Military Expeditions led by the Prophet (pbuh) (Al-Maghaazi)

Makhlad ibn Mālik m’a rapporté : Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd al-Umawī nous a rapporté : Ibn Jurayj nous a rapporté, d’après ʿAmr ibn Dīnār, d’après ʿIkrima, d’après Ibn ʿAbbās — qu’Allah les agrée tous deux —, qui dit : « La colère d’Allah est terrible contre celui que le Prophète ﷺ tue dans le sentier d’Allah ; la colère d’Allah est terrible contre les gens qui ont ensanglanté le visage du Prophète ﷺ. »

Qutayba ibn Saʿīd nous a rapporté : Yaʿqūb nous a rapporté, d’après Abū Ḥāzim, qui avait entendu Sahl ibn Saʿd répondre à une question sur la blessure du Messager d’Allah ﷺ : « Par Allah, je sais bien qui lavait la blessure du Messager d’Allah ﷺ, qui versait l’eau et avec quoi on la soignait. Fāṭima — paix sur elle —, fille du Messager d’Allah ﷺ, la lavait, tandis que ʿAlī versait l’eau avec son bouclier. Lorsque Fāṭima vit que l’eau ne faisait qu’accroître le saignement, elle prit un morceau de natte, le brûla et l’appliqua sur la plaie ; le sang s’arrêta. Ce jour-là, l’incisive du Prophète ﷺ fut brisée, son visage fut blessé et son casque fut fracassé sur sa tête. »

ʿAmr ibn ʿAlī m’a rapporté : Abū ʿĀṣim nous a rapporté : Ibn Jurayj nous a rapporté, d’après ʿAmr ibn Dīnār, d’après ʿIkrima, d’après Ibn ʿAbbās, qui dit : « La colère d’Allah est terrible contre celui qu’un prophète tue ; la colère d’Allah est terrible contre celui qui ensanglante le visage du Messager d’Allah ﷺ. »

Muḥammad nous a rapporté : Abū Muʿāwiya nous a rapporté, d’après Hishām, d’après son père, d’après ʿĀʾisha — qu’Allah l’agrée —, qui cita : « Ceux qui répondirent à Allah et au Messager après avoir été blessés : ceux d’entre eux qui firent le bien et craignirent Allah auront une immense récompense. » Puis elle dit à ʿUrwa : « Mon neveu, ton père, al-Zubayr, et Abū Bakr étaient parmi eux. Après que le Messager d’Allah ﷺ eut subi ce qu’il subit le jour d’Uḥud et que les polythéistes se furent éloignés de lui, il craignit qu’ils ne reviennent. Il dit : “Qui va partir à leur poursuite ?” Soixante-dix hommes se portèrent volontaires. Parmi eux se trouvaient Abū Bakr et al-Zubayr. »

I know of no Arab clan whose martyrs are more numerous and more honored on the Day of Resurrection than the Anṣār. Qatāda said: Anas ibn Mālik told us that seventy of them were killed at Uḥud, seventy at Biʾr Maʿūna, and seventy at al-Yamāma. Biʾr Maʿūna took place during the Messenger of Allah’s lifetime, while al-Yamāma took place during Abū Bakr’s time, on the day of Musaylima the Liar.

The Messenger of Allah would place two men among the slain of Uḥud together in one garment, then ask, “Which of them had learned more of the Qur’an?” When one was pointed out to him, he would place him first in the laḥd (the side niche of the grave) and say, “I bear witness for these on the Day of Resurrection.” He ordered that they be buried with their blood; he did not pray over them, nor were they washed. Abū al-Walīd also reported from Shuʿba, from Ibn al-Munkadir, who said: I heard Jābir say, “When my father was killed, I began to weep and uncover the cloth from his face. The Prophet’s Companions kept telling me not to, but the Prophet did not stop me. The Prophet said, ‘Do not weep for him—or, perhaps: what is making you weep?—the angels continued to shade him with their wings until he was lifted up.’”

I think—I believe this is from the Prophet—that he said: “In a dream I saw that I shook a sword and its blade broke. That was what befell the believers at Uḥud. Then I shook it again, and it returned to its finest state. That was the victory Allah brought about and the believers’ gathering together. I also saw cows, and Allah is best; they were the believers at Uḥud.”

We emigrated with the Prophet, seeking Allah’s countenance, so our reward became due from Allah. Some of us passed away without having received any of their reward in this world. Muṣʿab ibn ʿUmayr was one of them: he was killed at Uḥud and left nothing but a single striped wrap. If we covered his head with it, his feet showed; if we covered his feet, his head showed. The Prophet said to us, “Cover his head with it, and place idhkhir grass over his feet”—or he said, “Put some idhkhir over his feet.” Among us are also those whose fruit has ripened for them, and they are gathering it.

This is a mountain that loves us, and we love it.

When Uḥud came into view for him, the Messenger of Allah said, “This is a mountain that loves us, and we love it. O Allah, Abraham declared Mecca sacred, and I declare sacred the area between its two lava fields.”

One day the Prophet went out and performed over the people of Uḥud a prayer like the prayer over the dead. Then he returned to the pulpit and said, “I shall reach you ahead, and I am a witness over you. I can see my Basin now. I have been given the keys to the treasuries of the earth—or, the keys of the earth. By Allah, I do not fear that you will associate others with Allah after me; rather, I fear that you will compete for it.”

The Prophet sent out a reconnaissance party and appointed ʿĀṣim ibn Thābit—who was the grandfather of ʿĀṣim ibn ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb—as their commander. They set out, and when they were between ʿUsfān and Mecca, word of them reached a clan of Hudhayl called Banū Liḥyān. Nearly one hundred archers pursued them and tracked their footprints until they reached a place where the party had camped. There they found date pits from dates the men had provisioned themselves with in Medina, and said, “These are Yathrib dates.” They followed their tracks until they caught up with them. When ʿĀṣim and his companions reached a rocky rise, they took refuge there. The pursuers came and surrounded them, saying, “You have our pledge and covenant that if you come down to us, we will not kill any of you.” ʿĀṣim replied, “As for me, I will not come down under the protection of an unbeliever. O Allah, inform Your Prophet about us.” They fought them, and the pursuers killed ʿĀṣim and seven men with arrows. Khubayb, Zayd, and another man remained. The pursuers gave them a pledge and covenant; once the three had accepted it, they came down. When the pursuers had them in their power, they loosened their bowstrings and tied them with them. The third man said, “This is the first act of treachery.” He refused to go with them. They dragged him and tried to force him to accompany them, but he would not, so they killed him. They took Khubayb and Zayd and sold them in Mecca. The Banū al-Ḥārith ibn ʿĀmir ibn Nawfal bought Khubayb, for Khubayb had killed al-Ḥārith on the day of Badr. He remained their captive until they resolved to kill him. He borrowed a razor from one of al-Ḥārith’s daughters so that he could clean himself, and she lent it to him. She said, “I was heedless of a little boy of mine, who toddled over to him and came to him. He placed the child on his thigh. When I saw him, I was terrified, and he recognized my fear, while the razor was in his hand. He said, ‘Are you afraid I will kill him? Allah willing, I would never do that.’” She used to say, “I have never seen a prisoner better than Khubayb. I once saw him eating a bunch of grapes, though there was no fruit in Mecca at that time and he was bound in iron. It was nothing but provision Allah had granted him.” They took him out of the Sanctuary to kill him, and he said, “Let me pray two units.” Then he turned back to them and said, “Were it not that you might think my condition showed fear of death, I would have prayed more.” Thus he was the first to establish praying two units before execution. Then he said, “O Allah, count them one by one.” He also said: “I do not care, when I am killed as a Muslim, on which side my body falls for Allah. That is for the sake of God; and if He wills, He may bless the severed limbs of a torn body.” ʿUqba ibn al-Ḥārith then stood over him and killed him. Quraysh sent messengers to ʿĀṣim to bring back some part of his body by which they could recognize him, for ʿĀṣim had killed one of their leading men at Badr. Allah sent against him a covering like a cloud of wasps, which protected him from their messengers, and they could not obtain anything from him.

The man who killed Khubayb was Abū Sirwʿa.

The Prophet sent seventy men for a mission; they were called the Qurraʾ (reciters). Two clans of Banū Sulaym, Riʿl and Dhakwān, confronted them at a well called Biʾr Maʿūna. The men said, “By Allah, we did not come for you. We are only passing through on a mission for the Prophet.” But they killed them. The Prophet prayed against them for a month during the dawn prayer; this was the beginning of qunūt, for we had not previously practiced qunūt. ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz said: A man asked Anas about qunūt—was it after bowing, or after finishing the recitation? He replied, “No, rather, after finishing the recitation.”

The Messenger of Allah observed qunūt for a month after bowing, praying against some Arab clans.

Riʿl, Dhakwān, ʿUṣayya, and Banū Liḥyān asked the Messenger of Allah for support against an enemy, and he sent them seventy men from the Anṣār. In their time we called them the Qurraʾ (reciters). They gathered firewood by day and prayed by night. When they reached Biʾr Maʿūna, the people killed them and betrayed them. News reached the Prophet, and for a month he observed qunūt in the dawn prayer, praying against clans among the Arabs: Riʿl, Dhakwān, ʿUṣayya, and Banū Liḥyān. Anas said: We used to recite concerning them a passage of the Qur’an, which was later withdrawn: “Convey to our people that we have met our Lord; He is pleased with us, and He has made us pleased.” Through another route, from Qatāda from Anas, it is reported that the Prophet of Allah observed qunūt for a month in the dawn prayer, praying against clans among the Arabs—Riʿl, Dhakwān, ʿUṣayya, and Banū Liḥyān. Khalīfa added: Ibn Zurayʿ related to us, Saʿīd related to us, from Qatāda: Anas related to us that those seventy men from the Anṣār were killed at Biʾr Maʿūna. It is similar, with the addition that it was a Qur’an passage in written form.

The Prophet sent his maternal uncle—one of Umm Sulaym’s brothers—with seventy mounted men. The leader of the polytheists, ʿĀmir ibn al-Ṭufayl, offered him a choice among three proposals: “You may have the people of the plain, and I the people of the settled lands; or you may appoint me as your deputy; or I will attack you with a thousand men of Ghatafān, and another thousand.” ʿĀmir was struck by a swelling while in the house of a woman of a certain family. He said, “A swelling like that of a young camel, in the house of a woman of such-and-such a family! Bring me my horse.” He died on the back of his horse. Ḥarām, Umm Sulaym’s brother, went out with a lame man and another man from a certain clan. He said to the two, “Stay nearby until I go to them. If they grant me safe conduct, you can join me; if they kill me, you can return to your companions.” He asked them, “Will you grant me safe conduct so I can deliver the Messenger of Allah’s message?” He began speaking to them, and they signaled to one of their men. He came up behind Ḥarām and stabbed him—Hammām said, “I think the spear went right through him.” Ḥarām cried, “Allah is greatest! By the Lord of the Kaʿba, I have triumphed!” The man pursued the others, and they were all killed except the lame man, who was on a mountain peak. Allah revealed to us—then this was among what was abrogated—“We have indeed met our Lord; He was pleased with us, and He made us pleased.” The Prophet then prayed against them for thirty mornings: Riʿl, Dhakwān, Banū Liḥyān, and ʿUṣayya, who disobeyed Allah and His Messenger.

When Ḥarām ibn Milḥān—who was my maternal uncle—was stabbed on the day of Biʾr Maʿūna, he gestured with the blood like this and flicked it onto his face and head. Then he said, “By the Lord of the Kaʿba, I have triumphed!”

When the persecution had become severe for him, Abū Bakr asked the Prophet’s permission to emigrate. He told him, “Stay.” Abū Bakr said, “Do you hope that you will be given permission?” The Messenger of Allah replied, “I hope so.” Abū Bakr waited for him. One midday the Messenger of Allah came to Abū Bakr’s house and called out, “Have everyone with you leave.” Abū Bakr said, “They are only my two daughters.” He said, “Do you know that I have been given permission to leave?” Abū Bakr replied, “O Messenger of Allah, companionship!” The Prophet said, “Companionship.” Abū Bakr said, “I have two she-camels that I prepared for the journey.” He gave the Prophet one of them, al-Jadʿāʾ. They rode off together and reached the cave on Mount Thawr, where they concealed themselves. ʿĀmir ibn Fuhayra, a servant of ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Ṭufayl ibn Sakhbara—ʿĀʾisha’s maternal half-brother—used to tend Abū Bakr’s flock. He would bring it to them in the evening and morning, then come to them early and set out again, so none of the shepherds noticed. When they departed, he went with them, taking turns riding, until they reached Medina. ʿĀmir ibn Fuhayra was killed on the day of Biʾr Maʿūna. Abū Usāma also reported: Hishām ibn ʿUrwa said that his father told him, “When those at Biʾr Maʿūna were killed and ʿAmr ibn Umayya al-Ḍamrī was taken captive, ʿĀmir ibn al-Ṭufayl asked him, ‘Who is this?’ and he pointed to a slain man. ʿAmr ibn Umayya said, ‘This is ʿĀmir ibn Fuhayra.’ ʿĀmir ibn al-Ṭufayl said, ‘I saw him after he was killed, raised up toward the sky until I could see the sky between him and the earth; then he was set down.’” News of their deaths reached the Prophet, and he announced their loss, saying, “Your companions have been killed. They asked their Lord, ‘Our Lord, tell our brothers about us: we are pleased with You, and You are pleased with us.’” So He informed them about their companions. ʿUrwa ibn Asmāʾ ibn al-Ṣalt was among those killed that day, and ʿUrwa was named after him; Mundhir ibn ʿAmr was also killed, and Mundhir was named after him.

For a month after bowing, the Prophet observed qunūt, praying against Riʿl and Dhakwān and saying, “ʿUṣayya disobeyed Allah and His Messenger.”