This expedition set out in the month of Ṣafar in the fourth year of the Hijra. According to a peculiar statement by Makhul, this event took place after the Battle of the Trench.
Al-Bukhari, through the channel of Abu Maʿmar, narrated from Anas b. Malik as follows:
"The Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) sent seventy individuals known as the qurraʾ (reciters) for a certain need. Near a well called Biʾr Maʿūna, two tribes from Banu Sulaym named Riʿl and Dhakwān attacked them. They said, 'By Allah, our intention is not to attack you. We are people whom the Messenger of God has sent for a task. We will continue on our way.' Nevertheless, those tribes killed them. Upon this, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) invoked curses against those two attacking tribes for a month during the morning prayers. Thus began the practice of the qunūt dua (supplication of standing). Previously, we did not recite the qunūt."
Al-Bukhari, through ʿAbdu'l-ʿAla b. Hammad, narrated from Anas b. Malik as follows: "The tribes of Riʿl, Dhakwān, ʿUsayya, and Banu Lihyān requested help from the Messenger of God against their enemies. The Messenger of God sent seventy people from the Ansar to assist them. We used to call these seventy people qurraʾ in their time. They would gather wood during the day and pray at night. When they reached the well called Biʾr Maʿūna, those who had requested help betrayed them and killed them. Upon hearing this, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) invoked curses for a month during the morning prayers against the Arab tribes of Riʿl, Dhakwān, ʿUsayya, and Banu Lihyān."
Anas said: We used to recite Qur'an for them. Then this ruling was abrogated. "Inform our people that we have met our Lord. He is pleased with us and has made us content."
Al-Bukhari, through Musa b. Ismaʿil, narrated from Anas b. Malik as follows:
"The Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) dispatched Haram, the brother of Umm Sulaym, at the head of a cavalry unit of seventy men. The leader of the polytheists, ʿAmir b. Ṭufayl, gave the Prophet three options: either the people of the plains and countryside would be yours and the city and village dwellers would be mine, or I would be your successor after you, or I would fight you with thousands upon thousands from the tribes of Ghaṭafān.
After saying this, he contracted the plague in a woman's house and said:
- Will I die from a disease like that of camels, lying in such-and-such woman's house? Bring me my horse.
After saying this, he mounted his horse and, upon leaving, died on its back.
Haram, the brother of Umm Sulaym, took two men with him, one of whom was lame, and advanced. When he approached the enemy, he said to the two men with him:
- Stay here. I will approach the enemy. If they grant me security, you will come immediately as you are close by. If not, return to your companions, he said, and advanced toward the enemy, saying to them:
- Will you grant me security until I convey to you the command of the Messenger of God? After this, he began speaking with them.
They signaled to one among them. The man came from behind Haram and struck him in the back with a spear. One of the narrators, Hammam, says: He must have struck him with great force, for Haram (may Allah be pleased with him) froze in place and said:
- Allahu Akbar! I have succeeded, by the Lord of the Kaʿba.
When Haram's companions heard his voice, they came to the scene and fought, and all except the lame man were martyred. In this event, which took place atop a mountain, a verse was revealed about those who were martyred, meaning "He is pleased with us and has made us content," but this verse was later abrogated. The Prophet, upon this event, invoked curses for thirty consecutive days every morning against the tribes of Riʿl, Dhakwān, Banu Lihyān, and ʿUsayya, who rebelled against Allah and His Messenger."
Al-Bukhari, through the channel of Hibban, narrated from Anas as follows:
"Haram b. Milḥān is my maternal uncle. When he was struck on the day of Biʾr Maʿūna, he sprinkled his blood with his hand on his face and head and said: 'By the Lord of the Kaʿba, I have succeeded.'"
Al-Bukhari, through ʿUbayd b. Ismaʿil, narrated from Hisham b. ʿUrwa, who reported from ʿUrwa: "When the Companions (ṣaḥāba) who participated in the expedition of Biʾr Maʿūna were killed and ʿAmr b. Umayya al-Ḍamrī was taken captive, ʿAmir b. Ṭufayl asked him, 'Who is this?' and pointed to a man lying dead on the ground. ʿAmr b. Umayya replied, 'This is ʿAmir b. Fuhayra.' Upon this, ʿAmir b. Ṭufayl said:
'After he was killed, I saw him lifted up to the sky. I saw that there was a distance between him and the earth. Then he was brought down to the ground.'
These reports were conveyed to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). It was reported that they were martyred. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: 'Your companions have been killed. They had supplicated to their Lord: "Our Lord, inform our brothers that we are pleased with You and that You are pleased with us."'
Allah also informed the Muslims of their situation. Among those killed on the day of Biʾr Maʿūna were ʿUrwa b. Asmaʾ b. Salt and Mundhir b. ʿAmr."
Al-Waqidi, through Musʿab b. Thabit, narrated from ʿUrwa as follows: After narrating the tragedy of Biʾr Maʿūna and the state of ʿAmir b. Fuhayra, and how he was lifted up to the sky after being killed, he said that the person who killed him was Jabbar b. Sulma al-Kilabi. Jabbar struck him with a spear and killed him, and ʿAmir said: 'By the Lord of the Kaʿba, I have succeeded.'
After this incident, Jabbar asked some people:
- When ʿAmir b. Fuhayra was killed, he said, "I have succeeded." What did he mean by this?
They said:
- By saying this, he meant that he had attained Paradise. Jabbar said:
- By Allah, he spoke the truth, and for this reason, he later became Muslim.
In Musa b. ʿUqba's "Maghazi," it is narrated from ʿUrwa: "The body of ʿAmir b. Fuhayra was not found. It is thought that the angels buried his body."
Yunus narrated from Ibn Ishaq as follows: "After the Battle of Uhud, the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) spent the remaining part of Shawwal and the months of Dhu al-Qaʿda, Dhu al-Ḥijja, and Muḥarram in Medina. Then, in Ṣafar, four months after Uhud, he sent the men who participated in the expedition of Biʾr Maʿūna for this mission. My father, Ishaq b. Yasar, Mughira b. ʿAbd al-Rahman b. Harith b. Hisham, and ʿAbdullah b. Abi Bakr b. Muhammad b. ʿAmr b. Hazm, and other scholars informed me as follows:
Abu Bara ʿAmir b. Malik b. Jaʿfar b. Mulaybu al-Asinna came to the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) in Medina. The Messenger of God invited him to Islam. He did not become Muslim, but neither did he distance himself from Islam, and he said: O Muhammad, if you send some of your companions to the people of Najd to invite them to your command, I hope they will respond to you.
The Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
- I fear that the people of Najd may harm my companions.
Abu Bara said:
- I am their guarantor. Send your companions so they may invite the people to Islam.
The Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) sent Mundhir b. ʿAmr—who was the brother of Banu Saʿida and nicknamed "the one who hastens to death" (Munīku'l-Yamūt)—with forty of his companions, among the best of the Muslims. Among them were: Haritha b. Simma, Haram b. Milḥān (the brother of Banu ʿAdiyy b. Najjar), ʿUrwa b. Asmaʾ b. Salt al-Sulami, Nafiʿ b. Budayl b. Warqaʾ al-Khuzaʿi, ʿAmir b. Fuhayra (the freedman of Abu Bakr al-Ṣiddīq). They were sent along with other distinguished Muslims.
They went and camped at Biʾr Maʿūna, which is between the land of Banu ʿAmir and the territories of Banu Sulaym.
When the Companions (ṣaḥāba) camped by the well, they sent Haram b. Milḥān with the letter of the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) to ʿAmir b. Ṭufayl. When he arrived, ʿAmir did not look at the letter and immediately attacked the man, killing him. Then he called out for help from Banu ʿAmir against them, but they refused, saying, "We will never break the pledge of Abu Bara." Abu Bara had given them a guarantee. Then ʿAmir called for help from the tribes of ʿUsayya, Riʿl, and Dhakwān from Banu Sulaym, who responded to his call. They surrounded the Companions and encircled their belongings. When the Companions saw this, they drew their swords and fought until the last man was killed. May Allah have mercy on them. All were killed except Kaʿb b. Zayd (the brother of Banu Dinar b. Najjar), who was left wounded among the dead. He later recovered and lived until he was martyred at the Battle of the Trench. May Allah have mercy on him.
In the pasture of the tribe, there were ʿAmr b. Umayya al-Ḍamrī and a man from the Ansar of Banu ʿAmr b. ʿAwf. These two only learned of the calamity that had befallen their companions from a bird circling above the soldiers, and said, "By Allah, there is something about this bird." When they turned back, they saw the Companions covered in blood. The treachery that had befallen them was evident. The Ansari said to ʿAmr b. Umayya, "What do you think?" He replied:
- I think we should go to the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) and inform him of the situation.
The Ansari said:
- But I will not turn away from the place where Mundhir b. ʿAmr was killed, nor will I inform others of this.
After saying this, he fought the tribe and was killed. ʿAmr b. Umayya was taken captive. When he told them he was from the Mudar tribe, ʿAmir b. Ṭufayl released him, cut his forelock, and freed him to fulfill his mother's vow to free a slave.
When ʿAmr b. Umayya reached Karkara, which is on the slope of the Kanat valley, two men from Banu ʿAmir arrived. They camped in the same shade as him. They had a treaty and guarantee with the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him), but ʿAmr b. Umayya did not know this. When they settled there, he asked them:
- Who are you?
- They replied: We are from Banu ʿAmir.
He waited until they slept, then attacked and killed them, thinking he was taking revenge on Banu ʿAmir for what they had done to the Companions of the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him).
When ʿAmr b. Umayya came to the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) and informed him of what had happened, the Messenger of God said:
- You have killed two men whose blood money I will pay. Then the Messenger of God said: This is the work of Abu Bara. I did not want this to happen, and I feared it would.
This news was conveyed to Abu Bara. The fact that ʿAmir b. Ṭufayl broke his treaty and that this situation befell the Companions of the Messenger of God because of his guarantee and pledge deeply grieved him.
Hassan b. Thabit, inciting Banu Abi Bara against ʿAmir b. Ṭufayl, said:
"O Banu Umm al-Banin, though you are among the nobles of the people of Najd, were you not alarmed when ʿAmir belittled the pledge of Abu Bara? An error is not like an intentional act.
Inform Rebla, who seeks honor and virtue, what you have invented among the events after me?
Your father is the father of battles, Abu Bara. Your maternal uncle is the noble Hakim b. Saʿid."
Ibn Hisham said: The Umm al-Banin mentioned in the poem refers to the mother of Abu Bara, who was the daughter of ʿAmr b. ʿAmir b. Rabiʿa b. ʿAmir b. Saʿsaʿa.
Ibn Ishaq said: Rabiʿa b. ʿAmir b. Malik attacked ʿAmir b. Ṭufayl and struck him with a spear in the thigh, but it did not reach a fatal spot. He fell from his horse and said:
- This is the work of Abu Bara. If I die, my blood is upon my uncle. Let him not pursue vengeance for my blood. If I live, I know what I will do.
Musa b. ʿUqba said: The leader of the tribe is Mundhir b. ʿAmr. Some say it was Mirsad b. Abi Mirsad. According to Ibn Ishaq, Hassan b. Thabit, mourning the Companions killed in the tragedy of Biʾr Maʿūna, said:
"Weep with copious tears for those killed at Maʿūna. Mourn the horsemen of the Messenger of God who met death in the morning.
They perished because of the pledge of a tribe. By treachery, the knot of their rope was undone.
Pity for Mundhir, who turned away and endured his death with patience and haste.
On that morning, many were struck down.
These are the noble ones from the best of ʿAmr."