THE APOSTLE had sent Harith ibn ‘Umayr al-Azdi to deliver his letter to Shurahbil ibn ‘Amr al-Ghassāni, a satrap of the Byzantine Emperor at Busrā.[1] Harith was first tied up under the order of Shurahbil and then beheaded.[2] It had never been the custom of kings to condemn envoys to death, however disagreeable the message they had conveyed. The crime dishonoured both the sender of the letter and the recipient, in addition to danger it meant for the envoy, and could not go unpunished. The guilt of blood bade to be avenged with firmness so that no tyrant dared repeat the crime in future.
FIRST EXPEDITION TO THE BYZANTINE TERRITORY
The Apostle decided to send a detachment to Busrā in Jumādā ‘l-Ūlā, 8 AH. A force 3,000 strong was drafted. It was the strongest force sent out so far and a number of leading companions had enlisted for active service, but the Apostle gave its command to his freed slave Zayd ibn Hārithah. He also instructed that if Zayd were killed then Jāfar ibn Abū Ṭāib would take the command, and if he were also slain then the command would pass on to ‘Abdullah ibn Rawāhah. When the expedition got ready to depart, the people bade farewell and saluted the commanders selected by the Apostle.[3] The force had to undertake a long and arduous journey and to face an enemy backed by the strongest empire of the time.
The force advanced to Ma’ān in Syria where Zayd came to know that Heraclius was present at Balqā with a hundred thousand Roman troops joined by an equally strong force drawn from the Arab tribes of Lakhm and Judhām and Bulqīn and Bahrā and Baliyy. The Muslims camped for two days at Ma’ān, pondering over the situation. They decided at last to inform the Apostle about the strength of the enemy; if he sent reinforcements, well and good, otherwise they would face the enemy, if so ordered.[4]
DAUNTLESS WARRIORS
Abdullah ibn Rawāḥah made an impassioned speech encouraging his comrades. He said: “Men, you dislike the thing, by God, for which you came out-martyrdom. We do not fight the enemy on the strength of our numbers, or our power; we fight them with the religion with which God has honoured us. So come forth, we shall be winners either way: we win or we court martyrdom.” So the men got up and forged ahead to meet the enemy.
ACTION STARTS
When the Muslims reached near Balqā, they found the Byzantine forces stationed in a village called Mashārif. With the news of the arrival of Muslim forces, the enemy advanced towards them, and the Muslim troops took up their position in a village called Mu’tah where battle commenced.[5]
Zayd ibn Hārithah, who held the Apostle’s standard, descended on the enemy and died fighting bravely. He received innumerable wounds with spears. Ja’far now took the standard in hand and led the fight. When the battle closed in, he jumped off his charger and hamstrung its forelegs, and fought until he lost his right hand. He took the standard in his left hand but when it was also cut off, he caught hold of the standard with his teeth. He fell down dead in the battlefield after receiving ninety cuts from swords and spears on his chest and arms, but none on his back.[6] He was then 33 years of age.[7] Thus fought this young man with reckless courage in the face of great odds, defying the enemy’s numbers and strength, until he was honoured by God with martyrdom.
The Apostle’s standard was then held aloft by Abdullah ibn Rawāḥah . He too dismounted from his horse and pressed onwards. One of ‘Abdullah’s cousins came up to him with a meat bone, saying, “Take it for you have not had anything for the last few days. It will give you strength to fight.” Abdullah took it and ate a little. Then he threw it away and taking the sword in hand fought bravely until he was also killed.[8]
KHĀLID ASSUMES COMMAND
Now the Muslim troops rallied round Khālid ibn Walīd who took the standard in his hand. With his instinct as a general, Khālid made his way to the south while the enemy forces turned aside towards the north.[9] The day was done by this time and both the forces, tired by the day-long fight, thought it prudent to stop the fighting.
Khālid stationed a part of his force at a distance from his camp in the still of night. At the first flush of morning the detachment set apart by Khālid started shouting cries of war which gave an impression to the enemy that fresh reinforcements had arrived from Madinah. The enemy had had the experience of fighting the small force of 3,000 Muslims the previous day. Now they dared not fight them again strengthened by additional troops. The Roman soldier was disheartened and did not take the field. Muslims were thus spared the trouble of putting up a fight again.[10]
A GLIMPSE OF THE BATTLEFIELD
While the Muslims had been engaged in fighting the enemy at Mu’tah, the Apostle was describing the conflict in Madinah. Anas ibn Mālik relates that the Messenger of God announced the death of Zayd, Jāfar and ‘Abdullah ibn Rawāḥah before the report about them reached Madinah. Anas reports that the Apostle said: “Zayd took the standard and was smitten; then Jāfar took it and was smitten, then Ibn Rawāḥah took it and was smitten”; the tears meanwhile trickling down from his eyes. The Apostle continued, according to Anas, “Finally one of God’s swords [meaning Khalid ibn Walid] took the standard till God granted them success.”[11]
JA’FAR AT-TAYYĀR
Another report about Jāfār says that the Apostle said about him, “Allah has given two wings to Jāfār in place of his arms. He flies in Paradise, wherever he likes.”[12] Thereafter Jāfār came to be known as Jāfār at-Tayyār and Dhū ¹-Janāḥayn, meaning one possessed of two wings.
WORDS, KIND AND COMFORTING
The Apostle went to the house of Jāfār and asked his wife to bring her children. When they were brought the Apostle breathed in their fragrance as tears run down from his eyes. Then he told them about the death of Jāfār. When news about Jāfār reached the Apostle from the front, he sent word to his family, “Prepare food for the family of Jāfār. They will be too shocked to cook their food.” The Prophet’s face at the time reflected his grief.[13]
NOT DESERTERS BUT WARRIORS
When the army returning from Mu’tah drew close to Madinah the Apostle and the Muslims went out to receive them. The boys also came running while the Prophet was on his camel. The Prophet said, “Take the boys and give me Jāfār’s son.” Jāfār’s son ‘Abdullah was brought to the Apostle who seated him before him.
This was the first time that a Muslim army had returned without winning a decisive victory. Some of the people started throwing dust on the men, saying the while, “You runaways you fled from the way of God.” The Apostle said, “They are not runaways but warriors, if God wills.”[14]
SUBSEQUENT EXPEDITIONS
In between the two major expeditions to Mu’tah and Makkah, some smaller expeditions were also undertaken. One of them was the raid of Dhat as-Salasil in the country of Qudāʿah near Wādi al-Qurā, in Jamād al-Ukhrā, 8 AH. The raiding party returned after they destroyed the enemy. Another raiding party consisting of 300 Ansār and Mūhājirin was sent under Abū ‘Ubaydah ibn al-Jarrāh ā, to Najd. The party was sent to chastise a clan of Juhaynah. The army was exhausted with hunger and had to live for a few days on the leaves of the trees until God brought them a whale named “Anbar” from the sea. The men spent about fifteen days on the flesh and fat of the whale and regained their strength. They brought back a portion of it, which the Apostle took and said to the men, “God sent it for you.”[15] This expedition goes by the names of Sif al-Bahr and Khabat.
***
[1] Mu’tah lies 12 km. to the south of Karak in Trans-Jordan. Thus Mu’tah is at a distance of about 1,100 km from Madinah. The troops sent for this expedition had to cover the entire distance on horses and camels in an enemy country without any hope of assistance or provision being made available by the local population.
[2] Zād al-Mañd, vol. I, p. 414.
[3] Ibn Hishām, vol. II, p. 373.
[4] Zād al-Ma’ād, vol. I, p. 415.
[5] Ibn Hishām, vol. II, pp. 373-78.
[6] Ibn Kathir, vol. III, p. 474; and Zād al-Ma’ād, vol. I, p. 415.
[7] Zād al-Ma’ād vol. I, p. 415.
[8] Zād al-Ma’ād vol. I, p. 415.
[9] Zād al-Ma’ād vol. I, p. 415; Ibn Hishām, vol. II, p. 379.
[10] Al-Maghāzi li’l-Wāqidi.
[11] Bukhāri: Ghazwah Mu’tah.
[12] Bukhāri: Ghazwah Mu’tah and Zād al-Ma’ād, vol. I, p. 415. Bukhāri relates that “Umar used to greet the son of Jāfār thus: “Peace be on you. O son of the two-winged man.”
[13] Ibn Hishām, vol. II, pp. 380-81.
[14] Mushad Ahmad ibn Hanbal.
[15] Zād al-Ma’ād, vol. I, p. 417; Bukhāri: Ghazwah Sif al-Bahr.
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