The Life of Muhammad by Ibn Ishaq

Chapter 3. Muhammad's Raids on the Quraysh, 623CE

Muhammad prepares for war

In 623CE, twelve months after his arrival in Medina, Muhammad prepared for war having received Allah’s command to fight his enemies near and far: ‘Fight them until oppression is no more, and religion is all for Allah!’(Sura 8.39). This was thirteen years after his call.

Muhammad’s first raid

So he went forth raiding to Waddan, to intercept a Quraysh caravan. He failed to encounter it, but the Beni Damra there made a peace treaty with him. He returned to Medina without any fighting and stayed there for the rest of the month of Safar.

Muhammad sends Ubayda b. al-Harith on a raid

During that time in Medina Muhammad sent out his cousin Ubayda b. al-Harith with sixty or eighty riders. They were all emigrants and included none of the Ansar [Helpers] from Medina. [This was because raiding the Quraysh camel caravans, and taking plunder and captives for ransom was the only way that Muhammad could keep his starving fellow emigrants alive. Otherwise, they would have been completely dependent on the Ansar.]

They went as far as a well in the Hijaz, where they came upon a large number of Quraysh under the command of Ikrima b. Abu Jahl guarding a caravan. There was no fighting, but on that day Sa’d b. Abu Waqqas shot an arrow - the first arrow ever shot in the cause of Islam.

Then the two parties went their separate ways, and two of the Quraysh, Al-Miqdad b. al-Aswad, and Utba b. Ghazwan, who had gone out with the unbelievers in the hope of linking up with the Muslims, fled to join their fellow believers.

Afterwards, Abu Bakr composed these verses about the raid: ‘A Prophet of Truth came amongst them and they denied his Truth. When we summoned them to the Truth, they turned away howling like bitches driven back panting to their lairs. If they persist in their idolatry and error, Allah’s punishment on them will be swift. I swear that if they do not speedily repent of their error, a brave band of men will fall upon them turning their women into widows, and leaving corpses with vultures circling above!’

Muhammad sends Hamza on a raid to the coast

The apostle also sent his uncle, Hamza b. Abdul-Muttalib to the coast in the neighbourhood of Al-Is, in the territory of the Beni Juhayna, with thirty riders from the emigrants to intercept a caravan. Hamza encountered Abu Jahl and three hundred riders from Mecca on the shore, where the chief of the Beni Juhayna, Majdi b. Amr, mediated between them for he had peace treaties with both sides. So the two parties drew apart without fighting.

Afterwards, Hamza recited poetry, saying: ‘Our only act was to call them to purity and virtue, and summon them to Islam, but they refused to accept the Faith and treated it with mockery. They continued thus until I threatened to attack them in their own homes, desirous as I was to fully carry out the apostle’s work. I was the first to march forth beneath the apostle’s banner, never seen with anyone before me, the victorious flag of an all-powerful and generous God.’

Muhammad’s raids on Buwat and Al-Ushayra

The apostle led another raid on the Quraysh on the caravan route at Buwat, but the heavily-guarded caravan eluded his pursuit, and he returned to Medina without fighting. He also led a third personal raid on a caravan at Al-Ushayra, but it had passed before he reached the spot. He made a treaty there with the Beni Mudlij and their allies, the Beni Damra, and then returned to Medina without a fight.

Muhammad sends Sa’d b. Abu Waqqas to al-Kharrar

Meanwhile the apostle had sent Sa’d b. Abu Waqqas with eight men to go as far as al-Kharrar, on the road to Mecca, to intercept a caravan that was due to pass that way. But when they arrived, they found that the caravan had passed the day before, and so they too returned empty-handed without fighting. [Muhammad was now being reviled by the Quraysh and their allies as a ‘bandit’ or ‘caravan robber’, due to the numerous raids he organised using his personal knowledge of the Meccan trading routes.]

Muhammad’s raid on Safawan

Shortly after Muhammad returned from raiding Al-Ushayra, Kurz b. Jabir raided the pasturing camels of Medina and the apostle went out in pursuit until he arrived at Safawan, a valley near Badr. Kurz made his escape and Muhammad, unable to overtake him, returned to Medina empty-handed. This is known as ‘The first Raid of Badr.’

Muhammad sends Abdullah b. Jahsh to Nakhla

Then, in the sacred month of Rajab, the apostle sent out eight of the emigrants under the command of his cousin Abdullah b. Jahsh, without any of the Ansar. He gave Abdullah a letter, with orders not to read it until they had travelled for two days. [This was because he realised that the Quraysh were being informed of his plan of attacks.]

The letter said, ‘On reading this, continue to Nakhla between Mecca and Al-Taif. Keep a look-out for the Quraysh there and discover what they are doing’.

And Abdullah said, ‘Hearing is obeying.’Then he told his companions, ‘The apostle has forbidden me to make you do anything against your will, so whoever desires martyrdom may go forward with me, and whoever does not may turn back. As for myself, I am going on as the apostle commands.’

So he went on, and so did all his men, and not one of them turned back. However, Sa’d b. Abu Waqqas and Utba b. Ghazwan lost the camel that they were riding in turns, so they fell behind to search for it, while the others went on to Nakhla.

The Muslims attack in the sacred month

There, a caravan of the Quraysh laden with raisins, leather and other goods went past them. When the men of the caravan saw the Muslims, they were afraid of them because they had halted very close to them. But then they noticed Ukkasha b. Mihsan, who had had his head shaved [to trick them into thinking he was a pilgrim], looking down on them, and were reassured, saying, ‘They are pilgrims, so we have nothing to fear.’

The Muslim raiders conferred among themselves, for this was the last day of Rajab, saying, 'If we do not attack them tonight, they will get into the haram [sacred area] and be safe from us. But if we kill them now, we will be killing them in the sacred month’, so they hesitated, and were afraid to attack them.

Then they urged each other on, and agreed to kill as many Quraysh as possible, and take possession of the caravan. Waqid b. Abdullah shot and killed Amr b. al-Hadrami with an arrow. Then Uthman b. Abdullah and al-Hakam b. Kaysan gave themselves up and were taken captive, whilst Nauful b. Abdullah, Uthman’s brother, managed to escape.

Abdullah b. Jahsh and his men took the caravan and the two captives back with them to Medina. But when they came to Muhammad, he said, ‘I did not tell you to attack in a holy month!’

He withheld judgement on the caravan and the captives, refusing to take any booty from them. The men fell into despair, believing they were doomed. Their fellow Muslims condemned them for what they had done, and the Quraysh said, ‘Muhammad and his companions have violated the sacred month by shedding blood, seizing booty, and taking captives.’

The Jews interpreted the raid as a bad omen against the apostle, saying that the [unlawful] killing of Amr b. al-Hadrami meant that war had been kindled.

Allah absolves the Muslims and divides the spoils

But Allah turned the omen against them, not for them, and when talk spread, Allah sent down to His apostle: ‘They will question you about waging war in the holy month. Say: Waging war in a holy month is a grave offence, but turning people from the way of Allah, disbelieving in Him and in the Holy Mosque and expelling His people from it, is more grievous in His eyes. Oppression is worse than killing.’ (Sura 2.217) [Thus in Islam, the killing of innocent people is justified in Allah’s eyes because of the general wickedness or perceived ‘oppression’ of the enemy.]

When Allah had thus relieved the Muslims of their fears, the apostle took possession of the caravan and the captives. The Quraysh sent to him to ransom Uthman and al-Hakam, but only when Sa’d and Utba turned up unharmed did Muhammad let them be ransomed. Abdullah and his men asked anxiously, ‘Can we now be given our share of the booty?’

So Allah sent down concerning them: ‘Those who have embraced the faith, and emigrated and fought for the cause of Allah may hope for Allah’s mercy, for Allah is forgiving and compassionate.’(Sura 2.218)

Then Allah divided the booty with four-fifths to the combatants and one fifth to Allah and his apostle.

The change of the qibla from Jerusalem to the Kabah

Around eighteen [lunar] months after the apostle’s arrival in Medina, [when Muhammad realised that the Jews of Medina would never accept him as a prophet of their own ancient scriptures], he had a revelation from Allah which ordered him to change the qibla [direction of prayer] from Jerusalem to the Kabah in Mecca: ‘Now We will turn you towards a qibla that is dear to you. So turn your face towards the Holy Mosque. The People of the Book [the Jews] know full well that this is the Truth from their Lord. But even if you brought them every sign and portent, they would not follow your qibla, nor are you to follow theirs. The People of the Book know this is the true qibla. But some of them knowingly conceal the Truth. (Sura 2. 144-146)

Muhammad’s great expedition to attack Abu Sufyan’s caravan at Badr

When Muhammad learned that Abu Sufyan was coming from Syria with a large caravan laden with goods and bullion, escorted by some just some thirty or forty men, he summoned his followers and said, ‘This camel caravan contains the property of the Quraysh. Let us go forth and intercept it, in the hope that Allah will grant it to us as prey.’

The men obeyed his orders, some eagerly, and some reluctantly because they had not supposed that the apostle would go to war. [Many of the emigrants saw Muhammad’s proposed attack for what it was: a declaration of war on his own people.]

Abu Sufyan sends to Mecca for help

As he approached the Arabian coast, Abu Sufyan sought news, and anxiously questioned every rider he met, until he heard that Muhammad had called on his followers to attack the caravan. Greatly alarmed, he sent Damdam b. Amr to Mecca, ordering him to summon the Quraysh to come and protect their property, and to tell them that Muhammad had set off to intercept the caravan. So Damdam departed for Mecca at full speed.

And behold, the Quraysh heard Damdam crying out in the bottom of the wadi. He stood upon his camel, having slashed its nose, reversed its saddle, and torn his garments, and he was shouting, ‘O Quraysh, the transport camels! Muhammad and his companions are about to ambush the caravan and the merchandise you have with Abu Sufyan! Help! Help!’

The Quraysh equipped themselves quickly, and every man of them either went himself or sent someone in his place. The only noble who remained behind was Abu Lahab, who sent in his place Al-As who owed him 4000 dirhams that he could not pay, to clear him of his debt.

Muhammad goes forth to attack the Quraysh

Muhammad set out in the month of Ramadan with three hundred men. He gave the flag to Musab, and was himself preceded by two black banners, one with Ali called Al-Uqab [the Eagle] and the other with one of the Ansar. They had only seventy camels on which the men rode in turn. Near al-Safra, Muhammad sent two men to Badr to get information about Abu Sufyan and his caravan.

When news came that the Quraysh had marched from Mecca to protect their caravan, Muhammad told his followers and asked for their opinion. Al-Miqdad rose and said, ‘O apostle of God, go wherever Allah commands you and we will go with you.’

Muhammad thanked him and blessed him and then said to the Ansar, ‘Now give me your advice.’

And Sa’d b. Muadh said, ‘We believe in you, we declare your truth. So go where you will, we are with you. By Allah, if you were to ask us to cross this sea, and you plunged into it, we would plunge into it with you! Not a single man would stay behind.’

And Muhammad, delighted with Sa’d’s words, replied, ‘Go forth in good heart, for Allah has promised me either the caravan or the army, and methinks I already see the enemy lying dead on the battlefield!’

The Muslims interrogate two men of the Quyrash

When night fell, Muhammad sent Ali and some companions to the well at Badr in quest of news, and they fell in with some water-carriers of the Quraysh and brought along two of the men, Aslam, and Arid Abu Yasar and interrogated them while Muhammad stood nearby, praying.

The two captives said that they were water carriers sent by the Quraysh to fetch some water. The Muslims were vexed because they had hoped that the men were from Abu Sufyan’s caravan, so they thrashed them and when they had finished thrashing them, the two men said, ‘We belong to Abu Sufyan,’ so they released them. Muhammad finished his prayers and then said, ‘When they told the truth, you beat them; and when they lied you let them go! They do belong to the Quraysh.’

Then he questioned the two men about the Quraysh. They replied, ‘They are on the other side of this hill, known as al-Aqanqal’.

When Muhammad asked them how many men there were, they said they did not know. So he asked them how many beasts [camels] they slaughtered each day [for food], and when they said nine or ten, he said, ‘There are between nine hundred and a thousand men.’

Then he asked how many of the Quraysh nobility there were, and when they listed all the names, Muhammad cried, ‘Mecca has presented us with its noblest flesh and blood!’

Abu Sufyan saves the caravan from Muslim attack

Meanwhile, two Muslims, Basbas and Adiy had gone ahead until they reached Badr, and halted on a hill near the well. Then they took an old skin to fetch water while a local man, Majdi b. Amr, was by the water. They overheard two girls from the village arguing over a debt, and one was saying to the other, ‘The caravan arrives in the next day or two, and I will work for them and then pay you what I owe.’ Majdi agreed that the caravan was due, and made arrangements with them. The two Muslims rode back to the apostle and reported what they had overheard.

Abu Sufyan rode ahead of the caravan as a precaution until he arrived at the well and asked Majdi if he had noticed anything. Majdi replied that he had seen nothing unusual: just two riders who had halted on the hill and taken water away in a skin.

Abu Sufyan went to the place where the riders had halted, picked up some camel dung, and breaking it into pieces, saw that it contained date-stones. ‘By God!’ he cried, ‘this is the fodder of Medina!’ [The dates grown in Medina were of a particular type and quality which Abu Sufyan recognised from the date piths left in the camel dung.]

He returned at once to the caravan and changed direction from the road to the coast, passing Badr on the left, and journeying as fast as possible.