In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
The 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.
Tulayhah ibn Khuwaylid al-Asadi,
may Allah be pleased with him.
In the ninth year of the Hijrah,
a delegation from the Banu Asad arrived in Al-Madinah Al-Munawwarah,
headed by Tulayhah ibn Khuwaylid al-Asadi.
When they reached the Prophet’s Mosque,
they stood before the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
Then their spokesman stood up and said:
"O Messenger of Allah,
we bear witness that there is no god but Allah alone, without partner,
and we bear witness that you are His servant and His messenger,
and that He sent you with the religion of guidance and truth.
We have come to you of our own accord,
though you did not send anyone to summon us,
so accept our Islam, O Messenger of Allah."
The Prophet, peace be upon him, welcomed them most generously
and accommodated them in the finest manner.
Yet, before long, Tulayhah ibn Khuwaylid's
heart turned against the greatest Messenger, peace be upon him,
and envy crept into his breast.
He began pondering the Prophet's affair
and how it had started small,
only to grow and expand day after day,
until the entire Arabian Peninsula, from end to end, submitted to him in loyalty and obedience.
Then Tulayhah's devil began enticing him and filling him with false hopes,
whispering to him:
"O Tulayhah, how can Muhammad compare to you?
He is not more eloquent in speech than you,
for you are a man of letters, discerning, and a poet.
Nor is he braver of heart than you,
for you are the most courageous of the Arabs,
and the fiercest in might,
to the point that people count you equal to a thousand horsemen when battle rages!
Furthermore, he does not possess a nobler clan than yours,
for you belong to the Banu Asad,
and the Banu Asad are kindlers of war,
renowned for their memorable days on the battlefield
and their celebrated feats."
When the delegation returned to their homelands,
Tulayhah stood up among the Banu Asad,
claiming to them that he was a prophet sent by Allah.
They all followed him,
either out of belief in him
or out of tribal solidarity.
The Messenger, peace be upon him, dispatched an army
under the command of Dirar ibn al-Azwar
to fight Tulayhah and his people.
The believing army fought valiantly against the Banu Asad
and their allies, dealing them a severe blow,
and Tulayhah's cause was on the verge of collapse
had not Dirar met him face to face
and struck him with his sword.
But Allah willed that the sword glance off him
without leaving a mark.
Tulayhah seized upon that moment
and began spreading among his people that Allah was protecting and defending him,
and that sharp swords could not pierce his body.
Thus, those who had dispersed from him rallied around him once again,
and a great multitude followed him.
His power was further reinforced
by the passing of the Messenger, peace be upon him,
the apostasy of many Arabs from the religion of Allah,
and their departure from Islam in droves,
just as they had entered it in droves.
No sooner had Al-Siddiq, may Allah be pleased with him, assumed leadership of the Muslims
than he tied eleven banners for eleven commanders,
directing them all to fight the apostates.
Tulayhah ibn Khuwaylid and his people, the Banu Asad,
fell to the share of Khalid ibn al-Walid.
The Sword of Allah set out toward the homelands of the Banu Asad in Najd,
sending ahead of his army two intrepid Muslim scouts:
Ukkashah ibn Mihsan and Thabit ibn Aqram,
to scout the land
and gather intelligence for the Muslims.
But Tulayhah caught them and killed them both in a brutal manner.
When the Muslims learned of their demise,
they grieved for them with the deepest and most bitter sorrow,
and swore to avenge them
no matter how high the cost.
The two hosts met at the well of Buzakhah in the land of Najd,
clashing in a fierce and ruthless battle.
In the beginning, the two sides were evenly matched.
The chieftain of the Banu Fazārah,
Uyayanah ibn Hisn,
had rushed with his people to Tulayhah's aid
to repel the Muslim army from him.
As the tide of battle began to turn in favor of the Muslims against the polytheists,
Uyayanah looked over at Tulayhah
and found that he had retreated into his tent,
wrapped himself in his cloak,
and claimed to his followers that divine revelation was about to descend upon him
and that Allah would reinforce him with angels.
As the fighting grew fiercer
and the pressure of the Muslims intensified against Tulayhah’s followers,
the chieftain of the Banu Fazārah approached him and asked:
"Has the angel come to you, O Tulayhah?"
He replied, "No, O Uyayanah."
So he returned and fought
until the pressure grew even heavier upon him and his men.
He rushed back to Tulayhah and demanded:
"Woe to you! Has Jibril come to you?"
He answered, "No."
Uyayanah said, "Until when?
By Allah, we are utterly exhausted!"
Then he returned and fought fiercely,
before rushing back once more to Tulayhah,
asking, "Has Jibril come to you?"
He said, "Yes."
He asked, "And what did he reveal to you?"
He said, "He said to me:
'You have a day that you shall meet;
you shall not have its beginning,
but you shall have its end;
and thereafter you shall have a matter you will never forget.'"
Uyayanah said to him:
"May you perish!
By Allah, I see that you indeed shall have a matter you will never forget!"
Then he turned to his people and shouted:
"O Banu Fazārah!
This man is a wicked liar!"
Then he withdrew along with all those under his command.
The Muslims triumphed over the Banu Asad,
and Tulayhah fled in defeat,
seeking refuge among the Ghassanids in the Levant.
Tulayhah had spent only a short time
among the Ghassanids
when he came to his senses.
He began biting his fingers in remorse
over his past transgressions, saying:
"May your mother be bereaved of you, O Tulayhah!
How dreadful it would have been
if the sword of Dirar ibn al-Azwar
had severed your head!
You would have died an apostate from your faith,
associating partners with your Lord,
and your ultimate abode would have been the Hellfire!
May your mother be bereaved of you, O Tulayhah,
if you do not proceed this very hour
to the successor of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
in full submission as a Muslim,
letting him do with you whatever he wills!
For that is far easier for you than a single moment of torment
suffered in Hellfire on the Day of Resurrection.
Make a pledge to Allah, O Tulayhah,
that if He keeps you safe until you reach Al-Madinah,
you will place your neck, which escaped the sword of Dirar ibn al-Azwar,
as a ransom for the religion of Allah
and a shield for the Muslims!"
Then he went down to a well,
washed himself with its water,
and testified that there is no god but Allah alone, without partner,
and that Muhammad is His servant, His messenger, His chosen one, and His close friend.
Tulayhah ibn Khuwaylid al-Asadi reached
Al-Madinah Al-Munawwarah
and entered upon the Commander of the Faithful, Umar ibn al-Khattab,
declaring his Islam.
Al-Faruq said to him:
"Woe to you!
Are you not the one who killed the two righteous men,
Ukkashah and Thabit?"
Then he added:
"By Allah, my heart will never feel at ease with you!"
Tulayhah replied:
"O Commander of the Faithful,
why grieve over two men
whom Allah honored with martyrdom at my hands,
while I was the wretched one through them?
Indeed, I ask forgiveness of Allah the Almighty and repent to Him."
So Umar relented
and accepted his Islam.
Tulayhah ibn Khuwaylid repented from his grave mistake
with a sincere and heartfelt repentance,
pledging to Allah to strive in His cause
as long as a vein pulsed within him.
He resolved to plunge himself into perilous battles,
hoping to die as a martyr in the cause of Allah.
And Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, so willed.
Once, the Muslims set sail by sea
to campaign against the Byzantines,
and among them was Tulayhah ibn Khuwaylid.
While they were cleaving through the waves,
a massive enemy warship loomed before them,
carrying troops far outnumbering them in equipment and numbers,
and it began pursuing them on the open sea.
Tulayhah said to his companions:
"Bring us closer to it!"
They said to him:
"We are no match for it, O Tulayhah!"
He said to them:
"By Allah, either you bring our ship close to theirs,
or I will strike your necks with this sword!"
Finding no choice but to comply with him,
when the two ships drew alongside each other,
Tulayhah said to those with him,
"Lift me up on your arms
and hurl me onto the Byzantine ship,
and, if Allah wills, I will show you what delights your eyes."
So they did as he commanded them,
and in mere moments,
Tulayhah leaped onto the enemy ship
and swooped down upon those aboard like a thunderbolt,
swinging his sword at their necks right and left.
They were utterly stunned,
and began falling in disarray beneath his blows.
It was not long
before some of them were killed,
others drowned,
and the rest surrendered.
On the night of al-Qadisiyyah,
Sa'd Ibn Abi Waqqas dispatched
Tulayhah Ibn Khuwaylid al-Asadi
with five of his men,
and he dispatched 'Amr Ibn Ma'di Karib
with five others,
ordering them to infiltrate under the cover of darkness
into the Persian encampments
to bring back intelligence about them.
But no sooner had the two detachments entered the camp
than the hearts of their men were struck with dread,
overwhelmed by the vast numbers and equipment they saw,
and the vigilance and readiness they encountered.
So 'Amr Ibn Ma'di Karib and his companions turned back,
and Tulayhah's five men joined them.
As for Tulayhah himself,
he pressed on toward his objective, fearless and undaunted,
spending his night moving throughout the camp.
When the night began to wane,
he did not wish to return empty-handed,
merely carrying the secrets he had discovered,
but instead made his way to the greatest tent in the encampment.
In front of it stood a steed the likes of which he had never seen,
so he drew his sword, cut the horse's tether,
mounted it, and dashed off galloping between the tents.
A Persian horseman gave chase,
and when he caught up with him, he leveled his spear to strike him,
but Tulayhah wheeled around against him
and struck him with a thrust that felled him dead.
Another horseman rushed at him,
and Tulayhah did to him just as he had done to his companion.
Then a third horseman rode out against him,
and Tulayhah charged at him;
when the horseman realized he would inevitably be killed,
he surrendered to him.
Tulayhah ordered him to run ahead of him,
and they continued together until they reached the Muslim camp.
When the Muslims saw them,
they began proclaiming the oneness and greatness of Allah.
Sa'd Ibn Abi Waqqas called for an interpreter
and questioned the captive about his people and their army.
The captive said,
"I wish to tell you about this companion of yours first,
and then you may ask me whatever you wish."
They said, "Say what you have to say."
He said,
"I have fought in wars and witnessed them,
and I have seen champions and faced them since I was a boy
until I reached the age you see now.
Yet I have never heard of a man who entered an encampment containing
seventy thousand warriors—
with each warrior served by five men or more—
and refused to leave the camp
until he had raided the commander's pavilion,
severed the ropes of his tent,
and seized his horse!
Then a horseman worth a thousand warriors pursued him,
but he killed him.
Another, no less brave, caught up with him,
and he dispatched him as well.
Then I caught up with him—
and I do not think I left behind anyone who equals me—
intending to avenge them both,
for they were my cousins;
but when I saw death before my very eyes,
I surrendered to him."
These were not all the heroic deeds of Tulayhah Ibn Khuwaylid al-Asadi,
nor was this the entirety of his striving in the cause of Allah.
He continued to fight beneath the banners of the Qur'an
until he fell as a martyr in the Battle of Nahawand.
Tulayhah Ibn Khuwaylid al-Asadi
was counted by historians as equal to a thousand horsemen.