The Life & Character of the Seal of Prophets (sa) - Volume II — Page 102
Seal of the Prophets - Volume II 102 Quraish managed to break through. As such, ten days had not passed since the return of the Holy Prophet sa to Madīnah when a chieftain of Makkah named Kurz bin Jābir Fihrī very cunningly along with a company of the Quraish, suddenly raided a pasture of Madīnah, which was situated only three miles from the city and fled with camels, etc. , belonging to the Muslims. As soon as the Holy Prophet sa received news of this, he appointed Zaid bin Ḥārithah ra as the Amīr in his absence, and set out in his pursuit along with a group of the Companions. The Holy Prophet sa pursued him until he reached Safwān which is an area close to Badr, but he made good his escape. This Ghazwah is also known as Ghazwah Badratul-Ūlā. 1 This raid of Kurz bin Jābir was not a minor Beduin act of plunder, rather, it is definite that he had set out against the Muslims on behalf of the Quraish, with a particular motive. As a matter of fact, is it very likely that he had specifically come with the intention of inflicting injury upon the very person of the Holy Prophet sa , but upon finding the Muslims vigilant, settled upon the robbery of their camels and ran off. This also demonstrates that the Quraish of Makkah had planned to raid Madīnah so as to utterly destroy the Muslims. It should also be remembered that the Muslims had already been given permission for Jihād by the sword prior to this, and in a sense of self- defense they had begun to employ an initial plan of action in this regard as well. However, until now, they had not practically suffered any loss in terms of wealth or lives. However, the raid of Kurz bin Jābir was one which practically inflicted harm upon the Muslims. In other words, even after the acceptance of the challenge of the Quraish, it was the disbelievers who practically initiated battle. Sariyyah of ‘Abdullāh bin Jaḥsh towards Nakhlah Naturally, the sudden attack of Kurz bin Jābir had terrified the Muslims greatly, and since there was a standing threat by the chieftains of Makkah that they would attack Madīnah and utterly destroy the Muslims, the Muslims were severely apprehensive. Upon observing these very threats the Holy Prophet sa decided that the movements of the Quraish should be surveyed from a closer distance, so that all the necessary intelligence with respect to them may be available on time and Madīnah was safeguarded from all kinds 1 As-Sīratun-Nabawiyyah, By Abū Muḥammad ‘Abdul-Mālik bin Hishām, p. 412, Ghazwatu Ṣafwān Wa Hiya Ghazwatu Badril-Ūlā, Dārul-Kutubil-‘Ilmiyyah, Beirut, Lebanon, First Edition (2001)