the conquest of makkah which came forth as a consequence of a swift blow astounded both the arabs and other tribes who realized that they were doomed and had to submit to the new situation as a fait accompli. some of the fierce, powerful proud tribes did not submit and favoured resistance. ahead of these were the septs of hawazin and thaqif. nasr, jashm and sa‘d bin bakr and people of bani hilal — all of whom of qais ‘ailan. they thought that they were too mighty to admit or surrender to such a victory. so they met malik bin ‘awf an-nasri and made up their mind to proceed fighting against the muslims.
the enemy’s march and their encampment at awtas
when malik bin ‘awf — the general leader — decided to march and fight the muslims, he made his countrypeople take their wealth, women and children with them to awtas — which is a valley in hawazin land and is quite near hunain. it differs from hunain in its being adjacent to dhi-al-majaz which is around ten miles from makkah in ‘arafat’s direction. [fath al-bari 8/27,42]
the war-experienced man wrongs the leader’s judgement
as soon as they had camped in awtas, people crowded round malik. the old sane duraid bin as-simmah, who was well-known as a war-experienced man, and who was among those who gathered round malik, asked: "what valley are we in?" "in awtas," they said. "what a good course it is for horses! it is neither a sharp pointed height nor a loosed soiled plain. what? why do i hear camels’ growling, the donkeys’ braying, the children’s cries and the sheep bleating?" asked duraid. they said: "malik bin ‘awf had made people bring their women, properties and children with them." so he called malik and asked him what made him do such a thing. malik said that his aim was to have everybody’s family and properties around them so that they fight fiercely to protect them." "i swear by allâh that you are nothing but a shepherd," answered duraid, "do you believe that there is anything whatsoever, can stand in the way of a defeated one or stop him from fleeing? if you win the battle you avail nothing but a man with a sword and a spear; but if you lose you will bring disgrace on your people and properties," then he resumed his talk and went on wondering about some septs and their leaders. "o malik, thrusting the distinguished people of hawazin into the battlefield will avail you nothing. raise them up to where they can be safe. then make the young people mount their horses and fight. if you win, those whom you tarried will follow you, but if you were the loser it would be a loss of a battle, but your kinsmen, people and properties would not be lost."
but malik, the general leader, refused this suggestion. "by allâh," he said, "i will not do such a thing. you must have grown a senile. hawazin have to obey me, or else i will lean my body against this sword so that it penetrates through my back." he rejected any sort of contribution of duraid’s in that concern.
"we obey you," said his people, duraid consequently said: "today is a day that i have not missed but surely i will not be tempted to witness."
reconnoitering the weapons of the messenger of allâh [pbuh]
the spies that malik had already dispatched to spy muslim forces, returned with their limbs cut off. "woe unto you! what happened to you?" said malik. they said: "we have seen distinguished people on spotted horsebacks. what you see, would not have happened if we had been firmly together."
reconnoitering the enemy’s weapons
news about the enemy’s marching were conveyed to the messenger of allâh [pbuh], so he sent out al-aslami with orders to mix with people, stay with them so that he would be able to know their news and to convey it to the messenger of allâh [pbuh] when he turns back. that was exactly what he managed to do.
the messenger of allâh [pbuh] leaves makkah for hunain
on shawwal, the nineteenth, the captive day, the messenger of allâh [pbuh] left makkah accompanied by twelve thousand muslims. ten thousand of those had previously shared in makkah conquest. a great number of the other two thousand, who were makkans, had recently embraced islam. that march was on the nineteenth day of his conquest to makkah. he borrowed a hundred armours with their equipment from safwan bin omaiyah. he appointed ‘itab bin usaid as a governor over makkah. when it was evening time, a horseman came to the messenger of allâh [pbuh] and said: "i have climbed up so and so mountains and came across hawazin with their riding camels, livestock and sheep. hawazin wholly were gathered together there." the messenger of allâh [pbuh] smiled then and said: "they will all be muslims’ spoils tomorrow, if allâh will." that night anas bin abi murthid al-ghanawi volunteered to guard. [abu da'ud]
on their way to hunain they saw a great green nabk plant, that was called dhat-anwat (the one with suspenders). that was because the arabs used to hang their weapons on it, slay beasts under it and keep to it. so some of army members asked the messenger of allâh [pbuh] to make them a nabk with suspenders as the one they had. "allâh is the greatest of all!" he said, "i swear by the one in whose hand is muhammad’s soul, that you have just said what the people of moses said to him. they said ‘make us a god as the one they have.’ surely you are ignorant people. these are sunnah, but you will follow and comply with the modes of life of those who preceded you." [at-tirmidhi]
seeing how great in number the army was, some of them said: "we shall not be defeated." their statement sounded hard upon the messenger of allâh [pbuh].
the islamic army stunned the archers and the attackers
on wednesday night the tenth of shawwal, the muslim army arrived at hunain. malik bin ‘awf, who had previously entered the valley by night, gave orders to his army to hide inside the valley and lurk for the muslims on roads, entrances, narrow hiding places. his orders to his men were to hurl stones at muslims whenever they caught sight of them and then to make a one-man attack against them.
at early dawn the messenger of allâh [pbuh] started mobilizing his army and distributing posts and flags to people. in the dark and just before dawn the muslims moved towards hunain valley. they started descending into it unaware of the presence of an enemy lurking for them inside the valley. so at the moment they were camping, arrows began showering intensively at them, whereas the enemy’s battalions started a fierce attack against the muslims, who had to retreat in disorder and utter confusion. it was such a shatteringly defeat that abu sufyan bin harb, who had recently embraced islam, said that their retreat would not stop till they got to the red sea. jablah or kildah bin al-junaid commented on that by saying: "surely magic has grown inactive today."
the messenger of allâh [pbuh] turned to the right and said: "come on, people! i am the messenger of allâh. i am muhammad, the son of abdullah." those who stoodfast by him were only few emigrants and some of his kinsmen. the matchless bravery of the prophet [r] was then brought to light. he went on and on in his attempts to make his mule standfast in the face of the disbelievers while saying loudly:
"truly saying, i am the prophet
i am the (grand) son of abdul muttalib."
however, abu sufyan, who was then holding the rein of the prophet’s mule, and al-‘abbas, who was holding its stirrup; were endeavouring to make it halt. the messenger of allâh [pbuh] dismounted and asked his lord to render him help.
"o, allâh, send down your help!"
mulsims’ return to the battlefield, and the fierceness of the fight
the messenger of allâh [pbuh] ordered his uncle al-‘abbas — who was a sonorous voiced man — to call out on the followers. as loudly as he could, al-‘abbas shouted: "where are the lancers?" "by allâh," al-‘abbas said, "upon hearing my voice calling them back, they turned round to the battlefield as if they had been oryxes (wild cows) tending towards their calves."
"here we are, at your service. here we are."[sahih muslim 2/100] they said. there you see them trying to stop their camels and reverse to the battle. he who was unable to force his camel to turn back, would take his armour, fling it round his neck, and hastily dismount his camel with his weapon in his hand letting his camel move freely and run towards the voice source. voices would grow louder and louder till a hundred of them gathered round the prophet and resumed the fight.
those who were called out upon next were al-ansar, the helpers, "o, folks of al-ansar! folks of al-ansar!"
the last group to be called out upon were bani al-harith bin al-khazraj. muslims battalions poured successively into the battlefield in the same manner that they had left it. the stamina of both parties was superb. both of them stoodfast and fought fiercely. the messenger of allâh [pbuh] was so eagerly and furiously watching the battle that he said:
"now the fight has grown fierce."
picking up a handful of earth, he hurled it at their faces while saying:
"may your faces be shameful."
their eyes were thick with dust and the enemy began to retreat in utter confusion.
reverse of fortunes and the enemy’s utter defeat
few hours had elapsed since the earth-handful was hurled at the enemy’s faces, when they were shatteringly defeated. about seventy men of thaqif alone were killed, and the muslims plundered all their riding camels, weapons and cattle.
allâh, glory is to him, alluded to this sudden change in the qur’ân when he said:
"…and on the day of hunain (battle) when you rejoiced at your great number but it availed you naught and the earth, vast as it is, was straitened for you, then you turned back in flight. then allâh did send down his sakinah (calmness, tranquillity, and reassurance, etc.) on the messenger (muhammad [pbuh]) and on the believers, and sent down forces (angels) which you saw not, and punished the disbelievers. such is the recompense of disbelievers." [al-qur'an 9:25,26]
hot pursuit of the enemy
after their defeat, some enemy troops headed for ta’if, others to nakhlah and awtas. a group of muslims headed by abu ‘amir al-ash‘ ari, were despatched to chase the enemy, some skirmishes took place during which abu ‘amir was killed.
a similar battalion of horsemen pursued the idolaters who threaded the track to nakhlah and caught up with duraid bin as-simmah, who was killed by rabi‘a bin rafi‘. after collecting the booty, the messenger of allâh [pbuh] left for ta’if to face the greatest number of the defeated idolaters. the booty was six thousand captives, twenty four thousand camels; over forty thousand sheep and four thousand silver ounces. the messenger of allâh [pbuh] gave orders that booty should be confined at al-j‘iranah and ordained mas‘ud bin ‘amr al-ghifari to be in charge of it. it was only when he was entirely free from ta’if campaign, that one of the captives as-shaimâ’, the daughter of al-harith as-sa‘diya, the messenger’s foster sister was brought to the messenger of allâh [pbuh], she introduced herself to him. upon recognizing her by a certain mark, he honoured her, spread for her his garment and seated her on it. he was graceful and released her and made her turn back to her people.
having accomplished the distribution of the spoils at al-ji‘ranah he left it while wearing al-‘umrah clothes and proceeded to makkah to perform al-‘umrah. the messenger of allâh [pbuh] turned back from there to madinah after appointing ‘itab bin usaid on makkah as governor. his arrival to madinah was by the last six nights of dhul-qa‘dah, in the year 8 a.h. on this occasion muhammad al-ghazali said:
"what a great change it is between the victorious period of muhammad at present which allâh has towered with a manifest conquest, and that period of the past during which muhammad first arrived at this town, eight years ago."
when he first came to madinah, he was pursued and wanted. he was seeking a secure shelter. he was a lonely stranger who sought companionship and comfort. the people of madinah welcomed him, gave him residence and aided him and embraced the light of islam, which had been sent down upon him. they, for his sake, did not care about the enmity of other peoples. here he is entering madinah again, after the lapse of eight years of that first visit. madinah, the town that had received him once, when he was a frightened emigrant; it receives him once again when makkah has become in his hands and at his disposal. it is makkah that has got rid of its pride and jahiliyah (i.e. pre-islamic period and traditions). it is now proud again and mighty in islam. the messenger of allâh forgave all the errors and wrongs of its people.
"verily, he who fears allâh with obedience to him (by abstaining from sins and evil deeds, and by performing righteous good deeds), and is patient, then surely, allâh makes not the reward of the good-doers to be lost." [al-qur'an 12:90] [fiqh-us-seerah 303; za'd al-ma'ad 2/160-201; ibn hisham 2/389-501; sahih bukhari: chapter fath ghazwal, hunian, awtas and at-ta'if 2/612-622. fath al-bari 8/3-58]
hawazin’s delegation arrived a muslims just after the distribution of spoils. they were fourteen men headed by zuhair bin sard. the messenger’s foster uncle was one of them. they asked him to bestow upon them some of the wealth and spoils. they uttered so touching words that the messenger of allâh [pbuh] said to them: "you surely see who are with me. the most desirable speech to me is the most truthful. which is dearer to you, your wealth or your women and children?" they replied: "nothing whatsoever compares with kinship." then when i perform the noon prayer, stand up and say: "we intercede with the messenger of allâh [pbuh] to exhort the believers, and we intercede with the believers to exhort the messenger of allâh [pbuh] to forego the captives of our people fallen to their lot." so when the messenger of allâh [pbuh] performed the noon prayer, they stood up and said what they had been told to say. the messenger [pbuh], then, said: "as for what belongs to me and to the children of abdul muttalib, you may consider them, from now on, yours. and i will ask my folksmen to give back theirs." upon hearing that the emigrants and the helpers said: "what belongs to us is, from now on, offered to the messenger of allâh [pbuh]." but al-aqra‘ bin habis said, "we will grant none of what belongs to me and to bani tamim,"; so did ‘uyaina bin hisn, who said: "as for me and bani fazarah, i say ‘no’." al-‘abbas bin mirdas also refused and said: "no" for bani saleem and him. his people, however, said otherwise: "whatever spoils belong to us we offer to the messenger of allâh ([pbuh].)" "you have undermined my position." said al-‘abbas bin mirdas spontaneously. then the messenger of allâh [pbuh] said: "these people have come to you as muslims. for this i have already tarried the distribution of the booty. besides, i have granted them a fair option but they refused to have anything other than their women and children. therefore he who has some of theirs and will prefer willingly to give them back, let them do. but those who favours to keep what he owns to himself, let them grant them back too, and he will be given as a recompense six times as much from the first booty that allâh may provide us." people then said, "we will willingly offer them all for the sake of the messenger of allâh." the messenger of allâh [pbuh] said: "but in this way we are not able to find out who is content and who is not. so go back and we will be waiting for your chiefs to convey to us your decisions." all of them gave back the women and children. the only one who refused to comply with the messenger’s desire was ‘uyaina bin hisn. he refused to let an old woman of theirs go back at first. later on he let her go back. the messenger of allâh [pbuh] gave every captive a garment as a gift.
at first the prophet’s policy of distribution was uncomprehended by many a man. therefore sharp-tongued people started expressing their objections. the helpers were among those who were afflicted by this policy. they were deprived of hunain gifts though they had been the ones who were summoned at hunain hard times and they were the first to rush to fight with the messenger of allâh [pbuh] and standfast till the defeat turned into victory. now here they are watching those who escaped fill their hands with booty while they are given nothing.
on the authority of ibn ishaq: "when the messenger of allâh [pbuh] had given quraish and arab tribes those gifts and allotted nothing to the helpers, a group of the helpers felt so uneasy about it that a lot of ill-statements against the prophet [pbuh] were spread among them to an extent that one of them said: "by allâh, the messenger of allâh [pbuh] was ill-spoken of by his folksmen!" and those ill-statements went on spreading till sa‘d bin ‘ubadah met the messenger of allâh [pbuh], who in his turn faced his people after a while.
sa‘d bin ‘ubadah said: "o messenger of allâh, this group of the helpers are furious at you about the distribution of the booty that you had won. you have allotted shares to your own kinsmen and forwarded lots of gifts to the arab tribes. but this group has obtained nothing." the prophet [pbuh] asked sa‘d exclaiming: "sa‘d, what do you think of all that?" sa‘d replied: "o messenger of allâh. you know that i am nothing but a member of this group." "call out on your people and bring them forth to me into this shed." said the prophet [pbuh].
so sa‘d went out and summoned them. when some emigrants came, he let them in but forbade others. when they were all gathered together, he informed the prophet saying: "this group of the helpers have just arrived to meet you in compliance with your orders." as soon as the messenger [pbuh] faced them he thanked allâh and praised him, then said to them inquiring, "i have been told that you are angry with me. didn’t i come to you when you were astray and allâh guided you? you were poor and allâh gave you wealth. weren’t you foes and allâh made you love one another." "yes," they said, "allâh and his messenger are better and more gracious." then he said: "what prevents you from replying to the messenger of allâh, o tribe of helpers?" they said, "what should be the reply, o messenger of allâh, while to the lord and to his messenger belong all benevolence and grace."
the prophet [pbuh] again said:
"but by allâh, you might have answered and answered truly, for i would have testified to its truth myself: ‘you came to us belied and rejected and we accepted you; you came to us as helpless and we helped you; a fugitive, and we took you in; poor and we comforted you’.
you helpers, do you feel anxious for the things of this world, wherewith i have sought to incline these people unto the faith in which you are already established?
are you not satisfied, o group of helpers that the people go with ewes and camels while you go along with the messenger of allâh ([pbuh]) to your dwellings. by him in whose hand is my life, had there been no migration, i would have been one of the helpers. if the people would go through a valley and passage, and the helpers go through another valley and passage, i would go through the valley and passage of the helpers. allâh! have mercy on the helpers, their children and their children’s children."
the audience wept until tears rolled down their beards as they said:
"yes, we are satisfied, o prophet of allâh ([pbuh] )! with our lot and share."
then the prophet [pbuh] left the gathering and the people also dispersed. [ibn hisham 2/499,500; and like this quoted by bukhari 2/620, 621]
upon returning and lifting the siege in ta’if, the messenger of allâh [pbuh] had stayed over ten nights at al-ji‘ranah before starting to distribute the booty. distribution delay was due to the prophet’s hope that hawazin’s delegation might arrive and announce their repentance and consequently reclaim their loss. seeing that none of them arrived, he started dividing the booty so as to calm down the tribes’ chiefs and the celebrities of makkah. the first to receive booty and the ones who obtained the greatest number of shares were the people who had recently embraced islam.
abu sufyan bin harb was given a hundred camels and forty (gold) ounces and yet he said, "what about my son, yazeed’s share?" so he was given the same quantity for his son as well. but yet he exclaimed: "and what about the share of mu‘âwiyah, my second son?" so the prophet [pbuh] gave mu‘âwiyah as much as he gave his father and brother. hakeem bin hizam was given a hundred camels, but he was given a hundred more when he demanded. safwan bin omaiyah was given three hundred camels - a hundred camels at each time. it is thus mentioned in shifâ’ [ash-shifa 1/86], book by qadi iyadh. the prophet [pbuh] gave al-harith bin harith bin kilda a hundred camels. he also gave some chiefs of quraish and other clans a hundred camels; he gave others fifty and some others had forty.
eventually it was spread among people that "muhammad grants generously and fears not to grow poor." this made bedouins gather around him expecting to be given some wealth. they were so many that they forced the prophet [pbuh] to seek refuge against a tree and they even took away his garment, "o people!" he said, "give me back my garment! for i swear by the one in whose hand is muhammad’s soul, that if i had as many numerous camels as the number of tihama trees, i would distribute them among you. you know quite well that i am neither mean nor coward or a liar." standing by his camel he plucked out a hair of his camel’s hump and held it between his two fingers, lifted it up and said: "o people, i swear by allâh that i get nothing but one-fifth of your booty, and this very fifth goes back to you."
as soon as he had given the new converts, the messenger of allâh [pbuh] ordered zaid bin thabit to fetch the booty and summon people. then he ordained shares to people. a footman’s share was four camels and forty sheep, and a horseman would take twelve camels and a hundred and twenty sheep. this distribution of booty was based on a wise policy. in this world there are lots of people who know the truth only when it comes through their stomachs and they do not recognize it if it comes through their brains. the similitude of such people is as the guidance of an animal to its herd by means of a bunch of clover held at a constant distance off its mouth. the animal would try all the time to catch it, so it would eventually go into the herd safely. in the same way you have to do various kinds of temptations to make certain kind of people familiarize islam and be pleased with. [fiqh as-seerah p.298,299]
ta’if campaign is in fact an extension of hunain ghazwah; that is because the majority of the defeated troops of hawazin and thaqif went into ta’if with the general commander — malik bin ‘awf an-nasri — and fortified themselves within it. so upon finishing with hunain invasion, he gathered the booty at al-ji‘ranah in the very month (i.e. shawwal) and in the eighth year a.h.
a vanguard battalion of a thousand men led by khalid bin al-waleed marched towards at-ta’if. whereas the messenger of allâh [pbuh] proceeded passing through nakhlah al-yamaniyah, qarn al-manazil and through laiyah. at laiyah there was a castle that belonged to malik bin ‘awf, so the messenger of allâh [pbuh] gave orders to have it destroyed. he resumed his march till he got to ta’if. there he dismounted, camped near its castle and laid siege to the castle inhabitants; but not for long.
how long the siege continued, is still a matter of disagreement. it however stands between 10-20 days. [sahih muslim, narrated by anas [aws]; fath al-bari 8/45]
a lot of arrow-shooting and rock-hurling occurred during the siege. for as soon as the muslims laid siege round the castle, its people started shooting arrows against them. the arrows were so intense and fierce that they looked as if they had been locusts on the move. a number of muslims were wounded and twelve were killed.
to be far from the arrow-range, the muslims had to ascend to a higher location and camped on — i.e. to what is now called at-ta’if mosque. the prophet [pbuh] set up a mangonel and shelled the castle. eventually a gap was made in the castle wall, through which a number of muslims managed to pass into the castle, sheltered by a wooden tank, with the purpose of setting fire into it. anyway, the enemy poured down molten hot iron on them. affected by this the muslims stepped out of the tank and were again exposed to arrow shooting and consequently some of them were killed.
to force the enemy to surrender, the prophet [pbuh] tended to a war policy of burning and cutting the enemy’s crops. his order was to cut their vineyards and burn them. seeing that the muslims started rapidly cutting and burning their vines, they implored the prophet [pbuh] to stop and have mercy on them for the sake of allâh and out of kinship motives. so the prophet agreed. when the caller of the messenger of allâh [pbuh] called out unto people saying "he whosoever descends and steps out of the castle is free." twenty-three men came out. [sahih al-bukhari 2/620] one of them was abu bakrah who tied himself to a wall and let himself down by means of a small wheel, that would normally be used for drawing up water from a well. the way he let himself down made the prophet nickname him "abu bakrah", i.e. the man with the wheel. the messenger of allâh صلى الله عليه و سلم set them all free and entrusted each one of them to a muslim to care about their living affairs, which was too hard for the castle folkspeople to bear.
seeing that the siege lasted too long and that the castle was immune and could stand any siege (for they had already stored a supply that suffices for over a year) and that the muslims were suffering — day by day — from arrow-shots and heated iron hooks, the messenger of allâh [pbuh] consulted nawfal bin mu‘âwiyah ad-daili about that. he said: "they are like a fox hiding inside its burrow. if you stoodfast at it you would catch it, but if you parted with it, no harm would afflict you." the messenger of allâh [pbuh] decided to lift the siege and depart. ‘umar bin al-khattab, who was ordered by the prophet to notify people, said to them "if allâh will, we are leaving the castle and going back tomorrow." as it was too hard for the muslims to go back and leave the castle unconquered they complained saying, "should we go away while the castle is still unopened?" his reply was: "then, start fighting in the morning." in the morning they fought and were wounded. so when he repeated this statement: "if allâh will, we are leaving the castle and going back tomorrow", they were pleased and carried out the order submissively and started moving, which made the messenger of allâh [pbuh] laugh.
as soon as they mounted and started moving the messenger [pbuh] said:
"say! here we are returning, repenting, worshipping (allâh) and to our lord we offer praise."
when the messenger of allâh was asked to invoke allâh against thaqif, he said:
"o allâh, guide thaqif and bring them to us as muslims."
