Battle of Mu'tah & Martyrdom
Hazrat Urwah (ra) bin Zubair relates that the Holy Prophet (sa) appointed Hazrat Zaid (ra) bin Harithah as the commander of the army on the occasion of the Battle of Mu‘tah and stated that if Hazrat Zaid (ra) was martyred then Hazrat Jafar bin Abi Talib (ra) would be the commander. If he too was martyred, then Hazrat Abdullah (ra) bin Rawaha would take control. If Abdullah (ra) too was martyred, then the Muslims should appoint whoever they desired as their commander. When the army was ready and about to depart, the people were seeing off the appointed commanders of the Holy Prophet (sa) and praying for their safety. When they saw off the commanders of the Holy Prophet (sa), Hazrat Abdullah (ra) bin Rawaha began to weep.
The people enquired as to why he was weeping, to which he replied, “By God, I have absolutely no love nor any desire for the world. However, I heard the Holy Prophet (sa) speaking with regard to the Quranic verse:
وَ اِنۡ مِّنۡکُمۡ اِلَّا وَارِدُہَا ۚ کَانَ عَلٰی رَبِّکَ حَتۡمًا مَّقۡضِیًّا
‘And there is not one of you but will come to it [referring to Hell]. This is a fixed decree with thy Lord.’ (Surah Maryam, Ch.19: V.72)
Hence, after having treaded this delicate path [i.e. the Day of Reckoning,] I do not know what my condition will be.”
In the preceding verses, God Almighty has mentioned Hell-Fire, which caused him concern, whereas in other verses, it is clearly stated that this is not the case of a believer and one who takes up Jihad in the way of Allah. Nevertheless, the people told him that God Almighty was with them and He would bring them back safely. It is written in a footnote of Tafsir-e-Saghir, and also in Tafsir-e-Kabir, that this would not be the fate of a believer but only for the disbelievers.
The Promised Messiah (as) has explained this further in light of some ahadith. The summary of the footnote from Tafsir-e-Saghir is as follows:
“The Holy Quran mentions two types of Hell – one is in this very life and the other is in the Hereafter. Where it is stated, ‘All shall enter Hell,’ it does not mean to say that the believers shall also enter therein, rather it means that believers shall experience some aspect of Hell in this very life, i.e. the disbelievers inflict them with all sorts of suffering. Otherwise, from the Holy Quran, it is evident that the believers shall never enter the Hellfire, because according to the Holy Quran, regarding the believers it states:
لَا يَسْمَعُونَ حَسِيسَهَا
i.e. the believers shall remain so far from Hell that they will not hear the slightest sound thereof. Hence, the meaning behind believers entering the fire is that they shall suffer afflictions in this life. The Holy Prophet (sa) has even declared fever as a type of fire, where he states:
الْحُمّٰى حَظُّ كُلِّ مُؤْمِنٍ مِنَ النَّار
‘Fever is a portion of the Hellfire for every believer.’” (Tafsir-e-Saghir, Ch.19: V.72)
Nevertheless, this was a brief explanation. The believers saw off the army and prayed for them to be safeguarded from every evil of the enemy. Hazrat Abdullah (ra) bin Rawaha recited the following poetic verses:
لَكِنَّنِيْ اَسْأَلُ الرَّحْمَانَ مَغْفِرَةً
وَ ضَرْبَةً ذَاتَ فَرْغٍ يَقْذِفُ الزَّبَدَا
اَوْ طَعْنَةً بِيَدَيْ حَرَّانَ مُجْهِزَةً
بِحَرْبَةٍ تُنْفِذُ الْاَحْشَاءَ وَالْكَبِدَا
حَتّٰى يَقُوْلُوْا اِذَا مَرُّوْا عَلٰى جَدَثِيْ
يَا اَرْشَدَ اللّٰهُ مِنْ غَازٍ وَ قَدْ رَشَدَا
“I seek forgiveness from the Merciful God, and I seek the ability to be able to produce such a strike from my sword, which would inflict a great wound and thereby draw out fresh blood that spumes out. And the ability to launch an attack of the spear which is carried out by one who makes full preparation and is thirsty for blood; whose spear pierces through the liver and intestines. [May I continue to valiantly fight] until my death and when people pass by my grave, they will say, ‘O thou who took part in the battle, may Allah grant you good’ and indeed Allah will have done so.’”
Hazrat Abdullah (ra) bin Rawaha then presented himself before the Holy Prophet (sa) and the Holy Prophet (sa) then bade farewell to the army. The army continued to travel and stopped at a place called Ma‘aan, which is a town situated in Syria towards Hijaz, in the suburbs of Balqaa. It was there that they learnt that Heraclius, along with 100,000 Roman soldiers and 100,000 Arab soldiers, was at Ma‘aab. Ma‘aab is also a town situated in the suburbs of Balqaa, Syria. The Muslims remained in Ma‘aan for two days and discussions amongst themselves ensued that they should send someone to the Holy Prophet (sa) to inform him of the size of the enemy, i.e. that the enemy were in extremely large numbers.
They thought that either the Holy Prophet (sa) would send reinforcements or he would issue another commandment. However, Hazrat Abdullah (ra) bin Rawaha gave courage to the Muslims and reinvigorated their passion. Subsequently, the Muslims, despite being only 3,000 in number, marched ahead and met the roman army in Balqaa near a place called Mushaarif. There are quite a few areas that went by the name of Mushaarif; one was located near Horan, one was near Damascus and the other was near Balqaa. From this location, the Muslim army moved towards Mu‘tah.
(Usdul Ghaba Fi Marifat Al-Sahaba, Vol. 3, p. 237, Dar-ul-Kutub al-Ilmiyyah, Beirut, 2008) (Tafsir-e-Saghir, 19:72, p. 390) (Usdul Ghaba, Vol. 5, p. 247, Al-Mizan, Urdu Bazar, Lahore), (Mujam-ul-Buldan, Vol. 5, pp. 179, 37, 153-154)
Hazrat Anas (ra) relates that the Holy Prophet (sa) announced to the people the news of the martyrdom of Hazrat Zaid (ra), Hazrat Ja‘far (ra) and Hazrat Abdullah (ra) bin Rawaha and this was prior to any news directly reaching them about this incident. In other words, the Holy Prophet (sa) informed the people before any news had reached them. The Holy Prophet (sa) stated, “Zaid (ra) was holding the flag and was martyred, then Jafar (ra) took the flag and he was also martyred and then Abdullah (ra) bin Rawaha took hold of the flag and he too was martyred.”
As the Holy Prophet (sa) was stating this, tears were flowing from his eyes. The Holy Prophet (sa) then stated, “The flag was then taken by one of the swords of Allah, and eventually Allah the Almighty granted them victory through him.”
(Sahih Bukhari, Kitab-ul-Maghazi, Hadith no. 4262)
When the Holy Prophet (sa) learnt of the martyrdom of Hazrat Zaid (ra) bin Haritha, Hazrat Jafar (ra) and Hazrat Abdullah (ra) bin Rawaha, he stood up to pay tribute. The Holy Prophet (sa) started with Hazrat Zaid (ra) and stated:
اَللّٰھُمَّ اغْفِرْ لِزَيْدٍ، اَللّٰھُمَّ اغْفِرْ لِزَيْدٍ، اَللّٰھُمَّ اغْفِرْ لِزَيْدٍ، اَللّٰھُمَّ اغْفِرْ لِجَعْفَرٍ وَ لِعَبْدِ اللّٰہِ ابْنِ رَوَاحَةَ
“O Allah, grant forgiveness to Zaid (ra)! O Allah, grant forgiveness to Zaid (ra)! O Allah, grant forgiveness to Zaid (ra)! O Allah, grant forgiveness to Jafar (ra) and Abdullah bin Rawaha (ra).”
(Al-Tabaqaat-ul-Kubra, Vol. 3, p. 34, Dar-ul-Kutub al-Ilmiyyah, Beirut, 1990)
Hazrat Aisha (ra) narrates that when Hazrat Zaid (ra) bin Haritha, Hazrat Jafar (ra) and Hazrat Abdullah (ra) bin Rawaha were martyred, the Holy Prophet (sa) went and sat in the mosque. Emotions of grief and sorrow were visible from the Holy Prophet’s (sa) blessed countenance.
(Sunan Abi Daud, Kitab-ul-Janaiz, Hadith no. 3122)