In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
The Mawaddah Association is pleased
to present to you glimpses from the lives of the Companions.
By Abd al-Rahman Ra'fat al-Basha,
may Allah have mercy upon him.
Abu 'Aqil al-Aniqi, may Allah be pleased with him.
The affair of Musaylimah the Liar grew grave and intensified.
Forty thousand of his people, the Banu Hanifah, had gathered for him,
and they were supported by about twenty thousand from their allies.
His army was the greatest army the Arabs had known up to that day,
and at the same time, it was many times larger than the army of the Caliph of the Muslims,
Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, may Allah be pleased with him.
The imminent danger that had befallen the Muslims at that time
was not limited to Musaylimah the Liar
and his massive, unified, and cohesive army;
rather, this danger also manifested in the other apostates
who, in their entirety, believed in Allah,
testified that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah,
and did not dispute the establishment of prayer.
However, they demanded that the Caliph cease requiring them to pay the zakat.
As for Musaylimah the Liar and those with him,
they denied the prophethood of Muhammad, may the best of prayers and purest of peace be upon him,
disbelieved in the Noble Book that Allah had revealed to him,
and believed in a prophet who fabricated lies against Allah.
If this immense force were destined to be victorious,
it would lead to the eradication of Islam and its people,
and Allah would not be worshipped in the Arabian Peninsula after that day.
Al-Siddiq, may Allah be pleased with him, dispatched against Musaylimah the Liar
an army led by 'Ikrimah ibn Abi Jahl.
'Ikrimah, if you do not know, was a knight of the battlefield,
a hero of conflicts, and a son of wars.
Furthermore, he placed under his banner heroic, formidable men,
brave warriors whose swords were accustomed to victory.
But Musaylimah dealt them a blow that shook the Muslims' composure
and stirred the anger of their Caliph, Abu Bakr al-Siddiq.
He quickly sent a messenger to prevent the defeated army
from returning to Medina, so as not to weaken the resolve of the Muslims,
and ordered him to remain where he was.
Then he wrote him a letter blaming him for his haste
before completing his numbers and equipment,
telling him, "Do not let me see you, and do not let me see you,
and do not return to Medina,
lest you weaken the resolve of the Muslims
and break their spirit."
The defeat of 'Ikrimah shook the consciences of the Muslims deeply,
and opened their eyes more than ever before to the impending disaster.
The Caliph rose to save Islam and the Muslims
from this surrounding danger.
He cleared some fronts of the Muslim soldiers
and temporarily overlooked the apostates who refused to pay the zakat,
all to mobilize for Musaylimah the largest army he could muster,
and to provide this army with the greatest power to ensure victory, by the permission of Allah.
Al-Siddiq formed his army from three legions:
The first was the legion of the Muhajirun (Emigrants),
who had endured what they endured for the sake of Allah and His Messenger, peace be upon him.
They suffered for the sake of the call what they suffered,
and built with their own hands the edifice of Islam, brick by brick,
mixing its soil with their sweat and tears.
The second was the legion of the righteous Ansar,
who supported the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
aided him, protected him, and fought the enemies of Allah alongside him,
as the wars bore witness to them.
The third was the legion of the sons of the desert,
the people of strength, might, and courage.
He then placed in the army a group of the Qur'an reciters
who carried the Book of Allah,
and he was protective of them and cherished them.
Then he added to them the veterans of Badr,
even though he used to say about them:
"I do not employ this elite group of the Companions of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, in war;
rather, I keep them for righteous deeds,
for Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He,
may avert calamity through them
more than the victory that comes by their hands."
Then he entrusted the banner of the army to the Drawn Sword of Allah,
Khalid ibn al-Walid.
The two hosts met on the land of Yamamah.
Musaylimah arrayed his soldiers at 'Aqraba,
and placed the women, children, and wealth behind the army.
Khalid arrayed his soldiers opposite his enemy's army,
and the two armies stood waiting for the moment of the crushing attack.
Each of the two parties saw with the certainty of faith that this battle
was a battle of annihilation or survival.
Sharhabil ibn Musaylimah the Liar stood,
stirring the feelings of pride and tribal zeal among his people.
He said:
"O Banu Hanifah,
this day is a day of jealousy and defense of honor.
If you are defeated,
you will see the women who sought protection with you taken as captives.
So defend your women and children,
fight for your lineage and ancestry,
and charge at your enemy."
He had barely finished his words
when his people poured onto the ranks of the Muslims
like the falling of rocks,
and flowed upon them like a torrent.
The rank of the Muslims bent in defeat,
and Khalid ibn al-Walid was displaced from his tent,
and his wife, Umm Tamim, fell into their grasp.
They intended to kill her,
were it not for a man among them who granted her protection, so she was spared.
Khalid received the shock with a steady heart and firm resolve,
because no doubt had entered his heart regarding the victory of Allah,
nor had any despair touched him regarding His support.
So he thought and consulted,
and his thinking and consultation led him to realize that the cause of the defeat
was the three legions of the Muslims relying upon one another.
So he shouted to the army:
"Separate, O soldiers!
Separate, so that the valor of each group among you may be known,
and so the Muslims may know from where they were attacked."
The shout of Khalid ibn al-Walid stirred the Muslims' zeal for the religion of Allah,
ignited their longing for martyrdom in the way of Allah,
and lifted the veils from their eyes,
so they saw the palaces of Paradise with their doors open to receive the martyrs.
At that moment, there emerged in the ranks of the Muslims acts of heroism
that the hand of history has never recorded anything more magnificent or greater.
There appeared among the soldiers of Allah acts of manhood
that the annals of history have never known anything more noble or honorable.
At the forefront of these heroes
was the hero of this story of ours,
'Abd al-Rahman ibn 'Abd Allah ibn Tha'labah al-Ansari,
known by the kunya Abu 'Aqil al-Aniqi.
Let us listen to 'Abd Allah ibn 'Umar ibn al-Khattab,
for he is the one who will narrate to us his wonderful story.
'Abd Allah ibn 'Umar said:
"When the Muslims lined up for battle on the day of Yamamah,
Abu 'Aqil al-Aniqi was boiling like a cauldron,
and leaping like a lion.
No sooner had the fighting broken out
than he placed his own neck before the necks of the Muslims,
and held his chest before their chests.
He was the first to be struck by an arrow that day.
The arrow entered the chest of Abu 'Aqil al-Aniqi
and lodged between his shoulders,
without touching his heart;
had it touched it, he would have died instantly.
He reached his hand toward the arrow,
pulled it out from between his shoulders,
and stood fighting,
until the wound weakened his left side.
Then, it was not long before his strength failed,
and he fell in his place, advancing and not retreating.
We carried him to his tent and placed him inside it,
and he was not far from us.
When the heat of the battle intensified,
and the Muslims were hard-pressed,
Abu 'Aqil heard al-Bara' ibn Malik al-Ansari calling out:
'Where are you, O company of the Ansar?
Where are you?
I am al-Bara' ibn Malik al-Ansari!
Come to me, O company of the Ansar!'
Then he saw Ma'n ibn 'Adi al-Ansari
breaking the scabbard of his sword,
leaping to the front,
climbing a rise of land, and shouting:
'For the sake of Allah, O company of the Ansar!
Charge! Charge at your enemy!
O you who supported the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him!'"
'Abd Allah ibn 'Umar said:
"I looked at Abu 'Aqil,
and I saw him rising to his feet.
I approached him and said:
'What do you want, O uncle?'
He said:
'Did you not hear al-Bara' ibn Malik al-Ansari
and Ma'n ibn 'Adi calling me?'
I said: 'They did not call you,
nor did they name anyone specifically.
Besides, they do not mean the wounded.'
He said:
'They are calling the Ansar,
and I am one of them,
and it is upon me to answer them, even if by crawling.'
Then he girded himself,
took the sword in his right hand,
and began to call out:
'O Ansar! Charge! Charge like the day of Hunayn!'
'O Ansar! Charge! Charge like the day of Hunayn!'
The Ansar gathered and aligned,
advanced before the Muslims, and fought selflessly,
until they forced Musaylimah and those with him into the Garden of Death.
We, the Muhajirun, mingled with them,
and our swords joined their swords.
Then, I caught a glimpse,
and there was Abu 'Aqil at the gate of the Garden of Death,
his arm having been severed from the shoulder
and fallen to the ground,
and he had fourteen mortal wounds upon him.
I stood over him while he was dying, in his last breath, and said:
'Abu 'Aqil!'
He said with a slurred tongue: 'Labbayk (At your service).'
'Who won?'
'Tell me, who won?'
I said: 'Rejoice!
For the enemy of Allah and the enemy of His Messenger, peace be upon him, has been killed.'
He raised his finger to the sky,
I said, "Allah, the Almighty and Majestic, is praising him."
Then he breathed his last.
'Abdullah Ibn 'Umar said:
"When I returned to Medina,
I informed the Faruq of the entire story of Abu 'Aqil.
His eyes welled with tears, and he said:
'May Allah have vast mercy upon Abu 'Aqil.
For he never ceased asking Allah for martyrdom and persisted in seeking it,
until he attained it.
He was, to my knowledge, among the best of the Companions of our Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
and the elite among his followers.'
Abu 'Aqil never ceased asking Allah for martyrdom,
and seeking it from Him, until he attained it.
And he was indeed among the best of the Companions of our Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
[as testified by] 'Umar Ibn al-Khattab,
in these words of praise."