The Life & Character of the Seal of Prophets (sa) – Volume III — Page 74
Seal of the Prophets - Volume III 74 they fled from the field of battle, and they imprisoned many men. Salmah ra narrates that among the group of people that fled was a party of women and children, who were quickly moving towards a nearby mountain. He began to shoot arrows between the mountain and them, upon which this party became frightened and stopped and they imprisoned them. Among these prisoners was an elderly lady who had covered herself with a mantle of red skin. She also had her beautiful daughter with her. He surrounded these people and brought them before Ḥaḍrat Abū Bakr ra , who entrusted this girl to his guardianship. When they later reached Madīnah, the Holy Prophet sa took this girl from him and sent her to Makkah, and in lieu he sought the freedom of a few Muslims prisoners who had been detained by the people of Makkah. 1 False Occurrence of the Murder of Ummi Qirfah In place of the above-mentioned Sariyyah of Ḥaḍrat Abū Bakr ra , Ibni Sa‘d has mentioned a Sariyyah wherein Zaid bin Ḥārithah ra was the commander. In other words, Ibni Sa‘d mentions Zaid bin Ḥārithah as the commander of this Sariyyah instead of Ḥaḍrat Abū Bakr ra. Moreover, differing in details as well, he writes that this expedition was to discipline the Banū Fazārah, who resided near the Wādi’ul-Qurā’ and who had attacked a trade caravan of the Muslims, stealing all of its wealth and goods. The driving force behind this mischievous group was an old lady, named Ummi Qirfah, who was a staunch enemy of Islām. When this lady was captured, a man named Qais from the party of Zaid killed her. Moreover, Ibni Sa‘d describes the story of this murder such as both of her feet were tied to two different camels and then these two camels were driven in opposing directions, due to which this lady was literally torn in two pieces. After this, her daughter was entrusted to Salmah bin Akwa‘ ra. 2 It is this story which to some extent, has also been mentioned by Ibni Isḥāq with brevity, abridgment and variation. 3 On the basis of this narration, Sir William Muir, who is accustomed to providing more details than most European historians, very enthusiastically 1 Sharḥul-‘Allāmatiz-Zarqānī ‘Alal-Mawāhibil-Ladunniyyah, By Allāmah Shihābuddīn Al-Qusṭalānī, Volume 3, p. 140, Sariyyatu Dūmatil-Jandal , Dārul-Kutubil-‘Ilmiyyah, Beirut, Lebanon, First Edition (1996) 2 Aṭ-Ṭabaqātul-Kubrā, By Muḥammad bin Sa‘d, Volume 2, pp. 294-295, Sariyyatu ‘Abdir-Raḥmān- ibni ‘Aufin Ilā Dūmatil-Jandal, Dāru Iḥyā’it-Turāthil-‘Arabī, Beirut, Lebanon, First Edition (1996) 3 As-Sīratun-Nabawiyyah, By Abū Muḥammad ‘Abdul-Mālik bin Hishām, pp. 875-876, Ghazwatu Zaid-ibni Ḥārithata Banī Fazārata Wa Muṣābu Ummi Qirfah , Dārul-Kutubil-‘Ilmiyyah, Beirut, Lebanon, First Edition (2001)