Bera Ibn Malik
Bera Ibn Malik didn’t have a very nice
appearance. His hair was messy and his
clothes were untidy. Also he was very
thin. People would take one look at him
and not want to look a second time.
Bera, however, was an outstanding
fighter in the battles with the pagans.
He was so brave and daring that Omar told his governors not to appoint
Bera as a commander. He was afraid that less daring men might be harmed if they
followed Bera.
After the Prophet’s death, many Arab tribes
left Islam. Only the people of Mecca,
Medina and Taif remained Muslim. Their
faith was very strong.
Abu Bekir was caliph at that
time. He mobilized eleven armies from
the Muhajirs and the Ansar.
They were sent all over Arabia.
Their duty was to bring the stray tribes back to the fold of Islam.
The strongest of the renegades was the
Hanife tribe. Musaylamah was their
leader. He said, “I am your prophet,
not Muhammad (pbuh).”
Musaylamah’s army was large.
He had 40,000 soldiers. They
defeated the first Muslim army under the command of Ikrime Ibn Abu Jahil.
Then
Abu Bekir sent a second army. Its
commander was Halid Ibn Velid. Bera was
among the front-line forces. The two
armies met on the battlefield of Yamamah.
Musaylamah’s troops were stronger than the Muslims. The renegades advanced as far as Halid’s
tent. They almost killed his wife.
Halid understood how serious the situation was. He regrouped the Muslims and they began to
fight again. There was much destruction
and death. The Muslims fought very
bravely. Sabit
Ibn Kays
was the flag-bearer of the Ansar. He
dug a ditch and fought there until death.
Omar’s brother, Zeyd, shouted to the
other Muslims, “Fight the enemy with all your might! I will not speak again until Musaylamah is dead or I meet
God.” Then Zeyd charged ahead and
attacked the enemy. He fought bravely
until he became a martyr.
There
were many heroes in that battle, but the greatest of all was Bera. The battle grew fiercer and fiercer. Halid shouted to Bera, “For God’s sake, help
your brothers, Bera.”
Bera turned to his men. He said, “Hey Ansari brothers, don’t think
of going back to Medina. There is no
Medina for you from now on. There is
only God and Paradise.” Then he
attacked the renegades. They began to
withdraw and ran into a garden. After
that day it was called the Garden of Death because so many people were killed
there.
There were high walls around the
garden. Musaylamah and thousands of his
men entered and closed the garden gates.
Then they climbed upon the walls and began shooting arrows down on the
Muslims.
Bera told his men, “Put me on a
shield. Raise the shield with your
spears and throw me into the garden near the gate. Either I will open the gate for you or I will become a martyr.”
The men did as Bera told them. Because he was so thin it was easy for the
men to throw him into the garden. Bera
landed in the Garden of Death in the midst of thousands of enemy troops. He killed ten men before he was able to open
the gate. He received more than eighty
wounds on his body. The Muslims entered
the gate and defeated the enemy. More
than 20,000 men were killed. Musaylamah
was among the dead. Bera was carried to
Medina in a litter. Halid stayed by his
side for a month until his wounds had healed.
Bera went from battle to battle hoping
to become a martyr. He wanted only to
see the Prophet in heaven.
At the Battle of Tuster in Iran, the
Iranians were in a castle. The Muslims
attacked the castle. But they were not
able to capture it. The Iranians threw
down chains with red hot hooks on them.
The hooks caught some of the Muslims.
The Iranians pulled up the chains and killed the men on the hooks.
One of the hooks caught Bera’s
brother, Enes. Bera climbed the wall
and grabbed the chain holding his brother.
Bera started to take out the red hot hook from Enes’ body. He succeeded in getting the hook out. But his own hand burned completely, and he fell to the
ground.
Bera
Ibn Malik got his wish. He became a
martyr at the Battle of Tuster.