Abu Ishaq Sabi’i says: I was beside Zaid bin Arqam (may Allah be pleased with him) when he was asked: How many expeditions did the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) undertake? He said: Nineteen __QUR_N__. I asked: In how many expeditions did you accompany the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)? He said: Seventeen __QUR_N__. I asked: Which expedition was the first? He said: Dhat al-‘Usheir or Dhat al-‘Usheirah __QUR_N__. © Imam Tirmidhi says:
This hadith is Hasan Sahih.
Explanation & Benefits
Shaykh Dr. Abdur Rahman Freywai
Explanation:
1:
What is meant are those expeditions (ghazawat) in which the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam himself participated, whether actual fighting took place or not. In Sahih Muslim, it is narrated from Jabir radi Allahu anhu that the number of such expeditions is twenty-one (21). In this case, it is possible that Zayd ibn Arqam did not mention two of them, which are called the Expedition of Abwa and the Expedition of Buwat, because their matter remained hidden from him due to the small scale of these two expeditions.
Source: Sunan al-Tirmidhi – Majlis ‘Ilmi Dar al-Da‘wah, New Delhi Edition, Page: 1676