Was the strategic use of pre-battle duels by early Islamic commanders an innovation, or was it a common occurrence during ancient battles?

by romanknows

I'm currently reading The War of the Three Gods by Peter Crawford which details Islam's rise during the seventh century. It seems like before almost every battle, the Muslim commanders would use their specially-trained mubarizun to duel officers of the opposing army to kill as many of them as possible and undermine their enemy's moral. Would these duels be expected by both sides in seventh century battles, or was this a new tactic the Muslims developed?

TheOneFreeEngineer

While not a history, Tariq Ramadan in his "in the footsteps of the prophet" mentions many battles that took place during the initial formation of the Muslim community and atleast one of them had a pre battle duel and there is no mention of this being an innovation and seems to be a continuation of some ancient idea of personal honor already within the culture of bediuons and Arabs of the region.