Raji'

Hazrat Khubaib (ra) bin Adiyy was among the delegation involved in the incident of Raji in 4 AH. Hazrat Khubaib (ra) bin Adiyy and Hazrat Zaid (ra) bin Dasna were captured by the idolaters, who took them along with them to Mecca and upon reaching, sold both of the companions. Hazrat Khubaib (ra) bin Adiyy was bought by the sons of Harith bin Aamir, so that they could avenge their father’s death who was killed by Khubaib (ra) on the day of Badr.

According to Ibn Ishaaq, Hujair bin Abu Ihaab Tameemi, who was a confederate of the children of Harith, bought Hazrat Khubaib (ra). Uqbah, the son of Harith, bought him from Abu Ihaab, so that he could avenge his father’s death. It is also reported that Uqbah bin Harith bought Hazrat Khubaib (ra) from the Banu Najjar. According to yet another source Abu Ihaab, Ikramah bin Abu Jahl, Akhnath bin Shuraiq, Ubaidah bin Hakeem, the sons of Umayyah bin Abu Utbah Hazarmi and Safwan bin Umayyah all bought Hazrat Khubaib (ra). These are all the individuals whose fathers were killed during the Battle of Badr. They all bought Hazrat Khubaib (ra) and gave him to Uqbah bin Harith, who then imprisoned him in his home.

(Al-Isti‘ab fi Marifat Al-Sahaba, Vol. 2, pp. 23-25, Khubaib (ra) bin Adiyy, Dar-ul-Kutb Al-Ilmiyyah, Beirut, 2002) (Sirat Khatamun-Nabiyyin, Hazrat Mirza Bashir Ahmad (ra), p. 513)

The following details have been mentioned in Bukhari regarding the incident of Raji:

Hazrat Abu Hurairah (ra) relates that the Holy Prophet (sa) sent a delegation comprising of ten companions to gather some intelligence and appointed Asim (ra) bin Thabit Ansari, who was the maternal grandfather of Asim bin Umar bin Khattab, as the Amir of the delegation. The delegation set off and when they reached Hada‘ah, which is situated between Usfaan and Mecca, someone informed the Banu Lahyan about them, who were part of the Huzail tribe. Upon learning of this news, around two hundred men, who were all archers, set off and began to follow their trail. They pursued them until they reached the place where the delegation had eaten some dates. The delegation of ten people stopped at a location and ate some dates which they brought with them as provisions for the journey from Medina. They ate the dates and threw away the date seeds. The army pursuing them recognised that these dates were from Yathrib, i.e. Medina, and thereafter began to follow their trail.

When Asim (ra) and his companions saw them coming after them, they ascended a hillock for protection. The pursuing army surrounded them and asked them to come down, assuring them that if they surrendered themselves over to them, they would not kill any of them. Asim (ra) bin Thabit, who was the leader of this delegation, said that if he came down from the mountain then that would mean he came under the protection of a disbeliever and he was not willing to do that. Thereafter, he prayed, “O Allah! Inform Your Prophet (sa) of this incident.” The enemy then began to launch arrows and martyred Asim (ra) bin Thabit, along with seven others of his companions.

Upon witnessing this, the other three, placing their trust in them, came down. Among these three was Khubaib (ra) Ansari, Ibn Dasna (ra) and one other person. When they came down, the disbelievers captured them and tied them with the strings of their bows. The third individual among them said that this was their first act of deception and said, “By God, I will not go with you. I find comfort and assurance in the example of those who were martyred before us. I will remain here and so martyr me if you so wish.” They tried to drag him along but he resisted and eventually they martyred him. They then grabbed hold of Khubaib (ra) and ibn Dasna (ra) and took them away to Mecca where they then sold them. This incident took place after the Battle of Badr. Khubaib was bought by Banu Harith bin Aamir bin Naufal bin Abd Manaf. Khubaib (ra) was the one who killed Harith bin Aamir during the Battle of Badr. Khubaib remained as a prisoner with him.

Ibn-e-Shihaab writes, “Ubaidullah bin Ayyadh said to me that the daughter of Harith informed him that once the captors, who had bought Khubaib (ra), decided that they would kill him (i.e. he would be martyred), during that time Khubaib (ra) asked for a razor for his personal use.” This is a very famous incident and is often quoted. The daughter of Harith further states:

“During a moment of inattentiveness, one of my children went to Khubaib (ra) and he sat the child on his lap. Seeing my child sitting on Khubaib’s lap and the razor in his hand, I became petrified to such an extent that Khubaib (ra) realised my fear from my facial expression and said, ‘Do you think that I will kill this child? Do not think this. God-Willing, I shall never commit such an act.’”

The daughter of Harith would often say, “I have never seen a prisoner as good as Khubaib (ra).” She would also say, “By God, on one occasion, I saw a bunch of grapes in the hand of Khubaib (ra) and he was picking grapes one by one and eating them, although there was no sign of grapes in Mecca during those days and Khubaib(ra) was shackled in strong iron chains.” She says, “I believe that these were heavenly provisions which were granted to Khubaib (ra).”

Prior to the Battle of Badr, the Holy Prophet (sa) once sent a delegation under the command of Abdullah bin Jahsh (ra) to enquire after a caravan of the Quraish, and Hazrat Khalid bin Bukair (ra) was also a part of this delegation. He was martyred in the month of Safar [second month in the Islamic calendar] in 4 Hijri at the age of 34 alongside Asim (ra) bin Thaabit and Marsad (ra) bin Abi Marsad Ghanavi, whilst fighting against the ‘Adal and Qarah tribe in the battle of ‘Rajee.

(Usdul Ghaaba, Vol. 1, p. 647, Khalid bin Bukair, Darul Fikr, 2003, Beirut)

In this regard, Ibn Ishaq states that when the members of the ‘Adal and Qarah tribe took the Companions (ra) to Rajee‘ – which is the name of a spring that belonged to the Auzail tribe and located on the outskirts of Hijaz – it was there that they betrayed these Companions. These Companions were deceived and betrayed by those who were taking them to Rajee‘ as they incited the people of the Auzail tribe against them. The Companions at the time were in their camps when they noticed that people were gathering from all sides with their swords drawn. And so, they too bravely stood to engage in battle. The disbelievers then stated, “We swear by God that we will not kill you, but we simply wish to hold you as captives and take you to the people of Mecca and seek recompense from them for your return.” However, Hazrat Marsad (ra) bin Abi Marsad, Hazrat Asim (ra) bin Thaabit and Hazrat Khalid (ra) bin Bukair replied, “We swear by God, we shall not enter into a treaty with the idolaters.” In the end, all three fought until they were martyred.

(Sirat ibn-e-Hisham, pp.591-592, Darul-kutub-ul-Illmiyah, 2003, Beirut)

In one of his couplets regarding these three individuals, Hazrat Hassan bin Thabit stated:

اَلَا لَيْتَنِي فِيْهَا شَهِدْتُ ابْنَ طَارِقٍ

وَ زَيْدًا وَمَا تُغْنِي الْاَمَانِي وَ مَرْثَدَا

فَدَافَعْتُ عَنْ حِبِّي خُبَيْبٍ وَ عَاصِمٍ

وَكَانَ شِفَاءً لَوْ تَدَارَكْتُ خَالِدَا

“Even though one’s longing can be of no avail, but I wish that I could be alongside Ibn Tariq, Zaid and Marsad at the incident of Rajee‘,

I would save my dear friends Khubaib and Asim and if I came across Khalid; he too I would have saved.”

(Usdul Ghaaba, Vol. 1, p.647, Khalid bin Bukair, Darul Fikr, 2003, Beirut)