Battle of Mu'tah

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Battle of Mu'tah
partof=the Byzantine-Arab Wars


caption=
date=629
place=Near Karak, Jordan
result= Draw according to Muslim sources, [Ibn Ishaq and Ibn Hisham report a stalemate for both Muslims and Romans. Ibn Kathir however reports a Muslim victory.] Muhammad Husayn Haykal, "The Life of Muhammad (Allah's peace and blessing be upon him)", Translated by Isma'il Razi A. al-Faruqi, 1976, American Trust Publications ISBN 0-89259-002-5]
Byzantine victory according to Christian sources [F. Donner, "The Early Islamic Conquests", p.105]
combatant1=Muslim Arabs
combatant2=Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire,
Ghassanids
commander1=Zayd ibn HarithahKIA,
Ja'far ibn Abu TalibKIA,
Abdullah ibn RawahahKIA,
Khalid ibn al-Walid
commander2=Heraclius,
Theodorus,
Shurahbil ibn Amr al-Ghassani
strength1=3,000 [Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyya, "Zad al-Ma'ad" 2/155] [Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, "Fath al-Bari" 7/511] Saif-ur-Rahman Mubarakpuri, "ar-Raheeq al-Makhtoom", "The Sealed Nectar", Islamic University of Medina, Dar-us-Salam publishers ISBN 1-59144-071-8]
strength2=10,000–15,000 (modern estimate)
100,000 (primary sources)
casualties1=600
casualties2=3,350

The Battle of Mu'tah ( _ar. معركة مؤتة , غزوة مؤتة) was fought in 629 (5 Jumada al-awwal 8 AH in the Islamic calendar), near the village of Mu'tah, east of the Jordan River and Karak, between a force of Muslims dispatched by the Islamic prophet Muhammad and an army of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire.

In Muslim histories, the battle is usually described as the Muslims' attempt to take retribution against a Ghassanid chief for taking the life of an emissary; it ended in a draw and the safe retreat of both sides. However, some modern historians view the battle as an unsuccessful expedition aimed at conquering the Arabs living to the east of Jordan.cite encyclopedia |author=Buhl, F |editor=P.J. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel and W.P. Heinrichs | encyclopedia =Encyclopaedia of Islam Online Edition |title=Mu'ta |publisher=Brill Academic Publishers |id=ISSN 1573-3912]

Background

The Treaty of Hudaybiyyah initiated a truce between the Muslim forces in Medina and the Quraishi forces in control of Mecca. Badhan, the Sassanid governor of Yemen, had converted to Islam and many of the southern Arabian tribes also joined the rising power in Medina.Sayed Ali Asgher Razwy (1996), "A Restatement of the History of Islam and Muslims", [http://al-islam.org/restatement/30.htm The Battle of Mootah] , ISBN 0-9509879-1-3] Muhammad was therefore free to focus on the Arab tribes in the Bilad al-Sham to the North.

Muslim histories say that the immediate impetus for a military march north was the mistreatment of emissaries. Muhammad is said to have sent emissaries to the nomadic Banu Sulaym and Dhat al Talh tribes of the north (tribes under the protection of the Byzantines). The emissaries were killed. The expedition sent for revenge was the largest Muslim army raised yet against a non-Meccan confederate force and would be the first to confront the Byzantines. According to F. Buhl, another possible reason "seems to have been that he wished to bring the (Christian or pagan) Arabs living there under his control." ["Mu'ta", Encyclopedia of Islam Online.]

Mobilization of the armies

According to later Muslim historians, Muhammad dispatched 3,000 of his troops to the area in Jumada al-awwal of the year 8 A.H. 629, for a quick expedition to attack and punish the tribes. The army was led by Zayd ibn Haritha; the second-in-command was Jafar ibn Abi Talib and the third-in-command was Abdullah ibn Rawahah.

The leader of the Ghassanids is said to have received word of the expedition and prepared his forces; he also sent to the Byzantines for aid. Muslim historians report that the Byzantine emperor Heraclius gathered an army and hurried to the aid of his Arab allies. Other sources say that the leader was the emperor's brother, Theodorus. The combined force of Roman soldiers and Arab allies is usually reported to be 100,000 to 200,000 according to Muslim sources. However, it is probable that these numbers were based on reconnaisance reports and local rumors.

When the Muslim troops arrived at the area to the east of Jordan and learnt of the size of the Byzantine army, they wanted to wait and send for reinforcements from Medina. Abdullah ibn Rawaha scolded them for their timidity, so they continued marching towards the waiting army.

The battle

The Muslims engaged the Byzantines at their camp by the village of Musharif and then withdrew towards Mu'tah. It was here that the two armies fought. Some Muslim sources report that the battle was fought in a valley between two heights, which negated the Byzantines their numerical superiority. During the battle, all three Muslim leaders fell one after the other as they took command of the force: first, Zayd ibn Haritha, then Jafar ibn Abi Talib, then Abdullah ibn Rawaha. Al-Bukhari reported that there were fifty stab wounds in Jafar's body, none of them in the back. After the death of the latter, some of the Muslim soldiers began to rout. Thabit ibn Arkan, seeing the desperate state of the Muslim forces, took up the banner and rallied his comrades, and managed the army from complete destruction. After the battle the troops asked Thabit ibn Arkan to assume command; however, he declined and asked Khalid ibn al-Walid to take the lead.

Khalid ibn Al-Walid reported that the fighting was so intense that he used nine swords which broke in the battle. Al-Walid, seeing that the situation was hopeless, prepared to withdraw. He continued to engage the Byzantines in skirmishes, but avoided pitched battle. One night he completely changed his troop dispositions and brought forth a rearguard that he had equipped with new banners; all this was intended to give the impression that reinforcements had arrived from Medina. He also ordered his cavalry to retreat behind a hill during the night, hiding their movements, and then return during at daytime when the battle resumed, raising as much dust as they could. This also was intended to create the impression that further reinforcements were arriving. The Byzantines believed in the fictitious reinforcements and withdrew, thus allowing the Muslim force to safely retreat to Medina.

Muslim commentators on the battle have often praised the skirmishing tactics of Khalid ibn al-Walid, and regard him as one of the finest military commanders in history.

Aftermath

When the Muslim force arrived at Medina, they were berated for withdrawing and accused of fleeing. Salamah Ibn Hisham is reported to have avoided going to the mosque to avoid taunts. Muhamad ordered them to stop, saying that they would return to fight the Byzantines again.

Today, those Muslims who fell at the battle are considered martyrs (shahid). Muslims claim that this battle, far from being a defeat, was a strategic success; the Muslims had challenged the Byzantines and had made their presence felt amongst the Arab Bedouin tribes in the region. A mausoleum was later built at Mu'ta over their grave.

Criticism of the traditional Muslim accounts

Aside from the Muslim accounts, Western historians today also consider certain other historical point of views such as the chronicle written by Byzantine monk and chronicler Theophanes.

According to Theophanes, the Muslim army intended to attack the local Arabs on a feast day (the word that Theophanes used most likely indicates a pagan rather than a Christian holiday). However, the vicar Theodorus learnt about their plans and gathered a force from the garrisons of local fortresses. He fell upon the Muslims at Mu'tah and routed them; three of the Muslim leaders were killed, and only Khalid ibn al-Walid managed to escape with the rest of the army.

Fred Donner, author of "The Early Islamic Conquests", argues that Muhammad sent his troops on numerous raids into Byzantine territory: Dhat al-Atla, Mut'a, Dhat al-Salasil, Tabuk, and Dumat al-Jandal. Donner writes of Muhammad's aims in these raids:

: he probably had as his immediate objective the subjugation of Arabic-speaking nomadic tribes living in the northern Hijaz and southern Syria, or at least the extension of Medina's influence sufficiently to bring these tribes into alliance with the Islamic state. (p. 102)

Donner terms the raid upon Mut'ah a failure. He writes:

: Both Judham and Lakhm were among the Byzantine allies that defeated the Muslims at Mu'ta in A.H. 8/A.D. 629. (p. 105)

Lieutenant-General A.I. Akram, of the Pakistani army, wrote a book entitled Sword of Allah about Khalid bin Al-Walid. He suggests that the numbers used in the Muslim accounts were based on the exaggerated reports of reconnaissance carried out by the Muslims, and that the actual number of the Byzantines would not have exceeded 10,000-15,000 troops, citing his own reasons.General A. I. Akram, "The Sword of Allah: Khalid bin Al-Waleed", Chapter 6, p. 2]

Notes

References

*Haykal, Muhammad Husayn (1995). The Life of Muhammad. Islamic Book Service. ISBN 1-57731-195-7

Online References

* [http://www.witness-pioneer.org/vil/Books/SM_tsn/ch6s5.html] Ar-Raheeq Al-Makhtum (THE SEALED NECTAR)
* [http://www.witness-pioneer.org/vil/Books/MH_LM/campaign_of_mutah.htm] The Life of Muhammad
* [http://www.grandestrategy.com/2007/12/sword-of-allah-chapter-6-mutah-and.html] Sword of Allah

ee also

* History of Islam
* Muhammad as a general
* Jihad
* Muhammad and Christianity