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Uhud’s misfortune left a bad impact on both the credibility and military reputation of the Muslims. Their dignity and power in people’s eyes were impaired. Troubles and dangers spread everywhere in and out of Madinah. The Jews, hypocrites and Bedouins declared publicly their enmity to the Muslims and each party was keen on degrading and, in the final place, exterminating their whole existence.

Two months had almost passed after this battle, when Banu Asad made preparations to raid Madinah, ‘Udal and Qarah tribes conspired against

the Muslims in the month of Safar, 4 A.H. and killed ten of the Prophet’s Companions. Similarly Banu ‘Amir plotted against them too, and seventy Companions were killed in the battle of Ma‘una Well. During that period, Banu Nadeer kept on announcing their enmity and were involved in a plot to kill the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, in Rabi‘ Al-Awwal in 4 A.H. Banu Ghatfan were about to attack Madinah in Jumada Al-Ula in 4 A.H.

Thus we see that the Muslims turned into an attractive target of several potential dangers after they had lost their military credibility in the battle of Uhud. Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, most wisely managed to hold all those hostile currents at bay, and even redeem the lost dignity of the Muslims and gain them anew fresh glory and noble standing. The first initiative he took in this process was Hamra’ Al-Asad pursuit operation, whereby he could retain the Muslim military reputation. He succeeded in recovering his followers’ dignity and awe-inspiring position in such a manner that astonished or even astounded both the Jews and hypocrites, alike, then he proceeded to crown his successful attempts by dispatching military errands and missions:

Abi Salamah Mission:
The first people to take up arms against the Muslims in the aftermath of Uhud reverse were Banu Asad bin Khuzaimah. "The Intelligence Corps" of Madinah reported that Talhah and Salamah, sons of Khuwailid have mustered some volunteers to fight the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, immediately dispatched a 150-man-platoon of Helpers and Emigrants headed by Abu Salamah. The Muslim leader took Bani Asad bin Khuzaimah by surprise in their own homeland, neutralized their attempts, dispersed them and captured their cattle. On his return, Abu Salamah had an inflammation of a previous wound he sustained in Uhud, and caused him to die soon after. This expedition took place on Muharram 1st, 4 A.H.

An Errand led by ‘Abdullah bin Unais:
On the fifth day of the same month Muharram, 4 A.H., it was reported that Khalid bin Sufyan Al-Hudhali was gathering some mob to raid the Muslim positions. ‘Abdullah bin Unais, at the behest of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, set out to destroy the enemies.

The Muslim military leader stayed away for eighteen days during which he successfully fulfilled his task, killed the head of the rebels and brought his head back to Madinah on Saturday, seven days before the end of Muharram. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him,, as a reward, gave him a stick saying "This will function as a sign of recognition for you and me on the Day of Resurrection." On his death bed, ‘Abdullah requested that the log be with him in his shroud.

The Event of Ar-Raji‘:
In Safar of the fourth year A.H., a delegation from the tribes of ‘Udal and Qarah came to Madinah and asked the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, to send a group of Companions to instruct them in religion, claiming the existence of some Muslims among them. He sent six of his Companions, in another version, ten headed by Murthid bin Abi Murthid Al-Ghanawi, or, according to Al-Bukhari, ‘Asim bin Thabit, the grandfather of ‘Asim bin ‘Umar bin Al-Khattab. When they reached a spot called Ar-Raji‘ between Rabigh and Jeddah, a hundred archers of Banu Lihyan clan surrounded the place and attacked them.

The delegation of Muslims took shelter on some high ground, Fudfud, and the Bedouins offered them a pledge that they would not be killed. ‘Asim refused to come down, instead he fought them until he and six of his companions were killed. Three men were left, Khubaib, Zaid bin Ad-Dathna and another one. Once again, the Bedouins offered them a guarantee of safety and they accepted. When they descended, the Bedouins treacherously bound them. The third man rebuked them for their insincerity and resisted them so they killed him. The other two men who had killed some notables of Quraish at Badr were taken and sold in Makkah. The first was Khubaib who was detained for some time and then it was unanimously decided to crucify him. He was taken from the Holy Sanctuary to At-Tan‘im for crucifixion. He requested a respite to offer a two-Rak‘a prayer. After the final greeting, he turned to his executioners, and said: "Had I not been afraid that you would think that I was afraid of death, I would have prayed for a long time. " It was then that Khubaib first set the tradition of praying two Rak‘a before being executed. He then said: "O Lord! Count them one by one, exterminate them to the last one."

He then recited some verses of poetry which speak eloquently of the atrocities borne by him, and testify to his Faith in Allah at this hour of suffering:
The confederates have gathered their tribes around me,
And summoned all of them who could come.
They have gathered their women and children,
I am bound fastly to a lofty trunk.
To Allah alone I complain of my helplessness and sufferings,
And of the death, the confederates have prepared for me.
Lord of the Throne! Give me endurance against their design,
They have cut my flesh bit by bit, and I have been deprived of sustenance.
They let me choose infidelity but death is preferable,
Tears roll out of my eyes, though not of fear.
By Allah! I fear not if I die a Muslim,
On what side I fall for the sake of Allah.
I will not show subservience to the enemy,
If Lord so desires, He will bless my torn limbs and broken joints.

Abu Sufyan then addressed him saying: "I adjure you by Allah, don’t you wish that Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, were here in your place so that we might cut off his head, and that you were with your family?"
Khubaib answered, "By Allah, I do not wish that Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, now were in the place I occupy or that a thorn could hurt him, and that I were sitting with my family."

Quraish ordered ‘Uqbah bin Al-Harith, whose father had been killed by Khubaib himself, to crucify him. They also appointed someone to guard his corpse. ‘Amr bin Omaiyah Ad-Damari played a cunning trick and carried the corpse stealthily at night to bury it somewhere.

It was later reported that shortly before his crucifixion, he was seen eating a bunch of grapes although there was not even one date available in Makkah at that time. [In fact, it was nothing but sustenance bestowed upon him by Allah.]

Safwan bin Omaiyah purchased the second man, Zaid bin Ad-Dathna, and killed him as an act of vengeance for his father’s murder.

Quraish, whom ‘Asim had killed one of their notables, sent someone to fetch a portion of his body, but to their disappointment, his corpse was inaccessible because a large swarm of hornets had been shielding him against any malicious tampering. ‘Asim had already given his Lord a pledge to remain immune against any polytheist tampering with respect to his body, and also stay detached from any contact with the enemies of Allah. ‘Umar bin Al-Khattab, when hearing this piece of news exclaimed, "Allah verily protects His believing slave after death just as He does during his lifespan."

The Tragedy of Ma‘una Well:
Ma‘una Well tragedy, which was even more horrible than that of Ar-Raji‘, took place in the same month.

Abu Bara’ — ‘Amir bin Malik — nicknamed ‘Spear Player’ came to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, in Madinah. The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, called him to embrace Islam but he neither agreed nor refused. He said: "O Messenger of Allah, if you dispatch some of your Companions to the people of Najd to call them to Islam, I expect them to accept." "I am afraid the people of Najd will kill them." Said the Messenger. But he replied, "I will protect them." Ibn Ishaq confirms that forty men were sent to them; but As-Sahih states that they were seventy — Al-Mundhir bin ‘Amr, one of Bani Sa‘ida, nicknamed ‘Freed to die’ — commanded that group, who were the best and most learned in the Qur’an and jurisprudence.

On their way to Najd they used to gather firewood to buy food for the people of ‘Ahl As-Suffah’ as charity by day and study, meditate on the meanings of the Qur’an by night. They kept on doing that till they arrived at Ma‘una Well — which was a well in between Bani ‘Amir, Harrah and Bani Saleem. They stayed there and sent the Message of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, with Haram bin Milhan, the brother of Umm Sulaim to the enemy of Allah ‘Amir bin At-Tufail. ‘Amir did not heed the Message but rather ordered a man to spear Haram in the back. When the spear penetrated Haram’s body, he saw the blood and said: "Allahu Akbar! (i.e. Allah is the Greatest) By Lord of Al-Ka‘bah I have won!"

Then the enemy of Allah, promptly, called out Bani ‘Amir to fight the rest. Bani ‘Amir refused because they were under the protection of Abu Bara’. Therefore he turned to Bani Saleem for help. The people of ‘Usaiyah, Ri‘al and Dhakwan, who were folks of Bani Saleem, responded to his call. The Companions of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him,, who were encompassed by idolaters, kept on fighting till they were all killed. The only survivor was Ka‘b bin Zaid bin An-Najjar who was carried wounded from among the dead. It was in Al-Khandaq (the trench) Battle that he was killed.

‘Amr bin Omaiyah Ad-Damari and Al-Mundhir bin ‘Uqbah bin ‘Amir, who were entrusted with the Muslims’ animals far from them, saw the birds circling in the air over the battleground. Al-Mundhir rushed to share in the fight till he was killed. But ‘Amr bin Omaiyah was captured. ‘Amir set him free when he knew that he was of Mudar tribe but that was after he had cut his hair. He did that to fulfill a pledge of his mother’s to set a slave free.

Returning to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, ‘Amr bin Omaiyah conveyed the news of the painful disaster, which resulted in the murder of seventy of the best believers, and recalled the tragedy of Uhud but with the difference that those of Uhud were killed in a clear war but those of Ma‘una were killed in a disgraceful treachery. On his way back to Qarqara, ‘Amr bin Omaiyah rested in the shade of a tree, and there two men of Bani Kilab joined him. When they slept, ‘Amr killed them both, thinking that by doing that he would avenge some of his killed companions. Then he found out that they had been given a pledge of protection by the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. He told the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, what he had done. The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said to ‘Amr: "You have killed two people; their blood-money shall be a debt I have to discharge." He then engaged himself collecting their blood-money from the Muslims and their allies, the Jews. This very act was later to trigger the invasion of Bani An-Nadeer.

The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, was so deeply moved by this tragedy and that of Ar-Raji‘ that he used to invoke Allah’s wrath against those people and tribes who killed his Companions. Anas reported that for thirty days the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, supplicated Allah against those who killed his Companions at Ma‘una Well.

Every dawn prayer he would invoke Allah’s wrath against Ri‘l, Dhakwan, Lihyan and ‘Usaiyah. He would say, " ‘Usaiyah disobeyed Allah and His Messenger." Therefore Allah sent down unto His Messenger a Qur’anic verse that we kept on reciting till it was abrogated later on: ‘Inform our folk that we have encountered our Lord and He is satisfied with us and we are satisfied with Him.’ So the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, stopped his invocation.

Bani An-Nadeer Invasion:
We have already spoken about the disgraceful behaviour of the Jews and how they were always thirsting to shed the blood of the Muslims and undermine the cause of Islam despite all the covenants and pledges they had given to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. Their behaviour fluctuated between resignation and slackness after the Banu Qainuqa‘ event and the murder of Ka‘b bin Al-Ashraf, and rebellion coupled with treacherous clandestine contacts with Quraish and the hypocrites in order to establish an alliance against the Muslims after the battle of Uhud. Being inexperienced in war tactics, they resorted to conspiracy and intrigue hatching. They first of all declared open hatred and enmity, and chose to play all sorts of tricks that might harm the Muslims, but were very careful not to initiate any sort of hostilities that might involve them in open war.

The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him,, on his part, exercised the highest degree of patience with them but they went too far in their provocative deeds, especially after Ar-Raji‘ and Ma‘una Well events; they even made an attempt on his life.

Once the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, with some of his Companions set out to see Banu Nadeer and seek their help in raising the blood-money he had to pay to Bani Kalb for the two men that ‘Amr bin Omaiyah Ad-Damari had killed by mistake. All of that was in accordance with the clauses of the treaty that both parties had already signed. On hearing his story they said they would share in paying the blood-money and asked him and his Companions Abu Bakr, ‘Umar, ‘Ali and others to sit under a wall of their houses and wait. The Jews held a short private meeting and conspired to kill the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. The most wicked among them, ‘Amr bin Jahsh, volunteered to climb up the wall and drop a large millstone on his head. One of them, Salam bin Mashkam, cautioned them against perpetrating such a crime, predicting that Allah would divulge their plot to him, and added that such an act would constitute a manifest violation of the pact concluded with the Muslims.

In fact, Gabriel did come down to reveal to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, their wicked criminal intention, so he, with his Companions, hurried off back to Madinah. On their way, he told his Companions of the Divine Revelation.

Soon after, the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, delegated Muhammad bin Maslamah to communicate an ultimatum to Bani Nadeer to the effect that they should evacuate Madinah within ten days, otherwise, their heads would be cut off. The chief of the hypocrites, ‘Abdullah bin Ubai, urged the Jews not to pay heed to the Prophet’s words and to stay in their habitations, offering to run to their support with two thousands of his followers, and assuring them of help to come from Quraizah tribe and former allies Banu Ghatfan. In this regards, Allah says:
"If you are expelled, we (too) indeed will go out with you, and we shall never obey anyone against you, and if you are attacked (in fight), we shall indeed help you."

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