Significance of the Battle of Khaybar

Date: 21 April 2017 - 21:33

News ID: ۳۸۶۸۰

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By: Seyyed Ali Shahbaz

"Tomorrow I will give the banner of Islam to the Valiant Attacker who never retreats; who loves God and the Prophet and in turn is loved by God and the Prophet. He will not return from the battlefield till God brings about victory by his hand.”
This famous statement of the Messenger of Mercy, Prophet Muhammad (SAWA), who never says anything but it is inspiration from God Almighty (as the holy Qur’an testifies in the opening ayahs of Surah Najm), is found in all authentic Islamic texts of all denominations of Islam, whether Sunni or Shi’a Muslim.
It refers to a crucial event in the history of Islam and its enlightenment of minds and souls in order to deliver humanity from the darkness of disbelief.
These words, as some might misconstrue, do not speak of aggression, nor do they refer to any violent attacker trying to disturb peace. As a matter of fact, they speak of a determined endeavour to end mischief and ensure a lasting solution through a brave and valourous person for whom stepping back from what has been entrusted to him is out of question. He is the one devoted to God and the Prophet, and who in turn is endeared by both God and Prophet
It happened that Israelite tribes settled in Khaybar, some 150 km north of Medina, were planning to attack the Prophet and wipe out Islam, although the ancestors of these very same people had migrated from Palestine and Syria to await the coming of the Last and Greatest Prophet, from among their cousins the Ishmaelite Arabs, as foretold by Prophet Moses and the sacred scriptures. But when the universal mission of Islam was proclaimed in Mecca and the Islamic state founded in Medina by Prophet Muhammad (SAWA), only a handful of Jews recognized him to be the awaited prophet and became Muslims, while the rest of the Israelites denied his mission and ganged up with the pagan Arabs to try to kill him.
It is worth noting that the people of Khaybar who besides farming and raising sheep and cattle, were experts in industry and business, also enjoyed a monopoly of the armaments industry, especially after their ranks had been strengthened by the pact-breaking Banu Qaynuqa Jewish tribe which was banished from Medina and was noted for its skills in metallurgy. The Jewish tribes viewed the Treaty of Hudayibiyya as weakness on the part of the Prophet and began to instigate the Arab tribes around Medina to attack the Muslims. The Banu Ghatafan pagan Arab tribe was ordered by the Jews of Khaybar to send raiding parties into the pastures around Medina. On one occasion, the son of the Prophet’s famous companion Abu Zarr al-Gheffari was grazing the camels when the Ghatafan struck. They killed him, and captured his mother who was with him, and they drove with them the herd of camels. The Muslims, however, were able to overtake the marauders and to rescue the wife of Abu Zarr al-Gheffari. In view of these provocations, God commanded the Prophet to mobilize Muslims for ending the sinister designs of the Jews of Khaybar who had assembled a 10,000-strong army for a surprise attack on Medina.
Thus, when the Valiant Man of God who was entrusted with command of the Muslim forces, approached the impregnable fortress of Qamous, the Jewish warlord, who for days had put the companions of the Prophet to flight, thundered:
"I am the fearsome warrior, whose mother named me Marhab. All Khayber knows, a warrior bristling with arms, when the war fiercely burns. I am the battle lion who is always victorious over his enemy.”
The answer this arrogantly ignorant warrior received from the Muslim commander, stunned him:
"I am the renowned lion; my mother named me Haidar, I weigh my foes in a giant's balance.”
The moment he heard the word "Haidar”, a queer feeling overwhelmed Marhab. In a dream in his childhood Marhab had seen a lion tearing him to pieces. When he informed his mother, who was a soothsayer, he was told not to fight with anyone named Haidar. Now on the battlefield Marhab was in two minds – to fight or not to fight. He began to slowly turn his horse towards the fort and flee from the battlefield, the devil’s temptation, along with his own arrogance and blindness to see the realities of Islam, made the Israelite warlord intent upon fighting the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS).
As the eyes of the Muslim soldiers and the Jewish warriors were fixed upon him, he suddenly attacked the Imam, who deftly evaded the flashing sword and struck Marhab with the matchless Zu’lfiqar. To the surprise of the onlookers on both sides, the stroke of the Imam on the helmet of Marhab was so powerful that the Zu’lfiqar after slicing the stone as if it was wood cut his head into two and pierce through the body. In a moment Marhab fell lifeless on the ground.
The Imam’s lighting blow was indeed the coup-de-grace for the fortress of Qamous, and as the Muslim soldiers, finding courage rushed toward it to storm, Imam Ali (AS) again demonstrated his God-given strength by tearing apart from its hinges the heavy metal encrusted gateway, and threw it across the moat, in order to enable the Muslims to enter the castle.
The Muslims now realized that it was not for no reason, the Prophet had said the day before: "Nad-e Aliyyan Mazhar al-Aja’eb”, which means "Call Ali the Manifestation of Wonders”.
Today, when the Arab regimes, like their pagan ancestors, are ganging up with the Zionists against Islam, it is only the path of Imam Ali (AS), as being shown these days by the Islamic Republic of Iran and Lebanon’s legendry anti-terrorist movement, the Hezbollah, which is capable of defeating the modern-day Israelites and their satanic backers, as well as the devilish Takfiris.