Chapter V

CAMPAIGN OF KHALID AGAINST THE FALSE PROPHET TOLEIHA.

A.H. XI. NOV. A.D. 632.

[Sidenote: Materials for the first epoch imperfect.]

The materials for our story at this point are few, obscure, and disconnected. The scene of confusion that reigned throughout Arabia is presented to our view in but dim and hazy outline. With the Prophet’s life, _Tradition proper_ ends. The prodigious stores of oral testimony, which light up in minutest detail the career of Mahomet, suddenly stop. The grand object of tradition was, from the oral teaching and example of the Prophet, to supplement by authoritative rulings what was wanting in the Corân. That motive ceased with the death of Mahomet, and with it tradition, as such, ceases also.[24] What history we have for the period immediately succeeding is in the form of loose fragments--the statements, it may be, of eyewitnesses, or gathered as hearsay from the memory of Arab tribes, or from legends in the neighbouring conquered lands. Hence it is that, after the death of Mahomet, we are left for a time to grope our way by evidence always scanty and often discrepant. The further back we go, the obscurity is the greater; and it is most so while, in the first year of Abu Bekr’s Caliphate, Islam was struggling for existence. There was little room then for thought beyond the safety of the moment; and when at length the struggle was over, nothing was left but the sense of relief from a terrible danger, and the roughest outline of the way in which it had been achieved. No date is given for any one of the many battles fought throughout the year. Here and there we may be guided by the apparent sequence of events; but as the various expeditions were for the most part independent of one another, and proceeding simultaneously all over the peninsula, even this indication too often fails.[25]

[Sidenote: Arrangement of narrative of campaigns against apostate tribes.]

Such being the case, the thread of our narrative here must run an arbitrary course. Taking Tabari as our guide, we begin with the campaign of Khâlid against Toleiha in the north-east, and follow him thence southward to Yemâma. We shall then take up the provinces assigned to other leaders, as they lie geographically around the coasts--Bahrein, Omân, Hadhramaut and Yemen.

[Sidenote: KHÂLID ibn Welîd.]

After Abu Bekr and Omar, the most prominent figure in the story of the early Caliphate is without doubt that of KHÂLID, son of Welîd. More to him than to any other is it due that Islam spread with such marvellous rapidity. A dashing soldier, and brave even to rashness, his courage was tempered by a cool and ever-ready judgment. His conduct on the battle-fields which decided the fate of the Persian empire and of the Byzantine rule in Syria, must rank him as one of the greatest generals of the world. Over and again he cast the die in crises where loss would have been destruction to Islam, but always with consummate skill and heroism which won the victory. The carnage following his arms gained for him the title of _The Sword of God_; and so little regard had he for loss of life even amongst his own followers, that he could wed the freshly-made widow of his enemy on the field yet moistened by his people’s blood. He had already distinguished himself in the annals of Islam. Fighting, at the first, on the side of the Coreish, the defeat of the Prophet at Ohod was due mainly to his prowess. At the capture of Mecca, now in the ranks of the faithful, his was the only column which shed blood; and shortly after, the cruel massacre of an unoffending tribe brought down upon him the stern reproof of Mahomet.[26] At the battle of Mûta, three years before, he had given a signal proof of his generalship, when, the Moslem army having been routed by Roman legions, and its leaders one after another slain, he saved the shattered remnants by skilful and intrepid tactics from destruction.[27] It was this Khâlid whom Abu Bekr now sent forth against the rebel prophets Toleiha and Moseilama.

[Sidenote: Khâlid marches towards the Beni Tay.]

His column, by far the strongest of the eleven, was composed of the flower of the Refugees from Mecca, as well as of the men of Medîna, which latter marched under their own officer, Thâbit son of Cays.[28] To divert the enemy’s attention, Abu Bekr gave out that the destination was Kheibar, and (to strike the greater terror into the insurgents) that he intended himself to join it there with a fresh contingent. Khâlid, however, was not long in quitting the northern route. Striking off to the right, he made direct for the mountain range of Ajâ and Salmâ, the seat of the Beni Tay, and not distant from the scene of Toleiha’s revolt among the Beni Asad.

[Sidenote: _Toleiha_, the false prophet.]

Of the doctrines of Toleiha, as of the other pretenders to the prophetic office, we know little, nor indeed anything at all to show wherein the secret of influence lay. A few doggrel verses and dark or childish sayings are all that the contemptuous voice of tradition has transmitted of their teaching, if such it can be called. So far as appears, it was a mere travesty of Islam. Toleiha forbad prostration during worship. ‘The Lord,’ he said, ‘hath not commanded that ye should soil your foreheads in the dust, neither that ye should double up your backs in prayer.’ Similarly Moseilama and Sajâh remitted two of the five daily times of prayer. That four pretenders (for Sajâh the prophetess was also such) should have arisen in different parts of Arabia, and, even before the death of Mahomet, drawn multitudes after them, would seem to imply something in their doctrine deeper than senseless rhymes and more specious than petty variations of the Moslem rite.[29] So much is clear, that the spiritual sense of Arabia had been quickened by the preaching of Mahomet, and that his example had not only suggested the claims of others, but also contributed to their success. Jealousy of Mecca and Medîna, moreover, and impatience of the trammels of Islam, were powerful incentives for Bedouins to cast in their lot with these pretenders. Thus the Beni Ghatafân, who before their submission to Mahomet were in league with the Tay and Asad tribes, had recently fallen out with them and lost some of their pasture-lands. Oyeina,[30] chief of the Ghatafân, now counselled a return to their old relations with the Beni Asad. ‘Let us go back,’ he said, ‘to our ancient alliance which we had before Islam with them, for never since we gave it up have I known the boundaries of our pasture-lands. A prophet of our own is better than a prophet of the Coreish. Besides, Mahomet is dead, but Toleiha is alive.’ So saying, Oyeina, followed by 700 warriors of his tribe, joined the false prophet at Bozâkha.

[Sidenote: Khâlid reclaims the Beni Tay.]

When first he heard of the heresy, Mahomet had deputed Dhirâr to the Beni Asad, with instructions to rally the faithful amongst them, and with their aid to crush Toleiha. The two encountered one another, and the sword of Dhirâr, we are told, glanced off from the person of his adversary. On this, a rumour spread abroad that Toleiha led a charmed life, and thenceforward his cause prospered. After their defeat at Abrac, the insurgents, as we have seen, flocked to Toleiha at Bozâkha, and he was further strengthened by the adhesion of two influential branches of the Beni Tay.[31] Dhirâr found his position at last so insecure that he fled to Medîna. The great family of the Beni Tay, however, was not wholly disloyal, for Adî (as above mentioned) had already presented the legal dues to Abu Bekr on behalf of some part of it. Adî therefore was now sent forward by Khâlid to his people, in the hope of detaching them from Toleiha’s cause. He found them in no friendly humour. ‘The Father of the Foal!’ they cried (for such was the sobriquet contemptuously used for Abu Bekr[32]); ‘thou shalt not persuade us to do homage to him.’ ‘Think better of it,’ replied Adi; ‘an army approacheth which ye cannot withstand. Ye shall know full soon that he is no foal, but a lusty stallion. Wherefore see ye to it.’ Alarmed at his words, they begged for time that they might recall the two branches which had joined Toleiha, ‘For,’ said they, ‘he will surely hold them hostages, or else put them to death.’ So Khâlid halted three days, and in the end they not only tendered submission, but joined him with 1,000 horse, ‘the flower of the land of Tay, and the bravest of them.’

[Sidenote: Battle of Bozâkha.]

Thus reinforced, Khâlid advanced against Toleiha. On the march his army was exasperated by finding the bodies of two of their scouts--one a warrior of note named Okkâsha--who had been slain, and left by Toleiha to be trampled on the road.[33] The armies met at Bozâkha, and the combat is said to have been hot and long. At last (so we are told) the tide of battle was turned by certain utterances of Toleiha, who was on the field in his prophetic garb of hair. Oyeina fought bravely with his 700 of the Beni Fezâra.[34] The situation becoming critical, he turned to Toleiha, saying, ‘Hath any message come to thee from Gabriel?’ ‘_Not yet_,’ answered the prophet. A second time he asked, and received the same reply. ‘Yes,’ said Toleiha, a little after, ‘a message now hath come.’ ‘And what is it?’ inquired Oyeina eagerly. ‘Thus saith Gabriel to me, _Thou shalt have a millstone like unto his, and an affair shalt happen that thou wilt not forget_.’ ‘Away with thee!’ cried Oyeina scornfully; ‘no doubt the Lord knoweth that an affair will happen that thou shall not forget! Ho, ye Beni Fezâra, every man to his tent!’ So they turned to go; and thereupon the army fled. Toleiha escaped with his wife to Syria. His subsequent history proved him a brave warrior; but he had a poor cause, and the combat could hardly have been very severe, as no mention is made of loss on either side.

[Sidenote: Toleiha’s sequel.]

His sequel is curious. At the first, Toleiha took refuge with the Beni Kelb on the Syrian frontier; then when the Beni Asad were pardoned, he returned to them and again embraced Islam. Passing Medîna soon after on pilgrimage, he was seized and carried to Abu Bekr, who set him at liberty, saying, ‘Let him alone. What have I to do with him? The Lord hath now verily guided him into the right path.’ When Omar succeeded to the Caliphate, he presented himself to take the oath of allegiance. At first Omar spoke roughly to him: ‘Thou art he that killed Okkâsha and his comrade. I love thee not.’ ‘Was it not better,’ answered Toleiha, ‘that they by my hand should obtain the crown of martyrdom, rather than that I by theirs should have perished in hell-fire?’ When he had sworn allegiance, the Caliph asked him concerning his oracular gift,[35] and whether anything yet remained of it. ‘Ah,’ he replied, ‘it was but a puff or two, as from a pair of bellows.’ So he returned to his tribe, and went forth with them to the wars in Irâc, where, in the great struggle with Persia, he became a hero of renown.

[Sidenote: Beni Asad and other tribes received back into Islam.]

After the battle of Bozâkha, the Beni Asad, fearing lest their families should fall into the conqueror’s hand, tendered their submission. The Beni Aámir, Suleim, and Hawâzin, tribes which had stood aloof watching the event, now came in, and received from Khâlid the same terms as the Beni Asad. They resumed the profession of Islam with all its obligations, and in proof thereof brought in the tithe. A full amnesty was then accorded, on condition only that those who during the apostasy had taken the life of any Moslem should be delivered up. These were now (to carry out the Caliph’s vow) put to the like death as that which they had inflicted. If they had speared their victims, cast them over precipices, drowned them in wells, or burned them in the fire, the persecutors were now subjected to the same barbarous and cruel fate.

[Sidenote: A body of malcontents under Omm Siml discomfited.]

Khâlid stayed at Bozâkha for a month, receiving the submission of the people in the vicinity and their tithes. Troops of horse scoured the country, and struck terror into the vacillating tribes around. In only one direction was serious opposition met. Certain malcontents from amongst the penitent and returning people, unable to brook submission, gathered themselves together in a defiant attitude. They had yet to learn that the grip of Islam was stern and crushing. Their restless and marauding spirit preferred, perhaps, even as a forlorn hope, to hold their enemy at bay; or they had sinned beyond the hope of grace. Thus they assembled in a great multitude around Omm Siml, daughter of a famous chieftain of the Ghatafân. This lady’s mother, Omm Kirfa, had been captured and put to a cruel death by Mahomet. She herself had waited upon Ayesha as a captive maid in the Prophet’s household; but the haughty spirit of her race survived the servitude. Mounted on her mother’s war-camel, she led the force herself, and incited the insurgents to a bold resistance. Khâlid proclaimed the reward of one hundred camels to him who should maim her camel. It was soon disabled; and, Omm Siml slain, the rout was easy.[36]

[Sidenote: Oyeina, Corra, and Alcama released by Abu Bekr.]

In this campaign the only persons taken captive were those who had deeply compromised themselves as leaders in rebellion. They were sent by Khâlid to Abu Bekr. The chief were Oyeina, Corra, and Alcama. The story of this last, a chief of the Beni Aámir, is curious. After the surrender of Tâyif he had fled to Syria. On the death of Mahomet he returned, and incited his people to rebellion. An expedition sent in pursuit of him had seized his family, and carried them off captive to Medîna. He fled; but as all the country-side had now submitted, there was no longer any way of escape, and he was seized and delivered up to Khâlid. Corra, of the same tribe, was one of those whom Amru, on his journey from Oman, had found vacillating, and of whom he brought an evil report to Abu Bekr. Oyeina, the marauding chieftain of the Fezâra, had often been the terror of Medîna. When the city was besieged by the Coreish, he offered his assistance on certain humiliating terms, which the Prophet was near accepting; and he was one of the many influential leaders ‘whose hearts,’ after the battle of Honein and siege of Tâyif, ‘had been reconciled’ by the Prophet’s largesses. He was now led into Medîna with the rest in chains, his hands tied up behind his back. The citizens crowded round to gaze at the fallen chief, and the very children smote him with their hands, crying out, ‘Enemy of the Lord, and apostate!’ ‘Not so,’ said Oyeina bravely; ‘I am no apostate; I never was a believer until now.’[37] The Caliph listened patiently to the appeal of the captives. He forgave them, and commanded their immediate release.

[Sidenote: Fujâa, a freebooter, burned alive.]

Abu Bekr, as a rule, was mild in his judgments, and even generous to the fallen foe. But on one occasion the treachery of a rebel chief irritated him to an act of barbarous cruelty. Fujâa, a leader of some note amongst the Beni Suleim, under pretence of fighting against the insurgents in his neighbourhood, obtained from the Caliph arms and accoutrements for his band. Thus equipped, he abused the trust, and, becoming a freebooter, attacked and plundered Moslem and Apostate indiscriminately. Abu Bekr thereupon wrote letters to a loyal chief in that quarter to raise a force and go against the brigand. Hard pressed, Fujâa challenged his adversary to a parley, and asserted that he held a commission from the Caliph not inferior to his. ‘If thou speakest true,’ answered the other, ‘then lay aside thy weapons and accompany me to Abu Bekr.’ He did so, and followed, without further resistance, to Medîna. No sooner did he appear than the Caliph, enraged at his treachery, cried aloud: ‘Go forth with this traitor to the burial-ground, and there burn him with fire.’ So, hard by in Backî, the graveyard of the city, they gathered wood, and heaping it together at the _Mosalla_, or place of prayer, kindled the pile, and cast Fujâa on it.

[Sidenote: Abu Bekr regrets the act.]

If the charges were well founded, which we have no ground for doubting, Fujâa deserved the fate of a bandit; but to cast him alive into the flames was a savage act, for which Abu Bekr was sorry afterwards. ‘It is one of the three things,’ he used to say, ‘which I would I had not done.’[38]