‘O people of the tree! O people of Sūrat al-Baqarah (the Cow)!’ He meant the tree beneath which they had pledged allegiance, reminding them of the pledge he had taken from them there not to flee and to fight to the death (1). [They turned back] (2) (3) toward him as cows (4) turn toward their calves, and fought until the polytheists were defeated.” The Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—had taken a handful of pebbles and thrown them at the enemy, saying: “They are defeated, by the Lord of the Kaʿbah!” (5).
He was on his mule, saying:
“I am the Prophet—this is no lie;
I am the son of ʿAbd al-Muttalib.”
This is what the compilers of the two Sahīh collections narrated (6).
The two Sahīh collections also report from al-Barā that a man asked him: “Did you flee on the day of Hunayn, O Abū ʿUmārah?”
He replied: “I testify that Allah’s Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—did not flee. Rather, some lightly equipped and unarmoured men (7) advanced toward this group of Hawāzin, who were
(1) (M): ‘alā an lā yafirru ‘alā al-mawt (“not to flee, even unto death”).
(2) “Then they called out: ‘At your service!’ and turned back.”
(3) (S), (B): fa‘atafū (“so they turned back”).
(4) (S), (B): al-baqarah (“the cow”).
(5) This hadith is reported from al-‘Abbās ibn ‘Abd al-Muttalib—may Allah be pleased with him—with variations in wording, in Muslim, 3/1398–1400 (Book of Jihad and Military Expeditions, chapter on the Battle of Hunayn); al-Musnad (al-Ma‘ārif edition), 3/208–210; and al-Hākim’s al-Mustadrak, 3/327–328. This hadith is not in al-Bukhārī; rather, al-Bukhārī contains the hadith of al-Barā’ ibn ‘Āzib—may Allah be pleased with him.
(6) This hadith will be discussed in detail below, Allah willing.
(7) That is, a number of men set out lightly equipped, carrying no weapons. Ibn al-Athīr says in al-Nihāyah, 2/307: “Khifāfuhum and akhiffā’uhum (‘their lightly equipped men’) are both plurals of khafīf (‘lightly equipped’).” He also says: “Hussaran refers to those who have neither baggage nor weapons.” Al-Nawawī says in his commentary on Muslim, 12/118: “A hāsir is someone wearing no armour.”