Episode 19: Life of Umar ibn al-Khattab
Arrival at Nahavand:
The Muslims arrived at Nahavand to confront the Persian army.
The fighting started on a Wednesday and it was very intense, with both armies suffering heavy casualties on the Wednesday and Thursday.
On Friday, the Muslims realised that they needed a new strategy to lure the Persians away from the trenches they dug.
Strategy to Lure the Persians:
The commander of the Muslim army, Nu’man ibn Muqarrin had a meeting with his generals to come up with a strategy to get the Persians to leave the trench.
They decided that one group from the Muslim army would go in the front-lines right by the trench and their role would be to initiate fighting with the Persians.
After fighting for some time, this group of Muslims would act as if they had been defeated and they would start to retreat.
By doing this, the Persians would think they have won and they would follow the Muslims, which would get the Persians away from the trench.
Al-Qa’qa ibn Amr was appointed to carry out this plan and he went with his group and approached the trench. His army then fought the Persians, and after some time, they started to retreat, acting as if they had been defeated.
When the Persians saw this, they became very happy and said to themselves: this is the first time in all of these battles with the Muslims that we are actually beating them.
The Persians then followed the Muslims and left the protection of their trench.
Ambush and Intense Battle:
Al Qa’qa ibn Amr was able to lure the Persians into an area where the rest of the Muslim army were waiting to ambush them.
When the Persians reached this area, the Muslims launched a surprise attack on them and there was so much bloodshed in this battle that the ground became drenched with blood.
Death of Nu’man ibn Muqarrin:
The horse of the Muslim commander, Nu’man ibn Muqarrin slipped and from this, he fell off his horse and passed away.
Nu’man had given the instruction before, that if anything happened to him and if he died on the battlefield, Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman should take charge and become the commander of the Muslims.
When Nu’man passed away, the flag of the Muslim army was given to Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman.
Another Victory Against The Persian Army:
The fighting continued for some time until the Muslims gained the upper hand and eventually, they once again defeated the Persians.
Pursuit of Persian Leaders:
The commander of the Persian forces, Fayruzan ran away from Nahavand and tried to escape to the city of Hamedan.
The Muslims decided to follow him because they knew that if Fayruzan survived, he would try to regroup and form another army to fight the Muslims again.
Al-Qa’qa ibn Amr decided to personally follow Fayruzan as he knew that he had to catch him before he entered the city of Hamedan.
Al-Qa’qa was able to catch up with Fayruzan on the outskirts of Hamedan, and he killed him.
Yazdegerd managed to escape once again and tried to re-organise another army, but he was never able to form one again.
The Persian Army Finally Defeated:
The Muslim victory at Nahavand was known as ‘The Victory of Victories.’
With this victory, the Persian army was finally defeated.
Spoils of War:
The Muslims were able to gather huge spoils of war at Nahavand.
The Commander of the Muslim army, Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman sent back one-fifth of the spoils of war to Umar ibn al-Khattab in Madinah as part of the Bayt-al-maal (Muslim treasury).
Handling of Special Jewels:
Among the spoils of war at Nahavand, there were two huge containers filled with special jewels.
Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman did not distribute the two containers and kept them separate. When he sent one-fifth of the spoils of war to Madinah, he sent these two containers as well.
Hudhayfah sent As-Sa’ib ibn Al-Aqra to take the spoils of war to Umar ibn al-Khattab in Madinah.
Umar ibn al-Khattab’s Reaction to the Victory of the Muslim Army:
When As-Sa’ib reached Madinah, Umar ibn al-Khattab asked him: what have you left behind? What was the result of the battle at Nahavand?
As-Sa’ib ibn Al-Aqra replied: I have good news. Allah has granted you a victory O Amir al-Mu’minin and it is a great victory.
Umar ibn al-Khattab upon hearing this news, fell down into sujood and thanked Allah.
Umar Finding Out About the Death of Nu’man ibn Muqarrin:
As-Sa’ib told Umar ibn al-Khattab the details of the battle and informed him that Nu’man ibn Muqarrin had been martyred in the battle.
When Umar heard this, he started to cry.
Distribution of the Spoils of War:
Umar ibn al-Khattab ordered for the spoils of war to be placed in the Bayt-al-mal (Muslim treasury).
As-Sa’ib ibn Al-Aqra was then sent back to Kufa.
Umar ibn al-Khattab Calls As-Sa’ib Back to Madinah:
When Umar ibn al-Khattab woke up the next morning, he immediately sent one of his men to follow As-Sa’ib, and he instructed the man: Go and follow him, he is on his way to Kufa, bring him back to Madinah.
The man went after As-Sa’ib ibn Al-Aqra and tried to follow him but was not able to catch him until they arrived in Kufa.
The man then told As-Sa’ib: you really put me in a difficult position. I have been chasing you all the way from Madinah. You don’t take any rest on the way?
As-Sa’ib replied: What happened? What is this all about?
The man informed him: The Amir al-Mu’minin ordered me to catch up with you and bring you back to Madinah. As-Sa’ib upon hearing this, immediately went back to Madinah.
Umar ibn al-Khattab’s Dream:
When Umar ibn al-Khattab saw him again, he said: Ya Sa’ib, you have put me in a difficult situation, what trouble have you brought to me?
As-Sa’ib replied: What do you mean? When I came, I didn’t bring anything bad. I just brought you one-fifth of the spoils of war.
Umar said: That night that you left, when I slept, I had a dream and I saw in that dream that the angels were taking me to the two containers, and the two containers of jewels were on fire. I was being warned by the angels that these jewels must be distributed.
Umar then asked As-Sa’ib: Why did you bring these two containers here? Why didn’t you just include it in the distribution like everything else. You should have distributed four-fifths to the army and brought one-fifth back here. Why were these containers kept separate and brought here? What is so special about these containers that you did not include them in the general distribution?
Umar ibn al-Khattab’s Instructions:
Umar ibn al-Khattab instructed As-Sa’ib ibn Al-Aqra to go back to Kufa with the containers.
Umar said: Sell these jewels in the market of Kufa and the money that you get from that, distribute four-fifths of that money to the army and send one-fifth back here.
As-Sa’ib ibn Al-Aqra left Madinah for Kufa and he sold the containers.
Four-fifths of the money he distributed to the Muslim army and he sent one-fifth back to Madinah for the Bayt-al-mal (Muslim treasury).