Battle of Hunayn

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other uses, see Hunayn (disambiguation).

This is a sub-article to Muhammad after the conquest of Mecca.

Battle of Hunayn

Date	630 (8 AH)
Location	Hunayn, near al-Ta'if in south-western Arabia
Result	Muslim victory

Combatants

Muslims,
Quraysh

Bedouins of the Hawazin and Thaqif tribes

Commanders

Muhammad
Khalid ibn al-Walid

Malik ibn Awf al-Nasri

Strength

12,000

Unknown

Casualties

Unknown

Campaigns of Muhammad
Badr – Banu Qaynuqa – Uhud – Banu Nadir – The Trench – Banu Qurayza – Hudaybiyyah – Khaybar – Mu'tah – Mecca – Hunayn – Autas – Ta'if – Tabouk

Campaigns of Khalid ibn al-Walid
Conquest of Arabia Uhud – Trench – Mu'tah – Mecca – Hunayn – Ta'if Ridda Wars Yamama – Zafar – Buzakha – Ghamra – Naqra Conquest of the Persian Empire Chains – River – Walaja – Hira – Al-Anbar – Ein-ul-tamr – Daumat-ul-Jandal – Ullais – Muzayyah – Saniyy – Zumail – Firaz Conquest of the Eastern Roman Empire Mu'tah – Firaz – Qarteen – Bosra – Ajnadayn – Marj-al-Rahit – Fahl – Yarmouk – Hazir – Aleppo – Iron Bridge

The Battle of Hunayn was fought between Muhammad and his followers against Bedouin tribe of Hawazin and its subsection Thaqif in 630 in a valley on one of the roads leading from Mecca to al-Ta'if. The battle ended in a decisive victory for the Muslims, who captured enormous spoils. The Battle of Hunayn is one of only two battles mentioned in the Qur'an by name, in Sura 9:25-26.^[1]

1 Preparations
2 Course of the battle
- 2.1 Flight of the Army
3 Aftermath
4 Relevant hadth
5 See also
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Preparations

The Hawazin and their allies of the Thaqif began mobilizing their forces when they learnt from their spies that Muhammad and his army departed from Medina to begin an assault on Mecca. The confederates apparently hoped to attack the Muslim army while it would be besieging Mecca. Muhammad, however, uncovered their intentions through his own spies in the camp of the Hawazin and marched against the Hawazin just two weeks^[2] after the conquest of Mecca with a force of 12,000 men.^[1]

Four weeks had just elapsed since quitting Medina ^[3]

[edit] Course of the battle

The Bedouin commander Malik ibn Awf al-Nasri ambushed the Muslims at a place where the road to al-Taif enters winding gorges; the Muslims, surprised by the assault of the Bedouin cavalry who they thought was encamped at Awtas, began retreating in disarray. Academic historians have been unable to fully reconstruct the course of the battle from this point onwards because the different Muslim sources describing the battle give contradictory accounts. It appears that isolated with only a few companions, Muhammad had been in danger of being killed or captured for some time. However, the bedouins were unable to take full advantage of their initial success because of the narrow battlefront, which favored the defending side.

[edit] Flight of the Army

The army of Islam was in headlong rout with the enemy at full tilt in pursuit. The Apostle, of course, did not abandon his post, and stood firm like a rock. Eight men were still with him, all watching the spectacle of the flight of their army. They were:

1. Ali ibn Abi Talib

2. Abbas ibn Abdul Muttalib

3. Fadhl ibn Abbas

4. Abu Sufyan ibn al-Harith ibn Abdul Muttalib

5. Rabi'a, the brother of Abu Sufyan ibn al-Harith

6. Abdullah ibn Masood

7. Usama ibn Zayd ibn Haritha

8. Ayman ibn Obaid

Out of these eight, the first five belonged to the clan of Banu Hashim. They were the uncle and the cousins of the Prophet.

[edit] Aftermath

Because Malik ibn Awf al-Nasri had brought the families and flocks of the Hawazin along, the Muslims were able to capture huge spoils consisting of 6,000 women and children and 24,000 camels. Some Bedouins fled, and parted in two groups. One group went back, resulting in the Battle of Autas, while most of them found refuge at al-Ta'if, where Muhammad besieged them.^[1]