The battle of Hunayn 8 (A.H.):

The formidable Bedouin tribes, the Hawaazin, the Saqif and various
others pastured their flocks on the territories bordering Mecca. Some
of them possessed strongly fortified towns like Tayef,and were
unwilling to render obedience to the Muslims without resistance. They
formed aleague with the intentionof overwhelming Prophet Muhammad
(SAW) before he could make preparations to repulse their attack.
It was the usual practice with the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) that
whenever he conquered a region, he personally looked after its
political problems and the religious matters of its inhabitants, so
long as hestayed there, and as and when he left that place he
appointed there suitable persons on different posts. Its reasonwas
that the people of these regions, who were acquainted with the old and
wound-up systems, did not possess information about the system, which
had replaced it. Islam is a social, moral, political and religious
system, its laws emanate from revelation, and acquainting people with
these laws and their enforcement amongst them needs distinguished,
mature and learned persons, who should teach them correct principles
of Islamintelligently and should also enforce Islamic system amongst
them.
When the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) decided to leave Makkah for the
territories of Hawazin and Saqif, he appointed Mu'az bin Jabal as a
guide to educate and instruct the people and entrusted thegovernment
and administration of the cityand imamate (leading prayers) in the
mosque toAtab bin Usayd, who was a capable person. The threatening
information compelled the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) to cut short his stay
in Makkah. After staying in Makkah for fifteen days the Prophet
Muhammad (SAW) proceeded to the land of Hawazin tribe.
An unmatched army
On that day the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) had twelve thousand armed
soldiers under his standard, out of them tenthousand were those, who
had accompanied him from Madina and had taken part in the conquest of
Makkah, and the other two thousand were from amongst Quraysh, who had
embraced Islam recently. The command of this group rested with Abu
Sufyan. Imam Ali as usual,held the Sacred Standard of the Prophet
Muhammad.
In those days such an army was hardly found anywhere and this
numerical strength of theirs became the cause of their initial defeat.
It was because, contrary to the past, they prided themselves on the
large number of their soldiers and ignored the military tactics and
principles of war. When Abu Bakr's eyes fell on the large number of
men he said:"We should not at all be defeated, because our soldiers
far outnumber those of the enemy". He did not, however, pay attention
to this reality that numerical superiority is not the onlyfactor for
victory and in fact this factor is of little importance.
The Holy Qur'an itself mentions this fact and says: Allah has helped
youon many occasions including the day of Hunayn. When you were happy
with the number of your men who proved to be of no help to you and the
whole vast earth seemed to have no place to hide you (from your
enemies) and you turned back in retreat. (Surah al-Tawbah, 9:25)
Acquisition of Information
After the conquest of Makkah great excitementand enthusiasm could been
seen in the areas inhabited by the tribes ofHawazin and Saqif. Special
contacts existed between them. The connecting link between them was a
war like person named Malik bin Awf Nasri. The result of their mutual
contacts wasthat before the Islamic army could pay attention to them
they themselves came up to encounter it, so that, before the Muslims
moved, they themselves should strike them hard by military tactics.
They also selectedfrom amongst them a thirty-year-old brave
andcourageous man to act astheir commander.
Besides the aforesaid two tribes, the tribes of Bani Hilal, Nasr and
Jasham also participated in this battle and all of them came up as a
single striking force.
As ordered by the chief commander, all those, who participated in the
battle, stationed their women and retinue, behind the rear of the
army. When he was asked about the reason for this decision he
said:"These men will remain steadfast in their fightingto protect
their women and property and will notat all think of flight or
retreat".
When Durayd bin Sammah, an old man andan experienced warrior, heard
the wailing's of the women and the children, he quarreled with Malik,
and, considering this act of histo be wrong from the point of view of
principles of war, said to him: "The result of this action will be
that if you are defeated you will be surrendering all your women and
property to the army of Islam gratuitously". Malik did not pay heed to
the words of this experienced soldier and said: "You have grown old
and have lost your wisdom and knowledge of military tactics". However,
the later eventsproved that the old man was right and the presence of
women and children in a sphere of operation in which one has to strike
and run proved to be of no use, except that the soldiers got involved
in difficulties and their activities were hindered.
The Prophet Muhammad (SAW) sent Abdullah Aslami Ibn Abi Hadrad to
collect information aboutthe equipment, intentions and itinerary of
the enemy. He roamed about in the entire army of the enemy, collected
the necessary information and placed itat the disposal of the Prophet
Muhammad. Malik, too, sent three spies towards the Muslims in a
special manner so that they might bring the requisiteinformation for
him. They, however, returned to Malik with their heartsfull of awe and
fear.
The commander of the enemy army decided to make amends for the
numerical inferiority and weak morale of his soldiers by means of a
military trick i.e. by making a surprise attack, create confusion
among the army of Islam so that the discipline of their units might be
disrupted and the schemes of their high command might be frustrated.
To achieve this end, he encamped at the end of the pass, which led to
theregion of Hunayn. He then ordered all the soldiers to hide
themselves behind the stones, the rocks and gaps of the mountains and
at elevated places around the pass, and as soon as the army of
Islamarrived in this deep and lengthy pass, all of them should come
out of their places hiding and attack the units of Islam with arrows
and stones. Thereafter a special group should descend from the
mountains in anorderly manner and put the Muslims to sword under the
cover of their archers.
Equipment of the Muslims
The Prophet Muhammad (SAW) was aware of the strength and the obstinacy
of the enemy. Before leaving Makkah therefore, he called Safwan bin
Umayyah andborrowed one hundred suits of armor from him and guaranteed
its return. He personally put on two suit of armor, put a helmet on
his head, and mounted a white mule, which had been presented to him,
and moved on behind the army of Islam.
In the dead of night the army reached the Hunaynvalley, which lies
about midway between Mecca and Tayef. In order to reach the fertile
valley of Tayef, they had to pass through a narrow defile called
Hunayn. This was the key point or the enemy's defense. It was anarrow
and dismal place leaving little room for an army to pass through,
except in single file, nor could camels and horses be maneuvered
within itsnarrow walls. The army of Islam rested at night atthe mouth
of the Hunayn and the day had not yet dawned fully when the tribe of
Bani Salim arrived in the passage of Hunayn under the command of
Khalid bin Walid. When a major partof the army of Islam was still in
the pass. Concealing themselves under the precipitous side of the
rocky valley, the tribesmen, from the heights, showered avalanches of
rocks and arrows on the Muslims, and prevented all attempts by the
Muslim cavalry to organize a charge. Panic began to spread amongst the
Muslim troops and defeatseemed very probable.
This sudden attack terrified the Muslims so much that they began to
flee and created, more than the enemy itself, disorder and disruption
among their ranks. According to Habib-us-Siyar and Rouzath-ul-Ahbab,
Khalid Bin Walid was the first to leave the field. These developments
were a source of great joy for the hypocrites present in the army of
Islam, so much so that Abu Sufyan said: "Muslims will run upto the
coast of the sea". Another hypocrite said:"The magic has been
counteracted". A third from amongst them determined to do away with
Islam in that confused state of affairs by killing the Prophet
Muhammad (SAW) and thus destroy the belief of the Oneness of Allah and
the Prophet Hood of Islam lock, stock, and barrel.
The steadfastness of the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) and of a group of
self-sacrificing persons
The Prophet Muhammad (SAW) was disturbed immensely by the flight of
his friends which was the main cause of all the alarm and disorder,
and felt that if matters were allowed to take their own course, even
for a moment longer, the pivotof history would be different, humanity
would change its course and the forces of polytheism would beat down
the army of monotheism. While riding his mule, therefore, he said
loudly:"O supporters of Allah and His Prophet! I am the servant of
Allah and His Prophet". He uttered this sentence and then turned his
mule towards the battlefield, which was occupied by Malik's men, who
had already killed some Muslims and were busy killing others. A group
of self-sacrificingpersons like Imam Ali, theCommander of the
Faithful, Abbas, Fazal bin Abbas, Usamah and Abi Sufyan bin Hirith,
who had not left him alone and unprotected ever since the battle
started, also proceeded along with him.
At this critical moment Imam Ali rallied the disorganized forces
around him inspiring them to fight with fresh valor. At the same time
the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) asked his uncle Abbas, who held his mule,
who had a very loud voice, to call back the Muslims in this manner: "O
Ansar, who helped the Prophet! O you who took the oath ofallegiance to
the Prophetunder the tree of Paradise! Where are you going? The
Prophet is here!" The words of Abbas reached the ears of the Muslims
and stimulated their religiouszeal and fervor. All of them responded
immediately by saying, Labayk! Labayk! (Here amI! Here am I!) And
returned bravely towardsthe Prophet Muhammad.
The repeated call by Abbas, which gave the good tidings of the
Prophet's safety, made the fleeing men return tothe Prophet Muhammad
(SAW) with a peculiar regret and remorse and made them reorganize
their rows. About a hundred men, all Ansars (Abul Fida; Ibn Hisham),
gaining the narrow Pass, checked the advance of the enemy. The
standard bearer of the enemy, a man of extraordinarily tall stature
and stout built, came forward and challenged the Muslims to single
combat, As usual, Imam Ali stepped forward and engaged him and within
a short time put an end to him. In compliance with the orders of the
Prophet Muhammad (SAW) and also to obliterate the shameful stain of
desertion, the Muslims launched a general attack and compelled
theenemies, in a very short time, to retreat or flee. The Prophet
Muhammad, who was watching the struggle from an eminence, taking a
handful of gravel, cast it towards the enemy saying, "May these faces
be disgraced!" The enemy became panicky within a short time and
finally took to flight, chased by the Muslims, and many of them were
killed. In order to encourage the Muslims the Prophet Muhammad (SAW)
was saying: "I am the Prophet of Allah and never tell a lie and Allah
has promised me victory". This war tactics made the warriors of
Hawazin and Saqif run away to the region of Autas and Nakhlah and
tothe forts of Ta'if leaving behind their women and retinue and a
number of those killed in the battle. The battle was won by Muslims.
War Booty
In this battle the casualties of the Muslims were large, but the
biographers have not mentioned the number of those killed. The enemy
lost seventy of their bravest, of whom forty fell under the swordof
Imam Ali.
As a result of this victory, enormous booty fell into the hands of the
Muslims.The Muslims, however, stood to gain and the enemies fled
leaving behind six thousand captives, twenty four thousand camels,
forty thousand sheep and four thousand Waqih (It is equal to 213 grams
approximately) of silver. The Prophet Muhammad (SAW) ordered that all
the men and the entire property should be takento Ji'ranah. He also
appointed some men to keep a watch. The captives were kept in a
particular house and the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) ordered that the
entire booty should remain there as it was, till he returned from
Ta'if.
The battle of Hunayn, is one of the most famous events in the history
of Islam. It was notable for the strategy of Imam Ali regrouping the
Muslim army, turning defeat intovictory. It also showed the clemency
with which the prisoners were treated. Six hundred of the enemies were
freed without having to pay ransom.

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And Allah Knows the Best!

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Published by :->
M NajimudeeN Bsc- INDIA

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