The Sword of the Holy Prophet (sa)
Hazrat Anas (ra) relates that on the day of the Battle of Uhud, the Holy Prophet (sa) took hold of a sword and stated:
مَنْ یَاْخُذُ مِنِّیْ ھٰذَا؟
“Who shall take this from me?”
Everyone raised their hands and each one of them requested to have it. The Holy Prophet (sa) then stated:
فَمَنْ یَاْخُذُہٗ بِحَقِّہٖ
“Who shall take this whilst doing justice to it?”
Hazrat Anas (ra) narrates that upon this, some of the people showed hesitance; however, Hazrat Simak bin Kharasha Abu Dujana (ra) submitted, “I shall take it and will indeed do justice to it.”
Hazrat Anas (ra) relates that Hazrat Abu Dujana (ra) took hold of the sword and split the heads of the idolaters. This is a hadith from Sahih Muslim.
(Sahih Muslim, Kitab Fada‘il al-Sahabah, Bab min Fada‘il Abi Dujanah Simak bin Kharashah, Hadith 6353)
In another tradition, it states that Hazrat Abu Dujana (ra) asked how one could do justice to it. Upon this, the Holy Prophet (sa) stated, “Do not kill any Muslim with this and never flee from the disbelievers [in battle] whilst you are in possession of it.” In other words, to fight against them courageously.
Hazrat Abu Dujana (ra) then submitted, “I will take this sword and will indeed do justice to it.” When the Holy Prophet (sa) handed over the sword to him, he split the heads of the idolaters and on this occasion recited the following couplets:
أَنَا الَّذِیْ عَاھَدَنِیْ خَلِیْلِیْ
وَنَحْنُ بِالسَّفْحِ لَدَی النَّخِیْلِ
اَنْ لَّا أَقُوْمَ الدَّھْرَ فِی الْکَیُوْلِ
أَضْرِبْ بِسَیْفِ اللّٰہِ وَالرَّسُوْلِ
“I am the one whose friend had taken an oath from me whilst we stood near the date palms of Safaa. I pledged that I shall not stand in the rows at the rear of the army. And I shall fight the enemy with the sword of Allah and His Messenger (sa).”
Hazrat Abu Dujana (ra) began to proudly walk amongst the army rows and observing this the Holy Prophet (sa) stated:
اِنَّ ھٰذِہٖ مِشْیَۃٌ یُبْغِضُھَا اللّٰہُ عَزَّوَجَلَّ اِلَّا فِیْ ھٰذَا الْمُقَامِ
“The manner in which he is walking is one that Allah is displeased with except for occasions like this,” i.e. during battle.
(Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, Al-Isabah fi Tamyiz al-Sahabah, Vol. 7, Abu Dujanah al-Ansari [Beirut, Lebanon: Dar al-Kutub al-Ilmiyyah, 2005], 100) (Ali Ibn al-Athir, Usd al-Ghabah fi Ma‘rifat al-Sahabah, Vol. 2, Simak bin Kharashah [Beirut, Lebanon: Dar al-Kutub al-Ilmiyyah, 2003], 317)
Hazrat Zubair (ra) bin al-Awam relates that on the day of the Battle of Uhud, the Holy Prophet (sa) presented a sword and said:
مَنْ یَاْخُذُ ھٰذَا السَّیْفَ بِحَقِّہٖ
“Who shall take this sword and do justice to it?”
Hazrat Zubair (ra) narrates, “I stood up and submitted, ‘O Messenger (sa) of Allah, I shall take it.’ The Holy Prophet (sa) turned away and again stated, ‘Who shall take this sword and do justice to it?’ Again, I submitted, ‘O Messenger (sa) of Allah, I shall take it.’ And again the Holy Prophet (sa) turned away. The Holy Prophet (sa) once again stated, ‘Who shall take this sword and do justice to it?’ Thereafter, Hazrat Abu Dujana Simak bin Kharasha (ra) stood up and submitted, ‘O Messenger (sa) of Allah, I shall take this sword and will indeed do justice to it; but how exactly am I to do justice to it?’ The Holy Prophet (sa) stated, ‘Do not kill any Muslim with it and never flee from the disbelievers [in battle] whilst you are in possession of it, courageously fight against them.’”
Hazrat Zubair (ra) further narrates, “After this, the Holy Prophet (sa) gave the sword to Abu Dujana. It was the habit of Abu Dujana that whenever he went forth for any battle, he would tie a piece of red cloth around his head. At the time, I said to myself that I shall see how Abu Dujana does justice to the sword.”
Hazrat Zubair (ra) narrates, “Whoever came up against Abu Dujana would be killed by him and cutting through the enemy ranks he went ahead to the extent that he went right through the enemy rows and reached the point where the women were, who were beating the drums near the side of the mountain. At the time, one of the women was reciting the following couplet, the translation of which is:
“‘We are the daughters of the morning star of Tariq, who soar above the clouds; if you advance boldly, we will embrace you and lay down cushions for your comfort, but if you show cowardice and retreat, we will abandon you, in a manner whereby not a grain of love between us shall remain.’”
Hazrat Zubair (ra) says:
“I saw Abu Dujanah raise a sword against a woman and then lower it. When the battle finished, I said to him, ‘I watched you throughout the battle; you raised your sword to a woman and then lowered it. What was the reason for this?’ He replied, ‘By Allah! It was out of honour for the sword of the Holy Prophet (sa) lest it be used to slay a woman. It was not possible for me to kill a women using the sword of the Holy Prophet (sa) and for this reason, I stopped myself.’”
In another narration, it is stated that this woman was Hind, the wife of Abu Sufyan, who was singing along with the other women. When Hazrat Abu Dujanah (ra) raised his sword to Hind, she cried out for help; however, no one came to her aid. Hazrat Abu Dujanah (ra) lowered his sword and then returned. Upon the enquiry by Hazrat Zubair (ra), he said, “I did not like to kill a helpless woman with the sword of the Holy Prophet (sa).”
(Al-Mustadrak ala al-Sahihain, Vol. 3, p. 440, 441, Kitab Marifat al-Sahabah, Dhikr Manaqib Abi Dujanah, Riwayah No. 5088, Dar al-Kutub al-Fikr, Beirut, 2002) (Sharh Allamah Zurqani ala al-Mawahib al-Laduniyyah, Vol. 2, p. 406, 407, Kirab al-Maghazi, Bab Ghazwat Uhud, Dar al-Kutub al-Ilmiyyah, Beirut, 1996)