After the death of the Prophet (peace be upon him), the companions were very sad and in that state, Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddique (may Allah be pleased with him) took over the Caliphate. At that time, it was in a critical situation for various reasons. At that time, Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddiq (RA) decided that Osama’s army would not stay inside Medina but would stay outside it. The members of this force will spend the night three miles from Medina at a place called Zuruf. Ibne Hares Raskarani describes that Osama’s forces were ready on Saturday. That is, the army was prepared two days before the death of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). But they were kept waiting because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) was ill at the time. Towards the end of the month of Safar, the Prophet (peace be upon him) was preparing that army. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) called Osama and said, “Go to the land where your father was killed and crush them. And I appoint you as the head of this army.” Hazrat Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) told them to go to where their camp was set up. At that time, there was no permanent military base like there is today, but ordinary people fought. And when enough people gathered, they would set out for war. This army was ordered to fight against the Romans. In this context, let’s discuss some of the background of the Roman war. The conflict between the Romans and the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) began with the Battle of Mut’ar. And the Prophet (peace be upon him) appointed three Amirs to lead this war. The commander of that army was Zahid ibn Haritha. Later he was martyred and his leadership was taken over by Jafar ibn Abu Talib. Abdul ibn Wahhab was the third person to take over the leadership after Jafar ibn Abu Talib death. At that time, the Muslim army numbered only three thousand. But when they went to Siam and faced the Romans, the Roman army numbered 2 lakh. The population of the Arab region was already small, so they had never seen such a large number of people before. Seeing that 2 lakh army, they were consulting among themselves whether they should fight or retreat.
In this regard, Allah Almighty has mentioned in the Quran that:
O Prophet! Exhort the believers to fight. If there are twenty of you who are patient, they will overcome two hundred, and if there are one hundred of you, they will overcome a thousand of the disbelievers. For they are a people who have no sense.
(Quran 8:65)
In the next verse, Allah Almighty says that:
(But) now Allah has lightened your burden. Allah knows that there is weakness in you. So if there are a hundred of you who are patient, they will overcome two hundred. And if there are a thousand of you, they will overcome two thousand by Allah’s leave. And Allah is with the patient.
(Quran 8:66)
So we learn from the Quran that if we are strong, we are tenfold, but if we are weak, we are double. In such a situation, the Muslim army was deliberating whether to fight or retreat. Abdullah ibn Wahhah stood up there and gave a speech. It was because of his extraordinary speech that the Muslim army changed its mind and they were defeated in battle.
Abdullah ibn Wahhah said in his speech that the evil purpose of abandonment for which we have come here is now before us, so why should we go back? The martyrdom we set out to achieve is now before us, but there is no question of going back. They then fought against this huge force there for three days and were finally defeated by Khalid bin Walid Saifullah.
In the following year, in the ninth year of the Hijra, the Prophet himself set out to fight the Romans with a large army, numbering 30,000 soldiers. The Prophet (peace be upon him) led a Muslim army of 30,000 in the Battle of Tabuk. But the Roman army did not come to fight the Muslim army, so the Prophet (peace be upon him) returned safely with his army. In continuation of this, in the 10th year of the Hijri, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) sent another army. And he appointed Osama ibn Zayd as the head of that force. And the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) told him to go to the land of those who killed your father and crush them. But when the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) had already died, Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddique (may Allah be pleased with him) was thinking whether to launch an expedition against the Romans now because the Romans were far away from the Arabian lands and did not pose a major threat to the Muslims. On the other hand, a hostile environment was developing around Medina. Many were abandoning Islam and preparations were being made to attack Medina. Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddique (may Allah be pleased with him) was concerned about carrying out such an expedition in such a situation. Then Abu Bakr Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) consulted with the companions and accepted their opinion. Ibn Kathir (may Allah have mercy on him) narrated that the companions said: The Arabs are currently breaking their treaty with us and the party that is with you now is the real Muslim party, so in such a situation it would not be right to send the Muslim army out of Medina. And the most vocal among the Companions on this issue was Umar bin Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him). They all expressed the opinion that this army should not be sent outside Medina because it might lead to an attack on the Caliph or the family of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). On the other hand, a section of the companions were expressing their opinion as to why Osama was not yet 18 years old and should not be led by him in this war, but rather someone more mature should be led. In such a difficult situation, Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddique (RA) gathered all the Muslims in Masjid-e-Nabawi and delivered a sermon and through this sermon he normalized the situation.
Abu Bakr Siddique (may Allah be pleased with him) said, “By the One in Whose Hand is the life of Abu Bakr, Even if a wild animal comes and tears my mark, I will still follow the instructions of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). Even if there is no one in the surrounding villages, I will carry out this operation myself. In this speech, Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) was not saying anything that was right or wrong, rather he was following the example of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). Here Abu Bakr Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) clearly stated what his caliphate would be like and he explained that whatever he did, he would do according to the example of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).
In this regard, Aisha Siddique (may Allah be pleased with her) narrates that if the calamity that befell my father at this time had fallen on a mountain, that mountain would have been shattered to pieces.
Abu Bakr Siddique (may Allah be pleased with him) followed the path of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) very strongly. Although his companions requested him to appoint at least one adult as the leader of this war because Osama was not yet 18, he did not listen to any of them.
When this entire army was ready for battle, Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddique (may Allah be pleased with him) went ahead with that army and traveled some distance with them. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) used to do just that when an army went out for battle, he would go ahead with them for some distance, and Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddique (may Allah be pleased with him) did just that.
Abu Bakr Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) delivered a sermon in front of the army and explained some things clearly to them. We can call it a code of conduct for Muslim forces. He said that first of all you will not betray. And do not betray the wealth or virtue gained in war. Second: You shall not break your promises. Third, you shall not cut off the hands and feet of your enemies. Fourth, you shall not oppress children and women. Fifth, you shall not cut down palm trees. Sixth, you shall not destroy any fruit tree. Seventh, you shall not destroy cattle, goats, etc. without necessity. Eighth, you will meet some people on your path who have dedicated their entire lives to the path of worship. Leave them alone. Ninth: You will meet some people who will give you plenty of food, but you must remember the name of Allah before eating. The tenth advice is that you will meet some people whose hair is like a bird’s nest. They will cover their hair with turbans. As soon as you see such people, strike them on the head with a sword.
Then Abu Bakr Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) said, “Go forward, may Allah protect you from the weapons of the enemy and from the plague.”
Then Usama’s army began to advance against the Roman army, but no one else from the vicinity of Medina dared to attack Medina. But when the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) asked the Banu Sa’ebah for help, they said, “We can protect you from the Arabs, but we cannot protect you from the Romans, because the Romans were the most powerful at that time.” However, when the Arabs around Medina saw that the Muslim army was advancing bravely against the Roman army, they no longer had the courage to attack Medina. As a result, it can be seen that when Abu Bakr Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) led the Battle of Riddar, no attack was made from this northern Arabia. The Roman emperor Heraclius was concerned about this issue. He left the capital and moved to Antakya, Syria. He set up a base there to monitor the situation. They were shocked that the people of the Arab land, who were completely helpless, were suddenly going to launch an attack with such a large army. They left the capital and moved to Syria, fearing that they would be attacked by such a large army. By the will of God, they received two pieces of news on the same day.
They received news that same day that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) had died and that Muslim forces had arrived to invade their country.
So the emperor Heraclius did not plan any kind of war but left it to the Muslims. As a result, the Muslims reached the center of the Roman emperors without any obstacles, and Usama reached the place where his father was killed and made an agreement with the people of the surrounding tribes on the condition of collecting the Jizya tax, and by the will of Allah. And this is the reality of Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddique (may Allah be pleased with him) And this is the reality of Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddique (may Allah be pleased with him).
We see exactly such an incident with Musa (peace be upon him). At the time of Musa’s birth, Allah Almighty revealed a divine message to his mother, telling her to throw Musa into the river. Allah told the mother of Musa (peace be upon him) to throw her son into the river and later I will bring him back to you. If Moses’ mother had not thrown him into the river, Pharaoh’s intelligence forces would have killed Moses as a child. And by Allah’s own arrangement, Moses (peace be upon him) continued to be raised in the house of Pharaoh, and we see the same incident in the case of Usamah, who returned to Medina in triumph and was welcomed by the people of Medina. The companions then realized that Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddique (may Allah be pleased with him) was right because he had the help of Allah.
Next part: The War of Ridda First, let’s find out what is the definition of Rita. Imam Nawabi said that: This means that separating oneself from Islam. This can be firstly through intention, secondly through words, thirdly through actions. First, through speech, a person can commit kufr or consider things that Allah has forbidden as permissible or declare things that Allah has made lawful as unlawful. Or if he intends to consider as unlawful the things that Allah has made lawful, or if he intends to consider as lawful the things that Allah has made unlawful, then he has done this. That is, the meaning of Ridda is to leave Islam.
Allah says in the Quran about this:
Indeed, We sent down the Torah, in which was guidance and light. The prophets who submitted [to Allah] judged by it for the Jews, as did the rabbis and scholars by that with which they were entrusted of the Scripture of Allah, and they were witnesses thereto. So do not fear the people but fear Me, and do not exchange My verses for a small price. And whoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed – then it is those who are the disbelievers.
(Quran 5-44)
Even if a person imitates the likeness of a nation, he will become part of that nation. In this regard, Allah says in the Quran:
O you who have believed, do not take the Jews and the Christians as allies. They are [in fact] allies of one another. And whoever is an ally to them among you – then indeed, he is [one] of them. Indeed, Allah guides not the wrongdoing people.
(Quran 5-51)
The style of Ridda at that time was tree types. Alkazi Alias narrates that: First, there were some people who were inclined towards idol worship before Islam. The second group were people who claimed to be followers of false prophets. Thirdly, some people who refused to pay zakat were saying that it was permissible to pay zakat during the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and that it is no longer permissible. Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddiq (RA) considered them as apostates.
