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A
Sleepless Man Who Will Not Let Anyone
Sleep
His story is a rather perplexing one. He
was the deadly enemy of Muslims in the
Battle of Uhud and the deadly enemy of
the enemies of Islam in the remaining
Muslim battles.
I feel at a loss concerning where to
begin and what to begin with. He himself
hardly believed that his life had really
begun until that day on which he shook
hands with the Prophet as a sign of his
allegiance to him. If he could have
ruled out all the years, even the days
that preceeded that day, he would not
have thought twice.
Let us then begin with that part of his
life which he himself loved most. Let us
begin from that glorious moment when his
heart was affected by Allah and his
spirit was blessed by the Most Merciful.
Thus, it overflowed with devotion to His
religion. His Prophet and to a memorable
martyrdom in the way of the truth. This
martyrdom enabled him to erase the
burdens of his advocation of falsehood
in the past.
One day, he sat alone in deep thought
concerning that new religion that was
gaining momentum and gaining ground
every day. He wished that Allah, the
All-Knower of what is hidden and unseen,
would guide him to the right path. His
blessed heart was revived by the glad
tidings of certainty. Therefore, he said
to himself, "By Allah, it is
crystal clear now. This man is indeed a
Prophet, so how long shall I
procrastinate. By Allah, I will go and
submit myself to Islam."
Now, let us hear him (May Allah be
pleased with him) narrate his blessed
visit to the Prophet (PBUH) and his
journey from Makkah to Al-Madiinah to
join the ranks of the believers: I hoped
to find an escort, and I ran into 'Uthmaan
Ibn Talhah and when I told him about my
intention, he agreed to escort me. We
traveled shortly before daybreak and as
we reached the plain, we ran into 'Amr
Ibn AI-'Aas.
After we had exchanged greetings, he
asked us about our destination, and when
we told him, it turned out that he
himself was going to the same place to
submit himself to Islam. The three of us
arrived at Al-Madiinah on the first day
of Safar in the eighth year. As soon as
I laid my eyes on the Prophet, I said,
"Peace be upon the Prophet,"
so he greeted me with a bright face.
Immediately, I submitted myself to Islam
and bore witness to the truth. Finally,
the Prophet (PBUH) said, "I knew
that you have an open mind and I prayed
that it would lead you to safety."
I took my oath of allegiance to the
Prophet then asked him, "Please ask
Allah's forgiveness for me for all the
wrongdoings I have committed to hinder
men from the path of Allah." The
Prophet said, "Islam erases all the
wrongdoings committed before it."
Yet I pleaded with him, "Please
pray for me." Finally, he
supplicated Allah, "0 Allah,
forgive Khaalid for all the wrongdoings
he committed before he embraced
Islam." Then 'Amr Ibn Al-'Aas and 'Uthmaan
Ibn Talhah stepped forward and submitted
themselves to Islam and gave their oath
of allegiance to the Prophet.
Notice these words "Please ask
Allah's forgiveness for me for all the
wrongdoings I have committed in the past
to hinder men from the path of
Allah." Now, whoever has the
perception and insight to read between
the lines will find the true meaning of
these words of Khaalid, who became the
sword of Allah and the hero of Islam.
When we come across various incidents in
the course of his life story, these
words are our key to understanding and
elucidation.
For the time being, let us accompany
Khaalid, who had just embraced Islam,
and watch the Quraish's great warrior
who had always held the reins of
leadership. Let us see the subtlest of
Arabs in the art of attack and retreat
as he turned his back on the idols of
his ancestors and the glory of his
people, and welcomed, along with the
Prophet and the Muslims, the advent of a
new world that Allah had destined to
rise under the standard of Muhammad and
the slogan of monotheism.
Let us hear the Muslim Khaalid's
impressive story. To start with, do you
recall the story of the three martyrs of
the Battle of Mu'tah ? They were Zaid
Ibn Haarithah, Ja'far Ibn Abi Taalib and
'Abd Allah Ibn Rawaahah. They were the
heroes of the Battle of Mu'tah in Syria,
in which the Romans mobilized 200,000
warriors. Nevertheless, the Muslims
achieved unprecedented victory.
Do you recall the glorious, sad words
with which the Prophet announced the sad
news of the death of the three
commanders of the battle? "Zaid Ibn
Haarithah took the standard and fought
holding it until he died as a martyr;
then Ja'ar took it and fought clinging
to it until he won martyrdom; and
finally, "Abd Allah Ibn Rawaahah
gripped it and held it fast until he won
martyrdom."
This is only part of the Prophet's
speech, which I have written before, but
now I find it appropriate to write the
rest of the story:
"Then it was gripped by a sword of
the swords of Allah and he fought until
he achieved victory."
"Who was that hero? He was Khaalid
Ibn Al-Waliid, who threw himself into
the battlefield as if he were an
ordinary soldier under the three
commanders whom the Prophet assigned.
The first commander was Zaid Ibn
Haarithah, the second was Ja'far Ibn Abi
Taalib, and the third was 'Abdullah Ibn
Rawaahah. They won martyrdom in the same
order on the vicious battlefield.
After the last commander had won
martyrdom, Thaabit Ibn Aqram took the
standard with his right hand and raised
it high amidst the Muslim army. His
purpose was to stop any potential
disarray inside the lines. Thaabit then
carried the standard and hastened
towards Khaalid Ibn Al-Waliid and said,
"Take the standard, Abu Sulaimaan."
Khaalid thought that he did not deserve
to take it since he had newly embraced
Islam. He had no right to preside over
an army that included the An'aar and
Muhaajiruun who had preceded him in
embracing Islam.
These qualities of decorum, modesty, and
gratitude were becoming of Khaalid's
worthiness. He said, "I will not
dare to hold it. Go on, hold it, for you
deserve it better than me. First, you
are older. Second, you witnessed the
Battle of Bad." Thaabit answered,
"Come on, take it, you know the art
of fighting far better than me. By
Allah, I only held it to give it to
you." Then he called on the
Muslims, "Do you vote for Khaalid's
command?" They readily answered,
"Yes, we do!"
At that moment, the great warrior
mounted his horse and thrust the
standard forward with his right hand as
if he were knocking on closed doors that
had been closed for too long and whose
time had finally come to be flung wide
open. So this act was to lead the hero
to a long but passable road on which he
would leap during the Prophet's life and
after his death until destiny brought
his ingenuity to its inevitable end.
Although Khaalid was in charge of the
army command, hardly any military
expertise could change the already
determined outcome of the battle,
turning defeat into victory or turning
victory into defeat. The only thing that
a genius could manage to do was to
prevent more casualties or damage in the
Muslim army from occurring and end the
battle with the remainder of the army
intact. Sometimes a great commander must
resort to that kind of preventive
retreat measure that will prevent the
annihilation of the rest of his striking
force on the battlefield. However, such
a retreat was potentially impossible,
yet if the saying, "Nothing stands
in the way of a fearless heart" is
true, there was no one more fearless and
ingenious than Khaalid.
Instantly, The Sword of Allah flung
himself into the vast battlefield. His
eyes were as sharp as a hawk's. His mind
worked quickly, turning over all the
potentialities in his mind. While the
fierce fight raged, Khaalid quickly
split his army into groups, with each
assigned a certain task. He used his
incredible expertise and outstanding
craftiness to open a wide space within
the Roman army through which the whole
Muslim army retreated intact. This
narrow escape was credited to the
ingenuity of a Muslim hero. m this
battle, the Prophet gave Khaalid the
great epithet "The Sword of
Allah".
Shortly thereafter, the Quraish violated
their treaty with the Prophet (PBUH) and
the Muslims marched under Khaalid's
command to conquer Makkah. The Prophet
assigned the command of the right flank
of the army to Khaalid Ibn Al-Waliid.
Khaalid entered Makkah as one of the
commanders of the Muslim army and the
Muslim nation. He recalled his youth
when he galloped across its plains and
mountains as one of the commanders of
the army of paganism and polytheism.
Khaalid stood there recollecting his
childhood days playing on its wonderful
pastures and his youthful memories of
its wild entertainment. These memories
of the past weighed down on him, and he
was filled with remorse for his wasted
life in which he worshipped inanimate
and helpless idols.
But before he bit the tips of his
fingers in remorse, he was overpowered
by the magnificence and spell of this
scene of the glorious light that
approached Makkah and swept away all
that came before it. The astounding
scene of the weak and oppressed people,
on whose bodies the marks of torture and
horror still showed, was magnificent as
they returned to the land they had been
unjustly driven out of. Only this time,
they returned on horseback under the
fluttering standard of Islam. Their
whispers at Daar Al-Arqam's house
yesterday turned today into loud and
glorious shouts of "Allahu akbar
(Allah is the Greatest)", that
shook Makkah and the victorious cry
"There is no god but Allah",
with which the entire universe seemed to
be celebrating a feast day.
How did this miracle come about? What is
the explanation of what had happened?
Simply, there was no logical or rational
explanation whatsoever, but the power of
the verse that the victorious marching
soldiers repeated with their "There
is no god but Allah" and "Allahu
akbar" as they looked with joy at
one another and said, < (It
is ) a Promise of Allah, and Allah fails
not in His Promise > (30:6).
Then Khaalid raised his head and watched
in reverence, joy and satisfaction as
the standard of Islam fluttered on the
horizon. He said to himself,
"Indeed, it is a promise of Allah
and Allah fails not in His
promise." Then he bent his head in
gratitude and thanks for Allah's
blessing that had guided him to Islam
and made him one of thoee who would
usher Islam into Makkah rather than one
of those who would be spurred by this
conquest to submit themselves to Islam.
Khaalid was always near the Prophet. He
devoted his excellent abilities to the
service of the religion he firmly
believed in and devoted his life to.
After the glorious Prophet had died and
Abu Bakr became the caliph,the sly and
treacherous cyclone of those who
apostatized from Islam shrouded the new
religion with its deafening roar and
devastating outbreak. Abu Bakr, quickly
chose the hero of the battlefields and
man of the hour, namely Abu Sulaimaan,
The Sword of Allah, Khaalid Ibn Al-Waliid.
It is true that Abu Bakr himself was at
the head of the first army that fought
against the apostates,nevertheless, he
saved Khaalid for the decisive day and
Khaalid was truly the mastermind and
inspired hero of the last crucial battle
that was considered the most dangerous
of all the apostasy battles.
When the apostate armies were taking
measures to perfect their large
conspiracy, the great Caliph Abu Bakr
insisted on taking the lead of the
Muslim army. The leaders of the
Companions tried desperately to persuade
him not to, yet his decision was final.
Perhaps he meant to give the cause for
which he mobilized and rallied this army
a special importance, tinged with
sanctity. He could not achieve his aim
except by his actual participation in
the deadly battle and his direct command
of some or all of the Muslim troops. It
was a battle between the power of belief
against the power of apostasy and
darkness.
The outbreak of apostasy posed serious
threats, inspite of the fact that it
started as an accidental
insubordination. Soon, the opportunists
and the malicious enemies of Islam,
whether from the Arab tribes or from
across the borders where the power of
Romans and Persians perched, seized
their last opportunity to hinder the
sweeping tide of Islam. Therefore, they
instigated mutiny and chaos from behind
the scenes.
Unfortunately, mutiny flowed like an
electric current through the Arab
tribes, like Asad, Ghatfaan, 'Abs, Tii,
Dhubyaan, then Bani 'Aamar, Hawaazin,
Sulaim and Bani Tamiim. Hardly had the
skirmishes started with limited numbers
of soldiers than they were reinforced
with enormous armies, often of thousands
of warriors. The people of Bahrain, Oman
and Al-Mahrah responded to this horrible
plot.
Suddenly, Islam was facing a dangerous
predicament, and the apostate enemy
closed in upon the believers. But Abu
Bakr was ready for them. He mobilized
the Muslim armies and marched to where
the armies of Bani "Abs, Bani Murah
and Bani Dhubyaan gathered.
The battle started and went on for a
long time before the Muslims achieved a
great victory. No sooner had the
victorious Muslim army reached Al-Madiinah
than the caliph sent it on another
expedition. News spread that the armies
of the apostates were increasing in
number and weapons by the hour.
Abu Bakr marched at the head of the
second army, only this time, the
prominent Companions lost their patience
and clung to their opinion that the
caliph should remain in Al-Madiinah.
Accordingly, Imam 'Ally stood in Abu
Bakr's way as he was marching at the
head of the army and held the reins of
his she camel and asked, "Where to,
Caliph of the Prophet? I will tell you
the same words that the Prophet told you
in the Battle of Uhud: Sheathe your
sword, Abu Bakr, and don't expose us to
such a tragic loss at this critical
time."
The caliph had to comply with this
consensus. Therefore, he split the army
into eleven divisions and assigned a
certain role for each one. Khaalid Ibn
Al-Waliid would be the commander over a
large division. When the caliph gave
every commander his standard, he
addressed Khaalid saying, "I heard
the Prophet say, 'Khaalid is truly an
excellent slave of Allah and a brother
of the same tribe. He is a sword of
Allah unsheathed against disbelievers
and hypocrites.'"
Khaalid and his army fought one battle
after another and achieved one victory
after another until they reached the
crucial battle.
It was in the Battle of Al-Yamaamah that
Bani Haniifah and their allies from the
Arab tribes organized one of the most
dangerous armies of the apostasy, led by
Musailamah the Liar. A number of Muslim
forces tried to defeat Musailamah's army
but failed. Finally the caliph ordered
Khaalid to march to where Bani Haniifah
was camped.
No sooner had Musailamah heard that
Khaalid was on his way to fight him than
he reorganized his army, turning it into
a devastating and horrible enemy
machine. Both armies met in fierce
combat. When you read the history of the
Prophet (PBUH) a perplexing awe will
take hold of you, for you will find
yourself watching a battle that
resembles our modern battles in its
atrocity and horrors, though it differs
in weapons and tactics.
Khaalid's army stopped at a sand dune
that overlooked Al-Yamaamah. At the same
time, Musailamah marched haughtily and
with great might followed by endless
waves of his soldiers. Khaalid assigned
the brigades and standard to the
commanders of his army. As the two
armies clashed in a terrible,
large-scale, devastating war, the Muslim
martyrs fell one by one like roses in a
garden on which a stubborn tempest blew!
Immediately Khaalid realized that the
enemy was about to win the battle, so he
galloped up a nearby hill and surveyed
the battlefield. He realized that his
soldiers morale was waning under the
pressure of the blitz of Musailamah's
army.
Instantly, he decided to trigger a new
feeling of responsibility inside the
Muslim army, so he summoned the flanks
and reorganized their positions on the
battlefield. He cried out victoriously,
"Fight together in your own groups
and let us see who will surpass the
other and win the field." They all
obeyed and reorganized themselves in
their own groups. Thus, the Muhaajiruun
fought under their i taidard, the Ansaar
fought under theirs, and every group
fought under its standard. It became
fairly easy to determine where defect
came from. As a result, the Muslims were
charged with admirable enthusiasm,
firmness, and determination.
Every now and then, Khaalid was careful
to cry out, "Allahu akbar" and
"There is no god but Allah."
He ordered his army in such a way that
he turned the swords of his men into an
inevitable victory that no one could
escape. It was striking that, in a few
minutes, the Muslim army turned the
tables on Musailamah's army.
Musailamah's soldiers fell in tens of
hundreds and thousands like flies that
were suffocated by the deadly spray of a
pesticide. Khaalid ordered his soldiers
with a kind of enthusiasm that flowed
into them like an electric current. This
was a manifestation of his striking
genius. This was the manner in which the
most decisive and fierce battle of
apostasy was conducted. In the end,
Musailamah was slain and the bodies of
his men were scattered on the
battlefield. Finally, the standard of
the liar imposter was buried forever.
On hearing the good news, the caliph
offered the Prayer of Thanksgiving to
Allah the Great and Most High for
bestowing victory on the hands of this
hero.
Abu Bakr had enough discernment and
insight to realize the danger of the
evil powers that perched on the borders,
threatening the promising future of
Islam and Muslims. These evil powers
were the Persians in Iraq and the Romans
in Syria. These two dwindling empires
that clung tenaciously to the distorted
remnant of their past glory were not
only afflicting the people of Iraq and
Syria with horrible torment, but also
manipulating them. Notwithstanding the
fact that the majority populations were
Arabs, they instigated them to fight
Muslim Arabs who carried the standard of
the new religion which sought to pull
down the vestiges of the ancient world
and eradicate the decay and corruption
in which it was steeped. The great and
blessed caliph sent his orders to
Khaalid to march towards Iraq, so the
hero did so.
I wish that I were given more space to
follow up in detail the proceedings of
his magnificent victory.
Upon arriving in Iraq, the first thing
that Khaalid did was to dispatch
messages to every governor and deputy
who ruled the provinces and cities of
Iraq in the name of the emperor. These
messages were as follows: In the name of
Allah, the Most Beneficient, the Most
Merciful. Khaalid Ibn Al-Waliid sends
this message to the satraps of Persia.
Peace will be upon him who follows the
guidance. All praises and thanks be to
Allah Who dispersed your power and
thwarted your deceitful plots. On the
one hand, he who performs our prayers
directing his face to our Qiblah to face
the Sacred Mosque in Makkah and eats our
slaughtered animals is a Muslim. He has
the same rights and duties that we have.
On the other hand, if you do not want to
embrace Islam, then as soon as you
receive my message, send over the jizyah
(tax levied upon non-Muslim people who
are under the protection of a Muslim
government) and I give you my word that
I will respect and honor this covenant.
But if you do not agree to either
choice, then, by Allah,1 will send to
you people who crave death as much as
you crave life.
Khaalid's scouts whom he planted
everywhere warned him against the
enormity of the armies that were
organized by the commanders of Persia in
Iraq. As usual, Khaalid did not waste
much time. Therefore, he flung his
soldiers against the falsehood of
disbelief so as to devastate it.
Victory followed him wherever he went,
from Al-Ubullah, to As-Sadiir, An-Najaf,
Al-Hiirah, Al-Anbaar then
Al-Kaadhimiyah. There was one victory
procession after another. The glad
tidings of Khaalid's arrival blew like a
fresh breeze wherever he went to usher
in Islam. The weak and oppressed people
found sanctuary in the new religion that
saved them from the occupation and
oppression of the Persians.
It was impressive that Khaalid's first
order to his troops was, "Do not
attack or hurt the peasants. Leave them
to work at peace unless some of them
attack you. Only then, I permit you to
defend yourselves."
He marched on with his victorious army,
swept his enemies, and cut through their
ranks like a knife cutting through
melting butter. The Aadhaan resounded
everywhere. I wonder if it had reached
the Romans in Syria? Did they realize
that cries of "Allah is the
Greatest" signaled the end of their
deteriorating civilizations? Indeed,
they must have heard. In fact, the
Aadhaan cast terror into them, yet in a
desperate attempt to recapture the
phantom of their empire, they decided
heedlessly to fight a battle of despair
and perdition.
Abu Bakr Ag-Siddiiq mobilized his armies
and chose a group of his prominent
commanders such as Abu 'Ubaidah Ibn
Al-Jarraah, 'Amr Ibn Abbaas, Yaziid Ibn
Abi Sufyaan and Mu'aawiyah Ibn Abi
Sufyaan to lead them.
When the Roman emperor heard the news of
the mobilization of these armies, he
advised his ministers and commanders to
make peace with the Muslims to avoid
inevitable defeat. However, his
ministers and commanders insisted on
fighting and maintained, "By our
Lord, we will make Abu Bakr's hair stand
on end before his horses breed in our
land." Consequently, they mobilized
an army estimated at 240,000 warriors.
The Muslim commanders dispatched this
terrifying news to Abu Bakr, who
pledged, "By Allah, I will rid them
of their doubts through Khaalid."
Thus, the antidote of their evil
suggestions of mutiny, aggression, and
disbelief, namely Khaalid Ibn Al-Waliid,
was ordered to go on an expedition to
Syria, where he was to command the
Muslim armies.
Khaalid promptly acted upon his orders
and left Iraq under Al-Muthannaa Ibn
Haarithah's supervision and marched with
his troops until they reached the Muslim
headquarters in Syria. His ingenuity
enabled him to organize the Muslim
armies and coordinate their different
positions in no time. Shortly before the
outbreak of war, he addressed his
warriors after he had praised and
thanked Allah, saying, "This is
Allah's day. On this day, we must not
give way to pride not let injustice
overrule. I advise you to purify your
jihaad and your deeds for Allah. Let us
take turns in command. Let each and
everyone of us take over the command for
a day."
"This is Allah's day." What a
wonderful onset! "We must not give
way to pride nor let injustice
overrule." This sentence is even
more graceful, adequate, and awesome. On
the one hand, the great leader was not
lacking in self-denial and cleverness,
for inspite of the fact that the caliph
had assigned the command of the army to
him, he did not want to give Satan a
chance to whisper in the breasts of his
soldiers. Therefore, he relinquished his
absolute hold on the army to every
soldier in the ranks even though he was
already the commander. Thus, the
commander of the army rotated from day
to day.
The enormous and well-equipped Roman
army was really terrifying. On the other
hand, the Roman commander realized that
time was in the Muslims' favor, for they
were given to protracted battles which
would guarantee their victory.
Therefore, he decided to mobilize all
their troops for a quick battle to
finish off the Arabs once and for all.
Undoubtedly the courageous Muslims, on
that day, were gripped by fear and
anxiety, yet in such predicaments they
always resorted to their faith, in which
they found hope and victory.
Notwithstanding the might of the Roman
armies, the experienced Abu Bakr had
firm belief in Khaalid's abilities;
therefore he said, "Khaalid is the
man for it. By Allah, I will rid them of
their doubts with Khaalid."
Let the Romans parade their terrifying,
enormous forces, for the Muslims had the
antidote. Ibn Al-Waliid mobilized and
rallied his army, then divided it into
brigades. He laid out a new plan for
attack and defense that adhered to the
Roman war strategy and tactics with
which he was well-acquainted from his
past experience with the Persians. He
was ready for all possibilities.
Strangely enough, the battle raged
exactly as he had imagined it would,
step by step and one fight after
another. If he had actually counted the
number of strokes of swords, he would
not have been much more accurate. Before
the two armies clashed, he was worried
about the possibility that some of the
soldiers, especially those who had newly
embraced Islam, might flee upon seeing
the terrifying and enormous Roman army.
Khaalid believed that the ingenuity of
victory and firmness were one and the
same. He believed that the Muslim army
could not afford the loss of even one of
its soldiers, for it was enough to
spread malignant panic and havoc inside
the army, which was something that even
the entire Roman army could not succeed
in doing. In consequence, he was
extremely firm concerning anyone who
deserted his post and weapon and ran
away. In the Battle of Yarmuuk, in
particular, and afterwards, his troops
took their positions. He called the
Muslim women and, for the first time,
gave them swords. He ordered them to
stand at the rear of the lines to
"Kill anyone who flees." It
was the magic touch of a mastermind.
Shortly before the battle erupted, the
Roman commander asked Khaalid to show
himself, for he wanted a few words with
him. Khaalid rode towards him, then they
galloped to the area that separated the
two armies. Mahan, the Roman commander,
addressed Khaalid saying, "We know
that nothing but weariness and hunger
made you leave your country and go on
this expedition. If you wish, we shall
give ten dinars, clothes, and food to
every one of you, on one condition, that
you return to your country and next year
we will do the same."
Khaalid gnashed his teeth, as he was
provoked by his flagrant lack of
manners, yet he repressed himself and
answered confidently, "We didn't
leave our country out of hunger as you
said, but we heard that Roman blood is
very delicious and tasty, so we have
decided to quench our thirst with
it."
Swiftly, the hero rode back to the ranks
of his army and raised the Muslim
standard to the full length of his arm,
then he launched the attack.
Allahuakbar! Let the breeze of Paradise
blow!
At once, his army was like a missile as
it charged into the battlefield. They
met in an extraordinary, monstrous, and
deadly combat. The Romans rushed into
the battlefield with an enormous number,
yet they found that their foes were not
an easy prey. The self-sacrifice and
firmness that the Muslims displayed on
that day were impressive.
In the first place, one of the Muslim
soldiers rushed to Abu "Ubaidah Ibn
Al-jarraah (May Allah be pleased with
him) during the battle and said, "I
have set my mind on martyrdom. Do you
want me to take a message to the Prophet
(PBUH) when I meet him?" Abu
'Ubaidah answered, "Yes, tell him
we have indeed found true what our Lord
had promised us."
Immediately, the man darted like an
arrow into the horrors of the
battlefield. He craved death; therefore,
he fought fiercely with one sword while
thousands of swords were thrusted into
him until he won martyrdom.
Secondly, "Ikramah Ibn Abu Jahl --
yes, he was the son of the infamous Abu
Jahl. He called out to the Muslims when
the Romans were killing anyone who came
within the sweep of their swords and
said, "I fought against the Prophet
before Allah guided me to Islam, so how
can I possibly be afraid of fighting
Allah's enemy after I submitted myself
to Islam?"
Then he cried out, "Who gives me
the pledge to death?" He was given
the pledge to death by a group of
Muslims. Then they broke through the
enemy lines. They preferred martyrdom to
victory. Allah accepted the bargain they
had concluded through their pledge and
they won martyrdom.
Thirdly, other Muslims were badly
wounded and water was brought so that
they might quench their thirst, yet when
it was offered to the first one, he
pointed to his brother who was lying
next to him more seriously wounded and
who was more thirsty. Again, when this
brother was offered water, he in his
turn pointed to his brother. Finally,
the majority of them died thirsty after
they had demonstrated an incredible
example of self-denial and
self-sacrifice. Indeed, the Battle of
Al-Yarmuuk witnessed unprecedented and
unmatched instances of self-sacrifice.
Among these striking masterpieces of
self-sacrifice exhibited by the
determined will of the Muslims was the
extraordinary portrait of Khaalid Ibn
Al-Waliid at the head of only 100
soldiers who flung themselves against
40,000 Romans. Khaalid kept calling out
to his 100 soldiers saying, "By
Allah, the Romans seemed to have lost
their patience and courage, therefore I
pray to Allah to let you have the upper
hand over them."
How could 100 soldiers have the upper
hand over 40,000? It is, indeed,
incredible! Yet, were not the hearts of
these 100 soldiers filled with faith in
Allah the Most High, the Most Great?
Were they not filled with faith in His
trustworthy and honest Prophet (PBUH)?
Were they not filled with faith in that
cause which represents the most
persistent vital issue in life? This
cause represents piety and
righteousness. And was not their Caliph
Abu Bakr As-Siddiiq (Allah be pleased
with him) the man who, while his flags
were raised above the whole world, sat
there in Al-Madiinah, the new capital of
the new world, milking with his own
hands the ewes of widows and kneading
with his own hands the bread of orphans?
Was not their Commander Khaalid Ibn
Al-Waliid the antidote for the doubts of
tyranny, arrogance, oppression, and
transgression? Was not the Sword of
Allah drawn against the powers of
backwardness, decay, and disbelief? Were
not all these portraits a depiction of
truth, the whole truth, and nothing but
the truth?
So let the breeze of victory blow! Let
it blow strong, mighty, and victorious!
Khaalid's ingenuity impressed the Roman
officers and commanders so much so that
Jerjah, a Roman commander, asked Khaalid
to show himself during a rest in the
fighting. When they met, the Roman
commander asked him, "Khaalid, tell
me the truth and do not lie, for the
freeman doesn't lie. Did Allah send down
on your Prophet a heavenly sword and he
gave it to you, so that it enables you
to kill anyone who comes within its
sweep?" Khaalid answered,
"No." The man exclaimed,"
Then why do they call you the Sword of
Allah?" Khaalid explained,
"Allah sent His Prophet to us. Some
of us believed in him and others
disbelieved in him. I was among the
disbelievers until Allah guided my heart
to Islam and to His Prophet (PBUH) and I
gave him my allegiance. Therefore, the
Prophet supplicated Allah for me and
said, 'You are the Sword of
Allah.'" The Roman commander asked,
"What do you invits people
to?" Khaalid answered, "We
invite people to monotheism and to
Islam." He asked, "Does anyone
who submits himself to Islam have the
same reward as you?" Khaalid
answered," Yes, and even
better." Jerjah exclaimed,
"How, when you embraced Islam
before he did?"
Khaalid answered, "We lived with
the Prophet and saw with our own eyes
his signs and miracles. Now anyone who
had the chance to see what we saw and
hear what we heard was expected to
submit himself to Islam sooner or later.
As for you who did not see or hear him,
if despite this you believe in him and
in the unseen, you will find better and
greater reward if you purify your
conscience and intentions to
Allah."
The Roman commander cried out as he
urged his horse closer to Khaalid and
stood next to him, "Please,
Khaalid, teach me Islam!" He
submitted himself to Islam and prayed
two rak'ahs. Soon, combat erupted and
once again, the Roman Jerjah fought, but
this time on the Muslim side until he
won martyrdom.
Now, let us watch closely how human
greatness was manifested in one of its
most remarkable scenes. The first
version narrated by the historian said
that while Khaalid was commanding the
Muslim army in this bloody and crucial
war and wresting victory out of the
claws of the Romans with admirable
master strokes, the new caliph,
"Umar Ibn Al-Khaltaab, Commander of
the Faithful, dispatched a message to
him in which he saluted the Muslim army
and announced the sad news of Abu Bakr's
death (May Allah be pleased with him).
Then he ordered Khaalid to give up his
command to Abu 'Ubaidah Ibn Al-Jarraah.
Khaalid read the message and supplicated
Allah to have mercy on Abu Bakr and
bestow His guidance on 'Umar. Then he
strictly ordered the messenger not to
tell anyone about the purport of the
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