False Prophethood of Musaylima al-Kadhdhāb and battle of Yamama

Allah bestowed Holy Prophet (PBUH) with the prophethood and assigned him the task of spreading the light of faith in humanity. This task was not easy and He (PBUH) faced many challenges and overcame them with the help of Allah. A brief study of the life of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) shows a list of those challenges. One of the major challenges in the last days of the Holy Prophet’s life was the false claimers of prophethood. Holy Prophet (PBUH) himself prophesized that there will be 30 lairs, claimers of false prophethood.

The Prophethood liars:

We Muslims call them al-Kadhāb, the liars. Two of the liars appeared in the life of the Holy Prophet (PBUH). Musaylima al-Kadhdhāb was the most dangerous one and Muslims fought the battle of Yamama against Musaylima al-Kadhdhāb.

Islam's First Biggest Prophethood liar:

He was a man of good physique and eloquence. He accepted Islam but later on declared false prophethood. He belonged to the tribe of central Arabia called Banu Hanifa. The whole tribe of Banu Hanifa accepted Islam but later on got exploited by the words of Musaylima. He changed the verses of the Quran and added his own words to sound like the word of God. He used to tell people that he is the prophet of God. (Naudbillah). He has the task to divide the workload of prophethood with Muhammad (PBUH).

First Prophethood Propaganda:

When Holy Prophet (PBUH) asked him to refrain from the activity of falsehood, he wrote an impudent letter to Holy Prophet (PBUH) and demanded a division of Arabia. Half of Arabia will be under Muslim rule and half under the rule of Musaylima. Holy Prophet (PBUH) replied that God is the Creator and he bestows power to those whom he will. With the demise of the Holy Prophet (PBUH), he started propaganda that one prophet is no more and the other is alive so it is better to follow the one who is alive. He used every tactic to exploit the people of Banu Hanifa.

Rules are rules:

Hazrat Abu Bakar(RA) organized the armies against Musaylima al-Kadhdhāb to end this Fitnah on Earth. The Muslim army was to attack in two columns. The leader of one was Ikaramah and Shurabbil bin Hasnahwas led the other. Hazrat Abu Bakar advised them not to attack without the aid of others but they did not follow the advice. Ikramah reached Yamama before Shurabbil and attacked the Musaylima and resulting in a defeat. Similarly, Shurabbil also attacked without the help of Ikaramah. He also tasted defeat. These consecutive victories of the Musaylima army increased their confidence and he presented it as the will and miracle of God to his people.

Khalid Bin Waleed:

Hazrat Abu Bakar(RA) sent Khalid Bin Waleed to lead the battle. He also encouraged those Muslims to participate who fought the battle of Badar with the Holy Prophet (PBUH). Many Muslims joined the Army and now it was the time for victory. At Aqaraba, Musaylima and Muslim armies confronted each other. Musaylima's army was greater in number and remained victorious in the battle of Aqarba. Khalid Bin Waleed gathered Muslims and devised his next strategy. Son of Abu Bakar (RA), Abdur Rahman used his arrow to kill Muhkam bin Tufail who was leading the army. At the same time, Khalid Bin Walid used a war strategy and used his troop of thousand cavalry riders to attack the tent of Musaylima. He was successful in his strategy and Muslims reached the tent of Musaylima.
He escaped and took refuge in a fortified garden nearby. Muslims followed them and on the advice of Bara Bin Malik, Khalid Bin Waleed allowed him to jump inside the garden. He was successful in narrowing down the door of that castle.

Garden of death:

Muslim army entered the garden and killed those who were taking refuge in the garden. There was heavy bloodshed in the garden and later this garden got the title” Garden of death”. Now, it was the time to kill the false prophet. A Muslim woman, who fought the battle of Uhud and his son got stuck in the trap of Musaylima and became successful to reach Musaylima during the battle. The same Wahshi means an Abyssinian who martyred Hamza (RA) thrown a juvenile toward Musaylima. Later on, Abdullah went forward and killed him with his bow. With the death of Musaylima al-Kadhdhāb, this fitna of a liar came to an end.

A Great Loss:

The battle of Yamama inflicted great loss to the Islamic state because about 1200 Muslims embraced martyrdom and out of them 360 were Hafiz-e-Quran. Therefore, after the battle of Yamama, Abu Bakar Siddiq started the process of compilation of the Quran. This battle was fought in Yamama and that’s why it is called the battle of Yamama.

There were a few other claimers of false prophethood as well at that time. Few reconverted to Islam and others also met their deserved destination.