In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
Treasures of the Prophetic Biography (Seerah).
The Battle of Mu'tah.
In the eighth year of the Hijrah.
It was the most formidable and daunting war the Muslims fought during the lifetime of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him).
It took place at the beginning of the eighth year of the Hijrah, in Jumada al-Ula,
approximately eighty kilometers from Jerusalem.
The cause of this battle:
The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him)
sent Al-Harith ibn 'Umayr with his letter to the ruler of Busra.
On his way, Shurahbil ibn 'Amr al-Ghassani intercepted him;
he was the governor of Al-Balqa' in the land of Sham on behalf of Caesar.
So he seized him and bound him,
then brought him forward and beheaded him.
The established custom in diplomacy was that he was an emissary,
and emissaries are never killed, no matter the circumstances.
Thereupon, the Prophet (peace be upon him) dispatched against them
an army numbering three thousand warriors.
This was the largest Muslim army
assembled up to that time, unsurpassed except at the Battle of the Trench (Al-Ahzab),
which was close to this number.
The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) appointed
Zayd ibn Harithah as commander over this army,
and he said:
"If Zayd is killed, then Ja'far;
and if Ja'far is killed, then 'Abdullah ibn Rawahah."
He tied a white banner for them
and handed it to Zayd ibn Harithah.
It was called the Expedition of the Commanders,
because he designated three commanders in succession for it.
Then he (peace be upon him) exhorted them
with his customary instructions to armies whenever they set out.
On the authority of Buraydah (may Allah be pleased with him), he said:
Whenever the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him)
appointed a commander over an army or an expeditionary force,
he would personally counsel him to be mindful of Allah,
and to treat the Muslims with him well.
Then he would say:
"Fight in the name of Allah, in the cause of Allah!
Fight those who disbelieve in Allah!
Fight, but do not embezzle spoils, do not commit treachery,
do not mutilate,
and do not kill a newborn child.
When you meet your enemy among the polytheists,
invite them to three choices:
whichever of them they accept,
accept it from them and withhold yourselves from harming them."
This demonstrates that the Prophet (peace be upon him)
was not eager for fighting for its own sake,
but rather resorted to it out of absolute necessity.
He said:
"First:
Invite them to Islam.
If they accept,
accept it from them and withhold yourselves from harming them.
Then invite them to migrate
from their land to the abode of the Emigrants (Muhajirun),
and inform them that if they do so,
they shall enjoy the rights of the Emigrants
and share the obligations of the Emigrants.
But if they refuse to migrate from their land—
meaning, to emigrate—
inform them that they will be like the Bedouin Muslims:
subject to the law of Allah that applies to the believers,
but they will have no share in the spoils of war or *fay'*,
because they refused to emigrate."
He said:
"They shall have no share in spoils
unless they fight alongside the Muslims.
Second:
If they refuse Islam,
ask them to pay the *jizyah*.
If they accept,
accept it from them and withhold yourselves from harming them.
Third:
If they refuse,
seek Allah's help and fight them.
And if you besiege the people of a fortress
and they demand that you grant them
the protection of Allah and the protection of His Prophet,
do not grant them the protection of Allah or the protection of His Prophet;
rather, grant them your own protection and the protection of your companions.
For it is less grave for you to violate your protection and that of your companions
than to violate the protection of Allah and the protection of His Messenger.
And if you besiege the people of a fortress
and they demand that you make them surrender according to the judgment of Allah,
do not make them surrender according to the judgment of Allah,
but make them surrender according to your own judgment;
for you do not know whether you will hit upon Allah's judgment concerning them or not."
There is no contradiction whatsoever between this and the word of Allah, the Blessed and Exalted.
“There is no compulsion in religion. The right direction is henceforth distinct from error. And he who rejecteth false deities and believeth in Allah hath grasped a firm handhold which will never break. Allah is Hearer, Knower.” (2:256)
For we do not fight people to force them into entering Islam;
rather, we fight if they refuse Islam and refuse to pay the *jizyah*.
Fighting is a means, not an end in itself.
But why do we require the *jizyah*?
We must understand that the earth belongs to Allah.
Since that is the case,
Allah created human beings upon this earth solely to worship Him.
Allah Almighty says:
“I created the jinn and humankind only that they might worship Me.” (51:56)
Yet many people refused to worship Allah,
while continuing to dwell upon His earth.
So Allah sent servants of His
and commanded them to invite those people to Islam.
If they refused, then the *jizyah*;
and if they refused that, He commanded them to fight those people—
those who dwelt upon His earth
yet refused to enter His religion and worship Him, Glorified and Exalted be He,
and refused to pay the *jizyah*.
Thereupon, the Muslim army prepared to depart.
The Prophet (peace be upon him) gave them his final instructions
and bade them farewell.
One of the commanders of the army wept—
namely, 'Abdullah ibn Rawahah (may Allah be pleased with him).
They asked, "What makes you weep?"
He said:
"By Allah, I have no love for this world nor any longing for you,
but I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him)
reciting a verse from the Book of Allah mentioning the Fire:
Allah Almighty says:
“There is not one of you but shall approach it. That is a fixed ordinance of thy Lord.” (19:71)
'This is an inevitable decree upon your Lord.'
How then can I be sure of returning after passing over it?"
The Prophet (peace be upon him) bade them farewell,
as did his Companions who remained with him in Medina.
On that occasion, 'Abdullah ibn Rawahah recited:
"Rather, I ask the Most Merciful for forgiveness,
and a piercing strike that spews forth foam,
or a thrust by the hand of a furious attacker, delivered
with a spear that passes through the bowels and liver—
so that it may be said when they pass by my grave:
'May Allah guide a warrior who was indeed rightly guided.'"
The army set out
until it reached an area called Ma'an in the land of Sham.
News then reached them
that Heraclius had encamped in an area called Ma'ab
in the land of Al-Balqa',
leading one hundred thousand Romans,
joined by another one hundred thousand Christian Arabs.
The Muslims had never anticipated
that an army of such immense size would march out against them.
So they stayed in Ma'an for two nights,
deliberating over their situation and taking counsel together.
They said, "Let us write to the Messenger of Allah
to inform him of the number of our enemy,
so he may either reinforce us with men
or issue a command for us to proceed."
But 'Abdullah ibn Rawahah said:
"O my people!
By Allah, the very thing you dislike
is that which you came out seeking: martyrdom!
We do not fight people with numbers, strength, or abundance;
we fight them only with this religion with which Allah has honored us.
So march onward!
For it is bound to be one of the two best outcomes:
either victory or martyrdom."
Thus the matter was settled upon 'Abdullah ibn Rawahah's word,
and they did not write to the Prophet (peace be upon him).
That was because those impassioned words of 'Abdullah
had a profound impact upon them,
so feelings of hesitation vanished from their ranks,
and they resolved to face the enemy—
may Allah be pleased with them.
When the enemy drew near the Muslims,
the Muslims moved to a place called Mu'tah,
where they encamped and arrayed themselves for battle.
The two forces met:
one hundred thousand against three thousand!
Yet it was faith—
when its winds blow, it works wonders.
Zayd ibn Harithah took up the banner
and began fighting fiercely and courageously alongside the Muslims.
Zayd continued fighting until he was killed (may Allah be pleased with him)
and fell slain upon the battlefield.
Salamah ibn al-Akwa' said:
"I fought in nine military expeditions alongside Zayd,
and the Prophet (peace be upon him) used to appoint him as commander over us."
And the Prophet (peace be upon him) said:
"I entered Paradise,
and a young maiden met me.
I asked, 'To whom do you belong?'
She replied, 'To Zayd ibn Harithah.'"
After Zayd was martyred,
Ja'far ibn Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) took up the banner
and began fighting with intense ferocity.
When the fighting exhausted him, he recited:
"O how wonderful is Paradise and its approaching,
sweet and cool is its drink!
And the Romans—their punishment draws near;
disbelievers, distant in their lineage.
Upon me is to strike them whenever I meet them!"
So he continued to fight until he dismounted his horse and hamstrung it—
and he was the first to hamstring his horse in Islam.
He held fast to the banner (may Allah be pleased with him)
until his right arm was severed;
so he took the banner in his left hand,
whereupon his left arm was severed.
He then embraced the banner with the stumps of his upper arms,
and kept it raised until he was killed.
So Allah granted him in exchange two wings in Paradise,
with which he flies wherever he wills.
For this reason, he was called Ja'far al-Tayyar (Ja'far the Flying).
Whenever 'Abdullah ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him and his father)
greeted 'Abdullah ibn Ja'far, he would say to him:
"Peace be upon you, O son of the Two-Winged One."
Ja'far was also called
Abu al-Masakin (Father of the Poor).
He had made both migrations:
to Abyssinia and to Medina.
Al-Bukhari recorded in his Sahih
from 'Abdullah ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him and his father)
that he stood over Ja'far at Mu'tah while he lay slain,
and said:
"I counted fifty wounds on him, between stabs and strikes,
not a single one of which was in his back."
Ja'far died
at the age of thirty-three.
Then, after the martyrdom of Ja'far (may Allah be pleased with him), the banner was taken up by
'Abdullah ibn Rawahah.
He advanced with it,
but experienced a brief moment of hesitation,
so he addressed his own soul, saying:
"I swear, O soul, you shall descend [to battle],
willingly or unwillingly!
Though the people have gathered and the clamor has grown loud,
why do I see you reluctant to enter Paradise?"
Then he dismounted.
A cousin of his brought him a meat bone
and said:
"Strengthen yourself with this."
He took it from his hand,
took a single bite from it,
then tossed it aside, grasped his sword, advanced,
and fought until he was killed,
with the banner still in his hand.
Then a man from the tribe of Banu 'Ajlan stepped forward,
named Thabit ibn Arqam,
who took the banner and said:
"O assembly of Muslims,
agree upon a man among you [to lead],
for there must be a commander whose orders are obeyed."
They said: "You take it."
He replied:
"I am not fit to do so."
So the people agreed upon Khalid ibn al-Walid.
When he took the banner,
he fought with immense ferocity.
Khalid said:
"On the day of Mu'tah,
nine swords broke in my hand,
and nothing remained in my hand except a broad Yemeni blade."
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) had already informed [the companions in Medina]
about what was taking place,
as he was sitting on the pulpit with the Companions around him.
He said:
"Then Zayd took the banner and was slain,
then Ja'far took it and was slain,
then Ibn Rawahah took it and was slain"—
while the eyes of the Prophet (peace be upon him) were overflowing with tears.
For these three were among his closest Companions:
Zayd was his freed slave,
who used to be called Zayd ibn Muhammad;
Ja'far was his cousin;
and 'Abdullah was his poet and one of the prominent leaders of the Khazraj.
The Prophet (peace be upon him) continued:
"...until a sword from the swords of Allah took the banner,
until Allah granted them victory."
Indeed, Allah granted them victory in this great battle,
in that only a small number of Muslims were killed,
while far more were killed among the disbelievers.
When Khalid took the banner,
he stood firm throughout the day
until night fell and fighting ceased.
Then he executed a remarkable strategy (may Allah be pleased with him):
he took the right wing and moved it to the left,
took the left wing and moved it to the right,
put the vanguard at the rear,
and brought the rear guard to the front.
It is also said that he dispatched a detachment to raise clouds of dust in the distance at dawn.
When morning came,
the Byzantines remained in their positions,
but those who had been fighting the right wing
now faced entirely different faces,
as did those fighting the left wing and the front line,
in addition to seeing the dust rising from afar.
So they were certain that reinforcements had reached the Muslims,
and they said to themselves:
"If we could not overcome them when they were so few,
how can we now that reinforcements have arrived?"
At that point, the Byzantines disengaged from the battle,
so Khalid pulled back his forces,
and the Byzantines retreated to their lands,
while Khalid led his men back to Medina.
This was the true victory:
that he managed to save the Muslims from certain annihilation.
Those martyred among the Muslims in this battle were:
Zayd,
Ja'far,
Ibn Rawahah,
Mas'ud ibn al-Aswad,
Wahb ibn Sa'd ibn Abi Sarh,
'Abbad ibn Qays,
Al-Harith ibn al-Nu'man,
Suraqah ibn 'Amr,
Jabir ibn 'Amr,
'Amr ibn Sa'd ibn al-Harith,
and 'Amir ibn Sa'd ibn al-Harith—
making twelve in total.
In this battle, a level of courage and valor was displayed
the likes of which no other nation had ever seen.
This spirit of faith that they possessed
gave them an extraordinary boldness
that humbled the pride of those mighty nations
known for their sheer power and vast numbers.
All of this confirms that the Muslims were of an entirely different caliber
than any people humanity had ever known.
After this battle,
several Arab tribes entered Islam,
including Banu Sulaym, Ashja',
Ghatafan, and Fazarah.
The Muslims returned to Medina,
and the believers rejoiced at their arrival.
As for the report claiming
that when they returned,
the people of Medina met them saying:
"O flee-ers! O flee-ers!"
and that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said:
"Rather, they are the persistent attackers,"
this is a weak report and is not authentic.