Tragedy of Bi'r Ma`oona

In the tragedy of Bi'r Ma'oona, seventy Sahabah were massacred. All of them were Hafiz of Qur'an. Their Jama'at was called the Jama'at of Qi+raa and consisted mostly of Ansaar.

The Prophet (Sallallaho alaihe wasallam) loved them very much, for they engaged themselves in Zikr and recitation of the Qur'an during the night, and attended upon the Prophet (Sallallaho alaihe wasallam) and his family during the day. A person named Amir bin Malik and known as Abu Bara, telonging to Bani Amir clan of Najd, came to the Prophet (Sallallaho alaihe wasallam) and took this Jama'at with him for the Tabligh and the Ta'leem of his clan. The Prophet (Sallallaho alaihe wasallam) expressed his apprehensions, saying:

“I fear some harm may come to my Sahabah."

But the person assured him that he was personally respon-sible for their safety. The Prophet (Sallallaho alaihe wasal-lam), after much hesitation, agreed to send the Jama'at of seventy Sahabah with him. He also gave them an epistle to `Amir bin Tufail (the head of the clan), inviting him to Islam.

These Sahabah camped at Bi'r Ma'oona. Hadhrat 'Umar bin Umayyah (Radhiyallaho anho) and Hadhrat Munzir bin 'Umar (Radhiyallaho anho) took the camels for grazing and Hadhrat Haraam (Radhiyallaho anho) with two companions went to deliver the Prophet's epistle to 'Amir bin Tufail. On reaching near his place, Hadhrat Haraam (Radhiyallaho anho) said to his companions:

"You both stay here; I shall go alone to him. If I am safe, you may also come after me, but if I am betrayed you may return from here, as the loss of one is better than of three."

'Amir bin Tufail was the nephew of 'Amir bin Malik, who had brought the Jama'at. He was a bitter enemy of Islam and hated the Muslims to the core. When Hadhrat Haraam (Radhiyallaho anho) delivered the Prophet's (Sallallaho alaihe wasallam) epistle to him, he did not even care to read it and attacked Hadhrat Haraam (Radhiyallaho anho) with his spear, which pierced through the latter's body. Hadhrat Haraam (Radhiyallaho anho) uttered "By the Lord of the Ka'bah. I have triumphed," and died. The heartless person had no consideration for the guarantee given by his uncle, nor for the accepted tradition all over the world, that nobody would kill the envoy. He then assembled the people of his clan and exhorted them to kill all the Sahabah camping at Bi'r Ma'oona. The people hesitated, in view of the guarantee given by 'Amir bin Malik. He collected a large number of people from the neighbouring tribes and attacked the Muslims. They massacred each one of them, except Hadhrat Ka`b bin Zaid (Radhiyallaho anho), who had some life left in him and the enemy left him as dead. Hadhrat Munzir and Hadhrat Umar (Radhiyallaho anhuma), while grazing the camels, noticed vultares hovering in the air. They exclaimed. 'Something foul has happened, and returned to the camp. They saw from some distance that their companions were dead and the murder-ers were standing around their bodies with bloody swords in their hands. They stopped a while to think what they might do. Hadhrat 'Umar (Radhiyallaho anho) said:

"Let us go back to Madinah and inform the Prophet (Sallallaho alaihe wasallam)."

Hadhrat Munzir (Radhiyallaho anho) did not agree. He said:

"The Prophet (Sallallaho alaihe wasallam) will get the information sooner or later. I do not like to miss martyrdom and run away from the place where our companions are lying in their peaceful sleep. Let us go forward and meet them."

They both went and jumped into the thick of battle. Hadhrat Munzir (Radhiyallaho anho) was killed and Hadhrat `Umar (Radhiyallaho anho) was captured. As 'Amir's mother had to set free a slave in connection with some vow that she had made, 'Amir set Hadhrat `Umar (Radhiyallaho anho) free and let him go. 'Amir bin Fuhairah (Radhiyallaho anho), a slave of Abu Bakr (Radhiyallaho anho), was also among those who were killed at Bi'r Ma'oona. Jabbar bin Salmi, who killed him says:

When I thrust my spear through him, he uttered, `By Allah, I have triumphed and to my amazement I saw his body lifted upwards towards the sky. I made enquiries later on as to what was the triumph that 'Amir bin Fuhairah (Radhiyallaho anho) meant when he uttered, `By Allah, I have triumphed.' I was told that it was that of entering into Paradise. This made me embrace Islam.

These are the illustrious' people, of whom Islam is rightly proud. Death had really more attraction for them than wine for their enemies. As they did deeds which were sure to win Allah's pleasure, they felt most triumphant at the time of surrendering their souls.