Mukhtasar Muslim

Sayyiduna Kathir bin Abbas bin Abdul Muttalib narrates that Sayyiduna Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I was present with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) on the day of Hunayn, and I and Abu Sufyan bin Harith bin Abdul Muttalib (your cousin) both clung to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and did not separate from him. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was riding a white mule which Firdah bin Nufathah al-Judhami had given to him as a gift (which was also called Shahba and Duldul). When the Muslims and disbelievers confronted each other and the Muslims turned their backs and fled, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was urging his mule forward towards the disbelievers (this was the perfection of his bravery that at such a difficult time he rode a mule, even though horses were also present). Sayyiduna Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I was holding the bridle of the Prophet’s mule and restraining it from moving fast, and Abu Sufyan (may Allah be pleased with him) was holding the stirrup of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Finally, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: O Abbas! Call the companions of Samurah. And Sayyiduna Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) had a very loud voice (when he called his slaves at night, it would reach up to eight miles). Sayyiduna Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I called out in my loudest voice, “Where are the companions of Samurah?” Upon hearing this, by Allah, they returned just as cows return to their calves, and they began to say, “We are present, we are present.” (From this it is known that they had not fled far, nor had all of them fled, but rather some new Muslims, etc., turned back suddenly due to the heavy rain of arrows and there was confusion. Then Allah strengthened the hearts of the Muslims.) Then they began to fight the disbelievers, and the Ansar were called thus: “O people of Ansar! O people of Ansar!” Then the call was completed for Banu Harith bin Khazraj (who are a group of the Ansar). They were called: “O Banu Harith bin Khazraj! O Banu Harith bin Khazraj!” The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was stretching his neck on his mule, watching their fighting, and said: “Now is the time of the oven’s boiling (i.e., now the battle is at its height).” Then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) picked up a handful of pebbles and threw them at the faces of the disbelievers and said: “By the Lord of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him)! The disbelievers have been defeated.” Sayyiduna Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I went to see, and the battle was still raging as before, but by Allah, as soon as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) threw the pebbles, I saw that the strength of the disbelievers was broken and their ranks were overturned.

Sayyiduna Abu Ishaq says that a man came to Sayyiduna Bara’ (may Allah be pleased with him) and said, “O Abu ‘Amarah (may Allah be pleased with him)! On the day of Hunayn, you ran away.” He replied, “I testify that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) did not turn his face away, but a few hasty and unarmed people went towards the tribe of Hawazin. They were archers and they showered arrows like a swarm of locusts, so these people moved away from the front, and the people came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and Abu Sufyan bin Harith was leading the mule of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) dismounted from the mule, prayed, and sought help, and he was saying, ‘I am the Prophet, this is no lie. I am the son of Abdul Muttalib. O Allah! Send down Your help.’ Sayyiduna Bara’ (may Allah be pleased with him) says, ‘By Allah, when the fierce fighting would take place, we would protect ourselves behind the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and the bravest among us was the one who stood alongside the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in battle.’”

Sayyiduna Salamah bin Akwa’ (may Allah be pleased with him) says: We participated in the battle of Hunayn (Ghazwah Hunayn) with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). When we faced the enemy, I advanced and climbed up a mountain pass. One of the enemy came before me. I shot an arrow at him, and he disappeared from my sight, and I did not know what happened to him. I saw the people appearing from another mountain pass, and fighting took place between them and the companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), but the companions retreated. I also turned back in defeat, and I was wearing two sheets, one tied as a lower garment and the other draped over me. My lower garment became loose, so I gathered both sheets together, and as I was retreating, I passed in front of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). He said: “The son of Akwa’ has retreated in panic.” Then the enemy surrounded the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), so he dismounted from his mule, took a handful of dust from the ground, and threw it at their faces, saying: “May the faces be disfigured!” Then there was not a single man among them whose eyes were not filled with that handful of dust. Eventually, they fled, and Allah Almighty defeated them, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) distributed their wealth among the Muslims.