Face Value and Fact

Face Value and Fact

1986 10 October 17-19 Face Value and Fact (970) One of the fiercest battles in Islamic history was waged against the Iranians in 14 A.H., during the Caliphate of Umar Faruq. The Iranian emperor’s greatness has so impressed itself upon the peoples of the neighbouring countries that the Caliph Umar himself had been ready to lead this military campaign. He was advised against this, however, by his companions, and another companion of the Prophet, Sad ibn Abi Waqqas, was appointed instead as the commander of the Muslim forces.

It was an extremely difficult undertaking and the final encounter took place in a field near Qadsiya. There being an ancient royal building near the battlefield, Sad climbed up to an upper storey and sat there, reclining against a wall. He showed no signs of personally taking part in the battle. Instead, he appointed Khalid ibn Arfata to lead his men into the fray. Sad then kept watching the battle from high up on the building and sent instructions whenever necessary to his proxy.

The Arabs were baffled at first by the enormous array of elephants which the Iranians had brought, for they had never had any experience of fighting against such huge beasts. At one point the Muslims were forced to retreat by this horde of animals, otherwise they would have been crushed to death. Sad became anguished at the spectacle of their defeat and began to toss himself from side to side. Sad’s wife, who had accompanied him cried out, “If only Musanna (a certain warrior) were here!” Sad was angry at this and exclaimed hotly, “What could Musanna have done? Salma retorted, “What a fine thing that your cowardice should be accompanied by anger and not shame!” She spoke in this sarcastic way because her husband was not participating in the battle.

The Muslims nevertheless won the battle finally, and the details of how they did so have been recorded in history.

At the time, the Muslim army took strong exception to Sad’s not having physically participated in the hostilities. After the fall of the Iranians, a Muslim soldier composed a short poem which went:

I fought till God sent down His succour

And Sad clung to the door of the Qadisya.

Then we returned and many women had been widowed,

Yet not one of Sad’s wives was widowed,

Sad ibn Abi Waqqas had been one of the early converts, and was with the Prophet in all his battles. He was, in fact, reckoned to be one of the greatest and bravest companions of the Prophet. But when we think of him holding himself aloof from the battle, we receive the impression that he must indeed have been a coward, allowing other women to be widowed while he himself preferred to remain in safety at the fort with his wife.

We feel that he cuts a sorry figure so long as the story so far is all that we have to judge him by. But when we have the complete picture, we realise that there were extenuating circumstances. It seems that he suffered from sciatica (a disease of the nerve, causing severe pain above the knee) and succumbed periodically to long bouts which almost totally incapacitated him. At the beginning of the campaign he had been in perfect health and had participated in the initial skirmishes, but at the outset of the final decisive encounter at Qadsiya, he again fell a prey to this recurring malady. Unable even to move, he found it impossible to launch himself into the fray. But thanks to his military experience and superior intellect, he was not relieved of his post by Caliph Umar, and it is an undeniable fact that if the battle was finally won it was because of his masterly planning and direction.

One obvious proof of his military acumen is that he found the solution to the menace of the elephants before the entire Muslim army was crushed. When everyone else was at his wits’ end to find a means of averting this catastrophe, Sad sent for two Iranian convert, Zakhm and Salm, and found out from them that the only way to arrest the onslaught was to aim at the eyes and trunks of the elephants. Once injured in these places, the elephants would become uncontrollable.

Sad then sent for a group of young stalwarts and entrusted them with this difficult and hazardous task. They then picked out the two largest and strongest elephants, who were the leaders, Abyaz (The White) and Ajrab, and, at the risk of their own lives, injured their eyes and slashed off their trunks. Crazed and in agony, the two elephants turned back upon their own army and the other elephants followed suit. It was now the turn of the Iranians to be crushed by their own elephants.

There are two great lessons to be learned from this event. One is that whenever something malevolent is said about other, it should not necessarily be believed without further investigation. Often, after enquiries have been made, the true state of affairs emerges as being quite other than one at first imagined. Believing in something which denigrates others without taking the trouble to ascertain the validity of the allegation runs counter to the spirit of Islam.

Another lesson is that of the obedience demonstrated by the Arab warriors at Qadsiya. In spite of the fact that they felt that their leader was very far from perfect, they did not turn against him or refuse to do their utmost to win the battle. They had major grudges against him but they still fought as dauntlessly as ever.

Such are the people who make history. Those who are lacking in this spirit will inevitably turn success into failure, victory into defeat. It is only magnanimity, loyalty and obedience which can shore up the prospects of life’s major initiatives.