Battle of Bu'ath
| Date | Before Islam |
|---|---|
| Place | Bu'ath region around Medina |
| Result | Preparing the psychological ground for the acceptance and the propagation of Islam in Yathrib and the Prophet's (s) emigration to Medina |
| Belligerents | |
| Aws tribe Khazraj tribe | |
The Battle of Buʿāth (Arabic:معرکة بُعاث) was a battle which occurred before the emergence of Islam in the southeast of Medina between Aws and Khazraj tribes. It was the last battle between the two tribes which led to their frustration. It prepared the psychological ground for the acceptance and the propagation of Islam in Yathrib.[1]
The Geography of Bu'ath
Bu'ath is located in a two-night walking distance from the city of Medina.[2] It was also called "Bu'ath al-Harb"[3] because the last battle between Aws and Khazraj occurred there.[4] Bu'ath is also known as a fort of Aws,[5] or a property of Banu Qurayza.[6]
Other Spellings
The word, "Bu'ath", has also been written in the book, al-'Ayn, as "Bughath" (بُغاث),[7] and in some other sources as "Bu'ath" and "Bughath".[8]
Report of the Battle
The most comprehensive report of the battle was given by Abu l-Faraj al-Isfahani (by collecting the accounts of al-Tabari and Ibn Kalbi). In their preparation for the war with Khazraj, people of Aws asked the Jews of Banu Qurayza and Banu Nadir for help, but they did not help them because people of Khazraj had threatened them not to do so by taking hostages from them. However, 'Amr b. Nu'man al-Bayadi, the head of the Bayadiyya clan of Khazraj, wanted to seize fertile lands of Banu Qurayza and Banu Nadir by threatening to kill their hostages. Since they did not give the lands to him, he killed the hostages. The Jews were angered and in an unimportant battle between Aws and Khazraj, they decided to help Aws. They gave refuge to some people from Aws who were expelled by people of Khazraj.
Moreover, some Ghassani tribes of Medina, including Banu Tha'laba and Banu Za'ura, allied with them. 'Abd Allah b. Ubayy, a nobleman of Khazraj, considered his tribe's action to be an aggression and thus, warned them not to engage in the battle. Thus, some other people from Khazraj withdrew from the Battle. However, people of Khazraj appointed 'Amr b. Nu'man al-Bayadi as their head. Hudayr al-Kata'ib b. Simak al-Ashhali was appointed as the head of Aws.[9] He mobilized people of his tribe by reminding them of humiliations and injustice imposed by Khazraj on them. Another head of Aws in this battle was Abu 'Amir Rahib b. Sayfi (who later came to be known as "Abu 'Amir al-Fasiq", that is, Abu 'Amir the wrong-doer). Aws and Khazraj prepared themselves for the war for about a couple of months and were seeking help from their allied Arabian tribes. A vigorous, unprecedented war began between them in Bu'ath and lasted for several months.[10]
The Background of the Prophet's (s) Migration
The Battle of Bu'ath (the last battle between Aws and Khazraj) frustrated the two parties. When they quit the war, there was a psychological ground for the spread and propagation of Islam in Yathrib[11] such that 2 or 3 years later, continuous meetings between people of Yathrib and the Prophet Muhammad (s) during hajj rituals (10 to 12 years after Bi'that/619-621) led to the first and the second Pledge of 'Aqaba and, finally, to the migration of the Prophet (s) and other Muslims to Yathrib (or Medina).[12]
Reaction of the Jews after the Migration
After the migration, the Jews who were unhappy with the Islamic unity among Aws and Khazraj, tried to remind them of the Battle of Bu'ath by reciting some poems in order to revive old hostilities between the two tribes. However, they failed because of the Prophet's (s) tact.[13]
The Village of Sarya
Imam al-Kazim (a) later built the village of Sarya near Bu'ath.[14] Imam al-Hadi (a), the 10th Shiite Imam was born in this village[15] and lived there for a while.[16] There are two hadiths cited by the author of al-Khara'ij wa l-jara'ih which imply that Imam al-Rida (a)[17] and Imam al-Jawad (a)[18] also lived in this area for a while.
Notes
- ↑ Bakrī, Muʿjam mā istaʿjam, vol. 1, p. 260; Dhahabī, Tārīkh al-Islām, p. 288-289.
- ↑ Farāhīdī, Kitāb al-ʿayn, vol. 4, p. 402; Bakrī, Muʿjam mā istaʿjam, vol. 1, p. 259.
- ↑ Abū l-Faraj al-Iṣfahānī, al-ʾAghānī, vol. 17, p. 124.
- ↑ Ibn Saʿd, al-Ṭabaqāt al-kubrā, vol. 3, p. 604; vol. 4, p. 384; Ibn al-Jawzī, al-Muntaẓam fī tārīkh al-umam wa l-mulūk, vol. 2, p. 385-386; Yaʿqūbī, Tārīkh al-yaʿqūbī, vol. 2, p. 37.
- ↑ Ibn Manẓūr, Lisān al-ʿArab, under word "Ba'th".
- ↑ Abū l-Faraj al-Iṣfahānī, al-ʾAghānī, vol. 17, p. 124; Ḥamawī, Muʿjam al-buldān, vol. 1, p. 670.
- ↑ Farāhīdī, Kitāb al-ʿayn, vol. 4, p. 402.
- ↑ Ḥamawī, Muʿjam al-buldān, vol. 1, p. 670.
- ↑ Abū l-Faraj al-Iṣfahānī, al-ʾAghānī, vol. 17, p. 118-121.
- ↑ Abū l-Faraj al-Iṣfahānī, al-ʾAghānī, vol. 17, p. 119.
- ↑ Bakrī, Muʿjam mā istaʿjamʿ, vol. 1, p. 260; Dhahabī, Tārīkh al-Islām, p. 288-289.
- ↑ Ibn Hishām, al-Sīra al-nabawīyya, vol. 2, p. 70; Ibn Saʿd, al-Ṭabaqāt al-kubrā, vol. 1, p. 219-220; Yaʿqūbī, Tārīkh al-yaʿqūbī, vol. 2, p. 37.
- ↑ Ibn Hishām, al-Sīra al-nabawīyya, vol. 2, p. 204-205.
- ↑ Farāhīdī, Kitāb al-ʿayn, vol. 4, p. 402; Ibn Shahrāshūb, Manāqib Āl Abī Ṭālib, vol. 4, p. 382.
- ↑ Mufīd, al-Irshād,, vol. 2, p. 297.
- ↑ Majlisī, Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 50, p. 157.
- ↑ Rāwandī, al-Kharāʾij wa l-jarāʾiḥ, vol. 1, p. 365.
- ↑ Rāwandī, al-Kharāʾij wa l-jarāʾiḥ, vol. 1, p. 383.
References
- Abū l-Faraj al-Iṣfahānī, ʿAlī b. Ḥusayn. Al-ʾAghānī. Beirut: [n.d].
- Bakrī, ʿAbd Allāh b. ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz. Muʿjam mā istaʿjam min asmāʿ al-bilād wa al-mawāḍiʿ. Beirut: Muṣṭafā Saqqā, 1403/1983.
- Dhahabī, Muḥammad b. al-Aḥmad al-. Tārīkh al-Islām, al-Sīra al-nabawīyya. Edited by ʿUmar ʿAbd al-Salām al-Tadmurī. Beirut: 1409 AH.
- Farāhīdī, Khalīl b. Aḥmad. Kitāb al-ʿayn. Edited by Mahdī Makhzūmī and Ibrāhīm Sāmirāʾirī. Qom: 1405 AH.
- Ḥamawī, Yāqūt b. ʿAbd Allāh al-. Muʿjam al-buldān. Edited by Ferdinand Wüstenfeld. Leipzig: 1873-1866. Tehran: lithography, 1965.
- Ibn al-Jawzī, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. ʿAlī. Al-Muntaẓam fī tārīkh al-umam wa l-mulūk. Edited by Muḥammad ʿAbd al-Qādir ʿAṭāʾ and Musṭafā ʿAbd al-Qādir ʿAṭāʾ. Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmīyya, 1412 AH.
- Ibn Saʿd, Muḥammad. Al-Ṭabaqāt al-kubrā. Beirut: 1405 AH-1985.
- Ibn Shahrāshūb, Muḥammad b. ʿAlī. Manāqib Āl Abī Ṭālib. Edited by Ḥāshim Rasūlī Mahallātī. 4th edition. Qom: 1379 Sh.
- Ibn Manẓūr, Muḥammad b. Mukarram. Lisān al-ʿArab. Beirut: 1374-1376.
- Ibn Hishām, ʿAbd al-Malik. Al-Sīra al-nabawīyya. Edited by Muṣṭafā al-Saqā, Ibrāhīm Ābyārī and ʿAbd al-Ḥafīz Shalbī. Beirut: [n.d].
- Majlisī, Muḥammad Bāqir al-. Biḥār al-anwār. Beirut: Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, 1403 AH.
- Mufīd, Muḥammad b. Muḥammad al-. Al-Irshād fī maʿrifat ḥujaj Allāh ʿalā l-ʿibād. Qom: Kungira-yi Shaykh al-Mufīd, 1413 AH.
- Rāwandī, Saʿīd b. Hibat Allāh al-. Al-Kharāʾij wa l-jarāʾiḥ. Qom: Muʾassisat al-Imām al-Mahdī, 1409 AH.
- Yaʿqūbī, Aḥmad b. Abī Yaʿqūb al-. Tārīkh al-yaʿqūbī. Beirut: [n.d].