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Al-Baraa Ibn Malik
Al-Ansari
Scanned from: "Companions of The Prophet", Vol.1, By: Abdul Wahid Hamid.
His hair looked dishevelled and his whole appearance was
unkempt. He was thin and wiry with so little flesh on his
bones that it was painful to look at him. Yet in single-
handed combat he defeated and killed many opponents
and in the thick of battle he was an outstanding fighter
against the mushrikeen. He was so courageous and daring
that Umar once wrote to his governors throughout the
Islamic state that they should not appoint him to lead any
army out of fear that he would have them all killed by his
daring exploits. This man was al-Baraa ibn Malik al-
Ansari, the brother of Anas ibn Malik, the personal aide of
the Prophet.
If the tales of Baraa's heroism were to be told in detail,
pages and pages could be written. But let one example
suffice.
This particular story begins only hours after the death of
the noble Prophet when many Arabian tribes took to
leaving the religion of God in large numbers, just as they
had entered it in large numbers. Within a short space of
time only the people of Makkah, Madinah and Taif and
scattered communities here and there, whose commitment
to Islam was unwavering, remained within the religion.
Abu Bakr as-Siddiq, the successor to the Prophet, stood
firm against this blind and destructive movement. From
the Muhajireen and Ansar, he mobilized eleven armies
each under a separate commander and despatched them to
various parts of the Arabian peninsula. Their purpose was
to make the apostates return to the path of guidance and
truth and to confront the leaders of the rebellion.
The strongest group of apostates and the greatest in
number were the Banu Hanifah among whom
Musaylamah the Imposter arose, claiming that he was a
prophet. Musaylamah managed to mobilize forty
thousand of the best fighters among his people. Most of
these however followed him for the sake of asabEyyah or
tribal loyalty and not because they believed in him. One of
them in fact said, "I testify that Musaylamah is an imposter
and that Muhammad is true but the imposter of Rabi'ah
(Musaylamah) is dearer to us than the true man of Mudar
(Muhammad). "
Musaylamah routed the first army sent against him
under the leadership of Ikrimah ibn Abi Jahl. Abu Bakr
despatched another army against Musaylamah led by
Khalid ibn al-Walid. This army included the cream of the
Sahabah from both the Ansar and the Muhajireen. In the
front ranks of this army was Baraa ibn Malik and a group
of the most valiant Muslims.
The two armies met in the territory of the Banu Hanifah
at Yamamah in Najd. Before long, the scale of battle tilted
in favour of Musaylamah and his men. The Muslim
armies began to retreat from their positions. Musaylamah's
forces even stormed the tent of Khalid ibn Walid and
drove him from his position. They would have killed his
wife if one of them had not granted her protection.
At that point, the Muslims realised in what a perilous
situation they were. They were also conscious of the fact
that if they were annihilated by Musaylamah, Islam would
not be able to stand as a religion and Allahرthe One God
with whom there is no partnerرwould not be worshipped
in the Arabian peninsula after that.
Khalid mustered his forces once more and began
reorgamsing them. He separated the Muhajireen and the
Ansar and kept men from different tribes apart. Each was
put under the leadership of one of its own members so
that the losses of each group in the battle might be known.
The battle raged. There was much destruction and
death. The Muslims had not experienced anything like
this in all the wars they had fought before. Musaylamah's
men remained firm amidst the tumult, as firm as
immovable mountains although many of them had fallen.
The Muslims displayed tremendous feats of heroism.
Thabit ibn Qays, the standard bearer of the Ansar, dug a
pit and planted himself in it and fought until he was killed.
The pit he dug turned out to be his grave. Zayd ibn
alKhattab, brother of Umar ibn al-Khattab, may God be
pleased with them both, called out to the Muslims: "Men,
bite with your jaw teeth, strike the enemy and press on. By
God, I shall not speak to you after this until either
Musaylamah is defeated or I meet God." He then charged
against the enemy and continued fighting until he was
killed. Salim, the mawla of Abu Hudhaifah, and standard
bearer of the Muhajireen displayed unexpected valour. His
people feared that he would show weakness or be too
terrified to fight. To them he said, "If you manage to
overtake me, what a miserable bearer of the Qur'an I shall
be." He then valiantly plunged into the enemy ranks and
eventually fell as a martyr.
The bravery of all these, however, wanes in front of the
heroism of al-Baraa ibn Malik, may God be pleased with
him and with them all.
As the battle grew fiercer and fiercer, Khalid turned to
al-Baraa and said, "Charge, young man of the Ansar."
AlBaraa turned to his men and said, "O Ansar, let not
anyone of you think of returning to Madinah. There is no
Madinah for you after this day. There is only Allah, then
Paradise."
He and the Ansar then launched their attack against the
mushrikeen, breaking their ranks and dealing telling blows
against them until eventually they began to withdraw.
They sought refuge in a garden which later became
known in history as The Garden of Death because of the
many killed there on that day. The garden was surrounded
by high walls. Musaylamah and thousands of his men
entered and closed the gates behind them and fortified
themselves.
From their new positions they began to rain down arrows
on the Muslims.
The valiant Baraa went forward and addressed his
company, "Put me on a shield. Raise the shield on spears
and hurl me into the garden near the gate. Either I shall
die a martyr or I shall open the gate for you."
The thin and wiry al-Baraa was soon sitting on a shield.
A number of spears raised the shield and he was thrown
into the Garden of Death amongst the multitude of
Musaylamah's men. He descended on them like a
thunderbolt and continued to fight them in front of the
gate. Many fell to his sword and he himself sustained
numerous wounds before he could open the gate.
The Muslims charged into the Garden of Death through
the gates and over the walls. Fighting was bitter and at
close quarters and hundreds were killed. Finally the
Muslims came upon Musaylamah and he was killed.
Al Baraa was taken in a litter to Madinah. Khalid ibn
alWalid spent a month looking after him and tending his
wounds. Eventually his condition improved. Through him
the Muslims had gained victory over Musaylamah.
In spite of recovering from his wounds, al-Baraa
continued to long for the martyrdom which had eluded
him at the Garden of Death. He went on fighting in battle
after battle hoping to attain his aim. This came at the
battle for Tustar in Persia.
At Tustar the Persians were besieged in one of their
defiant fortresses. The siege was long and when its effects
became quite unbearable, they adopted a new tactic. From
the walls of the fortress, they began to throw down iron
chains at the ends of which were fastened iron hooks
which were red hot. Muslims were caught by these hooks
and were pulled up either dead or in the agony of death.
One of these hooks got hold of Anas ibn Malik, the
brother of al-Baraa. As soon as al-Baraa saw this, he leapt
up the wall of the fortress and grabbed the chain which
bore his brother and began undoing the hook from his
body. His hand began to burn but he did not let go before his
brother was released.
Baraa himself died during this battle. He had prayed to
God to grant him martyrdom.
Scanned from: "Companions of The Prophet", Vol.1, By: Abdul Wahid Hamid.
