The Battle of Hunayn and the reports on it

Abu Ishaq narrates that a man said to Sayyiduna al-Bara' (may Allah be pleased with him): "O Abu Umarah, did you people turn your backs on the day of Hunayn?" Sayyiduna al-Bara' said: I bear witness about the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he (peace and blessings be upon him) did not turn his back. Rather, some people set out in haste and empty-handed toward the tribe of Hawazin, and the people of Hawazin were a nation of archers. So they showered that (empty-handed) group with arrows from swift-shooting bows, as though a swarm of locusts were coming. The narrator said: So the people scattered, and at that point the people of Hawazin advanced toward him (peace and blessings be upon him), while Sayyiduna Abu Sufyan bin al-Harith (may Allah be pleased with him) was leading his (peace and blessings be upon him) mule. He (peace and blessings be upon him) dismounted (from the mule) and called for help, saying: "I am not a false prophet; I am the son of Abd al-Muttalib. O Allah, send down Your help." The narrator said: By Allah, when the battle blazed fiercely we would shield ourselves behind him (peace and blessings be upon him). And indeed the brave man (at that time) was the one who stood alongside him (peace and blessings be upon him).

It is narrated from Sayyiduna al-Bara' (may Allah be pleased with him): No, by Allah, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) did not turn his back on the day of the Battle of Hunayn. The narrator said: Sayyiduna Abbas and Abu Sufyan (may Allah be pleased with them both) were holding the reins of his (peace and blessings be upon him) mule, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) was saying: "I am not a false prophet; I am the son of Abd al-Muttalib."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) that on the day of Hunayn the supplication of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was: "O Allah, if You will, You will not be worshipped after this day."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) that on the day of Hunayn the tribes of Hawazin and Ghatafan gathered a very large force against the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) on that day had with him ten thousand or more than ten thousand men. The narrator said: With him (peace and blessings be upon him) were also the Tulaqa' (those who became Muslim at the Conquest of Makkah). The narrator said: The enemy brought their livestock and their wives and children and left them behind themselves. When the two sides met, the people turned their backs and fled. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was riding a white mule that day. The narrator said: He (peace and blessings be upon him) dismounted (from the mule) and said: "I am the servant of Allah and His Messenger." The narrator said: That day he (peace and blessings be upon him) called out twice and mixed no other speech between the two calls. He (peace and blessings be upon him) turned to his right and called: "O company of the Ansar!" The Ansar answered: "O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), here we are at your service; we are with you." Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) turned to his left and called: "O company of the Ansar!" The Ansar answered: "O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), here we are at your service; we are with you." Then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) dismounted to the ground, and when the two sides met (again) the enemy was defeated and the Muslims obtained much booty. He (peace and blessings be upon him) gave this booty to the Tulaqa' and distributed it among them. (At this) the Ansar said: "In hardship we are called, and the booty is distributed to others besides us." This reached the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), so he (peace and blessings be upon him) gathered all the Ansar, sat (with them) in a domed tent and said: "O company of the Ansar, what is this that has reached me about you?" The Ansar Companions remained silent. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "O company of the Ansar, if the people were to travel through a valley and the Ansar through a mountain pass, I would take the pass of the Ansar." Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Are you not pleased that the other people should go off with the (goods of the) world, while you go off with the Messenger of Allah and shelter him in your homes?" The Ansar said: "O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), we are pleased, we are pleased." Ibn Awn said that Hisham bin Zayd said: I asked Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him): "Were you present at that time?" He replied: "And where would I have been absent at that time?"

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) that Sayyiduna Abu Talhah (may Allah be pleased with him) came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) on the day of Hunayn and began to make him (peace and blessings be upon him) laugh, and said: "O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), have you not seen Umm Sulaym? She has a dagger in her hand." He (peace and blessings be upon him) asked Sayyidah Umm Sulaym (may Allah be pleased with her): "O Umm Sulaym, what do you intend with this dagger?" Sayyidah Umm Sulaym replied: "My intention is that if any enemy comes near me, I will stab him with this dagger."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) that on the day of the Battle of Hunayn the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Whoever kills someone, the belongings of the slain man go to him (the killer)." So Sayyiduna Abu Talhah (may Allah be pleased with him) killed twenty men that day and took their belongings.

It is narrated from Talhah bin Musarrif that on the day of Hunayn the Muslims were defeated, and they were called: "O people of Surah al-Baqarah!" The narrator said: So the Companions turned back, and the sounds of their weeping could be heard.

It is narrated from Abdullah bin Buraydah that on the day of the Battle of Hunayn the people scattered away from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and no one remained with him (peace and blessings be upon him) except one man named Zayd, who was holding the reins of his (peace and blessings be upon him) grey mule; this was the mule that the Negus had given to him (peace and blessings be upon him) as a gift. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to Zayd: "Woe to you, O Zayd! Call the people." So Zayd called out: "O people! This is the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) calling you." But no one answered Zayd at that time. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Woe to you! Call the Aws and the Khazraj in particular." So Sayyiduna Zayd called out: "O people of Aws and Khazraj! This is the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) calling you." But even then no one answered Zayd. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said (again): "Woe to you! Call the Muhajirun, for upon their necks is a pledge to Allah."

The narrator said: Sayyiduna Buraydah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated to me that a thousand of those people (returned and) turned toward him, having broken and thrown away their scabbards. Then these people came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) (and fought) until victory over the disbelievers was granted to them.

Umar, the freed slave of Ghufrah, narrates that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) dismounted from the mule he (peace and blessings be upon him) was riding and began to call out to the people: "O people of Surah al-Baqarah! O those who gave the pledge at the tree! I am the Messenger of Allah and His Prophet. (Will) these people turn their backs and go?"

Isma'il bin Abi Khalid narrates: I saw Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abi Awfa (may Allah be pleased with him) with the marks of a wound on his hand, so I asked: "What is this?" He replied: "A blow struck this hand of mine on the day of the Battle of Hunayn." Isma'il said: I asked him: "You were present at Hunayn with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)?" He replied: "Yes."

Abdullah bin Ubaydah narrates that after the Battle of Hunayn some people of the tribe of Hawazin came to him (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: "O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), we have a request from you." He (peace and blessings be upon him) asked: "In what is your desire: in kinship (relatives) or in wealth?" They replied: "(Not in wealth,) rather in kinship, in mothers and in daughters. As for wealth, Allah Almighty will give it to us again." He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Whatever of your women is in my possession and in the possession of Banu Hashim, I return. As for the rest of the people, I will intercede for you with them when I have prayed, if Allah wills. So stand up and say such and such." So he (peace and blessings be upon him) taught them what they were to say. They said just what he (peace and blessings be upon him) had ordered them to say, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) interceded for them. So the Muslims returned all the women who were in their possession, except for Sayyiduna al-Aqra' bin Habis (may Allah be pleased with him) and Uyaynah bin Hisn. The women who were with these two, they kept with themselves.

Al-Hakam bin Utaybah narrates that when many people fled from him (peace and blessings be upon him) on the day of the Battle of Hunayn, he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "I am not a false prophet; I am the son of Abd al-Muttalib." The narrator said: So only four men remained with him (peace and blessings be upon him). Three men were from Banu Hashim and one man was from others besides them. Sayyiduna Ali bin Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) and Sayyiduna Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) were in front of him (peace and blessings be upon him), Sayyiduna Abu Sufyan bin al-Harith (may Allah be pleased with him) was holding the reins (of his (peace and blessings be upon him) mule), and Sayyiduna Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) was on his (peace and blessings be upon him) left side. The narrator said: Every disbeliever who advanced toward him (peace and blessings be upon him) was killed. The polytheists lay slain around him (peace and blessings be upon him), ringed like a crown.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) that from the booty of Hunayn the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) gave Sayyiduna al-Aqra' bin Habis (may Allah be pleased with him) one hundred camels, and also gave Uyaynah bin Hisn one hundred camels. Some of the Ansar said: "The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) has given our (hard-won) booty to people with the blood of whose (relatives) our swords are wet, or whose swords are wet with the blood of our (relatives)?" This reached the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), so he (peace and blessings be upon him) sent a messenger to those Ansar, and all of them came to him (peace and blessings be upon him). He (peace and blessings be upon him) asked them: "Is there anyone among you other than yourselves (the Ansar)?" They replied: "No, except our sisters' sons (who are with us)." He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The sisters' sons of a people are part of that people." Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) asked: "You people have said such and such? Are you not pleased that the rest of the people should go off with the sheep and the camels, while you go off to your homes with Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him)?" The Ansar said: "O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), of course we are." Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The people are the outer garment and the Ansar are the garment next to the body. The Ansar are my sincere friends and my confidants, and were it not for the Hijrah, I would have been a man of the Ansar."

It is narrated from Abdullah bin Ubaydah that on the day of the Battle of Hunayn Abu Sufyan, Hakim bin Hizam and Safwan bin Umayyah (may Allah be pleased with them) came out (intending) to see who would be defeated. (Meanwhile) a Bedouin passed by them and they asked: "O servant of Allah, what has become of the people?" He replied: "Muhammad will never recover from it." The narrator said: This was the impression at the time when his (peace and blessings be upon him) Companions had scattered from him (peace and blessings be upon him). So some of them said to others: "That someone from Quraysh should become a lord (a great man) is dearer to us than that someone from the Bedouins should become a lord." Then they said to one of their number: "O so-and-so, go and bring us some news." The narrator said: That man set out until he reached the midst of the people, and he heard them saying: "O Aws! O Khazraj!" And they had already prevailed over the enemy. And that was the war-cry of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) that when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) distributed the captives at al-Ji'ranah, he (peace and blessings be upon him) gave captives to Quraysh and others, but of those captives he (peace and blessings be upon him) gave nothing to the Ansar Companions. At this much was said and spread about, until one speaker said: "As for the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), he has joined up with his own people." The narrator said: He (peace and blessings be upon him) sent a messenger to Sayyiduna Sa'd bin Ubadah (may Allah be pleased with him) and inquired: "What is this talk that has reached me from your side, of which they are saying so much?" The narrator said: He replied: "It must surely have been as has reached you." He (peace and blessings be upon him) asked: "What do you say about it?" He replied: "I am merely one member of my people." The narrator said: His (peace and blessings be upon him) anger increased, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Gather your people, and let no other (people) be with them." The narrator said: Sayyiduna Sa'd gathered the Ansar in one of the captives' enclosures and himself stood at the door of that enclosure, and he allowed in only those who were of his people. He also allowed in some of the Muhajirun, and he turned back others. The narrator said: Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) came, with anger showing on his (peace and blessings be upon him) blessed face. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "O company of the Ansar! Did I not find you astray, and then Allah Almighty guided you?" The Ansar began to say: "We seek refuge with Allah Almighty from the anger of Allah and His Messenger." "O company of the Ansar! Did I not find you destitute, and then Allah Almighty made you rich?" The Ansar began to say: "We seek refuge with Allah Almighty from the anger of Allah and His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him)." "O company of the Ansar! Did I not find you enemies (of one another), and then Allah Almighty joined your hearts together?" The Ansar began to say: "We seek refuge with Allah Almighty from the anger of Allah and His Messenger." He (peace and blessings be upon him) asked: "Why do you not answer?" The Ansar said: "Allah and His Messenger are the greater benefactors." Then when (this state of anger) had left him (peace and blessings be upon him), he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "If you wished, you would say this and speak the truth, and you would be believed: 'Did we not find you driven out, and then we gave you shelter? Did we not find you belied, and then we believed you? Did we not find you destitute, and then we shared with you? Did we not find you forsaken and helpless, and then we helped you?'" At this the Ansar began to weep and to say: "Allah and His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) are the greater benefactors and the more excellent." "Have you felt something over a thing of this world which I gave to some people in order to bind them firmly to Islam, while I entrusted you to your Islam (that is, you are firm in faith)? If all the people were to travel in one valley or pass, and you Ansar in another valley or pass, I would surely travel in your valley or pass. You people are (like) the garment next to the body and the rest of the people are (like) the outer garment. And were it not for the Hijrah, I would have been one of the Ansar." Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) raised both his hands until what lies beneath his (peace and blessings be upon him) shoulders (the armpits) became visible, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) supplicated: "O Allah, forgive the Ansar, forgive the children of the Ansar, and forgive the children of the children of the Ansar. Are you people not pleased that the rest of the people should go off with sheep and camels, while you go off to your homes with the Messenger of Allah?" At this all the Companions wept until their beards were wet. And they went back saying: "We are pleased with Allah Almighty as Lord and with His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) as our share and portion."

It is narrated from Abu Abd al-Rahman al-Fihri (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: I was with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) at the Battle of Hunayn. We travelled on an extremely hot day and then camped in the shade of the trees. When the sun had passed its zenith, I put on my battle armour, mounted my horse and set out toward the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), who was in his (peace and blessings be upon him) tent. I said (on arriving): "Peace be upon you, O Messenger of Allah, and the mercy of Allah. The departure! Has the time for departure come?" He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Yes." Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "O Bilal!" He rose from under a tree whose shade was like the shade of a bird, and (coming) said: "Here I am at your service, ready to obey, and may I be sacrificed for you." He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Saddle my horse for me." So Sayyiduna Bilal (may Allah be pleased with him) brought out a saddle whose two sides were of palm fibre, with no pride or vanity in them. The narrator said: Then Sayyiduna Bilal saddled the horse. 2. Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) mounted and we mounted too, and we stood in ranks facing them through the evening and the night, and the horsemen of the Muslims and of the disbelievers clashed with one another. As Allah Almighty says, the Muslims turned their backs and fled. Then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) called out: "O servants of Allah! I am the servant of Allah and His Messenger (and I am here)." Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "O company of the Muhajirun! I am the servant of Allah and His Messenger (and I am here)." Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) dismounted from his horse and took a handful of dust. That Companion who was nearer to him (peace and blessings be upon him) than I was told me that he (peace and blessings be upon him) threw this dust toward their faces and said: "May the faces be disfigured." The narrator said: So Allah Almighty defeated the polytheists.

Ya'la bin Ata said: The sons of the opponents narrated to me from their fathers that they said: There was not one of us left whose eyes and mouth were not filled with dust, and we heard a clanging between the heavens and the earth like the passing of iron over a new basin.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) that the tribe of Hawazin brought their children, women, camels and goats with them at the Battle of Hunayn and arranged them in ranks so that they would appear more numerous before the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). When the two sides met, the Muslims fled, as Allah Almighty has said. Then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "O servants of Allah! I am the servant of Allah and His Messenger (and I am here)." Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "O company of the Muhajirun! I am the servant of Allah and His Messenger (and I am here)." The narrator said: Then Allah Almighty inflicted defeat on the polytheists, without any sword being struck or any spear being thrust. The narrator said: And on that day the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Whoever kills a disbeliever, he shall take his belongings." Sayyiduna Anas said: So that day Sayyiduna Abu Talhah (may Allah be pleased with him) killed twenty (20) men and took their belongings. Sayyiduna Abu Qatadah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), I struck a man on the neck with a sword and killed him. He was wearing a coat of mail, but someone took that coat of mail off before me." He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "See who has taken it." The narrator said: A man stood up and said: "I took that coat of mail. Satisfy him about it (that is, to give it up) and give it to me." Whenever the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was asked for anything, he (peace and blessings be upon him) would either give it or remain silent (that is, he would not refuse). So he (peace and blessings be upon him) (hearing this) remained silent. The narrator said: Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "No, by Allah! Allah Almighty will not take this booty away from one of His lions and give it to you." The narrator said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) laughed and said: "Umar has spoken the truth." Sayyiduna Abu Talhah met Sayyidah Umm Sulaym (may Allah be pleased with her), and she had a dagger with her. Sayyiduna Abu Talhah asked: "O Umm Sulaym, what is this you have with you?" She said: "My intention is that if any of the polytheists comes near me, I will rip open his belly with this dagger and pull out his entrails." Sayyiduna Abu Talhah said (to him (peace and blessings be upon him)): "O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), have you not heard what Umm Sulaym is saying?" Sayyidah Umm Sulaym said: "O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), kill well those who are after us from among the Tulaqa'. O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), these people have been (soundly) defeated through you." He (peace and blessings be upon him) said in reply: "Indeed Allah has sufficed and has done well."

Iyas bin Salamah narrates from his father that he said: I took part in the campaign against Hawazin with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). We were eating our morning meal, most of our people were on foot and there were weak ones among us, when a man came riding a red camel. He pulled a leather rope from the rear of his (camel's) saddle and tied his camel with it; he was a young man. Then he came and ate with the people. When he saw their weakness and how few their mounts were, he ran off toward his camel, untied it, made it kneel, mounted it and then began to spur it on. A man from the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), from Banu Aslam, went after him on an ash-coloured she-camel, which was the best of the people's mounts. I ran after that man. I caught up with him when the head of the she-camel was at the camel's haunch and I was at the she-camel's haunch. Then I went forward, seized the camel's halter and made it kneel. As soon as it put its knees on the ground, I drew my sword and struck the man's head, and it flew off. Then I came leading his mount and whatever was on it, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) came to meet me. He (peace and blessings be upon him) asked: "Who killed that man?" The people said: "Ibn al-Akwa'." So he (peace and blessings be upon him) gave his belongings to me.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Zayd (may Allah be pleased with him) that when Allah Almighty gave His Messenger the booty He intended to give on the day of Hunayn, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) distributed that wealth among the people and among those whose hearts were to be reconciled, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) distributed no wealth among the Ansar and gave them nothing. It was as though they felt it when they received no share. He (peace and blessings be upon him) addressed them and said: "O company of the Ansar! Did I not find you astray, and then Allah Almighty guided you through me? You were scattered and divided, and then Allah Almighty brought you together through me. And did I not find you destitute, and then Allah Almighty made you rich through me?" The narrator said: Whenever the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) asked anything, the Companions would say in reply: "Allah and His Messenger are the greater benefactors." He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "What prevents you from answering?" The Companions said: "Allah and His Messenger are the greater benefactors." He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "If you wish, you may say: 'You came to us in such and such a state.' Are you not pleased that the people should go off with sheep and camels, while you go off to your saddles with the Messenger of Allah? Were it not for the Hijrah, I would have been a man of the Ansar. If all the people were to travel in one valley or pass, I would travel in the valley or pass of the Ansar. The Ansar are (like) the garment next to the body and the rest of the people are (like) the outer garment. After me you will witness others being preferred over you, but be patient until you meet me at the Pool."