使者们一回来,真主的使者ﷺ便整备军队,宣布在阿拉伯半岛之外进行圣战。他ﷺ开始关注有关罗马人和波斯人的消息,由于与罗马人接壤,他ﷺ也不断搜集关于他们的情报。他ﷺ预料,伊斯兰的讯息一旦传到阿拉伯半岛之外,就将迅速传播开来。因此,他ﷺ确信沙姆(即今天的大叙利亚)将是突破口。自从波斯王在也门的总督巴丹皈依伊斯兰以后,他ﷺ便确信那里不再有迫在眉睫的危险,于是开始考虑派兵前往沙姆,与罗马人作战。于是在伊历第7年的粟特月,也就是侯代比亚和约签订后仅几个月,他ﷺ集结了一支由三千名勇士组成的精锐部队,并任命宰德·本·哈里萨为统帅。他ﷺ对他们说:“如果宰德受伤,贾法尔应接替指挥;如果贾法尔也受伤,阿卜杜拉·本·拉瓦哈应接替指挥。”

As soon as the envoys returned, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) prepared the army and declared Jihad outside the Arabian Peninsula. He (pbuh) began monitoring the news about the Romans and the Persians, and since he had frontiers with the Romans he was constantly gathering intelligence about them. He (pbuh) anticipated that the Message of Islam was about to spread rapidly once it had reached beyond the Arabian Peninsula. Therefore, he was sure that al-Sham (greater Syria today) would be the breakthrough. Ever since Badhan, the governor of Chosroes in Yemen, had embraced Islam, he (pbuh) was assured against any imminent danger emanating from there and began to think about sending troops to al-Sham to fight the Romans. So in the month of Jumada al-Ula, in the 7th year of the Hijrah, i.e. just a few months after the treaty of Hudaybiyah, he (pbuh) gathered an elite force of three thousand warriors and appointed Zayd ibn Harithah as their commander. He (pbuh) said to them, “If Zayd gets hurt, Ja’far should take charge and if Ja’far gets hurt, ‘Abdullah ibn Ruwahah should take charge.”.

军队出发了，哈立德·本·walid（即归信伊斯兰教于胡代比亚和约之后的哈立德·伊本·瓦利德）也在其中。安拉的使者ﷺ陪同他们行军直至麦地那郊外，并嘱咐他们不得伤害妇女、残障人士或儿童，也不得砍伐树木或摧毁建筑。随后，使者ﷺ与其余穆斯林为他们祈祷，说道：“愿安拉与你们同在，护佑你们，并使你们平安康健地回到我们身边。”

The army set off, and Khalid ibn al-Walid (who had embraced Islam after the treaty of Hudaybiyah) was among them. The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) marched with them to the outskirts of Madinah, he (pbuh) instructed them not to harm any women, those with a handicap, or children, or to cut any trees or destroy buildings. Then he (pbuh) and the rest of the Muslims prayed for them saying, “May Allah be with you, protect you and return you to us safe and well.”.

大军继续前进,其将领们制定了作战计划,决定这应当是一场迅速而决定性的突袭。他们决定像安拉的使者ﷺ在其历次出征中一贯所做的那样,出其不意地攻击沙姆的人民。军队的统帅们同意这一计划,并出发去实施。然而,当他们抵达穆尔(位于阿拉伯北部)时,得知希拉克略派驻沙姆的总督沙尔哈比勒·安-ガッサーニー已集结了十万战士准备迎战他们。这一消息令他们震惊,他们在穆尔驻扎了两夜,思量面对如此强大的敌军该如何是好。最被看好的选择是写信给安拉的使者ﷺ,告知他敌军的数量;如果他ﷺ派来增援,那自然最好,否则他们便等待他ﷺ的命令。

The army marched on and its leaders drew up their war plan, deciding that it should be a quick and decisive assault. They decided to take the people of al-Sham by surprise, just as Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) always did in his raids. The army commanders agreed on this plan and set off to accomplish it. However, when they reached Mu’an (north of Arabia) they learned that Sharhabeel al- Ghassani, Heraclius’ governor of al-Sham had gathered an army of 100,000 fighters to confront them. The news came as a shock to them and they en- camped at Mu’an for two nights thinking what to do now that they were faced with such a formidable army. The most favored option was for them to write to the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) informing him about the enemy’s numbers, and if he (pbuh) sent reinforcements well and good, otherwise they would await his orders.

“阿卜杜拉·本·拉瓦哈鼓励众人说：“诸位！以安拉起誓，你们所厌恶的，正是你们出来所要面对的，那就是殉道。我们与敌人作战，靠的不是人数、力量或众多，而是靠安拉以此教义所尊崇我们的这份宗教。所以，前进吧！两种结果都是好的：胜利，或殉道。”众人听了这些话便被激励起来，信仰也随之坚定。于是他们继续前进，直到抵达马沙里夫村。敌人逼近时，穆斯林撤到一个名叫穆塔的村庄。在那里，穆斯林与罗马人之间的战斗就此展开。”

‘Abdullah ibn Ruwahah encouraged the men saying, “O men! By Allah, what you dislike is that which you have come out for: viz. martyrdom. We are not fighting the enemy with numbers or strength or multitude, but we are fighting them with this Deen with which Allah (swt) has honored us. So come on! Both prospects are fine: victory or martyrdom.” The men were roused by these words and their Iman strengthened. They, therefore, went forward until they reached the village of Masharif. When the enemy approached the Muslims withdrew to a village called Mu’tah. There, the battle between them and the Romans began.

这是有史以来最激烈的战役之一,死亡与血泊迫在眉睫。一方是三千名准备殉道的穆斯林,另一方是聚集起来要消灭穆斯林军队的二十万异教徒(另有十万人被派去增援罗马军队)。战斗异常惨烈。宰德·本·哈里哉手持安拉的使者ﷺ的旗帜作战,他毫不停歇地向前冲入敌军阵中,片刻也不畏惧后果。他英勇奋战,深知这是为安拉而殉道,他的勇气非凡,英雄气概无与伦比,直至被敌人的长矛刺穿身体,伤重而死。随后,哈法尔·本·艾比·塔利卜接过旗帜;他是一位三十三岁的英俊青年。他同样奋力作战,无惧死亡,直到敌人包围了他的红褐色战马。于是他跳下马,砍断马的后腿,然后冲入敌阵深处,挥剑击杀敌人,最终被一名罗马士兵砍成两半而牺牲。阿卜杜拉·本·鲁瓦哈接过旗帜,骑着马向前推进。他不得不强迫自己前进,因为他内心有些犹豫。随后他继续战斗,直至同样牺牲。接着,萨比特·本·艾尔格姆接过旗帜,喊道:“穆斯林们啊!请集结在一个人的周围。”于是众人聚集到哈立德·本·walīd身边。他接过旗帜,召集穆斯林围绕在自己身边,并一直设法将敌人挡在外面。他成功地将战斗限制在几次小规模交锋之中,直到夜幕降临。

It was one of the fiercest battles ever, death and blood baths loomed. The battle was between three thousand Muslims who were ready for martyrdom, and two hundred thousand disbelievers (an extra 100,000 men were sent to reinforce the Roman army) gathered to destroy the Muslim force. The fighting was fierce and Zayd ibn Harithah fought holding the Messenger of Allah’s banner, he went forward unabated deep into the heart of the enemy’s forces, not fearing for one moment the consequences. He fought bravely knowing that it was martyrdom in the way of Allah, his courage was phenomenal, his heroism unmatched, until he died of the wounds caused by the enemy’s spears that ripped his body. Then Ja’far ibn Abi Talib took over the banner; he was a handsome young man 33 years of age. He too fought hard, defying death until the enemy surrounded his roan (horse), so he jumped off and hamstrung her and went forward into the heart of the enemy striking them with his sword until a Roman struck him and cut him in half, killing him. ‘Abdullah ibn Ruwahah took the banner and advanced with it riding his horse. He had to put pressure on himself as he felt reluctant to go forward. He then proceeded and fought until he too was killed. Then Thabit ibn Arqam took over the banner and said, “O Muslims! Do rally around one man.” So they rallied to Khalid ibn al-Walid. He took the banner and gathered the Muslims around him and organized them trying all the while to keep the enemy at bay. He managed to restrict the fighting to a few skirmishes until night had fallen.

夜间,哈立德·本·walid(原文:Khalid ibn al-Walid)意识到敌军数量远超己方寥寥的兵力,于是精心谋划了一套周密的撤退方案。依照这一周全的计划,哈立德下令军中一部分人在后方制造骚动和喧哗,使敌人误以为援军已经赶到。敌人听到之后心生恐惧,不敢进攻穆斯林,而当哈立德并未主动进攻时,他们甚至暗自欢喜。随后,哈立德率军撤退,返回麦地那。此役既非胜利,也非失败,却已取得了相当可观的成就。

During the night, Khalid ibn al-Walid drew up a shrewd withdrawal plan having realized the magnitude of the enemy’s army compared to the meager numbers of his. And following his carefully drawn up plan, Khalid ordered a section of the army to create some uproar and noise at the rear to let the enemy into thinking that reinforcement had arrived. When they did so, the enemy became frightened and refrained from attacking the Muslims, they were even elated when Khalid did not attack them. Then Khalid withdrew and took his troops back to Madinah, not victorious, nor defeated, but having achieved quite a considerable feat.

这场战役的指挥官和战士们一直清楚死亡正在向他们招手,但他们仍英勇作战,最终牺牲。伊斯兰教命令穆斯林为主的道路而战,杀敌或被杀,而这种战斗被视为最可靠的投资,因为它是为主道路上的圣战。他在《忏悔章》中说:

The commanders of this battle and its warriors had known all along that death was beckoning to them, yet they fought heroically and were killed. Islam commands the Muslim to fight in the way of Allah, kill and be killed, and it is this type of fighting that is regarded as the soundest investment, for it is Jihad in the way of Allah. He I says in Surah al-Taubah,

“真的，安拉已经从信士们手中购买了他们的生命和财产，作为代价，他们将获得乐园。他们为安拉的道路而战，于是他们杀人，也被杀。这是安拉在《讨拉特》《引支勒》和《古兰经》中所许下的真实应许，并且对祂具有约束力。谁比安拉更忠于自己的盟约呢？那么你们就为所成交的这笔交易而欢喜吧。那正是至高的成功。”（《忏悔章》9:111）

“Verily, Allah has purchased of the believers their lives and their properties; for the price that theirs shall be the Paradise. They fight in Allah’s Cause, so they kill (others) and are killed. It is a promise in truth which is binding on Him in the Torah and the Gospel and the Qur’an. And who is Truer to his Covenant than Allah? Then rejoice in the bargain which you have concluded. And that is the supreme success.” [At-Tauba, 9:111].

正因如此,那些英雄即使面对必然的死亡,依然奋力作战。穆斯林在别无选择、只能迎战之时便会参战,无论死亡是否确定。在圣战中,衡量事情的标准不是敌人的人数和武器,也不是其数量之多寡,而是所取得的成果——无论牺牲多大,也无论结局如何。

That is the reason why those heroes fought despite the certain death that faced them. The Muslim fights if there is no other way left but to fight and regardless of whether death is certain or not. In Jihad, matters are not measured by the number of the enemy and its weaponry, nor by its multitude, but by the result it achieves no matter how high the sacrifice is, regardless of the outcome.

穆斯林与罗马人在穆塔的战役至关重要。指挥官们别无选择，只能与敌人交战，尽管死亡近在眼前。因此，穆斯林绝不应畏惧死亡，也不应考虑其他任何事情，而只应为真主（SWT）之道而战。真主的使者ﷺ早已知道，派遣军队前往罗马国境与之作战是危险的，但为了让敌人胆寒，并向他们展示信士们如何作战，展示他们尽管人数寡少，却拥有无与伦比的勇气与信仰，这一冒险是必要的。这一风险是值得冒的，因为它为穆斯林进一步的圣战铺平了道路，以便传播伊斯兰教，并在他们所征服的土地上推行伊斯兰教。这次冒险取得了成功，因为它成为了通往塔布克之战的序幕，并给罗马人以沉重打击，使他们在穆斯林面前战栗，直到沙姆被征服。

The Muslims’ war with the Romans in Mu’tah was absolutely crucial, the commanders had no choice but to engage the enemy in battle, despite the fact that death was beckoning. Thus, it is that the Muslim should never fear death, nor should he consider anything else but to fight in the way of Allah (swt). The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) had known all along that sending his troops to the Roman state to fight them along their frontiers was dangerous, but it was necessary to scare the life out of them and to demonstrate how the believers fight and how their courage and their belief were unmatched despite their paltry numbers. The risk was worth taking for it paved the way for further Jihad by the Muslims in order to spread Islam and implement it in the lands that they would conquer. The risk and the adventure was successful for it turned out to be an introduction to the battle of Tabuk and it landed a heavy blow against the Romans who shivered at the prospect of facing the Muslims again until Al-Sham was conquered.