The Bay‘ah (i.e., pledge of allegiance) is a contract and covenant between the ruler and the ruled, and it is given that name by analogy with financial exchange; the Messenger of Allah ﷺ offers the promise of reward, and the Companion (may Allah be pleased with him) commits himself to obey him. The Sunnah highlighted that the Bay‘ah for death in war should not be given to anyone after the Prophet ﷺ, but rather the Bay‘ah for patience and steadfastness in fighting to the best of one’s ability. A war took place between the Caliph Yazeed and the people of Al-Madeenah who refused to give him the Bay‘ah. ‘Abdullaah bin Handhalah ibn Abee ‘Aamir and other people from Al-Madeenah went to Yazeed in the capital, Damascus, where they saw him unfit for the office, taking into account the killing of Al-Hussayn ibn ‘Alee in Karbala. They returned to Al-Madeenah, toppled Yazeed, ‘Abdullaah bin Handhalah claimed the Caliphate for himself, and the Ansaar gave him the Bay‘ah. They expelled ‘Uthmaan ibn Muhammed ibn AbeeSufyaan, the governor appointed by Yazeed, from Al-Madeenah. Thereupon, Yazeed sent a huge army from the people of Shaam led by Muslim ibn ‘Uqbah, who was known as Musrif ibn ‘Uqbah by the people of Hijaaz, in 63 A.H. A heinous war took place at (the lava field of) Al-Harrah (in the northeastern outskirts of Al-Madeenah) and resulted in an awful death toll. The army declared Al-Madeenah violable for three days, and theirviolent attack became known as the Battle of Al-Harrah, which is an Arabic word that literally means astony tract or lava field whose stones are black, and it refers to the Harrah (an open area with black stones) at the eastern outskirts of Al-Madeenah. Before the battle began, ‘Abdullah ibn Handhalah wanted to take the Bay‘ah from people for death, and ‘Abdullah ibn Yazeed(may Allah be pleased with him) knew of it, and said, “I would not give the Bay‘ah for death to anyone after the Prophet ﷺ!” He (may Allah be pleased with him) was referring to the Bay‘ah given to the Prophet ﷺ during Al-Hudaybiyah Treaty, when the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) gave him the Bay‘ah for death. The wisdom behind the Companion’s statement that he would not give the Bay‘ah for death to anyone after the Prophet ﷺ is that the due rights of the Prophet ﷺ over all Muslims entailed that each Muslim should defend him, even if it meant his own death, and it was forbidden for Muslims to flee from the battlefield even if it entailed sacrificing their own lives to protect the Prophet ﷺ, and this is not the case with anyone else after the Prophet ﷺ..