khalid galloped back with his
squadron; and before the Muslim guard had time to re-deploy, a few of the
Quraish, led by Khalid, managed to cross the ditch. But they had not advanced
far from the ditch when the Muslims formed up again and held Khalid within the
small bridgehead which he had occupied. (See Map 3)
Khalid tried hard to break through, but the Muslim resistance was too strong,
and he had no success. There was some hand?to-hand fighting between the Quraish
group and the Muslim guard in which Khalid killed one Muslim. The Savage also
was there; and with the same javelin that he had used against Hamza at Uhud, he
killed a Muslim in this sally across the ditch. Before long, however, seeing
the situation as hopeless, Khalid broke contact and withdrew across the ditch.
This was the last major military action in the Battle of the Ditch.
For the next two days there was no activity except for a certain amount
of sporadic archery which did no damage to either side. The Muslims now ran out
of food; but their courage was hardened by desperation and they were determined
to starve rather than surrender to the hated infidel. In the Allied camp
tempers rose and spirits fell. Everyone knew that the expedition, which had
been expected to lead to a glorious victory, had ended in fiasco. There was
widespread grumbling, and what made the situation intolerable was the fact that
no one could find a way out of the impasse.
Then on Tuesday night, March 18, the area of Madinah was struck by a
storm. Cold winds lashed at the Allied camp and howled across the valley. The
temperature dropped sharply. The Allied camp was more exposed than the Muslim
camp and the storm appeared to strike the Allies with a vengeance. It put out
fires, knocked down cooking pots, carried away tents. The Allies sat huddled
under their blankets and cloaks as the storm raged around them, waiting for an
end that would not come.
Abu Sufyan could take no more. He leapt to his feet, and raising his
voice against the storm, shouted to his men: "This is no proper abode for us. Men and animals have suffered grievously from exposure. The Bani
Quraizah have turned out to be pigs and monkeys and have betrayed us in our
hour of need. The storm has ravaged our camp, put out our fires, knocked down
our tents. Let us return to Makkah. Lo, I am one who goes!"
1
Having made this last speech, Abu Sufyan jumped on to his camel and rode
out with his men, hoping to get away from the pitiless storm. But the demons of
the storm were to pursue him the whole night. The Ghatfan now came to know of
the movement of the Quraish and so did the other tribes. Without further delay
they mounted their camels and departed for their settlements and pastures. In the
rear of the Quraish army rode Khalid and Amr bin Al Aas with their cavalry
squadrons acting as a rear guard in case the Muslims should come out of Madinah
and attempted to interfere with the Quraish movement. It was a bitter and
disillusioned Abu Sufyan who led his army back to Makkah. The burden of failure
lay heavy on his heart.
The next morning the Muslims found the Allies gone,
and returned to their homes. This was the last attempt by the Quraish to crush
the Muslims; henceforth they would remain on the defensive.
12
The Battle of the Ditch was over. Each side had lost four men. It was a
victory for the Muslims in that they achieved their aim of defending themselves
and their homes against the Allies, while the Allies failed in their attempt to
crush the Muslims. In fact the Allies failed to do any damage at all. The siege
had lasted 23 days and had imposed a terrible strain on both sides. It had been
ended by the storm, but the storm was not the cause of the raising of the
siege. It was the last straw. Strictly speaking, this operation was a siege and
a confrontation rather than a battle, for the two armies never actually came to
grips.
This was the first instance in Muslim history of the use of politics and
diplomacy in war, and it shows the interplay of politics and arms in the
achievement of the national aim. The use of armed force is one aspect of war-a
violent and destructive aspect-to be used only when political measures fail to
achieve the aims of the State. When a shooting war becomes inevitable,
politics, with diplomacy as its principle instrument, prepares the ground for
the use of armed force. It sets the stage, weakens the enemy, and reduces his
strength to a state where armed force can be employed against him with the
maximum prospect of success.
And this is just what the Prophet did. He used the instrument of
diplomacy to split and weaken the enemy, not only in numbers but also in
spirit. Most of the Muslims could not understand this, but they were learning
from their leader. The Prophet's words, "War is stratagem" 1 ,
were to be remembered and frequently quoted in later Muslim campaigns.
1. Ibn Hisham: Vol. 2, p. 229; Waqidi: Maghazi, p. 295.
Chapter 5
1
"Verily We have granted you a manifest Victory.
That Allah may forgive you your faults of the past and those to follow, fulfil
His Favour to you, and guide you on the Straight Path.
And that Allah may help you with powerful help. It
is He who sent down Tranquillity into the hearts of the Believers, that they
may add Faith to their Faith; for to Allah belong the Forces of the heavens and
the earth, and Allah is full of Knowledge, full of Wisdom."
[Quran
48:1-4]
The Truce of Hudaibiya was signed in early April 628 (late Dhul Qad, 6
Hijri). The signing of such a truce was not the intention of the Prophet as he
set out for Makkah in the middle of March. His intention was to perform the
pilgrimage-the off?season pilgrimage known as Umra-and he took with him 1,400
fully armed Muslims and a large number of sacrificial animals.
The Quraish, however, feared that the Muslims were coming to fight a
battle and subdue the Quraish in their home town, for the initiative had now
passed to the Muslims. Consequently, the Quraish moved out of Makkah and
concentrated in a camp nearby, from where Khalid was sent forward with 300
horsemen on the road to Madinah to intercept the Muslim army. Khalid did not
see how he could stop such a large force with
only 300 men, but he decided to do whatever was possible to delay the
advance of the Muslims. He arrived at Kura?ul?Ghameem, 15 miles from Usfan, and
took up a blocking position in a pass through which the road crossed this hilly
region. (See Map 4)
When the Muslims arrived at Usfan, their advance was preceded by a detachment
of 20 horsemen who had been sent forward as a reconnaissance element. This
detachment made contact with Khalid at Kura?ul?Ghameem, and informed the
Prophet at Usfan of the position and strength of Khalid's force.
The Prophet decided that he would not waste time in fighting an action
at this place. He was in any case anxious to avoid bloodshed, as his intention
was the pilgrimage and not battle. He ordered his forward detachment to remain
in contact with Khalid, and draw Khalid's attention to itself; and with Khalid
so engaged, the Prophet moved his army from the right, travelling over little
used tracks through difficult hilly country, which he crossed, not far from the
coast through a pass known as Saniyat-ul-Marar 2 . The march proved a
strenuous one, but it was successfully accomplished and Khalid's position
bypassed. It was not till the outflanking movement was well under way that
Khalid saw in the distance the dust of the Muslim column, and realising what
had happened, hastily withdrew to Makkah. The Muslims continued the march until
they had got to Hudaibiya, 13 miles west of Makkah, and pitched camp.
At Hudaibiya battle seemed imminent for some time in spite of the
Prophet's wish to avoid bloodshed. Some skirmishes took place, but there were no
casualties. After a few days, however, the Quraish realised that the Muslims
had indeed come for pilgrimage and not for war. Thereafter envoys travelled
back and forth between the two armies, and finally a truce was agreed upon,
which became known as the Truce of Hudaibiya. It was signed on behalf of the
Muslims by the Prophet and on behalf of the Quraish by Suhail bin Amr. Its
terms were as follows:
a. For 10 years there would be no war, no raids, no military action of any
sort between the Muslims and the
Quraish.
b. The following year the Muslims would be permitted to perform the
pilgrimage. They would be allowed
three days in Makkah.
c. Any member of the Quraish who deserted to the Muslims would be returned;
any Muslim who deserted to the
Quraish would not be returned.
1.
This
Kura-ul-Ghameem is not the Kura marked on today's maps. The latter lies by an
inlet of the Red Sea, while the former was in a hilly region with the hills
extending westwards from it to the sea. It was southeast of Usfan.
2. This pass was also called Zat-ul-Hanzal (Abu Yusuf:
p. 209).
2
Other
tribes could join the truce on either side and would be bound by the same
terms.
Some Muslims were incensed at the third clause, dealing with deserters,
especially the hot?headed Umar who protested vehemently against it; but all
protests were overruled by the Prophet. The truce actually gave certain
distinct long?term and solid advantages to the Muslims, although these were not
at the time apparent to everyone. It would be to the Muslims' advantage to be
generous in their terms, as this would have a favourable
psychological impact on the Arab tribes and would show the confidence
that the Muslims enjoyed in their dealings with the infidels. Moreover, if some
Muslims were not permitted to leave Makkah, they would act as the eyes and ears
of the Muslims in the midst of the enemy, and could in certain ways influence
the people in Makkah. Their presence within the Quraish camp would in fact be a
source of strength to the Muslims. "Anyway", said the
Prophet, "when anyone wishes to join us, Allah will devise means for him
to do so." 1
As a result of the last clause of the truce, two tribes living in and
around Makkah joined the main participants: the Khuza'a as allies of the
Muslims and the Bani Bakr as allies of the Quraish. These two tribes were
mutually hostile and had been feuding since the Ignorance.
After a stay of over two weeks at Hudaibiya, the Muslims returned to
Madinah. The following year, in March 629 (Dhul Qad, 7 Hijri), the Muslims, led
by the Prophet, performed the pilgrimage. The Quraish evacuated Makkah and
lived in the surrounding countryside for three days, and did not return to
their homes until after the Muslims had departed for Madinah.
For some
time a change had been taking place in the mind of Khalid. At first he thought
mainly of military matters and military objectives. Conscious of his own
ability and military prowess, he felt that he was truly deserving of victory,
but somehow victory always eluded him. At the Battle of Uhud, despite his
masterly manoeuvre, the Muslims had been able to avoid a major defeat. He
admired the Prophet's dispositions and the way the Prophet had forced battle on
the Quraish with the odds in his favour. At the Battle of the Ditch again
victory had eluded the Quraish. They had gone to battle after such careful
preparations and in such strength that victory had seemed certain; yet the
simple expedient of the ditch had snatched victory from their grasp. The
Quraish army had gone forth like a lion and come back like a mouse. In the
expedition of Hudaibiya, when he had tried to intercept the Muslims, the
Prophet had neatly outmanoeuvred him while his attention was riveted to the
small Muslim detachment in front of him. Khalid was looking for the Man, and he could not help admiring
Muhammad-his generalship, his character, and his personality-qualities which he
could find in no one else.
Above all Khalid wanted the clash of battle and the glory of victory.
His martial spirit sought military adventure, and with the Quraish there was
only misadventure. He could see no hope of fighting successful battles on the
side of the Quraish. Perhaps he should join the Prophet, with whom there were
unlimited prospects of victory and glory.
There was plenty of military activity at Madinah. Every now and then
expeditions would be sent out against the unbelieving tribes, either to break
up hostile concentrations before they became too large or to capture camels and
other live?stock. Between the Battle of Uhud and the pilgrimage, 28 expeditions
were taken out by the Muslims, some led by the Prophet in person and others by
officers appointed by him. With very few exceptions these expeditions had ended
in complete success for the Muslims. The greatest of these had been the Campaign
of Khaibar, in which the last resistance of the Jews was crushed. These
expeditions had not only enlarged the political boundaries of Islam, but had
also resulted in a great increase in wealth. Whenever reports of Muslim
military successes arrived at Makkah, Khalid would think wistfully of the 'fun'
that the Muslims were having. Now and then he would wish that he were in
Madinah, for that is 'where the action was'!
After the Prophet's pilgrimage serious doubt entered Khalid's mind
regarding his religious beliefs. He had never been deeply religious and was not
unduly drawn towards the gods of the Kabah. He had always kept an open mind.
Now he began to ponder deeply on religious matters, but did not share his
thoughts with anyone. And then suddenly it flashed across his mind that Islam
was the true faith. This happened about two months after the Prophet's
pilgrimage.
1. Waqidi: Maghazi,
p. 310.
3
Having made up his mind about Islam, Khalid met Ikrimah and some others
and said, "It is evident to the intelligent mind that
Muhammad is neither a poet nor a sorcerer, as the Quraish allege. His message
is truly divine. It is incumbent on all sensible men to follow him."
Ikrimah was stunned by the words of Khalid. "Are you abandoning our faith?" he asked incredulously.
"I have come to believe in the true
Allah."
"It is strange that of all the Quraish you
should say so."
"Why?"
"Because the Muslims have
killed so many of your dear ones in battle. I for one shall certainly not
accept Muhammad, nor shall I ever speak to you again unless you give up this
absurd idea. Do you not see that the Quraish seek the blood of Muhammad?"
"That is a matter of Ignorance", replied
Khalid.
When Abu Sufyan heard from Ikrimah of Khalid's change of heart, he sent
for both the stalwarts. "Is it true
what I hear?" he asked Khalid.
"And what do you hear?"
"That you wish to join Muhammad."
"Yes. And why not? After all Muhammad is one
of us. He is a kinsman."
Abu Sufyan flew into a rage and threatened Khalid with dire consequences,
but was restrained by Ikrimah. "Steady,
O Abu Sufyan!" said Ikrimah. "Your
anger may well lead me also to join
Muhammad. Khalid is free to follow whatever religion he chooses." 1 Ikrimah, the nephew and bosom friend,
had stood up for Khalid in spite of their religious differences.
That night Khalid took his armour, his weapons and his horse, and set
out for Madinah. On the way he met two others travelling in the same direction:
Amr bin Al Aas and Uthman bin Talha (son of the Quraish standard bearer at
Uhud) and there was mutual astonishment when they found that each was
travelling to Madinah with the same purpose, for each had regarded the other
two as bitter enemies of Islam! The three seekers arrived at Madinah on May 31,
629 (the 1st of Safar, 8 Hijri), and went to the house of
the Prophet. Khalid entered first and made his submission. He was
followed by Amr and then Uthman. All three were warmly welcomed by the Prophet;
their past hostility was forgiven, so that they could now start with a clean sheet.
Khalid and Amr bin Al Aas were the finest military minds of the time and their
entry into Islam would spell victory for Muslim arms in the following decades.
Khalid, now 43 and in the prime of life, was glad
to be in Madinah. He met old friends and found that he was welcomed by all. The
old feuds were forgotten. There was a new spirit in Madinah-the spirit of the
pioneer. There was activity, anticipation, enthusiasm, optimism, and this
atmosphere entered the heart of Khalid. He breathed the clear air of the new
faith and was happy.
He also met Umar and they were friends again. There remained a little of
the old rivalry between the two, but this existed as a subconscious
undercurrent rather than a deliberate feeling or intention. Khalid now realised
that in his rivalry with Umar he was at a disadvantage, for he was a new
convert while Umar was an emigrant who had left his home in Makkah. Umar had
been the fortieth person to become a Muslim. While the Muslims were at Makkah
he could take no great pride in having this position, for then the Muslims were
few in number; but now thousands had entered Islam and with this large number,
being the fortieth amounted to having a very important position. Now Khalid was
competing not only against a man of equal strength, will and ability, but also
against Muslim No. 40!
1. Waqidi: Maghazi,
p. 321.
4
Khalid took to visiting the Prophet frequently. He would listen for
hours to the talks of the Prophet. He would drink at the fountain of wisdom and
virtue that was Muhammad, Messenger of Allah. One day Khalid and Fadhl bin
Abbas (cousin of the Prophet) visited him in the house of his wife, Maimuna,
who was an aunt of Khalid. Just then a Bedouin friend had sent a cooked dish as
a gift to the Prophet, and as was his custom, the Prophet asked the guests to
stay and share his meal. A cloth was spread on the ground and around it they
all sat-the Prophet, his wife, and the two guests.
As the Prophet extended his hand towards the dish, Maimuna asked, "O Messenger of Allah, do you know what this is?"
"No."
"This is roast lizard!"
The
Prophet withdrew his hand. "This meat I shall not eat",
he said.
"O Messenger of Allah", asked
Khalid, "is it forbidden?"
"No."
"Can we eat it?"
"Yes,
you may do so."
Maimuna also abstained from the food, but Khalid and Fadhl ate their
fill of the dish. Roast lizard was a favourite among the desert Arabs.
Apparently it was a favourite with Khalid too, for he ate heartily! 1
1. This little-known incident is taken from Ibn Sad:
p. 381.
Chapter 6
1
"What an excellent slave of Allah: Khalid ibn
al-Walid, one of the swords of Allah,
unleashed against the unbelievers!"
[Prophet Muhammad (SAWS)]1
Three months after his arrival at Madinah, Khalid got his chance to show
what he could do as a soldier and a commander for the faith which he had just
embraced. The Prophet had sent an envoy to the Ghassan 2 Chieftain of Busra, with a
letter inviting him to join Islam. While passing through Mutah this envoy was
intercepted and killed by a local Ghassan chieftain by the name of Shurahbil
bin Amr. This was a heinous crime among the Arabs, for diplomatic envoys held
traditional immunity from attack no matter how hostile a power they
represented. The news of this outrage inflamed Madinah.
An expedition was immediately prepared to take punitive action against
the Ghassan, and the Prophet appointed Zaid bin Harithah as the commander of
the force. If he were killed, the command was to be taken over by Jafar bin Abi
Talib. If he were killed, the command would devolve upon Abdullah bin Rawahah.
Having appointed these officers in the chain of command, the Prophet said, "If
all three of these are killed, let the men select a
commander
from among themselves." 3
The expeditionary force consisted of 3,000 men, one of whom was Khalid,
serving as a soldier in the ranks. The mission the Prophet gave to Zaid was to
seek out and kill the person responsible for the murder of the Muslim envoy,
and to offer Islam to the people of Mutah. If they accepted Islam, they were
not to be harmed. At the time this force was sent out the Muslims had no
knowledge of the enemy strength that they would have to deal with.
Spirits were high as the expeditionary force began its march from
Madinah. When the force arrived at Ma'an, reports were received for the first
time that Heraclius, the Eastern Roman Emperor, was in Jordan with
"100,000 Romans" and had been joined by "100,000 Christian
Arabs"-mainly from the Ghassan. The Muslims remained in Ma'an for two days
debating their next move. There was a certain amount of hesitation and
nervousness. Some suggested that the Prophet be informed of the large strength
of the enemy so that he could give them fresh orders on what course of action
they should adopt; but Abdullah bin Rawahah (the third?in?command) did not
agree with this suggestion, as it would entail unnecessary delay and would give
the impression that the Muslims were afraid. He recited a few verses and made a
stirring speech to raise the spirits of the men. He concluded by saying, "Men fight not with numbers or weapons
but with faith. By going into battle
we have a choice of two glorious alternatives: victory and martyrdom." 4 This
speech dispelled all doubt from the minds of the Muslims, and they promptly
resumed their march towards Syria.
The Muslims reached a place near the frontier of Balqa-a district in the
east of what is now Jordan-where they made contact with a large force of
Christian Arabs. Not finding this place suitable for battle, the Muslim
commander withdrew his force to Mutah. The Christian Arabs followed the
Muslims, and the two forces again met at Mutah. Both sides now decided to
fight. It was the second week of September 29 (the third week of
Jamadi-ul-Awwal, 8 Hijri).
Zaid deployed his force in the normal pattern of a centre and two wings.
The right wing was commanded by Qutba bin Qatadah and the left wing by Ubaya
bin Malik. Zaid himself commanded the centre, and in the centre, too, was
Khalid. The battlefield lay to the east of, and stretched up to about a mile from,
the present village of Mutah. The ground here was even, but had a slight
undulation, and the gentle slope of a low ridge rose behind the Muslims as they
faced the Christian Arabs to the north. 5
1. Tirmidhi and Ahmad from Abu Hurayrah, Sahih Al-Jami’
Al-Saghir No. 6776.
2. A large and powerful tribe inhabiting Syria and
Jordan.
3. Ibn Sad: p. 636.
4. Ibn Hisham: Vol. 2, p. 375.
5.
A new
mosque is being built by the Jordanian Government to mark the site of this
battle.
2
The Christian Arabs, who were commanded by Malik bin Zafila, formed
themselves into a deep mass confronting the Muslims. Some historians have given
their strength as 100,000, while others have doubled that figure. These
estimates are clearly mistaken. The enemy probably consisted of between 10 and
15 thousand men. In this battle the Muslims failed to gain a victory. If the
enemy had been only twice their strength, they would undoubtedly have thrashed
him; and an enemy had to be many times their strength to, inflict a defeat on
them. It is largely on this basis that the above estimate of the enemy's
strength is made.
The battle began, and both armies very quickly got to grips with each
other. This was essentially a battle of guts and stamina rather than military
skill. The commander himself fought at the head of his men with his standard,
and after a short while Zaid was killed. As the standard fell from his hands,
the second?in?command, Jafar, picked it up and continued fighting at the head
of the army. After his body had been covered with scores of wounds, Jafar also
fell; and the standard went down for the second time. This distressed the
Muslims, for Jafar was held in great esteem and affection as a cousin of the
Prophet. A certain amount of confusion became noticeable among the Muslims, but
soon the third?in?command, Abdullah bin Rawahah, picked up the standard and
restored order. He continued to fight until he also was killed.
Now there was real disorder in the ranks of the Muslims. A few of them
fled from the scene of battle, but stopped not far from the battlefield. Others
continued to offer confused resistance in twos and threes and larger groups.
Fortunately the enemy did not press his advantage, for had he done so the
Muslims, without a commander, could easily have been routed. Perhaps the
gallantry of the Muslim commanders and the valour with which the Muslims had
fought made the enemy overcautious and discouraged him from taking bold action.
When Abdullah had fallen, the standard was picked up by Thabit bin
Arqam, who raised his voice and shouted, "O
Muslims, agree upon a man from among you to be the commander." He then spied Khalid, who stood next to him, and
offered him the standard. Khalid was
conscious of the fact that as a new convert he did not hold a high position
among the Muslims, and Thabit bin Arqam was a Muslim of long standing. This
consideration was important. He declined the offer of Thabit, saying: "You are more deserving than I" "Not I," replied Thabit, "and none but you!" 1 This was really a windfall for the Muslims, for they knew of the personal courage
and military ability of Khalid. They all agreed to his appointment, and Khalid
took the standard and assumed command.
The situation now was serious and could easily have taken a turn for the
worse, leading, rapidly to the total defeat of the Muslims. The commanders
before Khalid had shown more valour than judgement in fighting this battle.
Khalid regained control over his small army and organized it into a neatly
deployed fighting force. He was faced with three choices. The first was to
withdraw and save the Muslims from destruction, but this might be regarded as a
defeat and he would then be blamed for having brought disgrace to Muslim arms.
The second was to stay on the defensive and continue fighting; in this case the
superior strength of the enemy would eventually tell and the battle end in
defeat. The third was to attack and throw the enemy off balance, thus gaining
more time in which to study the situation and plan the best course of action.
The last choice was closest to the nature of Khalid, and this is the course
that he adopted.
The Muslims attacked fiercely along the entire front. They surged
forward with Khalid in the lead. The example of Khalid gave fresh courage to
the Muslims, and the battle increased in violence. For some time desperate
hand?to?hand fighting continued; then Qutba, commanding the Muslim right,
dashed forward and killed the Christian commander, Malik, in a duel. This
resulted in a setback for the enemy and led to, a certain amount of confusion.
The Christian Arabs now pulled back, still fighting, with a view to gaining
time for reorganization. At this moment Khalid had his tenth sword in his hand,
having broken nine in fierce combat.
1. Ibn Sad: p. 638.
3
As the Christian Arabs stepped back, Khalid restrained the Muslims and
broke contact, pulling his force back a short distance. The two armies now
faced each other out of bow range, both seeking time to rest and reorganize.
This last round of the battle had ended in favour of the Muslims of whom so far
only 12 had been killed. There is no record of enemy casualties but they must
have been considerable, for each of the Muslim commanders before Khalid was a
brave and skilful fighter and the nine swords that Khalid broke were broken on
the bodies of Christian Arabs. The situation, however, offered no further
prospect of success. Khalid had averted a shameful and bloody defeat and saved
the Muslims from disgrace and disaster; he could do no more. That night Khalid
withdrew his army from Mutah and began his return journey to Madinah.
The news of the return of the expedition preceded it at Madinah, and the
Prophet and those Muslims who had remained in Madinah set out to meet the
returning soldiers. The Muslims were in an ugly temper, for never since the
Battle of Uhud had a Muslim force broken contact with the enemy and left him in
possession of the battlefield. As the army arrived among the Muslims, they
began to throw dust into the faces of the soldiers.
"O you who have fled!" they cried. "You have fled
from the way of Allah." The Prophet
restrained them and said, "They have not fled. They shall return
to fight, if Allah wills it." 1 Then the Prophet raised his voice
and shouted, "Khalid is the Sword of Allah." 2
Later the resentment against Khalid died down, and the Muslims realised
the wisdom, judgement and courage which he had shown in the Battle of Mutah.
And the name stuck to Khalid. He now became known as Saifullah, i.e. Sword of Allah. When the Prophet gave Khalid this
title, he virtually guaranteed his success in future battles.
Some historians have described the battle of Mutah as a victory for the
Muslims; others have called it a defeat. As a matter of fact it was neither. It
was a drawn battle; but drawn in favour of the Christians, for the Muslims
withdrew from the battlefield and left it in possession of their opponents. It
was not a big battle; it was not even a very important one. But it gave Khalid
an opportunity to show his skill as an independent commander; and it gained him
the title of the Sword of Allah.
1. Ibn Hisham: Vol. 2, p. 382.
2. Waqidi: Maghazi,
p. 322.
Chapter 7
1
"When comes the Help of Allah and
Victory..."
[Quran
110:1]
As stated earlier, two of the tribes of Makkah had entered the Truce of
Hudaibiya, the Khuza'a on the side of the Muslims and the Bani Bakr on the side
of the Quraish. These two tribes had an old feud dating back to pre?Islamic
days, which had lain dormant during the past few years, and it might have been
expected that now that they had joined the truce, peace would prevail between
them. But this was not to be. The Bani Bakr once again took up the thread of
the feud. They organized a night raid on the Khuza'a in which they were
secretly assisted by the Quraish, who gave them not only weapons but also a few
warriors, among whom were Ikrimah and Safwan bin Umayyah. In this raid twenty
of the Khuza'a were killed.
A delegation of the Khuza'a at once rode to Madinah and informed the
Prophet of this flagrant breach of the truce. The visitors invoked the alliance
between their tribe and the Muslims and asked for help.
Abu Sufyan had not been directly concerned with the assistance given by
the Quraish in this raid. He was now seriously alarmed as he had not wished to
break the truce; and fearing Muslim retaliation, he travelled to Madinah to
negotiate a fresh truce. On arrival at Madinah he first went to see his
daughter, Umm Habiba, wife of the Prophet, but she gave him the cold shoulder.
He next went to the Prophet and spoke to him, proposing a fresh truce, but the
Prophet remained silent and this did more to frighten him and disturb his peace
of mind than any threat could have done.
Not knowing just where he stood with the Prophet, Abu Sufyan decided to
enlist the aid of the important Companions. He went to Abu Bakr with the
request that he talk with the Prophet and urge a fresh truce, but Abu Bakr
refused. He next went to Umar who, as warlike as ever, replied, "By Allah, if I had nothing more than
an army of ants, I would
wage war against you." Abu Sufyan then went to the house of Ali, and there spoke first to Fatimah and then to Ali. "Once the Messenger of Allah has made
up his mind," explained Ali, "nothing
can dissuade him from his purpose."
"Then what do you advise?" asked Abu
Sufyan.
"You are a leader of the Quraish, O Abu
Sufyan! Keep peace among men." 1
This advice could be interpreted in many ways, but somehow it gave Abu
Sufyan more satisfaction than he had got from the others. Not knowing what else
to do, he returned to Makkah. He had achieved nothing.
Soon after the departure of Abu Sufyan, the Prophet ordered immediate
preparations for a large?scale operation. His intention was to assemble and
move with such speed, and observe such strict secrecy, that the Quraish would
not get knowledge of the coming of the Muslims until the Muslims were virtually
knocking at their door. Thus the Quraish would not have time to organise
another alliance with neighbouring tribes to face the Muslims. While the
assembly of forces was in progress, the Prophet came to know that a woman was
on her way to Makkah with a letter warning the Makkans of the preparations
being made against them. He sent Ali and Zubair in haste after her. These two
stalwarts caught up with the woman, found the message and brought back message
and messenger to Madinah.
1. 1bn Hisham: Vol. 2, pp. 396-7.
The move of the Muslim army started from Madinah on January 1, 630 (the
10th of Ramadan, 8 Hijri). Many contingents from Muslim tribes had joined the
Prophet at Madinah, and other contingents fell in on the way. Thus the Muslim
army soon swelled to an all-time high figure of 10,000 warriors. With this
force the Prophet arrived at Marr-uz-Zahran, 10 miles north?west of Makkah,
without the Quraish having any knowledge of his movement. 1 This was the fastest move
the Muslim army had ever accomplished.
Abbas, uncle of the Prophet, had about now made up his mind to join the
Muslims and accept the true faith. While the Muslim army was at Juhfa, it met
Abbas and his family on their way to Madinah. The conversion of Abbas was
received joyfully by the Prophet, with whom the relations of Abbas had always
been cordial.
When the Muslims got to Marr-uz-Zahran, Abbas became deeply concerned
about the fate of the Makkans. He was afraid that if the Muslims took Makkah by
force, the operation would result in the destruction of the Quraish. He
therefore set out on the Prophet's mule, with the Prophet's permission, to warn
the Quraish of the serious consequences of resistance and persuade them to send
envoys of peace to the Muslims. At about this time Abu Sufyan had come out of
Makkah to carry out a personal reconnaissance and see if any Muslims were in
sight. Abbas and Abu Sufyan met while the former was halfway to Makkah.
"What news do you bring, O Father of Fadhl?" asked Abu
Sufyan.
"The Messenger of Allah", replied
Abbas, "comes with any army of
10,000 men."
"Then what do you advise us to do?"
"If the Muslims capture
Makkah against resistance, they will certainly cut off your head. Come with me
to the Prophet, and I shall ask him to spare your life."
Abu
Sufyan mounted the mule behind Abbas and, so mounted, they rode to the Muslim
camp, arriving there after nightfall. It so happened that on this night Umar
was the officer of the guard and was walking around the camp to see that the
sentries were vigilant. He was the first to see and recognise the two visitors
and exclaimed: "Ah! Abu Sufyan,
enemy of Allah! Praise be to Allah
that you have come into our camp without a safe conduct." Umar then
ran to the tent of the Prophet, and Abbas, guessing Umar's purpose, urged his
mule forward. The three of them arrived at the Prophet's tent simultaneously,
and a heated argument arose between Umar and Abbas. Umar was asking for
permission to cut off the head of Enemy Number One, while Abbas was insisting
that he had given protection to Abu Sufyan, and so he could not be harmed until
he had been heard. The Prophet dismissed all three of them with instructions to
come again in the morning. Abbas took Abu Sufyan to his tent where he spent a
sleepless night, wondering what his fate would be.
The following morning, as Abbas and Abu Sufyan were
going to the Prophet's tent, the latter saw them coming and remarked, "One
comes who intends to become a Muslim but is not a Muslim at
heart." As they arrived at the tent, the Prophet asked,
"O Abu
Sufyan! Do you not know that
there is no Allah but Allah?"
"I have now realised it. If
other gods in whom I believed had existed, they would certainly have helped
me."
"And
do you not know that I am the Messenger of Allah?"
This was a terrible moment for Abu Sufyan. He was a proud leader of the
Quraish, one of the nobles of the tribe, a descendant of Umayyah. He had always
regarded himself as second to none, and in this he was right. He was virtually
the ruler of Makkah-a man all Makkans held in respect and reverence. Now he
stood like a humble supplicant before the very man whom he had persecuted and
fought for years, and for whose destruction he had strained every nerve.
1.
Marr-uz-Zahran
is a small valley which in its lower portion becomes the Wadi Fatimah and
crosses the present Jeddah-Makkah highway about 20 miles from Makkah.
3
"On this point", replied
Abu Sufyan, "there is some little
doubt in my mind."
Abbas now turned fiercely on Abu Sufyan. "Woe to you, O Abu Sufyan!" he hissed. "Submit, or your head will be cut
off!"
"I bear witness", said
Abu Sufyan hastily, "that Muhammad
is the Messenger of Allah!"
Abbas now had a word with the Prophet out of Abu Sufyan's hearing. "O Messenger of Allah", he whispered, "Abu Sufyan is a proud man. He has
dignity and self-respect. Will you not be gracious to him and give him some
special token of esteem?" 1
At this the Prophet declared, "Whoever enters the house of Abu Sufyan
shall be safe." The face of Abu Sufyan lit up. He had been
especially honoured by Muhammad. The Prophet continued: "Whoever locks his door
shall be safe. Whoever remains in the
mosque
shall be safe."
Abu Sufyan now returned to Makkah where the people had gathered,
awaiting news of their fate. Abu Sufyan addressed the crowd: "O Quraish! Muhammad has come with power that you cannot match. Submit to him
and be safe. Whoever enters my house shall be safe." This led to an uproar
in the crowd. "And how many do you
think could fit into your house?" the people asked with sarcasm. Abu
Sufyan then added, "Whoever stays in
his house and locks his door shall be safe. Whoever remains in the mosque shall
be safe."
This appeased the crowd but could not appease his
wife, Hind. She sprang at him like a wild cat, slapped his face and caught him
by his moustaches. "Kill the fat old
fool!" she screamed at the crowd. "He
has turned away from us." Since Hind was no light-weight, the experience
must have been a painful one for Abu Sufyan. However, he managed to shake her
off and walked away to his house.'
The Muslims expected that there would be some opposition to their entry
into Makkah. They could not assume that it would be an entirely peaceful
operation although the Prophet hoped that blood would not be shed. With
hardened anti-Muslims like Ikrimah and Safwan you could never tell. The plan of
the Prophet was therefore designed to conquer Makkah as a military operation.
Makkah lies in the Valley of Ibrahim and is surrounded and dominated by
black, rugged hills which rise in places to over 1,000 feet above the valley
floor. The town was then approached over four routes, each one going through a
pass in the hills. These routes came in from the north-west (almost north), the
south-west, the south and the north-east. The Prophet divided his army into
four columns, one to advance on each route. The main column, which was
commanded by Abu Ubaidah and with which the Prophet travelled in person, would
enter Makkah along the main Madinah route, from the north-west, via Azakhir.
The second column, under Zubair, would enter from the south-west, through a
pass west of the Hill of Kuda. The third column, under Ali, would enter from
the south, via Kudai; and the fourth, under Khalid, would enter from the
north-east, via Lait and Khandama. (See Map 5 below)
The
advance consisted of convergent thrusts aimed at a single central objective
which would have the effect of chopping up the enemy into small portions and
also force dispersion on him, so that he would be unable to concentrate for
battle on any one axis of advance. Moreover, even if the enemy succeeded in
holding up the advance on some axes, the attackers would have other axes on
which to break through and thus enjoy better prospects of success. All
approaches were used to meet this requirement of military tactics. This was
also done to prevent the escape of the Quraish; but later, when vigilance had
been relaxed, some individuals did succeed in getting away.
2.
MISSING
REFERENCE What does it refer to?- The whole area covered by Map 5 is hilly, but
since the hills could not be accurately drawn without the aid of large scale
topographical maps, no hills are shown on the map-just the places and the
directions of the advancing columns.
4
The Prophet emphasised that there must be no fighting unless there was
armed resistance by the Quraish. He also ordered that there would be no killing
of the wounded, no pursuit of fugitives and no slaying of captives.
The entry into Makkah took place on January 11, 630 (the 20th of
Ramadan, 8 Hijri). It proved a peaceful and bloodless operation except in the
sector of Khalid. Ikrimah and Safwan had got together a band of dissidents from
the Quraish and other tribes and decided to make the Muslims fight for victory.
They met Khalid's column at Khandama, and this was a new and strange experience
for Khalid. The two enemy leaders who were now opposing him in battle had been
his dearest friends Ikrimah and Safwan; and the latter was also the husband of
Khalid's sister, Faktah. However, Islam cancelled all relationships and
friendships of the Ignorance, and no one who was not a Muslim could have a
claim on a Muslim for old time's sake.
The Quraish opened up with their bows and drew their swords; and this
was all that Khalid was waiting for. He charged the Quraish position, and after
a short and sharp clash, the Quraish were driven back. Twelve of the Quraish
were killed at a loss of only two Muslims. Ikrimah and Safwan fled from the
scene of the encounter.
When the Prophet came to know of this action and the number of infidels
killed, he was displeased with Khalid. He had wished to avoid bloodshed; and
knowing Khalid's violent nature he feared that Khalid may himself have brought
on a military engagement. Khalid was duly sent for and asked to account for his
action. His explanation, however, was accepted by the Prophet, who agreed that
Khalid had done the right thing. He had, after all, merely hit back. It was in
the nature of Khalid that whenever he struck, he struck very hard. There was no
moderation in the character of the man.
As soon as Makkah was occupied by the Muslims, the Prophet went to the
Kabah and circumambulated the House of Allah seven times. This was a great
moment in the life of Muhammad. It was more than seven years since he had fled
as a fugitive from Makkah with the Quraish at his heels, thirsting for his
blood. Muhammad was no longer the fugitive. He was no longer a voice crying in
the wilderness. Muhammad had returned, and he had returned as master with
Makkah at his feet. The Quraish trembled as they waited in the mosque, for they
knew the savage nature of Arab vengeance.
The Prophet turned and looked at the Quraish. There was a hushed silence
as the assembled populace gazed at him, wondering what their fate would be. "O
Quraish!" called the Prophet. "How should I treat you?"
"Kindly, O noble brother, and son of a noble
brother!" the crowd replied.
"Then
go! You are forgiven." 1
The Prophet now entered the Kabah and saw the idols arranged along its
walls-idols of all shapes and sizes. In and around the Kabah there were 360
idols carved of wood or hewn out of stone, including a statue of Ibrahim
holding divining arrows. The Prophet had a large stick in his hand, and he set
about smashing these idols to pieces. When the task was finished he felt as if
a great weight had been lifted off his shoulders. The Kabah had been cleansed
of the false gods; now only the true Allah would be worshipped in the House of
Allah. The Prophet's joyous cry (a Quranic verse) rose above the Kabah:
"Truth
has come and falsehood has vanished!" 2
The next few days were spent in consolidation and reorganisation. Most
of the people of Makkah accepted Islam and swore allegiance to the Messenger of
Allah.
Before his entry into Makkah, the Prophet had announced the names of 10
persons-six men and four women-who were to be killed at sight, even if they
took shelter within the Kabah. These 10 were what we would today call 'war
criminals'. They were either apostates or had taken part directly or indirectly
in the torture or betrayal of Muslims. At the head of the list was Ikrimah, and
Hind also was one of them.
1. Ibn Hisham: Vol. 2, p. 412.
2. Ibid. Vol. 2,
p. 417; Quran: 17:81.
5
When he withdrew from the engagement with Khalid, Ikrimah hid in the
town, and as the Muslims relaxed their vigilance, he slipped out and fled to
the Yemen with the intention of taking a boat to Abyssinia. Ikrimah's wife,
however, became a Muslim and pleaded her husband's case with the Prophet, who
agreed to spare his life. This woman travelled in haste to the Yemen, where she
found her husband and brought him back. On arrival at Makkah, Ikrimah went
straight to the Prophet and said, "I
am one who has erred and now repents.
Forgive!" 1 The
Prophet accepted his submission, and Ikrimah joined the brotherhood of Islam.
Safwan bin Umayyah, though not on the war criminals' list, feared for
his life and fled to Jeddah with the intention of crossing the Red Sea and
seeking refuge in Abyssinia. A friend of his, however, asked the Prophet to
spare his life and accept his submission. The Prophet had in any case no
intention of killing Safwan and let it be known that he would gladly accept the
return of Safwan. This friend then went to Jeddah and brought Safwan back. The
man submitted to the Prophet, but it was a personal and political submission.
As for Islam, he asked the Prophet to allow him two months in which to make up
his mind. The Prophet gave him four months.
Of the war criminals actually only three men and two women were killed.
The remainder were pardoned, including Hind, who became a Muslim.
Having destroyed the idols in the Kabah, the Prophet sent out small
expeditions to the neighbouring settlements where other idols were known to
exist in local temples. Khalid was sent to Nakhla to destroy Uzza, the most
important of the goddesses. He set out with 30 horsemen. 2
It appears that there were two Uzzas, the real Uzza and a fake. Khalid
first located the fake and destroyed it, then returned to the Prophet to report
completion of duty. "Did you
see anything unusual?" asked the
Prophet. "No." "Then you have not destroyed
Uzza", said the Prophet. "Go again."
Angry at the mistake that he had made, Khalid once again rode to Nakhla,
and this time he found the real Uzza. The custodian of the temple of Uzza had
fled for his life, but before forsaking his goddess he had hung a sword around
her neck in the hope that she might be able to defend herself. As Khalid
entered the temple, he was faced by a naked black woman who stood in his way
and wailed. Khalid did not stop to decide whether she was there to seduce him
or to protect the idol, but drew his sword and with one powerful stroke cut the
woman in two. He then smashed the idol, and returning to Makkah, gave the
Prophet an account of what he had seen and done. "Yes," said the
Prophet, "that was Uzza; and never again shall she be
worshipped in your land." 3
On or about January 20, 630 AH, after the destruction of the idols,
occurred the unfortunate incident of the Bani Jazima. The Prophet sent a number
of expeditions to the tribes living in the neighbourhood of Makkah to call them
to Islam, and instructed the commanders not to fight those who accepted the
call. Here again the Prophet's intention was to avoid bloodshed.
The expedition to the area of Tihama, south of Makkah, was commanded by
Khalid. It consisted of 350 horsemen from several tribal contingents, the
largest number being from the Bani Sulaim, and included a few Ansars and
Emigrants. The objective of this force was Yalamlam, about 50 miles from
Makkah. (See Map 4.)
When Khalid reached Al Ghumaisa, about 15 miles from Makkah on the way
to Yalamlam, he met the tribe of Bani Jazima. The tribesmen saw the Muslims and
took up their weapons, at the same time calling, "We have submitted. We have established prayers and built a mosque."
"Then why the weapons?" asked
Khalid.
"We have a feud with certain Arab tribes and
have to defend ourselves against them."
1. Waqidi: Maghazi, p. 332.
2.
There was
the Nakhla Valley, now known as Wadi?ul?Yamaniya, through which ran the main
route between Makkah and Taif; and there was the Nakhla, at which was the
goddess Uzza, and this lay north of the Wadi-ul-Yamaniya. It was about 4 or 5
miles south of the present Bir-ul-Batha.
3. Ibn Sad: p. 657.
6
"Lay down your arms!" ordered Khalid. "All the
people have become Muslims and there is no need for you to carry weapons."
One man from the Bani Jazima now shouted to his
comrades: "This is Khalid, son of Al
Waleed. Beware of him! After the laying
down of arms there will be a binding of hands, and after the binding of hands
there will be a severing of heads!" 1
There was an old feud between the clan of Khalid and the Bani Jazima. In
pre?Islamic days a small Quraish caravan was returning from the Yemen when it
was set upon by the Bani Jazima, who looted the caravan and killed two
important individuals-Auf, father of
Abdur-Rahman bin Auf, and Fakiha,
son of Al Mugheerah, an uncle of Khalid. Abdur-Rahman had later killed the
murderer of his father and thus avenged his father's blood, but the death of
Fakiha had not been avenged. All this, however, happened during the Ignorance.
The
people of the Bani Jazima now began to dispute with the man who was warning
them against Khalid. "Do you want to
have us slaughtered?" they asked him. "All the tribes have
laid down their arms and have become Muslims. The war is over." 2 After a brief argument the tribe laid down its arms.
The cause
of what happened next is not clear. Perhaps Khalid reverted momentarily to the
tribal vindictiveness of the Ignorance. (He had been a Muslim for only a few
months.) On the other hand, perhaps there was an excess of Islamic zeal in the
heart of Khalid and he doubted the truth of the declaration of faith by the
tribe. As the tribesmen laid down their arms, Khalid ordered his men to tie
their hands behind them. He then ordered that all the captives be put to the
sword. Luckily only the Bani Sulaim obeyed the order and killed the captives in
their hands, whose number is not known. Other tribal contingents refused to
carry out the order. There was a strong protest from Abdullah, son of Umar, and
Abu Qatadah, but Khalid rejected the protest. Abu Qatadah immediately rode to
Makkah and informed the Prophet of what Khalid had done.
The Prophet was horrified. He raised his hands towards heaven and
exclaimed: "O Lord! I am not responsible for what Khalid has
done." 3 He then sent Ali with a good deal of money to soothe the
feelings of the Bani Jazima and pay indemnity for the blood that had been shed.
Ali carried out the mission with generosity and did not return until the tribe
was fully satisfied.
Khalid was now sent for by the Prophet who demanded
an explanation for what he had done. Khalid said that he did not believe that
they really were Muslims, that he had the impression that they were deceiving
him, and that he believed that he was killing in the way of Allah.
Present with the Prophet was Abdur-Rahman bin Auf. When he heard the
explanation of Khalid, he said, "You
have committed an act of Ignorance in the days of Islam."
Khalid now thought that he saw a way out of this delicate predicament,
and he replied, "But I took revenge
for the killing of your father." "You lie!" snapped
Abdur-Rahman. "I killed the murderer
of my father a long time ago and vindicated the honour of my family. You
ordered the slaughter of the Bani Jazima in revenge for the death of your
uncle, Fakiha."
This led
to a heated argument between the two. And this was a mistake on the part of
Khalid, for Abdur-Rahman was one of the Blessed Ten and thus had a position
which few could challenge. Before the argument could get out of hand, however,
the Prophet intervened and said sternly, "Leave my Companions alone, O Khalid!
If you possessed
a
mountain of gold and spent it in the way of Allah, you would not achieve the
status of my Companions." 4 He was referring, of course, to his early Companions, for Khalid too
was a Companion.
Thus was Khalid put in his place. He was pardoned; but he learnt the
important lesson that he, as a later convert, did not have the same status as
the early Companions, especially the Blessed Ten. He was to keep this lesson in
mind on many future occasions.
2. Ibid
3. Ibid
4. Ibn Sad: Vol. 2, p. 431.
Chapter 8
1
"Assuredly Allah did help you in many
battlefields, and on the Day of Hunayn:
behold! Your great numbers elated you, but they
availed you nothing. The land, for all that it is wide, did constrain you, and
you turned back in retreat.
But Allah did pour His calm on the Messenger and on
the Believers, and sent down forces which you saw not, and He punished the
Unbelievers: Thus does He reward those without Faith. Again will Allah, after
this, turn in mercy to whom He will, for Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most
Merciful."
[Quran 9:
25-27]
Hardly had the people of Makkah sworn allegiance to the Prophet and life
returned to normal in the town, when hostile winds began to blow from the east.
The powerful tribes of the Hawazin and the Thaqeef were on the war-path.
The Hawazin lived in the region north-east of Makkah and the Thaqeef in
the area of Taif. They were neighbouring tribes, who now feared that the
Muslims, having conquered Makkah, would attack and catch them dispersed in
their tribal settlements. To avoid being taken at a disadvantage, they decided
to mount an offensive themselves, hoping to benefit from their initiative. The
two tribes concentrated at Autas, near Hunain, where they were joined by
contingents from several other tribes. This again was a coalition like the one
which had assembled for the Battle of the Ditch. The total strength of the
assembled tribes was 12,000 men, and the over-all commander was the fiery,
30-year-old Malik bin Auf. This young general decided to make his men fight in
a situation of such serious danger that they would fight with the courage of
desperation. He ordered the families and the flocks of the tribes to join the
men.
Another leader in the coalition was the venerable Duraid bin As-Simma.
Hoary with age, this man had lost the strength and vitality to lead men in
battle, but he was a sage with a clear mind who accompanied his men wherever
they marched; and since he was an experienced veteran, his advice on matters of
war was widely sought. His military wisdom was unchallenged.
At Autas the aged Duraid heard the noises which usually, arise wherever
families and animals are gathered. He sent for young Malik and asked, "Why do I hear the call of camels, the braying of donkeys, the bleating
of goats, the shouting of women and the crying of children?" Malik
replied, "I have ordered the
families and the flocks to muster with the army. Every man, will fight with his
family and his property behind him and thus fight with greater courage."
"Men
fight with swords and spears, not with women and children", said Duraid. "Put the
families and the flocks at a safe distance from the field of battle. If we win,
they can join us. If we lose, at least they shall be safe."
Malik took this as a challenge to his judgement and his, ability to
command the army. "I shall not send them away", he
bristled. "You have grown senile and
your brain is weak." At this Duraid withdrew from the argument and
decided to let Malik have his way. Malik then returned to his officers and,
said, "When you attack, attack as
one man. As our attack begins, let
all scabbards be broken." 1 This
breaking of scabbards was practised by
the Arabs to signify an attitude of suicidal desperation.
As it happened only the Hawazin
brought their families and their flocks to the camp.
Other tribes did not do so.
The
Prophet did not want any more bloodshed, but had, no choice except to set out
to face this new enemy. He had no intention of waiting for another coalition to
form against him and attack him as had happened three years before at the
Battle of the Ditch. Moreover, if he waited on the defensive in Makkah and the
enemy remained poised at Autas, the situation would lead to a stalemate which
could last for months; and the Prophet could not afford to waste all that time.
He had to attend to organisational matters and set about the conversion of the
tribes of Arabia while the psychological impact of the fall of Makkah was still
fresh in the minds of the Arabs. With a large hostile concentration at Autas,
he would not be able to carry out these tasks. In any case, a strong enemy
challenge to his authority at this stage would reduce the impact the Muslim
conquest of Makkah had made on the Arab mind. This challenge had to be met.
This opposition had to be crushed. The Prophet's decision to advance from
Makkah created the unusual situation of both sides moving forward to fight an
offensive battle.
On January 27, 630 (the 6th of Shawal, 8 Hijri), the Muslims set out
from Makkah. The army consisted of the original 10,000 men who had conquered
Makkah plus 2,000 new converts from among the Makkans. These new Muslims were
of doubtful value as Islam had not really entered their hearts; they had come
because they supposed that this was the right thing to do. Among them were Abu
Sufyan and Safwan bin Umayyah. The latter had been given four months in which
to make up his mind about the new faith, but was now favourably inclined
towards the Prophet and had gone so far as to lend the Muslims 100 coats of
mail for the forthcoming battle.
1. Ibn Hisham: Vol. 2, pp. 438-9.
2
The Muslim advance from Makkah was led by a
contingent of 700 men from the Bani Sulaim, operating under the command of
Khalid. During the evening of January 31, the Muslims arrived in the Valley of
Hunain and established their camp.
Hunain is a valley running from Shara'i-ul-Mujahid (new), which is 11
miles east-north-east of Makkah, to Shara'i Nakhla (old) which is 7 miles
further east. The valley continues eastwards for another 7 miles and then turns
north towards Zaima. (None of these places were then in existence.) Between the
Shara'i's the valley is quite wide, about 2 miles in most places, but beyond
the old Shara'i it narrows down to between a quarter and a half-mile, and as it
approaches Zaima it gets narrower still. It is this second portion of the
Hunain Valley which is a defile, and the defile is narrowest near Zaima. Beyond
Zaima the Taif route winds into the Wadi Nakhlat-ul-Yamaniya. (See Map 6.)
While the Muslims were moving towards Hunain, each side had sent out
agents to get information about the other side. Both sides were well informed
of opposing strengths,
locations and movements. An agent sent by the Prophet mixed with the
Hawazin at Autas, got to know the exact strength of the coalition and slipped
out unseen to give this information to the Prophet. When he gave his report,
Umar was also present, and for some reason did not believe the intelligence
conveyed by the agent. He called the agent a liar, whereupon the agent replied,
"If you call me a liar, you call the
truth falsehood. And you had called a
liar one who is better than me." The man was alluding to the time when Umar, before his conversion, was a
violent enemy of the Prophet.
Umar suddenly turned to the Prophet and said, "Did you hear that?" "Steady, O Umar!" replied
the Prophet. "You were once misguided, and Allah showed you the way."
1
Umar said no more.
As the Muslims arrived at their new camp in the Hunain Valley, news of
their arrival was conveyed to Malik bin Auf by his agents. He guessed that the
Muslims would know that his army was at Autas, and would expect to fight him at
or near Autas. And he put into effect his plan to outwit the Muslims.
Before
dawn on February 1, 630 (the 11th of Shawal, 8 Hijri) the Muslims formed up in
marching order to advance to Autas where they expected to engage the enemy. It
was their intention to get through the defile of Hunain before the enemy came
to know of their movement. The advance guard again consisted of the Bani Sulaim
under Khalid, and behind it marched various Muslim units, including the group
of 2,000 Makkans. The camp was left standing as the base of the operation.
As the first glow of dawn appeared in the eastern sky, the advance guard
entered the defile (about 2 miles short of Zaima.) Eagerly anticipating a
lively battle with a surprised enemy at Autas, Khalid increased his pace. And
then the storm broke!
Khalid was the first to receive the shock of the ambush. The quiet of
the dawn was shattered by a thousand piercing yells, and the arrows came not in
tens or twenties but in hundreds. They came like hailstones, whistling and
hissing, striking horse and man. The Bani Sulaim did not stop to act against
the enemy. They did not stop to think or take cover. They turned as one man and
bolted. Khalid's shouts to his men to stand fast were lost in the noise and
confusion. He himself was badly wounded and was carried away with the tide of
fleeing men and horses; but after riding a short distance he fell off his horse
and lay still, unable to move because of his wounds.
As the Bani Sulaim turned in panic and fled, they ran into other units
which occupied the narrow track, who now became aware that something terrible
had happened. The half-hearted Makkans turned and joined the flight, followed
by several other Muslim units. Some of the Muslims fled to the camp, but the
majority of them merely dispersed and took cover some distance behind the scene
of the ambush on the other side of the track. No one knew quite what happened.
The confusion increased as camel mounted camel and horses and men ran into each
other in a blind urge to get away.
1. Ibn Hisham: Vol.2, p. 440.
3
Malik bin Auf had surprised his would-be
surprisers. During the night he had moved his army into the defile of Hunain
which allowed no room for manoeuvre. His men moved into position on both sides
of the track and hid behind boulders and in broken ground
which afforded excellent cover. In front were the Hawazin, with a few
groups of Thaqeef. Then came the Thaqeef and behind them were other tribal
contingents. Malik had devised a masterly plan. He had delayed his move till
after dusk, so that the Muslims would continue to believe that his army was at
Autas, and then placed it in ambush in the defile of Hunain with the intention
of annihilating the Muslims or driving them back in panic to Makkah and beyond.
Behind the site of the ambush was a narrow pass 1 to which Malik could
withdraw in case the battle did not go according to his plan. As long as this
pass was secure, the Muslims would not be able to advance to Autas, Malik's
base.
Most of the new Meccan converts were delighted at this setback to the
Muslims. Abu Sufyan remarked, "This
retreat will not stop until they get to the sea!" Present with Safwan
bin Umayyah was his half-brother, who said, "Now
the sorcery of Muhammad will be
exposed." "Silence!" Safwan snapped at him. "May Allah break your mouth! I would
rather see a man of the Quraish ruling over us than a man of the Hawazin!"
2
The Prophet was left standing on the track with nine of his Companions,
including Ali, Abu Bakr, Umar, and Abbas. As the Muslims ran past, he shouted
to them, "O Muslims! I am here! I, the Messenger of Allah! I,
Muhammad, son of Abdullah!" 3 But his cries were of no avail. The
leading elements of the Hawazin got to the place where the Prophet stood, and
here Ali brought down the first infidel to fall at Hunain-a man mounted on a
red camel, carrying a long lance at the end of which flew a black pennant. This
man was chasing the Muslims as they fled. Ali pursued the man, along with a
fellow Muslim, and catching up with him cut the tendons of the camel's hind
legs with his sword. The infidel fell with the camel, and the other Muslim cut
off his head.
The Prophet now moved towards the right with his group and took shelter
on a rocky spur. A few men of the Thaqeef came towards the Prophet's group, but
were driven back by the Companions.
Malik bin Auf had done to the Muslims what no one had ever done before.
For the Muslims this was the first, and bitter, experience of being ambushed,
and many of them lost their heads and fled from the scene of action. In such a
situation, however, the bravest are wont to panic.
Malik had struck brilliantly; but unfortunately for him, his men had not
performed as expertly as he had hoped. They had not waited until the main body
of the Muslims had entered the trap, but had opened up when just the advance
guard was in their field of fire. And Malik now made the mistake of being
satisfied with what he had achieved so far; beyond advancing a few hundred
yards he made no attempt to pursue the Muslims. If he had done so, the story of
this battle might have read differently. Moreover, the archery of the Hawazin
was extremely poor. While several Muslims and their mounts were wounded, none
were killed in the ambush.
The Holy Prophet surveyed the scene before him, and the scene was
anything but promising. He decided not to let Malik get away with such an easy
victory. He turned to Abbas and ordered him to call the Muslims to rally around
him. Abbas was a large man with a powerful voice which, according to some
accounts, could be heard miles away. Now he yelled at the top of his voice: "O Muslims! Come to the Messenger of
Allah! O Ansar…O Companions…O …"
He called each tribe in turn to report to the Prophet.
The call was heard by most of the Muslims and they at once began to move
to where the Prophet stood. As soon as the first 100 men had gathered beside
the Prophet, he ordered a
counter?attack. These men
assailed those of the Hawazin who were nearest to the Prophet and drove them
back. Soon the assembling Muslims increased in number until thousands of them
had rejoined the Prophet. When the Prophet felt that sufficient strength had
been gathered around him, he ordered a general attack against the Hawazin.
1. I have not been able to place this pass. It was
probably at or near Zaima.
2. Ibn Hisham: Vol.2 pp. 443-5.
3. Ibid
4
This time it was Malik who was surprised. Having been certain that
victory was his, he now found that his own army was under attack. The
hand-to-hand fighting became more desperate, and this is just what the Muslims
wanted, for in this sort of violent fighting their superiority in swordsmanship
put the odds in their favour. In close-quarter battle the Muslims had no equal.
Gradually the Hawazin were pressed back and as the Prophet saw their men fall
before the onslaught of the Muslims, he affirmed
"In
truth, I am the Prophet,
I the son
of Abdul Muttalib."
He then turned to those who stood next to him and remarked, "Now
the oven heats up!" 1
Malik decided that he was getting the worst of the fighting and put his
withdrawal plan in action. The Thaqeef were already in position a short
distance behind the Hawazin. Leaving the Thaqeef to act as a rearguard, he
pulled the Hawazin back to safety. The Muslims moved forward and made contact
with the Thaqeef, who now began to receive heavy punishment from the Believers.
Soon after this contact, the Thaqeef turned and took to their heels, followed
by other tribal contingents, some of which had taken no part in the fighting.
In the mean time Malik had got the Hawazin safely to the pass, and here he
deployed them to fight a defensive battle while waiting for stragglers to catch
up. As long as he held this pass, the families and the flocks of the Hawazin
were safe.
The Muslims had not only recovered from the shock of the ambush but had
counter-attacked, regained their position and driven the enemy from the
battlefield. This was a tactical victory, but more was to come.
While the Muslims were stripping the Thaqeef dead of their weapons and clothing,
an interesting incident involving two Muslims took place. One was an Ansar from
Madinah and the other a man by the name of Mugheerah bin Shu'ba, who belonged
to the tribe of Thaqeef. Among the Thaqeef dead was a Christian slave who had
died beside his master. As the Ansar stripped this slave, he noticed that the
dead man was not circumcised. Amazed at this discovery, for circumcision was a
universal practice among the Arabs, he called aloud to those who stood around
him: "O Arabs! Did you know that the
Thaqeef are not circumcised?" Mugheerah,
who stood next to the Ansar, was horrified to hear this, as the spread of such a report would mean disgrace for the
Thaqeef. He knew the dead slave and could understand how the misunderstanding
had arisen. "Don't say that!"
he hissed at the Ansar. "This man
was a Christian slave."
"No, he was not", insisted the Ansar. "I am
sure that he is one of the Thaqeef." And he remained unconvinced until Mugheerah had undressed several bodies
of the Thaqeef and pointed out familiar signs! 2
The Muslim army having fully re-assembled, except for a few who had
fled, the Prophet decided to press his advantage. He organised a strong cavalry
group and sent it forward to clear the valley before the Hawazin had time to
recover and reorganise. This group was formed of several contingents, including
the Bani Sulaim, over whom Khalid had regained control. Khalid had missed the
Muslim counter-attack. He had lain where he fell in the flight of the Bani
Sulaim until the counter-attack was over. Then the Holy Prophet came to him and
blew upon his wounds, whereupon Khalid arose, feeling strengthened and fit for
battle again. 3 He quickly got the Bani Sulaim together.
The entire group was placed under command of Zubair bin Al Awwam, who now
advanced along the valley and contacted Malik at the pass. After a short, brisk
engagement, Malik was driven off the pass. The whole valley was now in Muslim
hands. The Prophet left Zubair's mounted group at the pass, to hold it as a
firm base and guard it against a possible return of the Hawazin, and sent
another group under Abu Amir to Autas. This was the camp of the Hawazin, who on
being driven off the pass had taken up positions around the camp to defend
their families and flocks. On the arrival of the Muslims, a fierce clash took
place at Autas. Abu Amir killed nine men in personal combat and was killed by
his tenth adversary, whereupon the command of the Muslim group was taken over
by his cousin, Abu Musa, who continued the attack on Autas until the Hawazin
broke and fled. The camp of the Hawazin fell into Muslim hands, and here this
Muslim group was joined by the cavalry group of Zubair, with Khalid in the
lead.
1. Ibn Sad: p. 665.
2. Ibn Hisham: Vol. 2, p. 450.
3. Isfahani: Vol. 15, p. 11.
5
The enemy coalition had now completely disintegrated. The Hawazin and
other tribes dispersed to their various settlements while the Thaqeef, led by
Malik, hastened to Taif where they decided to resist till the bitter end. The
Battle of Hunain was over. Muslim casualties in this battle were surprisingly
few, thanks to the indifferent archery of the Hawazin. While many Muslims had
been wounded, only four lost their lives. The reason for this lay in the
superior skill and courage of the Muslims, which enabled their champions to
take on three or four opponents at a time, killing them one by one. Seventy of
the unbelievers were killed in the valley, at the pass and at Autas, and these
included the sage, Duraid, who had given such sound advice but in vain. In the
enemy camp at Autas, the Muslims captured 6,000 women, children and slaves and
thousands of camels, goats and sheep. 1
This was the first time that the Muslims had been ambushed in a
large?scale operation by their enemies. This was the second instance in history
of the ambush of an entire army by an entire army (the first being the ambush
of the Romans by Hannibal at Lake Trasimene in 217 B.C.). Malik had made a
brilliant and flawless plan to annihilate the Muslims, but because of the poor
performance of his men could not achieve the mission that he had set himself.
In spite of this poor performance, however, he would have won a resounding
victory had his enemy not been the Muslims. It was the determination of the
Prophet not to accept defeat, and the faith of the Muslims in their leader,
which turned defeat into victory for them. Unlike Malik, the Prophet was not
content with a limited gain and pressed his advantage to rout the enemy and
capture the entire enemy camp with all its booty.
This was the first time that Khalid had been taken by surprise. He had
always known the value of surprise, but this time he had been at the receiving
end of it. He saw how his otherwise brave men had panicked at the sudden
appearance of the enemy at an unexpected time and an unexpected place. He made
up his mind never again to be caught unawares. And he never was.
1.
No one
today knows the location of Autas, but it must have been in the valley proper,
as a camp with 6,000 people (excluding soldiers) and thousands of camels, goats
and sheep could not be established on a hillside or in some little wadi. I have
placed it a little beyond Zaima, but it could have been elsewhere.
Chapter 9
1
It was said, “O Messenger of
Allah! Pray to Allah against the tribe of Thaqif [of Ta’if].” He said, “O Allah!
Guide Thaqif, and bring them (to us).”1
The Prophet had routed the enemy at Hunain and driven him from Autas. He
now decided to give Malik bin Auf no time to recover his breath and organise
further resistance. Consequently, he sent the captives and the flocks taken at
Autas with an escort to Jirana, to be kept under guard until the return of the
army, and the very next day he set out for Taif, where major resistance was to
be encountered. But he moved cautiously, for after the unpleasant experience of
the ambush at Hunain, he had no intention of letting the army walk into another
trap. The country now was hilly, consisting of steep ridges rising up to the
plateau on which stood Taif; and in this terrain a wily commander like Malik
could lay an ambush almost anywhere.
Leaving Autas, the Prophet marched through the Nakhla Valley and then
turned south into the Wadi-ul-Muleih. From this valley he crossed into the
Wadi-ul-Qarn, and following this wadi,
reached the plateau 7 miles north-west of Taif. So far the Muslims had
encountered no opposition and scouts had reported no sign of the Thaqeef
outside Taif; but hoping to surprise Malik, the Prophet shifted his axis.
Cutting across the difficult terrain north of Taif, he got to the less hilly region
lying east of the town, between Nikhb and Sadaira. 2 From here he marched to
Taif, coming in from the rear. Throughout this march, Khalid again led the army
with the Bani Sulaim as advance guard. (See Map 6 below)
But Malik bin Auf, in spite of his lack of years, was not a man to be
caught unawares. Having suffered grievously in his clash with the Muslims at
Hunain and Autas, he was determined not to accept battle with the Muslims again
in the open: he would fight them on his own terms. Consequently, he kept his
army within the walled city of Taif and speedily stocked it with sufficient
provisions to withstand a long siege. Here the Thaqeef, under their brave young
general, awaited the arrival of the Muslims.
The Muslims got to Taif on February 5, 630 (the 15th of Shawal, 8
Hijri), and started a siege which was to last 18 days. On arrival at Taif, the
camp was set up too close to the wall of the town and this mistake was punished
by the Thaqeef archers, who showered the camp with arrows. A few Muslims were
killed before the camp was moved away and established in the area where the
mosque of Ibn Abbas stands today. Groups of Muslims were now deployed around
the fort to prevent entry and escape; and Abu Bakr was made responsible for the
siege operations.
Most of
the time, fighting between the two armies consisted of exchanges of archery.
The Muslims would close up to the town and try to pick off the Thaqeef archers
on the wall, but the Thaqeef had the odds in their favour as they had some
cover in the open. So the Muslims got the worst of these engagements and many
of them were wounded, including Abdullah, son of Abu Bakr, who later died of
his wounds.
Thus some days passed. After the fall of Makkah, the Prophet had sent
two Muslims to Jurash, in the Yemen, to learn all about siege warfare. These
two men did not, however, return till after the Siege of Taif and thus could
play no part in the siege. But Salman the Persian again came to the help of the
Muslims as he had done in the Battle of the Ditch. As a Persian he knew
something about more sophisticated forms of warfare. Under his instructions,
the Muslims constructed a catapult and used it to hurl stones into the town;
but the Muslims were amateurs at this business and the catapult produced no
significant effect.
Salman next decided to use a testudo. (A testudo was a large shield,
usually made of wood or leather, under which a group of assailants could
advance to the gate of the fort, safe from enemy missiles, and either crash
through the gate with a battering ram or set
fire to it.) Under the instructions of Salman, the Muslims constructed a
testudo of cowhide, and a group of them advanced under its protection to set
fire to the wooden gate of Taif. As they got to the gate, however, Malik and
his men poured red-hot scraps of iron onto the testudo. These pieces burnt the
testudo and terrified those under it, so that they hurriedly dropped the
unfamiliar equipment and ran back. As they ran, the Thaqeef fired a volley of
arrows at them and killed one of them.
1.
Mukhtasar
Sirat Al-Rasul sall-Allahu 'alayhi wa sallam, of Sheikh Muhammad bin Abdul
Wahhab.
2.
The
Wadi-ul-Muleih runs between the present Taif Airport and Seil-ul-Kabeer. The
Wadi-ul-Qarn, in its upper reaches, crosses the present Taif-Makkah Highway 7
miles from Taif. Sadaira is 25 miles east of Taif on the Turaba road, and Nikhb
lies just 3 miles east-south-east of Taif. The Wadi-un-Nikhb was known in
ancient times, according to local tradition, as the Wadi-un-Naml-the Valley of
Ants-through which Solomon marched towards the Yemen for his encounter with the
Queen of Sheba. The story of Solomon is narrated in the Quran (27: 16-44).
2
Two weeks passed and the end was not in sight. The Thaqeef would not
come out to fight; the Muslims could not get in to fight. Every time they
approached the town they were driven back with, arrows. One day Abu Sufyan also
took part in a sally towards the town and stopped an arrow with his eye. He
lived thereafter as a one-eyed man. 1
February can be very cold in the region of Taif, and the weather during
the siege was unpleasant. The Muslims tried to force the Thaqeef out to give
battle by destroying some vineyards near Taif; but the Thaqeef refused to leave
the security of their fort. Malik was much too clever a general to risk a
battle under conditions which would favour his opponent. Finally the Holy
Prophet called a council of war and sought the advice of his officers. One of
them said, "When you corner a fox in
its hole, if you stay long enough you
catch the fox. But if you leave the fox in its hole it does you no harm." 2 Abu Bakr advised a return to Makkah, and Umar concurred with him.
The Prophet could not wait indefinitely for the fall of Taif as he had
more important matters to attend to. He proposed that the siege be raised and
the army return to Makkah; but some Muslim hot-heads protested against this and
insisted that they fight on until victory was gained. "Then you can attack
tomorrow." 3 said the Prophet.
The next day a few of these battle-hungry Muslims again approached the
fort with a view to capturing it, but were severely punished by the Thaqeef
archers. They returned in a more philosophical mood and agreed with the Prophet
that it might be best to leave the fox in its hole.
On February 23, 630 (the 4th of Dhul Qad, 8 Hijri) the siege was raised.
The Muslims had lost 12 men and a large number had been wounded. The Thaqeef
remained defiant. Ten months later, however, this tribe was to accept Islam and
prove staunch in its faith.
The Muslims arrived at Jirana on February 26, and here the Prophet
distributed the spoils taken at Autas. To show the newly converted Makkans that
there was no discrimination against them for having delayed their acceptance of
the new faith, the Prophet also gave them a share of the spoils. But hardly had
the women, children and animals been distributed among the Muslims, when a
delegation of the Hawazin came to the Prophet
and declared that the tribe had accepted Islam. "Will you not return to us what you captured from us in battle?" the delegates pleaded. Actually
they had no right to demand a return
of what they had lost, because they had lost it as infidels and not as Muslims;
but the Prophet was generous. "Are your women and children dearer to
you or your property?" he asked them. "Return to us our women and children and you can keep the rest", they replied. 4
The Prophet now appealed to his army to return the women and children of
the Hawazin. Every soldier responded to the Prophet's appeal and returned the
captives in his hands, with the exception of Safwan bin Umayyah, who refused to
part with a girl who had been given to him as his share of the spoils. She must
have been very beautiful!
A few days later Malik slipped out of Taif and came to the Muslim camp.
He became a Muslim and was amply rewarded by the Prophet. It is a pity that
this brilliant young soldier was given no important role in later Muslim
campaigns, for he had the makings of a superb general.
The Holy Prophet and the army of Islam now returned to Madinah, arriving
there in the latter part of March 630. Thus ended the eighth year of the Hijra.
The year that followed was to become known as the Year of Delegations, for
during this year most of the tribes of Arabia sent delegations to Madinah and
submitted to the Prophet. Not all the delegates, or the tribal chiefs who sent
them, were motivated by a desire for the true religion, as we shall see later.
While some were sincere seekers of the truth, others came for political
reasons. Some came out of sheer curiosity, and a few were downright scoundrels.
1. According to some sources, Abu Sufyan lost his eye
at Yarmuk and not at Taif.
2. Ibn Sad: p. 675.
3. Ibid
4. Ibn Hisham: Vol. 2, p. 489.
Chapter 10
1
"… And you see the people enter Allah's Religion
in crowds, then celebrate the Praises of your Lord, and pray for forgiveness
from Him: for He is Oft-Returning (in Grace and Mercy)."
[Quran 110:2-3]
In the ninth year of the Hijra only one major operation was carried out
by the Muslims-the expedition to Tabuk, led by the Holy Prophet in person. It
turned out to be a peaceful operation; but no matter how peacefully other
people went about their tasks, Khalid always managed to find adventure and
violence.
During the long, hot summer of 630, reports arrived
at Madinah that the Romans had concentrated large forces in Syria, and had
pushed their forward elements into Jordan. Heraclius, the Byzantine Emperor,
was himself in Emessa.
In the middle of October 630, the Prophet ordered the Muslims to prepare
for battle with the Romans. The purpose of the expedition was not just to fight
the Romans, for that could have been done later when the weather had improved.
The Prophet also wanted to put the faith of the Muslims to test by making them
march out in the fierce heat of summer. Under these conditions only true
Believers would respond.
And the true Believers did. The vast majority of the Muslims answered
the call cheerfully and began preparations for the expedition; but some did
take unkindly to the call to arms. The October of this year was an unusually
hot month, and the cool shade of the date orchards proved too tempting for
these Muslims. Men wanted nothing more than to rest in the shade until the
worst of the heat was over. The Hypocrites, as usual, went about dissuading the
Muslims from joining the expedition and gave trouble enough; but on this
occasion even a few proven Muslims faltered.
In late October 630 (mid-Rajab, 9 Hijri) the Muslims set out for Tabuk.
This was the largest army that had ever assembled under the standard of the
Prophet. It consisted of men from Madinah, from Makkah and from most of the
tribes which had accepted Islam. One source had placed the strength of this
army at 30,000 warriors, including 10,000 cavalry, but this is probably an
exaggeration.
On arrival at Tabuk the Muslims came to know that the Roman elements in
Jordan had withdrawn to Damascus. There was no need to go further. But the
Prophet decided to subdue the tribes living in this region and bring them under
the political control of Islam. The important places in the region were Eila
(near the present-day Aqaba), Jarba, Azruh and Maqna-all lying along the Gulf
of Aqaba. (See Maps 1 or 2 at end of book.) Pacts were made with these
tribes and they all agreed to pay the Jizya.
1
One important region which the Prophet wished to subdue was a little
farther away from Tabuk. This was Daumat-ul-Jandal (the present-day Al Jauf),
ruled by Ukaidar bin Abdul Malik, a Christian prince from the tribe of Kinda
who was famous for his love of hunting. To subdue this region, the Prophet sent
Khalid with 400 horsemen and instructions to capture Ukaidar. "You
will probably find him hunting the wild bull", said the Prophet. 2
Khalid arrived at the walled town of
Daumat-ul-Jandal on a bright, moonlit night in late November, 630 (mid?Shaban,
9 Hijri). Hardly had he deployed his force near the town when the gates opened
and out came Ukaidar with a few friends mounted on horses and armed with
hunting weapons. Perhaps owing to the heat of the day Ukaidar had decided to
hunt in the cool of the night, and the bright moonlight promised good hunting.
Khalid took a few of his men and rushed at the hunting party. While
Khalid himself pounced on Ukaidar and brought him-down from his horse, his men
assailed the other members of the party. Ukaidar's brother, Hassaan, resisted
capture and was killed; but the rest galloped back to the fort and, once
inside, locked the gate.
Khalid now returned to Tabuk with his distinguished prisoner. Ukaidar
entered into a pact with the Prophet, paid a heavy ransom for himself and
agreed to the Jizya.
1.
A tax
levied on non-Muslims. In return they were exempt from military service and
their safety was guaranteed by the Muslim State.
2. Ibn Hisham: Vol. 2, p. 526.
2
Soon after this incident the Muslim army left Tabuk to return to
Madinah. It arrived home in the middle of December 630, by which time the
weather had become very pleasant.
After Tabuk there was no major military activity during the lifetime of
the Prophet. Delegations came from all the tribes of Arabia, swore allegiance
to the Prophet, accepted Islam and agreed to pay certain taxes. For each tribe
the Prophet appointed a leader from
the converted members of the tribe. The Prophet thus remained busy with
affairs of state, consolidating the gains of Islam and raising the edifice of
the new state. Several small expeditions were sent by him to various places in
Arabia. The mission given to them was to call the tribes to accept Islam, but
in case of armed opposition the tribe concerned was to be fought and subdued.
In July
631 (Rabi-ul-Akhir, 10 Hijri), the Prophet sent a military expedition under the
command
of Khalid to the tribe of Bani Harithah bin Kab in Najran, which lies to the
north of
the Yemen. The instructions to Khalid were: "Call the tribe thrice to accept
Islam. If they respond
favourably, do them no harm. If they refuse, fight them." 1 With
Khalid went 400 mounted warriors.
Khalid arrived at Najran and made contact with the Bani Harithah bin
Kab. He called upon them to submit to Islam, and they accepted his call. No
blood was shed. Khalid remained with the tribe for several months, teaching
them the ways of Islam; and when he was satisfied that they had become good
Muslims, he wrote to the Prophet and informed him of the progress of his
mission. The Prophet sent Khalid an appreciative letter in reply and instructed
him to return to Madinah and bring a delegation of the Bani Harithah bin Kab
with him. Khalid returned with the delegation in January 632 (Shawal, 10
Hijri). The Prophet received the delegation with the usual courtesy shown to
all delegations. The terms of submission were explained to the delegates, a
leader was appointed for the tribe and the delegation then returned to Najran.
This was
the last mission carried out by Khalid in the time of the Prophet.
1. Ibn Hisham: Vol. 2, p. 592.
2.
For
opinions regarding other missions supposed to have been carried out by Khalid,
see Note 2 in Appendix B.
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