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THE CONTINGENT OF USAMAH IBN ZAYD

The Prophet of Islam (a.s) had deputed al-Harith ibn `Umayr al-Azdi as his ambassador to the ruler of al-Basrah with the Message of Islam. But on the way the ruler of Balqa’, Shurahbil arrested and killed him. When the Prophet (a.s) got this sad news, he sent a contingent under Zayd ibn Harithah, Ja`far ibn Abi-Talib and `Abdullah ibn Rawahah with instructions that if Zayd was killed, Ja`far ibn Abi-Talib should assume command. If he was martyred, `Abdullah ibn Rawahah should take charge of the contingent. When they reached Ma`an, they got news that Heracles of Rome was camping at Balqa’ with the armies of Rome and Syria. When the Muslims got wind of the huge enemy armies, they halted at Ma`an and wanted to call more troops from al-Madinah. But `Abdullah ibn Rawahah encouraged the men to improve their morale and said that they should not be afraid of the disparate groups forming the enemy ranks and that they must go forward and confront the enemy! The courage of the Muslims was thus boosted and they marched forward. When they reached, Mushrif, a satellite town of Balqa’, they turned towards Mu’tah sensing the movements of the enemy and confront them appropriately. They organized their men into proper left and right flanks. The enemy troops too arrived there and organized themselves. Zayd ibn Harithah went forward with the Standard in his hand and was martyred fighting. Now Ja`far ibn Abi-Talib took the Standard in his hand and lost his right hand fighting the enemy. He took the Standard in his left hand. That too was severed during the fight. He now held the standard close to his chest and bearing more than eight wounds from swords and arrows, he was martyred. The Prophet (a.s) gave him the posthumous titles of Dhul-Janahayn (One with two wings) and al-Tayyar fil-Jannah (The one who flies in the Heaven). `Abdullah ibn Rawahah now took charge of the battle and he too was martyred fighting. After these well-known commanders, there was none of the renowned warriors left. But one al-Ansari, Thabit ibn Arqam picked up the Standard and asked the men to select a standard-bearer from amongst them. They proposed that he himself should do the duty. He said that he was not ready to take the responsibility. Therefore, Khalid ibn al-Walid came forward to become the Standard-bearer. After a little while of fighting, the dusk fell and it became dark. The fighting stopped

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because of the darkness. Khalid considered the nightfall was to his advantage and withdrew with the men in the cover of darkness and started the return journey to al-Madinah. When the fleeing contingent reached al-Madinah, the people started pelting dust on their faces to shame them. They used to hide their faces while going around and Salamah ibn Husham stopped going to the congregational prayers in shame. When they went to the mosque, the people used to shame them with the calls of deserters! They used to say:

“Are you one of the persons who deserted from Allah’s Way?”[1]

This event took place in Jumada I, 8H but no steps were taken to exact qisas for the martyrs of Mu’tah. It appears that, for some reason, the Prophet (a.s) wanted to postpone it for his last days. Therefore, during his illness, he called Usamah ibn Zayd, a youth of 18 or 19 years, and put him at the head of a contingent. Ibn Sa`d writes:

“From the Ansar and Muhajirūn there was hardly any prominent person who was not asked to join the ghazwah. Amongst them were Abū-Bakr Siddik, `Umar ibn al-Khattab, `Ubaydah ibn al-Jarrah, Sa`d ibn Abi-Waqqas, Sa`id ibn Zayd, Qutadah ibn al-Nu`man and Salamah ibn Aslam ibn Huraysh were included”[2]

When the Prophet (a.s), despite his illness, handed over the Standard to Usamah ibn Zayd, the Muslims started criticizing his capability instead obeying the Commands of the Prophet (a.s) and accepting him as their commander. Sometimes they said that Usamah was too young and inexperienced and at other times, they said that he was the son of a freed slave and it was below their dignity to serve under him. When the Prophet (a.s) got wind of this gossip, he came out with covered head, in a state of high fever, and said:

“If you have objection about his Commanding the Contingent, you have been critical of his father’s command too. By Allah! He was capable of the Command and in my eyes more likeable than others! This youth too is dear to me than the others!”[3]

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Then he went into the house and the ailment became more acute. Even in that state, he was repeatedly telling, “Send the Contingent of Usamah soon, send the Contingent of Usamah urgently, and send the Contingent of Usamah urgently!”

Usamah came to the presence of the Prophet (a.s) to see him and said, “O Prophet of Allah (a.s)! It would be better if the contingent leaves after you recover from your illness!” He replied, “No! You must start forthwith without any delay!” Usamah got up to go and prepare for the departure of the contingent. On the other side, the Prophet’s ailment increased and he swooned. When he recovered slightly he asked if the Contingent had left or not. When he was told that the preparations for the departure were under way, he folded his brow and said,

“Send the Contingent of Usamah urgently and Allah’s curse on those who do not join it”[1]

With repeated exhortations of the Prophet (a.s) the Contingent moved out of al-Madinah, but it halted at a distance of three miles in Wadi al-Jurf. Someone came to them and gave the tiding that the Prophet (a.s) was in his last throes. Hearing this Usamah, `Umar and Abū-`Ubaydah came back to al-Madinah. When the Prophet (a.s) demised, the rest of the Contingent returned to al-Madinah.

For the Muslims every Command of the Prophet (a.s) is the Command of Allah. Going against his commands is tantamount to disobeying Allah. Despite the repeated exhortations by the Prophet (a.s), the persons nominated to be a part of the Contingent were hesitant in proceeding on the campaign. When the Prophet (a.s) asked for paper and pen to dictate his will, they said that he was in a state of delirium and not in his senses. But when they refused to obey the Command for proceeding on the Campaign what excuse they were offering for disobeying the Orders of Allah’s Prophet (a.s)?

To understand the reasons for the behavior of the Companions at that time, we shall have to go into the scenario of the event. History points out that after the Hijjat al-Wada`; the Prophet (a.s) started keeping indifferent health. This illness was the forerunner of his death. The Prophet (a.s) had hinted in his Sermons of the Hijjat al-Wada` and Ghadir Khumm that the time for his departure was nigh. After returning from the H ijjat al-Wada, ` he hinted about it. The Companions understood that this sun was about to set after giving his radiance for twenty-three years! `Abdullah ibn Mas`ūd says:

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“Our Prophet (a.s) gave the tiding of his death a month before he died.”[1]

On the one hand, the Prophet (a.s) was talking about his imminent demise and on the other; he was expressing concern about mischief by some people in the Ummah. Therefore, one night he walked with much difficulty to Jannat al-Baqi` and prayed for the people of the graves and said, “Seeing the living people the way they are, your condition is praiseworthy. Now mischief is spreading like dark nights and the mischief that will rise will be worse than the earlier one!”

In the trying circumstances when the time for his Call was nigh on one hand and on the other mischief was raising its ugly head. He had to think whether to suppress the mischief or to seek qisas for the martyrs of Mu’tah. Almost two years had passed since the persons were martyred at Mu’tah and the qisas was not obtained so far. The subject was almost in the cold storage for very long and why did the prophet (a.s) think of sending a contingent to extract the qisas now when he was himself critically ill? He also did not have the tendency of conquering people and annexing places. He always fought in his own defense. Then why did he repeatedly order the contingent to go, and prayed for the Curse of Allah for those who abstained from joining the Contingent. He had never taken such a stringent stand before. Whenever any person made excuses for not joining to jihad, he readily conceded his request. But here there is only one command that the people in the Contingent must leave immediately for the campaign. Generally, people during their last days have the wish to have all their kin and companions near them to make their passage smooth and help in arranging the last rites. Here the Prophet (a.s) was sending away two of his closest Companions on a campaign under the Command of a youth of nineteen years! If the Prophet (a.s) had the matter of the Shūra and the imminence for the selection of the successor in his mind he would never have tried to send the two important contenders for the position hundreds of miles away from al-Madinah at this critical juncture! If he had the idea of prevention of possible mischief after his demise through their good offices, he would never have packed them away to a distant destination! It is a fact that the Prophet (a.s) was not happy with the men around him. Some persons were deviating from Islam when they felt that his end was near and others gave indications that they were paving their way to capture the seat of power. They were busy designing and devising ways to usurp power through

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these stratagems dividing people. The Prophet (a.s) had already declared at Ghadir Khumm that `Ali (a.s) was his Vicegerent and Caliph. But he was foreseeing certain difficulties in the implementation of this decision. He had felt that attaching the slightest importance to `Ali (a.s) upset and disturbed certain persons. He knew that these persons would oppose the implementation of what was decided at the Feast of Dual-`Ashirah and Ghadir Khumm. Those who did not accept the Command of Usamah ibn Zayd in the Prophet’s lifetime, they would go to any length to deny the Caliphate to `Ali (a.s) when the Prophet (a.s) was not around. The Prophet (a.s) had appointed Usamah the

Commander of the contingent over Abū-Bakr and `Umar because he was indirectly impressing on them that youth was no bar for persons holding positions of responsibility. The Prophet (a.s) did feel that his antagonists would raise the question of `Ali (a.s) youth when the question of Caliphate came up. Even after this exercise of care the opponents did raise the question that `Ali (a.s) was young and an old person should take the office of the caliph. The contingent of Usamah ibn Zayd was set up with the twin purpose of extracting qisas for the martyred Muslims and to send away the main contenders for the Caliphate hundreds of miles away to facilitate smooth succession. But the contenders had their well thought out plan ready and even at the cost of getting cursed by the Prophet (a.s) they did not move more than a few miles from al-Madinah. It was their utter misfortune that they did not comply with the last Command and instruction of their beloved Prophet (a.s)!

During the lifetime of the Prophet (a.s), his command was treated in a cavalier manner. But soon after his demise, the first thing the Caliph did was to send Usamah’s Contingent on the Campaign. It was a poor attempt to cover their tracks that they had blatantly disobeyed the prophet’s Commands. This was done by Abū-Bakr despite opposition from many quarters. The Ansar were of the view that the Campaign should be postponed and, if not, some person other than Usamah should command it. Therefore, `Umar took sides with the Ansar and Abū-Bakr pulled `Umar’s beard in anger and said:

“You die and let your mother sit in mourning for you! O son of al-Khattab! He was appointed the Commander by the Prophet (a.s) and you ask me to remove him!”[1]

If sending of the Contingent was in compliance of the Command of the Prophet (a.s), then no demand should have come for removing him from the post because he was selected by the Prophet (a.s) himself. Usamah was the

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choice of the Prophet (a.s) and although `Umar was asking Abū-Bakr to remove Usamah as a mouthpiece of the Ansar, he should have himself told them that he was the choice of the Prophet (a.s) instead of strongly seeking his removal! Abū-Bakr too should have taken out his ire on the Ansar for their demand instead of pulling at the beard of `Umar in anger. Abū-Bakr did not join the campaign because of his duties as the Caliph. `Umar took permission from Usamah, the Commander, to stay away. The question is whether Usamah had the right to permit the persons named and detailed by the Prophet (a.s) to join the contingent for the Campaign to stay away. But how could the poor youth act against the might of the ruling clique!