32.

The Book of Jihad and Expeditions

٣٢-

كتاب الجهاد والسير

Abbas (رضي الله تعالى عنه) narrated, ‘I was in the company of the Apostle of Allah ( صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) on the Day of Hunain. I and Abu Sufyan bin Harith bin 'Abdul Muttalib (رضي الله تعالى عنه) stuck to the Apostle of Allah (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) and we did not separate from him. And the Apostle of Allah (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) was riding on his white mule which had been presented to him by Farwa bin Nufitha al-Judhami (ru. When the Muslims had an encounter with the disbelievers, the Muslims fled, falling back, but the Apostle of Allah (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) began to spur his mule towards the disbelievers. I was holding the bridle of the mule of the Apostle of Allah (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) checking it from going very fast, and Abu Sufyan (رضي الله تعالى عنه) was holding the stirrup of the (mule of the) Apostleof Allah (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم), who said, Abbas (رضي الله تعالى عنه), call out to the people of al-Samura. Abbas (رضي الله تعالى عنه) (who was a man with a loud voice) called out at the top of the voice, ‘where are the people of Samura? Abbas (رضي الله تعالى عنه) said and by God, when they heard my voice, they came back (to us) as cows come back to their calves, and said, we are present, we are present! 'Abbas ( رضي الله تعالى عنه) said, ‘they began to fight the infidels. Then there was a call to the Ansar. Those (who called out to them) shouted, O you, the party of the Ansar! O party of the Ansar! Banu al-Harith bin al-Khazraj were the last to be called. Those (who called out to them) shouted, O Banu Al-Harith bin al-Khazraj! O Banu Harith bin al-Khazraj! And the Apostle of Allah (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) who was riding on his mule looked at their fight with his neck stretched forward and he said, ‘this is the time when the fight is raging hot. Then the Apostle of Allah (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) took (some) pebbles and threw them in the face of the infidels. Then he said, by the Lord of Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم), the infidels are defeated. Abbas (رضي الله تعالى عنه) said, I went round and saw that the battle was in the same condition in which I had seen it. By Allah, it remained in the same condition until he threw the pebbles. I continued to watch until I found that their force had been spent out and they began to retreat.

This Hadith is transmitted through another chain of narrators. In this version the words of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) (after he had thrown the pebbles in the face of the enemy) are reported as, ‘by the Lord of the Ka'ba, they have been defeated.’ And there is at the end the addition of the words, until Allah defeated them’ (and I imagine) as if I saw the Prophet of Allah (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) chasing them on his mule.

Abbas (رضي الله تعالى عنه) narrated, ‘I was with Allah's Apostle (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) on the Day of Hunain. The rest of the Hadith is the same but with this variation that the Hadith transmitted by Yunus and Ma'mar is more detailed and complete.

Abu Ishaq narrated that a man asked Bara bin Azib, ‘did you run away on the Day of Hunain. O, Abu Umira (رضي الله تعالى عنه)? He said, no, by Allah, the Apostle of Allah (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) did not turn his back; (what actually happened was that) some young men from among his companions, who were hasty and who were either without any arms or did not have abundant arms, advanced and met a party of archers who were so good at shots that their arrows never missed the mark. This party (of archers) belonged to Banu Hawazin and Banu Nadir. They shot at the advancing young men and their arrows were not likely to miss their targets. So, these young men turned to the Apostle of Allah (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) while he was riding on his white mule and Abu Sufyan bin al-Harith bin 'Abdul Muttalib was leading him. (At this) he got down from his mule, invoked God's help, and called out, I am the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم). This is no untruth. I am the son of 'Abdul Muttalib (رضي الله تعالى عنه). Then he deployed his men into battle array.

There is a similar Hadith with a different chain of transmitters, narrated by Abu Ishaq, who said, ‘a person said to Bara' bin 'Azib (رضي الله تعالى عنه), saying, O Abu Umara (رضي الله تعالى عنه), did you flee on the Day of Hunain? He replied, the Apostle of Allah (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) did not retreat. What happened was that some hasty young men who were either inadequately armed or were unarmed met a group of men from Banu Hawazin and Banu Nadir who happened to be (excellent) archers. The latter shot at them a volley of arrows that did not miss. The people turned to the Apostle of Allah (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم). Abu Sufyan bin Harith was leading his mule. So, he got down, prayed, and invoked God's help. He said, I am the Prophet ( صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم). This is no untruth. I am the son of Abdul Muttalib (رضي الله تعالى عنه). O God descend Your help. Bara' (رضي الله تعالى عنه) continued when the battle grew fierce. we, by God. would seek protection by his side, and the bravest among us was he who confronted the onslaught and it was the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم).

. This Hadith has been narrated through another different chain of transmitters by Abu Ishaq, who said, ‘I heard from Bara’ (رضي الله تعالى عنه) who was asked by a man from the Qais tribe, ‘did you run away from the Apostle of Allah (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) on the Day of Hunain? Bara' ( رضي الله تعالى عنه) said, but the Apostle of Allah (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) did not run away. On that day Banu Hawazin took part in the battle as archers (on the side of the disbelievers). When we attacked them, they retreated, and we fell upon the booty; (they rallied) and advanced towards us with arrows. (At that time) I saw the Apostle of Allah (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) riding on his white mule and Abu Sufyan bin al-Harith was holding its bridle. He (the Apostle of Allah was saying, I am the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم). This is no untruth. I am a descendant of Abdul Muttalib (رضي الله تعالى عنه).

This Hadith of Bara' (رضي الله تعالى عنه) is narrated by another chain of transmitters, but it is short as compared with other Ahadith which are more detailed.

Salama (رضي الله تعالى عنه) narrated, ‘we fought by the side of the Apostle of Allah ( صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) at Hunain. When we encountered the enemy, I advanced and ascended a hillock. A man from the enemy 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 suddenly I saw that a group of people appeared from the other hillock. They and the companions of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) met in combat, but the companions of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) turned back and I too turned back defeated. I had two mantles, one of which I was wrapping round the waist (covering the lower part of my body) and the other I was putting around my shoulders. My waist-wrapper got loose, and I held the two mantles together. (In this downcast condition) I passed by the Apostle of Allah (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) who was riding on his white mule. He said, ‘the son of Akwa' finds himself to be utterly perplexed. Where the Companions gathered round him from all sides. the Apostle of Allah (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) got down from his mule. picked up a handful of dust from the ground, threw it into their (enemy) faces and said, ‘may these faces be deformed. There was no one among the enemy whose eyes were not filled with the dust from this handful. So, they turned back fleeing and Allah the Exalted and Glorious defeated them, and the Apostle of Allah (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) distributed their booty among the Muslims.