the messenger of allâh [pbuh] forbade the muslims to start the fight without having an order from him. he, then, wore two armours — a front armour and a back one. he urged his companions to fight and spurred them to show stamina and steadfastness at fight. he started to implant the spirit of boldness and bravery in them. to wage and inflame his companions and in order to standfast in the fight, he took a sharp sword, held it in his hand and called out unto his companions and said: "who is ready to take this sword and give it its proper due?" many a man set out to take it. some of them were ‘ali bin abi talib, az-zubair bin al-‘awwam and ‘umar bin al-khattab. but it was granted to none. abu dujana sammak bin kharsha inquired: "o messenger of allâh, what is its price?" the prophet [pbuh] said: "it is to strike the enemy’s faces with it till it was bent." so abu dujana said: "o messenger of allâh i will take it for that price." and he was given the sword.

abu dujana was a man of courage who used to swagger at war. he had a red band which he wore round his head. whenever he was head-banded everybody knew that he was determined to fight to death. therefore as soon as abu dujana took the prophet [pbuh]’s sword, he banded his head and started strutting amongst the fighters.

watching him doing that, the messenger of allâh [pbuh] said: "this is a sort of walking that allâh detests except in such a situation."