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Prelude

The Battle of Mutah (629 AD) was a battle fought during Muhammad's lifetime between Muslims and the Byzantine Empire. Several of Muhammad's closest companions died in this battle. The graves of Zayd ibn Harithah, Jafar ibn Abi Talib, and Abdullah bin Rawahhah are located in the town of Al-Mazar Al-Janubi near Kerak.

At that time, Muhammad was sending messengers to leaders of powerful empires, inviting them to Islam. It had been almost two years since the Treaty of Hudaybiyya was signed and Muhammed intended to spread Islam as much as possible in those years of peace with Quraish.

One of these messengers, Al-Harith bin ‘Umair Al-Azdi was sent to Busra. The messenger was killed at the hands of a Ghassanid chieftain, Sharhabeel bin ‘Amr Al-Ghassani, the governor of Al-Balqa’ and a close ally to Heraclius. Traditionally, emissaries held immunity from attack, and it was completely unacceptable to kill a messenger. It was considered disgraceful for the sender of the letter and for the addressee and couldn't just assume impunity.

Preparations

Muhammed, upon hearing the news ordered an army of 3,000 soldiers be mobilized and sent north to the Ghassanids to avenge the death of the emissary. It was the largest army ever mobilized by the Muslims. As there was very little money available to raise the army, Muhammed asked for donations. He received a lot of money, most notably from Abu Bakr, Uthman ibn Affan, and Umar ibn Al-Khattab.

Muhammed ordered the army: "Fight the disbelievers in the Name of Allah, neither breach a covenant nor entertain treachery, and under no circumstances a new-born, woman, an ageing man or a hermit should be killed; moreover neither trees should be cut down nor homes demolished." (Mukhtasar Seerat Ar-Rasool, p.327)

The Muslim army, led by Zayd ibn Harithah, marched northwards to Ma'an. There, news came to effect that Malik ibn Zafila had mobilized nearly 50,000 Ghassanid soldiers, and Heraclius was assisting him with another 50,000 Roman troops, and were stationed in Bulqa'. The Muslims for their part had never thought that they were going encounter such an army. Two nights were spent debating on what to do. It was suggested that they inform Muhammed of the situation and seek advice. Abd-Allah ibn Rawahah, in a motivating speech of encouragement disagreed on informing Muhammed and favoured countering the Romans in a motivating speech of encouragement. The Muslims agreed and decided to engage with the Romans at Mu'tah.

At Mu'tah was a valley between two heights. The width of the valley was such that it could have about 2,000 soldiers. If the Muslim army positions itself there, the Romans would be unable to use their entire army, but rather will only be able to fight the Muslims with the same number of troops. This would be a great strategic advantage for the numerically inferior Muslims. So the army went to Mu'tah.

The Romans were disappointed that they would be unable to fight the Muslims with all their strength. Nevertheless they were confident that they could win an easy victory. Heraclius moved his troops from Balqa' to Mu'tah to engage with the Muslim army.

Events

The Romans were disappointed that they would be unable to fight the Muslims with all their strength. Nevertheless they were confident that they could win an easy victory. Heraclius moved his troops from Balqa' to Mu'tah to engage with the Muslim army. Bitter fighting took place over the next few days. Khalid ibn Al-Walid reported that the fighting was so intense that he used nine swords which broke in the battle. The Muslim commander, Zayd ibn Harithah was killed.

The deputy commander of the army was the companion Jafar ibn Abi Talib, Ali's brother and Muhammad's cousin, then took the banner after Zaid, before he himself was killed. Al-Bukhari reported fifty stabs in Jafar's body.

The companion Abd-Allah ibn Rawahah, the third in charge of the army after Zaid and Jafar, then assumed command. Before being killed, Abdullah said the following lines as his army faced an overwhelming number of Byzantine and Ghassanid Arab troops: "O my soul! If you are not killed, you are bound to die anyway. This is the fate of death overtaking you. What you have wished for, you have been granted. If you do what they (Zaid and Ja'far) have done. Then you are rightly guided".

In the six days of the battle, several hundreds of the Romans were killed and the Muslims lost 14 soldiers. This was mainly due to the very poor morale of the Roman army, while the Muslims were very enthusiastic, despite the large difference in number. After all three chosen commanders were killed in the fighting, Khalid ibn Al-Walid became in charge. Having avenged the blood of the emissary, and seeing that the battle could not be won, Khalid decided to retreat, and devised a cunning plan.

Khalid reshuffled the right and left flanks of the army and brought forward a division from the rear. New banners were made for the army. He also ordered the cavalry to position themselves behind the hill south of the Muslim army. Then, upon his order, march towards the army in six waves. Khalid wanted the Romans to think that a new army had arrived.

As the fifth wave of horsemen approached, Khalid ordered the army to attack. After some time, he ordered the entire army to retreat in six waves. The Romans did not follow the Muslim army, and remained in their positions, expecting another attack. Consequently, the Muslims managed to retreat safely all the way to Madinah.

Even though the battle was not conclusive, the Muslims proved themselves as a rising potential global power in the face of the Romans and the Persians.

Sources

• History of Syria: including Lebanon and Palestine, Philip Khuri Hitti, 1957

See also

• Islam
• Mutah
• Byzantine Empire

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