Muhammad a Prophet For all Humanity
6. The Path of the Prophet
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Khalid ibn al-Walid came forward, held aloft the
standard, and advanced on the Roman lines. The
Byzantine forces were then forced to retreat.
The outcome of this battle was indecisive, however,
and there always remained the possibility that the
Arabs of Petraea, with Roman help, would advance
on Madinah and seek to stamp out the nascent
power of Islam. That threat had been felt as early as
A.H. 5, when ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab, on being asked
by another companion if he had heard any news,
replied: “What? Have the Ghasasina arrived?”
The Prophet was fully aware of this threat, and he
made sure in his last days that full preparation had
been made for a force to combat the Petraean wing
of the Roman army. The force which was recruited
included leading companions such as Abu Bakr and
‘Umar, but the Prophet did not put them in
command. Instead he wisely appointed Usamah ibn
Zayd, who, besides being a courageous young
warrior, was also spurred on by the fact that his
father, Zayd ibn Harithah, had been killed by the
Romans in the Battle of Muta. This army, however,
was unable to advance during the lifetime of the
