~Jumada al-Awwal, 8 AH (c. 629 CE) · 8 AH
Scholars read this differently
Scholars differ on whether to call this a ghazwa (since the Prophet ﷺ did not personally take part) or a sariyya; most early scholars used ghazwa given its scale, while later scholars prefer sariyya. Others called it Waq'at al-Mu'tah. The precise cause is also uncertain: al-Waqidi's account of al-Harith ibn Umayr's killing is the earliest given reason, but other explanations (a threat from the governor of Bosra; preparation for later battles against Rome) are also reported with less evidence. The reported size of the opposing force (100,000-150,000 in some books) is considered a clear exaggeration; a maximum of about 10,000 (mostly Arab Christian tribesmen with perhaps 1,000 Romans) is thought more realistic. Scholars are also divided on whether the battle itself was a victory, a loss, or a draw (see significance); Musa ibn Uqba, al-Bayhaqi, and Ibn Kathir hold it a victory, al-Waqidi and Ibn Sa'd a loss, and Ibn Ishaq, Ibn Abd al-Barr, and Ibn al-Qayyim a draw. The account of Khalid's second-day deception ruse comes from a later source of unclear origin and is reported with caution.
In brief
The Battle of Mu'tah, fought in Jumada al-Awwal 8 AH in what is now Jordan, was the only battle the Muslims fought against the Romans in the Prophet ﷺ's lifetime. By the earliest account it was sent in answer to the killing of the Prophet ﷺ's envoy by the Ghassanid chief. The Prophet ﷺ dispatched around 3,000 men under Zayd ibn Harithah RA, naming Ja'far ibn Abi Talib RA and then Abdullah ibn Rawahah RA to succeed him if he fell, the only time he ever appointed a chain of commanders. At Ma'an the army learned that the Ghassanids had gathered their Christian Arab allies and a Roman contingent that far outnumbered them. After two days of debate they chose to advance. In the battle all three commanders were killed one after another carrying the banner. The army then chose Khalid ibn al-Walid RA, a Muslim of barely two months, who saw the battle could not be won, fought a holding action until nightfall, and brought the army home almost intact with fewer than twenty dead. In Madinah the Prophet ﷺ had announced each commander's death as it happened, grieved for them, and defended the returning army against those who called them deserters, naming them instead men who would return to the fight.
Outcome: Zayd ibn Harithah RA, Ja'far ibn Abi Talib RA, and Abdullah ibn Rawahah RA, the three commanders the Prophet ﷺ had named in succession, were all killed carrying the banner. Khalid ibn al-Walid RA, chosen on the battlefield to lead after them, fought a holding action, then used the cover of nightfall (and, by one less certain report, a ruse suggesting reinforcements) to withdraw the army to Madinah largely intact: fewer than 20 of about 3,000 Muslims were killed.
The only battle against the Romans in the Prophet ﷺ's lifetime and the first Muslim army to cross into the north; it announced that Islam would not stop at Arabia's edge, gave Khalid ibn al-Walid RA the experience of Roman warfare he would use in the conquests, and cost the Prophet ﷺ three of the men he loved most. Whether it was a victory, a draw or a defeat is argued to this day: Musa ibn Uqba, al-Bayhaqi and Ibn Kathir call it a victory on the Prophet ﷺ's own word, al-Waqidi and Ibn Sa'd a loss, Ibn Ishaq and Ibn al-Qayyim a draw.
A veteran of Badr told Abu Hurairah RA, staring at the Roman host, that they had not won at Badr by numbers either.
The Prophet ﷺ's joy at Ja'far's return from Abyssinia was recalled at the news of his death.
Khalid had been a Muslim for barely two months when the army chose him at Mu'tah.
Told as a flash-forward: the joy of Ja'far's return would be cut short by his death at Mu'tah the next year.
Usama was sent towards the land where his father had been killed.
Other events recorded in 8 AH. Their order within the year is not established; use the storyline above for the sequence.
Three thousand volunteers, three commanders named in succession, and Ibn Rawahah RA weeping for the crossing of the Fire.
If Zayd is killed, then Ja'far ibn Abi Talib shall be in charge. And if Ja'far is killed, then Abdullah ibn Rawahah shall be in charge. And if Abdullah ibn Rawahah is killed, then let the Muslims choose someone else.
What prevented you from setting out in the morning with your companions?
The detachment set out early on a Friday, but Abdullah ibn Rawahah RA stayed behind to pray Jumu'ah with the Prophet ﷺ, meaning to catch up with them afterwards.
Ya Rasulullah, I wanted to pray with you and then catch up with them.
Were you to spend all that is in the earth, you would not attain the merit of their setting out in the morning.
I am not crying out of love for this world, nor an inclination for it. I am crying thinking of the verse: "Every one of you shall pass over it, and this is a promise of Allah that will be enacted." What will I do in that crossing?
As for me, I ask for Allah's forgiveness, and a blow that is mighty that causes the blood to gush out, so that when people pass by my grave, they shall say, "Allah guided him to be a warrior, and how rightly guided he was."
Let me die, O Allah, and be a shaheed, with a blow that causes my blood to gush out.
Recited through the night on the march, as the young Zayd ibn Arqam RA, then an orphan of about 15-16 raised in Ibn Rawahah's household, rode behind him on his camel.
O foolish one, what would it matter to you if I become a shaheed and Allah blesses me, and you get the camel to yourself on the way back?
Said in a friendly way, jokingly striking Zayd ibn Arqam RA after the night poem moved him to tears.
What a great man Abdullah ibn Rawahah is.
News of the Romans stops the army for two days until Ibn Rawahah RA tells them that what they fear is what they came for.
What is your opinion?
Asked after the army learned the Ghassanids had rallied far more men than expected, and camped for two days debating whether to send to the Prophet ﷺ for orders or turn back.
O my people, what you are scared of is exactly what you are after. What is the matter with us? Allah will bless us with one of two things: either victory or shahada. And Allah does not help us through quantity or weapons, but rather through the Islam He has blessed us with. So let us go forth and face one of the two inevitable realities.
No, for the enemy is in front of us, and I don't want to be sidetracked into another battle that will wound, tire out, and separate us before we meet the big enemy.
Said after a village they passed showered the rear of the army with arrows, wounding several and killing one, and some pressed him to turn back and fight the village first.
Zayd, then Ja'far with both hands gone, then Ibn Rawahah; Thabit ibn Arqam RA saves the banner and the army chooses Khalid.
Fell holding the Prophet ﷺ's banner, surrounded on every side, at Mu'tah.
Fought on with the banner after Zayd fell, sustaining over ninety wounds; when his right hand was severed he held the flag with his left, and when that too was severed, he raised it against his own chest, until he was cut down.
I swear, O my soul, you shall proceed or I will force you to proceed. The people have gathered, the clamor has risen, but what is the matter with you? You don't want Jannah? Surely, what you have desired has eluded you for too long. What are you, O Ibn Rawahah, except a drop of despised fluid put in a bag?
Recited on the battlefield after taking up the banner from the fallen Ja'far; he hesitated a moment before plunging in, then jumped into the ranks.
Took up the banner after Ja'far fell, and was killed a shaheed at Mu'tah.
O Muslims! Come quickly! Choose a leader amongst you!
Shouted after grabbing the fallen banner and falling back about fifty meters from the fighting, once it was clear Zayd, Ja'far, and Ibn Rawahah were all dead. When the gathered Muslims urged him to lead them himself, he refused, saying, "No, not me!", and all eyes turned instead to Khalid ibn al-Walid.
How could I? I am who I am.
Said when the Muslims, with the banner fallen and no leader left, turned to him (newest of them to Islam, and formerly their fiercest enemy, responsible for their wounds at Uhud) to take command. He then accepted the flag.
Archers, nine broken swords, and a withdrawal that brings back all but twenty of three thousand.
Lift me on top of your shield and I will shoot as hard as I can: you be my eyes.
Directing his two companions where to aim, as his eyesight had weakened with age.
On the day of Mu'tah, nine swords were broken in my hand, and only a Yemenite shield of mine remained in my hand.
Killed a Roman officer in golden armor at Mu'tah using only a goatskin shield and a single sword, and took his horse, armor, and weapons as spoils.
What is this?
Seeing the goods the man had taken as spoils from the Roman officer he had killed.
I killed the Roman, so I get all of his goods.
This is too much for one soldier. You must give some to the treasury.
But this is the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ.
You won't get all of this.
I will complain to the Prophet ﷺ.
The Prophet ﷺ narrates each death as it happens, then sits down under the weight of it.
Zayd took the flag and he was killed. Ja'far took it and he was killed. And Ibn Rawahah took it and he was killed... A Sword from the Swords of Allah took it, and Allah gave him victory at his hands.
Told to the gathered sahaba in Madinah as the battle unfolded far away in Mu'tah, before any messenger had brought the news; his eyes were seen crying as he spoke, as later narrated by Anas ibn Malik RA. The "Sword of Allah" was Khalid ibn al-Walid, who had just taken up the flag.
When the news of the death of Zayd, Ja'far, and Ibn Rawahah came, the Prophet ﷺ sat down, and grief was clearly visible on him.
Ya Rasulullah, the women of Ja'far are crying.
Reported to the Prophet ﷺ after news of the deaths at Mu'tah reached Madinah, as Ja'far's household had begun to wail in grief.
Go and tell them to stop.
Ya Rasulullah, I stopped them.
But they did not listen, and the wailing went on.
Go and tell them to stop.
Ya Rasulullah, the women have overpowered us.
Then go throw dust into their mouths.
A common Arabic expression of exasperation, not a literal instruction.
Rather, may Allah throw dust on your nose! For neither have you done this, nor have you relieved this suffering of the Prophet ﷺ!
Prepare food for the family of Ja'far, for a matter has occurred that has made them busy.
Whenever the Prophet ﷺ would see Usama after Mu'tah, he would tear up and cry, remembering his father Zayd.
Food for the household, the boys' hair cut, and a promise to Asma bint Umays RA.
After today, let no one cry over my brother.
Visiting the wife and children of Ja'far after three days.
We looked like baby chickens, until the Prophet ﷺ ordered a barber be called to trim our hair.
As for Muhammad, he looks just like my uncle Abu Talib.
Praising Muhammad ibn Ja'far, the younger of Ja'far's two sons, whose grandfather was Abu Talib.
As for Abdullah, he looks just like me, and he acts just like me.
Praising Abdullah ibn Ja'far, the elder of Ja'far's two sons.
O Allah, allow Ja'far's progeny to remain. O Allah, bless Abdullah in all of his transactions.
Your father's hands have been substituted with two wings, and he is flying around in Jannah wherever he wants to go.
Ya Rasulullah, they are all orphans.
Asma, fearing for her children's future.
Are you scared of poverty for them, when I will be the one who will take care of them in this world and the Next?
I saw Ja'far in Jannah, and Allah has given him two wings instead of his hands, and he is flying around anywhere he wants.
I went hunting for the body of Ja'far after the battle, and we found him in the middle of the dead: I counted over ninety wounds across his body, fifty in front and forty in the back.
Assalamu'alaykum, O sons of the Dhi al-Janahayn (the One With Two Wings).
Said by Ibn Umar RA whenever he passed by the children of Ja'far ibn Abi Talib RA, a recurring greeting, not tied to one moment.
The survivors are mocked as deserters until the Prophet ﷺ changes one letter; the Yemeni's booty and Khalid's honour.
What is the matter with Salama? I haven't seen him in the masjid.
Ya Rasulullah, he has not come out of his house, because every time he exits, people make fun of him and rebuke him, saying, "O you who ran away, have you run away from the way of Allah?"
They are not furrar, the ones who run away: rather, they are kurrar, the ones who come back and will fight again.
Why are you crying?
Finding a group of sahaba huddled together in the masjid, some of them weeping over the martyrs of Mu'tah.
Why should we not cry, O Messenger of Allah ﷺ, when the best of us and the noblest of us have left?
But do not cry, for the example of my ummah is like a garden whose owner has cut the leaves and the branches and prepared his houses so that each year gives a better crop than the last year. And al-Masih Isa will meet this ummah, and there will be a group that he meets who are like you, or even better than you. And Allah will not humiliate an ummah whose first is me and whose last is al-Masih.
Complained to the Prophet ﷺ in Madinah that Khalid ibn al-Walid RA had taken back part of his battlefield spoils from Mu'tah.
Give it all back.
Didn't I tell you?! Now you got what you deserved?
What is this? Why did you just say this?
I had told him I would complain to you, and your verdict is in my favor.
In that case, O Khalid, do not give it to him. Will you not leave my commanders for me? Take the good from them and leave their bad.
We used to consider gathering in the house of the deceased, and their preparing food for us, to be a part of the niyah (wailing) that the Prophet ﷺ forbade.
A general teaching on mourning customs, recalled in connection with the household of Ja'far ibn Abi Talib RA after Mu'tah.
“Every one of you shall pass over it (Jahannam). And this is a promise of Allah that will be enacted.”
The post explicitly names and quotes this ayah (Q19:71, on all souls passing over the Fire) as what moved the speaker to tears.