In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
An abridgment of the book
Ramadan:
Events and Lessons.
The expedition of Khalid ibn al-Walid, may Allah be pleased with him,
to demolish al-'Uzza.
The Date:
When five nights remained of Ramadan,
in the eighth year of the Hijrah.
The day of the Conquest of Makkah was
a momentous day among
the days of Islam,
and a radiant era upon the horizon of time.
For on this glorious day,
the idols were demolished,
the statues smashed,
the practice of divining
by arrows torn out from the Sacred House,
and Makkah
and its environs purified from the defilement of polytheism
and idolatry.
The Mother of Cities was proclaimed
a land free from
the deities of the pre-Islamic Jahiliyyah,
and enriched with the worship of the oneness of Allah,
the Lord of all creation.
In the Noble Qur'an,
there is frequent mention of
the futility of idol worship,
along with the continuous call
to the oneness of Allah, the Exalted,
and the rejection of every belief
that contradicts it.
Among those gods
worshipped besides Allah, the Exalted,
by the people of Makkah
was al-'Uzza.
Our Lord, Blessed and Exalted is He, says:
"Have you considered al-Lat
and al-'Uzza,
and Manat, the third, the other?
Is the male for you
and for Him the female?
That,
then, is a division
most unfair!
They are not but
names
you have named
them,
you
and your forefathers,
for which
Allah has not sent down
any authority.
They follow not
except assumption
and what desires
the souls,
while there has surely come
to them from their Lord
the guidance."
Ibn Kathir said:
"Al-'Uzza is derived from al-'Aziz (the Mighty),
and it was a tree over which
a structure and curtains had been erected in Nakhlah,
situated between Makkah and at-Ta'if.
Quraysh
used to venerate it,
as Abu Sufyan said on the Day of Uhud:
'We have al-'Uzza,
and you have no 'Uzza!'
So the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:
'Say:
"Allah is our Protector,
and you have no protector."'"
Al-Bukhari narrated from Abu Hurayrah,
may Allah be pleased with him, who said:
The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:
"Whoever swears an oath
and says in his oath,
'By al-Lat and al-'Uzza,'
let him say,
'There is no god worthy of worship except Allah.'
And whoever says to his companion,
'Come, let me gamble with you,'
let him give charity."
This applies to
someone who utters it by a slip of the tongue,
just as their tongues
were accustomed to it during the time of
the Jahiliyyah.
These are the three explicitly mentioned
in His Mighty Book.
He singled this one out for mention—
meaning al-'Uzza—
because it was the most famous among them.
Ibn Ishaq said in the Seerah:
"The Arabs had
taken false deities alongside the Ka'bah,
which were shrines
they venerated just as they venerated the Ka'bah.
They had custodians and gatekeepers,
offerings were dedicated to them
just as offerings were dedicated to the Ka'bah,
they circumambulated them
just as they circumambulated it,
and they slaughtered sacrifices near them,
though they recognized the Ka'bah's superiority over them,
for they knew
that it was the House of Ibrahim, peace be upon him,
and his place of worship.
Thus, Quraysh and Banu
Kinanah possessed al-'Uzza at Nakhlah,
and its custodians
and gatekeepers were Banu Shayban
from Sulaym, the allies of
Banu Hashim."
When five nights remained of Ramadan
in the eighth year,
right after the Conquest of Makkah,
the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, sent
Khalid ibn al-Walid, may Allah be pleased
with him, to demolish al-'Uzza,
and so he demolished it.
Ibn al-Kalbi said:
"The one who first instituted al-'Uzza
was Zalim ibn As'ad.
It was located in a valley in Nakhlah,
and it was the greatest
of idols among Quraysh.
They used to visit it,
dedicate offerings to it,
and seek proximity through sacrifices near it.
Quraysh had indeed
set aside a sacred sanctuary for it in the valley of
Hurad, making it a sacred precinct
to rival the sanctuary of the Ka'bah.
And Quraysh
accorded it special veneration."
For that reason,
Zayd ibn 'Amr ibn Nufayl said—
who had devoted himself to pure monotheism
during the Jahiliyyah, abandoning
its worship and the worship of other
idols:
"I have abandoned both al-Lat and al-'Uzza together;
thus does
the resolute, patient person act.
Neither al-'Uzza do I worship,
nor its two daughters,
nor do I visit the two idols of Ghanam,
nor do I visit Hubal,
though he was once our lord
in times past when my intellect was tender."
When the year of the Conquest came,
the Prophet, peace be upon him, summoned
Khalid ibn al-Walid
and said:
"Go to a tree
in the valley of Nakhlah and cut it down."
So Khalid set out,
and when
its custodian, Dubayyah, saw him,
Dubayyah said to al-'Uzza:
"O 'Uzza, launch a fierce assault
and do not fail!
Cast off your veil against Khalid
and tuck up your robes!
For if you do not kill
Khalid today, you will incur
swift disgrace and be defeated!"
Thereupon
Khalid said: "O 'Uzza, disbelief be upon you,
not praise!
Indeed, I have seen that Allah has
humiliated you."
He then struck her, splitting her head,
and she turned into ashes.
Then he chopped down the tree
and killed Dubayyah, the custodian.
Then he returned to the Prophet, peace be upon him,
and informed him.
So he said:
"That was al-'Uzza,
and there is no 'Uzza for the Arabs after her;
indeed, she
will never be worshipped after this day."
Around that same time
in Ramadan of that year,
the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings
be upon him, dispatched 'Amr ibn al-'As
to demolish Suwa'
in the land of Hudhayl,
and he dispatched Sa'd ibn Zayd
al-Ashhali to demolish Manat,
which was located at al-Mushallal
and belonged to the Aws, the Khazraj, and Ghassan.
Glimpses
from the Seerah of Khalid ibn al-Walid,
may Allah be pleased with him.
Indeed, Khalid ibn al-Walid (may Allah be pleased with him) is
an exemplar—
a unique model of noble men
who etched with their magnificent
deeds their names
upon the wall of time,
leaving their praise shining brightly
in the memory of eternity.
A few short years
of a life of greatness
entered Khalid (may Allah be pleased with him)—
eternal like his name—
into the history of the great,
remaining an advanced academy
from whose genius
great minds graduate,
and from the legacy of whose
extraordinary military deeds
generations after generations drink.
Indeed, Abu Sulayman
(may Allah be pleased with him) was a model
of the seasoned commander
who mastered
the art of leadership,
excelled at crafting battle plans,
and knew how to direct them.
He was a fine example
of a great man
who humbles himself before the truth,
bows to it,
casts aside arrogant pride,
and answers the call of prudent reason
and the invitation of the upright religion.
He was a shining example
of a believing commander
who seeks his reward
from Allah alone,
counting his work as stored with Him,
never seeking military ranks
or promotions,
nor clinging eagerly
to the station he reached.
He never exploited
his military position
to pursue his personal whims
or satisfy his worldly desires.
He was
a burnished sword
with which Allah struck down the heads of falsehood,
raised the banner of truth,
and removed
from the path of Islam's spreading light
dense veils of injustice
and darkness that stood
in its way, until he reached
with the hooves of Islam's cavalry horses
the lands of Byzantium and Persia.
Let us draw closer
to his life for a moment
to know this great man
who entered
the world as a newborn in Makkah,
and whose pure body was embraced
in death by a plot
of land in the Levant.
His Name and Lineage,
may Allah be pleased with him:
He is the great commander
and noble Companion,
Khalid ibn al-Walid ibn al-Mughirah
ibn 'Abdullah
ibn 'Umar ibn Makhzum al-Qurashi
al-Makhzumi,
the Sword of Allah, Abu Sulayman,
one of the most famous brave warriors.
He was never defeated in the pre-Islamic era (Jahiliyyah)
nor in Islam.
He was one of the nobles of
Quraysh during the Jahiliyyah.
His Acceptance of Islam,
may Allah be pleased with him:
Scholars differed regarding the time of his conversion
and migration. It was said
in the seventh year after
Khaybar, and it was said before it,
and it was said on the first day
of Safar in the eighth year
of the Hijrah.
Ibn Hajar preferred the view that
he accepted Islam between al-Hudaybiyyah
and the Conquest of Makkah.
His Specialization, may Allah be pleased with him:
He was a military commander
of the first order,
both in the Jahiliyyah and in Islam.
His battle plans
and military tactics were
among the causes of
victory in his battles.
In the Jahiliyyah,
the custodianship of the dome (al-Qubbah)
and the reins of the horses (al-A'innnah) were entrusted to him.
As for the dome,
they would set it up
and assemble within it
whatever supplies they equipped the army with;
as for the reins,
he was
the leader of Quraysh's cavalry
in wars.
He fought alongside the disbelievers of Quraysh
in wars up until the Umrah of al-Hudaybiyyah,
and his role in turning
the tide of battle in the Battle of
Uhud is well known.
In Islam,
he held the lion's share,
as will be mentioned.
Due to his preoccupation with this specialization,
he did not narrate from the Messenger of Allah
(peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)
except a few hadiths,
such as the hadith about eating lizard
in the house of his maternal aunt
Maymunah (may Allah be pleased with her)
at the dining sheet of the Messenger of Allah
(peace and blessings of Allah be upon him),
and his statement in which he said:
"Nine swords were broken
in my hand
on the day of Mu'tah,
and nothing remained in my hand
except a Yemeni broadsword."
He even said:
"Jihad distracted me
from learning much
of the Qur'an."
His Virtues, may Allah be pleased with him:
First:
The Messenger of Allah
(peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)
titling him as one of the swords of Allah.
On the authority of Anas (may Allah be pleased with him),
the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)
announced the deaths of Zayd, Ja'far,
and Ibn Rawahah to the people
before there came to them
news of them.
He said: "Zayd took the banner
and was struck down;
then Ja'far took it
and was struck down;
then Ibn Rawahah took it
and was struck down"—and his eyes
were overflowing with tears—
"until a sword
from the swords of Allah took it,
whereupon Allah granted them victory."
He became known by this noble title.
Second:
The defense of him by the Messenger of Allah
(peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)
when it was said of him
that he withheld zakat.
On the authority of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him),
he said:
The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) ordered
the giving of charity.
It was said:
"Ibn Jamil, Khalid ibn al-Walid,
and al-'Abbas ibn 'Abd al-Muttalib withheld it."
So the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:
"As for Khalid,
you are doing an injustice
to Khalid,
for he has devoted his armor
and equipment in the cause of Allah."
Third:
The praise of the Messenger of Allah
(peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) for him
as being an excellent young man of the tribe.
Abu 'Ubaydah (may Allah be pleased with him) said:
I heard the Messenger of Allah
(peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)
say:
"Khalid is a sword from the swords of Allah (Mighty and Majestic is He),
and an excellent young man of the tribe."
Fourth:
The supplication of the Messenger of Allah
(peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) for him
for victory.
On the authority of Abu Qatadah al-Ansari
(may Allah be pleased with him), he said:
The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:
"O Allah,
he is a sword from
Your swords, so grant him victory."
Fifth:
The praise of the senior Companions
for him. Omar (may Allah be pleased with him) said regarding him—
and he was his maternal cousin—
"Women have never
given birth to
the likes of Khalid."
And he also said regarding him,
when he learned that the women of Banu al-Mughirah
had gathered to weep for him:
"There is no harm in them
pouring forth their tears
over Abu Sulayman,
so long as there is no throwing of dust
or wailing."
Throwing dust refers to placing soil on the head,
while wailing refers to loud, raised
voices.
And when he passed away,
Omar uttered the prayer of loss and said:
"By Allah, he was a fortress against
the throats of the enemy,
and a man of blessed character."
He likewise said:
"May Allah have mercy on Abu Sulayman.
What is with Allah is far better for him
than the state he was in.
Indeed, he died blessed
and lived praised."
His death (may Allah be pleased with him):
He died in his bed
in the year 21 AH
in Homs,
and he was buried in a village
a mile away from Homs.
His grave has remained
well-known there to this day,
and those who claim
that he died in Medina are mistaken.
When he passed away,
nothing was found in his possession
except his horse, his servant,
and his weapons.
He had said:
"When I die,
look to my weapons and my horse,
and dedicate them as equipment
in the cause of Allah."
Ramadan: Events and Lessons.