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This time it was Malik
who was surprised. Having been certain that victory was his, he
now found that his own army was under attack. The hand-to-hand fighting
became more desperate, and this is just what the Muslims wanted,
for in this sort of violent fighting their superiority in swordsmanship
put the odds in their favour. In close-quarter battle the Muslims
had no equal. Gradually the Hawazin were pressed back and as the
Prophet saw their men fall before the onslaught of the Muslims,
he affirmed
"In truth, I am the Prophet,
I the son of Abdul Muttalib."
He then turned to those who stood next to
him and remarked, "Now the oven heats up!" 1
Malik decided that he was getting the worst of the fighting and
put his withdrawal plan in action. The Thaqeef were already in position
a short distance behind the Hawazin. Leaving the Thaqeef to act
as a rearguard, he pulled the Hawazin back to safety. The Muslims
moved forward and made contact with the Thaqeef, who now began to
receive heavy punishment from the Believers. Soon after this contact,
the Thaqeef turned and took to their heels, followed by other tribal
contingents, some of which had taken no part in the fighting. In
the mean time Malik had got the Hawazin safely to the pass, and
here he deployed them to fight a defensive battle while waiting
for stragglers to catch up. As long as he held this pass, the families
and the flocks of the Hawazin were safe.
The Muslims had not only recovered from
the shock of the ambush but had counter-attacked, regained their
position and driven the enemy from the battlefield. This was a tactical
victory, but more was to come.
While the Muslims were stripping the Thaqeef
dead of their weapons and clothing, an interesting incident involving
two Muslims took place. One was an Ansar from Madinah and the other
a man by the name of Mugheerah bin Shu'ba, who belonged to the tribe
of Thaqeef. Among the Thaqeef dead was a Christian slave who had
died beside his master. As the Ansar stripped this slave, he noticed
that the dead man was not circumcised. Amazed at this discovery,
for circumcision was a universal practice among the Arabs, he called
aloud to those who stood around him: "O Arabs! Did you know
that the Thaqeef are not circumcised?" Mugheerah, who stood
next to the Ansar, was horrified to hear this, as the spread of
such a report would mean disgrace for the Thaqeef. He knew the dead
slave and could understand how the misunderstanding had arisen.
"Don't say that!" he hissed at the Ansar. "This
man was a Christian slave."
"No, he was not", insisted
the Ansar. "I am sure that he is one of the Thaqeef."
And he remained unconvinced until Mugheerah had undressed several
bodies of the Thaqeef and pointed out familiar signs! 2
The Muslim army having fully re-assembled,
except for a few who had fled, the Prophet decided to press his
advantage. He organised a strong cavalry group and sent it forward
to clear the valley before the Hawazin had time to recover and reorganise.
This group was formed of several contingents, including the Bani
Sulaim, over whom Khalid had regained control. Khalid had missed
the Muslim counter-attack. He had lain where he fell in the flight
of the Bani Sulaim until the counter-attack was over. Then the Holy
Prophet came to him and blew upon his wounds, whereupon Khalid arose,
feeling strengthened and fit for battle again. 3
He quickly got the Bani Sulaim together.
The entire group was placed under command
of Zubair bin Al Awwam, who now advanced along the valley and contacted
Malik at the pass. After a short, brisk engagement, Malik was driven
off the pass. The whole valley was now in Muslim hands. The Prophet
left Zubair's mounted group at the pass, to hold it as a firm base
and guard it against a possible return of the Hawazin, and sent
another group under Abu Amir to Autas. This was the camp of the
Hawazin, who on being driven off the pass had taken up positions
around the camp to defend their families and flocks. On the arrival
of the Muslims, a fierce clash took place at Autas. Abu Amir killed
nine men in personal combat and was killed by his tenth adversary,
whereupon the command of the Muslim group was taken over by his
cousin, Abu Musa, who continued the attack on Autas until the Hawazin
broke and fled. The camp of the Hawazin fell into Muslim hands,
and here this Muslim group was joined by the cavalry group of Zubair,
with Khalid in the lead.
1. Ibn Sad: p. 665.
2. Ibn Hisham: Vol. 2, p. 450.
3. Isfahani: Vol. 15, p. 11.
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