The Battle of Hunayn

With regards to the Battle of Hunayn it is mentioned that another name for this battle was Ghazwah Hawazin as well as the Ghazwah Autas. Hunayn is a valley situated between Mecca and Ta‘if at a distance of 30 miles from Mecca. The Battle of Hunayn took place after the Conquest of Mecca in Shawal, 8 AH. It is mentioned in narrations that when Allah the Almighty enabled the Holy Prophet (sa) to conquer Mecca, the chiefs of Hawazin and Thaqif gathered together and were fearful that the Holy Prophet (sa) would attack them as well.

(‘Ali bin Burhan al-Din al-Halabi, Al-Sirah al-Halabiyyah, Vol. 3, Bab Dhikr Maghaziyah Ghazwat Hunain [Beirut, Lebanon: Dar al-Kutub al-‘Ilmiyyah, 2002], p. 151), (Atlas Sirat Nabawisa, p. 409, Dar al-Salam, Riyad, 1424 AH)

Malik bin Auf Nasri gathered the tribes of Arabia; hence, along with the tribes of Hawazin and Banu Thaqif, the Banu Nasr, Banu Jusham, Sa‘d bin Bakr and a few people from the Banu Hilal joined with them.

(Ibn Hisham, Sirat Ibn Hisham [Beirut, Lebanon: Dar al-Kutub al-’Ilmiyyah, 2001], p. 761)

All of them gathered together at a place called Autas. Autas was the name of a valley near Hunayn.

Malik bin Auf sent his spies to gather information about the Holy Prophet (sa). When the Holy Prophet (sa) learnt that they had formed an alliance, the Holy Prophet (sa) sent Abdullah bin Abi Hadrad Al-Aslami on a reconnaissance mission towards them. After this, the Holy Prophet (sa) decided to march towards Hawazin and for the battle he took weapons on loan from his cousin, Naufal bin Harith, and also from Safwan bin Umayyah. Thus, the Holy Prophet (sa) marched upon the Banu Hawazin with an army of 12,000 men. They reached the valley of Hunayn early morning and entered the valley. The army of the idolaters was already hiding in the valley. They attacked the Muslims all of a sudden and fired arrows with such intensity that the Muslims turned back and scattered as they ran away. Owing to this, only a handful of companions were left around the Holy Prophet (sa), among whom was Hazrat Abu Bakr (ra).

(‘Ali bin Burhan al-Din al-Halabi, Al-Sirah al-Halabiyyah, Vol. 3, Bab Dhikr Maghaziyah Ghazwat Hunain [Beirut, Lebanon: Dar al-Kutub al-‘Ilmiyyah, 2002], pp. 151-154), (Sayyid Fadl al-Rahman, Farhang-e-Sirat [Karachi, Pakistan: Zawwar Academy Publications, 2003], p. 49)

Abu Ishaq narrates, “A person came to Bara and said, ‘You all ran away in the Battle of Hunayn,’ He said, ‘I can testify that the Holy Prophet (sa) did not retreat. However, some impatient ones and those without weapons went towards the tribe of Hawazin; they were expert archers, they released a flurry of arrows, like a swarm of locusts, owing to this they broke rank.’”

(Sahih Muslim, Kitab al-Jihad wa al-Siyar, Bab fi Ghazwat Hunain, Hadith 4616)

In this situation, Hazrat Abu Bakr (ra) and Hazrat Umar (ra) from among the Muhajirin remained steadfast with the Holy Prophet (sa); and from among the family of the Holy Prophet (sa), Hazrat Ali (ra) and Hazrat Abbas bin Abdil Muttalib (ra) remained with the Holy Prophet (sa); similarly, the names of Abu Sufyan bin Harith and his son Rabi‘ah bin Harith, Fadl bin Abbas and Usamah bin Zaid are mentioned as well

(Ibn Hisham, Al-Sirah al-Nabawiyyah, Ghazwat Hunain/Thubat al-Rasul (sa) wa ba’d Ashabih [Beirut, Lebanon: Dar al-Kutub al-‘Ilmiyyah, 2001], p. 764)

Hazrat Abu Qatadah (ra) narrates, “During the Battle of Hunayn, I saw a Muslim fighting against an idolater. I saw another idolater who was discreetly moving towards the Muslim from behind, in order to kill him. I quickly advanced towards the idolater that was moving discreetly towards the Muslim. He raised his hand to strike me, but I struck his hand and severed it. He then grabbed hold of me firmly and squeezed so hard that I was left immobilised. He then released me and loosened his grip, I pushed him away and then killed him. On the other side, the Muslims suffered defeat and ran away, and I was also among them.”

He then further narrates,

“The Muslims then returned and gathered around the Holy Prophet (sa). The Holy Prophet (sa) said, ‘Whoever can provide evidence that he slayed someone [from among the enemy], then he will be entitled to the spoils belonging to that deceased person.’ I stood up so that I could find some evidence about the person I killed, but nobody saw him nor could anyone testify for me, and so I sat back down. I then thought about it again and mentioned the incident about the person I killed to the Holy Prophet (sa); there was a person sitting near the Holy Prophet (sa) who said, ‘I have the weapons of the person that was killed by him.’ The person who took the weapons said to the Holy Prophet (sa) to give something else to me that I would be content with. (i.e. the person who had taken the weapon said to leave the weapons with him and to give Hazrat Abu Qatadah (ra) something else). Hazrat Abu Bakr (ra) was sitting there; he said, ‘This cannot happen at any cost, the Holy Prophet (sa) would not grant something to a coward from among the Quraish and forsake a lion from among the Lions of God, who fought alongside the Messenger (sa) of Allah.’”

Hazrat Abu Qatadah (ra) would say, “The Holy Prophet (sa) stood up and gave me the weapons. With that I then bought a date orchard, and this was my first property that I invested in after accepting Islam.”

*(Sahih al-Bukhari, Kitab al-Maghazi, Bab Qaul Allah Ta‘ala wa Yaum Hunain, Hadith 4322) *