The Best of Creation part 18

He ﷺ then sent ‘Ubayd Abū Amir al-Ash’arī to pursue Durayd ibn al-Ṣammah and his companions, and so the Expedition (Ghazwah) of Awṭās took place over there. He defeated and killed them, and the Muslims were triumphant. Abū ‘Āmir, after killing a group of them, got killed.

Then, in Shawwāl, he ﷺ sent al-Ṭufayl ibn ‘Amr al-Dawsī to Dhi al-Kaffayn [literally the one with two hands] – a wooden idol that belonged to ‘Amr ibn Humamah; so he destroyed it, and all the Muslims from ‘Amr’s clan arrived with him before the Prophet ﷺ in al-Ta’if.

Then there was the Expedition (Ghazwah) of al-Ṭā’if in Shawwāl. On his way, he passed by the grave of Abū Rigāl, who, it has been said, was the father of Thaqif, and extracted from it a branch of alba gold. He ﷺ besieged al-Ta’if for either eighteen or fifteen or twenty com days. He erected a catapult, which was brought by al-Ṭufayl al- Dawsi, over them; it was the first catapult in Islam. Twenty three slaves climbed down the wall to the Prophet ﷺ amongst them Abu Bakrah. Twelve Muslim men were martyred. The Prophet ﷺ, himself, fought in it; however, permission was not given for him to liberate it. He ﷺ then returned to al-Ji’rānah and stayed there for approximately fifteen nights, wherein he distributed the spoils. He then initiated the iḥrām for umrah and entered Mecca to perform it.

When he ﷺ had completed the [umrah] rites, he ﷺ returned to al-Madīnah al-Munawwarah after an absence of two months and sixteen days. This was his ﷺ third umrah. Then the delegation of Hawāzin came to him as Muslims, asking him that he return their wealth and prisoners of war, so he gave them the choice between taking the war prisoners or their property and wealth, so they chose to take the prisoners of war. Amongst the prisoners of war was al-Shīmā’ bint al-Ḥārith, the Prophet’s foster-sister ; when he recognised her, he spread out his upper garment on the floor for her and gave her a male slave and a slave-girl as a gift.

He ﷺ said to the delegation of Hawāzin, ‘Tell Mālik ibn ‘Awf that if he comes to me as a Muslim, I will return to him his family and wealth, and [furthermore] give him a hundred camels.’ So when they informed him, he left al-Ta’if and reached the Prophet ﷺ and caught up with him in al-Ji’rānah or in Mecca. He gave him what he promised, and he [Mālik] accepted Islam and remained true to to it. When he accepted Islam, he said [in poetic verse],
I have not seen nor heard of anyone Amongst all of mankind like Muhammad ﷺ

In this expedition, some of the Anṣār objected to the  Nabi Pakﷺ distribution of the spoils, as they received nothing of it, so he ﷺ said to them, ‘Are you not satisfied that people take with them sheep and camels, while you take the Prophet ﷺ back to your mounts. If it was not for the Migration, I would have been one of the Anṣār, and if people were to traverse a valley or a mountain trail, I would travel through the valley of the Ansar and their mountain trail; the Anṣār are the people of distinction [literally the under garments], while other people are commoners [literally outer garments].’


He ﷺ sent Qays ibn Sa’d ibn ‘Ubadah to Yemen, among four hundred cavalrymen, and ordered him to enter Șudā’. Ziyad ibn al-Harith came [before the Messenger ﷺ ] and asked about the dispatch of troops [to Yemen] and was told it was true, so he said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, I am their ambassador, so call back your army and I give you the assurance of my clan.’ Therefore, the Prophet ﷺ withdrew them from Qanāh. The Șudā’īs arrived [in Medina] after fifteen days and accepted Islam, and the Prophet ﷺ appointed Ziyād as a muezzin, together with Bilāl, Ibn Umm Maktum and Sa’d al-Quradh.

Then in Şafar, there was the expedition (sariyyah) of Qutbah ibn ‘Amir ibn Hadidah to Khath’am – towards Bishah, one of the suburbs of Mecca – together with twenty men. They killed some of them [Khath’am] and seized spoils.

In Rabi’ al-Awwal, he ﷺ sent al-Daḥḥāk ibn Sufyān al-Kilābi to
Bani Kilāb in al-Qarta’; he invited them to Islam, but they refused [to accept], so he fought and defeated them, and seized spoils.

In Rabī al-Ākhar, the expedition (sariyyah) of ‘Alqamah ibn Mujazziz al-Mudliji against a group of Abyssinians occurred; they ended up fleeing from him.

– Also in Rabi’ al-Akhar, there was the expedition (sariyyah) of ‘Ali to al-Fuls an idol that belonged to Tayy’ – together with hundred and fifty men. He destroyed it and acquired considerable spoils, amongst them Saffänah bint Ḥātim, the daughter of Ḥätim al-Ta’i and sister of ‘Adi. The Prophet ﷺ set her free, which led to her brother accepting Islam.

A further expedition in Rabi’ al-Akhar was the one of ‘Ukāshah to al-Jibäb, which was either the land of ‘Udhrah and Bali, or the land of Ghatafān or the land of Fazārah and Kalb with ‘Udhrah having a share in it.

Then the delegation of Bani Sa’d arrived [in Medina] and said, ‘We have come [to you], before you can you send to us an envoy,’ so the verse, ‘They think they have done you [the Prophet] a favour alb by accepting Islam… [Qur’an 49: 17] was revealed

Ka’b ibn Zuhayr came to Medina after the Conquest [of Mecca] as a Muslim, having repented and seeking intercession by means of his well-known ode (qasidah):

Şu’ad40 has parted, so my heart today is love-sick Lost after her, unable to ransom [myself], shackled.

So he ﷺ awarded him his cloak and pardoned him. ‘Attāb ibn Usayd went on hajj. He ﷺ appointed him as the governor of Mecca after its conquest; thus, he is the first governor of Mecca in Islam. He enjoined him to look after the people of Mecca and said to him, ‘Verily, they are the people of Allah and His elect ones.’

Ibrāhīm the son of Allah’s Messenger ﷺ was born. Al-‘Abbas ibn ‘Abd al-Muṭṭalib, Abū Sufyān ibn al-Ḥārith, ‘Abd- Allāh ibn Umayyah al-Makhzūmī and Abū Quḥāfah, al-Ṣiddiq al- Akbar’s father, all accepted Islam .


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