Caravan raids
Encyclopedia
The Caravan raids refer to a series of raids which Muhammad
and his Companions
participated in. The raids were generally offensive and carried out to gather intelligence or seize the trade goods of Caravans financed by the Quraysh, (such thefts were rationalized as being legitimate actions because many Muslims left their possessions behind when they migrated from Mecca
). The Muslims declared that the raids were justified and that God gave them permission to defend against the Meccans' persecution of Muslims
.
's followers suffered from poverty after fleeing persecution in Mecca and migrating with Muhammad to Medina
. Their Meccan persecutors seized their wealth and belongings left behind in Mecca.
Beginning in January 623, some of the Muslims resorted to the tradition of raiding the Meccan caravans that traveled along the eastern coast of the Red Sea from Mecca to Syria. Communal life was essential for survival in desert conditions, as people needed support against the harsh environment and lifestyle. The tribal grouping was thus encouraged by the need to act as a unit. This unity was based on the bond of kinship by blood. People of Arabia were either nomadic or sedentary, the former constantly traveling from one place to another seeking water and pasture for their flocks, while the latter settled and focused on trade and agriculture. The survival of nomads (or bedouins) was also partially dependent on raiding caravans or oases; thus they saw this as no crime.
. A party of thirty to forty men assembled at the seacoast near al-Is, between Mecca and Medina, where Abu Jahl (Amr ibn Hishām), the leader of the caravan was camping with three hundred Meccan riders.
Hamza met Abu Jahl there with a view to attack the caravan, but Majdi bin Amr al-Juhani, a Quraysh who was friendly to both the parties intervened between them; so, both parties separated without fighting. Hamza returned to Medina and Abu Jahl proceeded towards Mecca. Muhmmad also entrusted the first flag of Islam to Kinaz bin Husain an Ghanawi
was the Commander of the second raid. This raid took place nine months after the Hijra, a few weeks after the first one at al-Is.
About a month after Hamzah's unsuccessful bid to plunder, Muhammad entrusted a party of sixty Muhajireen led by Ubaydah to conduct another operation at a Quraysh caravan that was returning from Syria
and protected by two hundred armed men. The leader of this caravan was either Abu Sufyan ibn Harb
.
The Muslim party went as far as Thanyatul-Murra, a watering place in Hejaz
. No fighting took place, as the Quraysh were quite far from the place where Muslims were in the offing to attack the caravan. Nevertheless, Sa`d ibn Abi Waqqas
shot an arrow at the Quraysh. This is known as the first arrow of Islam. Despite this surprise attack, no fighting took place and the Muslims returned empty-handed. It is believed that Ubaydah was the first to carry the banner of Islam; others say Hamzah was the first to carry the first banner .
The incident is partly referenced in the Sahih Bukhari
hadith collection:
was ordered to lead the third raid. His group consisted of about twenty Muhajirs
. This raid was done about a month after the previous. Sa'd, with his soldiers, set up an ambush in the valley of Kharrar on the road to Mecca and waited to raid a returning Meccan caravan from Syria
. But the caravan had already passed and the Muslims returned to Medina without a fight.
But the Caravan of Banu Damrah was raided. Negotiations began and the two leaders signed a treaty of non-aggression. Banu Damrah pledged to not attack Muslims or side with the Quraysh; and Muhammad pledged to not attack the caravans of Banu Damrah or seize their goods.
According to muslim scholar al-Zurqani, the provisions of the pact/treaty go as follows :
to Bawat, a place on the caravan route of the Quraysh merchants. A herd of fifteen hundred camels was proceeding, accompanied by one hundred riders under the leadership of Umayyah ibn Khalaf, a Quraysh. The purpose of the raid was to plunder this rich Quraysh caravan.
No battle took place and the raid resulted in no booty. This was due the caravan taking an untrodden unknown route. Muhammad then went up to Dhat al-Saq, in the desert of al-Khabar. He prayed there and a mosque was built at the spot. This was the first raid where a few Ansars took part. The caravan was led by 100 Quraysh and 2,500 camels were with them
while he was away commanding another raid. Between 150 and 200 followers joined this operation to al-Ushayra, Yanbu in Jumada al-awwal
or Jumada al-thani
.
They had thirty camels that they rode upon by turns. When they arrived at al-Usharayh, they expected to raid a rich Meccan caravan towards Syria
led by Abu Sufyan. Muhammad already had the knowledge of this caravan’s departure from Mecca
and waited for about a month for this caravan to pass. But the Meccan caravan had already passed.
In this operation, Muhammad entered into an alliance with Banu Madlaj, a tribe inhabiting the vicinity of al-Ushayra. He also concluded another treaty that was made with Banu Damrah previously. All those treaties established good political connections for him.
and the first successful raid against the Meccans. Abdullah ibn Jahsh was the Commander .
It took place in Rajab
2 A.H. Muhammad despatched ‘Abdullah bin Jahsh Asadi to Nakhlah at the head of 12 Emigrants with six camels.
After his return from the first Badr encounter (Battle of Safwan
), Muhammad sent Abdullah ibn Jahsh in Rajab with 8 or 12 on a fact-finding operation.
Abdullah ibn Jahsh was a maternal cousin of Muhammad. He took along with him Abu Haudhayfa, Abdullah ibn Jahsh, Ukkash ibn Mihsan, Utba b. Ghazwan, Sa’d ibn Abi Waqqas, Amir ibn Rabia, Waqid ibn Abdullah and Khalid ibn al-Bukayr.
One of Abdullah ibn Jahsh’s men, Ukkash ibn Mihsan, was shaven in head to hide the real purpose of their journey and to give the Quraysh the impression of lesser Hajj
(Umra
); for it was the month (Rajab
) when hostilities were forbidden.
Nevertheless, after much deliberation, the group did not want this rich caravan to escape. So they decided to take a large booty.
While they (the Quraysh) were busy preparing food, the Muslims attacked.At last they agreed to engage with them in fighting. In the short battle that ensued, Waqid ibn Abdullah killed Amr ibn Hadrami by an arrow, the leader of the Quraysh caravan. Nawfal ibn Abdullah escaped. The Muslims took Uthman ibn Abdullah and al-Hakam ibn Kaysan as prisoners. Abdullah ibn Jahsh returned to Medina with the booty and with the two captured Quraysh men. The followers planned to give one-fifth of the booty to the Prophet.
The Quraysh also spread everywhere the news of the raid and the killing by the Muslims in the sacred month. Because of the timing, and because the attack was carried out without his sanction, Muhammad
was furious about what had happened. He rebuked them (the Muslims) for fighting in the sacred month, saying:
Muhammad initially disapproved of that act and suspended any action as regards the camels and the two captives on account of the prohibited months. The polytheists, on their part, exploited this golden opportunity to calumniate the Muslims and accuse them of violating what is Divinely inviolable. This idle talk brought about a painful headache to Muhammad’s Companions, until at last they were relieved when Muhammad revealed a verse regarding fighting in the sacred months:
Since this bloodshed took place during a sacred month, Muhammad was furious about what had happened and refused to take his share from the raid. He freed the prisoners upon ransom and paid blood money for the killed man. Muslims in Medina also reproached the raiders. The Quraysh spread the news of the raid and the killing by the Muslims in the sacred month. Later, Muhammad claimed that God revealed the Quranic verse: Persecution of Muslims is worse than killing of disbelievers., giving the Muslims permission to attack at any time if there was aggression against them.
Soon after his release, al-Hakam bin Kaysan, one of the two prisoners captured, became a Muslim.
Mubarakpuri mentions that the Quran verse 47:20 was also sent down, dispraising the hypocrites and cowards who are scared of fighting, and exhorted Muslims to fight.
After receiving intelligence, Zayd ibn Haritha went after the Caravan (after receiving orders from Muhammad), and they successfully raided it and captured 100,000 Dirham's worth of booty. Safan (the Caravan leader) and his guards fled away. As a result, the Muslims foiled the Quraysh plan to find another trade route.
Zaid bin Haritha,at the head of a 170 horsemen, set out to a place called Al-‘Ais, intercepted a caravan of Quraish led by Abul-‘As, Muhammad's relative (Zaynab
's Husband) and captured their camels as booty.
Abu al-As was released at the insistence of Muhammad's daughter Zaynab
. The whole caravan, including a large store of silver was captured and some of those who guarded it, taken prisoners.
Muhammad sent Abu Ubaidah ibn al Jarrah along with 300 men to attack and chastise the tribe of Juhaynah at al-Khabat, on the seacoast, five nights journey from Medina. He was sent to observe a Quraysh caravan. There was no fighting as the enemy fled after they heard of the arrival.
This expedition is famous because Muslims were short of supply and food was running out, and they were fighting for survival, they suffered from famine
. In the end, the Muslims found a sperm whale
that came ashore and ate it for twenty days. Ibn Hisham
mentions the incident in detail. This is why its also known as the ‘expedition of fish.’ They brought some of the stale meat to Muhammad and he ate it too
Muhammad was planning on attacking Mecca, with view of securing a complete news black-out concerning his military intentions, then Muhammad despatched an 8 man platoon under the leadership of Abu Qatadah bin Rab‘i in the direction of Edam, a short distance from Madinah, in Ramadan 8 A.H., in order to divert the attention of people from his main target of attacking Mecca, with which he was pre-occupied.
According to Ibn Sa'd, Ibn Hisham, and many Sunni hadith collections, a Bedouin caravan passed by and they greeted the Muslims with “Assalamu Alaikum.” But Abu Qatadah attacked the caravan anyway and killed the people. They returned to Muhammad with the flock they captured and told him the story.
Muhammad then “revealed” the verse 4:94. Ibn Kathir
interprets this as, God asking Muslims to be more careful when killing Muslims accidentally.
gave him permission to fight the Meccans.
The permission to fight was given in many stages during Muhammad's prophetic mission:
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
and his Companions
Sahabah
In Islam, the ' were the companions, disciples, scribes and family of the Islamic prophet...
participated in. The raids were generally offensive and carried out to gather intelligence or seize the trade goods of Caravans financed by the Quraysh, (such thefts were rationalized as being legitimate actions because many Muslims left their possessions behind when they migrated from Mecca
Hijra (Islam)
The Hijra is the migration or journey of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his followers from Mecca to Medina in 622 CE. Alternate spellings of this Arabic word are Hijrah, Hijrat or Hegira, the latter following the spelling rules of Latin.- Hijra of Muhammad :In September 622, warned of a plot to...
). The Muslims declared that the raids were justified and that God gave them permission to defend against the Meccans' persecution of Muslims
Persecution of Muslims by the Meccans
In the early days of Islam at Mecca, the new Muslims were often subjected to abuse and persecution.-Overview:Some were killed, such as Sumayyah bint Khabbab, the seventh convert to Islam, who was tortured first by Abu Jahl...
.
Background
The Islamic prophet MuhammadMuhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
's followers suffered from poverty after fleeing persecution in Mecca and migrating with Muhammad to Medina
Medina
Medina , or ; also transliterated as Madinah, or madinat al-nabi "the city of the prophet") is a city in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia, and serves as the capital of the Al Madinah Province. It is the second holiest city in Islam, and the burial place of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad, and...
. Their Meccan persecutors seized their wealth and belongings left behind in Mecca.
Beginning in January 623, some of the Muslims resorted to the tradition of raiding the Meccan caravans that traveled along the eastern coast of the Red Sea from Mecca to Syria. Communal life was essential for survival in desert conditions, as people needed support against the harsh environment and lifestyle. The tribal grouping was thus encouraged by the need to act as a unit. This unity was based on the bond of kinship by blood. People of Arabia were either nomadic or sedentary, the former constantly traveling from one place to another seeking water and pasture for their flocks, while the latter settled and focused on trade and agriculture. The survival of nomads (or bedouins) was also partially dependent on raiding caravans or oases; thus they saw this as no crime.
First raid
According to Ar-Rahīq al-Makhtum (the Sealed Nectar), a modern Islamic hagiography of Muhammad written by the Indian Muslim author Saif ur-Rahman Mubarakpuri, Muhammad ordered the first caravan raid led by Hamza ibn 'Abd al-Muttalib (Muhammad's uncle) seven to nine months after the HijraHijra (Islam)
The Hijra is the migration or journey of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his followers from Mecca to Medina in 622 CE. Alternate spellings of this Arabic word are Hijrah, Hijrat or Hegira, the latter following the spelling rules of Latin.- Hijra of Muhammad :In September 622, warned of a plot to...
. A party of thirty to forty men assembled at the seacoast near al-Is, between Mecca and Medina, where Abu Jahl (Amr ibn Hishām), the leader of the caravan was camping with three hundred Meccan riders.
Hamza met Abu Jahl there with a view to attack the caravan, but Majdi bin Amr al-Juhani, a Quraysh who was friendly to both the parties intervened between them; so, both parties separated without fighting. Hamza returned to Medina and Abu Jahl proceeded towards Mecca. Muhmmad also entrusted the first flag of Islam to Kinaz bin Husain an Ghanawi
Second raid
Ubaydah ibn al-HarithUbaydah ibn al-Harith
Ubaydah ibn al-Harith is the son of Harith ibn Abd al-Muttalib and one of the sahaba of MuhammadObaidah ibn al-Harith ibn Abdul-Muttalib, was the first Muslim to be killed in battle. He was a cousin of Muhammad and Ali, and he was the first Martyr of the battle of Badr...
was the Commander of the second raid. This raid took place nine months after the Hijra, a few weeks after the first one at al-Is.
About a month after Hamzah's unsuccessful bid to plunder, Muhammad entrusted a party of sixty Muhajireen led by Ubaydah to conduct another operation at a Quraysh caravan that was returning from Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
and protected by two hundred armed men. The leader of this caravan was either Abu Sufyan ibn Harb
Abu Sufyan ibn Harb
Sakhr ibn Harb , more commonly known as Abu Sufyan was a leading man of the Quraish of Mecca. He was a staunch opponent of the Islamic prophet Muhammad before accepting Islam later in his life.-Opposition to Islam:...
.
The Muslim party went as far as Thanyatul-Murra, a watering place in Hejaz
Hejaz
al-Hejaz, also Hijaz is a region in the west of present-day Saudi Arabia. Defined primarily by its western border on the Red Sea, it extends from Haql on the Gulf of Aqaba to Jizan. Its main city is Jeddah, but it is probably better known for the Islamic holy cities of Mecca and Medina...
. No fighting took place, as the Quraysh were quite far from the place where Muslims were in the offing to attack the caravan. Nevertheless, Sa`d ibn Abi Waqqas
Sa`d ibn Abi Waqqas
Saad ibn Abī Waqqās was an early convert to Islam in 610-11 and one of the important companions of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Sa'd was the seventeenth person to embrace Islam at the age of seventeen...
shot an arrow at the Quraysh. This is known as the first arrow of Islam. Despite this surprise attack, no fighting took place and the Muslims returned empty-handed. It is believed that Ubaydah was the first to carry the banner of Islam; others say Hamzah was the first to carry the first banner .
The incident is partly referenced in the Sahih Bukhari
Sahih Bukhari
Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī , as it is commonly referred to, is one of the six canonical hadith collections of Islam. These prophetic traditions, or hadith, were collected by the Persian Muslim scholar Muhammad ibn Ismail al-Bukhari, after being transmitted orally for generations. Muslims view this as one of...
hadith collection:
Third raid
Sa`d ibn Abi WaqqasSa`d ibn Abi Waqqas
Saad ibn Abī Waqqās was an early convert to Islam in 610-11 and one of the important companions of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Sa'd was the seventeenth person to embrace Islam at the age of seventeen...
was ordered to lead the third raid. His group consisted of about twenty Muhajirs
Muhajirun
Muhajirun are the early, initial Muslims who followed Muhammad on his Hijra . The early Muslims from Medina are called the Ansar .-List:*Muhammad*Ali*Umar *Abu Bakr .*Salman the Persian*Bilal ibn Ribah...
. This raid was done about a month after the previous. Sa'd, with his soldiers, set up an ambush in the valley of Kharrar on the road to Mecca and waited to raid a returning Meccan caravan from Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
. But the caravan had already passed and the Muslims returned to Medina without a fight.
Battle of Waddan
The fourth raid, known as the Battle of Waddan, was the first offensive in which Muhammad took part personally. It is said that twelve months after moving to Madina, Muhammad himself led a caravan raid to Waddan (Abwa). The aim was to intercept the caravans of the Quraysh and the Banu Damra. The raid party did not meet any Quraysh during the raid.But the Caravan of Banu Damrah was raided. Negotiations began and the two leaders signed a treaty of non-aggression. Banu Damrah pledged to not attack Muslims or side with the Quraysh; and Muhammad pledged to not attack the caravans of Banu Damrah or seize their goods.
According to muslim scholar al-Zurqani, the provisions of the pact/treaty go as follows :
"This document is from Muhammad, the messenger of Allah, concerning the Banu Darmah. In which he (Muhamnmad)established them safety and security in their wealth and lives. They can expect support from the Muslims, unless they oppose the religion of Allah. They are also expected to respond positively if the prophet sought their help
Buwat Caravan Raid (Fifth raid)
Muhammad was the commander for the fifth raid as well. A month after the raid at al-Abwa, he personally led 200 men including Muhajirs and AnsarsAnsar (Islam)
Ansar is an Islamic term that literally means "helpers" and denotes the Medinan citizens that helped Muhammad and the Muhajirun on the arrival to the city after the migration to Medina...
to Bawat, a place on the caravan route of the Quraysh merchants. A herd of fifteen hundred camels was proceeding, accompanied by one hundred riders under the leadership of Umayyah ibn Khalaf, a Quraysh. The purpose of the raid was to plunder this rich Quraysh caravan.
No battle took place and the raid resulted in no booty. This was due the caravan taking an untrodden unknown route. Muhammad then went up to Dhat al-Saq, in the desert of al-Khabar. He prayed there and a mosque was built at the spot. This was the first raid where a few Ansars took part. The caravan was led by 100 Quraysh and 2,500 camels were with them
Sixth raid
Two or three months after Muhammad's return from Buwat, he appointed Abu Salamah Ibn Abd al-Assad to take his place in MedinaMedina
Medina , or ; also transliterated as Madinah, or madinat al-nabi "the city of the prophet") is a city in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia, and serves as the capital of the Al Madinah Province. It is the second holiest city in Islam, and the burial place of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad, and...
while he was away commanding another raid. Between 150 and 200 followers joined this operation to al-Ushayra, Yanbu in Jumada al-awwal
Jumada al-awwal
Jumada al-awwal is the fifth month in the Islamic calendar.We can also find the alternative spelling Jumada al-Ula.The origin of the word is as follows: the word Jumda, from which the name of the month is derived, is used to denote dry parched land: land devoid of rain, and hence denote the dry...
or Jumada al-thani
Jumada al-thani
Jumada al-Thani is the sixth month in the Islamic Calendar.It is also known as Jumaada al-Akhir and Jumada al-Akhira.This is the sixth month of the Islamic calendar...
.
They had thirty camels that they rode upon by turns. When they arrived at al-Usharayh, they expected to raid a rich Meccan caravan towards Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
led by Abu Sufyan. Muhammad already had the knowledge of this caravan’s departure from Mecca
Mecca
Mecca is a city in the Hijaz and the capital of Makkah province in Saudi Arabia. The city is located inland from Jeddah in a narrow valley at a height of above sea level...
and waited for about a month for this caravan to pass. But the Meccan caravan had already passed.
In this operation, Muhammad entered into an alliance with Banu Madlaj, a tribe inhabiting the vicinity of al-Ushayra. He also concluded another treaty that was made with Banu Damrah previously. All those treaties established good political connections for him.
Nakhla raid
The Nakhla Raid was the seventh Caravan RaidCaravan raids
The Caravan raids refer to a series of raids which Muhammad and his Companions participated in. The raids were generally offensive and carried out to gather intelligence or seize the trade goods of Caravans financed by the Quraysh,...
and the first successful raid against the Meccans. Abdullah ibn Jahsh was the Commander .
It took place in Rajab
Rajab
Rajab is the seventh month of the Islamic calendar. The lexical definition of Rajaba is "to respect", of which Rajab is a derivative.This month is regarded as one of the four sacred months in Islam in which battles are prohibited...
2 A.H. Muhammad despatched ‘Abdullah bin Jahsh Asadi to Nakhlah at the head of 12 Emigrants with six camels.
After his return from the first Badr encounter (Battle of Safwan
Battle of Safwan
The Invasion of Safwan also known as the Preliminary Badr Invasion occurred directly after the Invasion of Waddan in the year 2 AH of the islamic calendar. The expedition was ordered by Muhammad after he received intelligence that Kurz ibn Jabir al-Fihri rustled some grazing cattles belonging to...
), Muhammad sent Abdullah ibn Jahsh in Rajab with 8 or 12 on a fact-finding operation.
Abdullah ibn Jahsh was a maternal cousin of Muhammad. He took along with him Abu Haudhayfa, Abdullah ibn Jahsh, Ukkash ibn Mihsan, Utba b. Ghazwan, Sa’d ibn Abi Waqqas, Amir ibn Rabia, Waqid ibn Abdullah and Khalid ibn al-Bukayr.
One of Abdullah ibn Jahsh’s men, Ukkash ibn Mihsan, was shaven in head to hide the real purpose of their journey and to give the Quraysh the impression of lesser Hajj
Hajj
The Hajj is the pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It is one of the largest pilgrimages in the world, and is the fifth pillar of Islam, a religious duty that must be carried out at least once in their lifetime by every able-bodied Muslim who can afford to do so...
(Umra
UMRA
UMRA is an abbreviation that stands for:*Unión Militar Republicana Antifascista, an anti-fascist organization for military members in Spain during the Second Spanish Republic...
); for it was the month (Rajab
Rajab
Rajab is the seventh month of the Islamic calendar. The lexical definition of Rajaba is "to respect", of which Rajab is a derivative.This month is regarded as one of the four sacred months in Islam in which battles are prohibited...
) when hostilities were forbidden.
Nevertheless, after much deliberation, the group did not want this rich caravan to escape. So they decided to take a large booty.
While they (the Quraysh) were busy preparing food, the Muslims attacked.At last they agreed to engage with them in fighting. In the short battle that ensued, Waqid ibn Abdullah killed Amr ibn Hadrami by an arrow, the leader of the Quraysh caravan. Nawfal ibn Abdullah escaped. The Muslims took Uthman ibn Abdullah and al-Hakam ibn Kaysan as prisoners. Abdullah ibn Jahsh returned to Medina with the booty and with the two captured Quraysh men. The followers planned to give one-fifth of the booty to the Prophet.
The Quraysh also spread everywhere the news of the raid and the killing by the Muslims in the sacred month. Because of the timing, and because the attack was carried out without his sanction, Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
was furious about what had happened. He rebuked them (the Muslims) for fighting in the sacred month, saying:
I did not instruct you to fight in the sacred month
Muhammad initially disapproved of that act and suspended any action as regards the camels and the two captives on account of the prohibited months. The polytheists, on their part, exploited this golden opportunity to calumniate the Muslims and accuse them of violating what is Divinely inviolable. This idle talk brought about a painful headache to Muhammad’s Companions, until at last they were relieved when Muhammad revealed a verse regarding fighting in the sacred months:
Since this bloodshed took place during a sacred month, Muhammad was furious about what had happened and refused to take his share from the raid. He freed the prisoners upon ransom and paid blood money for the killed man. Muslims in Medina also reproached the raiders. The Quraysh spread the news of the raid and the killing by the Muslims in the sacred month. Later, Muhammad claimed that God revealed the Quranic verse: Persecution of Muslims is worse than killing of disbelievers., giving the Muslims permission to attack at any time if there was aggression against them.
Soon after his release, al-Hakam bin Kaysan, one of the two prisoners captured, became a Muslim.
Mubarakpuri mentions that the Quran verse 47:20 was also sent down, dispraising the hypocrites and cowards who are scared of fighting, and exhorted Muslims to fight.
Nejd Caravan raid (8th raid)
The Nejd Caravan Raid took place in Jumad at Thaniya, in the year 3 A.H. The Meccan polytheists lived on trade, as summer approached, it was time for the Meccans to leave for Syria for their seasonal trade business.After receiving intelligence, Zayd ibn Haritha went after the Caravan (after receiving orders from Muhammad), and they successfully raided it and captured 100,000 Dirham's worth of booty. Safan (the Caravan leader) and his guards fled away. As a result, the Muslims foiled the Quraysh plan to find another trade route.
Expedition of Zaid ibn Haritha in Al-Is (9th raid)
Expedition of Zaid ibn Haritha in al-Is took place in September, 627AD, 5th month of 6AH of the Islamic CalenderZaid bin Haritha,at the head of a 170 horsemen, set out to a place called Al-‘Ais, intercepted a caravan of Quraish led by Abul-‘As, Muhammad's relative (Zaynab
Zaynab
Zainab may refer to:* Zaynab , Egyptian novel*Zaynab...
's Husband) and captured their camels as booty.
Abu al-As was released at the insistence of Muhammad's daughter Zaynab
Zaynab
Zainab may refer to:* Zaynab , Egyptian novel*Zaynab...
. The whole caravan, including a large store of silver was captured and some of those who guarded it, taken prisoners.
Expedition of Abu Ubaidah ibn al Jarrah (10th raid)
Expedition of Abu Ubaidah ibn al Jarrah, also known as the Expedition of Fish and Invasion of al-Khabt, took place in October 629 AD, 8AH, 7th month, of the Islamic Calendar, or according to some scholars in 7AH, 4th Month.Muhammad sent Abu Ubaidah ibn al Jarrah along with 300 men to attack and chastise the tribe of Juhaynah at al-Khabat, on the seacoast, five nights journey from Medina. He was sent to observe a Quraysh caravan. There was no fighting as the enemy fled after they heard of the arrival.
This expedition is famous because Muslims were short of supply and food was running out, and they were fighting for survival, they suffered from famine
Famine
A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including crop failure, overpopulation, or government policies. This phenomenon is usually accompanied or followed by regional malnutrition, starvation, epidemic, and increased mortality. Every continent in the world has...
. In the end, the Muslims found a sperm whale
Sperm Whale
The sperm whale, Physeter macrocephalus, is a marine mammal species, order Cetacea, a toothed whale having the largest brain of any animal. The name comes from the milky-white waxy substance, spermaceti, found in the animal's head. The sperm whale is the only living member of genus Physeter...
that came ashore and ate it for twenty days. Ibn Hisham
Ibn Hisham
Abu Muhammad 'Abd al-Malik bin Hisham , or Ibn Hisham edited the biography of Muhammad written by Ibn Ishaq. Ibn Ishaq's work is lost and is now only known in the recensions of Ibn Hisham and al-Tabari. Ibn Hisham grew up in Basra, Iraq, but moved afterwards to Egypt, where he gained a name...
mentions the incident in detail. This is why its also known as the ‘expedition of fish.’ They brought some of the stale meat to Muhammad and he ate it too
Expedition of Abu Qatadah ibn Rab'i al-Ansari, Batn Edam (11th Raid)
Expedition of Abu Qatadah ibn Rab'i al-Ansari, to Batn Edam (also spelt Idam) took place in November 629 AD, 8AH, 8th month, of the Islamic CalendarMuhammad was planning on attacking Mecca, with view of securing a complete news black-out concerning his military intentions, then Muhammad despatched an 8 man platoon under the leadership of Abu Qatadah bin Rab‘i in the direction of Edam, a short distance from Madinah, in Ramadan 8 A.H., in order to divert the attention of people from his main target of attacking Mecca, with which he was pre-occupied.
According to Ibn Sa'd, Ibn Hisham, and many Sunni hadith collections, a Bedouin caravan passed by and they greeted the Muslims with “Assalamu Alaikum.” But Abu Qatadah attacked the caravan anyway and killed the people. They returned to Muhammad with the flock they captured and told him the story.
Muhammad then “revealed” the verse 4:94. Ibn Kathir
Ibn Kathir
Ismail ibn Kathir was a Muslim muhaddith, Faqih, historian, and commentator.-Biography:His full name was Abu Al-Fida, 'Imad Ad-Din, Isma'il bin 'Umar bin Kathir, Al-Qurashi, Al-Busrawi...
interprets this as, God asking Muslims to be more careful when killing Muslims accidentally.
Permission to fight
Up to this point the Muhammad told people to endure insults and abuse. Because of being persecuted and economically-uprooted by their Meccan persecutors, Muhammad claimed that AllahAllah
Allah is a word for God used in the context of Islam. In Arabic, the word means simply "God". It is used primarily by Muslims and Bahá'ís, and often, albeit not exclusively, used by Arabic-speaking Eastern Catholic Christians, Maltese Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox Christians, Mizrahi Jews and...
gave him permission to fight the Meccans.
The permission to fight was given in many stages during Muhammad's prophetic mission:
- At first, the Muslims were only allowed to fight the Meccan QurayshQurayshThe Quraysh or Quraish were a powerful merchant tribe that controlled Mecca and its Kaaba upon the appearance of the religion of Islam.Muhammad was born into the Banu Hashim clan of the Quraysh tribe.-Early history:...
, because they were the first to oppress the Muslims in MeccaMeccaMecca is a city in the Hijaz and the capital of Makkah province in Saudi Arabia. The city is located inland from Jeddah in a narrow valley at a height of above sea level...
. Muslims were allowed to seize their goods, but not those tribes which the Muhammad made a treaty with. - Then Muhammad and the Muslims were allowed to fight Pagan tribes that allied with the Quraysh.
- Then Muhammad and the Muslims were allowed to fight the Jewish tribes of MedinaMedinaMedina , or ; also transliterated as Madinah, or madinat al-nabi "the city of the prophet") is a city in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia, and serves as the capital of the Al Madinah Province. It is the second holiest city in Islam, and the burial place of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad, and...
, when these tribes violated the Constitution of MedinaConstitution of MedinaThe Constitution of Medina , also known as the Charter of Medina, was drafted by the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It constituted a formal agreement between Muhammad and all of the significant tribes and families of Yathrib , including Muslims, Jews, Christians and pagans. This constitution formed the...
and their pact with the Muslims. - Subsequently, Muhammad and the Muslims were allowed to fight the "People of the BookPeople of the BookPeople of the Book is a term used to designate non-Muslim adherents to faiths which have a revealed scripture called, in Arabic, Al-Kitab . The three types of adherents to faiths that the Qur'an mentions as people of the book are the Jews, Sabians and Christians.In Islam, the Muslim scripture, the...
" (ChristianChristianA Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
and JewsJewsThe Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
). If the People of the Book paid a poll tax (Jizyah), then the Muslims were forbidden to fight them. - Muslims were required to make peace with any polytheist, Jews or Christians who embraced Islam, and were required to embrace them as fellow Muslims.