Musaylimah was fully prepared to fight the Muslims with his army of 40,000 soldiers. Musaylimah’s followers were considered apostates by the Muslims as they renounced Islam for his sake. Both armies clashed at a place called Yamama. The ratio of the apostates to Muslims was 4:1 but the Muslim warriors fought back with such fervor, Musaylimah’s army received an unexpected setback. His son Shurahbeel addressed his people:
O Banu Haneefah! Risk your lives to fight against Muslims! Today you must display honor and courage. If you lose, the Muslims will seize your families. You must sacrifice your lives if you want to defend your honor!
This speech lifted the spirits of the apostates and they pushed the Muslim army back. The Muslims had never faced such a tough enemy. Hazrat Khalid Bin Waleed (ra) split all the Muslims into their tribes and announced that each tribe should fight based on their caliber to reveal who had the most steadfastness in the face of the enemy. This was a very clever move by Hazrat Khalid Bin Waleed (ra) as the tribes began to compete against each other in courage and steadfastness. They fought with such passion that the apostates were forced to take refuge in a garden of Musaylimah1 called “Hadeeqatur-Rahmaan.”2 Hazrat Baraa’ ibn Maalik (ra) who was fighting for the Muslim army followed the apostates to the walled orchard and jumped over to open the doors to let the Muslims in. This really jump-started a conclusive fight between the two armies.3
1 Tadhkaar-e-Sahaabiyyaat by Talib al-Hashmi, ‘Hazrat Umm-e-Ummaarah (ra)’ p. 397, Published by Al-Badr Publications, Urdu Bazaar, Lahore.
2 This garden is also known as Hadeeqatul-Maut [Garden of death]. Taareekhul-Khamees fi Ahwaali Anfusi Nafees by Imam Husain Ibn Muhammad, Vol. 3, p. 190, Al-fasluth-Thaani fi zikril-Khulafaa’ir-Raashideen … Published by Daarul-Kutub al-Ilmiyyah, Beirut 2009.
3 Tadhkaar-e-Sahaabiyyaat by Talib al-Hashmi, ‘Hazrat Umm-e-Ummaarah (ra)’ pp. 397–398, Published by Al-Badr Publications, Urdu Bazaar, Lahore.