The Expedition of Dhat al-Riqāʿ

Ibn Isḥāq states that it took place in Jumādā al-Ūlā of the fourth year after the Hijra. It was the campaign against Khaṣfa, a branch of Banū Thaʿlaba from the tribe of Ghatafān.

Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl al-Bukhārī held that the expedition occurred after Khaybar, arguing that Abū Mūsā arrived only after Khaybar and was present on this campaign, whereas Abū Hurayra did not come until the days of Khaybar, when he embraced Islam.

Ibn Isḥāq further relates: During this expedition the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—marched on until he halted at Nakhl. There he encountered a contingent from Ghatafān; the two forces drew near, yet no fighting ensued. Each side remained wary of the other until the Messenger of Allah led his companions in the Prayer of Fear, after which he withdrew with the Muslims.

Al-Wāqidī explains that the name Dhat al-Riqāʿ (“the Patch-Covered”) derives from a mountain in the area streaked with red, black, and white patches. He adds that the Messenger of Allah set out on the tenth of Muḥarram—forty-seven months after the Hijra—and reached Ṣarār five days before the end of that same month.