Hazrat Ikrimah (ra) at the Battle of Yarmouk

With regard to Hazrat Ikrimah (ra), Hazrat Musleh-e-Maud (ra) states:

“During the era of Hazrat Umar’s (ra) Khilafat, during the Battle of Yarmouk, when the lives of the Companions of the Holy Prophet (sa) were in great danger and the Muslims were being killed in great numbers, the commander and chief of the Islamic army, Hazrat Abu Ubaidah bin Al-Jarrrahra stated, ‘I desire for some courageous men to come forth, who though may be small in number, but they go all out in battle and overawe the Byzantine forces.’

“Hazrat Ikrimah (ra) came forth and requested Hazrat Ubaidah (ra), ‘Let me select some men of my choice and I will take them and attack the centre of the enemy forces and will try and kill their general.’

“At the time, the general of the Byzantine army was fighting with great intensity and the king had promised him that if he gained victory over the Muslims, he would give his daughter’s hand in marriage to him and would hand over half of his kingdom to him. In desire of this, he was filled with passion and took his personal army and the official army to the battlefield. He had also promised large sums of money to his soldiers, hence the Byzantine soldiers were also fighting with great intensity.

“When the Byzantine army attacked the Muslims, this general was stood right in the heart of the army. Hazrat Ikrimah (ra) took 400 soldiers along with him and attacked right at the heart of the enemy forces and one of his men attacked the general and threw him to the ground. They were just 400 Muslim soldiers and were up against an army of hundreds of thousands, therefore this was no easy challenge. Even though they killed this general and as a result of his death, the army became scattered, the enemy forces attacked them and except for a few, they were all martyred. Among these men, 12 were severely injured.

“When the Muslim army gained victory, they went in search of these men [who launched the attack] and among these 12 wounded men was also Hazrat Ikrimah (ra). One of the Muslim soldiers came to him and upon seeing the grave condition of Ikrimah (ra), he said to him, ‘O Ikrimah! I have a water bag with me, drink some water from it.’

“Ikrimah (ra) turned his head and saw that Fazl, the son of Hazrat Abbas (ra), was lying near him and was severely injured. Ikrimah (ra) said to the Muslim soldier, ‘My honour would not permit me to quench my thirst and live, whilst those people and their progeny die of thirst, who assisted the Holy Prophet (sa) at a time when I was his staunch enemy, therefore give him water first. If there is any left then bring it to me.’

“The Muslim soldier then went to Fazl, but he indicated that another injured Muslim ought to be given water first, as he was more in need than he was. The Muslim soldier then went to him, but he also stated that another injured Muslim was more in need of water, therefore he ought to go to him first. Accordingly, whichever injured soldier he would go to, they would send him to the next person and none would drink the water.

“When the Muslim soldier went to the last of the injured soldiers, he had already passed away. He then returned to Ikrimah (ra), but he had also passed away and when he went to the other injured soldiers they too had passed away.”

(Har Ahmadi Aurat Ahmadiyyat Ki Sadaqat Ka Eik Zinda Nishan Hai, Anwar-ul-Ulum, Vol. 26, pp. 229-231)

This was the outcome of this battle and Allah the Almighty granted them victory.