Home > Sira > The war of al-Fijar, at which the young Muhammad was present
The war of al-Fijar of the sira: the killing of Urwa ar-Rahhal in the sacred month by al-Barrad, the four days of battle, the young Muhammad loosing arrows for his uncles, and the peace made by Utba ibn Rabia, from Ibn Ishaq, Ibn Hisham and as-Suhayli.
Updated on 07 September 2026 at 11:07 PM
Ibn Ishaq said: the war of al-Fijar broke out, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was twenty years old. That day was named “al-Fijar” (the unlawful) because of what these two tribes, Kinana ibn Qays Aylan, committed of sacrilege between them. The commander of Quraysh and Kinana was Harb ibn Umayya ibn Abd Shams. At the start of the day, victory was to Qays over Kinana, then at midday to Kinana over Qays.
Ibn Hisham said: when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was fourteen or fifteen years old, as Abu Ubayda an-Nahwi related from Abu Amr ibn al-Ala, the war of al-Fijar broke out between Quraysh and their allies of Kinana, and Qays Aylan. Its cause: Urwa ar-Rahhal ibn Utba ibn Ja’far ibn Kilab, of Hawazin, was traveling in trade to an-Nouman ibn al-Mundhir. Al-Barrad ibn Qays, of the Banu Damra ibn Bakr ibn Abd Manat ibn Kinana, asked him: “Will you let me pass through Kinana?” He replied: “Yes, and unawares.” Al-Barrad set out seeking to catch him off guard, until Tayman Dhi Zhalal, on the high ground: Urwa relaxed his guard, al-Barrad leapt upon him and killed him in the sacred month: that is why they were named al-Fijar. Al-Barrad then said in verse:
“Grave matters preoccupied the people before me: … I braced the flanks of the Banu Bakr for it ;”
“By it I destroyed the houses of the Banu Kilab, … and watered the freedmen at the troughs ;”
“I raised my palm to him at Tayman Dhi Zhalal: … he fell, staggering, like a felled trunk.”
Labid ibn Rabia ibn Malik ibn Ja’far ibn Kilab also said:
“Deliver the message, if you pass by the Banu Kilab, … and by Amir, whose affairs are the proteges ;”
“Deliver the message, if you pass by the Banu Numayr, … and by the slain man’s maternal uncles, the Banu Hilal :”
“That the ardent traveler last night took his stand … at Tayman Dhi Zhalal.”
Ibn Hisham said: a man came to Quraysh and announced that al-Barrad had killed Urwa in the sacred month, at Ukaz. Quraysh then set out without Hawazin noticing; then the latter learned the news and pursued them, catching them before they entered the Sanctuary: they fought until nightfall, and Hawazin halted upon entering the Sanctuary. They met again in battle for several days after, each tribe of Quraysh and Kinana supported by one of its chiefs, and each tribe of Qays by one of its own. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) attended some of their days of battle, which his uncles brought him along to, and he said: “I loosed arrows for my uncles,” that is, I returned the enemy’s arrows upon them when he shot them at them.
Ibn Hisham said: the account of al-Fijar is longer than what I have mentioned; what kept me from pursuing it fully was not to interrupt the thread of the sira of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). as-Suhayli said: “al-Fijar”, with the fa opened, on the pattern of “qital”; the wars called fijar were four in the Arabs’ history, according to al-Mas’oudi, and the last was that of al-Barrad dealt with here. The fighting lasted four days: the day of Shamta, the day of al-Abla, near Ukaz, the day of ash-Sharb, the gravest of all, at which the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was present, and in which the two chiefs of Quraysh and Kinana, Harb ibn Umayya and his brother Soufyan, chained themselves so as not to flee; that day Qays was defeated, except the Banu Nadir who stood firm; and the day of al-Hurayra, near Nakhla.
Then they appointed a meeting at Ukaz for the following year. On the appointed day, Utba ibn Rabia mounted his camel and cried: “O assembly of Mudar, why do you kill one another?” Hawazin asked: “To what do you call us?” He replied: “To peace.” They said: “And how?” He said: “We compensate your dead, we leave you hostages as guarantee, and we forgive our own bloods.” They asked: “Who will stand for it?” He answered: “I.” They said: “Who are you?” He said: “Utba ibn Rabia.” The peace was then made on that basis, and they sent them forty men, among them Hakim ibn Hizam. When the Banu Amir ibn Sa’sa’a saw the hostages in their hands, they forgave their bloods, and the war of al-Fijar came to an end. al-Umawi also related the wars of al-Fijar and their days, which he detailed at length from al-Athram, that is al-Mughira ibn Ali, from Abu Ubayda Ma’mar ibn al-Muthanna.