In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
Mawaddah Association is pleased
to present to you
"Portraits from the Lives of the Companions"
by Abd al-Rahman
Ra'fat al-Basha,
may Allah have mercy on him.
Al-Ala' ibn al-Hadrami,
may Allah be pleased with him.
The fleeing apostates sought refuge
in the sanctuary of Darin Island,
entrenching themselves behind the waves of the sea
that encircled it like a bracelet
around a wrist.
They then gave free rein to their desires,
settling comfortably into an aura of ease
and reassurance,
completely casting aside all caution and vigilance.
That was because they were absolutely
certain that the Muslim soldiers,
raised in the heart of the desert,
had never navigated the seas
nor were they accustomed to the decks of ships;
moreover,
they did not possess
a single vessel.
But al-Ala' ibn al-Hadrami
harbored within himself
a momentous and daring plan,
one that no commander had ever contemplated,
nor had it ever crossed the mind
of any Muslim.
He firmly resolved
to invade Darin
and vanquish the apostates who sought refuge
behind walls of water.
Al-Ala' was not unaware
that his soldiers, being sons of the desert,
harbored a profound fear of the sea
and dreaded its perils
with the utmost dread.
Nor was he in need of anyone to remind him
that he did not possess
a single ship to transport
even one of his soldiers,
let alone the fact that
he would require a vast fleet
to carry
this entire great army,
as well as floating bridges
across which he and his men
could cross to dry land.
All of this
was well known to al-Ala' ibn al-Hadrami,
and he also knew
that the island of Darin
lay at a distance from the shores of Bahrain
that sailboats would take
a full day and night to traverse.
Yet despite all of that,
he did not hesitate
for a single moment in executing
what he had resolved to do.
Once al-Ala' had thoroughly examined the plan
within his own mind through deep reflection and study,
and had carefully weighed
its strategy and measures,
he assembled his troops and stood among them
to deliver a sermon.
He praised Allah Almighty as He truly deserves to be praised,
lauded Him with the most sublime laudation,
invoked blessings upon His Prophet
Muhammad with the most complete blessings,
and saluted him with the purest greetings of peace.
He then informed the army
of his resolution to cross the sea
and attack the apostates
sheltering in Darin,
fortified behind
the walls of water.
He then surveyed the faces of the soldiers
and saw a hundred questions
hovering on their lips,
on the verge of bursting forth from their mouths.
So he closed off before them
any avenue of speech
lest a single word escape from any of them
that might weaken resolve
and stir doubts.
He continued, saying:
"Do not say, 'How can we do this?'
when Allah has already shown you signs on land
which, if you were to reflect upon them,
would make you certain of what awaits you
of His signs at sea!
Do not say, 'How?'
when Allah is with you!
Did He not fill the pool with sweet, pure water for you
in the heart of the Dahna desert,
quenching your thirst
and delivering you from destruction?
Did He not return to you the stray camels
that had wandered off in the barren wilderness,
lost in the open deserts,
so that you saw them with your own eyes
as though the angels of the Most Merciful were surrounding them
with their wings
and herding them straight to where you stood,
without you losing
a single measure of the provisions upon
their backs or a single sip
of the water they carried?
Thus He fed you against hunger,
secured you against fear,
and rescued you from destruction.
Truly, the God Who answered your supplication
when you called upon Him in the depth of the desert
in humble submission,
full of hope and trust,
will answer your supplication by His grace
when you call upon Him while
crossing the sea
to meet His enemy with sincerity and devotion!"
Then he concluded
his speech, saying:
"Prepare yourselves
and advance to meet the enemy of Allah
and your enemy!
Mount the backs of your riding beasts and your horses,
and cross upon them
the waters of the Gulf,
with the blessing and success granted by Allah!"
Thereupon, they had no response
except to say with one voice:
"Yes! Yes!
We shall do as you have commanded us,
O inspired commander!
By Allah, after the Dahna, we shall never fear
anything except Allah!"
The valiant warriors mounted
the backs of noble steeds
and purebred camels,
and directed their course
toward the seashore.
When the feet of their mounts
plunged into the water,
the pious, pure,
and faithful commander raised his hands toward the heavens
and said to his soldiers:
"Repeat after me!"
He then prayed:
"O Most Merciful of the merciful!
O Eternal Refuge, O All-Powerful!
O Ever-Living, O Sustainer of all existence!
“And (mention) Dhu'n-Nun, when he went off in anger and deemed that We had no power over him, but he cried out in the darkness, saying: There is no Allah save Thee. Be Thou Glorified! Lo! I have been a wrong-doer.” (21:87)
You alone, having no partner!
In You we have placed our trust,
by Your power we seek aid,
and in Your bounty and might we seek protection!"
He then crossed the sea before them
and ordered them to follow behind him,
so they followed him.
On that day, the Gulf
was at its calmest and at low tide,
and so
the horses and camels began striding
across its still waters
as though walking over smooth sand
covered only by
a shallow layer of water.
When the army reached the shores of Darin,
the soldiers leaped onto the land
like lions pouncing upon their prey.
They drew
their sharp swords from their scabbards
and proceeded to strike down
the heads of Allah's enemies with relentless force.
The apostates were completely bewildered,
stunned by their own plight and what surrounded them,
and stood dumbfounded at the sheer terror
of this frightening surprise.
They were utterly perplexed by these people,
unable to fathom
whether they had descended upon them from the sky
or surged forth from the earth,
for it was beyond their capacity
even to conceive
that they had come to them across the sea.
Within a single day
and night, al-Ala'
and his troops cleansed the island of the apostates,
span by span
and cubit by cubit,
sweeping it from coast
to coast, back and forth.
This was accomplished after
they killed the combatants
and took the dependents, women,
wealth, and livestock as spoils.
Then the victorious commander distributed
the spoils of war among his soldiers,
and each horseman received
two thousand [dirhams].
During their crossing of the sea, the Muslims did not lose
a single man, a single horse,
or a single camel,
except for a nosebag of a horse belonging to a man
from among the Muslims; so al-'Ala' himself returned
to retrieve it and gave it back
to its owner.
Moreover, on part of its march,
the faithful army passed by
the Christians of Hajar,
where a monk asked Ibn al-Hadrami for permission
to accompany them and seek protection
with them, and he granted him permission.
When the journey of the victorious army
came to its conclusion, with all the toil,
struggle,
and decisive victory it had achieved,
and after all the terrors and events
that had transpired along the way,
and all the divine aid and bounty
that Allah had bestowed upon them,
the monk's dormant feelings were deeply stirred,
and his slumbering faith was awakened;
thus, he declared his acceptance of Islam before the army
and its commander.
When he returned to his people, they said to him:
"Woe to you!
What drove you to abandon your religion
and embrace Islam?"
He replied: "Three
matters; and indeed, I feared
that Allah would transform me into a beast thereafter
if I did not submit as a Muslim."
They asked, "And what are they?"
He said: "What I heard
of their supplications before dawn,
the gushing forth of water for them
amidst the desert sands
where there was neither water nor tree,
and the subduing of the ocean waves
beneath their feet.
Thus, I became certain that they
were aided by the angels only
because they are upon the truth,
and that they truly stand upon the truth."
May Allah brighten the face of al-'Ala'
Ibn al-Hadrami,
for he lived as a striver in the cause of Allah
with both his tongue and his spear,
and he will forever remain throughout time
the first Muslim commander
to elevate the word of Allah
across the land.