It is narrated from Ibn Rafeel that Saad bin Abi Waqqas (may Allah be pleased with him) camped at Nahr-e-Sher, a city on this side of the Tigris River. He (may Allah be pleased with him) requested boats to cross the river and take his army to the city on the other side (Madain), but none were available. The Iranians had seized all the boats.
So the Muslims stayed at Nahr-e-Sher for a few days in the month of Safar. They wanted to cross the river, but the risk of losing lives prevented them. Then some non-Arab infidels came to them and informed them that there was a shallow place in the river where they could enter and descend into the valley. However, Hazrat Saad (may Allah be pleased with him) refused and hesitated. Suddenly, a storm arose in the river.
One day, Hazrat Saad (may Allah be pleased with him) saw a dream that the horses of the Muslims had entered the river and crossed it, and despite the swollen river, a great matter was revealed. So he resolved to make this dream a reality. He gathered the army and after praising Allah, said: Your enemy is safe from you because of this river. You cannot reach the enemies, but they can reach you whenever they want and capture you in boats. There is no fear of an attack from behind. Therefore, I have firmly decided to cross this river and reach the enemy. All the soldiers said: May Allah keep you and us guided; please fulfill your intention.
Then he invited the people to cross the river and said: Who among you will take the initiative to protect the army so that others may follow and no obstacle remains for them to embark on this path? Asim bin Umar responded with “Labbaik” and came forward, accompanied by six hundred men from the Najdat tribe. Hazrat Saad (may Allah be pleased with him) appointed Asim bin Umar as their leader. Asim took them to the bank of the Tigris and asked: Who is ready to jump into the river with me to protect the army? Seventy men volunteered. They formed two rows; some were mounted on horses and some on mares, so that the horses could easily follow one another. Then they entered the river. When Hazrat Saad (may Allah be pleased with him) saw that the rest of the army was not following Asim, he ordered the entire army to jump into the river simultaneously and said: Recite this:
«نستعين بالله و نتوكل عليه وحسبنا الله و نعم الوكيل ولا حول ولا قوة الا بالله العلي العظيم»
“We seek help from Allah, and in Him we trust. He is sufficient for us; He is the best disposer of affairs, and there is no refuge or power except with Allah, the Most High, the Great.”
Thus, the entire army, moving forward and backward, mounted in the middle of the river. Due to the Tigris’s flood, it was foaming and the water was dark, but the soldiers kept swimming while talking, coming close to each other to converse as they would while traveling on land.
The Persians were bewildered by this scene; such an event was beyond their imagination. They immediately gathered their belongings and evacuated the city. The Islamic army entered there in Safar 12 AH and found three crore dirhams remaining in the palaces of Khosrow. Additionally, everything collected by the Persian king Shiruya and his successors fell into their hands.
Shuaib narrated from Yusuf, who narrated through a narrator from Abu Uthman Nahdi, the incident of Hazrat Saad (may Allah be pleased with him) teaching the people a prayer for crossing the river. He said: We covered the face of the Tigris with riders, foot soldiers, and animals, and no one standing on the other side could see the water of the Tigris. The horses carried us to the other bank. The horses shook their manes and neighed. When the enemy army saw this, they fled in panic.
It is narrated from Abu Bakr bin Hafs bin Umar that Hazrat Saad (may Allah be pleased with him) was being accompanied in the water by Hazrat Salman al-Farsi (may Allah be pleased with him). The horses were swimming with the people on them. Hazrat Saad (may Allah be pleased with him) said:
«حسبنا الله ونعم الوكيل، والله لينصرن الله وليه وليظهرن دينه وليهز من عدوه إن لم يكن فى الجيش بغى أو ذنوب تغلب على الحسنات»
“Allah is sufficient for us, and He is the best disposer of affairs. By Allah! Allah helps His friend, establishes His religion, and defeats His enemy.”
If there is no evil or sin in the army, then they become rulers over goodness.
Salman al-Farsi (may Allah be pleased with him) said to Hazrat Saad (may Allah be pleased with him): Islam is truly worthy of this greatness. By Allah! The seas have been made subservient to the Muslims just as the land is, and by the oath of the God who holds Salman’s life, this army that entered the river will come out group by group in the same manner.
Indeed, the face of the river was hidden, and from the bank, the water of the river was not visible. The soldiers talked more in the river than on land until they crossed over. Hazrat Salman (may Allah be pleased with him) said no one was harmed nor drowned in the water.
Saif narrated from Abu Umar Wathab, who narrated from Abu Uthman Nahdi that all the soldiers came out safely. However, a man from Bani Bariq named Arqadah slipped off his red and yellow horse’s back. That scene is still before me when his horse was shaking its mane and the man was swimming in the water. Qaqa bin Amr turned the reins of his horse toward him, grabbed his hand, and pulled him to the shore.
A man’s cup was lost but the river returned it:
It is said that nothing from the army fell into the water except a man’s cup whose thread had become old and broke, and the water carried it away. The person swimming with the cup owner teased him, saying, “The decree of fate has reached the cup, and it is lost (now whose regret is it?).” He said: By Allah! I am sure that Allah will not take my cup away from me among the entire army.
So when the people reached the shore, a man who was among the first to enter the river was standing holding that cup because the winds and waves had pushed it to the shore. He caught it with his spear and brought it to the army. The cup owner recognized it and took it.
Saif narrated from Qasim bin Walid, who narrated from Umair Saidi, who said: When Hazrat Saad (may Allah be pleased with him) entered the Tigris with the army, accompanied by Salman al-Farsi (may Allah be pleased with him), Hazrat Saad (may Allah be pleased with him) involuntarily said:
«ذالك تقدير العزيز العليم،»
“What is this except the power of God, the All-Knowing?”
The situation was such that the water was carrying the army, and the horses remained standing upright. When they got tired standing, a sandbank would appear from the water, and they would rest on it as they would on land.
What could be stranger than this in Madain? That is why the day of Madain is called the day of «جراثيم» because whenever a horse got tired, a «جرثومه» (a mound of sand) would appear for it to rest on.
Saif narrated from Ismail bin Abu Khalid, who narrated from Qais bin Abu Hazim, who said: When we entered the Tigris, it was full up to the banks, but where the water was deeper, the horsemen stood, and the water did not reach the reins of their saddles.
Saif narrated from Amash, who narrated from Habib bin Subhan Abi Malik, who said: On the day of Madain, when the Muslims were crossing the Dajjal (Tigris), the people of Madain saw them and began saying in Persian, “Divaneh amad” (The mad have come), and they said among themselves: By Allah! You are not fighting humans; you are facing jinns, and they fled.
Hadith Research:
اسناده موضوع۔
Its chain of narration is fabricated.
The main narrator of this story is Saif ibn Umar al-Dubay’i al-Tamimi, who is considered a liar by the hadith scholars.
He fabricated this incident and prepared various chains of narration for it.
Abu Dawood says: «ليس بشيء», this is nothing.
Abu Hatim says: It is abandoned.
Ibn Hibban says: He is accused of heresy.
Ibn ‘Adi says: His hadith is rejected.
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