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SERMON 11Delivered in the Battle of Jamal when Amir al-mu'minin gave the standard to his son Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah (1)Mountains (2) may move from their position but you should not move from yours. Grit your teeth. Lend to Allah your head (in fighting for Allah give yourself to Allah). Plant your feet firmly on the ground. Have your eye on the remotest foe and close your eyes (to their numerical majority). And keep sure that succour is but from Allah the Glorified.
(1). Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah was Amir al-mu'minin's son
but called Ibn Hanafiyyah after his mother. His mother's name was Khawlah bint
Ja`far. She was known as Hanafiyyah after her tribe Banu Hanifah. When people of
Yamamah were declared apostates for refusing to pay zakat (religious tax) and
were killed and their women-folk were brought to Medina as slave girls this lady
also came to Medina with them. When her tribesmen came to know it they
approached Amir al-mu'minin and requested him to save her from the blemish of
slavery and protect her family honour and prestige. Consequently Amir
al-mu'minin set her free after purchasing and married here whereafter Muhammad
was born.
Most historians have written his surname as Abu'l-Qasim. Thus the author of
al-Isti`ab (vol. 3 pp. 1366 1367-1368 1370 1371-1372) has narrated the opinion
of Abu Rashid ibn Hafs az-Zuhri that from among the sons of the companions (of
the Prophet) he came across four individuals everyone of whom was named Muhammad
and surnamed Abu'l-Qasim namely (I) Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah (2) Muhammad ibn
Abu Bakr (3) Muhammad ibn Talhah and (4) Muhammad ibn Sa`d. After this he writes
that Muhammad ibn Talhah's name and surname was given by the Prophet. al-Waqidi
writes that the name and surname of Muhammad ibn Abu Bakr was suggested by
`A'ishah. Apparently the Holy Prophet's giving the name of Muhammad ibn Talhah
seems incorrect since from some traditions it appears
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that even warriors of consequence trembled at his name. Amir al-mu'minin too was
proud of his courage and valour and always placed him forward in encounters.
ash-Shaykh al-Baha'i has written in al-Kashkul that `Ali ibn Abi Talib kept him
abreast in the battles and did not allow Hasan and Husayn to go ahead and used
to say "He is my son while these two are sons of the Prophet of Allah." When a
Kharijite said to Ibn al-Hanafiyyah that `Ali thrust him into the flames of war
but saved away Hasan and Husayn he replied that he himself was like the right
hand and Hasan and Husayn like `Ali's two eyes and that `Ali protected his eyes
with his right hand. But al-`Allamah al-Mamaqani has written in Tanqih al-Maqal
that this was not the reply of Ibn al-Hanafiyyah but of Amir al-mu'minin
himself. When during the battle of Siffin Muhammad mentioned this matter to Amir
al-mu'minin in complaining tone he replied "You are my right hand whereas they
are my eyes and the hand should protect the eyes."
Apparently it seems that first Amir al-mu'minin must have given this reply and
thereafter someone might have mentioned it to Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah and he
must have repeated the same reply as there could be no more eloquent reply than
this one and its eloquence confirms the view that it was originally the outcome
of the eloquent tongue of Amir al-mu'minin and was later appropriated by
Muhammad al-Hanafiyyah. Consequently both these views can be held to be correct
and there is no incongruity between them. However he was born in the reign of
the second Caliph and died in the reign of `Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan at the age
of sixty-five years. Some writers have recorded the year of his death as 80 A.H.
and others as 81 A.H. There is a difference about the place of his death as
well. Some have put it as Medina some Aylah and some Ta'if.
(2). When in the Battle of Jamal Amir al-mu'minin sent
Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah to the battle-field he told him that he should fix
himself before the enemy like the mountain of determination and resoluteness so
that the onslaught of the army should not be able to displace him and should
charge the enemy with closed teeth because by pressing teeth over the teeth
tension occurs in the nerves of the skull as a result of which the stroke of the
sword goes amiss as he said at another place also viz. "Press together the
teeth. It sends amiss the edge of the sword." Then he says "My child lend your
head to Allah in order that you may be able to achieve eternal life in place of
this one because for a lent article there is the right to get it back. Therefore
you should fight being heedless of your life other-
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