Home > Sira > Rukana, Quraysh's wrestler defeated by the Prophet
Rukana, the strongest of Quraysh, thrown by Prophet Mohamed: the wrestling wager, the invoked tree returning to its place, the sheep ransoms, the five punished mockers (al-Walid, al-Aswad, al-Harith, al-As), al-Walid’s bequest and the usury, from Ibn Ishaq, ash-Shafi’i, Ahmad and al-Bayhaqi.
Updated on 07 September 2026 at 11:07 PM
Ibn Ishaq said: his father Ishaq ibn Yasar related to me that Rukana ibn Abd Yazid ibn Hashim ibn al-Muttalib ibn Abd Manat was the strongest man of Quraysh. He found himself one day alone with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) in one of Mecca’s valleys, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said to him: “O Rukana, will you not fear Allah and accept what I call you to?” He said: “Were I to know that what you say is true, I would follow you.” The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “And do you see: were I to throw you down, would you know that I speak truth?” He said: “Yes.” He said: “Rise then: let me wrestle you.” Rukana rose to him and wrestled him: when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) seized him,
he laid him down, powerless over himself. Rukana said: “Return, O Muhammad.” He returned and threw him down. Rukana said: “O Muhammad, by Allah this is astonishing: you throw me?!” He said: “More astonishing: would you have me show it you, if you fear Allah and follow my order?” Rukana said: “What?” He said: “I call for me this tree you see: that it come to me.” Rukana said: “Call it.” He called it: the tree came until it stood before the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). He said to it: “Return to your place.” And the tree returned to its place. Rukana went to his people and said: “O Banu Abd Manaf, your companion bewitches the people of the earth: by Allah I never saw a subtler sorcerer than he,” and he informed them of what he had seen and what was done.
Thus Ibn Ishaq related this account, in suspended form and with this wording. Abu Dawud and at-Tirmidhi related it, from Abu al-Hasan al-Asqalani, from Abu Ja’far ibn Muhammad ibn Rukana, from his father: Rukana wrestled the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) threw him. at-Tirmidhi said: a rare relation, we know neither Abu al-Hasan nor Ibn Rukana. Ibn Kathir adds: Abu Bakr ash-Shafi’i related, through an excellent chain, from Ibn Abbas (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), that Yazid ibn Rukana wrestled the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), and the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) threw him three times, each time against a hundred sheep. On the third, he said: “O Muhammad, none ever laid my back to the earth before you, and none was more hateful to me than you: I testify that there is no deity but Allah and that you are the Messenger of Allah.” The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) rose from over him and returned his sheep to him.
As for the account of his invoking the tree which came to him, it will come in the book Dala’il an-Nubuwwa after the sira, through good, authentic chains, in multiple relations, Allah willing: in Him is trust. It has already preceded, concerning Abu al-Asadd, that he wrestled the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) threw him.
Ibn Ishaq said: when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) sat in the mosque, there sat near him the oppressed among his Companions: Khabbab, Ammar, Abu Fukayha Yassar, freed slave of Safwan ibn Umayya, Souhayb and their like among the Muslims. Quraysh mocked them, some saying to others: “These are his companions, as you see: are these they whom Allah has favored among us with guidance and the religion of truth?! Were what Muhammad brought a good, these would not have preceded us to it, nor would Allah have preferred them to us.” Allah then sent down concerning them:
“And do not drive away those who call upon their Lord morning and evening, seeking His Face. Nothing of their account falls upon you, and nothing of your account falls upon them, that you should drive them away and be of the unjust. Thus We try some of them by others that they say: Are these they whom Allah has favored among us? Is not Allah best aware of the thankful? And when those who believe in Our verses come to you, say: Peace upon you.”
Sura al-An’am, 52-54
The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) often sat near al-Marwa, at the sale of a Christian slave boy named Jabr, slave of the Banu al-Hadrami. The people said: “By Allah, none teaches Muhammad most of what he brings but Jabr.” Allah sent down concerning their saying:
“And We know well that they say: Only a human being teaches him. The tongue of him at whom they hint is foreign, while this is a clear Arabic tongue.”
Sura an-Nahl, 103
He then mentioned the descent of the sura al-Kawthar concerning al-As ibn Wa’il, when he said of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): “He is cut off: he has no posterity; when he dies his mention will cease.” Allah sent down: “Indeed, your hater is the one cut off,” that is, he whose mention is severed after him, though he leave thousands of offspring: mention, fame and the tongue of truth do not lie in multitude of children and descendants. We treated this sura in our book of exegesis: to Allah the praise. It was related from Abu Ja’far al-Baqir that al-As ibn Wa’il said that only when al-Qasim, the Prophet’s (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) son, died, who had reached riding mounts.
He then mentioned the descent of Allah’s word: “And they say: Why was no angel sent down upon him?”, because of the word of Ubayy ibn Khalaf, Zam’a ibn al-Aswad, al-As ibn Wa’il and an-Nadr ibn al-Harith: “Why has no angel descended upon you who speaks to the people on your behalf?” Ibn Ishaq said: the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) passed, as it has reached us, by al-Walid ibn al-Mughira, Umayya ibn Khalaf and Abu Jahl ibn Hisham, who mocked him and jeered at him: that galled him keenly, and Allah sent down concerning them: “Certainly messengers before you were mocked, but those who ridiculed them were enveloped by that whereof they ridiculed.”
Ibn Kathir cites likewise: “Indeed, messengers before you were denied. But they were patient over denial and were harmed until Our victory came to them. And none can alter the words of Allah, and there has come to you some news of the messengers”; and the Most High’s word: “Indeed, We are sufficient for you against the mockers.” Soufyan related, from Ja’far ibn Iyas, from Said ibn Jubayr, from Ibn Abbas: “The mockers: al-Walid ibn al-Mughira, al-Aswad ibn Abd Yaghouth az-Zuhri, al-Aswad ibn al-Muttalib Abu Zam’a, al-Harith ibn Aytal and al-As ibn Wa’il as-Sahmi.” Jibril came to him: the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) complained of them, and Jibril showed him al-Walid, gesturing at his forehead: “You are safe from him.” Then he showed him al-Aswad ibn al-Muttalib, gesturing at his neck: “You are safe from him.” Then he showed him al-Aswad ibn Abd Yaghouth, gesturing at his head: “You are safe from him.” Then he showed him al-Harith ibn Aytal,
gesturing at his belly: “You are safe from him.” al-As ibn Wa’il passed, and he gestured at the sole of his foot: “You are safe from him.” As for al-Walid, he passed by a man of Khuza’a making arrows for himself: he struck his temple and severed it. As for al-Aswad ibn Abd Yaghouth, sores broke out on his head and he died of them. As for al-Aswad ibn al-Muttalib, he went blind: he had sat beneath an acacia saying: “O my son, will you not defend me? I am slain!”, and saying: “O my son, will you not ward him from me? I am lost: there is the thorn in my eye!”, and they said: “We see nothing.” He remained thus until his eyes went blind. As for al-Harith ibn Aytal, yellow water seized his belly until his bowels came out of his mouth, and he died of it. As for al-As ibn Wa’il, one day a thorn entered his head and filled it, and he died of it. Others said in this hadith: he rode toward Taif upon a donkey, stumbled upon a thorn that entered the sole of his foot and killed him. al-Bayhaqi related it similar to this wording.
Ibn Ishaq said: the greatest among the mockers were, as Yazid ibn Rouman related to me from Urwa ibn az-Zubayr, five men, having teeth and honor among their people: al-Aswad ibn al-Muttalib Abu Zam’a : the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) invoked against him: “O Allah, blind his sight and bereave him of his children” :, al-Aswad ibn Abd Yaghouth, al-Walid ibn al-Mughira, al-As ibn Wa’il and al-Harith ibn at-Toulatila. He mentioned that Allah the Most High sent down concerning them:
“Then declare openly what you are commanded and turn away from the polytheists. Indeed, We are sufficient to you against the mockers. Who set with Allah another deity. But they will come to know.”
Sura al-Hijr, 94-96
He mentioned that Jibril came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) while they circled the House: he rose, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) rose beside him. al-Aswad ibn al-Muttalib passed by him and threw upon his face a green leaf: he went blind. al-Aswad ibn Abd Yaghouth passed by him and gestured at his belly: his belly grew dropsical and he died of it bloated. al-Walid ibn al-Mughira passed by him and gestured at the scar of a wound below his ankle, received years before passing a man of Khuza’a making arrows for himself: an arrow had caught his izar and scratched him lightly; it ruptured after that and he died. al-As ibn Wa’il passed by him and gestured at the sole of his foot: he rode upon a donkey toward Taif, stumbled upon a thorn that entered the sole of his foot and killed him. al-Harith ibn at-Toulatila passed by him and gestured at his head: he shook out pus that killed him.
Ibn Ishaq said: when death approached al-Walid ibn al-Mughira, he made a bequest to his three sons: Khalid, Hisham and al-Walid. He said to them: “O my sons, I enjoin you three things: my blood among Khuza’a, let it not be prolonged : by Allah I know they are innocent of it, but I fear you will be insulted with it after this day; my debt among Thaqif, abandon it not until you take it; my pledge with Abu Uzayhir ad-Dawsi, let it not escape you.” Abu Uzayhir had married al-Walid to his daughter, then withheld her without entering her to him until he died, having already taken her pledge, that is, her dowry. When al-Walid died, the Banu Makhzum pressed Khuza’a for al-Walid’s blood price, saying: “It is your companion’s arrow that killed him.” Khuza’a refused them that until they exchanged insults and the matter grew harsh between them; then Khuza’a gave them part of the blood price, and they made peace and mutually guaranteed.
Ibn Ishaq said: Hisham ibn al-Walid then assailed Abu Uzayhir at the market of Dhu al-Majaz and killed him : he was a noble among his people, and his daughter was with Abu Soufyan : and that was after Badr. Yazid ibn Abi Soufyan rose and gathered the people against the Banu Makhzum, his father being absent. When Abu Soufyan returned, his son Yazid’s act galled him: he rebuked and struck him, paid Abu Uzayhir’s blood price and said to his son: “You have resolved that Quraysh kill one another for a man of Daws!” Hassan ibn Thabit wrote for him a qasida inciting Abu Soufyan over Abu Uzayhir’s blood, who said: “Evil was Hassan’s thinking, that some of us kill others, while our nobles departed the day of Badr.” When Khalid ibn al-Walid embraced Islam and attended Taif with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), he asked him for his share of his father’s usury among the people of Taif.
Ibn Ishaq said: some men of science mentioned to me that these verses descended concerning that: “O you who believe! Fear Allah and give up what remains of usury, if you are believers,” and what follows. Ibn Ishaq said: among the Banu Uzayhir there was no blood vengeance we know until Islam parted the people, save that Dirar ibn al-Khattab ibn Mirdas al-Fihri went with a group of Quraysh to the land of Daws and alighted at a woman called Umm Ghaylan, freedwoman of Daws, who combed women and prepared brides. Daws wanted to kill them for Abu Uzayhir: Umm Ghaylan stood before them, and women with her, and prevented them. as-Souhayli said: it is said she hid him between her armor and her body.
Ibn Hisham said: in the days of ’Oumar ibn al-Khattab, Umm Ghaylan came to him, believing Dirar was her brother. ’Oumar said to her: “I am his brother only in Islam, and I have known your favor toward him.” He granted her under the title of daughter of the road. Ibn Hisham said likewise: Dirar ibn al-Khattab had joined ’Oumar ibn al-Khattab on the day of Uhud, striking him with the spear’s flat and saying: “Save yourself, son of al-Khattab, I kill you not.” ’Oumar acknowledged it for him after Islam (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).