[The Second Year]

Then came the second year. In Safar of that year, the expedition to al-Abwā’, also known as the expedition to Waddān, took place. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, undertook it with the Emigrants alone. This was his first military expedition, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. He set out, concluded a truce with Banū Damrah ibn ‘Abd Manāf, and returned without encountering any hostility.

In this year, he dispatched Hamzah ibn ‘Abd al-Muttalib with thirty mounted men from the Emigrants, with none of the Ansār among them, to the seacoast near al-‘Īs. Hamzah encountered Abū Jahl with three hundred mounted unbelievers from Mecca. Majdī ibn ‘Amr al-Juhanī intervened to keep the two sides apart. They agreed to refrain from hostilities, and no fighting took place between them.

In this year, the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, dispatched ‘Ubaydah ibn al-Hārith with thirty mounted men from the Emigrants, with none of the Ansār among them. He advanced until he reached Abnā, a watering place below the pass of al-Murrah in the Hijaz. There he encountered a party of Quraysh led by ‘Ikrimah ibn Abī Jahl. No fighting took place between them, except that Sa‘d ibn Abī Waqqās, who was part of that expedition, shot an arrow at them. It was the first arrow shot in Allah’s cause. The scholars of the Prophet’s biography differed over which of these two expeditions took place first.

In this year, the expedition to Buwāt took place. The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, set out and reached Buwāt, near Radwā, then returned to Medina without engaging in battle.

In this year, the expedition to al-‘Ushayrah took place. The Prophet set out and reached al-‘Ushayrah, where he concluded a truce with Banū Mudlij. He then returned to Medina without engaging in battle.

In this year, the first expedition to Badr took place. Kurz ibn Jābir al-Fihrī raided Medina’s grazing livestock,