Episode 13: Life of Umar ibn al-Khattab
The Story of Abu Mihjan al-Thaqafi:
On the second day of the Battle of Qadisiyyah, Abu Mihjan al-Thaqafi joined the Muslim army.
Abu Mihjan Detained for Drinking Alcohol:
Sa’d ibn Abi Waqqas detained Abu Mihjan because he was drinking alcohol and was known to be suffering from an alcohol addiction.
Abu Mihjan’s Plea to Join the Battle:
Sa’d chained him up but Abu Mihjan was saddened by this as he wanted to participate in the battle.
Whilst he was chained up, he asked Sa’d’s wife: Please, let me go! Unchain me and I promise, if I come back safe and sound, I myself will re-chain myself with these chains. And if I don’t come back (and I die) then you don’t have to worry about me anymore.
Sa’d’s Wife Unchains Abu Mihjan al-Thaqafi:
The wife of Sa’d ibn Abi Waqqas unchained Abu Mihjan and he jumped on the first horse that he could find.
Abu Mihjan Fights Valiantly:
He mounted Sa’d’s house and went straight into the battle, fighting valiantly.
Sa’d ibn Abi Waqqas Recognises the style of Abu Mihjan:
Sa’d ibn Abi Waqqas saw Abu Mihjan fighting but he could not see exactly who it was because it was in the far distance.
Sa’d noticed that the soldier was fighting on his horse and realised that it could be Abu Mihjan as he recognised the soldier had a similar fighting style to him.
Sa’d ibn Abi Waqqas then said: the way this horse is moving, is like my horse Al-Balqa and the way this man is fighting is the way Abu Mihjan fights, but Abu Mihjan is chained up.
Abu Mihjan Returns and Re-Chains Himself:
When the second day was over, Abu Mihjan came back just as he promised and put himself back in chains and Sa’d ibn Abi Waqqas’ wife informed her husband about what happened.
Abu Mihjan’s Release and His Repentance:
Sa’d ibn Abi Waqqas went to Abu Mihjan, released him from his chains and told him: Get up. Wallahi, I will never flog you for drinking again.
Abu Mihjan then replied: Wallahi, I will never drink alcohol again.
The Third Day of Fighting – The Day of Intensity
The third day of fighting was known as ‘the Day of Intensity’ because of how severe the fighting got.
Al-Qa’qa’s Deceptive Strategy:
On the night before the third day, Al-Qa’qa ibn Amr formulated a strategy, informing some of his soldiers to quietly leave the battlefield, so that when the day comes, they could come back to the battlefield and the Persians would think that the Muslims had received more reinforcements and support.
Changing the Formation of the Army to Confuse the Persians:
Also, when Al-Qa’qa regrouped the army for the third day of fighting, he changed the roles and the positions of the Muslim army.
The reason why he did this was because, when the Persian army saw them, they would see new faces and think that they were new soldiers.
Rustum Deploys the Elephants Again:
On the third day of fighting, the Persian military commander, Rustum ordered for the return of the elephants and placed soldiers around the elephants to guard them.
Sa’d’s Order to Target the Two Leading Elephants:
Sa’d ibn Abi Waqqas noticed that all of the elephants were following two main elephants, who were leading the pack.
Sa’d knew that if they could get rid of the two leading elephants, it would end the threat of the remaining elephants.
Al-Qa’qa ibn Amr and Asim bin Amr Strike the Elephants’ Eyes:
Sa’d called Al Qa’qa ibn Amr and Asim ibn Amr and told them: These two elephants are the leader of all of the elephants, so I need you guys to get rid of them.
Al Qa’qa and Asim each took an assistant alongside them.
Al-Qa’qa and his assistant went to the first elephant, who was covered with armour but the eyes were open, so they went in front of the elephant and they each shot arrows towards its eyes.
The elephant became blinded and it screamed and at the same time, Asim ibn Amr and his assistant were dealing with the second elephant in the same manner.
Cutting the Trunks and Causing Chaos:
Whilst the elephant was distracted, Asim’s assistant went close to the elephant and cut off its trunk.
The elephants then turned around and ran away from the battlefield and as they were running away, they were crushing their own people, the Persian army.
The Stampede: Elephants Crush the Persian Army:
All of the elephants fled from the battlefield and they stampeded on the Persian soldiers.
This is how the Muslim army got rid of the issue of the elephants.
Fighting Continued Until the Fourth Day:
The fighting occurred on the third day and it continued for the rest of the night.
The fighting was so intense that it started from Dhuhr, and it continued all night and onto the following day.
The Fourth Day – The Victory of the Muslims:
The fourth day was known as ‘the Day of Al-Qadisiyyah’, the day of victory.
The Muslims Exhaustion and Al-Qa’qa’s Motivation:
The Muslims were very drained and tired but Al Qa’qa ibn Amr witnessed what was going on and said to the Muslim army: Don’t retreat, because if we do, they will have time to rest, recuperate and come back stronger. But if we are patient for one more hour, we can finish them off and end this without giving them a chance to rest. So let’s keep going.
The Persians on the Brink of Collapsing:
The Persians were hoping for the Muslims to retreat, but Al-Qa’qa knew that the Persians were on the brink of destruction.
Targeting the Persian Commander, Rustum:
Al Qa’qa knew that the Persian army was on their last legs and was aware that this was an opportunity to kill their military commander, Rustum.
Al-Qa’qa called his friend Khilal ibn Alqama and said: Let’s infiltrate through the Persian army until we get to Rustum, and we will kill them.
The Death of Rustum:
They both infiltrated into the Persian army until they got to Rustum.
The Persians tried to defend him but because they were so tired and demoralised, they could not handle the pressure of Al Qa’qa and Khilal.
Khilal ibn Alqama and Al-Qaqa struck Rustum with their swords which led to the Persian commander being killed.
Khilal ibn Alqama then shouted: I swear by the Lord of the Kabah, I have killed Rustum!
The Persians Retreat:
The Persian army had now lost all hope of victory and they started to flee from the battlefield.
The Muslims followed them and continued to attack them until the victory was complete.
Dhiraar ibn al-Khattab Takes Down the Persian Flag:
Dhiraar ibn al-Khattab was able to reach the main flag of the Persians and he smashed the flag to the ground, which symbolised the complete defeat of the Persian Empire.
This was the first time in their history that the main flag of the Persian Empire had fallen.
Aftermath of Qadisiyyah:
The Muslims had defeated the most powerful empire of its time.
Sa’d ibn Abi Waqqas and the Muslim army gathered the spoils of war and Sa’d ordered for one-fifth of it to be sent back to Madinah for the Bayt-al-mal (Muslim Treasury).
Message Sent to Umar Informing him of the Victory:
Sa’d ibn Abi Waqqas immediately sent a messenger to go back to Madinah and inform Umar ibn al-Khattab of the good news of the victory of the Muslims.
Umar ibn al-Khattab every day would come to the outskirts of Madinah in the direction of Persia, waiting for some news to come. Finally, as he was waiting outside the outskirts of Madinah, a messenger crossed his path.
The messenger had never seen Umar ibn al-Khattab before, so he rode past him and Umar asked: Wait, where are you coming from?
The messenger replied: I am coming from Qadisiyyah. Umar asked: What is the news?
He continued to ride and said: I am coming with the news of Al-Fath (Victory).
The messenger did not stop and Umar started to follow him on his horse. Eventually, both of them entered Madinah and the residents of the city greeted Umar ibn al-Khattab.
The messenger looked back and asked: who are you? Umar replied: I am Umar ibn al-Khattab.
The messenger then said: Why didn’t you tell me? If you told me, I would have stopped and given you all the information.
Umar ibn al-Khattab replied: Don’t worry about it, O my brother, it is fine.