Narrated Salamah ibn al-Akwa: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ appointed Abu Bakr our commander and we fought with some people who were polytheists, and we attacked them at night, killing them. Our war-cry that night was "put to death; put to death. " Salamah said: I killed that night with my hand polytheists belonging to seven houses.
Related hadith on this topic
Explanation & Benefits
Shaykh Umar Farooq Saeedi
Benefits and Issues:
There is no fault in launching a night raid (shab khoon) as per necessity and benefit.
Nor can it be described as deception or cowardice in the commonly understood sense.
Source: Sunan Abu Dawood – Commentary by Shaykh Umar Farooq Saeedi, Page: 2638