Bayhaqi 18660 — The Magians are People of the Book and jizyah is taken

Jubayr bin Hayyah says: Umar bin al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) sent people from various cities to fight the polytheists. He mentioned the hadith in which the acceptance of Islam by al-Hurmuzan is also mentioned. The narrator says: Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said to al-Hurmuzan: I wish to consult you about these campaigns of mine, so advise me about the campaigns of the Muslims. He said: Yes, O Commander of the Faithful! The likeness of this land, and of the people in it who are enemies of the Muslims, is that of a bird which has a head, two wings and two feet. If one wing is broken, it will rise up with one wing, the two feet and the head. If the other wing is also broken, it will rise up with the two feet and the head. But if the head is crushed, then the feet, the wings and the head all perish. The head is Kisra, one wing is Caesar and the other wing is Persia. So command the Muslims to march against Kisra. Bakr and Ziyad both narrate from Jubayr bin Hayyah: Umar bin al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) called us and made al-Nu'man bin Muqarrin (may Allah be pleased with him), of the tribe of Muzaynah, our commander. The narrator says: We set out along with the people until we drew near the enemy, and the equipment and weapons of our people were leather shields, broken spears and arrows. We kept marching, and we did not have many horses. Between us and the enemy there was a river. Kisra's governor brought an army of forty thousand and stationed it on the other side of the river. He said: Send out a man to talk with us. Al-Mughirah bin Shu'bah (may Allah be pleased with him) was sent out, because he was a merchant and understood languages. The narrator says: The interpreter began the conversation and said: Let one of your men speak with me. Al-Mughirah bin Shu'bah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Ask whatever you wish. The interpreter asked: Who are you? Al-Mughirah bin Shu'bah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: We are Arab people, stricken with misery and surrounded by hardships. From hunger we used to suck leather and date-stones. We used to wear clothing of wool and hair, and we used to worship trees and stones, when the Lord of the heavens and the earth sent to us a Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) from among ourselves, whose parents we know. The Messenger of our Lord (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded us "to fight you until you worship Allah alone or pay the jizyah." The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) also informed us that "whoever of us is killed will go to a Paradise and bliss the like of which he has never seen, and whoever of us remains will become the master of your necks." The narrator says: That man said: Tomorrow we will order a bridge to be built between us and you. The narrator says: When the bridge was built, the enemies of Allah drew up an army of one hundred thousand against us: sixty thousand clad in iron and forty thousand archers. They circled around us ten times. The narrator says: We were only twelve thousand. They said again: Send out a man to talk with us. We again sent out al-Mughirah bin Shu'bah (may Allah be pleased with him), and he repeated his earlier words. The king said: Do you know the likeness of us and you? Al-Mughirah bin Shu'bah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: What is the likeness of us and you? The king said: It is the likeness of a man who has a garden of fragrant plants, and a fox has been harming him, so the owner of the garden says: O fox! Were it not that my garden would stink from your carcass, I would have prepared something to kill you. And were it not that our cities would stink from your carcasses, we would have killed you yesterday. Al-Mughirah bin Shu'bah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Do you know what the fox answered the owner of the garden? The king said: What did it answer? Al-Mughirah bin Shu'bah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: It said: O owner of the garden! Dying in this garden of yours among the fragrant plants is dearer to me than going out to a barren land where there is nothing. By Allah! Even if there were no religion, given the wretched state I have described to you, we would never return to that wretchedness until we share with you what you enjoy or die. So how then, when whoever of us is killed inherits the mercy of Allah and His Paradise, and whoever remains inherits your necks, that is, becomes your ruler? Jubayr says: For a whole day neither they nor we fought. Al-Mughirah bin Shu'bah (may Allah be pleased with him) said to al-Nu'man bin Muqarrin (may Allah be pleased with him): O commander! The day has passed. If I had been given command as Allah has made you commander, I would have started the battle, and then Allah would have judged as He pleased. Al-Nu'man bin Muqarrin (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Many a time Allah has made you witness situations like this, and then He neither caused you regret nor disgraced you; but I was present with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) many times, and when he did not fight in the early part of the day, he would wait for the winds to blow and for the time of prayer. Listen, O people! I will not be able to call out to you all, so keep watching my banner. When I move it, get ready. Whoever wants to strike with a spear or a staff, let him prepare his weapon; whoever wants to strike with a dagger or a sword, let him also prepare. When I move the banner the second time, be fully ready, and when it is moved the third time, attack. If I am killed, my brother will be commander; if he is martyred, Hudhayfah (may Allah be pleased with him) will be commander; and if he too is killed, al-Mughirah bin Shu'bah (may Allah be pleased with him) will be commander.
(b) Ziyad's father relates: Allah killed them, and we saw a mule loaded with honey and ghee with the slain heaped upon it. I can liken it to nothing but a heap of fish thrown one on top of another. I recognised that killing does happen on earth, but this was something Allah had brought about. The Muslims prevailed; al-Nu'man bin Muqarrin (may Allah be pleased with him) and his brother were martyred, and Hudhayfah (may Allah be pleased with him) became commander.