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

The Prophet prayed against those who killed his Companions at Biʾr Maʿūna for thirty mornings, praying against Riʿl, Liḥyān, and ʿUṣayya, who disobeyed Allah and His Messenger. Anas said: Allah Most High revealed to His Prophet, concerning those killed—the Companions of Biʾr Maʿūna—a passage of the revealed scripture that we recited until it was later abrogated: “Convey to our people that we have met our Lord; He is pleased with us, and we are pleased with Him.”

I asked Anas ibn Mālik about qunūt in the prayer. He said, “Yes.” I asked, “Was it before bowing or after it?” He replied, “Before it.” I said, “So-and-so told me that you said it was after it.” He answered, “He has lied. The Messenger of Allah observed qunūt only after bowing for a month, because he had sent some men called the Qurraʾ—their number was seventy—to a group of polytheists with whom the Messenger of Allah had a treaty. Those people who had a treaty with the Messenger of Allah prevailed over them, and the Messenger of Allah observed qunūt after bowing for a month, praying against them.”

The Prophet assessed him at Uḥud when he was fourteen and did not permit him to take part. He assessed him at the Battle of the Trench when he was fifteen and permitted him.

We were with the Messenger of Allah at the Trench. They were digging, and we were carrying the earth on our shoulders. The Messenger of Allah said, “O Allah, there is no life except the life of the Hereafter, so forgive the Emigrants and the Helpers.”

The Messenger of Allah went out to the Trench, where the Emigrants and the Helpers were digging on a cold morning. They had no servants to do that work for them. When he saw how exhausted and hungry they were, he said, “O Allah, true life is the life of the Hereafter, so forgive the Helpers and the Emigrants.” They answered him in verse: “We are the ones who pledged allegiance to Muhammad to strive as long as we live.”

The Emigrants and the Helpers began digging the Trench around Medina and carrying earth on their backs, saying, “We are the ones who pledged allegiance to Muhammad to remain forever upon Islam.” The Prophet replied to them, saying, “O Allah, there is no good except the good of the Hereafter, so bless the Helpers and the Emigrants.” He said: They would bring them two handfuls of barley, which was prepared with rancid fat and set before the people, who were hungry. It was unpleasant in the throat and had a foul smell.

On the day of the Trench, while we were digging, we encountered a hard rock. They went to the Prophet and said, “A hard rock has blocked us in the Trench.” He said, “I will go down.” He stood up with a stone bound against his stomach. We had gone three days without tasting food. The Prophet took the pickaxe and struck the rock; it crumbled into a mound of loose sand. I said, “O Messenger of Allah, let me go home.” I said to my wife, “I saw the Prophet in such a state that I could not bear it. Do you have anything?” She said, “I have some barley and a young goat.” I slaughtered the goat, and she ground the barley. We put the meat in the pot. Then I went to the Prophet, while the dough had risen and the pot, set between the hearthstones, was nearly cooked. I said, “I have prepared a little food, so come—you and a man or two.” He asked, “How much is it?” I told him. He said, “Plenty; good.” He said, “Tell her not to take the pot off the fire or the bread from the oven until I arrive.” Then he said, “Get up.” The Emigrants and the Helpers got up. When I entered the house ahead of him, I said to my wife, “Woe to you! The Prophet has brought the Emigrants and the Helpers and those with them.” She asked, “Did he ask you how much there was?” I said, “Yes.” He said, “Come in, but do not crowd one another.” He began breaking the bread and putting meat on it. Whenever he took food from the pot and oven, he covered them again, brought portions to his Companions, then took more. He continued breaking bread and serving food until they were full, and some remained. He said, “Eat this, and give some as a gift, for the people have been struck by famine.”

When the Trench was being dug, I saw the Prophet suffering from severe hunger. I went back to my wife and asked, “Do you have anything? I have seen the Messenger of Allah suffering terribly from hunger.” She brought out a sack containing a measure of barley. We had a small domesticated animal, so I slaughtered it, and she ground the barley. When she had finished grinding, I cut up the animal and put it in her pot. Then I went to the Messenger of Allah. She said, “Do not disgrace me before the Messenger of Allah and those with him.” I came to him and spoke to him privately: “O Messenger of Allah, we have slaughtered a small animal and ground a measure of barley that we had. Come with a few people.” The Prophet called out, “People of the Trench! Jābir has prepared a feast, so come along!” The Messenger of Allah said, “Do not take your pot off the fire, and do not bake your dough until I arrive.” I went ahead, and the Messenger of Allah came, leading the people, until we reached my wife. She said, “May this happen to you, and that!” I said, “I did what you told me.” She brought out the dough. The Prophet spat into it and blessed it, then went to our pot, spat into it, and blessed it. Then he said, “Call a woman who can bake, so she can bake with me; and ladle from your pot, but do not take it off the fire.” There were one thousand people. By Allah, they ate until they left, while our pot was still bubbling as it had been, and our dough was still being baked as before.

Concerning the words, “When they came upon you from above you and from below you, and when eyes grew wild,” ʿĀʾisha said, “That was on the day of the Trench.”

On the day of the Trench, the Prophet was carrying earth until his stomach was covered in dust—or, according to another wording, his stomach became dusty. He said: “By Allah, had it not been for Allah, we would not have been guided, nor given charity, nor prayed. So send down tranquility upon us, and make our feet firm when we meet the enemy. Indeed, they have transgressed against us; when they seek to cause turmoil, we refuse.” He raised his voice with the final words, “We refuse, we refuse.”

I have been aided by the easterly wind, and ʿĀd were destroyed by the westerly wind.

On the day of the Confederates, when the Messenger of Allah dug the Trench, I saw him carrying earth until the dust covered the skin of his stomach from my view; he had a very hairy body. As he carried the earth, I heard him chanting verses by Ibn Rawāḥa: “O Allah, were it not for You, we would not have been guided, nor given charity, nor prayed. Send tranquility down upon us, and make our feet firm when we meet the enemy. Those people have transgressed against us; if they seek to cause turmoil, we refuse.” Then he would draw out his voice at the end of it.

The first day I witnessed was the day of the Trench.

Ibn ʿUmar said: I went in to see Ḥafṣa, while her braids were dripping wet. I said, “You can see what has happened among the people, and I have been given no role in the matter.” She said, “Go and join them, for they are waiting for you. I fear that your staying away from them will cause division.” She did not leave him alone until he went. When the people had dispersed, Muʿāwiya delivered a speech and said, “Whoever wants to speak about this matter, let him show himself to us. We have more right to it than he and his father.” Ḥabīb ibn Maslama said, “Why did you not answer him?” ʿAbd Allāh said, “I loosened my sitting wrap and was about to say, ‘More entitled to this matter than you is the one who fought you and your father for Islam.’ But I feared that I might utter a word that would divide the gathering, cause bloodshed, and then be reported from me as something else. So I remembered what Allah has prepared in the Gardens.” Ḥabīb said, “You acted with discernment and were protected.” Maḥmūd said, reporting from ʿAbd al-Razzāq, that the word was “her braids.”

On the day of the Confederates, the Prophet said, “We shall campaign against them, and they will not campaign against us.”

When the Confederates withdrew from him, the Prophet said, “Now we shall campaign against them, and they will not campaign against us. We shall march against them.”

On the day of the Trench, the Prophet said, “May Allah fill their houses and their graves with fire, just as they kept us occupied and prevented us from performing the middle prayer until the sun had set.”

On the day of the Trench, after the sun had set, ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb came, cursing the Quraysh unbelievers. He said, “O Messenger of Allah, I could hardly pray before the sun was about to set.” The Prophet said, “By Allah, I have not prayed it either.” We went down with the Prophet to Buṭḥān. He performed ablution for the prayer, and we performed ablution too. He prayed ʿAṣr after sunset, then prayed Maghrib afterward.

On the day of the Confederates, the Messenger of Allah said, “Who will bring us news of the people?” Al-Zubayr said, “I will.” He asked a second time, “Who will bring us news of the people?” Al-Zubayr said, “I will.” He asked a third time, “Who will bring us news of the people?” Al-Zubayr said, “I will.” Then he said, “Every prophet has a devoted disciple, and my devoted disciple is al-Zubayr.”

There is no god but Allah alone. He strengthened His army, gave victory to His servant, and alone defeated the Confederates. Nothing comes after Him.