Part 42

I stood upright and was trembling. Then he commanded me:

“Return immediately to Ahwaz and as soon as you reach there, distribute these pearls among the Mujahideen.”

I respectfully said, ‘Caliph | will obey your orders.’ He looked at me, full of wrath and said:

“By Allah, if this necklace is not distributed among the Mujahideen, 1 will break your bones as well as those of the Commander-in-Chief.”

I raced my horse at breakneck speed and passing through those difficult roads, at last reached the presence of the Commander-inChief Salamah bin Qais -. I told him what had happened and said:

“O Salamabh if you want to save your life and mine, then please immediately distribute this necklace among the Mujahideen.”

He asked me what had happened and why I was so terrified. Then I gave him all the details of what had happened with me.

Salamah bin Qais # distributed the necklace in the Majlis (gathering) of the Mujahideen right then and there.

‘Utbah bin Ghazwan 2

“T ask for Allah protection from the condition

where I may think myself to be very great now, but in the sight of Allah I shall be

‘Utbah bin Ghazwan 2

Tall and well-built, with a radiant face an attractive personality, and a sturdy build - this was his physical appearance. He had polished manners and was a man who practised abstinence, lived a clean and pious life. In the field of battle he was a brave soldier who could inflict fatal wounds for the cause of Islam.

In 14 Hijrah, in obedience to the command of ‘Umar Farooq #%, he built a beautiful new city, Basra, on the banks of the river Dajlah. He was leader who guided his people wisely and well. He displayed his mastery with the sword as a Mujahid in the Battle of the Trenches, and the Battles of Badr, Uhud, Khaibar and Ta’if. He was also one of those who took part in the signing of the Treaty of Hudaibiah and was one of the fortunate and honoured ones who took part in the Bai’at Rizwan.

He was a great of the Muslim Ummah who entered Makkah triumphantly but modestly with the Prophet 3 and ten thousand other loyal Mujahideen who had risked their lives. In the Battle of Tabook he was a hardworking soldier who was one of the ‘Jaish Al- ‘Asrah’. He left lasting impressions of his courage and daring asa General. ‘Umar Farooq 4% selected him to lead the army to conquer the southern area of Iraq after a great deal of thought. He ordered him to command a smail contingent of the Muslim army to Iraq and Iran. These were his word of advice on this occasion:

“O 'Utbah, reach those limits of Arabia which are bordered by the lands of the non-Arabs, leading your men with complete trust in Allah 38. Always remember to keep before you the fear of Allah 38. You will have to deal with a cunning, deceitful and

hypocritical enemy. You will have to keep an alert mind; be courageous and wise in opposing him. Go and may Allah be your Support and Help.”

‘Utbah bin Ghazwan was a brilliant and popular young man of the tribe of Banu Mazan. He was the pride and envy of his people. During the pre-Islamic days his family was the ally of the tribe of Banu Nofil bin ‘Abd Manaf. When he was thirty years old, the news was doing the rounds of Makkah that the beloved son of Amenah, the grandson of ‘Abdul-Muttlib and the son of ‘Abdullah had declared that he was a Prophet. His Message is that there is only One True Allah. Only He is the Creator and the Master, and only He is the Provider and Helper and only He has control over Life and Death. When His claims became known there was a terrible tumult in Makkah.

The chieftains of the Quraish began to perpetrate the cruelest atrocities on the newly converted Muslims. Seeing the helplessness of his followers, the Prophet 3 ordered them to migrate towards Ethiopia. “Utbah bin Ghazwan 4 was a member of the second caravan of the oppressed people which left Makkah. After living there in peace and security for some time he returned, as he was missing the Prophet 38 whom he loved deeply and also he was feeling restless and homesick.

When the Prophet 3% decided to migrate to Al-Madinah because the cruelty of the Quraish had become intolerable, ‘Utbah bin Ghazwan again started to miss him. He was waiting for an opportunity to enjoy the company and friendship of his beloved Prophet # as early as possible.

In Shawwal, 1* Hijrah some youths set out armed under the leadership of ‘Ikrimah bin Abu Jahl to put pressure on the newly settled Muslims. After travelling for some time they reached a place called Rabagh. A caravan of about eighty warriors who were under the leadership of ‘Ubaidah bin Harith # were also there.

Miqdad bin Aswad and ‘Utbah bin Ghazwan were members of the caravan which had come from Makkah. The leader of the caravan, ‘Ikrimah was under the impression that because of family pride they

had accompanied him and would certainly be of some help. But when fighting broke out between the two forces of Good and Evil and the army of ‘Ikrimah was defeated; the two intelligent and pure-hearted youths took this opportunity to join up with the Mujahideen. Thus they reached Al-Madinah and gained the privilege of presenting themselves before the Prophet 3% and also got the distinction of migrating twice for the cause of Islam.

‘Utbah bin Ghazwan # played a very active role in all the Ghazawét.' His courage and daring were well known and his exploits were common topics of conversation. He showed great acumen, wise insight and expertise in planning strategies of war.

One night ‘Umar Farooq 4 lay down to rest after his ‘Isha prayers, so that he could go out on his nightly incognito tours of the city to see that all was well with the Ummah. But he was not able to take a nap because the critical conditions in the war being fought on the Iranian borders was troubling him. The messenger of war had brought the news that whenever the Muslim army gathered strength to launch a powerful attack and defeat him, the enemy would get reinforcements and renew itself to face them. Caliph ‘Umar Farooq was also told that reinforcements were reaching the Iranian forces from the city of Ablah. He made a firm decision to send an army to conquer Ablah and thus close off the route through which reinforcements were reaching the Iranian army.

But he had a scarcity of manpower, since the youths and the old men had already left their homes and gone for Jihdd. Thus very few men were left in Al-Madinah. On this occasion he used his celebrated secret weapon! He decided that using experienced commanders should make up for the shortage of soldiers. He took up the list of all the individuals present in Al-Madinah and examined it from the point of view of their military expertise and experience.

After a long period of reflection and consideration, he jumped up

' In those battles the Prophet 3 took part.

saying: “| have found him, yes, I have found him!”

Then again lying down he said to himself, ‘This is a Mujahid who has played a very prominent role in the battles of Badr, Uhud, Khandaq and in many others. His arrows and sword have never missed their aim. And he has also had the honour of migrating twice - to Ethiopia and to Al-Madinah. And he was one among those first fortunate Muslims who accepted Islam.

He then sent an army of three hundred and nineteen Mujahideen under his Command of ‘Utbah bin Ghazwan to Ablah. He promised him that he would soon send a large number of Mujahideen for his support. When the army got ready to leave he told them something of very great importance.

“Utbah I am sending you towards Ablah. This is a very important and powerful stronghold of the enemy. My hope is with Allah that He will help you. When you reach your destination, first invite the citizens to accept Islam. If they accept, they are your brothers. If they refuse to accept Islam, then demand Jizyah. If they refuse to pay Jizyah declare war on them. ‘Utbah fear Allah in fulfilling the responsibilities of your office. Avoid arrogance, haughtiness and boastfulness. Such habits are responsible for ruining your life in the Hereafter. You must bear in mind that it is due to the great goodness of Allah 3% that you have received the benefits of moving with the Prophet 38. Allah 3& has granted you greatness and strength after frailty. At this time you are a popular General; all that you say will be listened to with respect, all your orders will be obeyed happily and willingly. Do not make the mistake of misusing this bounty of Allah 3%, else you will regret it on the Day of Judgement. May Allah keep you and me in His Protection. Ameen.”

“As were walking along searching for something eatable, we entered a small grove. There we saw two earthen pots. One was filled with dates and the other one had small yellow grains in it. We picked up both the pots and carried them to our Commander. One of our companions glanced at it and said they should be very careful, for it might be poison which the enemy had left behind to get rid of them. We all turned towards the dates and started eating them. One of our horses, meanwhile, broke his tether and went straight to the pot with the grains, put his mouth in and started to eat them with great enjoyment. By God, we thought we should kill the horse as it might suffer with the poison and die eventually. But one of our friends said we should wait and see. Anyway he was going to keep watch at night, if the horse seemed to be in pain he would kill him. When morning came they saw that nothing had happened to the horse and it was fine!