History confirms that the first, second and third Caliphs were nothing more than glorified marathon runners when it came to battle. Whenever the Prophet (saws) required a brave combatant to step in and secure victory he would know to turn to Ali (as).
With that said, have you ever been curious as to exactly how many battles the companions had fled from?
Let's take a look!
1) The Battle of Uhud
I The narrator of the account - Zayd b. Wahb - reported:] I asked Ibn Mas'üd:
"Did the people flee from the Apostle of Alläh, may Alläh bless Him and His
Family, so that only 'Ali b. Abi Tälib, peace be on him, Abü Dujäna and Sahl b
Hunayf remained with him?"
"Talba b. 'Ubayd Alläh joined them," he answered.
"Where were Abü Bakr and 'Umar?" I asked.
"They were among those who had turned their backs," he answered
"Where was 'Uthmän?" I asked.
"He only came three hours after the battle"
Then Omar said: The day of the battle of Uhud, they defeated us, so I fled, until I climbed the mountain, so that I saw myself running and jumping as if I were a goat of the mountains. I heard people say, "Muhammad was murdered. I say: I can't find anyone saying: Muhammad (sawaws) was killed. Without me killing him. When we all gathered in the mountains, this verse was revealed.
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[Tafsir Al Tabari - Volume 7, page 327 & 328, compiler: Muhammad Ibn Jarir al-Tabari] (Sunni Book)
The chain of the hadith is good: Aboo Hisham Al-Rafi from Aboo Bakr Ibn Ayyash from Hasim Ibn Kulayb from Kulayb Ibn Shahab. The one disputed narrator, Abu Hisham Al Rifa'i, who Sunnis attest is unanimously weak, is not actually weak as we have shown already in this article.
Al Khatib Al Baghdadi writes about him in high praise here:
Muhammad ibn Yazeed ibn Muhammad ibn Kathir ibn Rafa’a ibn Samaha, Aboo Hisham Al-Rafai Al-Kufi. Was a judge in Baghdadafter Abi Hassan Al-Ziyadi’s death, and narrated from Abdullah Ibn Idrees and Hafs Ibn Ghiyas and Ibn Fodhail and Abi Bakr Ibn Ayyash and Abi Khaled Al-Ahmar and Wakih and Abi Mo’awiyya and Abdullah Ibn Nomair and Yahya Ibn Yaman and Abi Usama, he was a scholar in Ahkaam, and was a Hafiz in recitation (of Qur‘aan).Narrated from him Muhammad Ibn Ismaeel Al-Bukhari and Muslim Ibn Hajjaj. Narrated Al-Barqani from Muhammad Ibn Al-Abbas Al-Khazzaz from Ahmad Ibn Muhammad Ibn Mas’adda from Jahfar Ibn Darsawaih from Ahmad Ibn Muhammad Ibn Al-Qasem Ibn Mohrez who said: Yahya Ibn Mo’een was asked about Abi Hisham Al-Rafai, he said: I don’t see any problem in him.
…narrated Aboo Muslim Saleh Ibn Ahmad Ibn Abdullah Ibn Saleh ibn Muslim from his father who said: Aboo Hisham Al-Rafai Kufi has no problem, he is a reciter of Qur’aan, narrated from Hafs and Ibn Idrees and learned from Solaim, and he was judge in Al-Madahen. Al-Barqani was asked about Abi Hesham Al-Rafaee, he said: He is trustworthy, Abulhasan Al-Dar Al-Qotni ordered me to narrate his narrations in Saheeh (i.e. his narrations are authentic).
[Tarikh Al-Baghdad. Vol. 4, Pg. # 595 - 597.]
2) Battle of Khandaq
"O vile fellow," declared Hudhayfa, "how do you think (otherwise)? Where were
Abü Bakr, 'Umar, Hudhayfa and all the Companions of Muhammad, may Alläh
bless Him and His Family, on the day 'Amr b. 'Abd Wudd (called them to fight)?
He called on them to fi ht in single combat and all the people drew back in fear except for Ali, peace be on • He went forward to fight him and Alläh killed him
acting through his hand.
3) Battle of Khaybar
The Apostle of Alläh, may Alläh bless Him and His Family, summoned Abü
Bakr and said to him: "Take the standard. "
He took it with a number of the Emigrants and they fought without achieving
anything. He returned vigorously denouncing the people who had followed him
while they were just as vigorously blaming him.
The next day he gave it to 'Umar. The latter went a little wa with it and then
came back accusing his followers of cowardice hile the were also accusing him of cowardice.
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"The Messenger of Allah (saw) sent Abu Bakr with people, they (along with Abu Bakr) ran away and returned to him (saw), then the Messenger of Allah (saw) sent Umar with people and he also ran away and came back with people to the Messenger of Allah(saw), then the Messenger of Allah (saw) said: 'I will give the flag to a man who loves Allah (swt) and his Messenger (saw) and Allah (swt) and his Messenger (saw) love him, he will be victorious, HE (Ali) IS NOT A COWARD WHO RUNS AWAY FREQUENTLY!
[Kanz-ul-Ummal. Vol. 13, Pg. # 120-122, H. # 36388] (Sunni Book)
This same hadith can be found in Mustadrak Ala Al Sahihayn with an authentic chain in which it mentions that the Sahaba were accusing Umar of cowardice, just as mentioned in the Shia narration.
4) Battle of Hunayn
He means by "the Faithful", the Commander of the
Faithful, 'All, peace be on him, and those of the Banü Häshim who remained
with him. On that day they were eight, and with the Commander of the Faithful
they were nine. A1-'Abbäs b. 'Abd al-Muttalib was on the right of the Apostle of
Alläh, al-Fadl b. al-'Abbäs was on his left. Abü Sufyän b. al-Härith was holding
his saddle at the rear of his mule, while the Commander of the Faithful, peace
be on him, stood before him with his sword. Nawfal b. al Härith, Rabi'a b.
al-Härith, 'Abd Alläh b. al-Zubayr b. 'Abd al Muttalib and 'Utba and Ma'tib
the two sons of Abü Lahab stood around him. All the rest, save those we have mentioned turned their backs in flight.
[Kitab Al Irshad, Sheikh Al Mufid, English Translation, Pg 93-94] (Shia Book)
When we faced the enemy, the Muslims retreated and I saw a pagan throwing himself over a Muslim. I turned around and came upon him from behind and hit him on the shoulder with the sword He (i.e. the pagan) came towards me and seized me so violently that I felt as if it were death itself, but death overtook him and he released me. I followed 'Umar bin Al Khattab and asked (him), "What is wrong with the people (fleeing)?" He replied, "This is the Will of Allah,"
[Sahih al-Bukhari, Vol. 4, Book of One-fifth of Booty, Hadith 370] (Sunni Book)
5) Battle of Salasil
When they came to the Prophet, may Alläh bless Him and His Family, he gavg
the command to 'Umar b. al-Khattäb and sent him against them. They lay hidden
under the stones and trees. When he went to descend, they came out against hiny
and put him to flight,
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