Understanding Islam — Page 98
DID THE EARLY MUSLIMS LEAD OFFENSIVE RAIDS? 96 It was this series of events which caused Prophet Muhammad sa to migrate to Mad ī nah and even then the Quraish did not stop in their hostile activities. They began to instigate the Mad ī nites and tribes surrounding Mad ī nah against the Muslims. As a result, God gave Muslims the allowance to defend themselves and the first verses regarding Jihad were revealed on 12 Ṣ afar A. H, or 15 August 623 A. D, when a period of approximately one year had elapsed since the arrival of Prophet Muhammad sa in Mad ī nah. After this permission for self-defense, Prophet Muhammad sa undertook a series of expeditions for the protection of Muslims, with various objectives such as intelligence gathering, reconnaissance, signing defense pacts with tribes situated around Mad ī nah, and so on. Any expedition where Prophet Muhammad sa himself led a party of the Muslims is called a Ghazwah and any expedition where he appointed someone else to lead a party for a set purpose is called Sariyyah. The series of events that took place, leading up to the Nakhlah expedition, is as follows: