Summary of the Prophet’s biography | Episode (127) | The Bir Maouna tragedy

0:00 In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

0:03 Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.

0:13 An Abridgment of the Prophetic Biography (Seerah),

0:17 authored by Sheikh Musa ibn Rashid al-Azimi,

0:22 may Allah preserve him.

0:24 The Tragedy of Bi'r Ma'unah,

0:31 or the Expedition of the Qurra' (the Qur'an Reciters).

0:35 This tragedy occurred in the month of Safar,

0:38 in the fourth year after the Hijrah.

0:41 Opinions differ regarding the reason why the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) dispatched this expedition,

0:47 as follows:

0:49 First:

0:50 A request for aid from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) against an enemy.

0:56 Imam al-Bukhari narrated in his *Sahih*

0:59 on the authority of Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) who said:

1:03 "Ri'l, Dhakwan, 'Usayyah, and Banu Lihyan

1:08 sought reinforcements from the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) against an enemy,

1:12 so he reinforced them with seventy men from the Ansar.

1:16 We used to call them *al-Qurra'* (the Reciters) in their time;

1:19 they would gather firewood by day,

1:22 and pray through the night."

1:24 Second:

1:26 A request for instruction in the Qur'an and the Sunnah.

1:29 Imam Muslim narrated in his *Sahih*

1:32 on the authority of Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) who said:

1:36 "Some people came to the Prophet (peace be upon him) and said,

1:41 'Send with us men who will teach us the Qur'an and the Sunnah.'

1:46 So he sent to them seventy men from the Ansar,

1:50 who were called *al-Qurra'*."

1:52 Ibn Ishaq said:

1:54 "Abu Bara'—

1:56 'Amir ibn Malik ibn Ja'far,

1:58 known as *Mula'ib al-Asinnah* (the Player with Lances)—came

2:00 to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) in Madinah.

2:06 The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) presented Islam to him

2:11 and invited him to embrace it,

2:13 but he neither embraced Islam nor distanced himself from it.

2:16 Instead, he said,

2:17 'O Muhammad,

2:19 if you were to send some of your Companions to the people of Najd

2:23 to invite them to your message,

2:25 I would hope that they might respond favorably to you.'

2:28 The Prophet (peace be upon him) replied,

2:30 'Indeed, I fear for them

2:32 from the people of Najd.'

2:34 Abu Bara' said,

2:36 'I shall be their guarantor of protection.

2:38 So send them to invite the people

2:40 to your message.'

2:42 Thereupon, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) dispatched

2:44 al-Mundhir ibn 'Amr

2:46 at the head of forty men among his Companions,

2:48 who were among the best of the Muslims."

2:50 The Arrival of the Companions

2:55 (may Allah be pleased with them)

2:57 at Bi'r Ma'unah.

2:59 The Companions of the Prophet

3:01 (peace be upon him)—

3:03 all seventy of them—set out from Madinah,

3:05 and their leader appointed over them by

3:07 the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him)

3:09 was al-Mundhir ibn 'Amr,

3:11 the veteran of 'Aqabah and Badr

3:13 (may Allah be pleased with him).

3:15 When they reached

3:17 Bi'r Ma'unah, they were intercepted by

3:19 two clans of Banu Sulaym,

3:21 who betrayed them

3:23 and slaughtered them.

3:26 Imam al-Bukhari narrated in his *Sahih*

3:28 on the authority of Anas (may Allah be pleased with him),

3:30 who said:

3:32 "Two clans from

3:34 Banu Sulaym—Ri'l and Dhakwan—intercepted them

3:36 near a well

3:38 known as Bi'r Ma'unah.

3:40 The Companions said,

3:42 'By Allah, it is not you

3:44 we seek; we are only

3:46 passing through on an errand

3:48 for the Prophet (peace be upon him).'

3:50 Yet they slaughtered them."

3:52 In another narration

3:54 in *Sahih al-Bukhari*,

3:56 Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) said:

3:58 "So they proceeded until

4:00 they reached Bi'r Ma'unah,

4:02 where they betrayed them

4:04 and slaughtered them."

4:06 Imam Ahmad narrated in his *Musnad*

4:08 with an authentic chain of narration

4:10 on the authority of Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him),

4:12 who said:

4:14 "They came upon a clan of Banu Sulaym,

4:16 and among the Muslims was my maternal uncle,

4:18 Haram.

4:20 Haram said to their commander,

4:22 'Let me go and inform these people

4:24 that we do not seek to fight them,

4:26 so that they may leave our path clear.'

4:30 So Haram said to them,

4:32 'We do not intend any harm to you,'

4:34 but a man confronted him

4:36 with a spear

4:38 and pierced him straight through with it.

4:40 When he felt the spear penetrating his body,

4:42 he said,

4:44 'Allah is the Greatest!

4:46 By the Lord of the Ka'bah, I have triumphed!'

4:48 Anas continued:

4:50 'Then they fell upon the rest of them

4:52 and did not leave a single one alive.'"

4:54 When these Qurra' were martyred

4:56 (may Allah be pleased with them),

4:58 they supplicated to their Lord,

5:00 glorified is He:

5:02 "O Allah, convey from us to our Prophet..."

5:04 For Imam Muslim narrated

5:06 in his *Sahih*

5:08 on the authority of Anas (may Allah be pleased with him)

5:10 who said: "They killed them

5:12 before they could reach their destination—

5:14 that is, the territory of Banu 'Amir,

5:16 the people of *Mula'ib

5:18 al-Asinnah*—

5:20 and the martyrs said,

5:22 'O Allah, convey from us to our Prophet

5:24 that we have met You,

5:26 and that we are well-pleased with You,

5:28 and You are well-pleased with us.'"

5:30 None survived this massacre

5:32 except two men,

5:34 and they were:

5:36 Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) said,

5:38 "They killed them all

5:40 except for a lame man

5:42 who climbed up the mountain."

5:44 Ibn Ishaq named in the *Seerah*

5:46 the lame man;

5:48 and they killed everyone to the last man,

5:50 except Ka'b ibn Zayd,

5:52 the brother of Banu Dinar ibn al-Najjar,

5:54 for they

5:56 left him with barely a spark of life remaining;

5:58 he was pulled out from among

6:00 the slain,

6:02 and he lived until he was martyred on the Day of the Trench—

6:04 may Allah have mercy on him.

6:06 The second man

6:08 was 'Amr ibn Umayyah

6:10 al-Damri (may Allah be pleased with him),

6:12 who had been

6:14 taken captive and then released,

6:16 as will be mentioned later.

6:21 The Virtue of 'Amir ibn Fuhayrah

6:23 (may Allah be pleased with him).

6:26 Among those martyred

6:28 in the tragedy of Bi'r Ma'unah

6:30 was 'Amir ibn Fuhayrah,

6:32 the freedman of Abu Bakr al-Siddiq

6:34 (may Allah be pleased with them both).

6:36 Imam al-Bukhari narrated

6:38 in his *Sahih*

6:40 on the authority of 'Urwah ibn al-Zubayr, who said:

6:42 "When those at

6:44 Bi'r Ma'unah were slain

6:46 and 'Amr ibn Umayyah al-Damri

6:48 (may Allah be pleased with him) was captured,

6:50 'Amir ibn al-Tufayl asked him,

6:52 'Who is this?'

6:54 pointing to one of the slain.

6:56 'Amr ibn Umayyah replied,

6:58 'This is 'Amir ibn Fuhayrah.'

7:00 'Amir ibn al-Tufayl said,

7:02 'I saw him after

7:04 he was killed being raised

7:06 up to the heavens, until

7:08 I could see the sky

7:10 between him and the earth;

7:12 then he was brought back down.'"

7:14 The author noted:

7:16 "The man, 'Amir ibn al-Tufayl—

7:18 may Allah render him wretched—

7:20 was one of the chieftains of Banu Sulaym

7:22 who betrayed

7:24 the Qurra' (may Allah be pleased with them)."

7:26 Imam al-Bukhari narrated

7:28 in his *Sahih*

7:30 on the authority of Anas (may Allah be pleased with him),

7:32 who said: "The Prophet

7:34 (peace be upon him)

7:36 dispatched his maternal uncle—

7:38 the brother of Umm Sulaym—

7:40 among seventy riders,

7:42 and the leader of the polytheists

7:44 was 'Amir ibn al-Tufayl."

7:46 Al-Sindi stated in his commentary

7:48 on the *Musnad*:

7:50 As for his mention of 'Amir Ibn al-Tufayl,

7:52 he was al-'Amiri,

7:54 who died as a disbeliever,

7:56 and he is not 'Amir Ibn al-Tufayl

7:58 al-Aslami, the Companion.

8:00 An abridgment

8:02 of the Prophetic biography (Seerah),

8:15 carefully designed

8:17 within shells of pearls.

8:19 May Allah shower blessings upon you

8:21 as long as the call is raised,

8:23 and as long as lips

8:26 move

8:28 with what remains,

8:30 with lips praising you.

Summary of the Prophet’s biography | Episode (127) | The Bir Maouna tragedy

Transcript