16. The Battle of Mu’tah
16.1 Rasūlullāhﷺ Appoints Army of Three Thousand Strong
Rasūlullāhﷺ appointed an army of 3000 strong to attack the lands of the Romans in Ash-Shām, and this was to be the first encounter between the Muslims and the Romans and also the first encounter between Muslims and Christians. There was something unique this time in the appointment of the Umarā’ of this army – the leaders of this army. Usually the case was that Rasūlullāhﷺ would appoint one Amīr for the army and that was it, [but] this time it was different, Rasūlullāhﷺ said, “The Amīr is Zayd Ibn Hārithah. Fa’in Usīb – If he is killed, then Ja’far Ibn Abī Tālib. Fa’in Usīb –If he is killed, then ‘Abdullāh Ibn Rawāhah.” So Allāhu A’lam, it could have been that the risk and the danger of this encounter demanded that Rasūlullāh ﷺ take the additional step of appointing two Umarā’ as backup for the first, or it could be that Rasūlullāh knew beforehand that they would be killed, Allāhu A’lam, but we do not find anywhere else in the Seerah of Rasūlullāhﷺ that Rasūlullāhﷺ appointed backup Umarā’ in case the first is killed, so this is something unique with what we refer to as the Ghazwah of Mu’tah. There is something else that is unique with Ghazwat Mu’tah; this is the only time in Seerah where an army that is not led by Rasūlullāhﷺ is called Ghazwah. Usually a Ghazwah is an army in which Rasūlullāhﷺ participates and a Sariyyah is an army in which Rasūlullāhﷺ does not participate; that is how it is in the books of Seerah. So whenever you see a Ghazwah, know that Rasūlullāh was there, and whenever you see the title Sariyyah – Dispatch, know that Rasūlullāhﷺ was not there. With Mu’tah, it is called Ghazwah in all the books of Seerah – that is what Al-Bukhārī calls it, that is what Ibn Hishām calls it, Ibn Is’hāq, Al-Wāqidī – they all agreed on calling this a Ghazwah even though Rasūlullāhﷺ was not there. So why? What is the reason? Some scholars said because of its huge importance it was given this honourary title of being Ghazwah even though Rasūlullāhﷺ was not there. And this is the largest of all Sarāyā, because Sarāyā, like we have seen in the past, were small in number; a few hundred maximum, [and] sometimes a Sariyyah would be as small as four or five, but here we have 3000.
‘Abdullāh Ibn Rawāhah Reprimanded for Delaying Going Out in order to Pray Jumu‘ah: There is a Hadīth in At-Tirmidī, however this Hadīth is Munqata’, and Munqata’ is one of the types of weak Hadīth, but there is another strong Hadīth which strengthens it even though they are not the same in terms of the wording but they are talking in principle about the same issue. This Hadīth in At-Tirmidī states that Rasūlullāhﷺ sent out an army, and among the members of this army who were designated to go out with this army was ‘Abdullāh Ibn Rawāhah. This army was to leave on Friday, and Ibn Kathīr mentions this Hadīth as evidence that the Muslims left out Madīnah in Ghazwat Mu’tah on a Friday. ‘Abdullāh Ibn Rawāhah thought about it, he said [to himself] that well, I am one single person, so if I stay – because this army was supposed to leave at Fajr – if I stay and pray Jumu‘ah with Rasūlullāhﷺ [then] I will be able to catch up with the army because I am just one person. Because the army as a whole is slow, but one individual can speed up and catch up with the rest. Rasūlullāhﷺ spotted him in Salāh, Rasūlullāhﷺ saw him and asked, “How come you stayed behind?” ‘Abdullāh Bin Rawāhah responded and said, “O Messenger of Allāh, Aradtu An Ujammi‘a Ma‘ak – I wanted to pray Jumu‘ah with you.” Rasūlullāhﷺ told him, “Law Anfaqta Mā Fil Ardi Jamī‘an Mā Adrakta Ghadwatahum –If you spend all the money on earth, you would not catch up with them.” These few hours where ‘Abdullāh Bin Rawāhah stayed behind between Fajr and Jumu‘ah, Rasūlullāhﷺ is telling him [that] if you spend all the money in the world, you will not catch up with them in terms of reward. We are not talking about if he stays behind completely, we are talking about if he catches up with them. Those few hours that he missed, he will never be able to make them up even if he spends all the money in the world.
The authentic Hadīth which I was talking about that witnesses for this Hadīth is the saying of Rasūlullāhﷺ, “Laghadwatun Aw Rawha Fī Sabeelillāh Khairum Minad Dunyā Wamā Fīhā –Leaving early with an army or coming back with them is better than the earth and everything in it.” Now, let us think about this for a moment; why did ‘Abdullāh Bin Rawāhah stay behind? He did not want to stay behind because of fear, he did not want to leave Jihād Fee Sabeelillāh – that was not the case; he had the right intentions for staying behind, he wanted to seek knowledge, and seek knowledge from who? Not from a Sheikh – a great scholar, he wanted to seek knowledge from Rasūlullāhﷺ himself. He wanted to stay behind to receive the Ajr of Jumu‘ah, and Jumu‘ah with whom? With Muhammadﷺ. Nevertheless, Rasūlullāhﷺ is telling him that what you did is wrong; those few hours that you missed, nothing can make them up for you. So Rasūlullāhﷺ was teaching the Sahābah a lesson that you are not excused from staying behind. We know that fighting Fee Sabeelillāh can be with yourself, it can be with your wealth, or it can be with your tongue, because Rasūlullāhﷺ says, “Jāhidul Mushrīkina Bi Anfusikum Wa Amwālikum Wa Alsinatikum –Fight the Disbelievers with yourself, and your wealth, and your tongues.” However, fighting the Mushrikīn with one’s tongue alone is not enough, otherwise it would have been sufficient for the great scholars among the Sahābah to sit behind in Madīnah and not go out with Rasūlullāhﷺ. But we know that the scholars of the Sahābah like Ubaÿ Ibn Ka’b and Mu‘ādh Ibn Jabal and the poet of the Sahābah Hassān Bin Thābit, they all went out in Ghazawāt and their knowledge was not an excuse for them to stay behind, in fact Rasūlullāhﷺ himself, whom the Ummah depends on for learning the Revelation, he did not stay behind and he said, “I wish that I can join with every army that leaves.” ‘Uthmān Ibn ‘Affān and ‘Abdur Rahmān Bin ‘Awf who used to finance the armies, this support by their wealth was not sufficient for them, [but] they had to go out themselves, and no one tried to justify and make sense of this by saying that, ‘Well if they go out they would be killed therefore it would be better for them to stay behind and just support with their wealth’. No, they had to go out themselves. And here Rasūlullāhﷺ is telling ‘Abdullāh Bin Rawāhah that no matter what you do you will not catch up with them. Even though you prayed Jumu‘ah with me, even though you stayed behind with the intention of learning – Talabul ‘Ilm, that is not an excuse, you should have went out.
Muslim Army of Three Thousand Faces Roman Army of Two Hundred Thousand Strong: The army reached to Ash-Shām – present day Jordan, and they received intelligence that the Romans have heard of their marching and they have mobilised an army. Now, the news that they received was not really that good; if they had received news that the army that they are meeting would be an army of 3000 like them that would have been fine. If they received intelligence that the army is twice their number, 6000, that would be fine. In fact we might speculate that if they received the news that the army is 10 times their number such as 30,000, they would have been fine with that. These are the Sahābah of Rasūlullāhﷺ; courage and bravery and Īmān and Tawakkul on Allāh. But the news was that they are facing an army of 200,000 strong! 100,000 professional Roman soldiers in addition to 100,000 Christian Arabs; these are the allies of the Romans in the land of Ash-Shām. This is disastrous news! 3000 facing 200,000. So far the Muslims had never ever heard of such numbers. In the past, the largest force that they would face, for example in the Battle of Al-Khandaq, was 10,000, [and] here they are facing an army of 200,000. And then who are we talking about? We are talking about the soldiers of the Roman Empire; they had a reputation, the Romans and the Persians had a reputation of having strong fighting forces; well-trained, well -armed, professional soldiers. We are not talking about tribesmen, we are talking about a professional army.
So this issue demanded a Shūrā, so the Amīr Zayd Ibn Hārithah consulted with the prominent Sahābah, “What should we do?” Some of them said, “Let us send a messenger to Rasūlullāhﷺ and ask what should be done, let us wait.” ‘Abdullāh Bin Rawāhah said, “Men, what you dislike is what you have come forth to seek – martyrdom.” Listen to this, “Men, what you dislike is what you have come forth to seek.” ‘Abdullāh Bin Rawāhah is reminding them with their original intentions; you are Companions of Rasūlullāh, you came out with the intention, every one of you, every single one of you wants to die Fee Sabeelillāh; that is our ultimate goal, ultimate desire. If that is what we want, how come now we are disliking it? What is the reason you are asking us to pause and wait? What is the reason you are asking us to not face the enemy? Is it fear of death? Well what is the point in that? We all came here with the intention of dying Fee Sabeelillāh. So he reminded them; Wa Dhakkir Fa Innadh Dhikrā Tanfa‘ul Mu’minīn – And remind, for indeed, the reminder benefits the Believers. Adh-Dhāriyāt: 55
‘Abdullāh Bin Rawāhah then told them, “We are not fighting by means of our numbers or strength, we are combating them only with this Religion with which Allāh has honoured us. Go forth! It will only result in one of the two gosod outcomes; either victory or martyrdom – Ihdal Husnayayn! Imman Nasr or Immash Shahādah.” This is what every Muslim looks up to; either to win against the enemy in Dunyā or die Fee Sabeelillāh. That encouraged them and they said, “By Allāh, Ibn Rawāhah is right,” and they decided to go forth no matter what the consequences are. And this tells us about the spirit of the Sahābah ; their thoughts, their concern, was with Ākhirah – that is what they were concerned about; Ākhirah and not Dunyā. And we are facing Allāh, let us go! On the other side of this Dunyā we will be meeting Allāh.
Muslim Army Goes Forth: The army went forth. This deliberation happened in an area in Jordan called Ma‘ān, and now they are moving forward toward the plains of Mu’tah; Al-Mu’tah is also in Jordan. With this army was a new Muslim; Abū Hurairah . Remember we just talked about him, we said that he became Muslim in Khaibar? 384 So Abū Hurairah tells us his experience in this battle. Abū Hurairah said, “I attended the Battle of Mu’tah. When the Mushrikīn came close to us, we saw what no one could face; weapons, preparation, silk, gold, so my eye became dazzled.” Subhān’Allāh. Abū Hurairah is a new Muslim, and there are some things that a Muslim learns by experience; sometimes it is not all knowledge, sometimes it is experience. Remember here that Abū Hurairah is coming from a Jāhiliyyah background. An army of 3000 facing an army of 200,000 is something that you would find in no religion and no tradition. The Arab tribesmen could not think about that, and [nor] can anybody coming from any other culture or tradition, it is something that is incomprehensible, [they would be thinking] why should we do this? This is death. Not only were the numbers fearsome, but now when they faced the army [it was worse]. You see, before it was news that they heard with their ears, [but] now they were seeing it. Laisal Khabar Kal Mu‘āyanah –Hearing something is not like seeing it. And then these armies played on the psychology of the enemy; the looks, the show of force, they knew that this played an important role on demoralising the enemy. So they came in a show, [and] probably there were drums beating. And then Abū Hurairah described the preparation and the weapons that they could see, and then the gold, and the Dībāj and Harīr – the thick cloth of silk that the army was dressed in; all of this puts fear in the hearts of the enemy. Abū Hurairah said, “Fa Bariqa Basarī – I became dazzled,” and Bariqa is like lightning. He said, “My eyes were struck,” as if he was saying my eyes were struck with lightning. Was this confusion? Was it fear? Was it surprise? Anyway [whatever it was], it was something that could be seen on the face of Abū Hurairah. Next to him was Thābit Bin Arqam. Thābit Bin Arqam saw what was going on! And he told Abū Hurairah, “Ka’annaka Tarā Jumū‘an Kathīrah –It seems that you are seeing a huge force!” Abū Hurairah said, “Yes, definitely!” Look at this! Are we meant to fight these people?! Thābit Bin Arqam here – and this is the role of the senior Muslim handing down his experience to the new Muslim, to the junior, the old handing down the experience to the young, Thābit Bin Arqam is steeped in Islām – he told Abū Hurairah, “Innaka Lam Tash’had Ma‘anā Badrā, Innā Lam Nunsar Bil Kafrā – Youwere not with us at Badr, we are not given victory through numbers.” Here he is handing down to Abū Hurairah a lesson that is learned by experience. You were not there at Badr; we Muslims – forget about the laws of nature and war that you had with you in the time of Jāhiliyyah, forget about that, now you are a Muslim, it is a new world, we view the world differently – we Muslims see things differently; you were not there at Badr. Now, the numbers at Badr were nothing like what we are talking about here, but at Badr it was the first encounter, and then the Muslims saw the interference through the soldiers of Allāh, they saw the angels come in and give them victory. It was not their numbers; the Muslims were a little over 300 and the enemy was 1000, so it was only three times the number. Here we are talking about 3000 against 200,000, so it is a completely different thing, but he is telling him that it is not numbers that give us victory it is our trust in Allāh. And you threw not, [O Muhammad], when you threw, but it was Allāh who threw – Wamā Ramayta Idh Ramayta Walā Kinnallāha Ramā Al-Anfāl: 17
And these Āyāt were revealed when? After the Battle of Badr, and this is narrated by Al-Bayhaqī.
16.1.1 Rasūlullāh’sﷺ Three Appointed Leaders All Attain Shahādah
The battle started. Zayd Bin Hārithah, the leader, is ahead of the army and not behind them. He is carrying the banner with courage, leading his army, giving them example. He moved forth carrying the banner in his arms! And it says in the narration, “Hattā Tāsha Fī Ramāhil ‘Aduẅ – Until he was lost amongst their lances.” So Zayd Ibn Hārithah moved forward until you could not see him anymore because he was lost in a sea of lances! Spears covering him from every direction, stabbing him from every corner, until there was Zayd no more! Then the banner was carried by Ja’far Ibn Abī Tālib who just came back from Abyssinia. Rasūlullāhﷺ did not keep him next to him, Rasūlullāhﷺ sent him to the army, sent him to battle. Ja’far Ibn Abī Tālib carried the banner, and in the heat of the battle, Ja’far Ibn Abī Tālib felt that his horse was hindering him, so he dismounted and he killed his horse, and this was used as evidence for example by the Ahnāf, Imām Abū Hanīfah, that you are allowed to kill your animal to prevent the enemy from taking advantage of it. Because the rule is that we should not kill an animal wastefully; if you are not going to eat it why kill that animal? But they use this as evidence. If it is with the intention of preventing the enemy from making use of it then it is allowed. So Ja’far killed his horse and then he moved on foot. It is said that his right arm was cut, so he carried the banner with his left [arm] and that was cut, so then he hugged the banner with what was left from his arms, and then he was eventually killed and he was full of stabs from ahead of him and from behind him. In Bukhārī it says that ‘Abdullāh Ibn ‘Umar used to call him ‘The Man of Two Wings’, because instead of his two arms which were cut off, Allāh replaced them with two wings after he died to fly in Jannah wherever he wants. And then ‘Abdullāh Ibn Rawāhah took over the Imārah, the leadership of the army. He was handed a piece of meat to strengthen himself, so he started eating from that piece of meat, and then he heard an uproar from a certain corner of the battlefield, he said, “Wamā Zilta Fid Dunyā?! – And you are still in this world?!” And he jumped ahead and was killed Fee Sabeelillāh. Now, the three Umarā’, the three leaders, who were appointed by Rasūlullāhﷺ, were killed. Thābit Ibn Arqam whom we just talked about, he carried the banner and he said, “Choose from among you O Muslims a leader to lead us!” They said, “You lead us!” He said, “No, I will not!” So they gave the banner to Khālid Bin Walīd and they said, “You are our leader.” So it was the Muslims who appointed Khālid Ibn Walīd, they chose him to lead, and he was also a new Muslim and this was the first battle that he would lead.
16.1.2 The Sword of Allāh – Khālid Bin Walīd Appointed Amīr
Rasūlullāhﷺ would receive the news through Jibrīl when he was in Madīnah, he would receive the news from the battlefield in Jordan. Rasūlullāhﷺ said, and this is in Bukhārī “Akhadhar Rāyata Zaydun Fa Usīb, Thumma Akhadhahā Ja’far Fa Usīb, Thumma Akhadhahā Ibn Rawāhah Fa Usīb, Hattā Akhadhar Rāyata Saifum Min Suyūfillāh Hattā Fatahallāhu ‘Alaihim –The banner was carried by Zayd until he was killed, and then it was carried by Ja’far until he was killed, and then it was carried by ‘Abdullāh Ibn Rawāhah until he was killed, and then the banner was carried by a sword from the Swords of Allāh until Allāh gave them victory.” Khālid Bin Walīd was a Sword of Allāh and the Muslims need a sword of Allāh! They needed a sword of Allāh yesterday and we need a sword from Allāh today. Khālid Ibn Walīd carried the banner and he was fighting, leading the Muslims. A new Muslim, but the spirit of Islām was strong. Khālid Ibn Walīd said, “Takassarat Fī Yadī Tis‘at Asyāf – Nine swords broke in my hand.” Subhān’Allāh! What was Khālid Bin Walīd doing with those swords?! He broke down nine swords, and then he said, “In the end, only a Yemeni broad sword survived with me.” So the question is not weather Khālid can deal with the swords, the question is whether the sword can handle Khālid Bin Walīd. Nine swords were broken in one day on the enemies of Allāh and only a broad sword, a big piece of iron, Yemeni sword, survived in his hand until the end of the day. Rasūlullāhﷺ said about the three leaders of the army, “Wamā Yasurruhum Annahum Ma‘anā – And it would not please them to be with us.” Zayd, Ja’far and ‘Abdullāh Ibn Rawāhah are happier in Ākhirah than in Dunyā. They do not want to come back with us, they are happy where they are.
It is mentioned in one narration that at nightfall when the fighting stopped, what Khālid Ibn Walīd was doing was a slow retreat. He did not want to do a fast retreat because then the enemy would take advantage of that and destroy the army, so it was a slow retreat. They were holding on and he was doing it slowly until nightfall, trying to encourage the Muslims to hold on. At night what he did was he switched the left flank to the right and the right to the left, so when they woke up in the morning and the Romans saw the army, the right flank of the Romans would see different people in front of them and the left flank of the Romans would see different people in front of them, [so] they were deceived to believe that the Muslims received reinforcements, so they told themselves [that] if the Muslims were able to hold ground when they were only 3000, what are they going to do today after they have received reinforcements? And this convinced the Romans to retreat, and this is the victory that Rasūlullāhﷺ is talking about in Bukhārī, this is the Opening regarding which Rasūlullāhﷺ said, “Fa Fatahallāh ‘Alaihim.” When that happened and the Romans stopped, Khālid Bin Walīd immediately retreated with the army and they came back to Madīnah.
16.1.3 Rasūlullāh’sﷺ Love for Family of Ja’far Ibn Abī Tālib
Rasūlullāhﷺ visited the children of Ja’far Ibn Abī Tālib, the cousin of Rasūlullāhﷺ, the brother of ‘Alï Ibn Abī Tālib, and Rasūlullāhﷺ told their mother to bring the children. Asmā’ said, “I have already cleaned them and oiled them, washed them and bathed them.” So they came to Rasūlullāh and Rasūlullāhﷺ hugged them and tears were swelling in his eyes. So Asmā’ asked, “Has something happened?” Rasūlullāhﷺ said, “Yes, Ja’far was killed.” She screamed when she heard the news, and Rasūlullāh told her, “I am their Walī in Dunyā and Ākhirah.” I am their friend in Dunyā and Ākhirah, I will take care of them in Dunyā and Ākhirah. This is an honour for the children of Ja’far Ibn Abī Tālib.
There are some lines of poetry Asmā’ said lamenting the loss of her husband
Ja’far Ibn Abī Tālib, Asmā’ Bint ‘Umais said:
I swear, my soul will never cease to be sad over you
And my skin will always wear dust
No one ever saw the like of him
A hero who persisted so valiantly in the fray
These words of Asmā’ show her sorrow over the loss of her husband. After the end of her ‘Iddah – the waiting period which the wife is required to have after she becomes a widow before being allowed to marry again, she was approached by Abū Bakr As -Siddīq and she agreed to marry him. ‘Alï Ibn Abī Tālib was invited to the Walīmah [and] he asked Abū Bakr permission to speak to Asmā’; Asmā’ is the wife of his deceased brother. Abū Bakr gave him permission so ‘Alï Ibn Abī Tālib spoke to her from behind a curtain, he said, “Who is the one who said, ‘I swear, my soul will never cease to be sad over you, and my skin will always wear dust?’” He reminded her with her lines that she said about Ja’far, because here she says that I will continue being sad for you and now here she is getting married to Abū Bakr! She said, “Away with you Abul Hasan, you are always joking!”
Abū Bakr had a child from Asmā’, Muhammad, and then when Abū Bakr died, Asmā’ Bint ‘Umais married ‘Alï Ibn Abī Tālib. So Muhammad Ibn Abī Bakr was brought up in the house of ‘Alï Ibn Abī Tālib, and they had a very strong relationship and Muhammad was a staunch supporter of ‘Alï Ibn Abī Tālib and he became a governor for ‘Alï Ibn Abī Tālib over Egypt. And then later on in the events that occurred after that in the war between ‘Alï Ibn Abī Tālib and Banū Umayyah, Egypt fell and Muhammad Ibn Abī Bakr was chased down to Sa‘eed Musr where he was eventually killed, but until the end he was a defender of ‘Alï Ibn Abī Tālib.
The Early Muslims Left No Muslim Sister Behind: One thing to notice over here is that with the early Muslims, no Muslim sister would be left behind. If she was divorced she would be married, if she was widowed she would be married; they would not leave a Muslim sister alone, and this tradition cannot be revived except if polygamy is promoted and accepted. It is important for every Muslim man and woman to be part of a family; that is part of our make-up, to be part of a family. So the Muslims in those days would marry a Muslim sister whether she was divorced, they would marry her if she was widowed, they would marry her if she was old. Now we have so much taboo about a lot of issues; first of all polygamy has become unacceptable, marrying an older sister is something that many brothers see as unacceptable, marrying a woman who is divorced or widowed is also avoided, and this is not the proper acceptable social life for Muslims.
16.1.4 The Three Commanders
Let us talk about the three commanders a little bit.
Zayd Ibn Hārithah: The first one: Zayd Ibn Hārithah. Zayd Ibn Hārithah is from the tribe of Qudā‘ah; Qudā‘ah is a Yemeni tribe that moved into Hijāz and moved into Ash-Shām. He was taken by his mother to visit her family and they were ambushed by horsemen from Balqīn, another Arab tribe. So they took them as slaves and sold them – that was how it was in the wild life of pre-Islāmic Arabia; you [would have] raids and they would take the families and take the children and just sell them in the market. So Zayd Ibn Hārithah ended up being sold. Hakīm Ibn Hizām bought him and gave him as a gift to Khadījah, the wife of Rasūlullāhﷺ, and she gave him as a gift to Rasūlullāhﷺ, so Zayd Ibn Hārithah ended up as the property of Muhammadﷺ in the time of Jāhiliyyah; this was before Prophethood. Rasūlullāhﷺ loved Zayd so much. The father of Zayd and his uncle knew about his whereabouts so they came asking Rasūlullāhﷺ to give them their son back. Rasūlullāhﷺ told them, “Fine, how about we give Zayd the choice?” Let us leave it to Zayd. Zayd now is an adult, he can make the choice for himself. His father was very happy with this, [thinking] definitely he is going to choose us over slavery. Rasūlullāhﷺ asked Zayd, “Who do you want to stay with?” Zayd said, “I want to stay with you.” Subhān’Allāh. This tells us volumes about the personality and the character of Rasūlullāh (Pbuh). Zayd would rather stay with Rasūlullāhﷺ as a slave than go back with his father. Rasūlullāhﷺ immediately said, “And I free you and I adopt you as my own son, and from now on your name is Zayd Bin Muhammad and not Zayd Bin Hārithah.” Rasūlullāhﷺ loved him so much, and he married him to Umm Ayman who also was a slave-woman; Rasūlullāhﷺ married her to Zayd Bin Hārithah and they had a child, Usāmah Bin Zayd. And then Rasūlullāhﷺ married Zayd Bin Hārithah to his own cousin Zainab Bint Jahsh, [and] we talked about this; the marriage did not work out so he divorced her.
When Rasūlullāhﷺ appointed Usāmah to lead an army, some of the noble men were not very happy that Usāmah, who comes from a slavery background, should be the leader over them, plus Usāmah was 18 years old – very young in age. So they talked about it a little bit [and] the news reached to Rasūlullāhﷺ. Rasūlullāhﷺ said, “In Ta‘anu Fī Imratih, Faqad Kuntum Tat‘anūna Fī Imrati Abīhi Min Qabl. Wa Aymullāh! In Kāna La Khalīqal Lil Imārah Wa In Kāna Lamin Ahabbin Nāsi Ilaÿ. Wa Inna Hādhā Lamin Ahabbin Nāsi Ilayya Mim Ba’dih –If you dispute his leadership, you were disputing the leadership of his father before him. And in the name of Allāh! He is an appropriate person for leadership and his father was an appropriate person for leadership, and he is from among the most beloved people to me, and his father was from among the most beloved people to me!” This Hadīth is in Bukhārī and Muslim.
There is an additional virtue of Zayd Ibn Hārithah, and that is that he is the only Companion mentioned by name in Qur’ān: Falammā Qadā Zaydum Minhā Wataran Zawwajnākahā – So when Zayd had no longer any need for her, We married her to you. Al-Ahzāb: 37
He is the only Sahābï mentioned by name in Qur’ān, in Sūrah Al-Ahzāb, in the Book of Allāh that will be recited until the Day of Judgement. We are reciting the name of Zayd Ibn Hārithah – what a great honour for this man!
Ja’far Ibn Abī Tālib[The second commander:] Ja’far Ibn Abī Tālib, the cousin of Rasūlullāhﷺ. He is older than ‘Alï Ibn Abī Tālib. He made Hijrah to Al-Habashah and he had some great positions over there. He was the spokesman of the Muslims with An-Najāshī and he was the one who would teach Najāshī about Islām. He participated in both Hijrah to Al-Habashah and Hijrah to Madīnah. And when he arrived in Khaibar, Rasūlullāhﷺ said, “I do not know which causes me more joy, the opening of Khaibar or the arrival of Ja’far.” And he is the one with two wings as we mentioned before.
‘Abdullāh Ibn Rawāhah [The third commander:] ‘Abdullāh Ibn Rawāhah, one of the Nuqabā’ who gave pledge to Rasūlullāhﷺ in Bay‘atul ‘Aqabah. He was an excellent poet; he has a lot of poetry in support of Islām and in defence of Rasūlullāh and [in] praising him.
Hadīth Mentioning Status of Ja’far, Zayd and Ibn Rawāhah: There is a Hadīth, and I will read this Hadīth to you. Abī Umāmah narrates, “I heard Rasūlullāhﷺ say, ‘When I was asleep, two men came to me and they took me to a rugged mountain and they told me, ‘Climb.’ I said, ‘I cannot.’ They said, ‘We will help you.’ We heard some loud voices screaming, an uproar. I asked, ‘What are these voices?’ They said, ‘This is the groaning of the people of Hellfire.’ And then we moved on and I saw people hanging from their tendons and their mouths were split open and blood was streaming out. I asked, ‘Who are these?’ They told me, ‘These are the people who break their fast before the right time.’ And then we moved on and I saw people who were bloated and a stench would come out from them – a horrible smell – and they had a very ugly look. I asked, ‘Who are these?’ They said, ‘These are the killed from among the Disbelievers.’ And then I saw people who were bloated and stench would come out of them, and their smell was so horrible it was like [the smell of] toilets. I asked, ‘Who are these?’ They said, ‘These are the ones who commit fornication and adultery.’ And then I saw women and snakes were eating from their breasts.
I said, ‘What is wrong with these?’ They said, ‘These are the women who prevent their milk from their children – they do not breastfeed their infants.’ And then we carried on and I saw children playing between two rivers. I asked, ‘Who are these?’ They said, ‘These are the children of the Believers.’ And then we climbed a high place and I saw three men drinking wine. I asked, ‘Who are these?’ They said, ‘These are Ja’far, Zayd and Ibn Rawāhah.’ And then we went to a higher place and I saw three men. I asked, ‘Who are these?’ They said, ‘Ibrāhīm, Mūsā and ‘Īsā and they are waiting for you.’” This Hadīth was narrated by Ibn Khuzaimah and Ibn Habbān in their Sahīh.
Ibn Kathīr, and we will close [Ghazwat Mu’tah] with this statement, he says, “So according to these authorities, the total killed should be 12 men.” These are the Muslims who were killed in the Battle of Mu’tah; this battle that looked like a disaster, that looked like an annihilation of Muslims, only 12 men were killed. Then he says, “Two armies of opposing faiths, one consisting of those fighting for Allāh’s cause and numbering 3,000 men, and the other of Disbelievers totalling 200,000 – 100,000 Romans and 100,000 Christian Arabs – could battle together with the resulting deaths of only 12 Muslims is truly great. And a large number of Unbelievers were killed; Khālid alone stated, ‘Nine swords were broken in my hand and finally only a Yemeni broad sword persisted with me.’ How many must he have killed with all those swords? Not to mention all the other brave bearers of Qur’ān like him who sentenced to death those crucifix worshippers upon whom be the curses of the most Merciful at that time and forever. This relates to the words of the Almighty: Already there has been for you a sign in the two armies which met – one fighting in the cause of Allāh and another of Disbelievers. They saw them [to be] twice their [own] number by [their] eyesight. But Allāh supports with His victory whom He wills. Indeed in that is a lesson for those of vision. Āl-‘Imrān: 13”
This is the end of Ghazwat Mu’tah. We move on to some Sarāyā that occurred in that year.
16.1.5 Sarāyā in Eighth Year of Hijrah
Sariyyah Dhāt As-Salāsil: There was a Sariyyah led by ‘Amr Ibn Al-‘Aas and this was the first appointment for ‘Amr Ibn Al-‘Aas. Remember, ‘Amr Ibn Al-‘Aas became Muslim with Khālid Bin Walīd, so he had just recently embraced Islām; Rasūlullāhﷺ, very soon after their Islām, put them in these positions of leadership because they were capable men; Khālid Bin Walīd and ‘Amr Ibn Al-‘Aas were born leaders, they had the capability, and Rasūlullāhﷺ recognised [this] in them and immediately started giving them this authority to promote the Religion of Allāh . This battle was called Dhāt As-Salāsil because of the area in which this occurred; near to a well or river or source of water called Dhāt As- Salāsil. ‘Amr Ibn Al-‘Aas was sent into the land of Balī – this was an Arab tribe; they were his maternal uncles so Rasūlullāh sent him to them. However, they gathered a force to fight, and because of the numbers of this force ‘Amr Ibn Al-‘Aas asked for reinforcements; Rasūlullāhﷺ sent him Abū ‘Ubaidah among some Muhājirīn. When the reinforcement arrived, ‘Amr Ibn Al-‘Aas said, “I am the Amīr.” The Muhājirūn said, “No, Abū ‘Ubaidah is the Amīr.” ‘Amr Ibn Al-‘Aas said, “No, I am the Amīr because Rasūlullāhﷺ appointed me to lead and you just came as a reinforcement.” Abū ‘Ubaidah, rather than argue on this issue, he said, “The last advice that Rasūlullāh gave me was, ‘Fātatā Wa‘ā Walā Takhtalifā –Agree with each other and do not disagree with each other.’” And Abū ‘Ubaidah was a very soft and lenient man, he said, “You are the leader.” At night time, ‘Amr Ibn Al-‘Aas had a wet dream – Ihtilām. When he woke up it was very cold, [so] rather than bathing – and that is the requirement – he just made Wudū’. Rasūlullāhﷺ was told about that when they returned. ‘Amr Ibn Al-‘Aas said, “I feared for my safety, this water was going to kill me! It was very cold so I took precautions for my safety and that is why I just made Wudū’.” Rasūlullāhﷺ smiled and did not say anything, so some scholars use this as an evidence that if there is risk and the water is too cold and the weather is too cold then one can make Tayammum or make Wudū’ rather than bathing, because the requirement is Ghusl. This is the Sariyyah of Dhāt As-Salāsil.
Sariyyah of Abī ‘Ubaidah: Then there is the Sariyyah of Abī ‘Ubaidah, and Ibn Kathīr mentions it here and he says, “I mention it here because Al-Bayhaqī mentions it in this chronological order even though this Sariyyah must have occurred before Sulh Al- Hudaybiyyah.” Because Abū ‘Ubaidah was sent out Liyarsud ‘Ira Quraish –to spy on the caravans of Quraish, and we know that during the time of Hudaybiyyah there was a truce, and [since] now there is a truce then how could this happen? Now, I do not recall if I have covered this Sariyyah before, I am sure I have talked about it in one of my lectures but I am not sure if it was in Seerah or not. I will repeat it here briefly just because Ibn Kathīr mentions it in this position.
They were sent to Saif Al-Bahr and the appointment was to gather reconnaissance on the caravans of Quraish. They ran out of food so Abū ‘Ubaidah would give them one date a day. When this narration was heard later on by one of At-Tābi‘īn, he said, “And what would one date a day do?” The one who was telling them this story said, “When the dates ran out, then we knew the value of one date a day.” Now you are talking about what one date a day would do for us! What kind of meal is that? Yes, it is insignificant, but we knew how valuable and significant it was when we ran out of dates and we had nothing. Qais Bin Sa’d Bin ‘Ubādah was with them, he borrowed some camels from one Mushrik, he told him, “I am going to pay you,” and he would slaughter for them five camels a day until Abū ‘Ubaidah banned him and prohibited him from carrying on. Qais was very generous. Abū ‘Ubaidah stopped him because he was going to put himself in big trouble! Qais did not have any money; how are you going to pay back for all of these camels that you are slaughtering for us? So he stopped him by force. Now they had nothing.
Because these men are Mujāhidīn Fee Sabeelillāh, Allāh provided them with Rizq. They saw what appeared like a hill of sand; a sand dune, but when they came close it was a whale, a dead whale. They said, “We cannot eat from this because it is dead.” And then Abū ‘Ubaidah told them, “We are the messengers of the Messenger of Allāh, we are Fee Sabeelillāh, and it is a necessity so let us eat from it.” They were very hungry and they started eating from this whale, in fact what they did [was] they set camp right there next to the whale for an entire month, feeding off this whale. Every day they would eat from it, one of them said, “Until the flesh on our stomachs started to fold,” meaning their stomachs were so tight because first of all they were very fit and then also [because] they suffered a certain period of malnutrition because of having no food for some time, and in the desert [they were] very exhausted, [but] now they were eating every day – daily they are eating meat, meat, meat from this whale – until the flesh on their stomachs started to fold again. How many were they? Listen here, they were eating for an entire month, and how many were they? 300. 300 men eating daily; this must have been a huge whale! A sperm whale or a blue whale Allāhu A’lam, but it was one of those big whales. Abū ‘Ubaidah wanted to experiment with the size of this whale so he stood up a rib bone from this whale, and he got the tallest camel, and the tallest man [to] ride on this tallest camel and go under this rib bone which was set like an arch, and he could not touch it. It must have been huge because a camel is a pretty high animal. And the narrator says, “We would tear out pieces of flesh as big as a bull.” And then they would dry some of this meat; Faja‘alnā Minhu Wa Shā’ir – they would cut off pieces or slabs from this meat and they would have them in the sun to dry in order to preserve it, otherwise it would rot. And they enjoyed their time very much next to this whale – Rizq from Allāh that was sent for them. When they went back to Madīnah they told Rasūlullāhﷺ about the story because they had some doubt whether they were allowed to eat it or not, and Rasūlullāhﷺ said, “That is Rizq that was sent to you by Allāh, have you brought some of it with you so that I can have some of it?” Rasūlullāhﷺ wanted to have some of this blessed Rizq that was sent to them by Allāh, and they said, “Yes,” and they gave some of it as a gift to Rasūlullāhﷺ.
16.2 Letters to the Kings
16.2.1 Challenge to International Politics and Sovereignty of the Day
Rasūlullāhﷺ climbed the Mimbar, and after praising Allāh he said, “I wish to send some of you forth to foreign kings. Do not dispute among yourselves about me as Banū Isrā’īl did about Jesus son of Mary.” The Muhājirūn said, “O Messenger of Allāh, we will never disagree about you over anything, order us to go forth.” Now, dear listeners, does it strike you here how come Rasūlullāhﷺ would tell them ‘Do not dispute among yourselves over me’ when he is just sending letters to the foreign kings? This letter affair is a major issue, is a serious affair. This is a challenge to the international politics and sovereignty of the day; Rasūlullāh will be sending [letters to] the kings of the world, telling them to follow him, telling them to hand over the rule [of ruling] over creation to ruling with the Law of Allāh, so it was a major step and an important event, and Rasūlullāhﷺ wanted to warn the Muslims that this affair should not cause a dispute among you like Banū Isrā’īl disputed about ‘Īsā son of Mary. You see, because Banū Isrā’īl in the time of ‘Īsā were living under kings, they were not living a semi-autonomous and independent life that the Arabs were living; they were living under tyrants, they were living under strict rules of kings, and Christianity was changed because of kings, and they attempted to kill ‘Īsā because of kings, and the disputes that arose between Banī Isrā’īl and the different sects were because of the interference and the involvement of kings, and now Rasūlullāhﷺ will be writing to these kings who are not very different than the kings of yesterday. So the Muhājirūn said, “O Rasūlullāh, we will never disagree about you over anything, order us to go forth.” And it was a very risky business; it was a risky thing for a Sahābï to go alone, enter into the territory of these kingdoms and deliver a letter to the king telling him to follow Muhammadﷺ – it is not an easy thing. So Rasūlullāhﷺ was giving the Sahābah a warning.
16.2.2 Heraclius – Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire
Rasūlullāhﷺ appointed Dihyah Bin Khalīfah Al-Kalbī to carry his letter to the great emperor of the day, Hiraql ‘Azīm Ar-Rūm – Heraclius the Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire. And by the way, I am using the title Eastern Roman Empire even though you would find that most of the contemporary sources would mention it as the Byzantion Empire – Byzantine, but I am not going to use the word Byzantine because that is not the word that they used to refer to themselves and it is not the title the Muslims used to call them. The Muslims used to call them Rūm and they used to call themselves Romans, so where did this Byzantion thing come from? Apparently it is only a century or two centuries old; the name was not used before that. So I am referring to it as the Eastern Roman Empire. In the beginning it was one empire and then they split into the Western Roman Empire, capital [being] Rome and Italy, and the Eastern Roman Empire, the capital being Constantinople, present day Istanbul.
Roman Empire on Verge of Defeat: A little background; Heraclius, [or] Hiraql, was a military commander from Carthage – Carthage is in Tūnis, present day Tunisia – and he became emperor and supreme military commander of the Roman Empire in year 610 AD. He became emperor at a time when the Roman Empire was going through a very difficult, a very difficult time. A time when the Persian Empire was pounding them, and they were losing bit after bit, city after city, to the Persians; the Persians were rolling and the Romans were suffering defeat after defeat. Heraclius was a strong emperor, a good military commander, however the Empire itself was falling back; in 613 AD Damascus fell, a year later Jerusalem fell, and the Persians took over the True Cross. Now, what is this True Cross? This True Cross is a wooden cross believed by the Christians to be the Cross on which ‘Īsā was crucified. Now, obviously as Muslims we do not believe that to be the case, but the Romans believe it to be the most important relic of Christendom. By the way, in the Seerah of Ibn Kathīr there is a translation by Professor Trevor LeGassick – I sometimes refer to his translation just to check my translation of the material of Ibn Kathīr and it is riddled with mistakes, however I have not brought that up in the past because I am assuming that Trevor LeGassick is not a Muslim so it is expected for someone not coming from a Muslim background to make many mistakes. However it is interesting to find out that he even made a mistake in the translation of the True Cross – Ibn Kathīr mentions it in Arabic as As- Salībil A’zam – The Great Cross, and LeGassick translates it literally as the Great Cross. Now, I do not believe that Christians call it the Great Cross but they call it the True Cross or the Holy Cross, so it is quite interesting here to find that he even makes a mistake in something that is out of his culture, the culture of Christianity, and mistranslates the term here; what we are talking about here is not just a cross, we are talking about the True Cross.
The Rise of Hiraql: So the Persians took over this most important relic of the Christians. In year AD, Heraclius himself would lead the campaign, and this was something that for a very long time Roman emperors would not be involved in, but he led the army himself and started fighting back against the Persians and he took over one city after another until not only he gained back what was taken from him but he invaded Persia in its own land and he started taking parts of Persia. The Byzantines have been defeated. In the nearest land. But they, after their defeat, will overcome. Within three to nine years. To Allāh belongs the command before and after. Ar-Rūm: 2-4
Allāh talks about this in Qur’ān and I already mentioned this story when we were talking about the Da’wah in Makkah. Qur’ān says that the Romans were defeated but they will win Fī Bid‘i Sinīn; Bid‘i Sinīn is between three and nine years. So even though it seemed impossible that the Romans would win because they were losing one part after another, now the rollback started and Heraclius was defeating the Persians and he was able to win Damascus back and Jerusalem also, and he entered into Persia itself, so the campaign took him a few years.
Hiraql, in year 630 AD, reaching the height of his power, he fulfilled his vow to march barefoot as a pious Christian pilgrim into Jerusalem, because he made a vow that if he is given victory then he will make pilgrimage to Jerusalem barefoot. So in year 630 AD he fulfilled that vow and he marched barefoot as a pious Christian pilgrim into Jerusalem and he restored the True Cross to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. He was given a grand reception with people laying out carpets for him to walk on and saluting him with flowers and cheers, and there was a grand celebration organised for the return of the True Cross to its place, and this is when he receives the letter from Rasūlullāhﷺ. And this would start an interesting series of events, a fall from grace; he would suffer defeat after defeat until he loses Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Palestine and Lebanon. Eventually the entire Eastern Roman Empire would fall to the Muslims centuries later; the closing chapter was the fall of Constantinople to Muhammad Al-Fātih in the Ottoman Empire.
Hiraql Receives Letter from Rasūlullāhﷺ and Questions Abū Sufyān: When Hiraql received the letter from Rasūlullāhﷺ, the letter was not hand delivered by Dihyah Al-Kalbī. Dihyah Al-Kalbī is one of the Companions of Rasūlullāhﷺ from the tribe of Kalb and he was described as being a very handsome man, and that is why they say when Jibrīl would come to Rasūlullāhﷺ he would come to him in the form of Dihyah Al-Kalbī; he was very handsome. Did that have something to do with Rasūlullāhﷺ choosing him as an ambassador? Allāhu A’lam. But anyway, he did not hand deliver it to Hiraql but the letter was given to one of the governors of Hiraql and this governor in turn handed it over to Hiraql. When Hiraql read the letter he told one of his deputies, “Qallib Liyash-Shām Zaharan Li Batn – Iwant you to turn Syria upside down until you bring me a man from this man’s people.” He wanted someone from the people of Muhammadﷺ, and he told his deputy [that] I want you to turn Syria upside down. So the forces of Hiraql were searching in Ash -Shām until they found Abū Sufyān and the merchants who were with him from Quraish in Ghazzah, in Falastīn. So they stormed in and they asked them, “Where are you from?” They said, “We are Arabs.” “Where from?” They gave them their details. They said, “Come with us.” So they were summoned in front of Heraclius, they ended up meeting the Emperor himself.
Abū Sufyān said, and he is now narrating the story, “My companions were told to stand behind me,” because Heraclius asked, “Who is his closest relative from among you?” They said, “Abū Sufyān.” He asked, “What is your relationship to him?” He said, “He is my cousin.” Now, he is not literally the cousin of Abū Sufyān but he was the closest from among the group, because Abū Sufyān’s name is Abū Sufyān Ibn Harb Ibn Umayyah Ibn ‘Abd Shams Ibn ‘Abd Manāf, and Rasūlullāhﷺ is Muhammad Ibn ‘Abdillāh Ibn ‘Abdul Muttalib Ibn Hāshim Ibn ‘Abd Manāf, so they meet in ‘Abd Manāf, so the grandfathers are cousins. Hiraql said, “I want you to stand behind him (behind Abū Sufyān), and if he lies I want you to tell me so, make a sign.” So he did not have them stand next to Abū Sufyān in order not to embarrass them with refuting Abū Sufyān in front of his face, but [he said] stand behind him and make me a sign, a gesture, if he lies; Hiraql wants to confirm the information. Abū Sufyān says, “I have never met a man Ad’hā –who was more astute and intelligent than this man.” SoHiraql is going to question Abū Sufyān. Now, Abū Sufyān says about this, “I knew that they would not refute me even if I did lie,” – they were loyal to him – “but I was a man of dignity and honour and would have been ashamed to lie. I also knew that if I did, it was likely that they would report it to others and then people would talk about me in Makkah, so I did not lie to him.” These men even in their Jāhiliyyah had dignity and honour and virtues; he did not want to lie.
Amazing Exchange between Hiraql and Abū Sufyān: It says that Hiraql started with a question, he asked, “Who is Muhammadﷺ?” And Abū Sufyān said, “Huwa Sāhirun Kadhdhāb – He is a magician and he is a liar.” What did Hiraql say? He said, “Innī Lā Urīdu Shatmahū Walā Kin Kayfa Nasabah – Iam not interested in hearing curses, Iwant you to tell me about him.” Hiraql wants an objective answer; leave these curses aside, I am not interested in hearing your curses, give me some valid news, give me valid information, do not give me curses. So the questioning began and let us see what questions Hiraql had in mind.
Hiraql: “What sort of family lineage has he among you?”
Abū Sufyān: “His ancestry is a distinguished one.” “Was any of his forefathers a king?” “No.”
“Has anyone among you come out with a similar claim before him?” “No.”
“Do the majority of his followers belong to the aristocracy or are they poor people?” “They are poor.”
“Do they increase or decrease?” “They are on the increase.”
“Does any one of them turn away from his religion after having embraced it?” “No.”
“Have you ever known him to lie before he started to make this claim?” “No.”
“Is he given to treachery?” “No. We however have an armistice agreement with him for the time being and we do not know what he will do during this period.”
Abū Sufyān said, “This is the only thing I was able to sneak in.” The only thing he was able to say against Muhammadﷺ without being a liar was this. He said [that] well, he never committed treachery before, but now we are in a truce and we do not know what he is going to do in the future. Abū Sufyān wants to speak against Muhammadﷺ but he is bound by his word not to lie.
Hiraql said, “Have you ever fought him?” Abū Sufyān: “Yes.”
“How did your fighting go?” “Sometimes he wins and sometimes we win.” “What sort of commandments does he give you?” “He tells us to worship Allāh alone without ascribing divinity to anyone else. He tells us not to follow our fathers. He commands us to Pray and to be truthful and chaste and kind to our fellow human beings.”
Hiraql said, “You have mentioned that he enjoys distinguished ancestry, and this is the case with all Prophets and Messengers. Since you say that no one else among you has made similar claims, I cannot say that he is imitating anyone. You also denied that any of his forefathers was a king, which means that he is not a claimant of a kingdom. You also say that he was not known to tell a lie before he came out with this Message. Well, I know that he would not start by lying to Allāh. You have stated that the poor are his followers, and this is the case with all Messengers from Allāh. The fact that his followers are on the increase again confirms a phenomenon which is always associated with true faith until it is completed. You have also mentioned that no one turns away from his religion after having embraced it; this is a characteristic of faith when its light shines in people’s hearts. You also denied that he is treacherous, and no Messenger of Allāh was a treacherous person. You also said that he calls on you to believe in the Oneness of Allāh and to Pray and to be truthful and chaste. If what you have told me is true, then he will have the supremacy right here where I stand. I knew that his time was due, but I did not think that he would belong to your people. Had it been in my power, I would certainly have taken the trouble to meet him and to wash his feet.”
In these words of Hiraql, we see the intelligence and we see the understanding of history, and understanding of religion, and understanding of the Laws of Allāh, and understanding the distinguishing traits of truth from falsehood; who is a true Prophet and who is not. And then Hiraql is saying something, and he is telling these words to who? To Abū Sufyān, the man who was leading the war against Muhammadﷺ. Heraclius, the Roman Emperor himself, is telling Abū Sufyān that if I meet Muhammad I would wash his feet! Now, these words had an effect on Abū Sufyān.
Rasūlullāh’sﷺ Letter to Heraclius The letter was brought and was read:
In the name of Allāh, the Merciful, the Beneficent. From Muhammad – the Messenger of Allāh, to Heraclius – the Great one of the Romans. Peace be to those who follow the Guidance. I call you to believe in Islām. Adopt Islām and you will be safe, and Allāh will give you double the reward. If you decline, you shall bear responsibility of the Arīsiyyīn. The Arīsiyyīn, as Ibn Hajar says, are the farmers. The Romans were a farming people, so Rasūlullāhﷺ is telling him that you will bear responsibility for their Disbelief. After the letter was read, Abū Sufyān said, “When he said what he said and he finished reading the letter, the noises became loud, so we were driven out. I then told my companions when we were driven out, ‘This Ibn Abū Kabshah (this is the name that they used to call Muhammadﷺ with) has got to the point where he even scares the king of those of pale skin.’ Thereafter I was convinced that he would prevail and eventually Allāh drew me into Islām.” Because he saw that the Romans themselves were really worried about Muhammadﷺ, and these are the People of the Scripture, these are the people who understood about Prophethood.
The Letter in Detail: Let us look at the letter, and some comments from Ibn Hajar. What title did Rasūlullāhﷺ use to refer to Hiraql? He did not say the Roman Emperor, he said ‘Azīm Ar -Rūm. Ibn Hajar says, “He was referred to as ‘the Great one’ among the great one of the Romans. He was not given the title of king or leader because he is discharged according to the rule of Islām.” Islām does not recognise his kingdom and does not recognise his authority and does not recognise the authority of any Disbeliever. Ibn Hajar says, “But he was given a title, a cordial title, of ‘the Great one’ of the Romans.”
And then in the letter it says, “Peace be to those who follow Guidance – As-Salām ‘Alā Min Taba‘al Hudā.” [Ibn Hajar says,] “Rasūlullāhﷺ did not give him Salām directly but said ‘Salam on those who follow Guidance,’ and since they do not follow Guidance then Rasūlullāhﷺ did not give them Salām, and that is because Salām is not given to the Unbelievers.”
And also Ibn Hajar mentions that when the letter of Muhammadﷺ was read to Heraclius, Abū Sufyān said, “I saw sweat falling down his forehead.” That was how heavy the letter of Rasūlullāhﷺ was. He knew that this was the truth but he did not want to follow it. And there is a story that is mentioned in the books of Seerah that Hiraql called his patriarchs and told them, “We should become Muslim, this is the Prophet whom we were foretold about in our books,” and they all roared and they became angry, and then Hiraql told them, “Calm down, I just wanted to test your faith.” So Hiraql wanted to become Muslim, but when he saw the reaction of his people he told them, ‘I was just testing you.’ And then in another narration it says that he told the one who carried the letter, “If I knew that I would be able to reach to Muhammadﷺ, I would have done so,” but he feared for his kingdom, and therefore obviously his intentions do not help him because he did not truly become Muslim. This is the story of the letter to Hiraql.
16.2.3 Kisrā – The Persian Emperor
The next letter was sent to Kisrā, the Persian Emperor, and this letter was sent with ‘Abdullāh Ibn Huzāfah according to one narration. The letter was read in front of Kisrā:
In the name of Allāh, the Merciful, the Beneficent. From Muhammad – the Messenger of Allāh, to Kisrā – the Great one of the Persians. Peace be upon him who follows right Guidance, believes in Allāh and His Messenger, and declares that there is no deity but Allāh – the only God Who has no partners, and that Muhammadﷺ is His servant and Messenger. I wish to convey to you Allāh’s call, for I am Allāh’s Messenger to all mankind sent with the task of warning all those who are alive that doom will befall the Unbelievers. If you submit to Allāh you will be safe, if you refuse, you shall bear the responsibility for the Magians.
Kisrā was angry, he said, “How dare he write this sort of letter to me when he is my slave?!” And then he ordered his governor of Yemen to send two able-bodied men to arrest Muhammadﷺ. Look at the arrogance and the pride! And look at how they used to view the Arabs as their slaves since they are not people who have a great kingdom like them. So he sent this letter to Bādhān who was a Persian ruler of Yemen; Yemen at the time was invaded by the Persians. So Bādhān sent two men, one of them his name is Abādhaway and the other one Kharkharah, to arrest Muhammadﷺ. They did not march forth in an army, they just went alone; the reputation that they had was sufficient, they did not need to show force and to go out with soldiers, just the two of them alone travelled. When they reached to At-Tā’if, they asked, “Where is Muhammad?” They told them, “He is in Madīnah,” and the people of At-Tā’if and Quraish were very happy, they said, “That is it, this is the end of the Muslims.”
These two men came to Madīnah [and] they delivered their instructions to Muhammadﷺ. They said, “Khosrow, [or] Kisrā, the king of kings – Shāhinshāh, has written to Bādhān, the King of Yemen, commanding him to send us to take you to him. If you comply, Bādhān will write to the king of kings interceding on your behalf; this will spare you a great deal of trouble. If you reject his order, you know how powerful he is; he is sure to destroy you and your people as well as your country.” Rasūlullāhﷺ answered back and told them, “Who ordered you to shave your beards?” They had their beards shaven and Rasūlullāhﷺ disliked that, [and] they had long moustaches, so Rasūlullāhﷺ asked them, “Who ordered you to shave your beards?” They said, “Our Lord.” Rasūlullāhﷺ said, “But my Lord has commanded me to wear a beard and to trim my moustache.” And then he told them to wait until the next day. This particular narration here is a narration from Seerah, it is not a narration from Hadīth. Next day when they came, Rasūlullāhﷺ told them, “Inna Rabbī Qad Qatala Rabbakumul Lailah –My Lord has killed your lord this night.” They said, “Doyou realise what you are saying? Your arrest has been ordered for something much more trivial than this. Do you still wish us to write this down and inform King Bādhān of what you have just said?” Rasūlullāhﷺ said, “Yes. Tell him also on my behalf that my religion and my kingdom will replace that of Kisrā and will sweep all before it. Tell him also that if he accepts Islām, I will give him what he has now under his authority and will make him a ruler in the area he now governs.” And then he gave them a gift and ordered them to leave. Whenever a delegation was received, the tradition is that you give them something as a gift.
[So] like what we saw before, they told Rasūlullāhﷺ, “What you are saying is very dangerous; to claim that Kisrā has been killed is very dangerous. We have instructions to arrest you for something less, and this crime is very grave; do you know the consequences of what you are saying?” Rasūlullāhﷺ told them, “Yes, and also go and tell him this, that my kingdom will take over his.” They went back to Bādhān, and Bādhān said, “These words are not the words of a king, these are words of a Prophet, but let us wait and see.” Let us wait until we see if there is any news that will reach about Kisrā. A while later – because it takes a long time for a message to be dispatched – they received information that Kisrā was killed the same exact night that was told by Rasūlullāhﷺ. Bādhān became Muslim; he knew that this was a miracle from Allāh and this was Rasūlullāh so he became Muslim and that was the beginning of the spread of Islām in Yemen.
The new Kisrā – this Kisrā that is now ruling – he is the one who killed his father. He sent a letter to Bādhān telling him, “I have killed my father because of what he has done to our noblemen, and I want you to stop doing anything regarding the Prophet whom my father sent you a letter to arrest.” When Kisrā [the father] received the letter of Rasūlullāhﷺ, what did he do? He tore it apart. Rasūlullāhﷺ said, “Mazzaqallāhu Mulkah – Allāh will tear apart his kingdom,” and that is what happened; the Muslims conquered the entire kingdom of the Persian Empire, the Empire of Kisrā.
16.2.4 Al-Muqawqas – The Ruler of Egypt
The next letter was sent to Al-Muqawqas, the ruler of Egypt, and this letter was sent with Hātib Ibn Abī Balta‘ah. The letter read:
In the name of Allāh, the Merciful, the Beneficent.
From Muhammad Ibn ‘Abdillāh to Al-Muqawqas – the Great of the Copts Peace be to those who follow right Guidance. I wish to convey to you the Message of Islām. Accept Islām and you will be safe. Accept it and Allāh will double your reward. Should you turn your back on it, you will bear the responsibility for the Copts.
“O People of the Scripture, come to a word that is equitable between us and you – that we will not worship except Allāh and not associate anything with Him and not take one another as lords instead of Allāh.” But if they turn away, then say, “Bear witness that we are Muslims [submitting to Him].” Āl-‘Imrān: 64
Al-Muqawqas said, “I have questions for you and would like you to help me reach understanding.” Hātib said, “Please ask.” Al-Muqawqas said, “Tell me about your master, is he not a Prophet?” Hātib said, “He is indeed.” Al-Muqawqas said, “Then why, if he is so, why did he not pray to have his people destroyed since they evicted him from his country to another?” He said since he is a Prophet why did he not make Du‘ā’ to Allāh to destroy the people of Makkah when they had driven him out of Makkah? Hātib said, “Take Jesus, the son of Mary; do you not bear witness that he is the Messenger of Allāh?” Al-Muqawqas said, “Yes, indeed I do.” Hātib said, “Well what about him? When his people took him and wanted to crucify him, could he not have prayed for the destruction of his people when Allāh raised him up to the lower heaven?” Al-Muqawqas said, “You are a wise man who has come from a wise man. These are presents I am dispatching with you to Muhammadﷺ, and I am sending with you a guard who will conduct you to safe haven.”
So his response was polite but he did not become Muslim. He sent with Hātib – according to some narrations two and according to some narrations three – slave-girls, very valuable and precious slave-girls from among the Copts. One of them was Māriyyah whom Rasūlullāhﷺ married, and she gave birth to Ibrāhīm, the son of Muhammadﷺ who died in young age. The other one was given to Hassān Bin Thābit. And he also gave Muhammadﷺ his Baghlah – mule, her name was Duldul, and he gave Muhammadﷺ some other valuable gifts.
These are the letters that were sent. There was also a letter that was sent to An-Najāshī, and another letter sent to the King of Ghassān. These are the letters that Rasūlullāhﷺ sent to the kings in the surrounding area, and we have seen what the response was, each response was different; the response of Kisrā was the worst and the response of An- Najāshī was the best since he accepted Islām [as mentioned in the Makkan Period]. And then you have Hiraql and Al-Muqawqas; they were polite but they did not become Muslim.
Books of Muslims 