Seerah of Prophet Muhammad 82 - Battle of Hunayn Part 1 ~ Dr. Yasir Qadhi | 16th April 2014
Seerah of Prophet Muhammad 82 - Battle of Hunayn Part 1 ~ Dr. Yasir Qadhi | 16th April 2014
"Wasn't There Anybody That Had Mercy in His Heart to Stop This?"
Recall we discussed Khalid's mistake; there is another tragedy that took place which we didn't mention, and it was very interesting because it shows the soft spot of the Prophet PBUH. Of the little incidents that took place, one of the prisoners of war executed by Khalid was a young man. And he begged the sahabi to take him to the women side, so the sahabi agreed. And there, he talked to his betrothed since he was engaged, and he versified a beautiful love poetry for her, mentioned in Ibn Ishaq. And she in return is wailing and gives back a love poem. And as he is executed she takes him and he dies in her arms. Obviously again, this was not something the Prophet PBUH commanded; Khalid made ijtihad and he was criticized and the compensation was paid. When the Prophet PBUH heard this story, he became enraged even more. And he said, "Wasn't there anybody that had mercy in his heart to stop Khalid from doing this?" And it's amazing that the Prophet PBUH had a soft spot and mercy for romanticism. For the romantic poetry that was versified between the two. Wallahi it's very interesting this happened in the incident of Khalid.
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Thaqif Wants War
Getting back to Makkah, recall the Prophet PBUH camped there for 19 days. And news came that a large army was gathering outside of Makkah. Who is now going to attack? The only city within attacking distance, which is Ta'if. And if you recall, the tribe name of Ta'if is Thaqif - and their idol is al-Lat. So the Thaqif and Quraysh have been competing for centuries. But now that Quraysh has been defeated, Thaqif wants to fight. Why? One reason is that Thaqif assumed the Prophet PBUH would attack them next after Makkah. This seems wrong, for why would the Prophet PBUH attack the citadel of Ta'if? Rather, what seems to be the case is that the tribe of Thaqif understood, "If we don't take Makkah back, idolatry will be gone." Also they wanted to regain control of the Ka'bah. So they had two intentions:
1) They want to protect paganism. They realize with Makkah conquered there is no stopping monotheism from spreading.
2) The Quraysh have been vanquished, so they wanted to become the new custodians of the Ka'bah.
So the tribe of Thaqif began sending out delegations to every single pagan tribe in Arabia. Never had the Arabs united like this, and we this constantly. First in Uhud, then in Ahzab, and now in the Battle of Hunayn coming up. Each time the numbers grow. And the Battle of Hunayn was the largest gathering of pagan Arabs in the history of Arabia. Since the Arabs were a race and civilization, they have been disunited in disjointed groups and tribes. Never had anything united them other than tribalism. For the first time there is a religious war taking place: Monotheism vs paganism. With the Quraysh gone, the Thaqif become the best chance to keep paganism alive over monotheism. So Thaqif send out as many emissaries as they could; eventually over 20,000 pagans gathered together under the banner of Thaqif. Of course there were many tribes gathered - Thaqif was the largest. The second largest was the Hawazin. There are plenty more. To be simplistic, the Thaqif comprised of the people living in the city of Ta'if, the Hawazin were the Bedouins who lived around Ta'if. They together formed around 10,000.
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Back-and-Forth Between Abdullah ibn Abi Hadrat and Umar al-Khattab
The Prophet PBUH obviously heard rumors this was happening. So he sent a relatively new convert, Abdullah ibn Abi Hadrat to intermix with the people, pretend he's walking along with them and gather information. He comes back and informs that, "Never have I seen this many people," and he tells the Muslims of their armor, weapons etc. Now as we mentioned before, the people of Ta'if had a natural advantage that they lived on a plateau. And they were naturally protected; they were better fed, they had access to rainwater and vegetation, they had armor, fortresses, etc. So Abdullah ibn Abi Hadrat informs the Prophet PBUH about what is happening. What does the Prophet PBUH do? As always he calls he senior companions, Abu Bakr, Umar etc. And he says, "What shall we do?" The senior companions are shocked and taken aback. They just conquered Makkah, it's a happy time, and suddenly there is war. So there was confusion, silence and sudden concern.
Umar RA said, "Perhaps Abdullah is wrong." And Abdullah became enraged: He said, "Perhaps if you think I am wrong, don't forget you thought someone better than me was wrong too." So he prodded back at Umar RA saying, "You were once a kafir and you once thought the Prophet PBUH was wrong." So Umar RA became enraged and he complained to the Prophet PBUH - and the Prophet PBUH responded, "Indeed Umar you were misguided and Allah guided you to Islam." And this small incident shows the humanity of the sahaba. They were not perfect. You will never find any society that doesn't have differences and minor arguments. In Allah's wisdom He demonstrated the most perfect society that had these differences, but at the end of the day the sahaba were united and obedient to Allah. It also shows us, it doesn't make you a bad Muslim to fall into a minor issue - if you say something in anger etc. Both of them are not really sinful, but obviously it's not the right etiquette. So in this we learn the humanity of the sahaba, and also the wisdom of the Prophet PBUH. He just calmed the situation down and he didn't take sides.
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Muslim's Preparations
So the Prophet PBUH realized there would be war, so he asked help from the new converts. There were around 2000 men in Makkah in addition to the 10,000 who came from Madinah. Therefore, some of the big names participated in the Battle of Hunayn, some who weren't even Muslim. There is a controversy as to whether non-Muslims can fight in the side of Muslims: This incident suggests yes. In any case, of those who fought was Safwan ibn Umayyah, the son of Umayyah ibn Khalaf. Right now he isn't a Muslim, rather he's asked the Prophet PBUH for protection for 2 months. So the Prophet PBUH goes to Safwan, and Safwan has lots of weapons and armor. So Safwan said, "Are you taking it from me, or are you asking me as a loan?" The Prophet PBUH said, "I'm asking you for a loan I guarantee I will pay back." This also shows the fiqh principle: When you borrow something you are responsible for it. Islamic law requires you pay back any damages. He also went to Abu Sufyan ibn al-Harb and borrowed armor from him; and also from Hakim ibn al-Hizam. All of this was borrowed and it was all paid back.
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Marching to Ta'if
The Prophet PBUH left Makkah on the 6th Shawwal. As we said the Prophet PBUH stayed in Makkah for 19 days as reported in Bukhari - other scholars and source say 10, some say 2 weeks etc. but we will stick with 19. For those who said less than 19, they say he left Makkah on the 28th Ramadan, but we'll stick with Bukhari so he left on the 6th Shawwal, and he arrived in Hunayn on the 10th. There were around 12,000 people - 10,000 sahaba, and 2000 from Makkah most of whom are Muslims (but not all). Why Hunayn? The people of Ta'if had already camped in that region.
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Clash of the Young With the Old
The people of Ta'if numbered around 20,000 and their chieftain was newly elected young man by the name of Malik ibn Awf al-Nasri. So this is his first major battle - an interesting thing happens, which is very common in all cultures and civilizations, and that is the clash of the young with the old. It's mentioned in the books of seerah one of the oldest most senior noblemen of Ta'if, Durayd ibn al-Sima, was brought to the battle to get his blessings. He is an old guard, he's fought in so many battles, so the army wanted the blessings and wisdom of his presence. Note he was blind. So when he was brought to the battlefield, he says, "I can sense there are women and children, and there are animals here - who has commanded all of them to come to the battle?" He is told the new chieftain, Malik ibn Awf. So he says, "Bring Malik ibn Awf to me."
And he tells Malik, "Why do I hear the babies crying, and the goats bleating, why have you brought the entire civilization of Thaqif here?" So Malik says, "I've brought them because I want every man to have his family and property behind him, so he fights the best fight possible." But Durayd severely rebuked him and told him it was a foolish move, "Your women, children and goats won't help you win the war - a man who will lose is not going to win merely because his family is behind him." He then asked for particular subtribes that were known for warfare and intelligence: But all of those subtribes he named they didn't show up. So those tribes knew that what Malik was doing was unwise. So Durayd advised Malik to go back instead of fighting, and he said, "If you won't listen, at least take the precious eggs of Thaqif and bring them back to the fortress for their presence won't help. If you win you will go back and enjoy their company; if you lose at least they will be safe back home." This is a very sensible suggestion; and the people of Thaqif thought, "This is wise we should listen to him." But Malik mocks Durayd and says, "You've lost your marbles, you've lost the plot, you don't understand, just go back home." When he saw the people were still not fully sure, he said to his people, "Wallahi if you don't listen to me, in front of you I will kill myself." So with this the people of Thaqif kept their families and flock on the battlefield. And truly this is the age old problem between youthful ignorance/zeal vs elderly wisdom/maturity. Every society faces this issue.
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The Danger of Pride/Overconfidence
In any case, the Muslims exited Makkah and note never up until this time the Muslim army numbered 12,000. It's a massive amount - now the pagans were 20,000 of course but the Muslims had so much weaponry, artillery and never had they had the number of horses and camels. So one of them remarked, "How can we be destroyed when we are 12,000?" The news reached the Prophet PBUH that there is a Muslim boasting, so the Prophet PBUH immediately responded back, that, "Do not say this, for verily there was a prophet from amongst the prophets, who looked at his army and got puffed up. And as he looked, Allah SWT sent a disease or pestilence (some type of calamity), and right then and there the army was destroyed without meeting the enemy in the battlefield." And of course the Prophet PBUH is trying to show us the problem of pride/arrogance. Never assume you are the best or undefeatable. Look at how the Prophet PBUH entered Makkah - his face is bowed down all the way to the camel's back.
So the Prophet PBUH became worried that this arrogance is spreading. Allah talks about this in Surah al-Tawba [9:25], "On the day of Hunayn." And subhan'Allah Hunayn is mentioned explicitly: Only two battles are mentioned by name in the Quran: Badr and Hunayn (Note: The word Ahzab also occurs, but it refers to the confederates; and not to the name of the battle.) Allah says:
وَيَوْمَ حُنَيْنٍ ۙ إِذْ أَعْجَبَتْكُمْ كَثْرَتُكُمْ فَلَمْ تُغْنِ عَنكُمْ شَيْئًا وَضَاقَتْ عَلَيْكُمُ الْأَرْضُ بِمَا رَحُبَتْ
"On the day of Hunayn, when your quantity deceived you (i.e. you felt arrogant), all of your quantity was not able to help you. And the earth felt very narrow and constrained for you." [9:25] We will discuss what the verse means later.
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The Hadith of the Hanging Tree
One of the reasons some Muslims were feeling arrogant was because they were brand new Muslim who had just accepted Islam. This is shown in a long, interesting hadith that happens right now. It's the famous hadith of Abu Waqid al-Laythi. He's a brand new convert, and he's just converted one week ago. And Abu Waqid narrated this hadith, and it's called, "The hadith of the hanging tree." Abu Waqid says, "When we were on our way to Hunayn, we passed by a tree called 'Dhat Anwat,'" which means 'that which you hang things on.' And he says, "This tree was magnificent and lavish and green, so the Quraysh would make a festival around this tree, and every year they would go to it, sacrifice animals (they made it an idol), and they would hang their weapons on this tree for good luck to help them in battle." So the Muslims passed by this tree, and Abu Waqid al-Laythi says, 'O Messenger of Allah! Why don't you make for us a Dhat Anwat, just as they have a Dhat Anwat?' So our Prophet PBUH said, "Subhan'Allah! I swear by the One whose hands is in my soul, you have said exactly like the children of Israel said to Moses when they said..."
يَا مُوسَى اجْعَل لَّنَا إِلَٰهًا كَمَا لَهُمْ آلِهَةٌ
"O Moses, make for us a god just as they have gods." [7:138]
We all know the story when Allah saved the children of Israel from the red sea, they come across a nation that is worshiping an idol. And they say to Musa, "Make for us an idol like they have," and Musa AS becomes angry with them. Of course this is in the Quran, so the Prophet PBUH says, "You are asking me exactly what the Bani Israel said to Musa AS." And the Prophet PBUH quotes the Quran, and quotes what Musa AS said, that, "You are an ignorant people." And he says, "Wallahi this is the custom. You will follow the pathways of those before you."
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Theological Benefits From the Incident of the Hanging Tree
This is the famous incident of Dhat Anwat and it has many theological benefits.
1) The issue of good luck charms: Wearing something that is blessed or holy or wearing something that will bring about good. Obviously this is wrong, and only Allah has the power to help. That is the whole point of 'La ilaha illaLlah.' To ascribe power to other than Allah, is to ascribe another god besides Allah. If you say, "I have a good luck charm," you are ascribing to another entity the power to help, preserve or protect or give you good luck - but only Allah has this power. So in Islam, we don't believe in any such superstitious rituals or paganistic customs i.e. black cats crossing, Friday 13th, knocking on wood, upside down horseshoes, etc. And also many Muslims have their own symbols, such as ta'wiz with weird symbols, and the custom of five fingers (found in Sufi, Shia groups). And the other common thing is a turquoise eye which is meant to protect you from Ayn. People actually believe that will protect them from the evil eye - but this is a type of shirk. It's in essence a type of idol. You are giving your hope, servitude and tawakkul in that thing, besides Allah. If something happens to that thing, you get worried, "Who will protect us now?"
Therefore this hadith demonstrates clearly believing evil omens are no joke - they are shirk. The Prophet PBUH swore by Allah that Abu Waqid said exactly what the children of Israel said - but of course they didn't say the same explicit things. Abu Waqid wanted a good luck charm, and the Bani Israel said literally, "We want an idol." So the words are different, but the essence and meaning is the same so the Prophet PBUH is swearing by Allah they are the same.
Point of note: The Quran cannot be equated with a ta'wiz or a thing. Why? Because the Quran is the uncreated speech of Allah. It's an attribute of Allah. It's not separate from Allah. We can seek protection through the Quran; so when we are scared we recite the Quran and expect it to benefit us. When we are in trouble we recite the Quran. Therefore to have a physical verse of the Quran in your house, it can never be shirk. But some scholars have said it is not befitting the dignity of the Quran to be used as a talisman physically; it should be said only verbally. It's not shirk and can never be, but the issue is showing respect to the Quran. If you for example have the Quran in the glove compartment in the car, it cannot be shirk, but is it dignified to throw the Quran in the glove compartment? Not really. The Quran is a noble book - so some scholars have said it's not befitting to treat it in this regard. Similarly, if someone writes Ayat al-Kursi and folds it into a small pouch and makes it in a ta'wiz - the question isn't "is it haram/shirk?" rather the question is "is it befitting to have the Quran dangling from your neck?" What will you do when you have to go to the bathroom. What will you do when you are committing sins? Is it befitting? What will you do if you have relations with your spouse? So the question is - is it showing dignity to the Quran? So we should be careful because the Quran must be treated as a holy book. And we put it high on the shelf and we show respect to it. If you put it on the wall for barakah, we say the same thing - it's not wrong as long as you are showing proper respect.
2) Another thing we learn is at times of amazement we should say an Islamic phrase - being vulgar is not of the etiquette of Islam. It should be avoided. When the Prophet PBUH heard something astonishing to him, when he heard essentially, "Let's do shirk", did he utter a curse word? No he said, "Subhan'Allah." So these phrases should be incorporated in our vocabulary. Here we have the Prophet PBUH teaching us the best of manners.
3) Also Abu Waqid al-Laythi asked for blatant shirk, but was he a mushrik? No. Our Prophet PBUH pronounced a verdict on his saying, but not on him. This is a very important distinction the average Muslim does not make. A person committing kufr doesn't become a kafir. A person committing bid'ah doesn't become a murtad. There are conditions that must be met, and it is the job of the scholars to decide, not the layman. You cannot start pronouncing kafir etc. A Muslim can commit an action of kufr but not be a kufr. Abu Waqid is literally asking for shirk as defined by the Prophet PBUH, but he was not pronounced a mushrik. Why? Ignorance - he doesn't understand Islam right now. He thinks, "Okay I've left paganism, I can't worship that tree, maybe Islam can give me another special tree." So the Prophet PBUH gives him the excuse of ignorance. And this is especially true in our days and age. Muslims are so ignorant that they'll do the most bizarre things wrongly in the name of Islam. And many of us need to teach them with wisdom, not pronounce verdicts on them.
4) The final point our Prophet PBUH predicted that we will follow the ways of the people before us. And this shows us, what is prohibited is to abandon our theology and rituals and take them from others. What is allowed however is to take science and culture from others. The Prophet PBUH forbade to take their ways of worship and rituals just like the Bani Israel did.
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Muslims Camp at Hunayn
So the Muslims reached the camps of Hunayn at night. They prayed Salah al-Isha and one of the companions agreed to guard the camps overnight. The Prophet PBUH gave him the good news of Jannah, and another group came back reporting the large quantity of camels and sheep of the enemy. And they said that all their property, women and animals are there too. This worried some of the Muslims because when you have all the property, animals etc. there, it shows immense confidence - and this is what the young chieftain wanted. But the Prophet PBUH smiled and said, "Tomorrow this will be the ghanima we will take insha'Allah." This shows us the optimism of the Prophet PBUH. It's a part of Islam to always be optimistic - to think the best of what will happen. And whenever you say something about the future, you must say insha'Allah.
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Thaqif & Hawazin's Devious Tactics
What happened? This was of course Thaqif territory. And the enemy knew it inside out. And what they had done was that, they planted devious and intelligent tactics. They selected a valley that the people of Makkah would have to cross to get to the other side, and they stationed at the end of that valley a small contingent from Hawazin that was fully battle prepared. So the Muslims thought, "This is where we must attack." However, the tribes of Thaqif and Hawazin stationed groups of archers in the mountains on top to the left and right. And they stationed multiple groups of archers throughout the entire length of the mountains. The tactic was the Muslims be lured into the valley, and once they are inside, the contingent of Hawazin will pretend to be defeated, causing more Muslims to rush in, but when all the Muslims are in between the mountains either side, the real attack will be launched which is twofold:
1) Archers from the top - hundreds of archers showering arrow after arrow onto the entire Muslim army and they cannot do anything
2) The actual army of 20,000 would charge forward into the valley to kill the Muslims.
And this was exactly what happened as they planned it down to the dot.
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The Battle of Hunayn
The Muslims rushed forward, the initial Hawazin contingent pretended to be defeated, this made the Muslims happier so they rushed all forward and then when the bulk of the Muslim army is between this pass - the signal is given, there was a loud noise and instantly volleys of arrows start coming in from everywhere. And the main Hawazin and Thaqif army charged in and the Muslims panicked. And this is exactly what Allah mentions in the Quran:
وَضَاقَتْ عَلَيْكُمُ الْأَرْضُ بِمَا رَحُبَتْ ثُمَّ وَلَّيْتُم مُّدْبِرِينَ
"The earth became narrow for you despite it's vastness, and all of you turned and fled." [9:25]
So they turned and fled en masse. Hundreds of Muslims just running for their lives with no care for anyone else. This was compounded by many things:
1) Most of these were brand new Muslims. Some of them were not even Muslim.
2) The attack was such a surprise they had no idea it was coming.
3) The problem of arrows is something we cannot fully imagine. Arrows just come out of nowhere. By the time you see it, it's too late to deflect it. When you have people firing from the top, it's almost impossible to deflect.
4) Because of the sheer quantity of the Muslims, 12,000, the bulk of them did not have the proper helmets and armor to defend themselves.
And the Prophet PBUH was almost left unguarded; of course he was still on his mule but it's as if everyone was fleeing around him. And the Prophet PBUH stood up on his mount and began to call out, "Come to me, I am the messenger of Allah, the son of Abdullah." With him was Abu Bakr, Umar and Ali and some of the Quraysh. And the Prophet PBUH was with Abbas. And he was known to be a man with a loud voice. So he said to Abbas, "Call out to the people of Ridwan (Hudaybiyyah)." And they were the first on the list showing their level of Iman. They he said, "Call out to the Ansar," and he mentioned tribe after tribe. And it's as if, as each tribe was mentioned, they awoke from their slumber and realized, "What are we doing fleeing like this." So they all began going back to the Prophet PBUH. And they responded by saying, "Here we respond to your call." And the Prophet PBUH himself kept on raising his voice and said those famous lines, "أنا النبي لا كذب، أنا ابن عبد المطلب - I am the prophet of Allah, there is no lie about this; I am the son [grandson] of Abdul Muttalib."
This is very interesting: He combines between Islam and tribalism.
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Tangent: Is Nationalism Halal?
This clearly shows the Prophet PBUH is invoking both Islamic loyalties and tribal loyalties. Why? Because the people around him are new Muslims from the Quraysh and they will most likely respond to the Prophet PBUH being the grandson of Abdul Muttalib rather than him being the Messenger of Allah. In our times tribalism is almost gone and is replaced with nationalism. And this incident shows us that nationalism can be used for good purposes if used properly. The Prophet PBUH is invoking, "Who am I? My grandfather is Abdul Muttalib." We all know in Islam it doesn't matter, but invoking it for a legitimate cause is fine. After all who is Abdul Muttalib? The greatest Arab to ever live in Jahiliyyah. The most beloved and prestigious - every single Arab knows and loves him for all that he did. And who is the Prophet PBUH? The son of the most beloved son of Abdul Muttalib. And the Prophet PBUH was the most beloved grandson to Abdul Muttalib, so now he brings back that lineage, and there is nothing wrong with this.
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Iman of the New Converts
And of those who remained along with the immediate sahaba like Umar, Uthman etc. was his first cousin, Abu Sufyan ibn al-Harith ibn Abdul Muttalib. And it's narrated the Prophet PBUH looked around and there was a man in armor holding on to the stirrup of the mule. And he said, "Who is this?" And Abu Sufyan said, "Ya Rasulullah I am the son of your mother (i.e. grandmother)." And as we mentioned he begged the Prophet PBUH to forgive him and he said he was sorry, and this now proves his Iman.
Contrastingly, we see the weakness of some of the people who have newly embraced Islam. Of those was Safwan ibn Umayyah, and also his brother. When the Muslims began to flee, the brother of Safwan said, "Good, today the magic spell will be broken," meaning the Prophet PBUH whom they accused of being a magician, would lose in battle. To this, Safwan replied, "Shut up, for by Allah I would rather be ruled by a Qureshi than a Hawazin." Meaning what? Pure tribalism. Nothing to do with Islam or him being the Prophet PBUH. Now we see why the Prophet PBUH is saying, "I am the son of Abdul Muttalib." And even the other main Abu Sufyan (ibn Harb) expresses some satisfaction at what is happening. This clearly demonstrates not all of the new converts had fully converted.
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Interesting Arabic Phrases
And we learn of an interesting phrase here that Safwan said to his brother, "May God destroy all of your teeth," i.e. "May you never speak again." But the very common opposite expression in our days is a play on this, which is, "May you always speak eloquently." Another phrase from this incident which is common in the Arabic language; the first people to ever say it was the Prophet PBUH and people use it to this day. That phrase is, "Now the real fight begins," i.e. when the fight is reaching to the main serious part. The Prophet PBUH is the first Arab to ever say this expression. When did he say it? When the sahaba came around him and fought back. He said, "Now the battle will begin." From that time up until now it's a common saying the Arabs use. When the sahaba came running back, this roused up the army, and the Prophet PBUH stood up again and took a symbolic handful of dust and said, "May you all be vanquished." And of course this blinded them, and the entire group of archers could not fire after this. And the Prophet PBUH began praying and making du'a, and that was when the battle changed.