Tulayha
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Tulayha ibn Khuwaylid ibn Nawfal al-Asadi ( ar, طليحة بن خويلد بن نوفل الأسدي) was a wealthy Arab clan chief and military commander during the time of
Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد;  570 – 8 June 632 Common Era, CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Muhammad in Islam, Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet Divine inspiration, di ...
; he belonged to the
Banu Asad ibn Khuzaymah Banu Asad ibn Khuzaymah ( ar, ابن أسد بن خزيمة ) is an Arab tribe. They are Adnanite Arabs, powerful and one of the most famous tribes. They are widely respected by many Arab tribes, respected by Shia Muslims because they have burie ...
tribe.Encyclopaedia of Islam By Mufti M. Mukarram Ahmed, Muzaffar Husain Syed, pg.200
/ref> In 625 he was defeated in the
Expedition of Qatan The Expedition of Qatan, was the first Raid on the Banu Asad bin Khuzaymah tribe, which occurred directly after the Battle of Hamra al-Asad in the year 4 A.H of the Islamic calendar.Note: Book contains a list of battles of Muhammad in Arabic, Eng ...
, a Muslim expedition against him. He also took part in the
Battle of the Trench The Battle of the Trench ( ar, غزوة الخندق, Ghazwat al-Khandaq), also known as the Battle of Khandaq ( ar, معركة الخندق, Ma’rakah al-Khandaq) and the Battle of the Confederates ( ar, غزوة الاحزاب, Ghazwat al- ...
in 627 against Muhammad and in
Battle of Buzakha The Battle of Buzakha took place between Khalid ibn al-Walid and Tulayha, in September 632. Strength Khalid had 6,000 men under his disposal while Tulayha had 35,000 men. General Engagement Tuhlaya himself took up a position somewhere t ...
and Battle of Ghamra in 632 against
Rashidun caliphate The Rashidun Caliphate ( ar, اَلْخِلَافَةُ ٱلرَّاشِدَةُ, al-Khilāfah ar-Rāšidah) was the first caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was ruled by the first four successive caliphs of Muhammad after his ...
. He later submitted to the caliphate and later participated in the
Battle of al-Qadisiyyah The Battle of al-Qadisiyyah ( ar, مَعْرَكَة ٱلْقَادِسِيَّة, Maʿrakah al-Qādisīyah; fa, نبرد قادسیه, Nabard-e Qâdisiyeh) was an armed conflict which took place in 636 CE between the Rashidun Caliphate and the ...
,
Battle of Jalula The Battle of Jalula was fought between Sassanid Empire and Rashidun Caliphate soon after conquest of Ctesiphon. After the capture of Ctesiphon, several detachments were immediately sent to the west to capture Qarqeesia and Heet the forts a ...
, and the
Battle of Nahavand The Battle of Nahavand ( ar, معركة نهاوند ', fa, نبرد نهاوند '), also spelled Nihavand or Nahawand, was fought in 642 between the Rashidun Muslim forces under caliph Umar and Sasanian Persian armies under King Yazdegerd ...
on the Muslim side. He along with
Amr ibn Ma'adi Yakrib Amr ibn Ma'adi Yakrib al-Zubaīdi al-Madḥ'hijī ( ar, عمرو بن معد يكرب الزبيدي المذحجي) (died c. 642) was an Arabian calvary commander from the Zubaid clan in Yemen, part of the Madhhij tribe confederation. Amr has d ...
were praised by
Umar ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb ( ar, عمر بن الخطاب, also spelled Omar, ) was the second Rashidun caliph, ruling from August 634 until his assassination in 644. He succeeded Abu Bakr () as the second caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate o ...
for their strength in battlefield and military wisdom during the
Muslim conquest of Persia The Muslim conquest of Persia, also known as the Arab conquest of Iran, was carried out by the Rashidun Caliphate from 633 to 654 AD and led to the fall of the Sasanian Empire as well as the eventual decline of the Zoroastrian religion. Th ...


Biography

He rebelled against
Prophet Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد;  570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the monoth ...
in 631 when he claimed to be a
prophet In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings from the s ...
and the recipient of divine revelation. Thus, Tulayha became the third person to claim prophethood among the Arabs against Muhammad. Many tribes acknowledged him as a prophet, which made him sufficiently strong and powerful to lead a confederacy of numerous tribes against the Muslims. In July 632,
Abu Bakr Abu Bakr Abdallah ibn Uthman Abi Quhafa (; – 23 August 634) was the senior companion and was, through his daughter Aisha, a father-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, as well as the first caliph of Islam. He is known with the honor ...
raised an army mainly from
Banu Hashim ) , type = Qurayshi Arab clan , image = , alt = , caption = , nisba = al-Hashimi , location = Mecca, Hejaz Middle East, North Africa, Horn of Africa , descended = Hashim ibn Abd Manaf , parent_tribe = Qu ...
, a clan within the tribe of
Quraysh The Quraysh ( ar, قُرَيْشٌ) were a grouping of Arab clans that historically inhabited and controlled the city of Mecca and its Kaaba. The Islamic prophet Muhammad was born into the Hashim clan of the tribe. Despite this, many of the Qur ...
.
Ali ibn Abi Talib ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, عَلِيّ بْن أَبِي طَالِب; 600 – 661 CE) was the last of four Rightly Guided Caliphs to rule Islam (r. 656 – 661) immediately after the death of Muhammad, and he was the first Shia Imam. ...
,
Talha ibn Ubaidullah Ṭalḥa ibn ʿUbayd Allāh al-Taymī ( ar, طَلْحَة بن عُبَيْد اللّه التَّيمي, ) was a Companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. In Sunni Islam, he is mostly known for being among ('the ten to whom Paradise was ...
and
Zubair ibn al-Awam Zubair or Zubayr may refer to: Places * Al-Zubair District, a district in Basra Governorate, Iraq **Az Zubayr, the capital of Al-Zubair District **Az Zubair Field, oilfield *Deim Zubeir, a town in Lol State, South Sudan *Zubair Group, a group of vo ...
, were each appointed as commander of one-third of the newly organized force. They fought the
Battle of Zhu Qissa Battle of Zhu Qissa, was a confrontation between the forces led by Tulayha and the forces of the Rashidun Caliphate. Background Abu Bakr received intelligence of the rebel movements, and immediately prepared for the defense of Medina. In Jul ...
against the forces of Tulayha and his followers as they prepared to launch an attack on Medina during the Ridda wars. The Rashidun commanders held until they were reinforced by Abu Bakr. Tulayha was defeated and his forces were driven back to Zhu Hussa. Thereafter,
Khalid ibn al-Walid Khalid ibn al-Walid ibn al-Mughira al-Makhzumi (; died 642) was a 7th-century Arab military commander. He initially headed campaigns against Muhammad on behalf of the Quraysh. He later became a Muslim and spent the remainder of his career in ...
was sent to crush him and his confederacy. The armies of Khalid and Tulayha met at a place named Buzakha in 632. In this engagement, the army of Tulayha was defeated in the
Battle of Buzakha The Battle of Buzakha took place between Khalid ibn al-Walid and Tulayha, in September 632. Strength Khalid had 6,000 men under his disposal while Tulayha had 35,000 men. General Engagement Tuhlaya himself took up a position somewhere t ...
. Following this battle, many of the rebellious tribes surrendered and accepted Islam. However, Tulayha escaped from Buzakha and sought refuge in
Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
. But when Syria was conquered by the Muslims, Tulayha accepted Islam. In 634, he personally paid homage to
Umar ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb ( ar, عمر بن الخطاب, also spelled Omar, ) was the second Rashidun caliph, ruling from August 634 until his assassination in 644. He succeeded Abu Bakr () as the second caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate o ...
after the latter’s assumption of the position of Caliph. Later on, Tulayha enthusiastically took part in the campaign against the
Sassanid Empire The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th centuries AD. Named ...
in the
Battle of Jalula The Battle of Jalula was fought between Sassanid Empire and Rashidun Caliphate soon after conquest of Ctesiphon. After the capture of Ctesiphon, several detachments were immediately sent to the west to capture Qarqeesia and Heet the forts a ...
, the
Battle of al-Qādisiyyah The Battle of al-Qadisiyyah ( ar, مَعْرَكَة ٱلْقَادِسِيَّة, Maʿrakah al-Qādisīyah; fa, نبرد قادسیه, Nabard-e Qâdisiyeh) was an armed conflict which took place in 636 CE between the Rashidun Caliphate and the ...
, and the
Battle of Nahavand The Battle of Nahavand ( ar, معركة نهاوند ', fa, نبرد نهاوند '), also spelled Nihavand or Nahawand, was fought in 642 between the Rashidun Muslim forces under caliph Umar and Sasanian Persian armies under King Yazdegerd ...
.


Battle of al-Qādisiyyah

The Tabari chronicle records that he played significant roles in the famous battle of al-Qādisiyyah. The translation from Arabic language by Andrew Leber said where the contingent of
Bani Assad Banu Asad ibn Khuzaymah ( ar, ابن أسد بن خزيمة ) is an Arab tribe. They are Adnanite Arabs, powerful and one of the most famous tribes. They are widely respected by many Arab tribes, respected by Shia Muslims because they have burie ...
, the clan of Tulayha played significant role on the Yaum Armath (يوم أرماث) or "The Day of Disorder". At one time recorded he single-handedly rushed enemy ranks in the dark of night and came back with a prisoner of war,
Tabari ( ar, أبو جعفر محمد بن جرير بن يزيد الطبري), more commonly known as al-Ṭabarī (), was a Muslim historian and scholar from Amol, Tabaristan. Among the most prominent figures of the Islamic Golden Age, al-Tabari i ...
particularly detailed in one chain of Narrations the circumstances in which Tulayha infiltrated the Sassanid camps under the cover of darkness, singlehandedly wreaking havoc in their camps, killing two Sassanid soldiers, taking two horses and then brought back one captive to Sa'd ibn abi Waqqas.
Muhammad Husayn Haykal Mohammed Hussein Heikal ( ar, محمد حسين هيكل ; August 20, 1888 – December 8, 1956) was an Egyptian writer, journalist, politician. He held several cabinet posts, including minister of education. Life Haekal was born in Kafr Ghan ...
in his book of
Umar ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb ( ar, عمر بن الخطاب, also spelled Omar, ) was the second Rashidun caliph, ruling from August 634 until his assassination in 644. He succeeded Abu Bakr () as the second caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate o ...
biography, also borrowed the same circumstances and wrote the aftermath of the raid as following: Sa'd asking the Sassanid captive about what happened, the latter answered: The Sassanid prisoner later converted to Islam and gave valuable information to the Muslim army. Another record from the notoriously dubious account of
Ya'qubi ʾAbū l-ʿAbbās ʾAḥmad bin ʾAbī Yaʿqūb bin Ǧaʿfar bin Wahb bin Waḍīḥ al-Yaʿqūbī (died 897/8), commonly referred to simply by his nisba al-Yaʿqūbī, was an Arab Muslim geographer and perhaps the first historian of world cultu ...
recorded that Tulayha was among the ones who found the corpse of
Rostam Farrokhzād Rostam Farrokhzād ( fa, رستم فرخزاد) was an Iranian dynast from the Ispahbudhan family, who served as the ''spahbed'' ("military marshal") of the northwestern quarter (''kust'') of Adurbadagan during the reign of Boran () and Yazdeger ...
Later he fought his last battle in the
Battle of Nahāvand The Battle of Nahavand ( ar, معركة نهاوند ', fa, نبرد نهاوند '), also spelled Nihavand or Nahawand, was fought in 642 between the Rashidun Muslim forces under caliph Umar and Sasanian Persian armies under King Yazdegerd I ...
alongside the Muslim armies and later died as
Shahid ''Shaheed'' ( ,  ,   ; pa, ਸ਼ਹੀਦ) denotes a martyr in Islam. The word is used frequently in the Quran in the generic sense of "witness" but only once in the sense of "martyr" (i.e. one who dies for his faith); ...
in that battle.


Death

Tulayha was slain at the last battle in Nahavand. However, his performance was pivotal in Muslims victory in this battle. In fact, the stratagem used by Muslims to lure the Persians and ambush them was created by Tulayha himself.


Appraisal

When Saad bin Abi Waqqaas asked Caliph
Umar ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb ( ar, عمر بن الخطاب, also spelled Omar, ) was the second Rashidun caliph, ruling from August 634 until his assassination in 644. He succeeded Abu Bakr () as the second caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate o ...
to send him reinforcements, Umar replied: "I have sent you 2000 men:
Amru bin Ma'adi Yakrib Amr ibn Ma'adi Yakrib al-Zubaīdi al-Madḥ'hijī ( ar, عمرو بن معد يكرب الزبيدي المذحجي) (died c. 642) was an Arabian calvary commander from the Zubaid clan in Yemen, part of the Madhhij tribe confederation. Amr has ...
and Tulayhah Asadi. Each one of them counts as a thousand." Jabir bin Abdullah has found the praising about Tulayha that he said among soldiers that participating in the battle of al-Qadisiyah that had not desired worldly gain and also exceptionally pious and trustworthy, they are Tulayhah bin Khuwailid Al-Asadi, 'Amr bin Ma'di Karb (another former apostate leader) and
Qays ibn Makshuh Qays ibn Makshuh al-Muradi ar, قيس بن المكشوح المرادي, or also known as Qays ibn Hubayrah was a Companions of the Prophet Muhammad. He converted to Islam during the life of Muhammad. However, he later rebelled during Ridda W ...
('Amr bin Ma'di Yakrib's nephew and Asma' bint Nu'man second husband)


See also

*
Musaylimah Musaylima ( ar, مُسَيْلِمَةُ), otherwise known as Maslama ibn Ḥabīb ( ar, مَسْلَمَةُ بْنُ حَبِيبٍ) d.632, was a preacher of monotheism from the Banu Hanifa tribe. He claimed to be a prophet in 7th-century Arabia ...
* Al-Aswad Al-Ansi *
Sajah Sajah bint Al-Harith ibn Suayd ( ar, سجاح بنت الحارث بن سويد, fl. 630s CE) from the tribe of Banu Taghlib, was an Arab Christian protected first by her tribe; then causing a split within the Arab tribes and finally defended by ...
*
Saf ibn Sayyad Saf ibn Sayyad ( ar, الصف بن الصياد), later known as Abdullah ibn Sa'id ( ar, عبد الله بن سعيد), was an alleged claimant of prophethood during the time of Islamic prophet Muhammad and his companions who later disappeared a ...
*
Ridda Wars The Ridda Wars ( ar, حُرُوْبُ الرِّدَّةِ, lit=Apostasy Wars) were a series of military campaigns launched by the first caliph Abu Bakr against rebellious Arabian tribes. They began shortly after the death of the Islamic proph ...


References


Notes


External links


E.J. Brill's First Encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913-1936, By Martijn Theodoor Houtsma, T W Arnold, A J Wensinck, pg.831
Tulayha’s characteristics described.
Islam at war, By George F. Nafziger, Mark W. Walton, pg.17
Tulayha’s humour.
Islamic History, By M. A. Shaban, pg.30
Tulayha joins the Muslim army to fight the
Sassanid Empire The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th centuries AD. Named ...
. {{Authority control Converts to Islam 7th-century Muslims Arab generals Arab prophets Medieval Arabs killed in battle Self-declared messiahs People of the Muslim conquest of Persia 7th-century Arabs People of the Ridda Wars