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Reinforcements were on
the way. Muhajir bin Abi Umayyah, the last of the corps commanders
to be despatched by Abu Bakr, had just subdued some rebels in Najran
and was to go on to the Yemen. Abu Bakr directed him to proceed
instead to Hadhramaut to join Ziyad and deal with the apostasy of
the Kinda. Similar instructions reached Ikrimah, who was now at
Abyan.
The forces of Muhajir and Ziyad combined
at Zafar, under the overall command of the former, and set out to
fight Ash'as.
Ash'as bin Qais was one of the most remarkable
men of his time. Coming from a princely family of the Kinda, he
was a man of many parts. An able general, a clever chief, a bold
warrior and an accomplished poet, he had a fertile imagination and
a smooth tongue. A man of charm and wit, he was the most colourful
of the many colourful personalities thrown up by the apostasy. But
he had one big flaw; he was treacherous! Historians have noted that
his was the only family that produced four breakers of pacts in
an unbroken line, Ash'as, his father, his son, and his grandson.
Ash'as lived close to the borderline between
virtue and evil, between faith and unbelief, but never quite crossed
that fine. Practising a kind of moral and spiritual brinkmanship,
he was clever enough to get away with it. And now, in late January
633 (the second week of Dhul Qad, 11 Hijri), he faced the Muslim
army in battle.
The battle did not last long. Ash'as was
defeated, though the defeat was not decisive. He speedily withdrew
his army from the battlefield and retreated to the fort of Nujair,
where he was joined by other dissident clans. Here Ash'as prepared
for a siege.
Just after this battle the corps of Ikrimah
also arrived. The three Muslim corps, under the over-all command
of Muhajir, advanced on Nujair and laid siege to the fortified city.
There were three routes leading into the city. The generals deployed
their forces on all three of these routes, completely surrounding
and isolating the city. Reinforcements and provisions coming to
Ash'as were either captured or driven back.
The siege continued for several days. A
number of sallies were made by the beleaguered garrison, but all
were repulsed with losses. Yet the Kinda remained firm in their
determination to fight on.
Some time in mid-February 633 (early Dhul
Hajj, 11 Hijri) Ash'as realised that the situation was hopeless.
There was no possibility of success. It was only a matter of time
before the fort fell to the Muslims, and then there would be a blood?bath.
The next action of Ash'as was characteristic of the man: he decided
to sell his tribe to save himself!
He sent a message to Ikrimah proposing talks.
Ash'as knew Ikrimah well, for in their days of unbelief they had
been good friends. As a result of the proposal talks were arranged
with Ikrimah and Muhajir on one side and Ash'as on the other. Accompanied
by a few men, Ash'as came out of the fort secretly to the rendezvous.
"I shall open the gates of the fort
to you if you will spare the lives of 10 men and their families",
Ash'as offered. To this the Muslims agreed. "Write down
the names of the 10 men," said Muhajir, "and we
shall seal the document."
Ash'as went aside with his men and began
to write down the names. It was his intention first to write the
name of nine favoured ones and then add his own as the tenth, but
he did not notice that one of his men was looking over his shoulder
and reading the names as he wrote. This man, named Jahdam, was not
one of the favoured nine. As Asha's wrote the ninth name, Jahdam
drew his dagger. "Write my name," he hissed, "or
I kill you." Hoping to save himself later by his wits,
Ash'as wrote down Jahdam as the tenth name. The list was complete.
Muhajir sealed the document.
1. Tabari: Vol. 2, p. 547.
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