Dirar ibn al-Azwar al-Asadi

ضرار بن الأزور الأسدي

An Asadi of Khalid ibn al-Walid (may God be pleased with him)'s companions; he commanded one of the squadrons sent among Banu Tamim after Buzakha, fought Malik ibn Nuwayra, captured him with a group, and brought them to Khalid, who ordered their necks struck — Dirar himself taking Malik's; Malik is said to have told Khalid 'by God I did not apostatize'; Dirar came to Umar ibn al-Khattab (may God be pleased with him) with Malik's wealth saying 'I killed him, and I would not have killed him until I told him none of Quraysh, the Muhajirun or the Ansar would pardon me' — whereupon Umar said 'may God kill you'; per one report he later tarried at Kufa against Ali until he appeared in Syria.

Overview

Dirar ibn al-Azwar al-Asadi (may God be pleased with him), one of the companions of Khalid ibn al-Walid, whose story is recorded by al-Baladhuri. ¹

With Malik ibn Nuwayra

He led a detachment sent against Banu Tamim after Buzakha. He met Malik ibn Nuwayra, fought him, and took him and a group of others prisoner, and brought them to Khalid. Khalid ordered their necks struck, and Dirar undertook the killing of Malik. ¹ See the killing of Malik ibn Nuwayra.

It is said that Malik told Khalid that he had not apostatised. ¹

In Umar's time

Dirar entered upon Umar with Malik's property, and said that he had killed him after being told that no one would pardon him. Umar said to him: "May God kill you." ¹

The data contains an account of his death and of his position regarding Ali, which is not clear; an additional source is needed.

The Ridda Wars

In al-Baladhuri: when Abu Bakr succeeded, groups of the Arabs apostatized and withheld the alms, some saying 'we keep the prayer but will not pay the zakat', whereupon Abu Bakr said 'if they withheld from me a hobbling-cord — some say a she-goat kid — I would fight them', the 'iqal being a year's alms; Abdullah ibn Masud said the Muslims had stood after the Prophet at a station where they nearly perished had God not graced them with Abu Bakr: they had all agreed not to fight over a young she-camel or a weaned camel 'and to eat the Arab villages' yield and worship God until certainty came to us', but God resolved him to fight, and he accepted from them only the humiliating condition or the annihilating war — the first that they confess their slain are in the Fire and return what they took of Muslim property, the second that they leave their homes; in Tariq ibn Shihab's report he offered the Buzakha delegation the choice of the annihilating war or the humiliating peace: surrender of armour and mounts, return of what was taken, blood-money for the slain Muslims, their own slain in the Fire; Aisha said 'when the Prophet died there befell my father what would have crushed the firm mountains — hypocrisy reared its head in Medina and the Arabs apostatized'; Abu Bakr went out to al-Qassa directing the columns against the apostates, was attacked by Kharija ibn Hisn and Manzur ibn Zabban the Fazaris who were routed with Talha ibn Ubaydillah pursuing them to lower Thaniyyat Awsaja, then appointed Khalid ibn al-Walid over the army and Thabit ibn Qays over the Ansar, beginning with Tulayha ibn Khuwaylid at Buzakha, followed by the affairs of Yamama, Bahrain, Oman, Yemen, Hadramawt, Mecca, Tihama and Iraq.

Dirar ibn al-Azwar al-Asadi

At a glance

Overview

With Malik ibn Nuwayra

In Umar's time

Connections

People and things also explored

Sources

The Ridda Wars