The SIGNS of ar-Rahmaan in the Jihad of the Afghan  

'Abdullah Yusuf 'Azzam

These incidents [which are going to be narrated] are, in reality, more extraordinary than one can possibly imagine, and appear to resemble fairytales. I have personally heard them with my own ears; and have written them with my own hands from those Mujahideen who themselves were present. I have heard these miracles from such men who are trustworthy and reliable, and who have been constantly on the battlefield. The miracles are many, so much so that they more or less reach the degree of Tawaatur [i.e. such a large number that does not entertain the possibility of fabrication ]. I have heard numerous such miraculous episodes, but brevity does not allow me to enumerate all of them.

Allah Ta'ala has not made it except as a glad tiding, so that your hearts may achieve tranquility by it.

Most of the Bodies of the Shuhadaa do not Change or Rot

This fact has reached the degree of Tawaatur. It is recorded in the Shafee Kitaab, Nihaayatul Muhtaj:

If a person lent out land so that a deceased may be buried in that land, he may only claim the land back once the body has been completely annihilated. In the case where the deceased is a Nabi or a Shaheed, the land can never be claimed since the bodies of these two never decay.

The Hanafee Jurist, Ibn Aabideen rahmatullah 'alayhi writes in his commentary of Kitaabul-Jihaad:

It is Haraam for the earth to consume the body of a Shaheed.

However I could not find a hadith in this regard. Nevertheless, the incident of the body of Hamzah [ra] has just passed [which will suffice as proof].

The Martyrs of Afghanistan

Umar Hanif, who was my commander in the Zarmah district, has narrated to me in the house of Nasrullah Mansoor [the leader of the Islamic Revolutionary Front] that:

1) I have never seen a single Shaheed whose body has changed or gave off a bad odour.

2) I have never seen dogs touching a single Shaheed even though they devoured the bodies of the communists.

3) I myself opened 12 graves [of the Shuhadaa], three or four years after their burial, and I did not find one whose odour had changed.

4) I have seen many a Shaheed more than a year after their burial. Their wounds were fresh, the blood still flowing.

An Imaam narrated to me:

I saw Shaheed Abdul Majeed Muhammad three months after his Shahaadat. he was just as he had been [i.e. unchanged]; and his body exuded the fragrance of musk.
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Birds with the Mujaahideen

1. Moulana Arsalaan narrated to me:
At times, even before the arrival of the attacking Russian aircraft, we were apprised of the iminent attack. Birds would come and hover above our troops before the jets arrived. Wherever we would see them hovering, we would prepare for the attack of the jets.

2. Moulana Abdul Jaleel Haqqani was the most famous Mujaahid of Afghanistan without exception. He told me:
On numerous occasions I had seen birds flying below the aircrafts, protecting the Mujaahideen from the shells of the bombers.

3. Abdul Jabbar Niyaazi narrated to me:
I saw birds flying below the planes on two occasions.

4. Moulana Arsalaan reported to me:
I saw the birds many times protecting them [the Mujaahideen].

5. Qurbaan Muhammad narrated to me that:
He once saw about 300 birds that were struck by jets, but not a single one was injured.

6. Al-Haaj Muhammad Jal, who was a Mujaahid at Kanr, reported to me:
On more than ten occasions I saw the birds flying ahead of the jets, whose speed was one and a half times the speed of sound.

The Horses

Arsalaan also narrated to me:
We attacked the communists at a place called Arjoon and we killed 500 and captured 83. We said to them:

"Why is it that you people were defeated, whereas you people killed only one Shaheed?"

The prisoner said:

"You people were riding on horses, and when we shot at them they ran away and we could not hit them [with bullets]."

It is established from the Quraan that the Malaa'ikah [Angels] descended on the occasion of Badr:

When your Rabb commanded the Malaa'ikah, I am with you all, so strengthen those who have brought Imaan. I will soon instill terror into the hearts of those who commit Kufr. Strike [the enemy] above their necks and on all [their] fingertips.

The tafseer of the following aayah:

Most certainly, if you adopt Sabr and Taqwa, and they suddenly attack you, your Rabb will assist you with five thousand Malaa'ikah, marked. (By "marked" is meant that they had a distinctive sign. According to some Mufassireen, the Malaa'ikah were 'marked' by their unique turbans. According to others it refers to a particular sign on the horses of the Malaa'ikah.)

was given by Imam Qurtubi [ra] as:

Every army which adopts sabr, and hopes for reward, the Malaa'ikah will come upon them, fighting alongside them, since Allah Ta'aala has appointed these Malaa'ikah as Mujaahideen till the Day of Qiyaamah.

Hasan [ra] said: these five thousand are a support for the Mu'mineen till the Day of Qiyaamah.

Imam Muslim [ra] narrates from ibn Abbas [ra]:

On the Day [of Badr] when a Muslim was chasing one of the mushrikeen, all of a sudden he heard the cracking of a whip above him, and the sound of a horseman saying:

"Proceed, O Hayzoom!"

He looked at the mushrik in front of him, laying flat. His nose was smashed, and his face split open, as if he was struck by a whip. It had become completely blackened. An Ansaari reported this to Rasulallah [saws] who responded:

"You have spoken the truth. That was from the Helpers of the Third Heaven."

Muhammad Yaasir reported to me:
When the communists entered a town with their tanks, they enquired where the 'stables for the horses of the Muslim brothers' were. The people were surprised since they did not ride horses. They then realized that these were the horses of the Malaa'ikah.

Provisions that do not Deplete

Jalaaluddin Haqqaani narrated to me:
I issued a Mujaahid with some ammunition, and he went into the battlefield. He fired many shots, but the ammunition did not decrease, and he returned with all of it.

A Tank Rides Over Him, but He Remains Alive

1.) Abdul Jabbaar narrated to me:
While I was looking on, a tank rolled over a Mujaahid named Ghulaam Muhayyuddeen, and he remained alive.

2.) Al Haaj Muhammad Yusuf, the deputy ameer of the Laukar district, narrated to me:
A tank passed over the body of the Mujaahid Badr Muhammad Jal, and he did not die nor was he injured.

Scorpions with the Mujaahideen

And none knows the army of your Rabb besides Him

Abdus Samad and Mahbubullah both narrated to me:
The communists set up camp in the plains of Qundoos [a city]. The scorpions attacked them and bit them. Six of them died and the remainder fled.

Children on the Battlefield

Abdul Manaan narrated to me:
The Mujaahid Ameer Jaan was martyred. A while thereafter the [Russian] tanks rolled into his hometown. His son, who was only three years old, came out with a match to burn the tanks.

The Russian commander asked: "What does he want?"

They replied: "He wants to burn the tanks."

Umar Haneef narrated to me:
The tanks once besieged the Mujaahideen in a Masjid. A young lady, who was to get married two days thereafter, came out and made du'a as follows:

"O Allah, if they intend any harm to the Mujaahideen, make me a ransom for them."

The young lady attained Shahaadah and the Mujaahideen survived.

Muazzin informed me:
When Anjeer Jal was martyred, his mother came out beaming with happiness. People began firing [in the air] out of delight at his Shahaadah.

Shells do not Explode

1. Jalaaluddeen Haqqaani narrated to me:
We were 30 Mujaahideen upon whom the planes began bombing. All the shells that landed around us exploded, but a shell that fell amongst us did not explode. It was about 45 kg in weight. If it had exploded, it would have killed most of us.

2. Abdul Mannaan narrated to me:
We were 3000 Mujaahideen at our camp when the jets released 300 napalm bombs over us. Not a single one exploded, and we transported all of them to Kuta [a town in Pakistan where the Mujaahideen were stationed].

Bullets do not Pierce Their Bodies

1. Jalaaluddeen narrated to me:
I had seen many Mujaahideen with me who would come from the battlefield, their clothes pierced by bullets, but not a bullet had entered their bodies.

Light Ascends from the Body of a Shaheed

1. The Mujaahid Abdul Mannaan, who was the leader at Helmaan, western Qindaar, reported to me:
We were 600 men and the kuffar were 6000, all of them from Russia. They were equipped with 600 tanks and 45 planes. They attacked us and the battle raged for 18 days.
The result: 33 Mujaahideen attained Shahaadah.
The enemy losses: 450 dead and 36 captured.
We destroyed 30 tanks and dropped two planes.
It was summer. This entire period [of 18 days] passed, and not a single body of any Shaheed changed or gave off an odour. One of the Shuhadaa was Abdul Ghafoor, son of Deen Muhammad. Every night a light would extend from him till the sky, and would remain for about 3 minutes, then descend. All of the Mujaahideen present saw this light.

2. Umar Haneef related to me:
In February 1982, every night after Esha a light used to descend from the sky onto the courtyard of our [the Mujahideen's] home. It would encircle the courtyard for a while, then disappear.


Slumber

Allah Ta'ala says in the Qur'aan:
When He encompassed you all with slumber as a source of Peace from Him.

In Tafseer 'Mukhtasar ibn Katheer' the follwoing is narrated:

Abu Talha [ra] says: "I was one of those whom slumber overcame on the day of Uhud. The sword fell from my hand a number of times. It would fall and I would pick it up. Again it would fall and I would pick it up. I looked towards them [the Muslims] and saw them swaying back and forth [dozing] while their shields were above them."

It is reported from Ali [ra]:
"On the day of Badr. we had only one horseman, Miqdaad [ra]. I had witnessed the scene where all of us were asleep, except Rasulallah [saws] who was under a tree, crying, till dawn broke."

Abdullah bin Mas'ud says:
"Slumber during fighting is a source of peace from Allah Ta'ala, and slumber during Salaah is from shaitaan."

Slumber Overcomes Arsalaan

1. Moulwy Arsalaan reported to me:
He slept during the battle in Shahi Kau for ten minutes, while shells were being hurled against them from all directions.

2. Abdur Rahmaan informed me:
During the battle of Rayjee [Baki], about 150 to 200 tanks attacked us. Due to [the ear-splitting sound of] the large number of shells, the Mujaahideen could not hear for two to three days. Then sleep overcame us during the battle. We woke up, contented and serene. One of the Mujaahideen struck a tank, which caught alight. One of the flaming fragments [of the tank] fell upon a provision vehicle. Seven vehicles blew up and we captured another five.

3. Abdullah - Hikmatyaar's bodyguard narrated to me:
Sleep overpowered me a number of times during the battles. I considered this a source of serenity from Allah Ta'ala, and a bounty.

4. Abdur Rasheed Abdul Qaadir of Ghamaam, informed me:
I witnessed on three occasions slumber overcoming the Mujaahideen at the moment the Russians attacked. They would sleep for two to three minutes, then awake with a new determination. They would then triumph over the Russians