Two Hundred Thousand

The army reached al-Shām — Jordan, present-day Jordan — and they received intelligence that the Romans had heard of their march and had mobilised an army. Now the news they received was not really that good. If they had received news that the army they were meeting was an army of three thousand like themselves, that would have been fine. If they had received intelligence that the army was twice their number, six thousand, that would have been fine. In fact, one might speculate that if they had received news that the army was ten times their number, thirty thousand, they would have been fine with that: these were the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) — courage and bravery, and īmān, and tawakkul ʿalā Allāh. But the news was that they were facing an army two hundred thousand strong: a hundred thousand Roman soldiers, professional Roman soldiers, in addition to a hundred thousand Christian Arabs, the allies of the Romans in the land of al-Shām. This was disastrous news: three thousand facing two hundred thousand.

So far the Muslims had never heard of such numbers. In the past, the largest force they had faced — for example, in the Battle of al-Khandaq — was ten thousand. Here they were facing an army of two hundred thousand. And then, who is being spoken of? The soldiers of the Roman Empire. They had a reputation: the Romans and the Persians had a reputation for having strong fighting forces — well-trained, well-armed, professional soldiers. These were not tribesmen; this was a professional army. So this issue demanded a shūrā. The amīr, Zayd ibn Ḥārithah, consulted the prominent Companions: what should we do? Some of them said: let us send a messenger to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) and ask what should be done; let us wait.

ʿAbdullāh ibn Rawāḥah said: men, what you dislike is what you have come out to seek — martyrdom. Listen to this: men, what you dislike is what you have come out to seek. ʿAbdullāh ibn Rawāḥah was reminding them of their original intentions: you are the Companions of the Messenger of Allah; you came out with the intention — every one of you, every single one of you — of dying for the sake of Allah. That is our ultimate goal, our ultimate desire. If that is what we want, how is it that now we dislike it? What is the reason you are asking us to pause and wait? What is the reason you are asking us not to face the enemy? Is it fear of death? Well, what is the point in that? We all came here with the intention of dying for the sake of Allah. So he reminded them: wa dhakkir fa-inna al-dhikrā tanfaʿu al-muʾminīn — and remind, for the reminder benefits the believers (51:55).

ʿAbdullāh ibn Rawāḥah then told them: we are not fighting by means of our numbers or strength; we are combating them only with this religion with which Allah has honoured us. Go forth: it will only result in one of the two good outcomes — either victory or martyrdom. Iḥdā al-ḥusnayayn: immā al-naṣr wa immā al-shahādah. This is what every Muslim looks up to: either to win against the enemy in the dunyā, or to die for the sake of Allah. That encouraged them, and they said: by Allah, Ibn Rawāḥah is right. And they decided to go forth, no matter what the consequences. And this tells us about the spirit of the Companions. Their thoughts, their concern, was with the Ākhirah; that is what they were concerned about — the Ākhirah and not the dunyā. We are going to face Allah (ʿazza wa jall); let us go. On the other side of this dunyā, we will be meeting Allah (ʿazza wa jall).