THE LION OF ALLAH AND THE HERO OF THE BATTLE OF HUNAYN-IMAM ALI (A.S.)

The victory of Islam and the bravery of the Lion of Allah, the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali (a.s.) have become synonym. Every war against Islam, when victory was achieved, it was the bravery of Imam Ali (a.s.) and his famous sword “Zulfiqar”. It was the Grace of Al-Mighty Allah that whoever came to fight the Lion of Allah, Imam Ali (a.s.), he was sent to the Hell! In the Glorious Qur’an, Surah al-Baqarah Ayah 247: “Their Prophet said ’Allah has chosen him (Taloot) as your ruler and has given him Physical Power and Knowledge…” Hence, Imam Ali (a.s.) possessed paramount and matchless God-gifted Bravery and God-gifted Knowledge!

The leading tribes of Hawazin, Thaqeef, Banu Sa’ad and Banu Jashm with a force of 20,000, wanted to attack Makkah which was recently conquered by the Muslims under the able leadership of the Noble Prophet (s.a.w.a.s.) without any bloodshed. Hence, he left Makkah with a huge army of 12,000 soldiers including 2,000 newly converted Muslims from Makkah (Quraysh). The newly converted Muslims were lead by the hypocrite, Abu Sufyan. Seeing this huge army, Abu Bakr exclaimed, “We cannot be defeated this time because of lack of numbers.”

Sir William Muir writes: “When the first column of the Muslim army led by Khalid bin Waleed entered the valley of Hunayn, the enemy was already lying in ambush and at dawn the Hawazin launched the attack. Caught by surprise they panicked and started running away. They were followed by Umayyad of Makkah under Abu Sufyan. The Apostle called out the fugitives but no one listened. The Apostle stood like a rock and Ali ibn Abi Talib and seven other men were still with him protecting him. As Abbas, his uncle had a powerful voice, hence the Apostle asked him to call back the fleeing men.

Mohammad Husayn Haykal, wrote in “Life of Muhammad, Cairo 1935” “Abu Sufyan felt no little pleasure at the defeat of his previous enemies, and said, “The Muslims will not be checked until they are thrown into the sea!”

D.S.Margoliouth wrote in “Mohammed and the Rise of Islam, London 1931” “Khalid son of Waleed, whose savagery had already won a rebuke from the Prophet, earned a fresh one by thinking it is his duty to kill the women of the enemy; an act which was totally against the Prophet’s ideas of gallantry.”

M.Shibly, the Indian historian, wrote in his book “The Life of the Prophet, Azamgarh, India 1976”Instead of the victory one could see their rout. Abu Qatada, a companion, who was present in Hunayn, says that when army was on the run, he saw Umar ibn Khattab , and asked him, ”What is the state of the affairs of the Muslims?” He said: Such is the Will of God.”

Muhammad ibn Ishaq wrote in his book “Life of the Messenger of God” “The Apostle, after the Battle of Hunayn, passed by a woman whom Khalid ibn Waleed had killed, the Prophet forbade Khaleed not to kill a child, a woman”

The hero of the Battle of Hunayn was Ali Ibn Abi Talib (a.s.). At a time when all companions had fled from the battlefield, it was Ali who stood between the Noble Prophet (s.a.w.a.s.) and his enemies. The tribesmen charged repeatedly and the Lion of Allah repulsed them each time. Eventually, Ali succeeded in turning the tide of the battle. First he caused Usman bin Abdullah, one of the leaders of the enemy to fall from his camel, and be killed; and later he killed Abu Jerdel, the Hawazin leader. When these two generals were killed, the enemy lost heart and lost the battle.

The enemy lost 70 soldiers out of which 40 were killed by the Lion of Allah, Imam Ali (a.s.)

Surah al-Taubah Ayah 25: “Allah has helped you on many occasions including the day of Hunayn. When you were happy with the number of your men who proved to be of no help to you and the whole vast earth seemed to have no place to hide you and you turned back in retreat….”

 Sources used:

The Glorious Qur’an

The Message                                                                                 Ayatollah Jafar Subhani

Restatement of the History of Islam and Muslims                       Ayatollah Sayyied Ali Asghar Razwy

Misbah-uz-zaman-Roots of Karbal                                               Sayyid Imdad Ali

Ziaraat.com/ Battle of Hunayn & WIKIPEDIA