Their commander was al-Ḥārith ibn Abī Ḍirār, the father of Juwayriyyah bint al-Ḥārith—whom the Messenger of Allah ﷺ would marry after this expedition. When word of their preparations reached him, he set out against them and met them at one of their watering places called al-Muraysīʿ, situated between Qudayd and the coast. The two forces pressed in and fought; Allah put Banu al-Muṣṭaliq to flight, some of them being killed. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ allotted their children, women, and property as spoils, so Allah granted them to him as booty.

Al-Wāqidī (1) says: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ departed two nights into Shaʿbān of the fifth year after the Hijrah with seven hundred of his Companions toward Banu al-Muṣṭaliq, who were allies of Banu Mudlij. When he reached them, he gave the banner of the Muhājirūn to Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq—some say to ʿAmmār ibn Yāsir—and the banner of the Anṣār to Saʿd ibn ʿUbādah. He then ordered ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb to proclaim among the people: “Say, ‘There is no god but Allah,’ and by it protect your lives and your wealth.” They refused, and arrows were exchanged. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ then commanded the Muslims, who charged in unison; not a single enemy combatant escaped. Ten of them were killed, the rest taken captive, and only one Muslim was slain.

Both Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī and Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim (2) record, through the narration of ʿAbd-Allah ibn ʿAwn, who said: “I wrote to Nāfiʿ asking about supplication before battle. He replied, ‘The Messenger of Allah ﷺ raided Banu al-Muṣṭaliq while they were unaware, their livestock being watered at the pool. He killed their fighting men and took their women and children captive, and that day he came into possession—so I think he said—of Juwayriyyah bint al-Ḥārith (3). ʿAbd-Allah ibn ʿUmar informed me of this, and he was in that army.’”

Ibn Isḥāq relates that a Muslim named Hishām ibn Ṣubābah was struck down by an Ansārī who thought he was an enemy and killed him by mistake.

He also recounts (4) that Hishām’s brother, Miqyās ibn Ṣubābah, arrived from Mecca outwardly professing Islam and requested the blood-money for Hishām, since he had been killed in error. The Prophet ﷺ paid it to him, but after a short while Miqyās attacked his brother’s slayer and killed him, then returned to Mecca an apostate, saying in verse:

From the ṭawīl metre:
“My soul found ease once he lay on the plain, stretched out,
his two garments soaked with the blood of the throat-veins.”