We move on to the Battle of Mu'tah — this is the final major incident before the grand finale of the Conquest of Makkah.
Is the Incident of Mu'tah a Ghazwa or a Sariyya?
Now the Battle of Mu'tah has a naming problem: What do we call it? Ghazwa Mu'tah (غزوة مؤتة) or Sariyya Mu'tah (سرية مؤتة)? The majority of scholars call it a ghazwa, but linguistically, this is problematic. Why? Because a ghazwa is an expedition wherein the Prophet PBUH participated, while Mu'tah was not one in which the Prophet PBUH participated. Yet the majority of scholars call it a ghazwa, simply because the quantity of people who participated was far more than the quantity of any other sariyya; and in fact, it was more than most ghazawat. 3,000 sahaba participated in Mu'tah. And this was the only time in the lifetime of the Prophet PBUH that the Muslims fought against the Romans. It was a hugely significant battle, and therefore, early scholars called it a ghazwa. However, later scholars, for consistency, refer to it as a sariyya.
Note the sahaba called it Jaysh al-Umara (جيش الأمراء - the Army of Leaders). Why? Because in no other battle did the Prophet PBUH appoint more leaders than he did for Mu'tah. Three leaders he appointed one after the other.
And others called it Waq'at al-Mu'tah (وقعة المؤتة - the Incident of Mu'tah).
So we either call it Sariyya Mu'tah, Jaysh al-Umara, or Waq'at al-Mu'tah; not ghazwa.
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What is Mu'tah?
What is Mu'tah? It's the name of a small village and the land around it in an area that used to be in the Roman province. It's currently in Jordan. It occurs between the two famous cities Amman (عمان) and al-Karak (الكرك) in Jordan. Modern Arabs call it "al-Mazar (المزار)" meaning "mausoleum" because the three sahaba who died being leaders are buried there.
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Why Did the Battle of Mu'tah Take Place?
Why did Mu'tah take place? Frankly, the answer to this question is not easy. We don't seem to have precise details as to the reasons. Scholars have tried to piece together the reasons:
1. The earliest reason is given by al-Waqidi who says the reason why Mu'tah took place was revenge for the killing of al-Harith ibn Umayr al-Azdi (الحارث بن عمير الأزدي), the messenger (envoy) of the Prophet PBUH. He had been sent to deliver a message to the Romans, and he passed by the Ghassanid tribe (غساسنة - the largest Arab Christian tribe, originally from Yemen). Because they were Christians, they felt more of an affinity with the Romans than they did with their fellow Arabs who were pagans. And they were the Arab vassals to the Romans — if the Romans needed anything in the Arab lands, they would designate the Ghassanids, "You go take care of this" — and in return, the Ghassanids had favor from the Romans. And al-Harith was captured by the Ghassanids; they took him to their chieftain, Shurahbil ibn Amr (شرحبيل بن عمرو), and he asked al-Harith, "Who are you?" Al-Harith said, "I am the envoy of Prophet Muhammad PBUH. Here is my letter to Heraclius — you must let me go."
But Shurahbil mocked him, tortured him, and then with his own hands killed him. And this is a very vulgar thing to do on many counts. Firstly, al-Harith is an envoy — and to this day, envoys and messengers are NOT touched; they are never killed. And secondly, worse than this is the fact that the chieftain does it himself — this is a full mockery of the Prophet PBUH and Islam. He himself took the spear and thrusted it into al-Harith after he was brutally tortured. You cannot get more vulgar than what he did. His perspective is, "What are you going to do to me?" He was far up north, he was a chieftain, and he thought he was untouchable. This is the height of insult and arrogance, and it had to be responded to. Therefore, the Prophet PBUH sent an army to the Ghassanids.
2. The second reason which doesn't seem to have much evidence is that it's said the governor of Bosra had threatened the Muslims after the letter had reached Heraclius through him.
3. Ibn Kathir mentions another reason, which is not quite a "reason," but rather a "wisdom" —and there is a difference between a "cause" and an "effect," and this seems to be an "effect" of the battle rather than the "cause"—: is that this battle was preparation for the later battles against the Romans. The Prophet PBUH wanted to send a message to the world, and especially to the sahaba, that Islam is a global Message and it must spread outside the Arabian Peninsula. So the Battle of Mu'tah [8 AH] is a prelude, and it was then followed by the Battle of Tabuk [9 AH] in which the Prophet PBUH did participate. Tabuk was also meant against the Romans. Now note Mu'tah wasn't directly against the Romans —it was against the Ghassanids— but the point is if you are messing with the Ghassanids, you are messing with their allies, i.e., the Romans. Even though the Prophet PBUH did not anticipate the Romans coming to Mu'tah, he knew what he was getting into. And the following battle, the Battle of Tabuk was clearly intended against the Romans (but, as we know, the Romans didn't show up). So the point is, it's as if the Prophet PBUH is telling the sahaba: "When you finish up with the Arabian Peninsula, you need to go beyond" — and the number one target is al-Sham. And this is why the very first land conquered after the death of the Prophet PBUH was al-Sham. So Mu'tah was like the first domino, then Tabuk, and so on. So Ibn Kathir says the wisdom of Mu'tah was the psychological foundation laid for the sahaba to take over the Romans.
4. One can also derive that there is a divine wisdom, and that is that Khalid ibn al-Walid, who will eventually become the general and the commander of the Muslims, manages to witness the tactics of the Romans first-hand. He gets a whiff of their methodology. And the experience he gained was invaluable for future conquests. And indeed, it was Khalid ibn al-Walid who led the Muslims to conquer most of the lands after the death of the Prophet PBUH.
The point is Mu'tah wasn't something immediate in defense of an enemy attack. It was for revenge for al-Harith; or the Prophet PBUH wanted to set the ground for future conquests; or he wanted to do both. Allah knows best.
But Shurahbil mocked him, tortured him, and then with his own hands killed him. And this is a very vulgar thing to do on many counts. Firstly, al-Harith is an envoy — and to this day, envoys and messengers are NOT touched; they are never killed. And secondly, worse than this is the fact that the chieftain does it himself — this is a full mockery of the Prophet PBUH and Islam. He himself took the spear and thrusted it into al-Harith after he was brutally tortured. You cannot get more vulgar than what he did. His perspective is, "What are you going to do to me?" He was far up north, he was a chieftain, and he thought he was untouchable. This is the height of insult and arrogance, and it had to be responded to. Therefore, the Prophet PBUH sent an army to the Ghassanids.
2. The second reason which doesn't seem to have much evidence is that it's said the governor of Bosra had threatened the Muslims after the letter had reached Heraclius through him.
3. Ibn Kathir mentions another reason, which is not quite a "reason," but rather a "wisdom" —and there is a difference between a "cause" and an "effect," and this seems to be an "effect" of the battle rather than the "cause"—: is that this battle was preparation for the later battles against the Romans. The Prophet PBUH wanted to send a message to the world, and especially to the sahaba, that Islam is a global Message and it must spread outside the Arabian Peninsula. So the Battle of Mu'tah [8 AH] is a prelude, and it was then followed by the Battle of Tabuk [9 AH] in which the Prophet PBUH did participate. Tabuk was also meant against the Romans. Now note Mu'tah wasn't directly against the Romans —it was against the Ghassanids— but the point is if you are messing with the Ghassanids, you are messing with their allies, i.e., the Romans. Even though the Prophet PBUH did not anticipate the Romans coming to Mu'tah, he knew what he was getting into. And the following battle, the Battle of Tabuk was clearly intended against the Romans (but, as we know, the Romans didn't show up). So the point is, it's as if the Prophet PBUH is telling the sahaba: "When you finish up with the Arabian Peninsula, you need to go beyond" — and the number one target is al-Sham. And this is why the very first land conquered after the death of the Prophet PBUH was al-Sham. So Mu'tah was like the first domino, then Tabuk, and so on. So Ibn Kathir says the wisdom of Mu'tah was the psychological foundation laid for the sahaba to take over the Romans.
4. One can also derive that there is a divine wisdom, and that is that Khalid ibn al-Walid, who will eventually become the general and the commander of the Muslims, manages to witness the tactics of the Romans first-hand. He gets a whiff of their methodology. And the experience he gained was invaluable for future conquests. And indeed, it was Khalid ibn al-Walid who led the Muslims to conquer most of the lands after the death of the Prophet PBUH.
The point is Mu'tah wasn't something immediate in defense of an enemy attack. It was for revenge for al-Harith; or the Prophet PBUH wanted to set the ground for future conquests; or he wanted to do both. Allah knows best.
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Leaving for Mu'tah
In Jumada al-Awwal of the 8th year of the Hijrah, the Prophet PBUH made an announcement that he wanted the Muslims to go to the Ghassanids. And there was no ambiguity — it would take them at least a month of traveling, so he PBUH told them where they were going. And he encouraged them to volunteer, and around 3,000 sahaba signed up. Notice how quickly the numbers are changing. 6 years ago in Badr, the number was 1/10th. In 6 years, the number has increased 10-fold. In fact, in Hudaybiyyah, we only had 1,400 — and within one year, it doubled. And this is only the volunteers. In Madinah, there are hundreds more. Thus, we can see that Madinah and the Muslim empire is becoming larger and larger.
So 3,000 signed up, and they left on a Friday in Jumada al-Awwal of 8 AH. We know it's Friday as Ibn Abbas narrated, "I said to myself, 'Should I leave with them (the Muslim army) or pray with the Prophet PBUH Jumu'ah first?'" The army was leaving in the morning, and Ibn Abbas was debating whether he should pray Jumu'ah and catch up to them or leave with them in the morning. And he decided to wait and pray Jumu'ah with the Prophet PBUH. When he finished, the Prophet PBUH saw him in the masjid —and he PBUH knew Ibn Abbas had signed up to go— so he asked him, "What is the matter with you? Why didn't you go?" Ibn Abbas said, "Ya Rasulullah, I wanted to pray with you and then catch up with them"—he thought he wanted to get extra reward by praying Jumu'ah. But the Prophet PBUH said, "If you were to give sadaqa of all of the money of this world, you will not be able to get the reward of that having left early with them." Meaning he gave up the bigger reward of leaving early for a smaller reward.
And as we know, the Prophet PBUH appointed three commanders one after the other for Mu'tah. This was the only time he did this in his entire life. This indicates the Prophet PBUH understood the severity of the battle. He understood it was not easy and something bad might happen. He appointed first Zayd ibn Harithah as its leader, and he said, "If Zayd is killed, then Ja'far ibn Abi Talib shall be in charge. And if Ja'far is killed, then Abdullah ibn Rawahah (عبد الله بن رواحة) shall be in charge"—this is recorded in Bukhari. In one version in al-Bayhaqi, it is added, "And if Abdullah ibn Rawahah is killed, then let the Muslims choose somebody else." So he gave this command as well.
So 3,000 signed up, and they left on a Friday in Jumada al-Awwal of 8 AH. We know it's Friday as Ibn Abbas narrated, "I said to myself, 'Should I leave with them (the Muslim army) or pray with the Prophet PBUH Jumu'ah first?'" The army was leaving in the morning, and Ibn Abbas was debating whether he should pray Jumu'ah and catch up to them or leave with them in the morning. And he decided to wait and pray Jumu'ah with the Prophet PBUH. When he finished, the Prophet PBUH saw him in the masjid —and he PBUH knew Ibn Abbas had signed up to go— so he asked him, "What is the matter with you? Why didn't you go?" Ibn Abbas said, "Ya Rasulullah, I wanted to pray with you and then catch up with them"—he thought he wanted to get extra reward by praying Jumu'ah. But the Prophet PBUH said, "If you were to give sadaqa of all of the money of this world, you will not be able to get the reward of that having left early with them." Meaning he gave up the bigger reward of leaving early for a smaller reward.
And as we know, the Prophet PBUH appointed three commanders one after the other for Mu'tah. This was the only time he did this in his entire life. This indicates the Prophet PBUH understood the severity of the battle. He understood it was not easy and something bad might happen. He appointed first Zayd ibn Harithah as its leader, and he said, "If Zayd is killed, then Ja'far ibn Abi Talib shall be in charge. And if Ja'far is killed, then Abdullah ibn Rawahah (عبد الله بن رواحة) shall be in charge"—this is recorded in Bukhari. In one version in al-Bayhaqi, it is added, "And if Abdullah ibn Rawahah is killed, then let the Muslims choose somebody else." So he gave this command as well.
And this shows us the status of these three sahaba. All three were incredibly near and dear to the Prophet PBUH. Especially Zayd ibn Harithah, that sahabi who has the honor of being the only sahabi whose name is in the Quran. That sahabi whom Aisha RA herself said, "Never did the Prophet PBUH send Zayd on an expedition except that Zayd was in charge." Zayd was never number two in any sariyya. And Aisha RA also said, "If Zayd had been alive when the Prophet PBUH had died, no one would have been chosen above him." Subhan'Allah. This is amazing because, who is Aisha? The daughter of Abu Bakr. And yet she herself is saying if Zayd was alive, no one would have been chosen above him, not even her own father.
So Zayd, Ja'far, and Abdullah ibn Rawahah were chosen one after the other — and the Prophet PBUH gave them a white flag — and the white flag did not mean "surrender" like it does today in the West.
And he PBUH accompanied the army all the way to the standard place where every group would bid farewell to their travelers. It's called the Hill of Farewell, also known as Thaniyat al-Wada' (ثنية الوداع). Every single traveler who went out of Madinah [to the north] would be accompanied by their family to this place. And it was the Prophet's PBUH sunnah to accompany his armies to this hill. (Trivia: The famous poem of Thaniyat al-Wada was said during the return from the Battle of Tabuk [9 AH], and not when the Prophet PBUH made Hijrah to Madinah [see episode 30].)
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Abdullah ibn Rawahah RA
So the Prophet PBUH sends the army forward, gives them the banner, and gives them advice not to turn back, and be firm. Abdullah ibn Rawahah was seen crying, so someone asked him, "Why are you crying?" He said, "I am not crying out of a love for this world, nor am I crying because I have an inclination for it. I am crying thinking of the verse in the Quran, 'Every one of you shall pass over it (Jahannam). And this is a promise of Allah that will be enacted' [see Quran, 19:71]." So he began crying out of fear of crossing over the sirat (صراط - bridge) of Jahannam. And he said, "What will I do in that crossing?" So we find the sahaba were emotional.
One of those remaining behind cried out, "May Allah accompany you and allow you to return safely and soundly!" And Ibn Rawahah versified in a beautiful poetry, "As for me, I ask for Allah's forgiveness, and a blow that is mighty that causes the blood to gush out, so that when people pass by my grave, they shall say, 'Allah guided him to be a warrior, and how rightly guided he was.'"
Ibn Ishaq mentions a famous story that occurred on the journey to Mu'tah. Zayd ibn Arqam [a famous young sahabi — see episodes 47 & 55] was an orphan who Abdullah ibn Rawahah took care of, and so Zayd grew up in his house. And Zayd ibn Arqam is riding on the camel of Ibn Rawahah and he is around 15-16 years old. In the middle of the night, Ibn Rawahah gives poetry, the gist of it is, "Let me die, O Allah, and be a shaheed" — and the poetry is so moving that Zayd ibn Arqam bursts into tears. So Abdullah ibn Rawahah jokingly hits Zayd ibn Arqam and says, "O foolish one," in a friendly way, and says, "What would it matter you if I become a shaheed and Allah blesses me, and you get the camel to yourself on the way back?" Subhan'Allah. And as we know, this is exactly what happened.
Who is Abdullah ibn Rawahah? Firstly, he is an Ansari. He participated in the Treaty of Aqaba — the Ansaris who participated in the Aqaba are amongst the elite of the Ansar; and he is amongst those. And he was the one whom the Prophet PBUH sent back from Badr to give the good news that Badr was a success. And when the munafiqun saw Abdullah ibn Rawahah on the camel of the Prophet PBUH running into Madinah overjoyed that, "Abu Jahal has died! So-and-so has died!", the munafiqun said, "Rather, Muhammad has died and Ibn Rawahah has gone crazy." Ibn Rawahah was another famed poet along with Hassan ibn Thabit — but he died an early death, so Hassan is more known to us even though in his lifetime, Ibn Rawahah was more famous, and he was of a different level in terms of piety.
There are many things mentioned about Ibn Rawahah. In one hadith, the Prophet PBUH said, "What a great man Abdullah ibn Rawahah is." Also, he was the one who once when the Prophet PBUH was giving a khutbah and a delegation or something came and the Prophet PBUH said, "Sit down," he was just entering the masjid and he heard the Prophet PBUH say, "Sit down," so at the door of the masjid he literally sat down then and there without understanding the context. He is the embodiment of "we-hear-and-we-obey." And the Prophet PBUH smiled and made du'a for him.
And in Umrah al-Qada, Ibn Rawahah was the one singing lines of poetry about the Prophet PBUH against the Quraysh. And Umar RA, as is his usual case, was very strict in this regard, so he said, "O Ibn Rawahah, how dare you sing poetry in front of the Prophet PBUH while in the state of ihram while in Makkah?!" To which, the Prophet PBUH said, "Let him be. For verily, his words are more painful to the Quraysh than arrows coming from the heavens." And of course, poetry was a weapon back then.
This is Abdullah ibn Rawahah. He has a huge stellar legacy. And even in this battle, he has eloquent poetry recorded to this day.
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Preparations of the Ghassanids
The Muslims are on their way to what is now Jordan — they march to the land of Ma'an (معان). And it appears the Ghassanids panicked —they heard the Muslims were coming— so they sent out emissaries to every one of their Christian allies: Lakhm (لخم), Judham (جذام), al-Qayn (القين), Bahra (بهراء), Bali (بلي), and also to the Romans. One or two early seerah books make a mistake and say that Heraclius himself responded and came down to fight — but this is a clear error, because we know that Heraclius himself never fought the Muslims. And even later on, when the conquest of Jerusalem [15 AH] took place, he never participated directly against the Muslims. How could he when he knew that the Prophet PBUH was a true Messenger of God? His generals, armies, lieutenants, all faced the Muslims; but he himself never fought.
So Arab Christian tribes all gathered together, and the Romans sent a small contingent as well. All these tribes gathered before the Muslims entered Mu'tah — the Muslims were still a few days away, so the Ghassanids took precautions, and thousands gathered to fight. How many? The standard number mentioned is 100,000, and other books mention 150,000 — however, the fact is we need to be more critical. The Arab tribes in totality did not number 100,000, so it's impossible for the army to be 100,000. Also, the Romans never even sent 100,000 against the Persians, so why would they send that many against the Muslims who were nothing to them? The Muslims weren't viewed as an international threat yet at this point. One modern scholar estimates a maximum of 10,000 people fought against the Muslims. Most likely, 1,000 were from the Romans, and the rest were made up of the Arab Christian tribes.
Now that the Romans are involved, we have records from the Romans' side about this battle. We actually have this battle mentioned in the Roman books [will be discussed in the next episode]. So in summary, at max, there were 10,000 — the point is no doubt the Muslims were outnumbered far more than they expected.
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Muslims Overwhelmed
So when the news reached the Muslim camp, they began to wonder, "What should we do?" And they in fact camped for two days not proceeding, discussing back and forth that the plan was to just fight the Ghassanids who numbered max 5,000, but now they have double the quantity — and on top of this, the Romans are involved. Why are they 'so worried' about the Romans? Because the Romans are a totally different fighting breed with superior armories, better horses, better weapons, and better trained. They are a different class of fighters. And the sahaba know this. So one group said, "Let us camp here and send a messenger back to the Prophet PBUH and get his command. Either he will send more people or he will tell us to retreat or he will tell us to go — we will do whatever he wants." (Side note: They are already in Jordan, so for them to send a messenger all the way down and then all the way back up, this will take at least two weeks.) Another group said, "We didn't come for this. Let us go back. Because we have come to this land, shown our force, stepped in their territory, and frightened them; so mission accomplished."
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Victory or Martyrdom
Zayd ibn Harithah asked Abdullah ibn Rawahah, "What is your opinion?" (Side note: This shows us that at times of difficulty, you must turn to the senior members with wisdom, not novices.) Throughout the journey, Ibn Rawahah has said, "I'm going to die a shaheed," so there's no doubt Zayd knows what he will say — but he is asking in order to convince the rest of the sahaba — because Ibn Rawahah has a better tongue than him. So Ibn Rawahah, the most eloquent of the group, stood up and gave a moving speech, "O my people, what you are scared of is exactly what you are after." Subhan'Allah, beautiful way to begin. He is saying, "You are scared of dying, but isn't that why we are here? To die a shaheed? Isn't that the ultimate goal?" And he says, "What is the matter with us? Allah will bless us with one of two things: either victory or shahada (martyrdom). And we know that Allah does not help us through quantity or weapons, but rather, through our Islam that He has blessed us with. So let us go forth and face one of the two inevitable realities."
So after this, everyone decided to go forth and face the Romans and the Arab Christians. They continued moving onwards and passed by a village, and its inhabitants knew what was going on, so they showered the back of the Muslim army with arrows, and a number of sahaba were injured, and one of them died. And this was at the back of the Muslim army, so some of them went forward and told Zayd, "Let us go back and fight the village!"—and for sure they could have defeated the village, but Zayd said, "No, for the enemy is in front of us, and I don't want to be sidetracked into another battle that will wound, tire out, and separate us before we meet the big enemy." So he refused and moved onwards north. And eventually, it was the Muslims who chose the battlefield — it was a large plain called Mu'tah. We have to guess why this land was chosen. (Again, because the Prophet PBUH himself is not involved in this battle, we have considerably fewer hadiths and narrations regarding it. The whole battle is just recorded in a page or two of narrations.) They probably chose Mu'tah for logistical reasons. And one thing we know for sure is they definitely chose Mu'tah for ease of access to water, since there was a river near Mu'tah. Also, probably because there was a line of retreat that they could depend on and take advantage of if needed. And indeed, as we will see in the next episode, Khalid ibn al-Walid utilized this path when he decided the Muslims must retreat. But was this the reason Zayd chose Mu'tah? We don't know. In any case, ultimately, the land did have such a retreating path.
As always, the Muslims divided themselves into three groups: middle, right, and left. Al-Waqidi reports Abu Hurairah was a part of the battle — and this is his first battle. (Side note: Even though he is a narrator of hadith, he also fought in battles.) So his eyes opened up wide when he saw the army in front. One of the sahaba said, "What is the matter with you, O Abu Hurairah? Are you shocked at how large the army is?" He said, "Yes." The sahabi said, "But you were not with us at Badr. And let me tell you we did not win because of the size of our army." Subhan'Allah. Look at their Iman and their confidence that they will win. They are not walking into a suicide. They are not thinking, "Because we are 3,000 and they are 10,000, we will lose." No. They believe they will win. And this is the attitude of a Muslim. Here is Mu'tah which is one of the most difficult battles, yet the view of the sahaba is "we will win." And note, wanting shahada is not the same as suicide. Ibn Rawahah wants shahada, but he fights a vicious battle. They are two different things.
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The Battle of Mu'tah
Zayd ibn Harithah gave the command to charge, and he was holding the flag — because the Prophet PBUH gave him the flag personally. It's a matter of responsibility. And he was attacked from every side until he was surrounded by the enemy. And he met his death surrounded by a whole flank of non-Muslims. When he was killed, Ja'far took the flag, and he fought one of the most vicious fights ever recorded. The bravery of Ja'far at Mu'tah is almost unparalleled by any sahabi in any battle. He charged in with his horse, fought valiantly, until someone cut his horse's legs off. The horse fell forward and he rolled over. He then stood up and was surrounded by non-Muslims. While holding onto the flag, he fought the people around him single-handedly. Despite being stabbed repeatedly, he continued fighting back. Eventually, someone surprised him and cut off his entire right hand, which held the flag. Before the flag could hit the ground, his left hand swooped down and caught it. He stood there with one hand holding the flag — but out of pride, the other group chopped off his left hand. This time, the flag fell to the ground — but he bent down and, using his two stumps, placed it on his chest to raise the flag again. Until finally, a Roman infantry soldier cut him in half from behind. And after the battle, with great difficulty, the sahaba found him buried under a lot of bodies. Ibn Umar narrated, "I participated in Mu'tah — and afterward, we went hunting for the body of Ja'far. And we finally found his body in the middle of the dead. We counted over 90 stabs and wounds and marks and cuts across his entire body. 50 in the front and 40 in the back." This means literally Ibn Umar counted the wounds on Ja'far's body. Why? To show the bravery and honor of Ja'far. And both of his hands were cut off — so, it's recorded in Sahih Bukhari that whenever Ibn Umar passed by the children of Ja'far, he would say, "Assalamu'alaykum, O sons of the Dhi al-Janahayn (ذي الجناحين - One With Two Wings)." And there are many ahadith —which put together become hasan— that the Prophet PBUH said, "I saw Ja'far in Jannah, and Allah has given him two wings instead of his hands, and he is flying around anywhere he wants." So if somebody asks, "Who is the One With Two Wings?" the answer is Ja'far ibn Abi Talib RA.
When Ja'far died, Ibn Rawahah took the flag. And one of the people who were on the battlefield narrates this to us later on, that before Ibn Rawahah plunged in, he hesitated and paused. And, subhan'Allah, on the battlefield, on the spur of the moment, he versified poetry. And note he's been waiting for death this whole journey, yet when he sees it, he pauses. And he versifies, "I swear, O my soul, you shall proceed or I will force you to proceed. The people have gathered, the clamor has risen, but what is the matter with you? You don't want Jannah? Surely, what you have desired has eluded you for too long. What are you, O Ibn Rawahah, except a drop of despised fluid put in a bag?" He is telling his soul, "What's the matter? Why are you scared now? This is what you have been waiting for! Jannah is around the corner!" And he then jumped into the ranks and died a shaheed. And this shows us something so beautiful and so human. This is what makes the sahaba the sahaba. And what is that? That they are not angels. Ibn Rawahah has been wanting shahada for this whole journey, yet when it is right in front of him, he hesitates. Subhan'Allah. What is bravery? It's to conquer your fear. It's not to not feel fear. If you didn't feel fear, you are not a human. Bravery is to conquer your fear. Ibn Rawahah feels the fear, then what happens? He conquers it. His Iman overcomes the fear and he dies a shaheed.
Thabit ibn Arqam (ثابت بن أرقم), a famous Badri from the Ansar, jumped in when the flag fell, grabbed it, ran out of the melee, and took refuge in a small area behind the army. Note it is allowed in our religion to turn your back on the battlefield if you are trying to regroup, as Allah says in Surah al-Anfal [see Quran, 8:16]. So he turned his back because he wanted to get the flag to safety. Once he reached a safer area about 50 meters away from the battlefield, he shouted out, "O Muslims! Come quickly!" He had the flag in his hands, but the sahaba noticed he was not Zayd, Ja'far, nor Ibn Rawahah — so it was clear that they were all dead. When a group gathered around him, he said, "Quickly! Choose a leader amongst you!" Someone suggested, "YOU be the leader!" He responded, "No way! Not me!" So they looked around, and their eyes settled on the one who was the newest among them to Islam, having accepted it barely a month or two earlier — someone who had been their most avowed enemy and had caused them the most damage in Uhud —but Islam forgives everything— so all eyes turned to Khalid ibn al-Walid. When Khalid saw this, he said, "How could I?" i.e., "I am who I am." But they insisted, so Khalid took the flag. We will discuss this in the next episode.
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The Emotional Aftermath of the Battle of Mu'tah
Now, as all this is unfolding in Mu'tah, simultaneously, the Prophet PBUH in Madinah is vividly describing every single detail of the battle. Obviously, this is a miracle from Allah SWT. All the sahaba in Madinah have gathered, and he PBUH is telling them in graphic detail exactly what is happening in Mu'tah. And this hadith is in Sahih Bukhari and Muslim, so it's fully authentic. Anas ibn Malik narrates, "The Prophet PBUH told us about the deaths of Zayd, Ja'far, and Ibn Rawahah before the news reached us"—meaning before the messengers came from the battle. And he said, "The Prophet PBUH told us, 'Zayd took the flag and he was killed. Ja'far took it and he was killed. And Ibn Rawahah took it and he was killed.' And his PBUH eyes were crying — until he said, 'A Sword from the Swords of Allah took it (took the flag) and Allah gave him victory at his hands.'"
Also in Bukhari, Aisha RA narrates, "When the news of the death of Zayd, Ja'far, and Ibn Rawahah came, the Prophet PBUH sat down — and grief was clearly visible from him." Subhan'Allah, he is so emotionally hurt that now he has to physically sit down. Can you imagine the pain? And we all know Zayd ibn Harithah, the one whom when his own father and uncle came to free him, he willingly chose to remain with the Prophet PBUH, and said to him PBUH, "I can never choose anyone over you, for you are to me more than a father and uncle combined." And when his father heard this, he said, "O Zayd, have you gone crazy? You will choose to be a slave in a strange land, and refuse to come with your own father to your own tribe?" And Zayd says, "I know what I have said. I have seen from this man (the Prophet PBUH) that which no other man has done." And when he said this, that was when the Prophet PBUH took him as Zayd ibn Muhammad [see episode 10]. And this very Zayd ibn Harithah has just been killed. Then Ja'far ibn Abi Talib, the one whom the Prophet PBUH stood up and kissed when he came back from Abyssinia, and said, "I don't know which of the two things is making me happier today: the conquest of Khaybar or the return of Ja'far" [see episode 68]. And he has just been killed. And Abdullah ibn Rawahah, this sahabi who has been with him from the beginning in Madinah, has also just died. So he literally sits down, visibly grieved.
And Aisha is seeing all this —and she is hurt like every wife would be when her husband is hurt— and says, "I was looking at him PBUH from the corner of the house, and a man came to him PBUH and said, 'Ya Rasulullah, the women of Ja'far,' and he mentioned their crying. So the Prophet PBUH told the man, 'Go back and tell them to stop.' So the man went, but [after a while,] he came back and said, 'Ya Rasulullah, I stopped them,' then he mentioned that they didn't listen. So the Prophet PBUH again commanded him. [So he went, but] again, [after a while,] he returned and said, 'Ya Rasulullah, the women have overpowered us.' And so the Prophet PBUH said, 'Then go throw dust into their mouths.'" Hearing all this, Aisha RA gets so irritated at this man, she says to him, "Rather, may Allah throw dust on your nose! For neither have you done this (i.e., stopped the women from crying) nor have you relieved this suffering of the Prophet PBUH!"
Wailing is haram and is a major sin. And the women of Ja'far know this. But as we know, the intellectual capacity to understand does not always offer the emotional strength to stand — it's one thing to say it's haram, but it's one thing to be tested and then pass the test. And for the first time in this household, the man dies and the women are being tested. And they begin wailing. So a man comes and says, "Ya Rasulullah, the women are wailing. What do I do?" (And notice Aisha RA didn't say that the women were 'wailing,' but we know they most definitely were, because otherwise, why would the Prophet PBUH tell them to stop.) So the Prophet PBUH tells them to stop, but for a few times back and forth they didn't stop. What can the Prophet PBUH do? Nothing. So the third time, the Prophet PBUH just said, "Go throw dust into their mouths"—and this is an expression in Arabic; it's not a literal thing; it's just the way the Arabs expressed frustration.
This hadith is so beautiful because it shows us the humanity of the sahaba, and also the pragmatism of the Prophet PBUH. It's haram to wail, but the women are wailing, and the Prophet PBUH has told them a few times to stop, but they don't stop, so what are you going to do then? ... What can you do? And this is the point. There was an element of pragmatism here. He PBUH just said, "Then go throw dust into their mouths"—meaning, "What do you want me to do then?"
The Prophet PBUH is in pain and now this man is coming not acting wisely. Why is it not wise? Because this is not the concern you should bring to the Prophet PBUH at such a moment. It is not something you need to come three times for at the moment. And this is why Aisha RA said to him what she said. And wallahi, this whole incident, we are crying for all of them: the Prophet PBUH, the women of Ja'far, Aisha RA, and also the man. Because all of them have their own personal tragedy taking place.
The Battle of Mu'tah really had a serious psychological blow. The Prophet PBUH lost the most beloved to him, Zayd ibn Harithah, who for all intents and purposes, was his real son. Ibn Abbas says, "I never knew Zayd ibn Muhammad was Zayd ibn Harithah until Allah revealed the verse in Surah al-Ahzab [see Quran, 33:5]." And now he has died. Ja'far has died. And Ibn Rawahah has died.
[Transcribed by Br. Safwan Khan & Faizan]
safwan-khan@hotmail.com
[Revised by Br. Syed Haq & MAR, October 2021]
safwan-khan@hotmail.com
[Revised by Br. Syed Haq & MAR, October 2021]
