The sword of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) “al-Battaar” and his relics in museums

I have read of and seen photographs of a sword called al-battar that the prophet salallahu alaihi wa salaam supposedly owned. pictures of the sword can be seen here:
http://www.usna.edu/Users/humss/bwheeler/swords/batar.html the sword is inscribed with the name of the prophets and has a picture of prophet dawood alaihi salam cutting off the head of goliath on it. considering the prophet salallahu alaihi wasalaam forbade pictures of people or animals, why would he own a sword that has pictures on it? any response would be appreciated.

Praise be to Allaah.
Firstly:

In the books of Seerah it is narrated that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) had a number of swords. Some of the scholars said that he had nine swords, but there is no proof of that in the saheeh Sunnah except in the case of only one.

Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:

He (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) had nine swords: Ma’thoor, which was the first sword he owned and which he inherited from his father; al-‘Adb (cutting or sharp); Dhu’l-Fiqaar, which almost never left his side, its handle, its pommel, its ring, its decorations and the end of its scabbard were made of silver; al-Qal’i; al-Battaar; al-Hatif; al-Rasoob; al-Mikhdham; and al-Qadeeb. The end of the scabbard was of silver.

His sword Dhu’l-Fiqaar was acquired as booty at the battle of Badr, and it is the one that was shown in dreams.

When he entered Makkah on the day of the Conquest, there were gold and silver on his sword. [This was classed as da’eef (weak) by al-Albaani in Mukhtasar al-Shamaa’il (87)]. Zaad al-Ma’aad (1/130). See also: al-Taraateeb al-Idaariyyah by al-Kataani (1/343).

The only sword for which there is proof in the saheeh Sunnah is Dhu’l-Fiqaar.

It was narrated from Ibn ‘Abbaas that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) acquired his word Dhu’l-Fiqaar on the day of Badr and this is the one that he saw in a dream on the day of Uhud.

It was narrated by al-Tirmidhi (1561) and Ibn Maajah (2808) and classed as hasan by al-Albaani in Saheeh Ibn Maajah.

The phrase translated here as “acquired” means he took it in addition to his share of the booty.

Ahmad (2441) narrated – in a report classed as hasan by al-Arna’oot – a more complete account, in which the dream is described:

It was narrated that Ibn ‘Abbaas said: The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) acquired his sword Dhu’l-Fiqaar on the day of Badr, and it is the one concerning which he saw a dream on the day of Uhud. He said: “I saw that my sword Dhu’l-Fiqaar was blunted and I interpreted that as some loss that would affect you. And I saw myself with a ram riding behind me and I interpreted that ... ; and I saw myself wearing a strong coat of chain-mail and I interpreted that as Madeenah. And I saw cattle being slaughtered, and by Allaah what good cattle they are, by Allaah what good cattle they are.” What the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said came to pass.

The sword of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) was called Dhu’l-Fiqaar because it had fine and beautiful engraving on it and engraving may be called fiqrah in Arabic. This was the most famous of his swords.

As for his sword al-Battaar, it is mentioned by Ibn Sa’d in al-Tabaqaat (1/486), but it is mursal – which is a type of da’eef (weak) report – its isnaad includes al-Waaqidi. And there are other ahaadeeth which are not saheeh.

Al-Haafiz al-‘Iraqi (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: In al-Tabaqaat, Ibn Sa’d mentions the mursal report of Marwaan ibn Abi Sa’eed Ibn al-Mu’alla who said: The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) acquired three swords from the weapons of Banu Qaynuqa’: a sword called Qa’li, a sword called Battaar and a sword called al-Hatif.  After that, he got al-Mikhdham and Rasoob.

Its isnaad includes al-Waaqidi.

Takhreej Ahaadeeth al-Ihya’ (2471).

Al-Qal’i is named after Marj al-Qal’ah, a place in the desert.

Since there is no proof in the saheeh Sunnah that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) had a sword by this name, how can we believe that it existed in the form described by the one who claims that it is a picture of the sword of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)?

Secondly:

There is a description in the Sunnah of the sword of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), Dhu’l-Fiqaar, but it does not say that it included an image of anyone. How could the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) have kept such a sword, when he is the one who forbade images and ordered that they be erased?

When the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) conquered Makkah, he did not enter the Ka’bah until after he had issued instructions that the images inside it be erased.

It was narrated from Jaabir that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) commanded ‘Umar ibn al-Khattaab (may Allaah be pleased with him), at the time of the conquest when he was in al-Bat-ha’, to go to the Ka’bah and erase every image that was inside it, and the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) did not enter it until it had been rid of every image that was inside it.

 Narrated by Abu Dawood (4156); classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh Abi Dawood.

It is proven in the Sunnah that the handle of the sword Dhu’l-Fiqaar was made of silver.

It was narrated that Abu Umaamah ibn Sahl said: The pommel of the sword of the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) was made of silver. Narrated by al-Nasaa’i (5373) and classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Nasaa’i.

Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:

It is permissible to adorn a sword with a little silver, because there was some silver on the sword of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him).

Majmoo’ al-Fataawa (25/64).

Thirdly:

The claims made on that website – that this is the sword of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) – may be answered by noting that there is no proof that any of the relics of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) survived for sure. Claims have been made that shoes, hair, garments and precious stones that belonged to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) exist in many parts of the world, and every nation claims that it is right and others are wrong. But it has been proven in the past and in recent times that the claims of many to possess items owned by the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) are false, because they are making money out of these claims.

In his book Mafaakahah al-Khullaan fi Hawaadith al-Zamaan, Ibn Tuloon mentioned the events of 919 AH, when someone claimed to have in his possession a vessel and some of the sticks of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), but then they realized that these were not relics of the Prophet, rather they were relics of al-Layth ibn Sa’d.

Some of the khulafa’ and senior Sahaabah preserved some relics of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), but many of them were lost in the turmoils that befell the Islamic state one after another.

For example, when the Tatars attacked Baghdad (656 AH), they burned the cloak (burdah) of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). When Timurlane attacked Damascus (803 AH), shoes that were said to have belonged to the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) disappeared.

Hence the imams doubted that it could be proven that any of the relics of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) have survived until now, and some of them are certain that it cannot be proven.

1 – Ibn Katheer (may Allaah have mercy on him) said, speaking of the garments of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him):

I say: It is not known what happened to these three garments after that.

Al-Bidaayah wa’l-Nihaayah (6/10) and al-Seerah al-Nabawiyyah (4/713).

2 – al-Suyooti (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:

This burdah was in the keeping of the caliphs who passed it down to one another and wore it on their shoulders in processions, both walking and riding. It was being worn by al-Muqtadir when he was killed and was stained with blood. I think that it was lost during the turmoil caused by the Tatars. Inna Lillaahi wa inna ilayhi raaji’oon (verily we belong to Allaah and unto Him is our return).

Tareekh al-Khulafa’ (p. 14).

3 – The great scholar Ahmad Timur Pasha said – after listing the relics attributed to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) in Istanbul:

It is obvious that some of these relics may be genuine, but we do not see any of the trustworthy scholars stating definitely whether they are genuine or not. Allaah, may He be glorified, knows best about them. But with regard to some of them, we cannot hide our suspicion concerning them

Al-Athaar al-Nabawiyyah (p. 78)

And on p. 82 he said – after quoting reports of some of the Sahaabah (may Allaah be pleased with them) seeking blessing from the hairs of the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him):

There is no sound evidence to prove that any of the hairs that were in the hands of the people could be attributed to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), because the hairs that the people have were some of that which had been shared out among the Sahaabah (may Allaah be pleased with them), but it is difficult to tell what is genuine from what is not.

End quote.

4 – Shaykh al-Albaani (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:

It is essential to note that we believe it is permissible to seek blessing from the relics of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), and we do not denounce it, contrary to what our opponents think, but this seeking of blessing is subject to certain conditions, including the following:

Correct faith that is acceptable to Allaah. If a person is not a Muslim who believes sincerely in Islam, Allaah will never grant him any good by his seeking blessing in this manner.

It is also stipulated that the one who wants to seek blessing have found one of the genuine relics of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him).

We know that relics such as his garments, hair, etc. have been lost and it is not possible for anyone to prove with certainty that any of them exist.

Al-Tawassul (1/145).

5 – Shaykh Saalih al-Fawzaan (may Allaah preserve him) said in an article entitled Ta’qeeb ‘ala Mulaahazaat al-Shaykh Muhammad al-Majdhoob ibn Mustafa:

With regard to things that are separated from the body (of the Prophet) (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) or things that were in contact with his body, blessing may be sought from them if they existed during his life and after his death if they have survived, but in most cases they did not survive after his death. As for the claims made by some charlatans nowadays that some of his hair etc still exists, these are false claims for which there is no evidence…

These relics do not exist now, because so much time has passed that it is most likely that they have disintegrated or been lost, and there is no evidence to support the claims made that some of them still exist.

Al-Bayaan li Akhta’ Ba’d al-Kuttaab (p. 154).

6 – Under the title Hal yoojad Shay’un min Athaar al-Rasool sall-Allaah ‘alayhiwa sallam fi’l-‘Asr al-haadir (Does any relic of the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) exist at present?) Dr. Naasir ibn ‘Abd al-Rahmaan al-Jadee’ describes types of seeking blessing and the rulings on them. On pp. 256-260 he explains that it is uncertain that any of the relics that exist currently can truly be attributed to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), and he states that many of the relics of the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) have disappeared through the ages due to loss, wars and turmoil.

End quote.

And Allaah knows best.