Summary of the Prophet’s biography | Episode (141) | Knockout secret

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

0:03 Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.

0:13 A Summary of the Prophetic Biography (Seerah),

0:17 Authored by Shaykh Musa ibn Rashid al-'Azimi,

0:22 May Allah preserve him.

0:25 The Expedition of Khabat (Tree Leaves).

0:32 *Al-Khabat* refers to the leaves that fall from trees

0:36 By striking and shaking the branches.

0:38 The two Shaykhs (al-Bukhari and Muslim) narrated in their *Sahih*s,

0:40 And the wording is from Muslim,

0:42 On the authority of Jabir ibn 'Abdillah (may Allah be pleased with them both) who said:

0:46 The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) dispatched us,

0:50 And appointed Abu 'Ubaydah over us as leader,

0:53 To intercept a caravan belonging to Quraysh.

0:55 He provided us with a leather bag of dates,

0:58 Finding nothing else for us.

1:00 Thus, Abu 'Ubaydah used to give us one date each, one by one.

1:04 I asked, "How did you manage with just one date?"

1:08 He said, "We would suck on it just as a child sucks,

1:12 Then we would drink water over it,

1:14 And it would suffice us for the day until nightfall.

1:17 We would also strike tree leaves (*khabat*) with our sticks,

1:20 Then wet them with water and eat them."

1:24 He continued, "We set out along the seashore,

1:26 And there appeared to us on the coast something like a huge sandhill.

1:31 We approached it and found it to be a creature called *al-'Anbar* (a sperm whale),

1:35 Which is a large marine creature.

1:38 Abu 'Ubaydah said,

1:40 'It is carrion.'

1:42 Then he reconsidered and said, 'No!

1:44 Rather, we are the envoys of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him),

1:48 And we are in the cause of Allah.

1:50 Since you have been forced by necessity, eat of it.'

1:53 He said, 'So we stayed near it for a month,

1:56 While we were three hundred men,

1:58 Until we gained weight.

2:00 I remember us scooping out oil from its eye socket with large jugs,

2:05 And cutting chunks of meat from it as large as a bull,

2:08 Or equal to the size of a bull.

2:10 Abu 'Ubaydah took thirteen men from among us

2:15 And seated them inside its eye socket.

2:18 Then he took one of its ribs and set it upright,

2:21 Then saddled the largest camel among us,

2:24 And it passed right underneath it.

2:26 We also provisioned ourselves with dried strips of its meat (*washa'iq*).'

2:30 *Al-Washa'iq* is the plural of *washiqah*,

2:32 Which refers to meat that is taken,

2:34 Parboiled slightly without being fully cooked,

2:37 And carried along on journeys.

2:39 'When we arrived back in Medina,

2:41 We came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)

2:45 And mentioned that to him.

2:47 He said,

2:49 "It is a provision that Allah brought forth for you.

2:52 Do you have any of its meat with you to give us some to eat?"'

2:56 He said,

2:57 'So we sent some of it to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), and he ate from it.'"

3:03 According to another wording in the two *Sahih*s,

3:05 Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) said:

3:08 "There was a man among us

3:10 Who, when the hunger became severe, slaughtered three camels,

3:14 Then another three camels,

3:17 Until Abu 'Ubaydah (may Allah be pleased with him) forbade him."

3:20 Al-Hafiz said in *Al-Fath*:

3:23 "This man

3:24 Was Qays ibn Sa'd ibn 'Ubadah (may Allah be pleased with him)."

3:30 Benefits from the Expedition of Khabat:

3:34 Al-Hafiz said in *Al-Fath*:

3:36 "From it is derived:

3:38 The permissibility of eating sea carrion,

3:40 Whether it died naturally or through hunting,

3:44 Which is the opinion of the majority of scholars."

3:46 Imam Ibn al-Qayyim said:

3:49 "In it is evidence for the permissibility of scholarly reasoning (*ijtihad*) regarding events during the lifetime of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him),

3:56 And his approval of that.

3:58 However, this occurred in a situation of dire need for *ijtihad*,

4:03 Where they were unable to consult the text directly.

4:06 Indeed, Abu Bakr and 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) exercised *ijtihad* in the presence of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)

4:14 Regarding several occurrences,

4:16 And he approved of both of them doing so.

4:19 But this was only in specific individual cases,

4:22 Not regarding general rulings or universal sacred laws,

4:26 For such a thing never occurred from any of the Companions in his presence at all."

4:36 Regarding the timeline of this expedition according to scholars of military history (*al-maghazi*):

4:43 The majority of scholars of *al-maghazi* held

4:46 That the Expedition of Khabat took place in Rajab of the eighth year after the Hijrah.

4:51 However, there is doubt regarding this view.

4:53 Al-Hafiz Ibn Kathir said:

4:56 "The implication of most of these narrations

4:59 Is that this expedition took place before the Treaty of al-Hudaybiyyah."

5:03 Imam Ibn al-Qayyim said:

5:06 "This context indicates that this military dispatch took place before the truce

5:11 And before the 'Umrah of al-Hudaybiyyah.

5:13 For ever since he made peace with the people of Mecca at al-Hudaybiyyah,

5:18 He did not lie in wait for any of their caravans;

5:20 Rather, it was a time of security and peace until the Conquest of Mecca.

5:25 It is highly improbable that the Expedition of Khabat occurred in this exact manner twice:

5:29 Once before the treaty and once after it.

5:33 And Allah knows best."

5:34 He also said:

5:36 "Section regarding the legal understanding (*fiqh*) of this story:

5:39 In it is

5:41 The permissibility of fighting during the sacred month,

5:44 If the historical mention of Rajab in it is accurately preserved.

5:48 However, what is apparent—and Allah knows best—

5:50 Is that it is an error and not preserved,

5:53 Since it is not reported from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)

5:56 That he fought during a sacred month,

5:58 Nor that he launched a raid during it,

6:00 Nor dispatched an expedition during it."

6:03 Al-Hafiz said in *Al-Fath*:

6:05 "Intercepting the caravan of Quraysh

6:07 Cannot be conceived to have occurred at the time mentioned by Ibn Sa'd, namely Rajab of the year 8 AH,

6:13 Because they were under a peace treaty at that time.

6:17 Rather, what is dictated by what appears in the *Sahih*

6:19 Is that this expedition was in the year 6 AH

6:22 Or prior to it, before the Treaty of al-Hudaybiyyah."

6:27 An Important Note:

6:29 I say:

6:30 There occurs in *Sahih Muslim* a military expedition led by the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)

6:36 Whose events closely resemble those of the Expedition of Khabat,

6:40 And it is also narrated on the authority of Jabir ibn 'Abdillah al-Ansari (may Allah be pleased with them both),

6:45 Who narrated the story of the Expedition of Khabat alongside Abu 'Ubaydah ibn al-Jarrah (may Allah be pleased with them both).

6:51 Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) said:

6:55 "We marched with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) on the Expedition of Batan Buwat,

7:00 While he was searching for al-Majdi ibn 'Amr al-Juhani.

7:04 A single water-carrying camel was shared alternately by five, six, or seven of us."

7:09 Until he said:

7:11 "The daily sustenance for each man among us was a single date.

7:16 He would suck it and then tie it up in his garment.

7:20 We used to strike tree leaves with our bows and eat them

7:23 Until the sides of our mouths became sore."

7:26 Until he said:

7:28 "The people complained of hunger to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him),

7:33 So the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:

7:36 'May Allah feed you.'

7:39 So we reached the seashore,

7:41 And the sea surged with a great surge—

7:43 Meaning its waves rose high—

7:45 And threw up a huge sea creature.

7:47 So we lit a fire beside one side of it,

7:50 And we cooked, roasted, and ate until we were full.

7:55 Then I, along with so-and-so and so-and-so—

7:58 Until he counted five people—

8:00 Entered into its eye socket,

8:02 And no one could see us

8:04 Until we came back out.

8:06 Then we took one of its ribs and bent it,

8:09 Then we called for the largest man in the caravan,

8:13 And the largest camel in the caravan,

8:15 And the largest camel-saddle in the caravan,

8:17 And he passed underneath it without even lowering his head."

8:21 Al-Hafiz Ibn Kathir mentioned the events of the Expedition of Khabat led by Abu 'Ubaydah ibn al-Jarrah (may Allah be pleased with him),

8:29 Then he said:

8:30 "In some narrations of Muslim,

8:33 It is mentioned that they were with the Prophet (peace be upon him) when they found this whale.

8:39 Some scholars said:

8:41 'This was a separate incident.'

8:43 While others said:

8:45 'Rather, it was a single event;

8:47 However, they were initially with the Prophet (peace be upon him),

8:52 Then he dispatched them on an expedition led by Abu 'Ubaydah (may Allah be pleased with him),

8:56 So they found this creature during that expedition of theirs with Abu 'Ubaydah (may Allah be pleased with him).'

9:02 And Allah knows best."

9:04 Al-Hafiz said in *Al-Fath*:

9:06 "The apparent context of this story

9:09 Requires it to be distinct from the story mentioned in the chapter,

9:13 Which is also from the narration of Jabir.

9:16 To the extent that 'Abd al-Haqq said in *Al-Jam' Bayn al-Sahihayn*:

9:20 'This is a separate incident from that one,

9:23 For this one took place in the presence of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).'

9:28 However, what he mentioned is not explicit evidence for that,

9:31 Due to the possibility that the particle *fa* in the statement of Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him)—

9:36 'So we reached the seashore'—

9:38 Is the explanatory *fa* (*al-fahiyyah*),

9:40 Succeeding an omitted phrase, estimated as:

9:43 'So the Prophet (peace be upon him) sent us with Abu 'Ubaydah,

9:48 And so we reached the seashore.'

9:50 Thus, the two stories would be one and the same.

9:52 And this is the preferred view in my assessment,

9:55 As the default principle is non-duplication of events.

9:57 Among the matters to be pointed out here as well

10:00 Is that al-Waqidi claimed that the story of Abu 'Ubaydah's dispatch occurred in Rajab of the year 8 AH,

10:07 Which in my view is an error,

10:09 Because in the authentic report itself,

10:12 It states that they went out to lie in wait for a caravan of Quraysh,

10:15 Whereas Quraysh, in the eighth year,

10:18 Were bound by a peace treaty with the Prophet (peace be upon him).

10:22 I have already drawn attention to that in *Al-Maghazi*,

10:25 And suggested the possibility that this took place before the truce,

10:29 In the sixth year or earlier.

10:32 Then it became clear to me now that this is strengthened

10:35 By the statement of Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) in this narration of Muslim:

10:40 That they set out on the Expedition of Buwat.

10:43 And the Expedition of Buwat took place in the second year after the Hijrah, prior to the Battle of Badr,

10:49 When the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)

10:52 Set out with two hundred of his Companions

10:54 To intercept a caravan belonging to Quraysh in which Umayyah ibn Khalaf was present.

10:58 He reached Bawat, but encountered no one, so he returned.

11:03 It is as if he dispatched Abu Ubaydah alone alongside his detachment

11:07 to keep watch for the aforementioned caravan.

11:09 That this occurred early on is supported by the extreme poverty and hardship described in the account.

11:15 The reality is that by the eighth year after the Hijrah,

11:18 their circumstances had broadened significantly through the conquest of Khaybar and other victories.

11:22 The hardship mentioned in this narration clearly fits the very beginning of the Islam period.

11:26 This gives weight to the view I have mentioned, and Allah knows best.

11:31 *Al-Mukhtasar fi al-Seerah al-Nabawiyyah* (The Abridged Prophetic Biography)

11:36 Though longing between lovers may grow deep and long,

11:42 The boundlessness of our longing for you can never be encompassed.

11:49 May peace and blessings of Allah be upon you whenever the call to prayer is raised,

11:56 And whenever lips move to utter the enduring words of remembrance.

Summary of the Prophet’s biography | Episode (141) | Knockout secret

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