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The Christian Arabs, who
were commanded by Malik bin Zafila, formed themselves into a deep
mass confronting the Muslims. Some historians have given their strength
as 100,000, while others have doubled that figure. These estimates
are clearly mistaken. The enemy probably consisted of between 10
and 15 thousand men. In this battle the Muslims failed to gain a
victory. If the enemy had been only twice their strength, they would
undoubtedly have thrashed him; and an enemy had to be many times
their strength to, inflict a defeat on them. It is largely on this
basis that the above estimate of the enemy's strength is made.
The battle began, and both armies very quickly
got to grips with each other. This was essentially a battle of guts
and stamina rather than military skill. The commander himself fought
at the head of his men with his standard, and after a short while
Zaid was killed. As the standard fell from his hands, the second?in?command,
Jafar, picked it up and continued fighting at the head of the army.
After his body had been covered with scores of wounds, Jafar also
fell; and the standard went down for the second time. This distressed
the Muslims, for Jafar was held in great esteem and affection as
a cousin of the Prophet. A certain amount of confusion became noticeable
among the Muslims, but soon the third?in?command, Abdullah bin Rawahah,
picked up the standard and restored order. He continued to fight
until he also was killed.
Now there was real disorder in the ranks
of the Muslims. A few of them fled from the scene of battle, but
stopped not far from the battlefield. Others continued to offer
confused resistance in twos and threes and larger groups. Fortunately
the enemy did not press his advantage, for had he done so the Muslims,
without a commander, could easily have been routed. Perhaps the
gallantry of the Muslim commanders and the valour with which the
Muslims had fought made the enemy overcautious and discouraged him
from taking bold action.
When Abdullah had fallen, the standard was
picked up by Thabit bin Arqam, who raised his voice and shouted,
"O Muslims, agree upon a man from among you to be the commander."
He then spied Khalid, who stood next to him, and offered him the
standard. Khalid was conscious of the fact that as a new convert
he did not hold a high position among the Muslims, and Thabit bin
Arqam was a Muslim of long standing. This consideration was important.
He declined the offer of Thabit, saying: "You are more deserving
than I" "Not I," replied Thabit, "and
none but you!" 1 This was really
a windfall for the Muslims, for they knew of the personal courage
and military ability of Khalid. They all agreed to his appointment,
and Khalid took the standard and assumed command.
The situation now was serious and could
easily have taken a turn for the worse, leading, rapidly to the
total defeat of the Muslims. The commanders before Khalid had shown
more valour than judgement in fighting this battle. Khalid regained
control over his small army and organized it into a neatly deployed
fighting force. He was faced with three choices. The first was to
withdraw and save the Muslims from destruction, but this might be
regarded as a defeat and he would then be blamed for having brought
disgrace to Muslim arms. The second was to stay on the defensive
and continue fighting; in this case the superior strength of the
enemy would eventually tell and the battle end in defeat. The third
was to attack and throw the enemy off balance, thus gaining more
time in which to study the situation and plan the best course of
action. The last choice was closest to the nature of Khalid, and
this is the course that he adopted.
The Muslims attacked fiercely along the
entire front. They surged forward with Khalid in the lead. The example
of Khalid gave fresh courage to the Muslims, and the battle increased
in violence. For some time desperate hand?to?hand fighting continued;
then Qutba, commanding the Muslim right, dashed forward and killed
the Christian commander, Malik, in a duel. This resulted in a setback
for the enemy and led to, a certain amount of confusion. The Christian
Arabs now pulled back, still fighting, with a view to gaining time
for reorganization. At this moment Khalid had his tenth sword in
his hand, having broken nine in fierce combat.
1. Ibn Sad: p. 638.
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