Missiles

Overview

The name Haft comes from Al-Hataf, the sword of Prophet Muhammad PBUH. Hatf is a sword which the prophet Muhammad took as booty from the Banu Qaynaqa. It is said that King David took his sword “al-Battar” from Goliath as booty when he defeated him, but he was less than 20 years old. God gave King David the ability to work with iron, to make armor and weapons and instruments of war, and he made for himself a sword. It was thus that the Hatf sword came about.

Prophet Muhammad PBUH had many other swords, which are on display at the Topkapi in Istanbul.

It is related that Harun ar-Rashid, on sending Yazid Ibn Mazyad against al-Walid, gave him Zu'l-Fakar, the sword which had belonged to the Prophet. "Take it, Yazid! by it you will be victorious." He took it, departed, and then occurred al-Walid's defeat and death. To this, Muslim Ibn al-Walid alludes, in the following verse of a kasida composed by him in praise of Yazid: "You caused the Prophet's sword to recollect his way of acting and the bravery displayed by the first (Musulman) who ever prayed and fasted."

aben Kassim said "... our faith in Paradise is not a dream; there are glorious mansions assigned to the faithful and the just. ... Is there none among you, boasting the lineage of kings, favoured by Allah and by destiny, capable of coping with the peril of the empire, and guiding you to fresh fields? Let him come forth, advance the sacred standard, and wield the Prophet's sword! "

It is curious to note how ancient and wide-spread the custom of giving names to favorite swords has been; there was the Prophet's sword Zualfakir, the Cid's Durindana, King Arthur's "brand Excalibur," the Dwarf-sword Tirfing of Scandinavian Sagas, and many another celebrated in the annals of chivalry.

When the khalif, the Ottoman sultan, rode out in Istambul, he was saluted with the shouting a long formula of benediction; in the same manner was the Greek emperor. The two turbans, which were placed before him when he entered the mosque, signified his sovereignty over Asia and Europe. The prophet's sword and mantle were preserved in the treasury of the seraglio.