Home > Sira > The Eighth Year of the Prophetic Hijra
The year 8 of the Hijra: the Islam of Amr ibn al-As and Khalid, the letters to Heraclius and Caesar, Dhat as-Salasil, the army of dried leaves, the Umra of Ji'rana, the ode Bant Sou'ada, the broken idols, Tabouk and the year of delegations.
Updated on 05 October 2026 at 10:56 AM
Part of: The Year 8 of the Hijra: Conversions, Letters to the Kings and the Ode of Ka'b
The Waqidi reports that the Messenger of Allah sent Chouja’ ibn Wahb al-Asadi with twenty-four men against a gathering of Hawazin, commanding him to raid them. He went out, marching by night and hiding by day, and surprised them at dawn, having counselled his companions not to linger in pursuit. They took many camels and sheep and drove them to Medina: the share of each man came to fifteen camels. Others claim they also took captives, and that the commander chose a radiant slave-girl from among them; their families later came as Muslims, and the Prophet consulted their commander about restoring the women: he agreed.
They were returned, and he gave the woman he held her choice: she chose to remain with him. This expedition may be the one reported by ach-Chafi’i, from Malik, from Nafi’, from Ibn Omar: the Messenger of Allah sent an expedition toward Najd, among them Abdallah ibn Omar, who said: we took many camels, and our share reached twelve camels, and the Messenger of Allah granted us a camel each. The two Sahihs reported it by Malik, as did Mouslim by other routes: our commander granted us a camel each; then we came to the Messenger of Allah and he divided our spoils, and each man of us took twelve camels after the fifth, and the Messenger of Allah neither took us to account for what our commander had given us nor faulted him for it: so each of us had thirteen camels with the grant.
The Waqidi also reports, from az-Zouhri, that the Messenger of Allah sent Ka’b ibn Oumayr al-Ghifari with fifteen men until they reached Dhat Atlah in the land of Syria. They found a great gathering of their people, called them to Islam: they refused and showered them with arrows. When the companions of the Messenger of Allah saw that they fought them fiercely until they were slain; one wounded man escaped from among the corpses, and when night cooled he forced his march until he came to the Messenger of Allah, who intended to send a force against them, then learned they had moved to another place.