Beware of hesitating when pleasing Allah - A lesson from the battle of Mutah

We are all guilty of it.

* “I’ll start next week.”
* “Just after I (insert-useless-task-here)“
* “I don’t feel like it right now.”

And we all want to cure it.

But procrastination is NOT an orphan. It has a parent cause. It might just be laziness and boredom, usually due to Shaitaan’s whipsers. It may be a fear of the task. It may be a lack of motivation, and it maybe the willingness to settle for less than excellence.

Sometimes the difference between greatness and excellence, is nothing more than a fleeting second.

Here is the story of one critical moment in the life of a Sahabi (companion of Prophet Mohammad salla allahu allayhe wa salam).

Let us learn from that moment. The moment that made all the difference.

The facts:

* Sahaba Involved:

1. Zaid bin Haritha
2. Jaa’far bin abi Talib (The Prophet salla allahu allayhe wa salam said that Jaa’far was similar to him both in appearance and character)
3. Abdullah Ibn Rawaha (From the Ansar. A poet)

* Battle:

1. Mu’tah.
2. Number: 3000 Muslims vs. 200,000 Romans
3. The Prophet (allayhe alsalat wa salam) was not present. He was in Madinah.

The Story:

For the battle of Mu’tah, the three sahaba Zaid bin Haritha, Jaa’far bin abi Talib, and Abdullah Ibn Rawaha were chosen by the Prophet, salla allahu allayhe wa salam, as leaders, in that order. (As in: the Leader is Zaid, but if anything happens to him, then it is Jaa’far, and if anything happens to him, it is Abdullah Ibn Rawaha)

Look at the numbers. 3000 vs. 200,000. That’s scary! The Sahaba were worried if they could take on this mighty task. Abdullah Ibn Rawaha comforted them: “Oh people, the thing you fear is the thing you have left for: martydom, and we shall not fight our enemy with our numbers or strength or abdundance, but only with this Deen Allah has honored us with. So proceed for the result is one of two greatnesses: victory or martydom.”

With that, he raised their spirits, “Wallah Ibn Rawaha has told the truth.” And they went, motivated and renewed.

Now during this next particular part of the battle, the Prophet salla allahu wa salam reported it by a miracle-the events were reported live.

It began with Zaid bin Haritha. Arrows shooting at him left and right. One right in his shoulder. But he remained firm. The Prophet, salla allahu allayhe wa salam told the Ansar that were listening, “Zaid bin Haritha took the flag and fought with until he was killed a martyr…”

Zaid immediatley entered Jannah.


Then, “Jaa’far took the flag and fought with it until he was killed a martyr…”

The Prophet’s eyes welled with tears for Jaa’far…Allayhe alsalatu wa alsalam..

And Jaa’far was replaced with wings in Jannah, to fly with them as he pleased in Jannah

Before the Prophet, (SAW), continued, he was silent…He was silent to the extent that the expressions upon the faces of the Ansar listening changed-they were worried…What happened to Abdullah ibn Rawaha?

He did take the flag, and continued in the battlefield…But Ibn Rawaha hesitated a moment.

Imagine facing death. Realizing that if the other two had just been killed martyrs, his turn was soon.


But he strengthen himself with his own beautiful lines of poetry…

أقسمت يا نفس لتنزلنه لتنزلن أو لتكرهنه إن أجلب الناس وشدوا الرنه
مالي أراك تكرهين الجنه قد طال ما قد كنت مطمئنه
هل أنت إلا نطفة في شنه

يا نفس إلا تقتلي تموتي هذا حمام الموت قد صليت
وما تمنيت فقد أعطيت إن تفعلي فعلهما هديت

Quote:

I swear upon you Oh Nafs (self) that you shall enter or shall be forced to do so, The people have gathered and the cries have raised… What is the matter with you? I see that you do not wish for heaven! It has been too long for you to have been comforted… What are you (Oh Nafs) but a tiny speck? Oh Nafs if you are not killed then you shall still die.. These are the signs of the death upon you And it is your exact desire that you have been given If you do their (Zaid and Jaa’far’s) action then you have been guided…

And he entered the battlefield. Then he found a piece of meat and took a bite. Then he heard the sound of people fighting and asked himself:

“وأنت فى الدنيا؟” And You are in Dunya?

He dropped the meat and went on...Then the Prophet reports, “Abdullah bin Rawaha took the flag but hesitated a moment, then he entered and fought and died a martyr…”

Then the Prophet, (SAW), began speaking about all three: “I see them in jannah, like the vision of one who is dreaming, they are upon beds made of gold. But I see Abdullah bin Rawaha’s bed not leveled with the beds of his friends.”
The sahaba listening questioned, “Why is that?”
He replied, “They went. But Abdulalh hesitated a bit of hesitation, then he went."

The Lesson:

Abdullah Ibn Rawaha did the right thing-the very right thing- eventually. But he hesitated one moment. And we hesitate hour after hour, year after year. We may catch the deadline, but we’ve missed out- On the Ajar, the reward.

Also, talk and action are different. Abdullah Ibn Rawaha comforted the army at the beginning. He then had to use his tongue to comfort himself-when it came down to that moment of truth.

Let’s-Apply-Together:

-Every time we are about to procrastinate doing a good task let us ask ourselves, our ‘nafs’, “What is wrong? Do you not wish for Jannah? I swear upon you oh nafs to _________”… and think, “Ibn Rawaha hesitated A MOMENT.” Don’t let that be your moment.