remember Allah’s favor upon you when a people were about to stretch out their hands against you, but He withheld their hands from you… (al-Māʾidah 5:11).

Al-Bayhaqī said: A comparable episode will be mentioned later in connection with the Expedition of Dhāt al-Riqāʿ, so it is possible that the two reports concern different events.

I say: If this report is sound, then it is unquestionably distinct, for in that other incident the man’s name was likewise Ghawrath ibn al-Hārith, yet he did not embrace Islam; he remained upon his religion, though he pledged to the Prophet ﷺ that he would not fight him. Allah knows best.

The Expedition of al-Furʿ from Buhrān

Ibn Isḥāq relates: He remained in Madinah for the whole of Rabīʿ al-Awwal—or most of it—then marched out intending Quraysh.

Ibn Hishām adds: He appointed Ibn Umm Maktūm to administer Madinah in his absence.

Ibn Isḥāq continues: He advanced until he reached Buhrān—a mining settlement in the Ḥijāz in the vicinity of al-Furʿ—where he stayed throughout Rabīʿ al-Ākhir and Jumādā al-Ūlā. He then returned to Madinah without engaging in any fighting.

Al-Wāqidī states that his absence—peace and blessings be upon him—from Madinah lasted only ten days. Allah knows best.

The Affair of the Jews of Banū Qaynuqāʿ in Madinah

Al-Wāqidī claims that it took place on Saturday, the fifteenth of Shawwāl in the second year after the Hijrah. Allah knows best.

They are the ones meant by His words, exalted is He: “They are like those who not long before tasted the consequence of their deeds, and for them is a painful punishment” (al-Hashr 59:15).

Ibn Isḥāq reports: During those campaigns of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, the affair of Banū Qaynuqāʿ took place.

He relates that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ gathered them in their marketplace and said:

“O assembly of Jews, fear Allah lest there befall you what befell Quraysh of punishment, and accept Islam; for you know that I am a Prophet sent by Allah—you find this in your Scripture and in the covenant He took from you.”

They replied, “O Muhammad, do you think we are your people? Do not be deluded because you met a people unskilled in war and seized an opportunity against them. By Allah, if we were to fight you, you would surely learn that we are the true warriors.”