Two months of peace followed the hostilities of Uhud, however, the Muslims were rightfully on their guard against a surprise attack from the Koraysh and in particular their allies from the not−so−far away tribes in the Najd. When news reached Medina that the tribe of Asad, Khuzaymah's son were planning an attack, the time had come to let it be known that even though matters had not gone as well for the Muslims at Uhud as they had at Badr, they were able to fight for their belief and right to exist. With this intent the Prophet (sa) ordered a cavalry of a hundred and fifty well−armed men to ride out under the command of Abu Salamah to engage the enemy in a surprise attack. When the time came, Abu Salamah lead the attack quickly and skillfully with the result that there was very little loss of life on either side. The unbelievers were routed and fled whilst Abu Salamah and his men returned to Medina with a large herd of camels and three herdsmen as spoils of war. The attack had further merits, not only had Medina been protected from the planned attack but their victory sent a clear message to the unbelievers that they were still very capable of defending themselves.
ABDULLAH, CHIEF OF THE TRIBE OF LEHYAN
Abdullah was the chief of the tribe of Lehyan, a branch of the Hudayl. He was a very evil man well known for his hatred of the Prophet (sa) and had succeeded to incite his tribe to take up arms against him. When news reached Medina of Abdullah's action, the Prophet (sa), rather than sending an army against the entire tribe, sent Abdullah, from the tribe of Khazraj to put an end to his name−sake. Abdullah had never seen the chieftain and asked the Prophet (sa) how he might recognize him whereupon the Prophet (sa) informed him, "When you see him, he will remind you of satan, and you will start to shudder." Upon reaching his destination Abdullah had no difficulty identifying him, for sure enough right before him stood the most evil looking man he had ever seen and he began to shudder. Without a second thought Abdullah put and end to the chieftain and escaped unharmed to Medina. Now that their chieftain was dead the majority of the tribe had little interest left in attacking the Muslims, however, the matter of revenge remained upon the mind of several tribal members.
REVENGE
Sometime after the hostilities at Uhud, the Prophet (sa) sent twelve of his companions out on reconnaissance under the command of Asim, Thabit's son. When the party arrived at Hudat, which lies between Usfan and Mecca, they were spotted and their whereabouts relayed to the tribe of Lehyan who set out in hot pursuit with approximately one hundred archers against the small band of men. Soon after Asim and his companions noticed clouds of dust rising high in the air coming directly toward them. Asim realized that he and his companions were greatly outnumbered so he ordered them to climb to higher ground where they had a better chance to defend themselves. When the enemy arrived they spread themselves out and surrounded Asim and his companions. As Asim and his companions prepared to defend themselves, one of the unbelievers called out to them saying, "If you come down and surrender to us, your lives will be spared!" Asim did not trust them and refused saying, "We will not leave our positions to accept the promise of an unbeliever." Then he supplicated to Allah saying, "O Allah, convey our situation to Your Messenger." Seconds after, volleys of arrows flew through the air and Asim, together with all but three of his companions were martyred. When the survivors, Khubaib, Zayd, the son of Dathanah and another saw the condition of the rest of their companions they agreed to surrender with the promise that their lives would be spared, and went down to surrender.
THE THREE PRISONERS
As soon as the companions reached the bottom of the hill the unbelievers overpowered them, took the strings from their bows and bound them with it. The third companion spoke saying, "This is the first violation of your promise. By Allah, I will not accompany you and will follow the example of my other companions!" The unbelievers pulled him and tried to drag him along with them but he resisted with all his might so they martyred him and took Khubaib and Zayd back with them to Mecca to be sold. Khubaib had killed Harith, Amir's son during the encounter at Badr, so when his relatives found out that he had been captured they bought him and bound him tightly in chains, and called for a family meeting to decide what they were gong to do with him. All were in agreement that they should revenge themselves by killing him, however, one of the sacred months was upon them, a time when spilling blood was forbidden, and so Harith's relatives had to wait until the passing of the sacred period to resolve the matter. Zayd had been sold to Safwan and he too decided that he would not spare his life, but like Harith's relatives he too was bound by adherence to the sacred months.
THE MERCY OF KHUBAIB
During his imprisonment Khubaib, who had been separated from Zayd, borrowed a knife from one of Harith's daughter. Shortly afterwards her young son wandered up to Khubaib and sat on his lap whilst the knife still remained in his hand. When the child's mother saw what had happened she was terrified. Khubaib, realized her great fear and asked, "Are you afraid that I would kill him? I am not capable of doing such a thing," and he sent the youngster back to his mother, for he had learned from our beloved Prophet’s example that such an action was not only unjust and dishonorable, but more importantly forbidden, and there was no place for such a despicable action in Islam. From that time onward, whenever Khubaib was mentioned, the boy's mother always spoke highly of him and would often remark how she had seen Khubaib eating fresh grapes even though they were not in season and would comment, "I am sure that it was Allah who sent Khubaib food!" And these two important factors made a great impression upon her. When the time came for Khubaib and Zayd to be martyred they were taken separately to a place outside Mecca called Tan'im. When they met, they greeted each other with peace and exhorted each other to be patient. Khubaib was the first to be martyred, but before his martyrdom he requested that he be permitted to offer two units of prayer. The unbelievers agreed and released him from his chains whereupon he offered his prayer. After its completion he turned to his captors sayings, "I would have made my prayer longer if I had not thought that you might think I was afraid of death." Then he supplicated, "O Allah, count them and kill them one by one, and do not spare any of them."
THE MARTYRDOM OF KHUBAIB AND ZAYD
Khubaib was bound to a stake and the unbelievers told him that they would spare his life if he recanted, but he refused saying, "If you were to offer me all the things in the world I would still refuse." The unbelievers tried to persuade Khubaib still further and asked, "Don't you wish that it was Muhammad in your place and that you were sitting at home!" With deep affection for the Prophet (sa), Khubaib replied, "No, I would not wish that Muhammad (sa) would even be pricked by a thorn and that I should sit at home." The unbelievers continued with their attempt to make him recant but their words fell upon deaf ears and a strong, believing heart. Khubaib wished that he could be martyred facing the direction of his beloved Ka'ba, but the unbelievers refused so he said, "If I am killed as a Muslim, I do not care on which side I fall. My death is in the Cause of Allah, and if He wills, He will bless the severed portions of my limbs." Just before they began to martyr him, he offered a final supplication saying, "O Allah, there is no man present who will take my greetings of peace to Your Messenger (sa), so convey my greetings of peace to him for me." In the crowd that had gathered there were about forty young boys whose fathers had been killed at Badr. As the Koraysh prepared to take their revenge they gave each of the boys a spear saying, "This is the one that killed your father." One by one the boys wounded Khubaib with the spears but their strength was not enough to kill him and he lingered on for an hour until the fatal wound was delivered. During his last hour he repeated over and over again the words, "There is no god except Allah, Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah." Khubaib was finally martyred when an older man placed his hand over that of one of the boys and plunged his spear forceful into him, and so Khubaib joined Asim and his companions. Khubaib was the first Muslim to offer two units of prayer before martyrdom. As martyrdom fell upon Khubaib, the Prophet (sa) was sitting with his companions in Medina. Unseen by his companions, Angel Gabriel brought Khubaib's greeting of peace to him whereupon the Prophet (sa) replied, "And upon him be the peace and mercy of Allah," then the Prophet (sa) with sadness in his voice informed his companions that Khubaib had been martyred. Zayd's martyrdom followed soon after Khubaib's, he to offered two units of prayer and was martyred in the same manner of Khubaib.
THE SWARM OF BEES
As for Asim who had been martyred before the onset of the forbidden months, he had killed a Koraysh chieftain at Badr. When the news reached Mecca that he lay dead on the hillside, a party set off to bring back a recognizable portion of his body to satisfy their lust for revenge. However, when the unbelievers reached the hill they found that Allah had sent a swarm of bees to protect his body and so they were unable to approach him and returned to Mecca without mutilating him.
CHAPTER 76 LADY ZAYNAB, DAUGHTER OF KHUZAYMAH
At the beginning of the hostilities at Badr, Ubayda had been martyred by Utba in single combat and left behind a wife who was much younger than himself by the name of Zaynab. Zaynab was the daughter of Khuzaymah from the Bedouin tribe of Amir and well known for her generosity. She concerned herself with the welfare of the poor and would go out of her way to help them whenever she could. It was on account of her caring nature that even before she embraced Islam she was endearingly referred to as "Mother of the Poor." A year had passed since Ubayda had been martyred and Zaynab had not remarried. When the Prophet (sa) proposed marriage to her she accepted and they were married in the 3rd year after the migration and a room was added onto the outside of the Mosque for her. Through his marriage a closer relationship between the Muslims and her tribe was established.
THE VISIT OF ABU BARA
Shortly after their marriage they received a visit from Abu Bara, the elderly chieftain of Lady Zaynab's tribe. The Prophet (sa) welcome him and spoke to him of Islam, and his heart inclined toward it, although he was not as yet prepared to make a commitment. Abu Bara recognized the high principals of Islam, and its mortality and knew its teachings would benefit his tribe so he asked the Prophet (sa) to send some of his companions to them so that they might learn. The Prophet (sa) agreed to the request but at the same time expressed his concern for the safety of his companions journey, for Abu Bara's tribe lay beyond the land belonging to the hostile tribes of Sulaym and Ghatafan, and it was this that caused his concern. After Abu Bara's assurance that the companions would travel in safety under his protection, the Prophet (sa) agreed and appointed Mundhir, Amir's son from the tribe of Khazrah to lead the delegation. As a matter of precaution, the Prophet (sa) sent one of his companions with a letter on in advance to Abu Bara's tribe informing them of their chieftain's request for the presence of the delegation. Forty companions, known for their piety and knowledge, were chosen and set off across the desert on their mission.
THE TREACHERY OF ABU BARA'S NEPHEW
During Abu Bara's absence, his ambitious nephew, who longed for tribal leadership, courted his fellow tribesmen in an attempt to overthrow their aging chieftain. When the Prophet's companion arrived at their village, Abu Bara's nephew set upon him and martyred him. Then he called upon the rest of the tribe to do the same to the companions when they arrived. The majority of the tribe remained loyal to Abu Bara and when his nephew realized they were not going to follow his orders he sent a message to the tribe of Sulaym informing them that the Prophet's companions would soon journey across their land. The tribe of Sulaym, always anxious to take revenge, lost not time and set off in search of the unsuspecting companions.
THE ATTACK OF THE TRIBE OF SULAYM
At the well of Maunah, the companions stopped to rest whilst Harith, As−Simmah's son and Amr from the tribe of Kinanah went off to tend to the camels. It was during this time that tribesmen from the Sulaym caught up with them and relentlessly attacked until they lay martyred by the well. No sooner had the camels been settled and left to graze Harith and Amr made their way back to the well. As they approached, to their great distress, they noticed birds of prey circling above the well and fear for their companions engulfed their hearts. They approached the well with caution and to their great distress their fear was realized as their eyes gazed upon their martyred companions laying where they had fallen whilst the Sulaym tribesmen stood around talking to one another. Amr thought it was best to return to Medina with the news, but Harith told him, "I cannot hold myself back from fighting here where Mundhir was martyred," whereupon he charged among the Sulaym and killed two of them. Amr joined in the fight and both were taken prisoner. Harith's captors asked him what he thought they should do with him, to which he replied, "Take me to the body of Mundhir, give me a weapon and let me fight." Strange as it may seem, his captors agreed and Harith killed two more of their tribesmen before he himself was martyred.
THE MISSING MARTYR
As for Amr, the Sulaym decided to release him and let him live, but before doing so they asked him to tell them the names of those whom they had killed. As Amr walked among his martyred companions he informed them of both their name and lineage, then someone asked if any were missing and Amr replied, "I did not find Amir, Fuhayrah's son, the freed man of Abu Bakr." Whereupon the tribesman inquired what kind of position Amir had held amongst them. Amr replied, "He was among the best of us, one of the Prophet's earlier companions." Upon hearing this the tribesman turned to Amr and said, "Shall I tell you what happened to him?" then called for a fellow tribesman named Jabar. Jabar had been the one to martyr Amir and related how he had thrust his spear into Amir's back with such force that it had gone straight through his chest, and that with his last breath Amir had cried out, "By Allah, I have triumphed!" Jabar told Amr that he was surprised to hear such words from a dying man, and as he removed his spear from his chest, he witnessed Amir's body being lifted gently into the air and taken away by unseen hands high into the sky until it was no longer visible. Amr explained that by "triumph" Amir had referred to his attainment of Paradise. When Jabar heard this he embraced Islam. Just before Amr returned to Medina he was told that his aggressors had learned of their presence from one of Abu Bara's tribe. Amr was grieved by what appeared to be a treacherous act of the tribe and with a heavy heart set off for Medina. As he journeyed, Amr came across two men from Abu Bara's tribe. Amr was unaware of the attempt to overthrow Abu Bara and that most of his fellow tribesmen had distanced themselves from the treachery of his nephew. Supposing the tribesmen were among those responsible for the loss of his companions, Amr attacked and killed both of them. It was a regrettable incident, both men were in fact loyal to Abu Bara. When the Prophet (sa) learned of the martyrdom of his companions and how Amir had been taken away, he told those around him that it was the angels that had taken him to Illiyyun which is among the highest of residences in Paradise. As for the dead tribesmen, the Prophet (sa) was deeply saddened and justly ordered blood−money to be paid to their next of kin in restitution.
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