The Battle of Hunayn

A major battle fought in Shawwal 8 AH (January 630 CE) in Wadi Hunayn, between Mecca and al-Ta'if. The Muslim army of twelve thousand fighters faced the combined tribes of Hawazin and Thaqif under Malik ibn Awf al-Nasri ¹. The polytheists lay in ambush, and the Muslims' cavalry broke at first light. Then the Prophet ﷺ and a few of his Companions stood firm, the Muslims rallied, and they won ².

Malik ibn Awf gathered Hawazin and Thaqif and brought their fighters' property, women and children with them so that they would not flee ³. The experienced horseman Durayd ibn al-Simma objected at Awtas: "Does anything turn back one who has fled? If the day is yours, only a man with his sword will avail you; if it goes against you, you will be disgraced before your families" ⁴.

When the Prophet learned of their gathering, he sent Abdullah ibn Abi Hadrad al-Aslami as a scout to bring him their news ⁵. The Prophet borrowed a hundred coats of mail with their gear from Safwan ibn Umayya as a guaranteed loan. He set out with twelve thousand fighters and appointed Attab ibn Asid over Mecca ⁶.

The Muslims went down into Wadi Hunayn in the grey of dawn. The battalions of Hawazin surprised them with a volley of arrows from the gullies and narrow passes of the valley, and the horsemen and the people turned back in flight ⁷.

The Prophet withdrew to the right on his white mule, with a small band that included Ali, al-Abbas, Usama ibn Zayd (may God be pleased with him) and Ayman ibn Ubayd. He called out: "I am the Prophet, no lie; I am the son of Abd al-Muttalib" ⁸. He ordered al-Abbas to call out in his loud voice: "O people of the acacia tree! O people of the chapter of al-Baqara!" and the Muslims hurried back ⁹.

The two armies closed and the fighting grew fierce. The Prophet said: "Now the oven is heated," then threw pebbles at the faces of the polytheists, saying: "May the faces be disfigured." Hawazin and Thaqif were routed ¹⁰. Thaqif fled to al-Ta'if under Qarib ibn al-Aswad, Hawazin withdrew to Awtas, and the Muslims seized their property and captives ¹¹.

The Prophet left Mecca on Saturday 6 Shawwal 8 AH with twelve thousand: ten thousand who had taken Mecca and two thousand of its people. He borrowed a hundred coats of mail with their gear from Safwan ibn Umayya (may God be pleased with him) ¹². On the road the army passed a tree called Dhat Anwat, and the well-known story of Dhat Anwat took place. Anas ibn Abi Marthad al-Ghanawi volunteered to keep watch that night ¹³.

Some of the army, seeing how large it was, said: "We will not be defeated today for lack of numbers." This displeased the Prophet ¹³. When the Muslims were first routed, Abu Sufyan ibn Harb, who was recently converted, said that their rout would not end before the sea. Jabala or Kalda ibn al-Junayd cried out: "Sorcery has been undone today" ¹³.

There were six thousand captives, among them al-Shayma bint al-Harith al-Sa'diyya, the Prophet's foster-sister. She made herself known to him, he honoured her, spread out his cloak for her and sent her back to her people ¹⁴. The spoils were held at al-Ji'rana: twenty-four thousand camels, more than forty thousand sheep and four thousand uqiyya of silver. Mas'ud ibn Amr al-Ghifari was put in charge of them ¹⁴.

The battle set down important principles. It broke the last armed polytheist gathering in the Hijaz. In it the Prophet forbade killing women, children and the 'usafa' (hired labourers) ¹⁵. Qur'anic guidance came down drawing the lesson of pride in numbers, in سورة التوبة 25–26.

The speaker says Hunayn was the battle in which the Muslims outnumbered the enemy and were nonetheless defeated. He gives the figures as about twelve thousand Muslims and four thousand of the enemy (needs_source) ¹⁶.

He says the Muslims fought about twenty-eight expeditions in the Prophet's lifetime and were defeated only at the start of Hunayn (needs_source) ¹⁷. The speaker's view (opinion): the tide turned when the Muslims understood "there is no god but God". This is his reading of the event, not a historical report ¹⁸.

He recounts that the army fled from around the Prophet at Hunayn, and sets this beside the archers at Uhud who left the gap that Khalid ibn al-Walid (may God be pleased with him) then entered ¹⁹.

He says Abu Sufyan had noble conduct before Islam, and that Islam added to it: on the day of Hunayn a word of his steadied the people ²⁰.

He returns to the sizes of the armies: about twelve thousand Muslims, of whom ten thousand were from Medina at the conquest of Mecca, against about four thousand of Hawazin (needs_source) ²¹.