The battle of Hunayn occurred after the victory of Makkah, in the month of
Shawwal of the eighth year of Hijrah. After the Prophet conquered Makkah and
things settled, most of its people embraced Islam and he set them free. News
came to the Messenger of Allah that the tribe of Hawazin were gathering their
forces to fight him, under the command of Malik bin `Awf An-Nadri, as well as,
the entire tribe of Thaqif, the tribes of Banu Jusham, Banu Sa`d bin Bakr, a few
people of Awza` from Banu Hilal and some people from Bani `Amr bin `Amir and
`Awf bin `Amir. They brought their women, children, sheep and camels along, in
addition to their armed forces and adequate supplies. The Messenger of Allah
marched to meet them with the army that he brought to conquer Makkah, ten
thousand from the Muhajirin, the Ansar and various Arab tribes. Along with them
came the Tulaqa' numbering two thousand men. The Messenger took them along to
meet the enemy. The two armies met in Humayn, a valley between Makkah and
At-Ta'if. The battle started in the early part of the morning, when the Huwazin
forces, who were lying in ambush, descended on the valley when the Muslims
entered. Muslims were suddenly struck by the ambush, the arrows descended on
them and the swords struck them. The Huwazin commander ordered them to descend
and attack the Muslims as one block, and when they did that, the Muslims
retreated in haste, just as Allah described them. The Messenger of Allah
remained firm in his position while riding his mule, Ash-Shahba'. He was leading
his mule towards the enemy, while his uncle Al-`Abbas was holding its right-hand
rope and [his cousin] Abu Sufyan bin Al-Harith bin `Abdul-Muttalib was holding
the left rope. They tried to hold the mule back so it would not run faster
toward the enemy. Meanwhile, the Messenger of Allah was declaring his name aloud
and saying,
«إِلَيَّ عِبَادَ
اللهِ إِلَيَ أَنَا رَسُولُ الله»
(O servants of Allah! Come back to me! I am the Messenger of Allah! He
repeated these words,
«أَنَا النَّبِيُّ
لَاكَذِبْ. أَنَا ابْنُ عَبْدِالْمُطَّلِب»
(I am the Prophet, not lying! I am the son of Abdul-Muttalib!) There remained
between a hundred and eighty Companions with the Prophet . These included Abu
Bakr, `Umar, Al-`Abbas, `Ali, Al-Fadl bin `Abbas, Abu Sufyan bin Al-Harith,
Ayman the son of Umm Ayman and Usamah bin Zayd. There were many other
Companions, may Allah be pleased with them. The Prophet commanded his uncle
Al-`Abbas, whose voice was rather loud, to call at the top of his voice, "O
Companions of the Samurah [tree]'' referring to the Muhajirin and Ansar who gave
their pledge under the tree during the pledge of Ridwan, not to run away and
retreat. He also called, "O Companions of Surat Al-Baqarah.'' Upon hearing that,
those heralded started saying, "Here we are! Here we are!'' Muslims started
returning in the direction of the Messenger of Allah . If the camel of one of
them did not obey him (as the people were rushing to the other direction in
flight) he would wear his shield and descend from his camel and rush to the side
of the Messenger of Allah on foot. When a large crowd gathered around the
Messenger of Allah , he commanded them to fight in sincerity and took a handful
of sand and threw it in the faces of the disbelievers, after supplicating to
Allah,
«أللّهُمَّ أَنْجِزْ
لِي مَا وَعَدْتَنِي»
(O Allah! Fulfill Your promise to me!) Then he threw that handful of sand
which entered the eyes and mouth of all the disbelievers, thus distracting them
from fighting, and they retreated in defeat. The Muslims pursued the enemy,
killing and capturing them. The rest of the Muslim army (returning to battle
gradually) rejoined their positions and found many captured disbelieving
soldiers kept tied before the Messenger of Allah . In the Two Sahihs, it is
recorded that Shu`bah said that Abu Ishaq said that Al-Bara' bin `Azib said to a
man who asked him, "O Abu `Amarah! Did you run away during Hunayn and leave the
Messenger of Allah '' Al-Bara' said, "But the Messenger of Allah did not run
away. Hawazin was a tribe proficient with their arrows. When we met them we
attacked their forces and they ran away in defeat. The Muslims started to worry
about collecting the spoils of war and the Hawazin started shooting arrows at
us, then the Muslims fled. I saw the Messenger of Allah proclaiming, -- while
Abu Sufyan was holding the bridle of his white mule,
«أَنَا النَّبِيُّ
لَاكَذِبْ أَنَا ابْنُ عَبْدِالْمُطَّلِب»
(I am the Prophet, not lying, I am the son of `Abdul- Muttalib!) This shows
the great courage on behalf of the Prophet in the midst of confusion, when his
army ran away and left him behind. Yet, the Messenger remained on his mule,
which is a slow animal, not suitable for fast battle moves or even escape. Yet,
the Messenger of Allah was encouraging his mule to move forward towards the
enemy announcing who he was, so that those among them who did not know who he
was came to know him. May Allah's peace and blessings be on the Messenger until
the Day of Resurrection. This indicates the tremendous trust in Allah and
reliance upon Him, as well as, sure knowledge that He will give him victory,
complete what He has sent him for and give prominence to his religion above all
other religions. Allah said,
[ثُمَّ أَنزَلَ
اللَّهُ سَكِينَتَهُ عَلَى رَسُولِهِ]
(Then Allah did send down His Sakinah on His Messenger), He sent down
tranquillity and reassurance to His Messenger,
[وَعَلَى
الْمُؤْمِنِينَ]
(and on the believers), who remained with him,
[وَأَنزَلَ جُنُوداً
لَّمْ تَرَوْهَا]
(and sent down forces which you saw not, ) this refers to angels. Imam Abu
Ja`far bin Jarir [At-Tabari] said that Al-Qasim narrated to them, that Al-Hasan
bin `Arafah said that Al-Mu`tamir bin Sulayman said from `Awf bin Abi Jamilah
Al-`Arabi who said that he heard `Abdur-Rahman, the freed slave of Ibn Barthan
saying, "A man who participated in Hunayn with the idolators narrated to me,
`When we met the Messenger of Allah and his Companions on the day of Hunayn,
they did not remain in battle more than the time it takes to milk a sheep! When
we defeated them, we pursued them until we ended at the rider of the white mule,
the Messenger of Allah . At that time, men with white handsome faces intercepted
us and said: `Disgraced be the faces! Go back. So we ran away, but they followed
us. That was the end for us.''' Allah said,
[ثُمَّ يَتُوبُ
اللَّهُ مِن بَعْدِ ذَلِكَ عَلَى مَن يَشَآءُ وَاللَّهُ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ ]
(Then after that Allah will accept the repentance of whom He wills. And Allah
is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.) Allah forgave the rest of Huwazin when they
embraced Islam and went to the Prophet , before he arrived at Makkah in the
Ji`ranah area. This occurred twenty days after the battle of Hunayn. The
Messenger gave them the choice between taking those who were prisoner or the war
spoils they lost, and they chose the former. The Prophet released six thousand
prisoners to them, but divided the war spoils between the victors, such as some
of the Tulaqa', so that their hearts would be inclined towards Islam. He gave
each of them a hundred camels, and the same to Malik bin `Awf An-Nasri whom he
appointed chief of his people (Huwazin) as he was before. Malik bin `Awf said a
poem in which he praised the Messenger of Allah for his generosity and
extraordinary courage.
[يأَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ
ءَامَنُواْ إِنَّمَا الْمُشْرِكُونَ نَجَسٌ فَلاَ يَقْرَبُواْ الْمَسْجِدَ
الْحَرَامَ بَعْدَ عَامِهِمْ هَـذَا وَإِنْ خِفْتُمْ عَيْلَةً فَسَوْفَ يُغْنِيكُمُ
اللَّهُ مِن فَضْلِهِ إِن شَآءَ إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَلِيمٌ حَكِيمٌ - قَـتِلُواْ
الَّذِينَ لاَ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللَّهِ وَلاَ بِالْيَوْمِ الاٌّخِرِ وَلاَ
يُحَرِّمُونَ مَا حَرَّمَ اللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُ وَلاَ يَدِينُونَ دِينَ الْحَقِّ
مِنَ الَّذِينَ أُوتُواْ الْكِتَـبَ حَتَّى يُعْطُواْ الْجِزْيَةَ عَن يَدٍ وَهُمْ
صَـغِرُونَ ]
(28. O you who believe! Verily, the Mushrikin are impure. So let them not
come near Al-Masjid Al-Haram after this year; and if you fear poverty, Allah
will enrich you if He wills, out of His bounty. Surely, Allah is All-Knowing,
All-Wise.) (29. Fight against those who believe not in Allah, nor in the Last
Day, nor forbid that which has been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, and
those who acknowledge not the religion of truth among the People of the
Scripture, until they pay the Jizyah with willing submission, and feel
themselves subdued.)