In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful.
Treasures of the Prophetic Biography.
The Expedition of Dhat as-Salasil.
In the eighth year of the Migration.
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) wished to discipline certain Arab tribes
who had joined the Romans in fighting the Muslims.
So the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) tied a white banner for Amr ibn al-Aas,
gave him a black flag,
and dispatched him at the head of three hundred prominent Emigrants and Ansar,
accompanied by thirty horses.
He commanded him to seek reinforcement from whichever tribes he passed by, such as Bali, Udhrah, and Balqayn—
which were Arab tribes along the route.
So he marched by night and lay in ambush by day.
When he drew near the enemy,
news reached him that they had assembled a vast host.
He therefore sent Rafi' ibn Makith to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) to request reinforcements.
So the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) sent Abu Ubaydah to him with two hundred men,
tied a banner for him,
and sent Abu Bakr and Umar along with him.
He ordered them to join Amr ibn al-Aas
and to act in unison and not disagree.
When Abu Ubaydah joined Amr ibn al-Aas,
they disagreed over who should lead the prayer and command.
Amr said,
"I am the commander,
and you have merely come as reinforcement."
Abu Ubaydah replied,
"It shall be as you say.
Even if you disobey me, I will yield to you."
Thus, Amr ibn al-Aas assumed overall command.
Amr then entered the territory of Quda'ah,
subduing it until he reached the furthest reaches of their lands.
He encountered a host of the enemy,
confronted them with arms,
and they dispersed,
retreating without further fighting.
Thus, they instilled a measure of dread into the hearts of the disbelievers.
Amr related:
"I had a wet dream on a cold night
during the Expedition of Dhat as-Salasil,
and I feared that if I performed a full ritual bath (ghusl), I would perish.
So I performed dry ablution (tayammum)
and led my companions in the Dawn prayer.
They later mentioned this to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him),
who said,
'O Amr,
did you lead your companions in prayer while in a state of major ritual impurity?'
I said,
'I informed him of what had prevented me from bathing,
and that I had heard Allah Almighty say:
﴿And do not kill yourselves.﴾"
“O ye who believe! Squander not your wealth among yourselves in vanity, except it be a trade by mutual consent, and kill not one another. Lo! Allah is ever Merciful unto you.” (4:29)
The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) smiled
and said nothing.
Al-Harith ibn Hassan al-Bakri came as an envoy to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).
Al-Harith said:
"I set out to complain about Ibn al-Hadrami,
the governor of Basra,
to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).
I passed by Al-Rabadhah,
and there was an old woman from Banu Tamim
stranded without means.
She said, 'O servant of Allah,
I have a need with the Messenger of Allah;
will you convey me to him?'
So I carried her with me
and reached Medina.
The mosque was crowded with people,
a black flag was fluttering,
and Bilal was standing before the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), girt with a sword.
I asked, 'What is the matter with the people?'
They replied,
'He intends to dispatch Amr ibn al-Aas on a mission.'
I sat down,
and then the Prophet entered his house—
or his quarters.
I sought permission to enter upon him,
and he granted me leave.
I entered, greeted him with peace,
and he said,
'Was there any conflict between you and Tamim?'
I said, 'Yes,
and the defeat was theirs.
I passed by an old woman from Banu Tamim who was stranded,
and she asked me to carry her to you,
and here she is at the door.'
He gave her leave, and she entered.
I said, 'O Messenger of Allah,
if you see fit to set a boundary between us and Tamim,
then appoint Al-Dahna as the border.'
And in another narration:
'And grant Al-Dahna exclusively to us.'
Thereupon, the old woman became defensive,
stood up alarmed,
and said, 'O Messenger of Allah,
where then will your own people of Mudar be driven?'
Meaning: 'You are from Mudar,
Tamim is from Mudar,
while this man is a Bakri from Rabiah—
so how can you side with him against Mudar?'
The Bakri man said,
'My situation and hers is like the ancient saying:
"A goat that carried its own death."
I carried this woman
without realizing she would become my opponent!'
He continued:
'I seek refuge in Allah and His Messenger from being like the envoy of Ad.'
The Prophet asked,
'And what of the envoy of Ad?'
He replied,
'When Ad suffered a severe drought,
they sent an envoy named Qayl.
He passed by Mu'awiyah ibn Bakr
and stayed with him for a month, during which Mu'awiyah plied him with wine
and two singing girls entertained him.
When the month passed,
he went out to the mountains of Mahrah
and prayed,
"O Allah, You know I did not come to heal a sick person
nor to ransom a captive.
O Allah, provide Ad with whatever water You used to give them."
Dark clouds passed over him,
and a voice called out from them,
"Choose!"
So he pointed to a dark cloud among them,
whereupon a voice called out from it,
"Take it as ashes, reducing all to dust,
leaving not a single soul of Ad alive!"'
He added,
'And I was informed that the destructive wind sent against them
was no larger than the opening of this ring of mine,
until they were utterly destroyed.'
That is to say, this man—
instead of asking for rain for his people—
unwittingly requested their doom
without realizing it."
Treasures of the Prophetic Biography.
The Conquest of Mecca.
In the eighth year of the Migration.
Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) said concerning the Conquest of Mecca:
"It is the supreme conquest
by which Allah exalted His religion, His Messenger,
His host, and His trustworthy party,
and by which He rescued His sacred city and His House—
which He made a guidance for all worlds—
from the hands of the disbelieving polytheists.
It is the conquest over which the inhabitants of heaven rejoiced,
whose mighty influence reached the highest heavens,
by which people entered the religion of Allah in crowds,
and through which the face of the earth shone with radiance and joy."
This was the Conquest of Mecca
in the eighth year of the Migration.
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)
had previously concluded the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah with the disbelievers of Mecca.
Among the terms of that treaty was
that whichever Arab tribe wished
to enter into an alliance and pact with the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)
could do so,
and whichever tribe wished to enter into an alliance and pact with Quraysh
could do so.
Thus, Banu Bakr entered into a pact with Quraysh,
while Khuza'ah entered into a pact with the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).
Now, there was a blood feud between Khuza'ah and Banu Bakr dating back to the pre-Islamic era,
before they entered into these alliances.
The story behind it was
that a man named Malik ibn Abbad,
who was an ally of the family of Al-Aswad ibn Razin from Banu Bakr,
set out, and when he reached the middle of Khuza'ah territory,
the people of Khuza'ah attacked and killed him,
seizing his property.
This occurred some time before Islam.
In retaliation, Banu Bakr attacked a man from Khuza'ah and killed him.
Khuza'ah then rose up and attacked three men from Banu Bakr, killing them.
When Islam came, it imposed a barrier between the two factions,
and they became preoccupied with the faith rather than their old feud.
However, Banu Bakr still harbored a desire for revenge against Khuza'ah.
So when the peace treaty was established and Khuza'ah entered into the protection of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)
while Banu Bakr entered into the protection of Quraysh,
Banu Bakr seized the opportunity when Khuza'ah felt secure from them
and decided to exact their old revenge.
Nawfal ibn Mu'awiyah al-Dili set out
with a group from Banu Bakr
in the month of Sha'ban in the eighth year of the Migration.
They launched a night raid on Khuza'ah
while Khuza'ah were gathered at a watering place called Al-Watir.
They killed several of their men,
and skirmishing and heavy fighting ensued.
Quraysh then stepped in and aided Banu Bakr with weapons,
and men from Quraysh even fought alongside Banu Bakr against Khuza'ah under the cover of night,
until they forced Khuza'ah to retreat into the Sacred Sanctuary of Mecca.
This was because Khuza'ah was completely unprepared for war.
When they reached the Sacred Sanctuary,
Banu Bakr said to their leader,
"O Nawfal, we have entered the Sacred Sanctuary!
Mind your Lord! Mind your Lord!"—
meaning that fighting them within the Sanctuary was strictly forbidden.
But Nawfal—may Allah vilify him—replied,
"There is no Lord to be heeded today, O Banu Bakr!
Exact your revenge!
"By my life! You are stealing even within the Sanctuary,
so will you not exact your vengeance in it?"
Thus, the tribe of Khuza'ah entered Mecca
and sought refuge in the house of Budayl Ibn Warqa' al-Khuza'i,
as well as in the house of a freed slave of theirs named Rafi'.
Thereupon, 'Amr Ibn Salim al-Khuza'i hurried
to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).
When he entered upon the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) in the mosque,
he recited: "O Lord! I am reminding Muhammad of
the ancient alliance between our father and his father.
You were once children and we were parents,
then we embraced Islam and never withdrew our hand.
So grant us victory—may Allah guide you—with a decisive triumph,
and call upon the servants of Allah to come as reinforcements,
among whom is the Messenger of Allah, ready for battle,
noble and white as the full moon, rising ever higher.
If he is offered injustice, his face darkens with indignation,
leading a massive army that surges like a foaming sea.
Truly, Quraysh broke their promise to you,
and violated your firmly established treaty.
They set an ambush against me regarding you,
claiming that I could call upon no one,
while they are lower and fewer in number!
They attacked us at al-Watir while we were sleeping at night,
and slew us while we were bowing and prostrating!"
Thereupon, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said:
"You shall be granted victory, O 'Amr Ibn Salim!"
Now, the chain of transmission for this story contains weakness,
yet the scholars of the Prophetic biography (Seerah) unanimously recorded it.
Not everything in the Prophetic biography
possesses an authentic chain of transmission;
for this reason, the scholars have noted
that leniency is permitted regarding the Seerah,
provided that no legal rulings or creedal tenets are established upon it.
Quraysh sensed the gravity of their misdeed and treachery,
so they were compelled to send their leader, Abu Sufyan, as their representative
to renew the treaty with the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him),
in order to restore the sanctity of the breached pact.
*Treasures of the Seerah*
A stance of faith:
Abu Sufyan arrived in Medina
and went in to see his daughter, Umm Habibah.
When he went to sit on the bedding of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him),
she folded it away from him.
He said, "O my daughter,
do you think this bedding is too good for me,
or that I am too good for this bedding?"
Meaning: "Did you move the bedding out of honor for me,
or did you move it to honor the bedding above me?"
She replied:
"This is the bedding of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him),
and you are an impure polytheist!"
He said:
"By Allah, evil has overcome you since you left me!"
The chain of transmission for this story is weak,
yet it is not improbable that it actually occurred.
Abu Sufyan then left his daughter's presence
and came to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) to speak with him,
but the Prophet (peace be upon him) gave him no reply.
So he went to Abu Bakr and asked him
to intercede on his behalf with the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him),
but he said:
"I shall not do so."
Then he came to 'Umar Ibn al-Khattab and spoke to him,
and 'Umar said:
"Should I intercede for you with the Messenger of Allah?
By Allah, even if I found nothing to fight you with except tiny ants,
I would wage jihad against you with them!"
Then Abu Sufyan came
and entered upon 'Ali Ibn Abi Talib,
in whose presence was Fatimah.
He said:
"O 'Ali,
you are the closest of people to me in kinship,
and I have come for a need,
so do not turn me away empty-handed as I came!
Intercede for me with Muhammad."
'Ali said:
"Woe to you, O Abu Sufyan!
The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) has resolved upon a matter,
and we cannot speak to him regarding it."
This reflects the exemplary etiquette of 'Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) toward the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him).
Abu Sufyan then turned to Fatimah and said:
"Would you ask this son of yours"—
meaning al-Hasan (may Allah be pleased with him)—
"to grant protection among the people,
so that he may become the master of the Arabs until the end of time?"
She replied:
"By Allah, my son is not old enough to grant protection among the people,
consider these noble words spoken by Fatimah (may Allah be pleased with her)—
and no one can grant protection against the wish of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him)."
When Abu Sufyan despaired, he said:
"O Abu al-Hasan,
I see that matters have become dire for me,
so advise me."
'Ali said:
"By Allah, I know of nothing that will be of any avail to you,
but you are the chief of Banu Kinanah,
so stand up and proclaim protection among the people,
then return to your land."
He asked:
"Do you think that will be of any avail to me?"
He replied:
"No, by Allah, I do not think so,
but I can find no other course for you."
So Abu Sufyan stood in the mosque and declared:
"O people,
I have granted protection among the people!"
Then he mounted his camel and departed.
When he arrived back before Quraysh,
they asked, "What news do you bring?"
He said:
"I went to Muhammad and spoke to him,
but by Allah, he gave me no response at all.
Then I went to the son of Abu Quhafah,
but I found no good in him.
Then I went to 'Umar Ibn al-Khattab,
and I found him to be the most hostile of enemies.
Then I went to 'Ali, and I found him to be the most lenient of the group;
he suggested something to me, and I did it,
though by Allah, I do not know
whether it will be of any avail to me or not."
They asked, "And what did he command you to do?"
He replied:
"He instructed me to proclaim protection among the people,
so I did so."
They asked:
"Did Muhammad ratify that?"
He said, "No."
They said, "Woe to you!
The man did nothing more than play with you!"
He said:
"No, by Allah, I found no alternative to this."
At that point, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) gave his order
and prayed:
"O Allah, withhold intelligence and news from Quraysh,
so that we may take them by surprise in their own land."
*Treasures of the Seerah*