Have you watched the Hollywood movie 300? Where 300 Spartans stand against hundreds of thousands of Persians and die fighting? Well, I am not going to talk about Leonidas and his 300 Spartans, but this is the story of Ikrimah and his 400 Mujahideen.
It was the 4th day in the
battle of Yarmouk, the Muslims were on the verge of defeat and complete
annihilation, the lines of the 40,000 strong Islamic
army were crumbling in the face of the 250,000 gargantuan heavily
equipped Roman army. Seeing the formations of the Islamic army falling
all around, thousands of soldiers in the Islamic army started to rout
and retreat. It looked like only death and defeat were left for the
Muslims.
Although thousands retreated, some Muslims did not.
Witnessing the desperate situation of the Muslims, Ikrimah bin Abu Jahl
(ra) and his regiment of 400 Mujahideen refused to retreat, and took an
oath to die fighting. Ikrimah and his regiment of 400 charged towards
the force of 250,000 Romans, and attacked the Romans with such fury,
killing thousands and stopped their advance. As time went on, one by
one, the Muslims in the regiment fell, all of the regiment including
Ikrimah bin Abu Jahl (ra) died fighting and embraced martyrdom.
Witnessing this heroic bravery of Ikrimah and his Mujahideen, the
retreating soldiers of the Islamic army began to rally under Khalid bin
Walid (ra) and attacked the Romans. Unable to bear the onslaught of the
Muslims, the Romans broke rank and fled. The Romans lost the battle and
at least 100,000 men. It was the greatest victory in the history of
Islam.
The Muslims would have lost the battle of Yarmouk in 636
CE if not for the 'Suicide operation' or 'Martyrdom operation' of
Ikrimah bin Abu Jahl (ra) and his regiment of 400.
Contrary to
modern popular opinion, suicide/martyrdom operations are not something
invented by people in the modern times, infact the Sahabah were the first
ones to do Martyrdom operations in the field of battle.
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QUESTION :
Assalamu Alaikum beloved Akhi, I told my friends
and family about the Martyrdom operations of the Sahabah in battles like
Yarmouk and Qadissiyah and later in
battles like in Constantinople in 1453, and I told them like you pointed
out that even the Muslims of Aceh used these tactics with the approval
of the Aceh Ulema against the Dutch oppressors, but they reply back to
me saying that the Sahabah and early Muslims used it because it was a
different time and now it is irrelevant and they reply back to me saying
that the Sahabah didn't blow themselves up, how can I make them
understand? Jazakallahu Khair.
ANSWER :
Waalaikum Salaam Warahmatullah,
First of all we need to make something very clear, suicide is
absolutely haram in Islam, and what Muslims do in warfare is called
Ishtishadi operations, or martyrdom operations. There is a huge
difference between martyrdom operations and the average suicide. The
definition of suicide according the Oxford dictionary is :
"The act of killing yourself deliberately!"
Suicide is where you intentionally kill yourself due to stress,
anxiety, sadness or any other worldly emotional factor, suicide is
totally prohibited in Islam. However, martyrdom operations are not an
act of suicide, because your intention is not to kill yourself but to
defend Islam and inflict huge losses upon the oppressors. According to
the Shariah it is permissible, The intention matters.
It is
important note that these operations are permissible for targeting
military targets only, and it is completely forbidden in Islam to attack
civilians or non-combatants in anyway.
Secondly, why was
martyrdom operations were used by the Sahabah? Just like the enemies of
Islam today, the enemies of the Sahabah were not average foes, but rather
the two greatest superpowers of their time, the Roman and the Persian
Empires. These Empires were far more technologically advanced, and were
far more advanced in every department than the Muslims. Their Empires
had several complex sophisticated army divisions, and one mere division
alone would have around 100,000 well equipped, trained and elite
soldiers. The Muslims on the other hand numbered a few thousand and
didn't even have proper footwear and or even food.
The answer to
that question is simple. Historically, the main objectives was to negate
the technological advantage of the Roman and Persians had over the
Muslims (such as the Roman elite armored units and the Persian war
elephants) and to counter the numerical superiority of their armies by
demoralizing them through devastating martyrdom attacks.
Claiming
that now it is a different time and that cannot be used now is false
since Islam doesn't change according to past or present, Islam is Islam.
We don't circle the Kaaba in Hajj through cars just because it is the
modern age right?
On the issue of Sahabah blowing themselves up,
we need to think clearly about one thing. If the Sahabah were alive
today, and if they were fighting the modern day Americans instead of the
7th century Romans, do you think they would charge and fight the
Americans with swords and spears?
To make it clear, Ikrimah (ra)
and 400 of his soldiers conducted a martyrdom operation in the battle
of Yarmouk, they all died and embraced martyrdom, now due to the nature
of modern warfare, one soldier conducting a martyrdom operation alone
today, can do much more damage than Ikrimah and his 400 did in the
battle of Yarmouk and of course the Muslims would have had 400 living
soldiers. Ultimately lives are saved.
We are facing the same
situation the Sahabah faced during their times, our enemies are also
world superpowers, and far more technologically advanced and has
numerous huge armies. Martyrdom operations negate the technological edge
of our enemies, and their numerical superiority, not to mention the
countless Muslim lives it would save.
When the Sahabah conducted
martyrdom operations against Persian Elephants yesterday , how is it
impermissible to conduct martyrdom operations against heavy enemy tanks
today?
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