Kamil Ahmad – Lessons from the Seerah #78 The Battle of Hunayn P1
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AI: Transcript ©
We continue on with the of
And
in our last
class, we had gone through some final
points of discussion related to Fatimakkah,
the conquest
of Mecca.
We basically looked at how,
effective
this major event was in the
and the impact it had on Mecca and
its surrounding areas.
And how now
entire,
you know, tribes and even individuals were coming
forward
to accept
Islam
en masse
as Allah mentions in Suratul Nasr.
We also looked at
some of the stories of prominent individuals
from Quraysh
who accepted
Islam or
at least they were ready to accept Islam.
Some of them until now they had not
accepted Islam.
And so we continue on to the next
major event
in the Sira
and that is
the Battle of Hunayn.
The Battle
of Hunayn.
We start with a little bit of background.
Now that Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam had
conquered Mecca,
the strongest
resistance
to the Muslims went was now over.
And that was the resistance of Quraysh.
But now there was another
tribe that held
a strong position
in the land of Hijaz besides Quraysh,
and that was a tribe of Saqif.
And they were based in
They were based in which
is not too far from Mecca.
In fact, when the kuffar
were objecting
to the prophethood
of Muhammad
We mentioned this previously.
One of the things that they had said,
Allah tells us, they say,
and why was this Qur'an not sent,
down upon
a great man
from 1 of the 2 cities,
from 1 of the 2 towns.
So what they meant by the 2 towns
was Mecca and
And what they meant by one of the
great men from
one of these cities
was one of the notables of Quraysh instead
of Muhammad
and
one of the great men of 'Abba'if.
And the scholars of Tafsir mentioned different names,
with regards to what they had meant.
So while
Mecca was inhabited by Quraysh, the tribe of
Quraysh,
Ata'if was inhabited by
the tribe of Saqif
which was a sub tribe
of Hawazin.
So Hawazin
was the major mother tribe and then you
have several,
lesser tribes under that
and was one of them.
And Takif used to see themselves
as important as Quraysh.
In fact, there was this rivalry
between
them and Quraysh.
So now that Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam was
victorious over Quraysh,
Thakih felt that they were next.
In fact, it is mentioned that when the
Prophet shalallahu alaihi wa sallam left Madinah for
Mecca,
and Taqif had heard about it. They thought
that the Prophet
his destination was them.
They thought that he was coming after them.
So they had,
started getting ready,
early on.
But then it turned out that the prophet
was heading to Mecca.
Nonetheless,
Thaqif, they were ready. And now that the
prophet
had conquered Mecca,
they knew that their turn was next.
And due to the rivalry
between them and Quraysh,
they couldn't accept being ruled by
a man from Quraysh.
Let us also not forget that
it was the same people that dealt with
the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam the way they
dealt with him previously.
When the prophet,
sallam, went to give them Dawah.
Right? This was in the 10th year of
the prophethood when the Prophet was still in
Mecca
and he had given up on Quraysh.
He left Mecca
in hopes that he'll find other people
who would be receptive
to the message. And so he went to
'Abba'if.
And we learned
how the people of 'Abdaiif,
they dealt with him
in a very disrespectful manner,
kicking him out of the city.
And so this is some of the background
concerning the people of Atbaif.
So now,
one of the leaders of the tribe of
Taqif, Malik
ibn A'uth An Nosri.
He starts mobilizing
the various tribes of Hawazin.
Some accepted his call
while others did not.
Nonetheless, he was able to pull together a
very strong coalition
and Rasulullah Hisallahu Alaihi Wasallam got word.
And so
he got the Muslims
to march out of Mecca,
and this was
on the 6th of Shawwal
of the 8th year of the hijrah.
So the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam entered
Mecca
on the 20th of Ramadan,
on 8th year,
and now
some 16,
17 days later,
he marches out
for the Battle of Hunayn.
He left with an army of 12,000.
10,000
had come with him from
Medina.
And 2,000,
these were the ones who had just embraced
Islam from the people of Mecca.
And this was the largest force that the
Muslims
had seen to date.
They have They had never gone out to
face an enemy
with a larger force before.
And so whenever they faced off against their
enemies in the past,
they were always outnumbered
and
less equipped.
And so this led some of the companions
to say on this day,
they said, we are not gonna be defeated
today due to a lack of our numbers.
They said,
we're not gonna be defeated because of a
lack of numbers on on this day.
And so they were impressed
by
their strength and their numbers.
Now
when
Malik ibn Auf
brought together his army
and they set out,
They were accompanied
by an old wise man,
a man who was a prominent poet
and he was also
an experienced
fighter when he was younger.
Now he's old in age, he's not fighting,
but
he
was bringing with him his experience
and his wisdom. His name was Durayd
ibn As Simmah.
At this point,
Durayd, he was old and he was even
blind.
So
he asked his people,
where are we?
They said,
We are at a place known as
He said, This is a fine place
for cavalry, for horsemen.
It's neither hilly with rocks
nor is it soft ground.
So he liked the location.
Then he said,
Why is it that I hear the grunting
of camels,
the braying of donkeys,
the moaning of sheep
and the crying of babies.
What Malik ibn A'uth had done
is that he had brought with the army
everyone.
He had brought their women, their children, their
cattle,
everything.
Why?
Because he thought that this would prevent
his men
from
running away
if they started to lose the battle.
So he thought that
this is
something strategic.
This is a good tactic.
Every man will now fight for his own
family and his own possessions.
So
they told the old man, they said, This
is what
Malik has done.
He brought everything with us.
So
Duraid he said,
O Malik,
this day has great consequences for the future.
He was saying that this is no ordinary
day.
This day will determine our future.
Either we're gonna win
or if we lose, that's gonna be the
end of it all for us.
So he said, why did you do what
you did?
So Malik, he said, I brought them with
the army so that every man will fight
for his family and his wealth.
So Duraid he said,
you sheep grazer,
Would anything ever turn around someone who is
in retreat?
If the battle is to go good,
then it will be men with swords and
horses who do you good.
But if the battle goes bad, then you
will be disgraced with regards to your family
and your possessions anyways.
So he was saying
that when a person is in retreat,
when he's running away from the battlefield,
he's not gonna be thinking about anything else
because
he's running for his life.
Even his own family and his possessions,
he's not gonna be thinking about any of
that.
Then Duraid he asked,
what did
and Khulab do?
So these were 2 tribes of Hawazin.
So Malik
ibn Auf, he had
managed to,
you know, mobilize as many
tribes of Hawazin as he was able to.
So Dureid asked, What about these two tribes?
Malik said, None of them have showed up.
So he wasn't able to bring them.
Dureidli said,
so then skill and courage are absent.
If it were to be
a day of serious determination,
then Kab and Kulab would not miss it.
I wish you had done the same as
them. So basically, he was saying that these
two tribes, they were smart.
And they had a lot of skill with
them.
And if they're missing, then
you know, we shouldn't be here.
So then he asked, who is with you?
Malik he said,
Amir, Amir ibn Amir and A'uth ibn Amir.
These were 2 other tribes of Hawazim.
Duraid he said,
these 2 will do neither good nor harm.
You have done nothing by sending the main
force of Hawazin
to face off against
the cavalry
of the Muslims.
So basically,
this old wise experienced fighter,
he saw this as suicide.
Then Durayd, he gave his recommendation.
He said, O Malik,
take the families
away
and the cattle and our possessions. Take them
up to the high lands
and the mountain tops of of our land,
and then go and meet the Muslims on
horseback.
He said, if it is in your favor,
then the rest will come.
But if it goes against you, then you
have at least protected your family and your
wealth.
What did Malik say? He said,
by God, I'm not gonna do that.
You are an old man and your knowledge
is becoming old.
By God, oh Hawazim,
you will either follow me
or I'm going to, you know, put up
my sword like this,
pointing up upwards. And he said, I'm gonna
jump on it until it comes out from
my back. So basically, he was saying,
either we go forth
as we have planned
or I'm gonna kill myself.
So the old wise man, Duraid, he said,
this is a day that I have nothing
to do with.
He made it clear that
he didn't want to have anything to do
with the consequences of this battle. And so
he gave he gave them his opinion
and they refused to take it. So
So he made it clear that he was
not going to be responsible
for the grave consequences
that he saw
were gonna befall them.
Now you can see from this
exchange
the difference between
the young and the old.
Right? Malik ibn Aufid, it's mentioned that he
was
30 years old.
And so you could see the difference between
a man who has experience
and someone young who doesn't have any experience.
And the wisdom
of an old
experienced fighter and on the other hand,
you know, a young aspiring warrior
who wants to make a name for himself
by taking such a huge risk.
Then Malik,
he said to his army, O men,
when you see the enemy,
break the sheaths of your swords
and attack them as one man.
Meaning,
all of you attack
together at the same time.
Basically, ambush them.
Meanwhile,
Rasulullah
Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam
had sent
one of the companions,
Abdullah ibn Abi Hadrad,
to go and gather intelligence for him.
So he went
and he infiltrated their enemy lines.
And he stayed with them for a day
or 2, gathering intelligence.
Then he came back
and
he informed Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam of what
he saw.
And so he informed the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi
Wasallam of the large numbers he saw
along with
the women and the children and,
you know, the possessions
and the cattle.
When Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam heard what he
heard,
he smiled.
And he said,
That will be the Hanima in the hands
of the Muslims tomorrow Insha'uha.
So the Prophet
was optimistic
that the Muslims are gonna win.
So now
that the Prophet
has information about the enemy,
he wanted additional arms.
So he spoke to
Safwan
ibn Umayyah.
Who is Safwan ibn Umayyah?
We mentioned
him in the last
class.
He was one of the leaders of Quraysh.
And the Prophet
gave him amnesty,
and he gave him time
to consider Islam.
So until now, Safwan ibn Umayyah has not
become a Muslim.
So the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam went
to him and he was
being a leader of Quraysh and being one
of the wealthiest among them, he had a
good stockpile of weapons.
So the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam,
he asked him
for some spears and shields.
So Safwan he said,
are you taking them by force
or
do you want to borrow them?
The Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam said, no, I
am borrowing them and I will return them
to you.
Now
we should understand here that
the Prophet
is the head of state.
And he has authority. And he has conquered
Mecca.
Right?
Safwan is a non Muslim
and he is
a subject of the state.
If the Prophet salAllahu alaihi wa sallam wanted
to, he could easily force him to give
him these weapons. He doesn't have to request
them. He doesn't have to say that I'm
gonna borrow them and then return them to
you. However,
we will see how this had a huge
impact
on the Islam of Safwan ibn Umayyah.
And so after the battle,
some of the pieces
that the Prophet had borrowed from Safwan, they
became lost.
So the Prophet gave back to Safwan whatever
he had and he promised to compensate him
for the lost pieces.
Safwan said, No.
I don't need that
because I now find in my heart
what I did not find then.
What he meant was, now he is
starting to be attracted to Islam.
And we mentioned last time
that due to the generosity of the Prophet
Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam,
right after this battle, the battle of Hunay,
the Prophet
gave him from the spoils, from the hanima,
and he kept
on giving
him.
Until
sufwan he said, and this hadith is in
Sahih Muslim.
Sufwan he says,
by Allah Rasulullah He SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam gave
me what He gave me at a time
when He was the most hated person to
me.
And he kept on giving me until he
became the most beloved person to me.
And this eventually led him to accept Islam
right after the battle of Hunayn.
Now on the way
to
meet
their enemy,
the Muslims passed by a large tree.
And this was a very special tree.
It was
called
What was special about it?
Basically,
the Mushrikoon
in their days in Jahiliya,
they would hang their swords on the street
for barakah.
They thought, you know, this gives them
blessings.
Obviously, there is no basis for this.
It was all based on myths
and you know superstitious beliefs that they had.
But now since
the Muslim army included
people who had just embraced Islam yesterday
And add to that that there are also
some Mushrikun,
Lake Safwan ibn Umayyah
and some others. It's mentioned that
there were
approximately
80
mushrikoon from Mecca who had not yet embraced
Islam, but they were accompanying the arm.
So because of that, they said,
O Messenger of
Allah, O Messenger of Allah,
make
for us a
a tree like this
as they have
a a tree.
Meaning,
a tree that we can take blessings from.
The Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam,
he got angry
and he said, SubhanAllah,
this is just like what the people of
Musa said to Musa alayhi wasallam.
As Allah mentions
in the Quran,
O Musa, make for us a God as
they have gods.
This was right after Allah had saved Bani
Israel.
They had crossed the sea
and they now came across a people
who had idols that they were worshiping.
So
Bani Israel, they were impressed and they said,
oh Musa, why can't we have gods like
this?
So Musa Alaihi Wasallam said,
You are an ignorant people.
And so the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam was
saying, What you have said today is exactly
what the people of Musa said to
Musa alaihis salam. Then the Prophet salallahu alaihi
wasalam said,
'By the one in whose hand is my
soul,
you will follow the ways of those before
you.'
Meaning that we Muslims
will follow
the ways
of the Jews and Christians.
As the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam mentioned in
another hadith
that we will follow them. Even if they
were to go into a lizard's hole, we
would follow them in that.
Rasulullah
SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam,
he reaches a certain area, and it's nighttime
now.
So he wanted someone to guard
the army at night.
So he asked, who will be our guard
tonight?
One of the companions,
Anas
ibn Abi Martad, he volunteered.
So the Prophet Sallallahu
Alaihi Wasallam said to him,
Get onto your horse
and
then go in the direction of this mountain
pass
until you reach the top of the mountain.
And we do not want to be taken
by surprise from your end.
We do not want to be taken by
surprise
from your end.
Here, the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam was
telling his companion
that this would be his responsibility,
his duty,
and that
we don't want you to fail.
This is all you have to do. Guard
this side.
Don't fail
in your duty.
You're not responsible for the other sides
but you are responsible for this side.
And so what we learned from this
is that every single Muslim
should be standing guard
for Islam and the Muslims.
And we mentioned this previously.
The Prophet says
in one hadith
that every single one of us
is stationed at a certain point guarding
and we shouldn't allow
the enemy
to infiltrate
and attack us from your side.
Then in the morning,
the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam went to the
place where they were gonna pray.
And after he prayed 2 rakah,
sunnah of fajr,
he asked the companions,
have you seen any sign of your horsemen?
They said, no. We have not, O Messenger
of Allah.
And then the iqamah was given
and they started praying salatul fajr.
While the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam was glancing
towards the mountain pass,
When he finished his salah
and he said his salaam,
he turned to the companions and he said,
'I have good news for you,
your horseman has come.'
Meaning that guard.
So the companions,
they began looking in that direction
between the trees in the mountain pass.
They didn't see him initially but then eventually
sure enough,
there he was
riding,
coming towards them.
And so the Prophet shalallahu alaihi wa sallam
knew
that, you know, he was coming before they
did.
Then he came and he stood beside the
Prophet shalallahu alaihi wa sallam. He gave him
salam and he said,
I continued
until I reached the top of the mountain
pass where you commanded me to go. And
in the morning I looked down from both
mountains
and I didn't see anyone.
Then the Prophet salAllahu alaihi wa sallam asked
him,
Did you dismount
during the night? Meaning,
did you leave your position?
Or did you remain stationed where I ordered
you to?
He said, No,
I didn't move except
to either pray salah or to relieve myself,
You know, to to use a toilet.
Then the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said,
and look at what the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi
Wasallam said. He said,
you have ensured your entry into Jannah.
You have guaranteed
your entry into Jannah.
There will be no blame upon you if
you don't do anything after this.
And so he fulfilled his duty and his
responsibility. As a result,
he was given this huge reward.
So now
the Muslim army
started proceeding
and
it was
a rough mountainous terrain.
And anyone who has been to Mecca
and Uq Ta'if,
he can tell you
that this terrain
is very mountainous.
It's not an open desert.
There are valleys. There are mountains all over
the place between
between Mecca and Al Ta'if.
And on top of that, it was a
very very hot day.
The area they reached
was a valley known as Hunayn,
And that's why this battle is called
the Battle of Hunayn.
And the problem was
that
Malik ibn A'uth,
the leader of the enemy,
he had already proceeded with his army
to this location
positioning
his troops and his men
all around
the area
and on top of the mountains
and the hills.
And so they were just waiting for the
Muslims to come and then they would ambush
that.
And so that is exactly what ended up
happening.
So as the Muslims were marching forward
and they reached
the middle of the valley,
they were caught by surprise by the enemy.
They were ambushed.
The horsemen
of Hawazim,
they came out of nowhere from in front
of them
and they started launching
a brutal attack on the Muslims.
Then the Muslims were attacked
from the archers
of Hawazin that were positioned on the sides,
on the mountains.
And it is mentioned
that these people, they were known for being
good archers.
So now the Muslim army
was being attacked from all sides.
And so what ended up happening?
The front line of the Muslim army
that was headed by Khalid ibn Walid Radi
Gulag Ra'am.
The main tribe that was in this front
line of the Muslim army were Banusulayim. They
were a tribe from,
the surrounding areas of Medina.
So the shock was too much for them,
and so they started to retreat
and they started to flee from the battlefield.
Behind them, the next line
of the Muslim army were,
they were
those people at Mecca who had just embraced
Islam yesterday.
Obviously,
these are new Muslims.
And
their iman,
and their yaqeen,
and their tawakkul, their trust in Allah was
weak.
So they also started to run away.
They started to retreat.
And remember
that their number was how much?
They were 2,000.
That's a very very large number.
And so now
the scene on the battlefield was chaotic.
It mentions in the narrations that
the alignment of the Muslim army was in
disarray
and that
camels started to stumble on one another.
So
chaos ensued
and now
everyone was just running away.
The Muslim army.
When the Prophet
saw this, he called on them.
He said,
Where to, O people?
Come to me.
I am the Messenger of Allah.
I am the Messenger of Allah.
I am Muhammad ibn Abdullah
Jabir radiAllahu anam, the one who was narrating
this hadith.
He says, the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam
was calling them to no avail.
No one was listening to him. Everyone was
just running for their lives.
Now
some of the leaders of Quraysh
like Abu Sufyan,
who had just recently embraced Islam.
He said,
This defeat will not end
except at the sea.
Meaning that
they're gonna carry on running away like this
until they reach to the sea.
And then they're just gonna be slaughtered there.
Another one of them,
Khaldah
ibn Alhambal.
He was the
brother of Safwan ibn Umayyah
from their mother.
He said,
he said, ba'tarasihr.
He said,
the magic
is over.
What was he talking about?
What he meant was
that the magic of the Prophet salallahu alayhi
wa sallam worked until this day,
but now it's no longer working.
And so this was the reaction
of these people
who are new to Islam,
Especially since
we have to understand many of them only
accepted Islam
at this time
because
they had no other choice.
Right?
It's not like
they had accepted Islam
out of conviction and deep iman
like
the other companions before,
before the
conquest of
Mecca.
And that's why
we have mentioned
again and again
Those who accepted Islam before the conquest of
Mecca
are not the same as those who accepted
Islam
after that. As Allah says, and as Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala mentioned in Surat Al Hadid,
we mentioned
that ayah several times already.
Now when Safwan ibn Umayyah
heard what his brother said,
His reaction was different.
This is Safwan ibn Umayyah.
Until now he has not become Muslim.
What did he say?
He said, I would rather have a man
from Quraysh to rule over me than a
Bedouin from Hawazin.
Remember that he is still a kafir.
But even though
his statement here was not
out of standing up for the truth
of Islam,
but rather out of tribalism as we can
see.
Right?
His loyalty was to Quraysh.
Naturally, he would rather have Muhammad sallallahu alaihi
wa sallam
to be victorious
in this battle because
Muhammad salallahu alaihi wa sallam is one of
us.
Right? So even though
what he said
was out of tribalism
and not, you know, for the sake of
Islam,
still we could see his position was much
better
than the likes of Abu Sufyan
who had lost hope
and, you know, this other individual, Khalda
ibn alhamdul.
Then we have the account of
one of the companions.
And we have mentioned
this companion before.
He was known for his bravery
and his athletic skills. He was a runner.
And we covered
the heroic story of how he
single handedly
took on
an enemy
contingent
in the battle known as
Zikharad.
And how the Prophet salallahu alaihi wa sallam,
you know, praise him for that.
And so here,
we're not talking about an average fighter
or someone weak. We're talking about one of
the best fighters of the Muslims.
In Sahih Muslim,
Salama
ibn al Aqwahi says,
when we encountered the enemy,
I advanced
and ascended a hill.
A man from the enemy's side turned towards
me and I shot him with an arrow.
He ducked
and hid himself from me.
I could not understand what he did
but all of a sudden,
I saw that a group of people appeared
from another hill.
And then they
and the companions of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi
Wasallam met in combat,
But the companions of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi
Wasallam turned back
and I too turned back defeated.
He says, I had 2 garments. 1 which
what I was wrapping around my wrist, you
know, for my lower part of my body
and the other that I was putting on
my shoulders.
He says my lower garment got loose
and I held the 2 garments together and
then I
ran. I ran until I passed by the
Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam who was riding on
his white mule.
The Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said,
The son of Al Aqwa, Ibn Al Aqwa
has seen something terrifying.
Basically when the Prophet saw
the face of Salama ibn Al Aqwa
and he saw the way he was running,
he said, He has surely seen something terrifying.
And so
this shows us how dire
and intense
the situation was.
And this is exactly how Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala described it in the Qur'an.
And so what does Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
say about the battle of Hunayn?
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says,
and this is in Surah Ta'ba,
Indeed Allah has given
you, the believers,
victory
on many occasions
even at the battle of Hunayn
when you took pride
in your great numbers
but they proved
to be no good to you. Your large
numbers
proved to be
of no good to you.
The earth despite
its vastness,
it seemed to close in on you and
then you turned back in retreat.
You started running away.
Allah says,
Then Allah sent His sakinah,
His
tranquility
upon his Messenger and the believers
and sent down
soldiers,
forces that you could not see
and punished those who disbelieved,
such was the reward, the recompense
of the disbelievers.
So just like in the Battle of Badr,
when the Muslims went out to meet their
enemy for the very first time,
And thus it was a very tense moment.
Right? They were nervous,
but Allah brought tranquility to their hearts,
and made them calm.
And as we mentioned in the story of
the Darul Badr, what did Allah do? He
sent down rain.
And
He caused them to become drowsy, so so
they get a good night's rest.
Likewise, in the battle of Hunayn,
Allah was doing the same thing.
So what happened?
What ended up happening
after this
chaotic scene
and the Muslim army, everyone running away?
When this chaos erupted,
only a handful of the companions
remained with the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam.
It mentions only
less than 10.
Among them was the uncle of the Prophet
sallallahu alaihi wasallam,
Al Abbas
ibn Abdul Muttalib.
Everyone else had fled.
So the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam told Al
Abbas and
he had a very powerful voice.
He told him
to call
on the Ansar.
Those who gave him Baya,
Baya Tir Redwan.
Right? Remember,
these were the people who promised, pledged
to protect the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam.
Right?
So Al Abbas
and the prophet
said, specifically call in Al Khazraj.
And specifically
from them Banu Najjar.
Because they
were
the
best and most skilled fighters, and those who
were the bodyguards of the Prophet
So as soon as Al Abbas made the
call,
the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam all of a
sudden was surrounded by 80 to a 100
men
from the Ansar.
However,
this was still not enough.
What is a 100
men gonna do?
Facing off against an army, it's mentioned
that they were 20,000,
double
the number of the Muslims.
So let's go back
to the hadith of Salama ibn al Akbar
Sahih Muslim.
Salama, he continues his story. He says,
When the companions gathered around him from all
sides,
the Messenger of Allah SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam got
down from his mule.
He picked up a handful of dust
and he threw it
into in the direction of
of the enemy.
And he said,
may these faces be deformed.
Salama says, there was no one among the
enemy whose eyes were not filled with the
dust
from
this handful.
1 of
the enemy soldiers who later on became Muslim,
He described the feeling
that they had when the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi
Wasallam did this.
When he was asked
what happened,
what did he do?
He took rocks
and he threw them into an iron pan.
And you could hear all that clattering,
you know, imagine rocks,
you know, being thrown into an iron pan.
He says,
this is how we felt inside of us.
So it was this feeling of terror
that was unleashed on them when the Prophet
threw
this handful
of dust towards
them. In one narration it mentions that the
companion saw
a black
cloud falling from the sky
and then when it landed on the ground,
they saw
a field of ants
and they considered those to be the soldiers
of Allah
that Allah mentions in the ayah.
That He sent down forces
that you could not see.
In another narration, he mentions that
they were
angels that came from the heavens wearing red
turbans.
Nonetheless,
we know that now the tides
had turned.
And after the Muslims
were were initially
facing defeat
and retreating and running away,
they were now advancing on their enemy with
the help of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
And so it was just the Prophet SallAllahu
Alaihi Wasallam
with this small
number of a 100 men
who started advancing
on the enemy.
So this is when the real fighting started
Because before this,
the Muslims were caught off guard
by a surprise attack.
It was just an attack,
There was no real fighting.
But now, as the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa
sallam advanced,
he said,
Al an hami alwatis.
The The Prophet said,
Now the fire of battle is raging.
And this is when now all those who
were retreating,
they started coming back.
And so let us go back to the
narration of Salama ibn al Aqwa. He says,
There was no one among the enemy whose
eyes were not filled with the dust from
this handful.
So then
they turned back fleeing.
The enemy starts running away,
and Allah defeated them, and the Messenger of
Allah salallahu alayhi wasalam
distributed their booty,
their khanima
among
the Muslims.
And so this
was how the Muslims were eventually victorious
over
Hawazim,
causing them to flee, causing them to run
away,
leaving behind a lot
of ganima
for the Muslim
army. And so this was the battle of
Hunayn
in which as Allah mentions in the ayah,
the Muslims were victorious.
The Muslims were victorious. However,
the story
of this battle does not end here.
We will continue the rest of the story
next week. The Ithun Illahi
ta'ala.
So we'll conclude with some lessons that we
learned from the Battle of Hunayn.
The first lesson that we learn
is the great reward
of
what is known as a ribaab,
The great reward of standing
guard in the path of Allah.
Ribaab
is a very noble deed in Islam where
you stand guard for the Muslims making sure
that the enemy does not infiltrate and attack
the Muslims.
And we see how
rewarding this is from the story of
this companion
Anas ibn Abi Marthad.
When Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam
told him after he had fulfilled
his duty
and followed the instructions of the Prophet sallallahu
alaihi wa sallam when he stood guard that
night.
You know, making sure that the enemy does
not infiltrate
and attack the Muslims,
the prophet
told him that you have earned Jannah
just by doing this. You have earned Jannah.
In one hadith in Sahih al Bukhari, the
Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam says,
for one day
is better
observing Ribaat
for
one day and one night
is better than fasting for a whole month
and standing in salah
in all its nights.
And then he said, If a person dies
while performing this duty,
he will go on receiving his rewards for
his deeds forever,
and he will be saved
from the fitan,
the questioner
in the grave. And so all of this
shows us
that jihad has its merits
and you know, its rewards. But then
rebaat
is something specific in jihad that has even
more reward.
And we see that from the story
of this companion Anas
ibn Abi Martad.
The second lesson that we learn
is that weak iman,
weak iman leads
us to adopt false conclusions.
Part of iman
is to believe that
even if the Muslims are defeated,
even if we suffer losses,
it doesn't mean that Islam is no longer
the truth.
It doesn't mean that
the promise of Allah is no longer true.
We find some Muslims today
wondering how can Islam lead to truth?
How can we be upon the truth when
we don't have the upper hand?
When we are being slaughtered the way we
are today?
Right?
Their weak iman
leads them
to such conclusions
as it had done with Abu Sufyan.
And
you know, that individual you mentioned, Khalda,
ibn alhamdul,
on the day of the battle of Hunayn,
when they saw what was happening to the
Muslims.
Right?
And they said what they said.
Look at how one of them he said,
the magic of, is over.
Referring to the Prophet and how all these
previous years in which he was victorious,
it was because of magic and now the
magic is done and over with.
And these were new muslims.
They had just embraced Islam.
Their iman was weak,
and that's what led them to have these
conclusions.
And so those with weak iman,
they think in such a way
because they only look at the apparent.
And they only look at things from material
standards
and they don't look beyond that.
They don't look at these events
and think,
well,
Allah has a wisdom behind
causing Muslims to suffer defeat.
But eventually the promise of Allah is true
that He will give us victory.
Right?
And these people are as Allah described in
the Quran,
Among people are those who worship Allah
on the verge or on the edge of
iman.
If they are blessed with something good, in
good times,
they are content with it. They're happy.
But if they are afflicted with a fitna,
a trial,
then
they turn back into kufr.
Right?
And so we need to be careful about
this.
And that's why we need to make sure
our iman is strong
so that we don't end up
where such people ended up. The third lesson
that we learn
is that remaining
steadfast
to the deen of Allah
even in tough times,
that is what
will bring us out
of those tough times
and Allah will be with us.
Allah will
be with us.
And so even if the entire world
around you
is in a mess,
Allah can bring calm and comfort to you
as He did for His Prophet salallahu alayhi
wa sallam, and a few companions who were
with him on the day of Hunay.
While on the other hand,
things could be great
and peaceful around you but Allah puts in
the hearts the exact opposite feeling.
Right? Feelings of despair,
feelings of depression and anxiety.
The point here is that
if we as individuals
or
as an Umna
go through periods of difficulty
as long as we remain committed,
then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has promised to
bring ease.
After
difficulty, there is ease
and Allah affirms
it twice here.
And so look at what happened in the
battle of Hunay.
Yes, the majority fled
but the few remained firm and stood their
ground.
And they were, the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam,
and the few with him.
As a result,
Allah caused the tides to turn.
And the Muslims,
Allah brought down tranquility and sakinah into their
hearts.
The final lesson that we can mention
is the danger of putting our trust in
material strength.
And this is perhaps the greatest lesson
that we learn
from
the battle of Hunayn.
The Muslims became overconfident
because this time was like no other time
in the past
when they were always
outnumbered
and less powerful than their enemy.
And so this time,
they were impressed
by their large numbers. As Allah tells us,
Right? When you were impressed
and
you started admiring
your strength and your numbers.
And so Allah wanted to teach them a
lesson.
Allah wanted to teach them a lesson
That
victory
is not gonna come because of your numbers
but rather it is gonna come from Allah.
And so if we feel that we will
win
because
of numbers,
if we feel that we will win
because of our training,
if we feel that we will
win because
of our technology,
if we feel that we will win because
of our arms and our weapons,
then we are mistaken.
And so we will win
only
by Allah granting us
victory.
And whenever we attribute our victory to our
own selves or to anything other than Allah,
then we will not be victorious
and the help of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
will not be with us.
Now this does not mean
that
we don't prepare
and we don't take the means
and we don't look for,
you know,
improving our weapons and
you know,
having large numbers. No. It doesn't mean that.
It doesn't mean that at all. But rather,
Allah has commanded us.
Right? In that ayah, Allah tells us to
prepare against our enemies whatever we can
of
strength and of weapons, etcetera.
However, the point here is and the lesson
that we learned from the battle of Hunay
is that we don't put our trust
in material strength.
We don't put our strength, our trust
in the material means
unlike the
kuffar.
Right?
We take the means,
we prepare against our enemies what we can,
we take the latest technology
but in the end of the day we
attribute whatever victory
to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
and we understand that if we are victorious
it was not because of anything that we
did but rather it was because Allah granted
us that victory.
And so we'll continue next week what happens
after the battle of Hunayn.