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Companions to the people of Najd to call them to Islam, I expect them to accept.” “I am afraid the
people of Najd willkill them.” Said the Messenger. But he replied, “I will protect them.” Ibn Ishaq
confirms that forty men were sent to them; but
As-Sahih
states that they were seventy — Al-
Mundhir bin ‘Amr, one of Bani Sa‘ida, nicknamed ‘
Freed to die
’ — commanded that group, who were
the best and most learned in the Qur’ân and jurisprudence.
On their way to Najd they used to gather firewood to buy food for the people of ‘
Ahl As-Suffah
’ as
charity by day and study, meditate on the meanings of the Qur’ân by night. They kept on doing that
till they arrived at Ma‘una Well — which was a well in between Bani ‘Amir, Harrah and Bani Saleem.
They stayed there and sent the Message of the Prophet (Peace be upon him) with Haram bin Milhan,
the brother of Umm Sulaim to the enemy of Allâh ‘Amir bin At-Tufail. ‘Amir did not heed the
Message but rather ordered a man to spear Haram in the back. When the spear penetrated Haram’s
body, he saw the blood and said: “
Allâhu Akbar! (i.e. Allâh is the Greatest) By Lord of Al-Ka‘bah I
have won!
”
Then the enemy of Allâh, promptly, called out Bani ‘Amir to fight the rest. Bani ‘Amir refused
because they were under the protection of Abu Bara’. Therefore he turned to Bani Saleem for help.
The people of ‘Usaiyah, Ri‘al and Dhakwan, who were folks of Bani Saleem, responded to his call.
The Companions of the Prophet (Peace be upon him), who were encompassed by idolaters, kept on
fighting till they were all killed. The only survivor was Ka‘b bin Zaid bin An-Najjar who was carried
wounded from among the dead. It was in
Al-Khandaq
(the trench) Battle that he was killed.
‘Amr bin Omaiyah Ad-Damari and Al-Mundhir bin ‘Uqbah bin ‘Amir, who were entrusted with the
Muslims’ animals far from them, saw the birds circling in the air over the battleground. Al-Mundhir
rushed to share in the fight till he was killed. But ‘Amr bin Omaiyah was captured. ‘Amir set him free
when he knew that he was of Mudar tribe but that was after he had cut his hair. He did that to fulfil
a pledge of his mother’s to set a slave free.
Returning to the Prophet (Peace be upon him) ‘Amr bin Omaiyah conveyed the news of the painful
disaster, which resulted in the murder of seventy of the best believers, and recalled the tragedy of
Uhud but with the difference that those of Uhud were killed in a clear war but those of Ma‘una were
killed in a disgraceful treachery. On his way back to Qarqara, ‘Amr bin Omaiyah rested in the shade
of a tree, and there two men of Bani Kilab joined him. When they slept, ‘Amr killed them both,
thinking that by doing that he would avenge some of his killed companions. Then he found out that
they had been given a pledge of protection by the Prophet (Peace be upon him). He told the
Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) what he had done. The Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon
him) said to ‘Amr: “You have killed two people; their blood-money shall be a debt I have to
discharge.” He then engaged himself collecting their blood-money from the Muslims and their allies,
the Jews. This very act was later to trigger the invasion of Bani An-Nadeer.
The Prophet (Peace be upon him) was so deeply moved by this tragedy and that of Ar-Raji‘ that he
used to invoke Allâh’s wrath against those people and tribes who killed his Companions. Anas
reported that for thirty days the Prophet (Peace be upon him) supplicated Allâh against those who
killed his Companions at Ma‘una Well. Every dawn prayer he would invoke Allâh’s wrath against Ri‘l,
Dhakwan, Lihyan and ‘Usaiyah. He would say, “ ‘Usaiyah disobeyed Allâh and His Messenger.”
Therefore Allâh ÚÒ æÌá, sent down unto His Messenger a Qur’ânic verse that we kept on reciting till
it was abrogated later on: ‘Inform our folk that we have encountered our Lord and He is satisfied
with us and we are satisfied with Him.’ So the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) stopped his
invocation.
BANI AN-NADEER INVASION:
We have already spoken about the disgraceful behaviour of the Jews and how they were always
thirsting to shed the blood of the Muslims and undermine the cause of Islam despite all the
covenants and pledges they had given to the Prophet (Peace be upon him). Their behaviour
fluctuated between resignation and slackness after the Banu Qainuqa‘ event and the murder of Ka‘b
bin Al-Ashraf, and rebellion coupled with treacherous clandestine contacts with Quraish and the
hypocrites in order to establish an alliance against the Muslims after the battle of Uhud. Being
inexperienced in war tactics, they resorted to conspiracy and intrigue hatching. They first of all
declared open hatred and enmity, and chose to play all sorts of tricks that might harm the Muslims,
but were very careful not to initiate any sort of hostilities that might involve them in open war.
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