Sariyya of Ali ibn Abi Talib to Yemen

سرية علي بن أبي طالب إلى اليمن

In Ramadan of year ten the Prophet ﷺ sent Ali ibn Abi Talib (may God be pleased with him) to Yemen as judge and envoy; he bound a banner for him, wrapped a turban double into a square and fixed it on the spear-shaft, saying 'thus the banner!' and 'go and do not look back.' Ali reached Saba whose people worshipped the cross, called them to God and they submitted; al-Awra' ibn Muhammad al-Zubayri reports Ali's own account of the mission.

Depth

At a glance

«فعقد له رسول الله يومئذ لواء، أخذ عمامة فلفها مثنية مربعة فجعلها في رأس الرمح، ثم دفعها إليه، وقال: هكذا اللواء!»

A verbatim excerpt of the text, forty words at most; the full text is in the edition cited under sources

Connections

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Mentions: Ali ibn Abi Talib· Muhammad· Yemen· Ali ibn Abi Talib's expeditions to Yemen (twice)

People and things also explored

Ali's judgment on three men who lay with one woman in one purity· Ali ibn Abi Talib's expeditions to Yemen (twice)· Ali's judgment on the men who fell into a lion pit in Yemen· The complaint of Ali's troops after Yemen and the Prophet's words: do not complain of Ali· Abu Sufyan's mission to Medina· The three years of the secret call· Ali's expedition to destroy al-Fuls, the idol of Tayy'· Ali is left in charge of the Prophet's family

Sources

Kitab al-Maghazi by al-Waqidi — al-Maktaba al-Shamila digital text of the Marsden Jones edition (Oxford 1966)

Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Sariyya of Ali ibn Abi Talib to Yemen”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/passage/waqidi-maghazi-ali-yemen/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-11-11.

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Ali's judgment on three men who lay with one woman in one purity

Three men lay with one woman in the same purity period in Yemen. Ali asked two at a time whether they claimed the child, and when neither would, he drew lots and gave the child to the one the lot named, with two-thirds of the diyya. The Prophet laughed and approved; the book notes that the men's act may have been before their Islam.