The
One Who Was Protected By The Wasps
‘Âsim Ibn Thâbit
May Allah be pleased with him
When Islam was spread in Al Madînah Al Munawwarah,
the youth of Al ’Aws
and Al Khazraj -who were enemies previously- rushed into that
religion… For previously, their main interest was to gain worldly
benefits, and to fight each other… After Allah
joined their hearts together, their only interest became to compete in the
Cause of Allah.. ‘Âsim Ibn Thâbit Al ’Ansârî was one of Al ’Aws
most courageous, well bred young men… He was from Banî ‘Amr Ibn ‘Auf
(The tribe of ‘Amr Ibn ‘Auf )… That young man who was keen on learning the
Qur’ân from Mus‘ab Ibn ‘Umair, who was sent by the Prophet, Allah’s
Prayers and Peace be upon him, to Al-Madînah
after the first solemn pledge of Al-‘Aqabah
to enlighten and teach its people… ‘Âsim was also keen on learning
and following ‘Ammâr Ibn Yâsir’s teachings, who had built Qubâ’ Mosque
where the first Jumm‘ah
(Friday) prayer in Islam took place.
The immigrants continued moving to Al-Madînah
… They shared ’Ansâr people
(supporters) their homes, their food, their meetings, and taught them what
they had learnt from Allah’s
Prophet, Allah’s
Prayers and Peace be upon him,, and what they have received from the Qur’ân, which had been sent in Holy Makkah…
This continued until Allah’s Prophet, Allah’s Prayers and Peace be upon him,
and ’Abû Bakr As-Siddîq arrived and stayed with Banî ‘Amr Ibn ‘Auf , the tribe of
‘Âsim Ibn Thâbit in Qubâ’ …
Allah’s
Prophet’s, Allah’s Prayers and Peace be upon him,
light, lights all Al Madînah Al Munawwarah.. He, Allah’s
Prayers and Peace be upon him, established the bond of brotherhood between
the immigrants and ’Ansâr (supporters)..
By that, the first step is taken to form the proper Islamic nation on a
firm ground…
Allah’s
Prophet, Allah’s Prayers and Peace be upon him,
receives the news that a large caravan is arriving from Shâ’m to
Makkah… It is carrying the
merchandise of Quraish, and led
by ’Abû Sufyân Ibn Harb… Allah’s
Prophet, Allah’s Prayers and Peace be upon him,
finds this caravan, and all its goods -if it could be taken by the
immigrants- a chance to compensate them for all their money which they had
left behind in Makkah, and was
taken by the non-believers of Quraish…
The Prophet, Allah’s Prayers and Peace be upon him,
consults the people about going out to meet the caravan and conquer it…
The ’Ansâr (supporters)
insist on helping the immigrants to regain their lost rights…
The Prophet, Allah’s Prayers
and Peace be upon him, goes out in an army of almost three hundred men,
immigrants and ’Ansâr (supporters),
carrying nothing but swords… They were accompanied by only two knights,
Az-Zubair Ibn Al ‘Awwâm and Al Miqdâd Ibn ‘Amr, for they were not really expecting a war…
’Abû Sufyân gets to know about the Prophet, Allah’s
Prayers and Peace be upon him, and his companions going out for the
caravan… He then changes his route… He goes by the direction of the
seacoast, avoiding the usual way, and thus trying to save his caravan…
He sends a man to warn the people in Makkah
to save their caravan and their money from the Muslims…
All Quraish,
fully equipped, goes out to war… Its strong men are waving and fighting
with their swords, their horses and their spears… They act sarcastically
and mockingly, as the Muslims are few in number and in armour… But it is
Allah’s, Praise and Glory be to Him, wish that truth prevails, and
vice is conquered… The two groups meet without any previous agreement
near Badr well, on the way between Makkah
and Al-Madînah
… The battle starts, and the non-believers starts collapsing, one after
the other, just like falling leaves… Seventy are killed, and another
seventy are taken as captives… Some of the killed men, were amongst the
strongest men of Quraish, and the most vicious like: ‘Utbah
Ibn Rabi‘âh,
Shaibah Ibn Rabi‘âh,
Al Walîd
Ibn ‘Utbah, ’Abû Jahl and ’Umaiyah Ibn Khalaf… These men used to torture the
Muslims severely in Makkah…
It was ‘Âsim Ibn Thâbit who killed ‘Uqbah Ibn ’Abî Moa‘ît, one of the strongest non-believers…
‘Âsim Ibn Thâbit was one of ’Ansâr
youth, who had nothing but his sword, and his belief in Allah, Praise and Glory be to Him, and His Prophet, Allah’s
Prayers and Peace be upon him,… Both Musâfih Ibn Talhah and Kilâb Ibn Talhah -two brothers from Makkah-
attack ‘Âsim, trying to tear him apart with their swords… But ‘Âsim
Ibn Thâbit fights courageously, clinging to his strong faith, and
confidence in Allah’s
might… He hits Musâfih
with his sword and kills him… He also attacks his brother Kilâb causing him serious injury, and leaving him
between life and death…
The battle ends by the Muslims winning, and
achieving victory… Allah’s
word prevails… Kilâb
and Musâfih’s
mother comes looking for her two sons amongst the bodies… She finds Kilâb while he is taking his last breaths… She
asks him: Who has done that to you?!… He says: I heard the man who hit
me with his sword saying: Take my blow, and I am Al ’Aqlah’s son… She does not rest until she finds
who Ibn Al ’Aqlah
is… It turns out that he is ‘Âsim Ibn Thâbit, the adornment of ’Ansâr
youth…
The woman bows with many oblations to her
idols, asking their help, one after the other… She also promises a
precious reward to whoever gets her ‘Âsim
Ibn Thâbit’s
head, so she would drink liquor in that head, trying to quench her
anger…
As time passes by, the Prophet, Allah’s
Prayers and Peace be upon him, sends a squadron, composed of ten men, to
bring back the news of Quraish…
He, Allah’s
Prayers and Peace be upon him, appoints ‘Âsim Ibn Thâbit -the
courageous man- as their leader… The squadron goes on its way, trying to
trace any news, until they reached a place between ‘Usfân and Makkah… Banî Lihyân knew about them, and sent
out one hundred of their most skilful archers after them… They got to
them, and surrounded them on one of the mountains… They called upon them
saying: You have a covenant and a promise that if you come down to us, we
will not kill anyone of you…
The men in the squadron watch out for ‘Âsim
Ibn Thâbit’s
instructions to them… ‘Âsim said: As for me, I will never come down
on the security of an infidel… Since I became a Muslim, I have made a
vow, never to touch or be touched by a non-believer… O Allah,
inform Your Prophet, Allah’s Prayers and Peace be upon him,
about us… The battle starts… The archers start throwing their arrows
at the men of the squadron, trying to get their leader, who is keeping
them strong and solid… They kill him amongst seven others… And three
remained Khubaib Ibn ‘Adiy, Zaid Ibn Al Dathinah and ‘Abdullah Ibn Tarîq… They tie them down, and take them to
sell them in Makkah… ‘Abdullah Ibn Tarîq resists them, so they kill him…
The non-believers were anxious to get the
reward that Musâfih
and Kilâb’s
mother had promised in return for ‘Âsim Ibn Thâbit’s head… They wanted to cut his head
off, and take it to Makkah…
They all went out, looking for his body, but Allah sent a cloud of
wasps which protected ‘Âsim’s body; surrounding it from all sides, so
that nobody could even approach… When they gave up getting near, some of
them said: These wasps shall disappear when it’s dark… Let us wait for
the evening to come, then we could get hold of the body… But when it was
night time, a vast flood carried ‘Âsim Ibn Thâbit’s
body away, where no one could touch or find it…
‘Âsim Ibn Thâbit’s prayer is accepted by Allah,
Praise and Glory be to Him, when he prayed saying: O Allah…
Inform Your Prophet, Allah’s Prayers and Peace be upon him,
about us…Jibrîl
comes down to Allah’s
Prophet, Allah’s
Prayers and Peace be upon him, informing him about what happened… He, Allah’s
Prayers and Peace be upon him, became extremely sad… Allah’s
Prophet, Allah’s Prayers and Peace be upon him,
said Qunût[1]
for one month in the morning prayer, invoking evil upon Banû Lihyân…
Those people who had been blinded, even to see the truth… Their greed
led them to kill -with no motive or reason- men who had not started the
fighting, and were not even their enemies, nor there was any previous
grudge between them…
Hassân Ibn Thâbit -the Prophet’s, Allah’s Prayers
and Peace be upon him, poet- writes verses about that saying (in meaning):
By my
life, Hudhayl has disgraced Ibn Mudrik, Khubaib and ‘Âsim, for
they were men of fine reputation…
But Lihyân have done ugly things,
and
were known for their vicious crimes…
It
is worth considering that the
Prophet, Allah’s Prayers and Peace be upon him,
prayed against ‘Âsim Ibn Thâbit’s killers for one whole month… That
had not happened before with the other non-believers who had killed the
Muslims in battlefields, like during the battle of ’Uhud
and other battles… On the contrary, some of them who had become Muslims
became like brothers to the real Muslims applying Allah’s, Praise and Glory be to Him, words: (But
if they repent, perform As-Salât ( Iqâmat-as-Salât) and give Zakât,
then they are your brethren in religion. (In this way) We explain the Ayât
(proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.) in detail
for a
people who know).
(At-Taubah “The Repentance”,11).
This clarifies how dearly Allah’s
Prophet, Allah’s
Prayers and Peace be upon him, regarded ‘Âsim Ibn Thâbit, may
Allah be pleased with him, how much he, Allah’s Prayers and Peace be upon him,
grieved for him, and how terrible was the crime of Banû Lihyân…
After that, the Prophet, Allah’s
Prayers and Peace be upon him, knew from Jibrîl what had happened, he Allah’s
Prayers and Peace be upon him, sent Az-Zubair Ibn Al ‘Awwâm and Al Miqdâd Ibn ‘Amr on their horses to where ‘Âsim Ibn Thâbit
was killed, so that they would bury him… When they reached the spot of
the battle, as the Prophet, Allah’s Prayers and Peace be upon him,
had directed them, they found no trace of
‘Âsim Ibn Thâbit, may Allah be pleased with him, …
The
Sahâbah (Companions) called
‘Âsim Ibn Thâbit as (The one who was protected by the wasps)…
For Allah,
Praise and Glory be to Him, had protected him against the enemy’s
intrigue, and had not allowed the non-believers to lay hands on him, alive
or dead… The flood had carried him away to Allah’s
shelter and protection… He had fulfilled his commitment towards Allah, so Allah in
return, fulfilled His commitment towards him also… For who fulfils his
commitments more truthfully than Allah…
for Allah, Praise and Glory be to Him, says: (Among
the believers are men who have been true to their covenant with Allâh
[i.e. they have gone out for Jihâd (holy fighting), and showed not their
backs to the disbelievers]; of them some have fulfilled their obligations
(i.e. have been martyred); and some of them are still waiting, but they
have never changed [i.e. they never proved treacherous to their covenant
which they concluded with Allâh] in the least).
(Al-Ahzâb “The Confederates”,23).
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