Dhiraar belonged to the
Arab tribe of
Banu Asad. He was the son of one of its chieftains, known as al-Azwar Malik, the sixth generation descendant of Asad ibn Khuzaymah, the progenitor of the Asad tribe, who descended in the seventh generation from
Adnan. Dhiraar became Muslim after the
Battle of the Trench, as he was sent with
Tulayha ibn Khuwaylid by the Asad clan; he then urged the clan to embrace Islam after his visit to the
prophet of Islam. Dhiraar's family was among the first converts to Islam. Muhammad admonished that it is allowed for Muslims to possess property which he gained before he convert to Islam. Dhiraar showed his loyalty by warning and chastising the conduct of the peoples who rebelled against the caliphate. Later, he participated as a scout in the
elite Rashidun cavalry led by the general Khalid ibn al-Walid. Dhiraar was sent to quell a rebellion. He was sent by Khalid to lead a detachment consisting of
Banu Tamim warriors to confront
Malik ibn Nuwayra, chief of the Bani Yarbu, a Banu Tamim clan, on accusations of apostasy. Dhiraar participated in
Battle of Yamama, where he testified that around 7,000 followers of
Musaylima were killed on the battlefield, the plain of Aqraba, while 7,000 others were killed inside their fortress, in a garden called
"the garden of death
".
Conquest of Iraq Dhiraar participated in the first
Muslim conquest of Persia under Khalid ibn al-Walid, which occurred immediately after the Ridda wars. File:Mohammad adil rais--B.PNG|Khalid led main army to engage and bait the Sassanid while cavalry of Dhiraar and Suwaid ibn Muqrin hiding behind the hill File:Mohammad adil rais--C.PNG|Sassanids launched counter-attack, on Khalid's instructions the Muslim withdrawing their position to lure the Sassanid advance. File:Mohammad adil rais--D.PNG|Dhiraar and Suwaid ibn Muqrin cavalry launching envelopment attack. File:Mohammad adil rais--E.PNG|Muslim cavalry and infantry complete the encirclement of the Persian army. During the
battle of Hira, Dhiraar and Ayas ibn Qubaisah were tasked to subdue the fortress of al-Qasr al-Abyad; Dhiraar asked the fortress to surrender. The forces of Harbees were swiftly demolished by the Rashidun troops under Amr. Dhiraar and Amr then continued by leading more than 5,000 cavalry troops to join Maysarah ibn Masruq in besieging Homs.
Battle of Ajnadayn According to
George Nafziger, Dhiraar accomplished several impressive feats during the
Battle of Ajnadayn, where he reportedly slew multiple Byzantine champions, including two provincial governors. At one point, Dhiraar impetuously confronted Khalid and asked:
Al-Waqidi recorded another event in which Dhiraar duelled against Vahan. Dhiraar unfastened and discarded his armor and upper garments during the duel, thus continuing bare-chested. In a very fierce duel, Dhiraar eventually speared Vahan through the chest, killing him. He then continued on, charging through the Byzantine ranks and killing at least three dozen Byzantine soldiers alone, according to witnesses. The deaths of the Byzantine commanders sowed disorder and loss of morale among the Byzantine ranks, which Khalid used to his strategic advantage. Shortly after, he was rescued by a team led by his sister,
Khawla bint al-Azwar. Later in the same year, Dhiraar was appointed by Khalid to be cavalry commander during the
battle of Fahl. During the siege of
al-Rastan, it is recorded that the supreme commander of Rashidun forces, Abu Ubayda, employed a certain plan that allowed Dhiraar and about 20 warriors which included
al-Musayyab ibn Najaba,
Dhu'l Kala al-Himyari,
Amr ibn Ma'adi Yakrib al-Zubaydi,
Hashim ibn Utba,
Qays ibn Makshuh,
Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Bakr al-Siddiq,
Malik al-Ashtar, and others to enter the city. They were to cause a riot inside which would throw the entire city into confusion, then open the gate from inside to allow the Muslim forces waiting outside to overwhelm the defenses, thus allowing the city to be captured despite its very strong fortifications.
Battle of Yarmouk In the battle of Yarmouk, Dhiraar was placed on the left wing commanded by
Yazid ibn Abi Sufyan, leading his personal squadron among a dozen other squadrons on the left wing. During this battle, Dhiraar served largely in a unit of elite cavalry called the
Mobile Guards, which was specifically tasked with plugging the gaps between Muslim ranks to avoid enemy penetration. It is recorded that in one particular clash, as a rank of Muslims fell back at the Byzantine onslaught, Dhiraar grouped together with
Ikrimah ibn Abi Jahl, stood firm with 400 men holding the deserted line, and successfully defended the Muslim position until the fleeing Muslim ranks returned to the battlefield and reinforced the position again. The circumstances were expounded on in
Al-Tabari's comprehensive history, wherein Ikrimah is recorded as saying: Al-Harith ibn Hisham and Dhiraar ibn Al-Azwar both swore an oath along with 400 notable men and knights. They fought in front of Khalid's command tent until all of them were disabled by wounds. Many of them, including Ikrimah, died after the clash due to heavy wounds, although some, like Dhiraar, were able to recover. The next day, Dhiraar moved with 500 mounted troops around the northern flank of the Byzantines and captured the bridge. The plan was successful as the Byzantines retreated onto this path, where Dhiraar had been waiting for them at Wadi ar-Raqqad Bridge. The Byzantines were surrounded on all sides now. Some fell off into the deep ravines, others tried to escape into the water, only to be smashed on the rocks below, and still others were killed in their attempted escape.
Battle of Qadisiyyah Later, Caliph Umar instructed a portion of the Rashidun troops from Yarmouk to be transferred to
Iraq as reinforcements for
Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas in the
Battle of al-Qādisiyyah against the
Sassanid Empire. Dhiraar was counted among them. At this stage,
Ya'qubi has recorded that along with Dhiraar, bin Al-Azwar, Amr ibn Ma'adi Yakrib, Tulayha, and Kurt ibn Jammah al-Abdi discovered the corpse of
Rostam Farrokhzad, the highest commander of the Sassanid army, during this battle. The death of Rostam shocked the entire Sassanid side, which prompted Sa'd to instruct a general assault by all the Muslim soldiers.
Conquest of Africa Later, according to Waqidi, during the
Muslim conquest of Egypt, Dhiraar participated in a campaign under
Miqdad ibn Aswad that pacified several areas in the al-Gharbia region, starting from Kafr Tanah (in modern day
Dakahlia Governorate) and
Tinnis. Then Miqdad continued his march, leading forty horsemen which included Dhiraar. As they reached
Damietta, Miqdad found the city was fortified by a man named al-Hammuk, an uncle of
Al-Muqawqis. As Damietta subdued, Miqdad was appointed to govern the city. Later, Dhiraar was involved in the Muslim campaign to
Bahnasa.
Amr ibn al-As sent Dhiraar and the Muslim army under his command to meet the Sudanese Christian auxiliaries of
Beja. Before the battle, the Rashidun army camped in
Dashur. Benjamin Hendrickx reported that the African Christians had mustered around 20,000 Sudanese
symmachoi corps,{{#tag:ref|Symmachos were a successor of
Foederati auxiliary troops in Roman empire that existed around 400-650 AD. In this case, they consisted of native black Sudanese auxiliary units of Byzantine. The record of al-Maqrizi stated that in this conflict, Dhiraar along with
Miqdad ibn Aswad,
Zubayr ibn al-Awwam, and
Uqba ibn Amir each commanded Muslim cavalry facing the elephant corps led by the Byzantine exarchate commander Batlus. The Rashidun cavalry were armed with spears which, after the tips were soaked in santonin plants and sulphur, ignited in flames. The flaming spears were used to drive the elephants away in terror, while the elephant riders were thrown from the elephant's back and crushed underfoot. Meanwhile, the
al-Quwwad warriors were routed by Rashidun cavalry soldiers who used seized chain weapons to overcome the iron staffs used by the Byzantine
al-Quwwad corps.
Siege of Bahnasa City After the Rashidun victory in Darishkur, the Byzantine Sudanese forces fled to Bahnasa and locked the gates. The Muslims soon besieged the town as the Byzantine side was reinforced by an arrival of 50,000, according to the report of
al-Maqqari. The siege dragged for months, until Khalid ibn al-Walid commanded Zubayr ibn al-Awwam, Dhiraar ibn al-Azwar and other commanders to intensify the siege, assigning them to lead around 10,000
Companions of the Prophet, with 70 among them being veterans of the
battle of Badr. The Byzantines and their Copt allies showered the Rashidun army with arrows and stones until the Rashidun overcame the defenders. The Rashidun army managed to breach the gate, storm the city, and force the surrender of the inhabitants. Dhiraar, the first to emerge, came out of the battle with his entire body stained with blood, confessing that he personally killed around 160 Byzantine soldiers during the battle. and his final resting place is in Syria. The tomb shrine believed to belong to Dhiraar is located in the town of
Deir Alla in the Central Jordan Valley, in northwestern Jordan. It is a modern mosque with a wide courtyard and a garden decorated with trees. Still, other accounts of Dhiraar ibn al-Azwar's death exist. For instance,
Ibn 'Abd al-Barr said he fell at the
Battle of Ajnadayn. This is contrary to al-Waqidi's report which said he fell at the
Battle of Yamama. Also, it was reported by Ibn Hajjar that after Dhiraar murdered
Malik ibn Nuwayra and committed adultery with a female slave taken from the campaign, General Khalid was ordered by Caliph Umar to execute him for his crimes. However, before Khalid received the order to execute Dhiraar, he was already dead. There is some controversy regarding the textual translations, which makes it difficult to discern if Dhiraar died at that time or not (regardless of the cause), as it is recorded by
Bayhaqi. On the other hand,
al-Tabari discussed in his book the conflicting reports of two versions of his death. The first asserts that Dhiraar was killed in the battle of Ajnadayn, while the other asserts that he in the battle of Yamama Ibn Hajar further surmised that there were two different persons called Dhiraar. The first was Dhiraar ibn al-Azwar from the Asad tribe and the other named
Dhiraar ibn al-Khattab. Thus, some chroniclers like Abd al-Barr made the mistake of identifying those two different persons as one. Although the confusion was evident here, the older chroniclers such as Abu Ismail al-Azdi and
Sayf ibn Umar were conscious of the existence of two different Dhiraars, but they also recorded that both Dhiraar al-Azwar and Dhiraar ibn al-Khattab were present in the Syrian campaign, particularly at the
Battle of Yarmouk, thus dismissing al-Barr and al-Waqidi's claims. , a Jordanian
Hadith expert and pupil of
Muhammad Nasiruddin al-Albani, has warned in his book against the tradition authored by Waqidi. Al-Salman regards the death of Dhiraar in the battle of Yamama as inauthentic narration. Meanwhile, Mahmud Shakir also recorded that both Dhiraar ibn al-Azwar and Dhiraar ibn al-Khatta lived long enough past the battle of Yamama to attend the battle of Qadisiyyah. ==Legacy==