BIOGRAPHY – MADINITE LIFE -BATTLE OF MUTAH

BATTLE OF MU’TAH

When the Prophet sent Harith bin Umayr Azdi as his envoy to the ruler of Basra, He was
slain on the way to by Shurahbeel bin Amr Ghassani.

The Prophet took this killing seriously and raised an army of 3000 under Hz Zayd bin Haritha.
He nominated Hz Jafar bin Abi Talib and Abdullah bin Rawaha to take charge consecutively if
Hz Zayd fell. A white standard was given to Hz Zayd. The Prophet instructed him to first
invite to Islam then to payment of Jizya and if they refused then to fight. The Prophet
escorted the troops up to Thaniyat Al-Wada and bade them farewell. The army camped at
Ma`an in S. Jordan. There they got to know that about the strength of the Roman army
(around 200,000). This created a discontent among the Muslim army. At this Hz Abdullah
delivered a speech saying:

“Men, you evade that, by Allah, for which you came out—Martyrdom. We do not fight the
enemy on the strength of our power. We fight them with the religion we have been granted
by Allah. Come, we shall profit both ways. Either we win or we court martyrdom.”

This speech boosted the moral of the army and they moved ahead. Fierce fighting broke out
in one of most striking yet little mentioned in the history of Man, when 3000 soldiers of the
nascent Muslim state challenged the might of 200,000 of the mighty Roman empire. The
Romans marched forward but could still not destroy the small but formidable force of the
Muslim army. Hz Zaid bin Thabit who was the standard bearer of the Muslim army kept
fighting fiercely until he was struck down by enemy lances. Hz Jafar then took up the
standard. As the battle surged on to its fiercest and bloodiest point, Hz Jafar’s right hand
was cut, at which he held it with his left hand, but soon his left hand was also hacked off at
which he took the standard in his lap to up hold the standard of the Prophet. Hz Jafar
remained on the battle field until more than 90 wounds were inflicted on his chest so he
joined the rest of the Muslim martyr’s .The standard was then taken up by Hz Abdullah bin
Rawaha who pressed on until he too fell. Hz Thabit bin Arqam who was nearby, protected
the standard of the Prophet from sinking. After all the commanders fell, the army selected
Hz Khalid bin Waleed as their commander.

Sitting in Madinah the Prophet got to know about the events the battle, martyrdom of his
commander and Hz Khalid bin Waleed taking charge whom the people called ‘Saif-Ul-llah’
(The sword of Allah).

While on the battle field, Hz Khalid changed the order of the troops, sending the rear guard
to the front while sending the front line to the back, he also switched the right and left wing.
This made the Romans think that fresh reinforcement had arrived, dismaying the Romans.
Hz Khalid then ordered his troops to retreat but the Romans did not follow thinking it to be
a ruse. They also did not enter the desert as it was impossible to leave alive.

The Romans at that time could have easily invaded Madinah but the tactical withdraw led by
Hz Khalid bin Waleed stopped the Romans from doing so.