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Feeling helpless and forsaken,
Malik decided to save what he could from the wreckage. He would
atone for his crimes by repentance and submission, which was also
a political necessity, for there was nothing else that he could
do. Malik gathered the clan of Bani Yarbu' and addressed them as
follows:
"O Bani Yarbu'! We disobeyed our
rulers when they called upon us to remain steadfast in faith. And
we prevented others from obeying them. We have come to no good."
"I have studied the situation. I
see the situation turning in their favour while we have no control
over it. Beware of fighting them! Disperse to your homes and make
peace with them." 1
Under these orders his warriors dispersed.
Malik then went quietly to his house, not far from Butah, to be
consoled by the charming Laila.
In one more gesture to show his change of
heart, Malik collected all the tax that was due to Madinah and sent
it to Khalid, who was on the march to Butah when the envoys bringing
the tax met him. Khalid took the tax, but did not accept this as
sufficient atonement, for the tax was in any case due as an obligation.
"What made you enter into a pact
with Sajjah?" Khalid asked the envoys. "Nothing
more", they replied, "than a desire for tribal
revenge against our feudal enemies." 2
Khalid did not question the envoys further,
but retained his suspicions. This could be a trick to lull him into
a false sense of security and draw him unsuspecting into an ambush.
Ever since the ambush at Hunain, Khalid had never relaxed his vigilance.
He continued the advance as a military operation against an armed
opponent.
Khalid found Butah undefended and unmanned.
There was no army to fight-not even an occasional group of soldiers.
He occupied Butah and sent out mounted detachments to scour the
countryside and deal with the apostate clans of the tribe of Bani
Tamim. To the commanders of these detachments, he repeated the instructions
of the Caliph-on approaching any clan, they would call the Adhan,
if the clan responded with the Adhan, it would be left alone;
if it did not, it would be attacked.
The following day a detachment commanded
by Dhiraar bin Al Azwar got to the house of Malik bin Nuwaira, where
Dhiraar seized Malik and Laila and a few men of the Bani Yarbu'.
The other detachments had no trouble, for all the clans submitted
without opposition.
Malik and Laila were ushered into the presence
of Khalid, Malik appearing as a rebel and apostate chief on trial
for crimes against the State and Islam. He looked defiant, true
to the nature of a proud, noble?born chieftain who faced the trials
of life with dignity. He could not be humble.
Khalid began to talk. He spoke of the crimes
that Malik had committed and the damage that he had done to the
cause of Islam. Then Khalid asked him some questions. In his reply,
Malik referred to the Holy Prophet as "your master". Khalid
was angered by the unrepentant and supercilious attitude of the
accused. He said, "Do you not regard him as your master?"
3
Khalid felt convinced that Malik was guilty,
that he remained an unbeliever. He gave the order for his execution.
Dhiraar took Malik away and personally carried out the sentence.
And it was the end of Malik bin Nuwaira.
Laila became a young widow, but not for
long. That same night Khalid married her! She had hardly made up
her mind to mourn her departed husband when she became a bride again,
this time of the Sword of Allah!
When Khalid announced his intention of marrying
Laila some Muslims did not take kindly to the announcement. Some
even began to suggest that perhaps Malik was not really an unbeliever
but had returned to the Faith, that perhaps Khalid had ordered his
execution in order to be able to have Laila for himself. One man
in particular, Abu Qatadah, a Companion of high standing, remonstrated
with Khalid, but Khalid put him in his place with a few well-chosen
words. Feeling slighted and angry at what he regarded as Khalid's
high-handedness, Abu Qatadah next day mounted his horse and set
off at a gallop for Madinah. On arrival at the capital, he went
straight to Abu Bakr and told him that Malik bin Nuwaira, was a
Muslim and that Khalid had killed him in order to be able to marry
the beautiful Laila. This Abu Qatadah was the same man who, shortly
after the conquest of Makkah, had ridden to the Holy Prophet and
complained that Khalid had ruthlessly killed the Bani Jazima despite
their surrender. His disapproval of Khalid was not new.
1. Tabari: Vol. 2, Pp. 501-2.
2. Ibid
3. Ibid: Vol. 2, p. 504.
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