It is permissible to put an animal to death when there is fear that the enemy will benefit from it. Abū Ḥanīfah held this view with regard to sheep that fall behind the marching army: if one fears the enemy will overtake them and make use of them, they may be slaughtered and burned so as to deprive the foe of that advantage. Allah knows best.

Al-Suhaylī said: No one objected to what Jaʿfar did, and that proves the permissibility of such an act when the enemy is likely to seize the animal; it is not included in the Prophet’s prohibition of killing living creatures frivolously.

Ibn Hishām related: A trustworthy scholar informed me that Jaʿfar took the banner in his right hand and it was cut off; he seized it with his left and it too was cut off; he then clasped it to his chest with the stumps of his arms until he was killed, at the age of thirty-three. For that Allah rewarded him with two wings in Paradise with which he may fly wherever he wishes. It is also said that a Roman struck him that day and cleft him in two.

Ibn Isḥāq said: Yaḥyā ibn ʿAbbād ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Zubayr told me, on the authority of his father ʿAbbād, who said: My own father—who nursed me at the breast and was one of Banū Murrah ibn ʿAwf—told me: When Jaʿfar was killed, ʿAbd Allāh ibn Rawāḥah took up the banner. Mounted on his horse he moved forward, coaxing his soul, hesitating a little, and then he recited in rajaz verse:

I swear, O soul, you shall dismount—
dismount, or you will be dragged thereto!
Though people rally and raise the war-cry loud,
why do I see you shrinking from the Garden?
Long have you basked in ease and calm;
are you not but a drop of fluid in a skin?

He also said:

O soul, if you do not die, you still will die;
death’s chalice—already you have tasted it.
What you desired has now been granted you;
if you do as they have done, you will be guided—

meaning his two companions, Zayd and Jaʿfar. Then he dismounted. A cousin of his brought him a strip of meat, saying, “Strengthen your back with this, for you have endured much these past days.” He took it, bit off a morsel, then heard the clash of arms elsewhere in the ranks and exclaimed, “And are you still in this world?!” He threw it aside, seized his sword, advanced, and fought until he was killed—may Allah be pleased with him.

Thereupon Thābit ibn Aqram of Banū al-ʿAjlān took the banner and cried, “O Muslims, choose a man among you.” They said, “You are the one.” He replied, “I will not.” The people then agreed upon Khālid ibn al-Walīd. When he received the banner he pressed the enemy hard, shielded the troops, and withdrew in orderly fashion, leading the Muslims back in safety.