Part 13

the forces of the confederate tribes were considerable in

strength, and outnumbered the Muslim force. Khalid Ibn Al-

Waleed, may Allah be pleased with him, called upon Tulayhah to surrender to Islam, but the latter refused and rejected the invitation. Thereupon the two armies clashed. The Muslim forces were commanded by Khalid, while the forces of Tulayhah were commanded by * Uyaynah Ibn Hisn, the chief of Bani Fazarah. The two armies were well matched, and the outcome of the battle seemed uncertain.

Tulayhah did not take part in the battle, but kept himself hiddes: inside a tent, and pretended to await inspiration from Heaven. While Khalid Ibn Al-Waleed was increasing his pressure, ~Uyaynah hard pressed, waited on Tulayhah to inquire whether he had received any heavenly message about the outcome of the battle. Tulayhah replied that the request made by him was under consideration in the heaven, and a reply was expected any moment. * Uyaynah led a charge against the Muslim forces, but was beaten back with heavy losses. He again waited on Tulayhah, and wanted to know whether any reply had come to him from the heavens. Tulayhah said that Allah had spoken to him in the following terms: "Your hopes and that of Khalid shall remain at variance, and between you matters are so ordained that an event will take place which you will never forget." At this ambiguous message carrying no , sense, ~Uyaynah realized that Tulayhah was an imposter, and his cause was doomed to failure. He told Tulayhah, "Woe unto you! I am leaving." ~Uyaynah asked the men of his tribe to break camp and retreat to save themselves.

With the withdrawal of ~Uyaynah and his men the tide of the battle was turned in favor of the Muslims; Khalid intensified the attack, and the battlefield came to be strewn with the dead bodies of the men of Tulayhah. Finding resistance useless, Tulayhah escaped with his wife to As-Shaam. With the withdrawal of Tulayhah the battle was over. The Muslims had achieved a significant victory, and most of the tribes

surrendered and accepted Islam. Those who still remained opposed to Islam retreated and sought refuge further inland.

After the battle had finished, Khalid declared general amnesty for those who re-entered the fold of Islam and expressed regret for their past behavior. Those who had perpetrated atrocities on the Muslims were likewise apprehended and subjected to severe punishment. Abu Bakr approved of the action Khalid had taken, and sent him a message, saying: "May Allah bestow on you more blessings. Fear Allah as regards your duties, for Allah lo! Allah is with those who keep their duty unto Him and those who are gooddoers."

The vacillating tribes in the region who had been sitting on the fence, and had preferred to watch the course of events submitted to the authority of Madeenah, paid Zakaah and were re-admitted to Islam. The chiefs of the tribes who surrendered were sent to Madeenah for presentation before Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him.

Tulayhah being left alone, jumped onto his horse, and on escape from Buzakhah, he sought refuge in Ash-Shaam. When Ash-Shaam was occupied by the Muslims, Tulayhah reembraced Islam, and again his career as a false Prophet came to an end. Later he joined the Muslim army and took conspicuous part in the battles of Qadsiyyah and Nehavand, during the caliphate of “Umar Ibn Al-Khattaab, may Allah be pleased with

Sajaah, the False Prophetess:

Among the false Prophets who rose in Arabia as a result of the apostasy movement was an Arab Christian lady named Sajaah Bint Al-Harith Ibn Suayd, of Taghlib, who claimed

herself to be a Prophetess. She belonged to the tribe of Bani Tameem.

Sajaah was a_ beautiful lady of an attractive personality. She dabbled in clairvoyance, and professed to predict future. She was a poetess, and mostly talked in verse. She had qualities of leadership, and was popular with her people. When she came to know that after the death of the Prophet , peace and blessings be upon him, Tulayhah and Musaylmah had declared themselves as Prophet s, she also followed suite and claimed Prophet hood. Soon she succeeded in mustering a good following from among the Banu Taghlib, the clan of her mother.

In her attempt to gather some followers from her father's clan as well, Sajaah contacted Malik Ibn Nuayrah, the chief of the Banu Yarboo* section of the Bani Tameem, the clan of her father. At the invitation of Malik Ibn Nuayrah, Sajaah came to Bitaah, the headquarters of the clan and entered into a pact with him.

Malik felt that with the help of Sajaah and her people he could overpower such of the sections of the tribe who were opposed to him. He acknowledged Sajaah as a Prophet ess, and incited her to crush the Banu Yarboo" . Sajaah undertook to help him in asserting his authority over the section of the Banu Yarboo”, who were opposed to him. The combined forces of Malik and Sajaah received some initial success. Then Sajaah decided to proceed to Yamamahh, the stronghold of the false Prophet Musaylmah Ibn Habeeb Al-Kadhaab.

Musaylamah a cunning man did not go on war against Sajaah. Instead he invited her to visit Yamamah as his honored guest. Sajaah accepted the invitation, and proceeded to Yamamah in Central Arabia. Musaylamah held a royal

reception in her honor. Musaylamah was a handsome man of attractive personality, and Sajaah was extremely beautiful and passionate. Both were mutually attracted. Musaylamah pattered the vanity of Sajaah, and argued that as the Muslims were their common enemy, it would be to their mutual interest to join forces, and overpower the Muslims by united action. The idea appealed to Sajaah, and she said voiced her willingness to make common cause with him.

Then Musaylamah took another step forward and suggested that in order to strengthen their alliance it was but meet that they should be physically united as well and become husband and wife. Sajaah fell in line with his way of thinking, and agreed to become his wife. Musaylamah said that in view of their mutual concurrence, it was necessary that such alliance should take place at once without losing any time. Under the spell of the magnetic personality of Musaylamah, Sajaah agreed that the marriage should take place at once. Musaylamah took Sajaah_to his camp where she remained with him for three days and three nights as his wife. As a wedding gift, Musaylamah declared that for their common followers the prayers in the moriing and in the evening were no longer obligatory and that henceforward the number of prayers per day was to be reduced from five to three. He also agreed to pay Sajaah a share out of the revenues of Yamamah.

Instead of remaining with Musaylamah at Yamamah as his wedded wife, Sajaah decided to return to her people in Iraq. The followers of Sajaah felt frustrated at this turn of events, and they did not like their Prophet ess becoming mistress of Musaylamah. Presumably Sajaah also realized that in marrying Musaylamah she had lost the battle. From some accounts it appears that Sajaah was already married, and she surrendered to Musaylamah under some hypnotic influence. When this spell was over, and she realized the depth to which she had degraded

herself she found safety in returning to Iraq. When she returned to her people in Iraq that was the end of the adventure of Prophet hood. She lived in obscurity for the rest of her life. When the Muslims conquered Iraq she became a Muslim along with the other members of her tribe. During the caliphate of Muawiyiah she resided at Kufa, where she died at a sufficiently adva.ced age.

Having reduced the Bani Asad and Bani Fazara, Khalid bin Walid decided to march against the Bani Tameem who lived on a plateau to the east. The Bani Tameem had accepted Islam during the lifetime of the Prophet . After the death of the Prophet when the waves of apostasy spread over Arabia, the Bani Tameem were also affected. The tribe came to be divided into. two sections. One section remained faithful to Islam, while the other section repudiated their allegiance to Islam. There was however some confusion as to who among the tribe favored Islam and who were against it.

When Khalid gave order to march to Bitaah, the Ansaar in the army refused to join him. Their stand was that the Caliph had not sanctioned any operation against the Bani Tameem. Khalid said that being the Commander of the forces operating in the region, he was in the best position to know which operations should or should not be undertaken in the interests of the mission for achieving the supremacy of Islam. He said: “This matter is inevitable, and a chance that has to be seized. I did not receive any message from (the caliph), and I am the Commander and to me come the news, yet I will not force you to march, but I am heading for Al-Bitaah."

Then the army of Khalid marched forward, while the Ansaar stayed behind. After some time on second thought, the Ansaar also decided to accompany Khalid. They accordingly rejoined the main Muslim army at the next stage of their march.

The orders of Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, were that if any tribe professed faith in Islam, no action should be taken against it. If a tribe did not profess faith in Islam, it was to be invited to repent and be reverted to Islam. Operations were to be undertaken against a tribe only in the event of its refusal. It was laid down that if on reaching the settlement of a tribe, the Muslim army heard the tribe give Adhaan, it was to be understood that the people of the tribe acknowledged Islam. In the absence of such response it was to be presumed that the people had apostatized.

Before the Muslim army reached Bitaah, a delegation of Bani Tameem waited on Khalid. They brought with them the amount of the Zakaah payable to the Muslims. Khalid took the amount, but continued his advance to Bitaah. When the Muslim army reached Bitaah, there were no forces of the Bani Tameem to oppose the Muslims. The position was confused. Malik Ibn Nuayrah, the chief of the Bani Tameem, neither came forward to give his loyalty, nor did he come forward to oppose the Muslims. On the other hand he went into hiding. That made him the subject of suspicion. Khalid directed his soldiers to forage in the neighborhood. As a result of such operations, Malik and his wife Layla were taken captive and brought before Khalid. Malik's wife, Layla was known far and near for her breathtaking beauty.