AL-BARAA IBN MALIK AL-ANSARI
His hair looked dishevelled and his whole appearance
was unkempt. He was thin and wiry with so little flesh
on his bones that it was painful to look at him. Yet
in single- handed combat he defeated and killed many
opponents and in the thick of battle he was an
outstanding fighter against the mushrikeen. He was so
courageous and daring that Umar once wrote to his
governors throughout the Islamic state that they
should not appoint him to lead any army out of fear
that he would have them all killed by his daring
exploits. This man was al-Baraa ibn Malik al- Ansari,
the brother of Anas ibn Malik, the personal aide of
the Prophet.
If the tales of Baraa's heroism were to be told in
detail, pages and pages could be written. But let one
example suffice.
This particular story begins only hours after the
death of the noble Prophet when many Arabian tribes
took to leaving the religion of God in large numbers,
just as they had entered it in large numbers. Within a
short space of time only the people of Makkah, Madinah
and Taif and scattered communities here and there,
whose commitment to Islam was unwavering, remained
within the religion.
Abu Bakr as-Siddiq, the successor to the Prophet,
stood firm against this blind and destructive
movement. From the Muhajireen and Ansar, he mobilized
eleven armies each under a separate commander and
despatched them to various parts of the Arabian
peninsula. Their purpose was to make the apostates
return to the path of guidance and truth and to
confront the leaders of the rebellion.
The strongest group of apostates and the greatest in
number were the Banu Hanifah among whom Musaylamah the
Imposter arose, claiming that he was a prophet.
Musaylamah managed to mobilize forty thousand of the
best fighters among his people. Most of these however
followed him for the sake of asabEyyah or tribal
loyalty and not because they believed in him. One of
them in fact said, "I testify that Musaylamah is an
imposter and that Muhammad is true but the imposter of
Rabi'ah (Musaylamah) is dearer to us than the true man
of Mudar (Muhammad). "
Musaylamah routed the first army sent against him
under the leadership of Ikrimah ibn Abi Jahl. Abu Bakr
despatched another army against Musaylamah led by
Khalid ibn al-Walid. This army included the cream of
the Sahabah from both the Ansar and the Muhajireen. In
the front ranks of this army was Baraa ibn Malik and a
group of the most valiant Muslims.
The two armies met in the territory of the Banu
Hanifah at Yamamah in Najd. Before long, the scale of
battle tilted in favour of Musaylamah and his men. The
Muslim armies began to retreat from their positions.
Musaylamah's forces even stormed the tent of Khalid
ibn Walid and drove him from his position. They would
have killed his wife if one of them had not granted
her protection.
At that point, the Muslims realised in what a perilous
situation they were. They were also conscious of the
fact that if they were annihilated by Musaylamah,
Islam would not be able to stand as a religion and
AllahÑthe One God with whom there is no partnerÑwould
not be worshipped in the Arabian peninsula after that.
Khalid mustered his forces once more and began
reorgamsing them. He separated the Muhajireen and the
Ansar and kept men from different tribes apart. Each
was put under the leadership of one of its own members
so that the losses of each group in the battle might
be known.
The battle raged. There was much destruction and
death. The Muslims had not experienced anything like
this in all the wars they had fought before.
Musaylamah's men remained firm amidst the tumult, as
firm as immovable mountains although many of them had
fallen.
The Muslims displayed tremendous feats of heroism.
Thabit ibn Qays, the standard bearer of the Ansar, dug
a pit and planted himself in it and fought until he
was killed. The pit he dug turned out to be his grave.
Zayd ibn alKhattab, brother of Umar ibn al-Khattab,
may God be pleased with them both, called out to the
Muslims: "Men, bite with your jaw teeth, strike the
enemy and press on. By God, I shall not speak to you
after this until either Musaylamah is defeated or I
meet God." He then charged against the enemy and
continued fighting until he was killed. Salim, the
mawla of Abu Hudhaifah, and standard bearer of the
Muhajireen displayed unexpected valour. His people
feared that he would show weakness or be too terrified
to fight. To them he said, "If you manage to overtake
me, what a miserable bearer of the Qur'an I shall be."
He then valiantly plunged into the enemy ranks and
eventually fell as a martyr.
The bravery of all these, however, wanes in front of
the heroism of al-Baraa ibn Malik, may God be pleased
with him and with them all.
As the battle grew fiercer and fiercer, Khalid turned
to al-Baraa and said, "Charge, young man of the
Ansar." AlBaraa turned to his men and said, "O Ansar,
let not anyone of you think of returning to Madinah.
There is no Madinah for you after this day. There is
only Allah, then Paradise."
He and the Ansar then launched their attack against
the mushrikeen, breaking their ranks and dealing
telling blows against them until eventually they began
to withdraw. They sought refuge in a garden which
later became known in history as The Garden of Death
because of the many killed there on that day. The
garden was surrounded by high walls. Musaylamah and
thousands of his men entered and closed the gates
behind them and fortified themselves.
>From their new positions they began to rain down
arrows on the Muslims.
The valiant Baraa went forward and addressed his
company, "Put me on a shield. Raise the shield on
spears and hurl me into the garden near the gate.
Either I shall die a martyr or I shall open the gate
for you."
The thin and wiry al-Baraa was soon sitting on a
shield. A number of spears raised the shield and he
was thrown into the Garden of Death amongst the
multitude of Musaylamah's men. He descended on them
like a thunderbolt and continued to fight them in
front of the gate. Many fell to his sword and he
himself sustained numerous wounds before he could open
the gate.
The Muslims charged into the Garden of Death through
the gates and over the walls. Fighting was bitter and
at close quarters and hundreds were killed. Finally
the Muslims came upon Musaylamah and he was killed.
Al Baraa was taken in a litter to Madinah. Khalid ibn
alWalid spent a month looking after him and tending
his wounds. Eventually his condition improved. Through
him the Muslims had gained victory over Musaylamah.
In spite of recovering from his wounds, al-Baraa
continued to long for the martyrdom which had eluded
him at the Garden of Death. He went on fighting in
battle after battle hoping to attain his aim. This
came at the battle for Tustar in Persia.
At Tustar the Persians were besieged in one of their
defiant fortresses. The siege was long and when its
effects became quite unbearable, they adopted a new
tactic. From the walls of the fortress, they began to
throw down iron chains at the ends of which were
fastened iron hooks which were red hot. Muslims were
caught by these hooks and were pulled up either dead
or in the agony of death.
One of these hooks got hold of Anas ibn Malik, the
brother of al-Baraa. As soon as al-Baraa saw this, he
leapt up the wall of the fortress and grabbed the
chain which bore his brother and began undoing the
hook from his body. His hand began to burn but he did
not let go before his brother was released.
Baraa himself died during this battle. He had prayed
to God to grant him martyrdom.
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{Invite (mankind, O Muhammad ) to the Way of your Lord (i.e. Islam) with wisdom
(i.e. with the Divine Inspiration and the Qur'an) and fair preaching, and argue
with them in a way that is better. Truly, your Lord knows best who has gone
astray from His Path, and He is the Best Aware of those who are guided.}
(Holy Quran-16:125)
{And who is better in speech than he who [says: "My Lord is Allah (believes in
His Oneness)," and then stands straight (acts upon His Order), and] invites
(men) to Allah's (Islamic Monotheism), and does righteous deeds, and says: "I
am one of the Muslims."} (Holy Quran-41:33)
The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "By Allah, if
Allah guides one person by you, it is better for you than the best types of
camels." [al-Bukhaaree, Muslim]
The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) also said, "Whoever
calls to guidance will have a reward similar to the reward of the one who
follows him, without the reward of either of them being lessened at all."
[Muslim, Ahmad, Aboo Daawood, an-Nasaa'ee, at-Tirmidhee, Ibn Maajah]
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