The Prophet peace be upon him recommended that they reach the scene of Al-Hariths  ' murder and  invite the people to profess Islam. Should the latter respond positively, then no war would ensue,  otherwise fighting them would be the only alternative left. He ordered them:
"Fight the disbelievers in the Name of Allâh, neither breach a covenant nor entertain treachery, and  under no circumstances a new-born, woman, an ageing man or a hermit should be killed; moreover  neither trees should be cut down nor homes demolished." At the conclusion of the military  preparations,  the people of Madinah gathered and bade the army farewell. A ' bdullah bin Rawaha began to weep at  that moment, and when asked why he was weeping, he swore that it was not love for this world nor  under a motive of infatuation with the glamour of life but rather the Words of Allâh speaking of Fire  that  he heard the Prophet peace be upon him reciting:
"There is not one of you but will pass over it (Hell); this is with your Lord, a Decree which must be  accomplished." 19:71
The Muslim army then marched northward to Ma'â n, a town bordering on geographical Syria. There  news came to the effect that Heraclius had mobilized a hundred thousand troops together with  another  hundred thousand men of Lakham, Judham and Balqain - Arabian tribes allied to the Byzantines. The
Muslims, on their part had never thought of encountering such a huge army. They were at a loss  about  what course to follow, and spent two nights debating these unfavourable conditions. Some suggested  that they should write a letter to the Prophet peace be upon him seeking his advice. A ' bdullah bin
Rawaha was opposed to them being reluctant and addressed the Muslims saying: "I swear by Allâh  that  this very object which you hold in abhorrence is the very one you have set out seeking, martyrdom. In  our fight we dont ' count on number of soldiers or equipment but rather on the Faith that Allâh has  honoured us with. Dart to win either of the two, victory or martyrdom." In the light of these words,  they moved to engage with the enemy in Masharif, a town of Al-Balqa', and t hen changed direction  towards Mut ' ah where they encamped. The right flank was led by Qutba bin Qatadah Al -U ' dhari, and  the left by U ' badah bin Malik Al -Ansari. Bitter fighting started between the two parties, three thousand
Muslims against an enemy fiftyfold as large.
Zaid bin Haritha, the closest to the Messenger's heart, assumed leadership and began to fight  tenaciously and in matchless spirit of bravery until he fell, fatally stabbed. Ja'far bin Abi Talib then  took  the banner and did a miraculous job. In the thick of the battle, he dismounted, hamstrung his horse  and resumed fighting until his right hand was cut off. He seized the banner with his left hand until this  too was gone. He then clasped the banner with both arms until a Byzantine soldier struck and cut him  into two parts. he was posthumously called "the flying Ja'far" or "Ja'far with two wings" because Allâh  has awarded him two wings to fly wherever he desired there in the eternal Garden. Al-Bukhari  reported  fifty stabs in his body, none of them in the back.
A ' bdullah bin Rawaha then proceeded to hold up the banner and fight bravely on his horseback while  reciting enthusiastic verses until he too was killed. Thereupon a man, from Bani A ' jlan, called Thabit  bin
Al-Arqam took the banner and called upon the Muslims to choose a leader. The honour was  unanimously granted to Khalid bin Al-Waleed, a skilled brave fighter and an outstanding strategist. It  was reported by Al-Bukhari that he used nine swords that broke while he was relentlessly and  courageously fighting the enemies of Islam. He, however, realizing the grave situation the Muslims  were in, began to follow a different course of encounter, revealing the super strategy-maker, that
Khalid was rightly called. He reshuffled the right and left flanks of the Muslim army and introduced  forward a division from the rear in order to cast fear into the hearts of the Byzantine by deluding them  that fresh reinforcements had arrived. The Muslims engaged with the enemies in sporadic skirmishes  but gradually and judiciously retreating in a fully organized and well-planned withdrawal.
The Byzantines, seeing this new strategy, believed that they were being entrapped and drawn in the  heart of the desert. They stopped the pursuit, and consequently the Muslims managed to retreat back  to Madinah with the slightest losses. The Muslims sustained twelve martyrs, whereas the number of  casualties among the Byzantines was unknown although the details of the battle point clearly to a  large  number. Even though the battle did not satisfy the Muslims' objective, namely avenging Al -Hariths '