The Three Commanders Fall

The battle started. Zayd ibn Ḥārithah, the leader, was ahead of the army and not behind it, carrying the banner with courage, leading his army, giving them an example. He moved forward carrying the banner in his arms, and it says in the narration: ḥattā shāṭa fī rimāḥ al-ʿaduww — until he was lost among the lances of the enemy. So Zayd ibn Ḥārithah moved forward until he could not be seen any more, because he was lost in a sea of lances, spears, covering him from every direction, stabbing him from every corner, until there was Zayd no more.

Then the banner was carried by Jaʿfar ibn Abī Ṭālib, who had just come back from Abyssinia. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) did not keep him next to him; the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) sent him to the army, sent him into battle. Jaʿfar ibn Abī Ṭālib carried the banner, and in the heat of the battle Jaʿfar felt that his horse was hindering him, so he dismounted and killed his horse. This was used as evidence — for example by the Ḥanafīs, Imām Abū Ḥanīfah — that one is allowed to kill one's animal to prevent the enemy from taking advantage of it. Because the rule is that an animal should not be killed wastefully: if you are not going to eat it, why kill that animal? But they use this as evidence that if it is done with the intention of preventing the enemy from making use of it, then it is allowed.

So Jaʿfar killed his horse and then moved on foot. It is said that his right arm was cut, so he carried the banner with his left, and that was cut; so then he held it — he hugged the banner with what was left of his arms. And then he was eventually killed, and he was full of stab wounds, from in front of him and from behind him. In al-Bukhārī (3709) it says that ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿUmar used to call him the man of two wings^* — because Allah replaced him: instead of his two arms, which were cut off, Allah replaced them with two wings after he died, to fly in Jannah wherever he wants.

And then ʿAbdullāh ibn Rawāḥah took over the imārah, the leadership of the army. He was handed a piece of meat to strengthen himself, so he started eating from that piece of meat, and then he heard an uproar from a certain corner of the battlefield. He said: and you are still in this world? And he jumped ahead and was killed fī sabīl Allāh. Now the three umarāʾ, the three leaders appointed by the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), had been killed.

Thābit ibn Aqram (may Allah be pleased with him), who was just mentioned, carried the banner, and he said: choose from among you, O Muslims, a leader to lead us. They said: you lead us. He said: no, I will not. So they gave the banner to Khālid ibn al-Walīd and said: you are our leader. So it was the Muslims who appointed Khālid ibn al-Walīd; they chose him to lead. And he too was a new Muslim, and this was the first battle that he would lead.