…and the conquerors in the theatres of war. Time has battered them until they crumbled to dust; destitution (1) has taken charge over them. “The wicked women are for the wicked men, and the wicked men for the wicked women.” Where are the kings who once stirred the earth and cultivated it? They have vanished, their memory erased, and they have become nothing at all. Indeed, Allah—exalted is He—has left their liabilities upon them and severed them from their passions. They departed while their deeds remained with them, and the world passed to others. We have been raised in their wake: if we take heed from them we will be saved, but if we slip we shall become like them.
Where are those whose faces were radiant and handsome, those so enamoured of their youth? They have turned to dust, and what they neglected now torments them with regret. Where are the ones who built cities, fortified them with walls, and filled them with marvels? They left them to those who came after; their dwellings now lie desolate while they themselves languish in the darkness of the graves: “So do you perceive any one of them, or hear from them so much as a whisper?” (Maryam 19:98).
Where are the fathers and brothers you once knew? Their appointed terms have expired; they have been returned to what they sent ahead and have settled upon it—either to misery or to bliss after death. Know that Allah has no partner. There is no blood-tie between Him and any of His creation that will earn them good or repel harm, save obedience to Him and adherence to His command. Realise that you are servants who are in debt, and that what is with Him is attained only through obedience. Has the time not come for one of you to draw the Fire away from himself and bring the Garden near?
Section: Dispatching the Army of Usamah ibn Zayd
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ had ordered this contingent to march to the frontiers of al-Balqaʾ in Syria—where Zayd ibn Ḥarithah, Jaʿfar, and ʿAbdullah ibn Rawahah were martyred—in order to raid those territories. They therefore proceeded to al-Jurf and encamped there; ʿUmar ibn al-Khattab was among them, and—according to some reports—Abu Bakr al-Ṣiddīq as well, whom the Messenger of Allah had exempted so that he might lead the prayer. When the illness of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ intensified they remained at al-Jurf; after his death the calamity became immense, the situation critical, hypocrisy surfaced in Madinah, many Arab tribes around the city apostatised, and others refused to pay the zakah to al-Ṣiddīq. No town retained the Friday prayer except Mecca and Madinah, while the village of Jawathā in Bahrain was the first to re-establish it once the people had returned to the truth, as is related in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī (2) from Ibn ʿAbbās, as will be mentioned.
The tribe of Thaqīf in Ṭāʾif, however, remained firm upon Islam; they neither fled nor apostatised. When these events unfolded, many people advised al-Ṣiddīq not to dispatch Usamah’s army, arguing that he needed them for matters more pressing, since the expedition had been outfitted during a time of tranquillity. Among those who offered this counsel was ʿUmar ibn al-Khattab. Al-Ṣiddīq nevertheless refused—and most firmly refused—to do anything but send Usamah’s army. He declared, “By Allah, I will not undo a knot that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ tied, even if birds were snatching us up and wild beasts were circling Madinah. Even if dogs were dragging the feet of the Mothers of the Believers, I would still dispatch Usamah’s army and station guards around the city.” In fact, their departure at that moment proved to be one of the greatest advantages in those circumstances.