Tarikh (al-Tabari) 1412
The Expedition of Muʾtah
ذِكْرُ بَعْضِ مَا غَنِمَهُ الْمُسْلِمُونَ يَوْمَ مُؤْتَةَ رَوَى مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ عُمَرَ، وَالْحَاكِمُ فِي الْإِكْلِيلِ عَنْ جَابِرٍ ؓ قَالَ: أُصِيبَ بِمُؤْتَةَ نَاسٌ مِنَ الْمُسْلِمِينَ، وَغَنِمَ الْمُسْلِمُونَ بَعْضَ أَمْتِعَةِ الْمُشْرِكِينَ، وَكَانَ فِيمَا غَنِمُوا خَاتَمٌ جَاءَ بِهِ رَجُلٌ إِلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ﷺ فَقَالَ: قَتَلْتُ صَاحِبَهُ يَوْمَئِذٍ فَنَفَّلَنِيهِ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ. وَرَوَى مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ عُمَرَ، عَنْ خُزَيْمَةَ بْنِ ثَابِتٍ ؓ قَالَ: «حَضَرْتُ مُؤْتَةَ فَبَارَزَنِي رَجُلٌ مِنْهُمْ يَوْمَئِذٍ فَأَصَبْتُهُ وَعَلَيْهِ بَيْضَةٌ لَهُ فِيهَا يَاقُوتَةٌ، فَلَمْ تَكُنْ هِمَّتِي إِلَّا الْيَاقُوتَةُ، فَأَخَذْتُهَا. فَلَمَّا رَجَعْنَا إِلَى الْمَدِينَةِ أَتَيْتُ بِهَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ﷺ فَنَفَّلَنِيهَا، فَبِعْتُهَا زَمَنَ عُثْمَانَ بِمِائَةِ دِينَارٍ فَاشْتَرَيْتُ بِهَا حَدِيقَةَ نَخْلٍ». قَالَ فِي الْبِدَايَةِ: «وَهَذَا يَقْتَضِي أَنَّهُمْ غَنِمُوا مِنْهُمْ وَسَلَبُوا مِنْ أَشْرَافِهِمْ وَقَتَلُوا مِنْ أُمَرَائِهِمْ». وَرَوَى الْبُخَارِيُّ عَنْ خَالِدٍ ؓ قَالَ: «لَقَدِ انْدَقَّتْ فِي يَدِي يَوْمَ مُؤْتَةَ تِسْعَةَ أَسْيَافٍ وَمَا ثَبَتَ فِي يَدِي إِلَّا صَفِيحَةٌ يَمَانِيَةٌ» وَهَذَا يَقْتَضِي أَنَّهُمْ أَثْخَنُوا فِيهِمْ قَتْلًا وَلَوْ لَمْ يَكُنْ كَذَلِكَ لَمَا قَدَرُوا عَلَى التَّخَلُّصِ مِنْهُمْ- إِذْ كَانَ الْمُسْلِمُونَ ثَلَاثَةَ آلَافٍ وَالْمُشْرِكُونَ أَكْثَرَ مِنْ مِائَتَيْ أَلْفٍ- وَهَذَا وَحْدَهُ دَلِيلٌ مُسْتَقِلٌّ وَاللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ. وَقَدْ ذَكَرَ ابْنُ إِسْحَاقَ أَنَّ قُطْبَةَ بْنَ قَتَادَةَ الْعُذْرِيَّ الَّذِي كَانَ عَلَى مَيْمَنَةِ الْمُسْلِمِينَ حَمَلَ عَلَى مَالِكِ بْنِ رَافِلَةَ وَيُقَالُ ابْنُ رَافِلَةَ، وَهُوَ أَمِيرُ أَعْرَابِ النَّصَارَى، فَقَتَلَهُ، وَقَالَ قُطْبَةُ يَفْتَخِرُ بِذَلِكَ: طَعَنْتُ ابْنَ رَافِلَةَ ابْنَ الْإِرَاشِ بِرُمْحٍ مَضَى فِيهِ ثُمَّ انْحَطَمْ ضَرَبْتُ عَلَى جِيدِهِ ضَرْبَةً فَمَالَ كَمَا مَالَ غُصْنُ السَّلَمْ وَسُقْنَا نِسَاءَ بَنِي عَمِّهِ غَدَاةَ رَقُوقَيْنِ سَوْقَ النَّعَمْ وَهَذَا يُؤَيِّدُ مَا نَحْنُ فِيهِ لِأَنَّ مِنْ عَادَةِ أَمِيرِ الْجَيْشِ إِذَا قُتِلَ أَنْ يَفِرَّ أَصْحَابُهُ، ثُمَّ إِنَّهُ صَرَّحَ فِي شِعْرِهِ بِأَنَّهُمْ سَبَوْا مِنْ نِسَائِهِمْ، وَهَذَا وَاضِحٌ فِيمَا ذَكَرْنَاهُ.
Translation
✧ Mention of some of what the Muslims took as spoils on the day of Muʾtah Muḥammad b. ʿUmar and al-Ḥākim in al-Iklīl related from Jābir ؓ who said: At Muʾtah some of the Muslims were struck down, and the Muslims seized some of the belongings of the polytheists. Among what they seized was a ring which a man brought to the Messenger of God ﷺ and said: I killed its owner that day. So the Messenger of God ﷺ awarded it to me as a bonus. And Muḥammad b. ʿUmar related from Khuzaymah b. Thābit ؓ who said: “I was present at Muʾtah, and one of their men came out to duel me that day. I struck him down, and he had a helmet of his containing a ruby. My only concern was the ruby, so I took it. When we returned to Madinah I brought it to the Messenger of God ﷺ and he awarded it to me as a bonus. I sold it in the time of ʿUthmān for a hundred dinars, and with it I bought a garden of date palms.” He said in al-Bidāyah: “This entails that they took spoils from them and plundered from their nobles, and killed some of their commanders.” Al-Bukhārī related from Khālid ؓ who said: “On the day of Muʾtah nine swords broke in my hand, and nothing remained firm in my hand except a Yemeni blade.” This entails that they inflicted heavy slaughter upon them; had it not been so, they would not have been able to extricate themselves from them — since the Muslims were three thousand and the polytheists more than two hundred thousand — and this alone is an independent proof, and God knows best. Ibn Isḥāq mentioned that Quṭbah b. Qatādah al-ʿUdhrī, who commanded the Muslims’ right wing, charged at Mālik b. Rāfilah — or it is said Ibn Rāfilah — who was the commander of the Christian Arabs, and killed him. Quṭbah said, boasting of that: I thrust Ibn Rāfilah, Ibn al-Irāsh, with a spear that passed through him, then it shattered I struck him on the side of his neck a blow, so he swayed as a branch of the salam tree sways, and we drove the women of his paternal uncles’ sons on the morning of Raqūqayn, like driving cattle. This supports what we are discussing, because it is the custom of an army commander that when he is killed his companions flee. Then he stated clearly in his poem that they took captives from among their women, and this is evident in what we have mentioned.
Grades by grader
No grade is recorded for this wording. Ask what scholars say about its grade