This is Alp Arslan, the Muslim courageous young man; the believer in Allah
On his way back to the capital of Khorasan returning -with the rest of his army- from one of his battles,
the Emperor of Constantinople, Romanus, heard about him
The Emperor prepared a large army of 600,000 soldiers
By Allah! They wouldn’t have deployed this huge crowd of warriors if they hadn’t had these timid, weary and anxious hearts
The news came to Arslan who had only 15,000 soldiers.
Can you imagine! 600,000 soldiers against 15,000!
By this number, a soldier of the Muslim army had to face 400 soldiers of the other army. Is this about military strength? It is all about strength of faith, dear ones!
He, Arslan, looked at his army who was exhausted from fighting
Some were already wounded and others were exhausted after the long walk!
Staring at his army, he contemplated whether to leave this infidel army invade his country and wreak havoc
Or risk his army! 600,000 soldiers against 15,000!
After little thought, motivated by his faith in such decisive situations
He entered his tent and get undressed. Then, he applied Hunut (perfume for embalming the dead body) on his body, wore a shroud and went out addressing his army:
Today Islam is in danger and so are Muslim. I fear that “La Ilahya illa Allah (the testimony of faith)” would no longer exist
“Wa Islamah, Wa Islamah”, he yelled. “Here I am, embalmed, dressed in a shroud”
Whoever seeks paradise, let them wear as I wear and fight for “la ilaha illa Allah” until we get killed or raise it high
Indeed, it is either the revelation of Allah or the sword is addressing every mean-spirited
The first is to heal those who have sense, and the second is to treat the ignorant
It took the army only one hour to apply Hunut and get dressed in shrouds and the smell of Hunut spread out
Here, where the winds of Heaven blow, and “Allahu Akbar” fills the heavens
O horsemen of Allah, be steadfast! “O horsemen of Allah, ride! La ilah illa Allah
Have you ever heard of an army dressed shrouds?
Have you heard of an army clothed in the death clothes before a battle?
Have you smelled the perfume of Hunut of 15000 Muslim at one time?
Have you imagined how an entire army marching to a battle may look like?
An army believing and trusting that from the battlefield they will be resurrected on the day when the Trumpet is blown?
The two armies met, both armies faced each other, with one of them believes and looks forward to the meeting with Allah
And the other is disbelieving in Allah and have no hopes for the meeting with Allah. Then, the cry “Allahu Akbar” had been shouted out so loud
The believers engaged in battle as if saying, “I hastened to You, my Lord, that You be pleased.”
Heads were cut off, and blood spilled
And in the heart of the battle someone was calling out that the Romans were defeated and their leader Romanus was captured
“Allah is the Great” “There’s no god but Allah, He fulfilled His promise and made His army victorious”
“How many a little company has overcome a mighty host by permission of Allah! Allah is with the steadfast.” (Al-Baqarah 2:249)
Many of the warriors of Allah fell in the battle as martyrs insha’Allah
And the rest were crying. Were they crying over the spoils they lost?
No, by Allah Who raised the heavens without pillars. They cried as they had to take off their shrouds after they had sold their souls for the sake of Allah
As for the Muslim leader, Arslan, he cried so much, and praised Allah so much
And spent his life fighting until he met Allah with unbeatable faith
In the agony of his death he was saying: “Ah…Ah”
Over unrealized hopes, unmet desires and over people died with regrets in their hearts
He wished to die on the battlefield but it was the will of Allah that Arslan dies in his bed
Strong faith lives in the hearts of its believers …much greater than the power of swords