Chief of the Prophets — Page 193
Chapter Eight 193 seeing the strength of the Muslims, but on reaching Khaibar he found out that they were fully prepared to fight. The Jews initially fought in the open battlefield, but when their famous fighters Marḥab and Yāsir died at the hands of Muḥammad bin Muslim ra and Zubair bin al-‘Awwām ra , they retreated back into their fortressess. The Muslims attacked the fortresses and after a fierce battle of a few days, conquered all the fortresses except the fortresses of Al- Qamūs which was heavily fortified. After a few days, Muḥammad sa said, “Tomorrow morning, I will hand over the standard to the person who will not return from the field without achieving complete victory. ” 1 The believers were very pleased on hearing this, and anxiously waited to see who received this honour. The next morning, Muḥammad sa supplicated, and gave the Islamic standard to ’Alī bin Abī Ṭālib ra. ’Alī ra was suffering with inflamed eyes. Muḥammad sa applied his saliva to ’Alī’s eyes and prayed, and by Allah’s blessings he recovered. Thereafter, ’Alī ra remembering the name of Allah marched towards the Al-Qamūs fortress with his faithful companions and conquered the fortress after a continuous siege of 20 days. A Wonderful Event of the Truthfulness of Muḥammad sa While the siege of the fortress was going on, a shepherd of one of the chieftains of the Jews accepted Islam and said to Muḥammad sa , “O Messenger of Allah, I cannot go to those people anymore, but these goats belong to the Jewish chieftain, what should I do with them?” He said, “Turn them in the direction of the fortress and spur them from the back; God the Exalted will take them to their owner. ” He spurred the goats and when they reached close to the fortress, the people took them inside. 2 This event portrays how firmly Muḥammad sa honoured the trusts of people. Can we find any such example in the religions of this age that the animals of the enemy are captured, and then returned? Would it not have provided months of food supply for the starving enemy? The Messenger of Allah accepted the strengthening of the enemy during the seige but 1 Bukhārī. 2 Sīratul-Ḥalbiyyah.