upon the believers, and He sent down forces that you could not see and punished those who disbelieved—such is the recompense of the disbelievers. Thereafter Allah turns in mercy to whom He wills, and Allah is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful. (Qur’an 9:25–27)

Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq ibn Yasar (1) states in his Sīrah that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ set out against Hawāzin after the Conquest on the fifth of Shawwāl in the eighth year AH, adding that the Conquest itself took place with ten days remaining of Ramadan—fifteen nights before the Prophet marched toward them. The same report comes from Ibn Masʿūd; it was likewise the view of ʿUrwah ibn al-Zubayr and the opinion preferred by Ibn Jarīr in his History (2).

Al-Wāqidī (3) says: “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ departed for Hawāzin when six nights of Shawwāl had passed and reached Ḥunayn on the tenth.”

Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq declared, “We shall not be defeated today for being too few,” yet the army broke in flight; the first to flee were the Banū Sulaym, then the people of Mecca, and after them the rest of the forces.

Ibn Isḥāq (4) relates:

When Hawāzin heard of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and the victory Allah had granted him over Mecca, their king—Mālik ibn ʿAwf al-Naṣrī—summoned his people. All of Thaqīf joined Hawāzin, as did the clans of Naṣr, the whole of Jushm, Saʿd ibn Bakr, and a few men from Banū Hilāl; no other branch of Qays ʿAylān took part. Absent were the Hawāzin sub-tribes of Kaʿb and Kilāb, and none of their notable men attended.

Among Banū Jushm was the aged warrior-poet Duraid ibn al-Ṣimmah, valued only for the good omen of his counsel and his long experience in war. Thaqīf had two chieftains present; the Aḥlāf were represented by Qārib ibn al-Aswad ibn Masʿūd ibn Muʿattib; and among Banū Mālik stood Dhū l-Khimār Subayʿ ibn al-Ḥārith along with his brother Aḥmar ibn al-Ḥārith. Overall command rested with Mālik ibn ʿAwf al-Naṣrī.

When Mālik resolved to march against the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, he ordered the people to bring along their wealth, their women, and their children. After he encamped at Awtās the tribes gathered around him, and with them was Duraid ibn al-Ṣimmah, carried in a wooden litter.

On arriving he asked, “Which valley are we in?” They replied, “Awtās.” He said, “A fine field for cavalry—neither ruggedly steep nor treacherously soft. But why do I hear the roaring of camels, the braying of donkeys, the crying of infants, and the bleating of sheep?” They answered, “Mālik ibn ʿAwf has brought with the people their wealth, their women, and their children.”

He asked, “Where is Mālik?” They said, “Here he is,” and he was summoned. Duraid then said, “O Mālik, this morning you have become the leader of your people, and today is a day whose outcome will echo through the days to come,”