Expedition of Rabigh

In Shawwal 1 AH (April 623 CE) the Prophet ﷺ sent a second detachment under his cousin Ubayda ibn al-Harith ibn al-Muttalib, with sixty riders of the Muhajirun. At Batn Rabigh they met a company of Quraysh. ¹

The detachment's banner was white and was carried by Mistah ibn Uthatha. Over Quraysh was Abu Sufyan Sakhr ibn Harb (or, it is said, Ikrima ibn Abi Jahl (may God be pleased with him)), with two hundred riders. ^{1 2}

The two sides exchanged arrows and did not draw their swords. Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas shot an arrow at the polytheists, and it was the first arrow shot in the cause of God in Islam. ¹

Two Companions who had come out with the Meccan army as a way of escape joined the detachment: al-Miqdad ibn Amr al-Bahrani and Utba ibn Ghazwan al-Mazini. They crossed over to the Muslims and returned with them to Medina. ^{1 3}

In Shawwal of the first year of the Hijra the Prophet sent Ubayda ibn al-Harith with sixty riders. He met Abu Sufyan with two hundred men at Batn Rabigh. The two sides exchanged arrows without fighting. Miqdad ibn Amr and Utba ibn Ghazwan, who were Muslims who had gone out with the disbelievers, joined the Muslims. ¹.