|
"Lay down your
arms!" ordered Khalid. "All the people have become
Muslims and there is no need for you to carry weapons."
One man from the Bani Jazima now shouted
to his comrades: "This is Khalid, son of Al Waleed. Beware
of him! After the laying down of arms there will be a binding of
hands, and after the binding of hands there will be a severing of
heads!" 1
There was an old feud between the clan of
Khalid and the Bani Jazima. In pre?Islamic days a small Quraish
caravan was returning from the Yemen when it was set upon by the
Bani Jazima, who looted the caravan and killed two important individuals-Auf,
father of Abdur-Rahman bin Auf, and Fakiha, son of Al Mugheerah,
an uncle of Khalid. Abdur-Rahman had later killed the murderer of
his father and thus avenged his father's blood, but the death of
Fakiha had not been avenged. All this, however, happened during
the Ignorance.
The people of the Bani Jazima now began
to dispute with the man who was warning them against Khalid. "Do
you want to have us slaughtered?" they asked him. "All
the tribes have laid down their arms and have become Muslims. The
war is over." 2 After a brief argument
the tribe laid down its arms.
The cause of what happened next is not clear.
Perhaps Khalid reverted momentarily to the tribal vindictiveness
of the Ignorance. (He had been a Muslim for only a few months.)
On the other hand, perhaps there was an excess of Islamic zeal in
the heart of Khalid and he doubted the truth of the declaration
of faith by the tribe. As the tribesmen laid down their arms, Khalid
ordered his men to tie their hands behind them. He then ordered
that all the captives be put to the sword. Luckily only the Bani
Sulaim obeyed the order and killed the captives in their hands,
whose number is not known. Other tribal contingents refused to carry
out the order. There was a strong protest from Abdullah, son of
Umar, and Abu Qatadah, but Khalid rejected the protest. Abu Qatadah
immediately rode to Makkah and informed the Prophet of what Khalid
had done.
The Prophet was horrified. He raised his
hands towards heaven and exclaimed: "O Lord! I am not
responsible for what Khalid has done." 3
He then sent Ali with a good deal of money to soothe the feelings
of the Bani Jazima and pay indemnity for the blood that had been
shed. Ali carried out the mission with generosity and did not return
until the tribe was fully satisfied.
Khalid was now sent for by the Prophet who
demanded an explanation for what he had done. Khalid said that he
did not believe that they really were Muslims, that he had the impression
that they were deceiving him, and that he believed that he was killing
in the way of Allah.
Present with the Prophet was Abdur-Rahman
bin Auf. When he heard the explanation of Khalid, he said, "You
have committed an act of Ignorance in the days of Islam."
Khalid now thought that he saw a way out
of this delicate predicament, and he replied, "But I took
revenge for the killing of your father." "You lie!"
snapped Abdur-Rahman. "I killed the murderer of my father
a long time ago and vindicated the honour of my family. You ordered
the slaughter of the Bani Jazima in revenge for the death of your
uncle, Fakiha."
This led to a heated argument between the
two. And this was a mistake on the part of Khalid, for Abdur-Rahman
was one of the Blessed Ten and thus had a position which few could
challenge. Before the argument could get out of hand, however, the
Prophet intervened and said sternly, "Leave my Companions
alone, O Khalid! If you possessed a mountain of gold and spent it
in the way of Allah, you would not achieve the status of my Companions."
4 He was referring, of course, to his early
Companions, for Khalid too was a Companion.
Thus was Khalid put in his place. He was
pardoned; but he learnt the important lesson that he, as a later
convert, did not have the same status as the early Companions, especially
the Blessed Ten. He was to keep this lesson in mind on many future
occasions.
1. Ibn Sad: pp. 659-60; Ibn Hisham: Vol.
2, p. 429.
2. Ibid
3. Ibid
4. Ibn Sad: Vol. 2, p. 431.
| 
