Hunayn

Part oneAn ambush at dawn

The conquest of Makkah did not end the opposition in the area. East of the city, the tribes of Hawazin and Thaqif gathered under a leader called Malik ibn Awf, who later accepted Islam (may Allah be pleased with him). They feared that the Muslims would turn on them next, and they decided to strike first. In a custom of the time, they brought their families and their herds with them, to give every man a reason not to run away. An old and experienced warrior in their camp, Duraid ibn as-Simmah, objected that nothing would stop a defeated army from running, and that the women and cattle would only be lost. Malik did not listen.

The Prophet ﷺ left Makkah with the ten thousand who had come from Madinah and two thousand new Makkan Muslims, about twelve thousand in all. It was the largest Muslim army so far. Some of the men said that they could not be beaten for lack of numbers. The Quran later spoke about that feeling.

From the Quran

لَقَدْ نَصَرَكُمُ ٱللَّهُ فِى مَوَاطِنَ كَثِيرَةٍ ۙ وَيَوْمَ حُنَيْنٍ ۙ إِذْ أَعْجَبَتْكُمْ كَثْرَتُكُمْ فَلَمْ تُغْنِ عَنكُمْ شَيْـًٔا وَضَاقَتْ عَلَيْكُمُ ٱلْأَرْضُ بِمَا رَحُبَتْ ثُمَّ وَلَّيْتُم مُّدْبِرِينَ ۝٢٥ ثُمَّ أَنزَلَ ٱللَّهُ سَكِينَتَهُۥ عَلَىٰ رَسُولِهِۦ وَعَلَى ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَأَنزَلَ جُنُودًا لَّمْ تَرَوْهَا وَعَذَّبَ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ ۚ وَذَٰلِكَ جَزَآءُ ٱلْكَـٰفِرِينَ ۝٢٦

²⁵Indeed Allah has given you ˹believers˺ victory on many battlefields, even at the Battle of Ḥunain when you took pride in your great numbers, but they proved of no advantage to you. The earth, despite its vastness, seemed to close in on you, then you turned back in retreat. ²⁶Then Allah sent down His reassurance upon His Messenger and the believers, and sent down forces you could not see, and punished those who disbelieved. Such was the reward of the disbelievers.

At dawn the army entered the valley of Hunayn, a narrow gorge with steep sides. Malik's men had already hidden in the rocks on both slopes. As the Muslims came down, arrows poured from the heights and the enemy charged. The front ranks were thrown into confusion and the army scattered. Many in it had only just come to Islam in Makkah, and the old Companions were caught in the same rush.

The Prophet ﷺ did not turn back. He stayed in the middle of the valley on his white mule with a small group of Companions around him, among them his uncle Al-Abbas and his cousin Abu Sufyan ibn al-Harith (may Allah be pleased with them). He called out his name and his descent, so that the men would know where he stood. He told Al-Abbas, who had a loud voice, to call the Ansar and the Muhajirun. Al-Abbas called out to the people of the pledge under the tree.

Part twoThe turn of the day

When they heard the call, the men turned around. Some had to force their camels back by pulling the reins, and others dropped their mounts and went on foot. They came in small groups, and then in larger ones, and before long a solid line stood around the Prophet ﷺ. The Prophet ﷺ took a handful of dust, threw it toward the enemy, and the tide of the battle turned. By the end of the day the enemy had broken and fled, leaving their families and their herds behind them. The Quran describes how Allah sent down His calm upon the Prophet ﷺ and the believers, and sent forces they could not see.

Some of the enemy ran for the fortress town of Ta'if. Others gathered at a place called Awtas and were broken there. The Prophet ﷺ followed the retreating men to Ta'if, and the Muslims besieged the town for a couple of weeks. It was a strong place, and the siege achieved little. The Prophet ﷺ lifted it. Some of the Companions urged him to curse the people of Ta'if. He raised his hands and prayed that Allah would guide them. A year later they would come to him themselves.

The spoils of Hunayn were huge. The early historians give about six thousand captives, twenty-four thousand camels, more than forty thousand sheep and four thousand ounces of silver. They were collected at Ji'ranah, near Makkah. The Prophet ﷺ waited many days for the defeated tribes to come to him, and when none came, he shared out the spoils. He gave very generously to the Quraysh leaders and the new converts, among them Abu Sufyan and Safwan ibn Umayyah, to win their hearts, and he gave smaller shares to the Ansar, whose faith needed no such help.

Some of the young men among the Ansar were hurt by this and began to talk. A leader of the Ansar, Sa'd ibn Ubadah (may Allah be pleased with him), told the Prophet ﷺ about it. The Prophet ﷺ gathered the Ansar in a separate place and spoke to them alone. He reminded them how they had once been divided and how Allah had joined their hearts. He said that others went home with sheep and camels, and they would go home with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ among them. The Ansar wept until their beards were wet, and they said they were content.

Not every complaint was so gentle. As the Prophet ﷺ was sharing out the spoils, a man named Dhul-Khuwaysirah told him to his face to be just. The Prophet ﷺ answered: who would be just, if he was not? Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) asked permission to kill the man. The Prophet ﷺ refused, so that people would not say that Muhammad ﷺ killed his own companions, and he warned that from this man's kind would come people who recite the Quran without it going past their throats.

From the hadith

Narrated `Abdullah bin Zaid bin `Asim:

When Allah gave to His Apostle the war booty on the day of Hunain, he distributed that booty amongst those whose hearts have been (recently) reconciled (to Islam), but did not give anything to the Ansar. So they seemed to have felt angry and sad as they did not get the same as other people had got. The Prophet (ﷺ) then delivered a sermon before them, saying, "O, the assembly of Ansar! Didn't I find you astray, and then Allah guided you on the Right Path through me? You were divided into groups, and Allah brought you together through me; you were poor and Allah made you rich through me." Whatever the Prophet (ﷺ) said , they (i.e. the Ansar) said, "Allah and his Apostle have more favours to do." The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "What stops you from answering the Messenger of Allah?" But whatever he said to them, they replied, "Allah and His Apostle have more favours to do." The Prophet (ﷺ) then said, "If you wish you could say: 'You came to us in such-and-such state (at Medina).' Wouldn't you be willing to see the people go away with sheep and camels while you go with the Prophet (ﷺ) to your homes? But for the migration, I would have been one of the Ansar, and if the people took their way through a valley or mountain pass, I would select the valley or mountain pass of the Ansar. The Ansar are Shiar (i.e. those clothes which are in direct contact with the body and worn inside the other garments), and the people are Dithar (i.e. those clothes which are not in direct contact with the body and are worn over other garments). No doubt, you will see other people favoured over you, so you should be patient till you meet me at the Tank (of Kauthar).

Not long afterwards a delegation from Hawazin arrived, having accepted Islam, and asked for their families and goods back. The Prophet ﷺ told them to choose between the captives and the property. They chose their families, and he returned the captives, asking his Companions to agree. Most of them did so willingly. From Ji'ranah the Prophet ﷺ then made umrah and returned to Madinah.

The Prophet ﷺ did not turn back.

WatchThe lecture for this chapter

Lecture Sapience InstituteIntellectual Seerah, Part 20: Battle of Hunayn (opens on YouTube)

The mapWhere it happened

• Makkah
• Hunayn
• Awtas
• Ta'if
• Ji'ranah

This map is a simple sketch to help you picture where events took place. Positions, distances and borders are approximate, so please use it for reference only, not as an accurate map.

SourcesSources for this chapter