BISMILLAH IR RAHMAN IR RAHEEM SALAMAH, THE SUPERMAN Adapted for Children from an Authentic Hadith and the Seerah by (Anne) Khadeijah A. Darwish Copyright © 1984-2013 Allah.com Muhammad.com Mosque.com. All rights reserved. Free give away not for sale or resale Everyone in Medina had been busy preparing their supplies and sharpening their weapons ready for the march to Khaybar and now just three days remained. The Muslims knew it was not going to be an easy assignment as the Jews of Khaybar were rich and well established with farms and orchards that provided them with all their needs. Each Jewish tribe had built a strong fortress and it was there that they lived, stored their food and weaponry. Now that the last stage of preparation was underway, the Prophet, praise and peace be upon him, instructed Rabah to go with a herdsman to the water reservoir of Dhu Qarad, which was a day’s ride from Medina, to pasture his camels so that they would be well fed and watered before the long hot journey across the desert and so Rabah, and the herdsman rounded up the camels and set off for Dhu Qarad. Unknown to Rabah, Salamah, Al-Akwa’s son had borrowed Talha’s horse, rounded up his camels and set off for the same water reservoir and when they met they decided to journey together with their animals to Dhu Qarad. When night fell, Rabah and Salamah said their Isha prayer then settled their camels down for the night and went to sleep. Before they awoke the next morning a bandit by the name of Al-Fazari and some of his tribesmen spotted the camels, crept up upon the herdsman, killed him and seized all the camels. The grunts of the camels and all the commotion woke Salamah up and when he saw what was going on, Salamah urgently cried out to Rabah telling him to take Talha’s horse and ride as quickly as he could back to Medina and tell the Prophet, praise and peace be upon him, about the attack. The loss of the camels was a serious threat to the march on Khaybar. Salamah was left alone, all he had was his bow and some arrows. He had neither a camel nor horse to ride so that he could chase after the bandits, but, he had been blessed with an amazing skill – he could run as fast as any horse, in fact he could run faster than many – he was the superman of Medina! Salamah chased after the bandits, running as fast as the wind in a desert storm, shooting his arrows so fast at them that they were forced to take shelter in a narrow gorge between the mountains – the bandits were tired, trapped! Salamah’s was blessed with such strength that he was not tired and climbed quickly up the rocky slopes of the mountain and settled himself on one of its ledges where he could observe the bandits, hurl rocks and shot his arrows down upon them. The bandits were terrified they had never seen anyone like him. Salamah continued his attack and in their panic to try to get away they threw down their baggage and lances and left behind thirty of the stolen camels! Now that the bandits had fled, Salamah climbed back down the mountain, reclaimed the camels, gathered the baggage and placed a large stone as a marker by it, so that when the Prophet, praise and peace be upon him, arrived he would realize that the baggage belonged to the spoils of war! Salamah set off again in his chase and spotted four bandits in nearby valley and once again climbed up the side of a mountain and settled himself on one of its ledges. The bandits saw him and started climbing up towards him whereupon Salamah stood up and courageously cried out, “Do you recognize me?” “No” they replied. Salamah defiantly shouted, “I am Salamah, the son of Al-Akwa! I can kill anyone of you, but you can’t kill me!” Just then Salamah spotted Akhram, Abu Qatadah, and Al Miqdad Al-Aswad’s son who were the horsemen of the Prophet, praise and peace be upon him, riding fast through the trees. The bandits turned to fight and Akhram fought the chief bandit Al-Fazari, and was martyred as Al-Fazari speared him with his lance. Al-Fazari jumped on Akhram’s horse but Abu Qatadah attacked him and engaged him in fierce combat and killed Al-Fazari and the rest of the bandits fled as Salamah chased after them. The sun was just about to set when the bandits reached the spring of Dhu Qarad and stopped intending to take a rest and a much needed drink, but to their surprise they saw Salamah chasing after them. They knew there was no time to waste so they jumped back on their horses and rode off in haste. A while after the Prophet, praise and peace be upon him, and his Companions reached Salamah. Salamah greeted the Prophet, praise and peace be upon him, and asked him to let him have a hundred Muslims to ride after the bandits. The Prophet, praise and peace be upon him, who was always merciful, replied, “O son of Al-Akwa, you have taken enough, and now you must be generous, and by now they will have reached the tribal land of the Ghatfan.” Then the Prophet, praise and peace be upon him, turned to his Companions and said, “Today, our best horseman is Abu Qatadah and our best foot soldier is Salamah.” Then the Prophet, praise and peace be upon him, distributed the spoils of war and gave Salamah two shares, one of a horseman and the other of a foot soldier. After they had prayed and rested for a while the Prophet, praise and peace be upon him, reward Salamah by inviting him to ride back to Medina behind him on Al-Adba, his she-camel. A few days later the Prophet, praise and peace be upon him, and the Muslims left for Khaybar with their well fed and water camels. Al Hamdulillah, after a long hard, courageous battle Allah gave success to the Prophet, praise and peace be upon him, and the Muslims and Khaybar was no longer a threat to the Muslims. QUIZ TIME 1. Where was the Prophet, praise and peace be upon him, going in three days? 2. Why did the Prophet, praise and peace be upon him, send Rabah to Dhu Qarad? 3. Who met Rabah on the way to Dhu Qarad? 4. Did Rabah and Salamah decide to travel together? 5. What caused Salamah to wake up? 6. What was the name of the chief bandit? 7. What happened to the herdsman? 8. Was it Rabah or Salamah who rode back to Medina to tell the Prophet, praise and peace be upon him, of the attack? 9. Who chased after the bandits by himself on foot? 10. What did Salamah do when he reached the mountain? 11. Did the bandits leave the camels and baggage and run away? 12. What did Salamah say when the four bandits started to climb up the next mountain? 13. Name one of the horsemen who arrived to help Salamah. 14. Who arrived at the water reservoir first, Salamah or the bandits? 15. What did Salamah ask the Prophet, praise and peace be upon him, for when he arrived? 16. How many shares of the spoils of war did Salamah receive? 17. Who were the best horseman and the best foot soldier that day? 18. Did Salamah ride his own camel back to Medina? 19. Who rode behind the Prophet, praise and peace be upon him, on the way back to Medina? 20. Why were the Muslims happy they had captured Khaybar? QUIZ TIME ANSWERS 1. He was going to march to Khaybar. 2. To water and feed his camels. 3. Salamah, the Superman. 4. Yes. 5. The grunting of the camels and all the noise. 6. Al-Fazari. 7. The bandits killed him. 8. Rabah. 9. Salamah, the Superman. 10. Salamah climbed up the mountain and threw rocks and shot arrows down upon the bandits. 11. They were afraid of Salamah, the Superman. 12. “I am the son of Al-Akwa, I can kill you but you can’t kill me!” 13. You could have said: Akhram, or Abu Qatadah, or Al Miqdad Al-Aswad’s son. 14. The bandits. 15. 100 men to ride after the bandits. 16. Two, one as a horseman and one as a foot soldier. 17. Abu Qatadah was the best horseman and Salamah was the best foot soldier that day. 18. No. 19. Salamah. 20. They were happy because Khaybar was no longer a threat to the Muslims. SCORE TIME 1-3 questions right? You tried hard, how about reading the story again so you can get a better score? 4-8 well done! 9-12 very good indeed! 13- 17 E X C E L L E N T, you did very well, we are proud of you! 18 - 20 CONGRATULATIONS! You are an honor student of Mosque.com