23- Hawazin
When the Hawazin tribe heard about the conquest Allah
had vouchsafed to the apostle, Malik b. Auf gathered them all together, as
well as the Thaqif, the Nasr, and the Jusham, and a few men of the Banu
Hilal.
Malik determined to march against the apostle of
Allah, and he told the people to carry their goods, their wives and their
children with them. When they encamped at Autas, the aged chieftain Durayd
said, 'This is a good place for cavalry; it is neither too uneven nor too
stony, neither too soft nor too hard; but why have we brought the women
and children and animals?' Malik said, 'I wanted every man's family and
property behind him, that he may fight for them.' Durayd snorted at him in
disgust. 'Thou art a mere shepherd!' he said. 'Nothing will stop a
fugitive in flight. If you conquer, only men with swords and lances will
be of use to you, and if you are conquered, your families and property
will be as shamed as you.' He added, 'The Kab and Kilab tribes have not
joined us, so both bravery and alertness are wanting! If this were to be a
day of glory and honour, neither the Kab nor the Kilab would be absent. 0,
Malik, you have gained nothing by bringing the most precious possessions
of the Hawazin. Take them back to a safe place.' But Malik replied, 'I
shall not do so. You are in your dotage and your mind is failing.'
Then Malik ordered his men, 'As soon as you see the
enemy, break your swords from the scabbards and rush on the enemy as one
man.'
When the apostle heard of the Hawazin massing and
decided to march against them he was told that Safwan had a stock of arms
and armour. He sent to Safwan, who was still an idolater, saying, 'Lend us
thy arms, that we may attack our foes tomorrow. We want only to borrow
them, and will return them to thee.' Safwan said 'There is no harm in
that,' and gave one hundred coats of mail and sufficient arms for them.
Then the apostle marched out with two thousand
Meccans and the ten thousand companions who had gone with him before to
the conquest of
Mecca
. The apostle said, gazing at the greatness of this army of Allah, 'This
day we shall not be overcome because our number is small!' They marched to
meet the Hawazin.
'When we arrived at Hunayn, we descended into a
valley; it was not yet day and the valley was very steep. The enemy had
reached the defile before us and lay in ambush for us in every hollow,
cranny and side‑track. They were all ready, and attacked us before
we even saw them. Only a few of our men had descended when they all fell
upon us at once, so that our people fled and no man heeded his neighbour.'
The apostle turned aside, and shouted, 'Where do you
flee to? Come to me! I am the apostle of Allah!' But it was useless and
the camels jostled each other, and the men fled; some of the Emigrants and
the Helpers, however, and others of the apostle's family, made a stand
with him. Among them were Abu Bakr, Umar, Ali and al‑Abbas.
When the Muslims fled some ill‑disposed Meccans
who had accompanied the expedition sneered. Abu Sufyan exclaimed, 'They
will run as far as the sea’ and the brother of Safwan said, 'Sorcery
will riot suffice today!' But Safwan told him, 'Be silent! I would rather
be commanded by a man of the Quraysh than of the Hawazin!'
Al‑Abbas was with the apostle of Allah, holding
the bridle of his grey mule. 'As I was at that time a strong man with a
powerful voice, the apostle said to me, "Abbas! Shout and remind
those who flee where their allegiance lies!" I did so, and the men
answered, "We are at thy command." Then every man endeavoured
to turn his camel, but could not because of the crush. So they took off
their coats of mail, dismounted and fought their way to the apostle.'
When about one hundred men had gathered around him,
they rallied and attacked the enemy, and made a good stand. The apostle
alighted from his camel, and, seeing how hotly the people fought, said,
'Now at last the battle rages’ A man who took part in the battle told
how, while the fight was raging, 'something like a striped black carpet
came down from the sky, and settled between us and the enemy. When I
looked about, I saw that black ants were strewn around the whole valley; I
had no doubt that these were angels. The enemy at once fled.'
Thus Allah put the idolaters to flight, and many were
slain. Some idolaters who escaped went to al‑Taif, and they included
the leader, Malik; others went to Autas. But a young Believer named Rabia
overtook the aged Durayd and took hold of the bridle of his camel,
expecting Durayd to be a woman, because he was conveyed in a litter. When
he discovered an old man, he said, 'I intend to kill you', and struck him
with his sword. But this produced no effect. Durayd said, 'Your mother has
armed you badly! Take my sword from behind my saddle, and strike me with
it above the spine and beneath the skull. This is how I used to kill men.
Afterwards, when you go to your mother, tell her you have killed Durayd;
for during many a day I gave protection to the women of your family.'
On that day the apostle happened to pass near a woman
around whom the people had assembled. He asked, 'What is this?' and they
replied, 'A woman whom Khalid has killed.' Then the apostle said to one of
the people, 'Go to Khalid and say, "The apostle of Allah forbids thee
to kill child, women or slave." '
The apostle sent an expedition after the fugitives
who had gone to Autas and himself marched off to besiege the other
fugitives at al‑Taif. The siege was notable for the showers of
arrows and red‑hot metal sent down by the defenders; and, after
twenty days, the apostle and his army withdrew.
They marched to al‑Jirana and camped there. A
deputation came from the Hawazin to discuss the six thousand children and
women captives whom the apostle held, and the camels and sheep beyond
number. The men of the deputation professed Islam, then said, 'We are of
the same root and race as thou’ Be gracious to us, and Allah will be
gracious to thee’ Then a man of the Banu Sad clan of Hawazin rose and
said, 'You were fostered among the Banu Sad and the nurses who suckled you
are now your captives. Be kind and merciful to us; you are the best of all
who have been nursed.' The apostle asked, 'Do you love your children and
women more than your property?' and they said, 'Is there a choice? Restore
to us our wives and children, for we love them more than our property.' He
said, 'As far as my portion and that of my family is concerned, it shall
be returned to you. When I have ended my noon prayers with the people,
arise and say "We ask for the intercession of the apostle with the
Muslims, and the intercession of the Muslims with the apostle on behalf of
our children and women!" Then I shall grant your request, and
intercede for you.'
When the apostle had prayed at noon the Hawazin rose
and spoke as they had been instructed: the apostle replied, 'My share, and
that of my family, will be given to you.' Then the Emigrants and Helpers
gave theirs, but the allied tribes hesitated until the apostle said,
'Whoever still insists on his right to the prisoners, shall (if he now
yields the right) receive for every captive six camels taken from the next
booty Allah permits us to win.' Then the women and children were restored
to the Hawazin.
The apostle asked the deputation from the Hawazin
what had become of Malik and they replied, 'He is in al‑Taif.' The
apostle said, 'Tell him that if he comes to me as a Muslim I shall restore
his family and his property to him and shall present him with a hundred
camels.' Malik accepted this offer and made profession of Islam; he became
a valuable Believer, and the apostle appointed him to lead three tribes
who had embraced Islam. With them, he harried the idolaters.
When the apostle returned the prisoners taken at
Hunayn he rode away, but his followers clamoured after him, saying,
'Distribute our shares of the camels and sheep' At last they crowded up to
him against a tree, so that his mantle was torn from his body. Then he
exclaimed, 'Shame! Restore my cloak to me! By Allah, if you had captured
as many beasts as there are trees in Tihama, I would distribute them to
you! You have never found me to be grasping, cowardly or false’ And he
turned to a camel, and pulled one hair from its haunch; he took it between
his fingers, lifted it up, and said, 'I have not retained as much as this
hair, beyond my one‑fifth. You must give back even the most
worthless articles, because theft will bring shame, fire and disgrace on
the day of the resurrection for the man who steals.' Then a Helper
produced a bundle of camel hair, saying, 'I took this bundle to make a
cushion for the wounded back of my camel.' The apostle replied, 'I make
you a present of my share in it!' The man, however, exclaimed, 'If it has
come to that, I have no need of it’ and he threw the whole bundle away.
The apostle made gifts to those whose hearts he
desired to win, nobles whom he wished to please. To Abu Sufyan he gave one
hundred camels, and to Malik, and to Safwan and others. To some, he gave
fewer than one hundred. To one man he gave only male camels, and the man
was displeased instead of grateful, so the apostle said, 'Take him away,
and silence him.' So they gave him camels till he was satisfied. This is
what the apostle meant by 'silence him'.
One of the companions complained that a man named
Juayl had received no gift, and the apostle of Allah replied, 'I swear by
Him in whose hand my life is that Juayl is better than men such as those
to whom I have given gifts. The gifts were given to make these men become
good Muslims; but in Juayl's belief I have perfect trust.'
When the apostle had distributed his gifts to the
Quraysh and to the Arab tribes he had still not given anything to the
Helpers. They felt themselves aggrieved, and one man even said, 'The
apostle of Allah has reverted to his own tribe.' So the apostle summoned
the Helpers to him and said, 'What is this I hear about you? What has
taken possession of your minds? Did I not come to you when you strayed,
and Allah showed you the right direction? Were you not poor, and Allah
enriched you? Were you not enemies and Allah united you?' They replied,
'Yes. Allah and His apostle were merciful to us.' He continued, 'That is
no answer.’
They said, 'What shall we answer to thee? To Allah
and to His apostle belong kindness and mercy.' He said again, 'If you
choose, you may truthfully say, "Thou hast come to us discredited,
but we believed thee. Helpless, but we helped thee! An outcast, but we
sheltered thee! Destitute and we provided for thee!" Are you grieved
in your souls because I have used the trifles of this world to gain the
hearts of people that may become good Muslims, whereas I have had faith in
the strength of your belief? Is it not enough for you to return home with
the apostle of Allah, or must you have sheep and camels, too? Had it not
been for the arrival of the Emigrants, I swear that I would have become as
a man of
Medina
. Allah have mercy on the Helpers, on their sons, and on the sons of their
sons.' Then the people began to weep and said, 'We are satisfied with our
share and our portion.' Afterwards the apostle went on the lesser
pilgrimage and then returned to
Medina
.
The conquest of
Mecca
and of the Hawazin began a new era in Islam, and the apostle ‑ now
guardian of the holy city ‑ had every claim to paramount power in
Arabia
. Religious domination was reinforced with social organization, by taxes
and tributes levied from unbelievers as well as from the Faithful. Tribes
came from as far away as the
Yemen
, the borders of
Syria
and
Persia
, to submit themselves to Muhammad. These submissions, coupled with a
succession of punitive expeditions, aroused some unease in the
Byzantine empire
, and Heraclius was rumoured to have commanded his own feudatory border
tribes to assemble to meet the challenge of the apostle.
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