The Expedition of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Rawāḥah against Yusayr ibn Rizām, the Jew

The author next cites (1)–through the isnād of Ibn Luhayʿah (2) from Abū al-Aswad, from ʿUrwah, and through the isnād of Mūsā ibn ʿUqbah from al-Zuhrī—that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ dispatched ʿAbd Allāh ibn Rawāḥah with thirty mounted men, among them ʿAbd Allāh ibn Unays, to Yusayr ibn Rizām, a Jewish leader. They reached him in Khaybar, for word had come to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ that Yusayr was mustering the tribe of Ghatafān to march against him.

Upon arriving they said to Yusayr, “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ has sent us to appoint you over Khaybar.” They persisted until he agreed to go with them, bringing thirty of his own men, each with a Muslim riding behind him. When they reached Qarqarat Thabār—six miles from Khaybar—Yusayr regretted his decision and reached for ʿAbd Allāh ibn Unays’s sword. Perceiving this, ʿAbd Allāh spurred his camel forward, dismounted, and drove the party on. Once within reach of Yusayr he struck his leg, severing it. Yusayr tumbled down holding a twig of suḥoṭ wood and struck ʿAbd Allāh ibn Unays in the face, inflicting a skull-deep gash. At that moment every Muslim turned on the man he was riding behind and killed him, save one Jew who escaped by speed. Not a single Muslim was wounded.

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ then applied his blessed saliva to the wound of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Unays; it never festered nor caused him pain for the rest of his life.

Another Expedition under Bashīr ibn Saʿd

It is related (3) through al-Wāqidī’s chain that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ sent Bashīr ibn Saʿd with thirty mounted men against the Banū Murrah in the region of Fadak. He drove off their camels, but they fought back and killed most of his companions. That day Bashīr showed great patience and fought with fierce valor, then withdrew to Fadak, spent the night with a Jewish host, and finally returned to Madinah.

Al-Wāqidī adds (4): Thereafter the Messenger of Allah ﷺ dispatched Ghālib ibn ʿAbd Allāh with a company of leading Companions—among them Usāmah ibn Zayd, Abū Masʿūd al-Badri, and Kaʿb ibn ʿUjrah. He recounts how Usāmah ibn Zayd slew Mirdās ibn Nuhayk, an ally of Banū Murrah, even though the latter had declared, “There is no god but Allah.” The Companions reproached Usāmah for this, and he was overcome with regret for what he had done.