- On the day of (the battle) of Al-Yarmuk, the companions of Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said to Az-Zubair, “Will you attack the enemy so that we shall attack them with you?” Az-Zubair replied, “If I attack them, you people would not support me.” They said, “No, we will support you.” So Az-Zubair attacked them (i.e. Byzantine) and pierced through their lines, and went beyond them and none of his companions was with him. Then he returned and the enemy got hold of the bridle of his (horse) and struck him two blows (with the sword) on his shoulder. Between these two wounds there was a scar caused by a blow, he had received on the day of Badr (battle). When I was a child I used to play with those scars by putting my fingers in them. On that day (my brother) “Abdullah bin Az-Zubair was also with him and he was ten years old. Az-Zubair had carried him on a horse and let him to the care of some men.
- On the day of Badr, the Prophet (ﷺ) ordered that the corpses of twenty four leaders of Quraish should be thrown into one of the dirty dry wells of Badr. (It was a habit of the Prophet (ﷺ) that whenever he conquered some people, he used to stay at the battle-field for three nights. So, on the third day of the battle of Badr, he ordered that his she-camel be saddled, then he set out, and his companions followed him saying among themselves.” “Definitely he (i.e. the Prophet) is proceeding for some great purpose.” When he halted at the edge of the well, he addressed the corpses of the Quraish infidels by their names and their fathers’ names, “O so-and-so, son of so-and-so and O so-and-so, son of so-andso! Would it have pleased you if you had obeyed Allah and His Apostle? We have found true what our Lord promised us. Have you too found true what your Lord promised you? “`Umar said, “O Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ)! You are speaking to bodies that have no souls!” Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said, “By Him in Whose Hand Muhammad’s soul is, you do not hear, what I say better than they do.” (Qatada said, “Allah brought them to life (again) to let them hear him, to reprimand them and slight them and take revenge over them and caused them to feel remorseful and regretful.”)
- That `Amr bin `Auf, who was an ally of Bani ‘Amir bin Luai and one of those who fought at Badr in the company of the Prophet (ﷺ) , said, “Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) sent Abu ‘Ubaida bin Al-Jarrah to Bahrain to bring the Jizya taxation from its people, for Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) had made a peace treaty with the people of Bahrain and appointed Al-`Ala’ bin Al-Hadrami as their ruler. So, Abu ‘Ubaida arrived with the money from Bahrain. When the Ansar heard of the arrival of Abu ‘Ubaida (on the next day) they offered the morning prayer with the Prophet (ﷺ) and when the morning prayer had finished, they presented themselves before him. On seeing the Ansar, Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) smiled and said, “I think you have heard that Abu ‘Ubaida has brought something?” They replied, “Indeed, it is so, O Allah’s Apostle!” He said, “Be happy, and hope for what will please you. By Allah, I am not afraid that you will be poor, but I fear that worldly wealth will be bestowed upon you as it was bestowed upon those who lived before you. So you will compete amongst yourselves for it, as they competed for it and it will destroy you as it did them.”
- That Al-Miqdad bin `Amr Al-Kindi, who was an ally of Bani Zuhra and one of those who fought the battle of Badr together with Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) told him that he said to Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ), “Suppose I met one of the infidels and we fought, and he struck one of my hands with his sword and cut it off and then took refuge in a tree and said, “I surrender to Allah (i.e. I have become a Muslim),’ could I kill him, O Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ), after he had said this?” Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said, “You should not kill him.” Al- Miqdad said, “O Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ)! But he had cut off one of my two hands, and then he had uttered those words?” Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) replied, “You should not kill him, for if you kill him, he would be in your position where you had been before killing him, and you would be in his position where he had been before uttering those words.”
- When the first civil strife (in Islam) took place because of the murder of ‘Uthman, it left none of the Badr warriors alive. When the second civil strife, that is the battle of Al-Harra, took place, it left none of the Hudaibiya treaty companions alive. Then the third civil strife took place and it did not subside till it had exhausted all the strength of the people.
The first passage describes an account from the Battle of Yarmouk, which is considered to be one of the greatest victories in military history and set the stage for Islamic conquest of much of the Byzantine Empire. The name is spelled slightly differently, but I believe that the man described is Az- Zubayr ibn Al-Awam, who was one of the ten companions promised paradise by Mohammed. One curious thing of note about the passage is whether or not it is describing Az-Zubayr as literally charging into combat alone, or if it means that he charged in and fought alongside his own men without reinforcements from the other companions. It is interesting that they fought against the Byzantine Empire, as for me individually that gives me more of a reference point as to when Mohammed’s life was and what the time period was like immediately after his death. Another thing of note is that Az-Zubayr brought his ten-year old son to the battle (though he did not fight), as this demonstrates a much different view of war that was experienced back then than it was today.
