Al-Bukhārī said: This is the Expedition of Muraysīʿ. Muḥammad b. Isḥāq stated that this expedition took place in the sixth year after the Hijra. Mūsā b. ʿUqba, however, said it occurred in the fourth year after the Hijra. Nuʿmān b. Rashīd narrated from al-Zuhrī: "The incident of Ifk (the Slander) occurred during the Expedition of Muraysīʿ."
Al-Bukhārī, narrating from the maghāzī of Mūsā b. ʿUqba, reported that this expedition took place in the fourth year after the Hijra. Furthermore, according to al-Bukhārī’s transmission from Mūsā b. ʿUqba and ʿUrwa, this expedition was conducted in the month of Shaʿbān of the fifth year after the Hijra.
Al-Wāqidī said: This expedition took place two nights after the beginning of Shaʿbān in the fifth year after the Hijra. About 700 of the Companions (ṣaḥāba) of the Messenger of God (peace be upon him) participated in this expedition.
Muḥammad b. Isḥāq b. Yasār, after narrating the Expedition of Dhī Qarad, said: The Messenger of God (peace be upon him) spent part of the month of Jumādā al-Ākhira and the month of Rajab in Medina. Then, in Shaʿbān of the sixth year after the Hijra, he fought against Banu Mustaliq from the tribe of Khuzaʿa.
Ibn Hishām said: The Messenger of God (peace be upon him) appointed Abū Dharr al-Ghifārī over Medina. In another narration, the appointed person was Numayla b. ʿAbd Allāh al-Laythī.
Ibn Isḥāq, through the route of ʿĀṣim b. ʿUmar b. Qatāda, narrated from Muḥammad b. Yaḥyā b. Ḥibbān: The Messenger of God (peace be upon him) received the following news:
"Banu Mustaliq are gathering against you, and their commander is Ḥārith b. Abī Ḍirār."
This is the father of Juwayriya bint al-Ḥārith, the wife of the Messenger of God (peace be upon him). After this expedition, the Messenger of God (peace be upon him) married Juwayriya. Upon hearing this news, he set out against them. He encountered them at a water source called Muraysīʿ, which belonged to them, from the direction of the coast of Qudayd. The two sides clashed. Allah defeated Banu Mustaliq, some of them were killed, and the Messenger of God took their children, women, and property as spoils of war. Allah granted them to him.
Al-Wāqidī said: "The Messenger of God (peace be upon him) set out for Banu Mustaliq two nights after the beginning of Shaʿbān in the fifth year after the Hijra, accompanied by 700 of his Companions. They were allies of the Banu Mudlij tribe. Upon arrival, he gave the banner of the Muhājirūn to Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq. It is also said he gave it to ʿAmmār b. Yāsir. The banner of the Anṣār was given to Saʿd b. ʿUbāda. Then he ordered ʿUmar b. al-Khaṭṭāb to call out to them: 'Say: Lā ilāha illā Allah (There is no deity but Allah) and you will secure your lives and property.' But they did not respond to this call and began shooting arrows at the Muslims. Then the Messenger of God ordered the Muslims to attack together. Not a single man from the Banu Mustaliq survived; ten of them were killed, and the rest were taken captive. Only one Muslim was killed."
According to the authentic collections of al-Bukhārī and Muslim, ʿAbd Allāh b. ʿAwn said: "Before the battle, I wrote to Nāfiʿ to ask about the ruling on supplication (dua) before fighting. He replied: The Messenger of God (peace be upon him) attacked the Banu Mustaliq when they had brought their livestock to water. During the attack, their fighters were killed and their women and children were taken captive. I believe that on that day Juwayriya bint al-Ḥārith was captured. ʿAbd Allāh b. ʿUmar informed me of this, as he was among the Muslim army."
Ibn Isḥāq said: On that day, one Muslim was killed. His name was Hishām b. Subāba. He was killed by a man from the Anṣār by mistake, thinking he was an enemy.
According to Ibn Isḥāq, Hishām b. Subāba’s brother, Mikyās b. Subāba, openly declared his Islam and came from Mecca to Medina, seeking the blood money (diyya) for his brother, since he had been killed by mistake. The Messenger of God paid him the blood money. After staying in Medina for a short time, Mikyās killed the Anṣārī man who had killed his brother, then apostatized and returned to Mecca. He recited the following poem on this matter:
"In a pit in the ground, propped up, with the blood of his neck veins staining his two garments, death has soothed my heart and extinguished my fire.
Before his killing, the sorrows and griefs of the soul settled within me and prevented me from lying on the softness of beds.
I sought vengeance for him and attained it, and I was the first to return to the idols.
I took my revenge on Fihr through him, and I placed his blood money upon the noble men of Banu Najjār, the lords of fortresses."
I say: For this reason, Mikyās was one of the four people whose blood was declared lawful by the Messenger of God on the day of the conquest of Mecca, even if they were found clinging to the covering of the Kaʿba.
Ibn Isḥāq said: "At one point, the Messenger of God (peace be upon him) was at this water. A group of people came to draw water. ʿUmar b. al-Khaṭṭāb had with him a hired man from Banu Ghifār named Jahjāh b. Masʿūd, who was watering ʿUmar’s horse. Jahjāh and Sinān b. Wabar al-Juhanī, an ally of Banu ʿAwf b. al-Khazraj, jostled each other over the water and quarreled. Al-Juhanī called out:
– O people of the Anṣār! Jahjāh then shouted:
– O people of the Muhājirūn!
At this, ʿAbd Allāh b. Ubayy b. Salūl became angry. A group from his people was with him, including Zayd b. Arqam, who was a young boy. ʿAbd Allāh said:
– Are these Muhājirūn acting like this? They have ruled over us, boasted of their lineage against us, and have multiplied in our land, taking pride in their numbers. By God, the situation between us and the trousered men of Quraysh is like the saying of the ancients: 'Feed your dog and it will eat you!' By God, if we return to Medina, the more honorable among us will surely expel the more humble from it."
He then turned to his people and said:
– This is your own doing. You settled them in your lands and shared your wealth with them. By God, if you withhold what is in your hands from them, they will surely leave for another place."
Zayd b. Arqam heard these words and reported them to the Messenger of God (peace be upon him). This occurred as the Prophet was leaving the battlefield. When Zayd conveyed the news, ʿUmar was present and said to the Messenger of God:
– Command ʿAbbād b. Bishr to kill him. The Messenger of God replied:
– How could that be, O ʿUmar? Would not the people say that Muḥammad is killing his own Companions? No, we will not do that. But announce to the people that we are setting out.
This happened at a time when the Messenger of God would never normally travel. Nevertheless, the people set out.
When ʿAbd Allāh b. Ubayy b. Salūl learned that Zayd b. Arqam had reported his words to the Messenger of God, he came to the Prophet and swore by God that he had not said what Zayd reported. He was a prominent man among his people. The Anṣār who were present said:
– O Messenger of God! The boy (Zayd) may have erred in his report, or this man may not have firmly grasped what was said.
They said this to intercede for ʿAbd Allāh b. Ubayy and to defend him.
When the Messenger of God (peace be upon him) kept his opinion to himself and continued walking, Usayd b. Ḥuḍayr approached him, greeted him with the greeting specific to prophethood, and said:
– O Prophet of Allah! By God, you have set out at a time when you have never traveled before.
The Messenger of God (peace be upon him) replied:
– Have you not heard what your companion said?
– O Messenger of God, which companion?
– ʿAbd Allāh b. Ubayy...
– What did he say?
– He said: If we return to Medina, the more honorable among us will surely expel the more humble from it.
– Then, O Messenger of God, by God, if you wish, you can expel him from there. By God, he is the humiliated one, and you are the honored one. O Messenger of God, show him kindness. By God, when Allah sent you to us, his people were stringing together precious stones of diamond and ruby to make him a crown, to place on his head. He knows that you have taken authority and leadership from him.
The Messenger of God (peace be upon him) made the people march until evening that day, and continued through the night, and again the next morning until the sun became hot. Then he halted, and the people, exhausted, lay down and slept. The Messenger of God did this to occupy them with fatigue and make them forget the incident of ʿAbd Allāh b. Ubayy. Then he set out again, taking the route of Ḥijāz, and stopped at a water source called Bakʿa, just above Nakīʿ. While he was traveling, a strong wind blew, causing distress to the Companions. They became afraid. The Messenger of God said:
– Do not be afraid; this wind is blowing only because of the death of a great one among the disbelievers.
When they reached Medina, they found Rifāʿa b. Zayd b. Tābūt had died. He was one of the leaders of the Jews of Banu Qaynuqāʿ and a refuge for the hypocrites. He had died on that stormy day."
Mūsā b. ʿUqba and al-Wāqidī narrated similarly.
Muslim narrated a similar story from Jābir, though he did not mention the name of the hypocrite who died. Jābir said: "While the Prophet (peace be upon him) was on an expedition, a strong wind blew. He said: 'This is blowing because of the death of a hypocrite.' When we reached Medina, we found that one of the leaders of the hypocrites had died."
The surah in which Allah mentions the hypocrites was revealed concerning Ibn Ubayy and those like him. When it was revealed, the Messenger of God took Zayd b. Arqam by the ear and said: This is the one who fulfilled his duty to Allah with his ear.
I say: We have explained the tafsir (Qur'anic exegesis) of these verses in detail in our own tafsir, so there is no need to repeat it here. We have also listed the chains of transmission for this hadith from Zayd b. Arqam. Praise and gratitude are due to Allah, and success is from Him.
Ibn Isḥāq, through ʿĀṣim b. ʿUmar b. Qatāda, narrated that ʿAbd Allāh b. ʿAbd Allāh b. Ubayy b. Salūl came to the Messenger of God (peace be upon him) and said:
– O Messenger of God! I have heard that you intend to kill my father, ʿAbd Allāh b. Ubayy, because of something you heard from him. If this must be done, then command me and I will bring you his head. By God, the people of Khazraj know that there is no one among them who treats his father better than I do. I fear that if you command someone else to kill him, I might kill that person before he can walk freely among the people, and thus I would kill a believer because of a disbelieving father, and so enter Hell.
The Messenger of God (peace be upon him) replied:
– No, rather we will treat him well and be good companions to him as long as he is with us.
After that, whenever he caused an incident, those who rebuked and held him to account were first and foremost his own people. When the Messenger of God informed ʿUmar b. al-Khaṭṭāb of this, he said:
– O ʿUmar, what do you think of this? By God, if I had killed him when you told me to, there would have been an uproar. But if I were to command his killing today, he would surely be killed. ʿUmar said:
– By God, now I realize that there is greater blessing in the Messenger of God’s actions than in mine.
Ikrima, Ibn Zayd, and others narrated that ʿAbd Allāh, the son of ʿAbd Allāh b. Ubayy b. Salūl, waited for his father at the entrance to Medina. He stood before him and said:
– Stop! By God, you will not enter Medina until the Messenger of God (peace be upon him) gives permission.
When the Messenger of God arrived, he requested permission for his father to enter, and the Prophet granted it, so he allowed his father to enter Medina.
Ibn Isḥāq said: On that day, some men from Banu Mustaliq were killed. ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib killed Mālik and his son from among them.
Ibn Hishām said: "On that day, the Muslims’ password was: 'O Manṣūr, kill, kill.'"
Ibn Isḥāq said: The Messenger of God (peace be upon him) took many captives from Banu Mustaliq that day and distributed them among the Muslims.
Al-Bukhārī, through the channel of Rutayba b. Saʿīd, narrated from Ibn Muḥayriz:
"I entered the mosque and saw Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī. I sat with him and asked him about the ruling of ʿazl (withdrawal during intercourse). Abū Saʿīd replied:
– We went on the expedition of Banu Mustaliq with the Messenger of God (peace be upon him). We captured many Arab prisoners. We desired women, for celibacy was hard for us. We wanted to practice ʿazl, and said among ourselves: 'Can we practice ʿazl while the Messenger of God is among us without asking him?' So we asked him about its ruling. He replied:
– There is no prohibition against it, but no soul destined to be born until the Day of Judgment will fail to be born. (Even if you practice ʿazl, you cannot prevent it.)" Muslim narrated similarly.
Ibn Isḥāq said: Among the captives taken that day was Juwayriya bint al-Ḥārith b. Abī Ḍirār. Muḥammad b. Jaʿfar b. al-Zubayr, through ʿUrwa, narrated from ʿĀʾisha:
When the Messenger of God (peace be upon him) distributed the captives of Banu Mustaliq, Juwayriya bint al-Ḥārith fell to Thābit b. Qays b. Shammas or to his cousin. Juwayriya made a contract of manumission (mukātabah) with him for her freedom. She was a sweet and beautiful woman; no one saw her without being captivated by her. She came to the Messenger of God (peace be upon him) to ask for help in paying her contract.
By God, as soon as I saw her at my door, I disliked her presence, and I knew that the Messenger of God (peace be upon him) would see in her what I saw. She entered upon him and said:
– O Messenger of God! I am the daughter of Ḥārith b. Abī Ḍirār, the chief of his people. I have been afflicted with a calamity that is not hidden from you. I fell to Thābit b. Qays b. Shammas or his cousin in the division, and I made a contract of manumission with him. I have come to you to seek your help in paying my contract.
The Messenger of God said to her:
– Would you like something better than that?
– What is that, O Messenger of God?
– I will pay your contract for you and marry you.
– Yes, O Messenger of God.
So he did so.
ʿĀʾisha said: This news spread among the people. When they heard that the Messenger of God (peace be upon him) had married Juwayriya bint al-Ḥārith b. Abī Ḍirār, they said: 'These are the relatives of the Messenger of God,' and they released the captives they held (for they were Juwayriya’s kin).
By the marriage of the Messenger of God (peace be upon him) to Juwayriya, a hundred families from Banu Mustaliq were set free. I do not know of a woman who brought more blessing to her people than she did.
Ibn Isḥāq, when narrating this expedition, also relates the incident of Ifk in full. Al-Bukhārī and several other scholars have narrated similarly. I have explained all of this in detail in the tafsir of Sūrat al-Nūr. Whoever wishes to know the full story should refer there. Allah is the One whose help is sought.
Al-Wāqidī narrated that Juwayriya bint al-Ḥārith said: Three nights before the arrival of the Prophet (peace be upon him), I saw in a dream that the moon came from Yathrib and fell into my lap.
I did not wish to tell anyone about this dream until the arrival of the Messenger of God. When we were taken captive, I hoped for the fulfillment of this dream. Finally, the Messenger of God (peace be upon him) freed me and married me. I did not tell my people about this dream until the Muslims released my captive relatives. I only hinted at it to one of my cousins who brought me news, and I praised Allah.
Al-Wāqidī said: It is reported that the Messenger of God (peace be upon him) freed forty captives from Banu Mustaliq as Juwayriya’s mahr (bridal gift).
According to Mūsā b. ʿUqba’s narration from Banu Mustaliq, Juwayriya’s father requested her release and paid her ransom. Then the Messenger of God asked for her hand, and her father married her to him.