The Life & Character of the Seal of Prophets (sa) – Volume III — Page 5
I - Commencement of the Second Era of Life in Madīnah 5 Ghazwāt 1 and Sarāyah 2 , and a brief overview of others for our readers. Sariyyah of Qurṭā - Muḥarram 6 A. H. (May/June 627 A. D. ) At the time, 6 A. H. had only begun and it was in the first month of the Lunar Year, i. e. , the early dates of the month of Muḥarram , when the Holy Prophet sa received news of danger from the people of Najd. This threat was from the Qurṭā tribe which was a branch of the tribe Banū Bakr and resided in an area called Ḍariyyah in Najd, situated at a distance of seven days’ journey from Madīnah. 3 Upon receiving this news, the Holy Prophet sa immediately dispatched a squadron of 30 mounted troops to Najd in the command of one of his companions, Muḥammad bin Maslamah Anṣārī ra. However, Allāh the Exalted, instilled such awe in the hearts of the infidels that they took to flight after only a minor confrontation. As per the custom of war at the time, this was an opportunity for the Muslims to take the women and children of the enemy captive, as they had left them behind and retreated. However, Muḥammad bin Maslamah ra did not detain the women and children, and returned to Madīnah with general spoils of war which consisted of camels and goats. 4 The Acceptance of Thumāmah bin Uthāl the Chief of Yamāmah - Muḥarram 6 A. H. Upon return from this expedition, the instance of the capture of Thumāmah bin Uthāl took place. 5 This individual resided in Yamāmah and was a very influential chieftain of the tribe - Banū Ḥanīfah. He had exceeded so far in his enmity towards Islām that he let no opportunity for killing innocent 1 Plural of Ghazwah (Publishers) 2 Plural of Sariyyah , which refers to a military expedition in which the Holy Prophet sa did not participate himself. (Publishers) 3 Based on the system of travel in that era, this distance should be considered equivalent to approximately 150 miles. 4 * Aṭ-Ṭabaqātul-Kubrā, By Muḥammad bin Sa‘d, Volume 2, pp. 288-289, Sariyyatu Muḥammad-ibni Maslamata Ilal-Qurṭā’, Dāru Iḥyā’it-Turāthil-‘Arabī, Beirut, Lebanon, First Edition (1996) * Sharḥul-‘Allāmatiz-Zarqānī ‘Alal-Mawāhibil-Ladunniyyah, By Allāmah Shihābuddīn Al-Qusṭalānī, Volume 3, pp. 101-102, Sariyyatul-Qurṭā’i Wa Ḥadīthu Thumāmata, Dārul-Kutubil-‘Ilmiyyah, Beirut, Lebanon, First Edition (1996) 5 Sharḥul-‘Allāmatiz-Zarqānī ‘Alal-Mawāhibil-Ladunniyyah, By Allāmah Shihābuddīn Al-Qusṭalānī, Volume 3, pp. 102-103, Sariyyatul-Qurṭā’i Wa Ḥadīthu Thumāmata, Dārul-Kutubil-‘Ilmiyyah, Beirut, Lebanon, First Edition (1996)