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.
Al-Muthanna ibn Harithah al-Shaybani,
may Allah be pleased with him.
The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, went out
to the markets of Makkah,
presenting himself to those arriving from all parts of the Arabian Peninsula.
With him was Abu Bakr al-Siddiq,
and Ali ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with them.
They saw some elders who possessed status and dignity.
Abu Bakr stepped forward, greeted them, and asked,
"Who are the people?"
They replied, "We are from Banu Shayban ibn Tha'labah."
He leaned toward the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, and said,
"May my father and mother be sacrificed for you,
there is no honor among their people greater than theirs."
Among the group were al-Muthanna ibn Harithah al-Shaybani,
Mafruq ibn 'Amr,
and Hani ibn Qabisah.
Abu Bakr turned to them and said,
"If the news of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, has reached you,
then here he is."
He pointed toward the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
They said, "Yes."
Then they turned to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
intending to speak with him.
The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, sat down,
and Abu Bakr stood behind him, shading him with his garment.
Mafruq ibn 'Amr said to him,
as he was the one sitting closest to him,
"To what do you call us, O brother of Quraysh?"
The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said,
"I call you to bear witness that there is no god but Allah,
alone, with no partner,
and that I am the Messenger of Allah,
and that you shelter me and support me,
so that I may convey what Allah has commanded me."
Mafruq said,
"And to what else do you call us, O brother of Quraysh?"
The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, recited
the words of the Almighty:
"And to what else do you call us, O brother of Quraysh?
By Allah, this is not the speech of the people of the earth,
for if it were their speech, we would have recognized it."
The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, recited
the words of the Almighty:
“Lo! Allah enjoineth justice and kindness, and giving to kinsfolk, and forbiddeth lewdness and abomination and wickedness. He exhorteth you in order that ye may take heed.” (16:90)
"And [to] giving to relatives,"
"and He forbids immorality,"
"and bad conduct, and oppression."
"He admonishes you that perhaps you will be reminded."
He then said to him,
"You call, by Allah, O brother of Quraysh,
to noble character."
Then Mafruq turned to al-Muthanna ibn Harithah,
as if he wanted to include him in the conversation,
and said, "This is al-Muthanna ibn Harithah,
our elder and our leader in war."
Al-Muthanna said,
"I have heard your words,
and I found your speech excellent.
However, a matter such as this
requires us to return to our people.
Furthermore, we have settled near water overlooking the land of Persia,
and Chosroes has taken a covenant from us
that we shall not initiate any new event,
nor shall we shelter any innovator.
Perhaps this to which you call us
is something that Chosroes and his people dislike,
and we have no power against them,
nor the strength to wage war against them."
When they were about to leave,
the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, turned to them
and said,
"What would you say if only a short time passed
before Allah grants you the lands of Persia,
their wealth, and their women?
Would you then glorify Allah and sanctify Him?"
They said,
"By Allah, yes."
"And will that be for you, O brother of Quraysh?"
He said, "Yes."
Al-Muthanna ibn Harithah al-Shaybani departed,
returning to the lands of his people,
while the image of the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
never left his imagination,
and the resonance of his words never left his ears.
He continued to follow his news,
and remembered his words:
"What would you say if only a short time passed
before Allah grants you the lands of Persia,
their wealth, and their women?"
Then he would say to himself,
"What made me hold back my hand
from pledging allegiance to Muhammad,
when I have become certain of his truthfulness
and the validity of his call?"
In the ninth year of the Hijrah,
Allah permitted al-Muthanna ibn Harithah al-Shaybani
to be honored by joining
the battalions of faith.
He came to the Prophet, may the prayers and peace of Allah be upon him,
among a large gathering of Banu Shayban,
and announced his Islam before him,
and pledged to him his hearing and obedience.
But the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
did not remain long
before he joined the Highest Companion.
The Arabs began to leave the religion of Allah in crowds,
just as they had entered it in crowds.
Al-Siddiq, may Allah be pleased with him, stood against them,
and confronted them with those who remained steadfast in their religion.
Al-Muthanna ibn Harithah al-Shaybani and his people
were among the fiercest of people against the apostates,
and had the greatest impact in ending that destructive, blind strife.
Al-Muthanna ibn Harithah emerged from the Wars of Apostasy victorious,
and found under his command eight thousand fighters
who would not disobey his command.
The words of the Messenger, may the prayers and peace of Allah be upon him,
regarding the Muslims' conquest of the lands of Persia
were still ringing in his ears.
He said to himself,
"Why should I not strike the Persians with this brave army,
and rescue the Sawad of Iraq from their hands?
Did the Truthful and Trusted one not promise us
that Allah would make us possess their lands, women, and wealth?"
"And can lands be possessed and wealth secured
except by the tips of spears and the edges of swords?"
So he resolved to proceed with his people to the Sawad of Iraq,
without asking the Caliph for permission, so as not to embarrass him.
If he were victorious, his victory would be for all Muslims,
and if he were defeated, his defeat would be his alone.
Al-Muthanna ibn Harithah attacked the Sawad of Iraq,
and its cities and villages began to fall under the hooves of his horses
like leaves falling from trees in the autumn.
The news of his victories began to spread throughout the Arabian Peninsula.
Al-Siddiq, may Allah be pleased with him, said to those around him,
"Who is this whose news of victory reaches us,
without us knowing anything about his affairs?"
The answer to this question
was al-Muthanna himself,
for he hurried to Madinah,
met al-Siddiq, and informed him of his raids on the Sawad of Iraq,
and listed for him the cities, villages, and fortresses he had liberated from the Persians
and added to the state of Islam.
He described to him the beauty of those lands,
the abundance of their blessings, and the richness of their harvests.
He informed him of the state of the Persians,
their distress, and the instability of their kingdom.
He continued to urge him until he encouraged him to conquer the lands of Persia.
Al-Siddiq became energized for that great matter,
mobilized armies for it,
and made al-Muthanna ibn Harithah al-Shaybani
one of his senior commanders in these wars.
Al-Muthanna ibn Harithah fought a number of battles against the Persian armies,
the greatest of which was the famous Battle of Babylon.
The story of this battle was
that Shahdhan, the king of the Persians,
sent a letter shortly before the battle to the commander of the Muslim army,
al-Muthanna ibn Harithah, saying in it,
"I have directed against you the tenders of chickens and pigs,
and others of the rabble,
and I am only fighting you with them,
for you are not worthy of those above them."
Al-Muthanna replied with a letter that stated,
"From al-Muthanna ibn Harithah al-Shaybani,
to Shahdhan,
to proceed:
We praise Allah, who has turned your plot back upon you,
and forced you to use the tenders of chickens and pigs
to defend yourselves.
Tomorrow, when the two armies meet,
the wrongdoers will know to what turning point they will return."
When the two armies met,
Hormuz, the commander of the Persian army, advanced
at the head of thousands upon thousands of his soldiers,
led by the great elephant
which they kept for the greatest of battles.
That terrifying, trained animal began
to strike the Muslim soldiers with its long, thick trunk, right and left,
causing their hearts to tremble,
their horses to shy away at the sight of it,
and their formation to collapse.
Al-Muthanna ibn Harithah realized that victory was impossible
as long as this giant animal was inflicting such severe damage on his soldiers.
He set out toward it with a group of his brave men,
and launched a sincere attack on the soldiers surrounding it,
which shook their footing and cleared them away from it.
Then he struck it with a deep thrust of his spear,
which hit a vital spot,
and followed it with other lethal blows.
The elephant soon fell dead to the ground, swimming in its blood.
The Muslims' takbir and tahlil rose,
and they poured onto the battlefield like a flood,
and set their spears and swords upon the throats of the enemies.
It was only a short while
They did not even spare the keepers of chickens and swine in the rear guard.
Nor did they spare their leaders, Hormuz and his fleeing forces.
Al-Muthanna Ibn Harithah al-Shaybani then occupied Babylon.
He secured all the spoils of war it contained.
And he took captive the women who were gathered there.
He began to glorify Allah the Almighty, saying:
"The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, spoke the truth."
"The Prophet of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, spoke the truth."
"We have indeed taken possession of the land."
"We have seized the wealth and taken the women captive."
Muhammad and his Companions,
Have washed away the foundations of the lofty palace.
O Shiyar, hasten to me and bestow your favor,
In praising them, is there any more to be said?