Download Battle of Mu`tah – v

Battle of Mu'tah
Muta is located to the south of Lake Galilee, 50 km from Jerusalem. At the
beginning of the 8th year (Gregorian 629) Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) sent
Harith ibn Umayr al-Azdi with a letter of invitation to Islam to the governor of
Busra, who was a representative of the Byzantine Empire. While the
messenger was passing through the lands of Shurahbil ibn Amr, the emir of
Gassani, he was killed by ibn Amr. Harith ibn Umayr is the only messenger of
Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) to have been killed. As a result of the open
violation of international laws that prescribed the immunity of the
messengers, Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) prepared an army of 3,000 and
assigned
Zayd
ibn
Haritha
as
its
commander.
He commanded that Ja'far ibn Abu Taleb be commander if Zayd was killed,
Abdullah ibn Rawaha to be commander if Ja'far was killed, and the Muslims
would choose a commander among them if Rawaha was martyred. Prophet
Muhammad (pbuh) also ordered that they go to the place where the emissary
had been killed and invite the people there to Islam; if they accepted they
were not to fight He advised them not to kill the children, women, old
people, or the people who took shelter in the monasteries, as well as
avoiding damaging the date fields cutting the trees and destroying buildings.
The Islamic army reached Muta after crossing the Wadi al-Qura and Maan.
There they came across a large army whose number was said to have been
100,000 or 200,000, under the general command of Theodoros, the
commander of the Byzantine armies. The army included Christian Arab tribes
led by Shurahbil ibn Amr (Jumada al-awwal 8/September 629). The banner
was taken by Ja'far ibn Abu Taleb when Zayd ibn Haritha was martyred at the
beginning of the war. As the battle got more intense, Ja'fer ibn Abu Taleb
jumped off his charger and tied its forelegs together, fighting until he lost his
right hand. He then held the flag in his left hand, which was later cut off
along with his arm, but he still continued to hold it with his teeth. He fell
down dead in the battlefield after being speared in the chest. The banner
was now held aloft by Abdullah ibn Rawaha. He too fought bravely until he
was killed. Now the Muslim troops rallied around Khalid ibn al-Walid, who
took the banner in his hand after Abdullah ibn Rawaha was martyred.
According to some accounts, while the Muslims were fighting the enemy at
Muta, Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was giving a description of the conflict in
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”
Medina. When the command was given to Khalid ibn al-Walid on the front,
Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said: "Finally one of Allah's swords (meaning
Khalid ibn al-Walid) has taken the banner and will hold it until Allah grants
them success." Khalid ibn al-Walid, wanting to give the impression that
reinforcements had arrived from Medina, took soldiers from the right flank to
the left flank and soldiers from the left flank to the right flank, soldiers from
the rear to the front ranks and the soldiers from the front flanks to the rear.
He succeeded in bringing the Islamic army to Medina, inflicting some damages
on the enemy from time to time and gaining some loot.
Fifteen Muslims were martyred at Muta. Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) shed
tears for the martyrs but he prohibited crying and wailing in distress. Prophet
Muhammad (pbuh) also requested that the relatives of the martyrs bring food
to the families of the martyrs and help them in their tasks for three days.
Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) sent food to the household of Ja'far, his cousin.
He later took Ja'far's children with him and looked after them.
The warriors of Islam fought the enemy army with determination in Muta,
even though it was much greater. Khalid ibn al-Walid, who accepted Islam
when Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) went to Mecca for umratu al-kaza
(circumambulating the Kaaba outside the times of pilgrimage) and who first
participated in a war with the Muslims and commanded the army, was praised
by Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) for his success in the battle and was given the
title of "Allah's sword" (Sayfullah). Khalid ibn al-Walid said, "At the battle of
Muta, nine swords were broken in my hand, I finally held only a Yemeni
broad-sword." Abdullah ibn Umar and his friends stated that Ja'far ibn Abu
Taleb received wounds from more than fifty swords, arrows and spears. About
Ja'far ibn Abu Taleb Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said, "Allah has given two
wings to Jafar in place of his arms. He flies in the Paradise whenever he
likes". This is the reason that he is known as Ja'far al-Tayyar.
Although the Battle of Muta was a night attack in which Prophet Muhammad
(pbuh) did not participate, it has been regarded as a battle in some sources,
probably due to the greatness and importance of the struggle and that it
involved
hand-to-hand
combat.
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The Islamic army first encountered the Byzantine army, the army of one of
the greatest empires of the period, in this battle. The fact that the Islamic
army returned to Medina without many casualties after encountering an army
that was superior in terms of numbers and battle power must be regarded as
a success. Dr. Mustafa Fayda states the importance of this battle for the
Muslims in the following words: "Thanks to the Battle of Muta, Khalid and the
Muslims gained an opportunity to learn the battle style, tactics and weapons
of the Byzantine army closely. The benefit of this experience would be seen
in the following battles that were fought against the Byzantine army,
particularly the Battle of Yarmuk. The Arabs in Syria and Palestine saw the
faith, bravery and courage of the Muslims, and they began to learn about the
new religion and its members." (see Fayda, Allah'in Kilici Halid b. Velid
(Allah's Sword: Khalid ibn Al-Walid), p. 168).
That was the battle of Mu'tah, which was full of valuable lessons.
Once a person has read about its incidents, he cannot help but
admire the Muslim combatants – those amazing soldiers, 3,000 in
number, who faced the immense army of 200,000 warriors.
Just imagining these two military powers leads to the conclusion that
victory would decisively be in favor of the greater army.
Nevertheless, the Muslims stood firm, despite a small amount of
troops and military gear, to show the greatest example of sacrifice,
even gaining victory against the enemy in the greatest force
experienced by the Roman Empire’s army.
The battle of Mu'tah is, according to all military criteria, a miracle and
a supernatural event. The battle rendered the enemy face to face
with the Islamic military principle that the Muslims would fight others
based neither on troops nor military gear. Instead they fought by
virtue of their religion. If we intend to fight sincerely for the sake of
Allaah and exhaust available means of military preparation, victory
will be ours by the permission of Allaah.
Love of spending and sacrificing one's soul and wealth in the cause of
Allaah springs from a Muslim's belief in Allaah and the certainty of
having His favor.
The remaining question is: will Muslims develop such valor and
deduce lessons from the battle of Mu'tah? Islamic military history is
particularly rich in lessons that may implant sacrifice in the hearts of
Muslim youth so that the Ummah will be restored to its previous
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glory.
It has been said that the battle of Mut’ah was one of the most significant and
fiercest battle that had taken place during the life of Muhammad (Peace Be
Upon Him). The battle took place in the month of Jumada Al-Awwal, it is named
after a village that lies on the borders of Syria which is called Mut’ah. “]
According to narrations the Muslims had suffered from losing 12 martyrs in the
war and the number of casualties from the Byzantine Army was unknown but
point to a large number of casualties according to the outcome of the battle.
The battle of Mut’ah was a miracle, an army of 3000 Muslims fighting
against over 200,000 Byzantine soldiers who were better equipped with
armour and weapons. This just went to show that Allah was backing and
supporting the Muslims and pointed to the fact that Prophet Muhammad
(Peace Be Upon Him) was a messenger of Allah.
There are many valuable lessons to take from the Battle of Mut’ah, one of
them being that the Muslims did not fight based on the number of troops
or military equipment. But they fought for the pleasure of their Lord Allah
and the pleasure of the Messenger of Allah (Peace Be Upon Him).
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