The betrayal of ar-Raji’: the broken covenant and the martyrdom of Asim

In Safar of this year took place the Ghazwa of ar-Raji’, seven miles from Ousfan. The Boukhari reports, through Amr ibn Abi Soufyan ath-Thaqafi, from Abou Hourayra: the Prophet sent out an expedition as scouts and appointed over them Asim ibn Thabit, grandfather of Asim ibn Oumar ibn al-Khattab. When they were between Ousfan and Mecca, their presence was reported to a clan of Hudhayl called the Banu Lihyan, who pursued them with nearly a hundred archers. They followed their tracks to a campsite where they found date pits which had been taken as provision from Medina, and said: these are the dates of Yathrib.

They tracked them until they caught up with them. When Asim and his companions reached Fadfad, the men surrounded them and said: yours is the covenant and the oath if you come down to us: we shall kill not one man among you. Asim said: as for me, I shall never come down under the guarantee of an unbeliever. O Allah, inform Your messenger of us!

They fought them and killed Asim and seven men with him by arrows. There remained Khoubayb, Zayd and a third man, to whom they gave covenant and oath; they came down, and when the men gained mastery over them, they untied the strings of their bows and bound them with those. The third man cried: this is the first treachery! And refused to go with them.

They dragged him and tried to force him, but he would not, and they killed him. Then they carried Khoubayb and Zayd off to Mecca and sold them there.

This account the Boukhari related in the book of campaigns of his Sahih, and also in the books of tawhid and jihad by similar routes. In one of its wordings, the Messenger of Allah sent ten men as a scouting expedition, appointing over them Asim ibn Thabit ibn Abi al-Aq Lah. Mohamed ibn Ishaq, Moussa ibn Oqba and Urwa ibn az-Zoubayr diverged from him on some points. Let us mention the account of Ibn Ishaq, so that the difference may be known: Ibn Ishaq is an authority in this science, as ach-Chafi’i said: whoever wants the campaigns is dependent upon Mohamed ibn Ishaq.

Ibn Ishaq reports, from Asim ibn Omar ibn Qatada: after Ouhoud there came to the Messenger of Allah a group of Adhal and al-Qarra who said: O Messenger of Allah, there are Muslims among us: send with us some of your companions to instruct us in religion, recite to us the Quran and teach us the ordinances of Islam. The Messenger of Allah sent with them six men: Marthad ibn Abi Marthad al-Ghanawi, client of Hamza ibn Abd al-Muttalib, who was commander of the group; Khalid ibn al-Boukayr al-Laythi, client of the Banu Adi; Asim ibn Thabit ibn Abi al-Aq Lah, milk-brother of the Banu Amr ibn Awf; Khoubayb ibn Adi, brother of the Banu Jihja; Zayd ibn ad-Dathina, brother of the Banu Bayada; and Abdallah ibn Tariq, client of the Banu Dhoufar. They went out with these people until they were at ar-Raji’, a water of Hudhayl on the borders of the Hijaz, where they were betrayed: they raised a war cry to Hudhayl, and the Muslims, in their tents, saw nothing but men enveloping them, swords in hand. They took up their weapons to fight, and were told:

by Allah, we do not intend to kill you; we wish only to gain through you something from the people of Mecca, and you have the covenant of Allah and His oath that we shall not kill you. Marthad, Khalid ibn al-Boukayr and Asim ibn Thabit answered: by Allah, never will we accept from a polytheist covenant or oath. And Asim said: Allah is most knowing, and to Allah belong praise and favour: My affliction, and I am hardy and valiant; and the bow with its red sinews; Arrows slip from its face; death is true and life false; All that the Eternal wills comes to pass, and man inclines toward Him. If I do not fight you, then my mother be bereaved! And he said also: The shield of Abou Soulayman and the plumes of al-Mouq’ad, and a shield like a blazing hell; When the couches are spread I do not tremble, and a scabbard of the hide of a bared bull, believing in what Mohamed brings. And again: The shield of Abou Soulayman, and such as I am an archer, and my people were a generous assembly. Then he fought until he was slain, and his two companions were slain with him.

When Asim was killed, Hudhayl wished to take his head to sell it to Sulafa bint Sa’d ibn Chouhayd, who had vowed, when her two sons were struck on the day of Ouhoud, that if she could attain the head of Asim she would drink wine in his skull. The Boukhari mentions this after the arrival of Khoubayb and Zayd ibn ad-Dathina in Mecca; and what Ibn Ishaq relates is better ordered. Allah sent against Asim a swarm of bees like a cloud which shielded him from their messengers, and they could get nothing of him. It was said: leave him till evening; the thing will pass and we shall take him. But Allah sent a flood of the valley which carried his body away. Asim had covenanted with Allah never to be touched by a polytheist nor to touch a polytheist, out of scruple of purity. Thus Oumar ibn al-Khattab used to say, when he was told that the bees had protected him: Allah guards the believing servant! Asim had vowed never to be touched by a polytheist nor to touch one in his lifetime, so Allah protected him after his death as He had protected him in his life.