Battle of Qarqarat al-Kudr

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From wikishia
Battle of Qarqarat al-Kudr
DateMuharram, 3/624
PlaceAl-Kudr district
ResultNo war happened
Belligerents
Muslims
Polytheists
Commanders
Prophet Muhammad (s)


Battle of Qarqarat al-Kudr (Arabic: غَزْوَة قَرْقَرَة الْکُدْر) was an encounter between the Prophet Muhammad (s), on the one hand, and the two tribes of Ghatafan and Banu Salim, on the other hand, which did not lead to any fight. The battle occurred in Muharram 3/624 when the two tribes, Banu Salim and Ghatafan, gathered in al-Kudr district in order to prepare for an attack on Muslims. However, they fled the place when the Muslim army arrived. Muslims gained booties from this battle.

Al-Kudr Area

Al-Kudr is located in about eight "manzils" (approximately 170 km) from Medina.[1] It is also referred to as "Qarqarat al-Kudr" and "Qararat al-Kudr".[2] There was a water well in the area owned by the Banu Salim tribe.[3] Since the area was the place where the tribes of Ghatafan and Banu Salim had gathered in order to fight Muslims, the battle came to be known as "Qarqarat al-Kudr".[4]

Story

One week after the return of the Prophet (s) and Muslims from the Battle of Badr, they heard that Banu Salim and Ghatafan tribes had camped in order to prepare for an attack on Medina.[5]

Together with an army whose flag-holder was 'Ali (a), the Prophet (s) advanced towards the invading tribes. According to the majority of scholars, the Prophet (s) appointed Ibn Abi Maktum[6] as his successor in Medina. However, there is another account on which Siba' b. 'Urfuta al-Ghifari[7] was appointed as his successor. The armies of the two tribes had fled the area before the Muslim army arrived. The Prophet (s) sent a number of agents to heights to collect information about the enemy's status. They only found a number of camel herders and shepherds, including a teenage boy called "Yasar". They surrendered them and brought the camels to the Prophet (s) as booties of the war. As per the suggestion of the Companions of the Prophet (s), Yasar was given to the Prophet (s) as a slave. He emancipated Yasar after a while.[8] After seizing the camels and sheep of the two tribes, the Prophet (s) and Muslims returned to Medina.

Notes

  1. Ḥamawī, Muʿjam al-buldān, vol. 4, p. 441.
  2. Balādhurī, Ansāb al-ashrāf, vol. 1, p. 310.
  3. Ḥamawī, Muʿjam al-buldān, vol. 4, p. 441.
  4. Ibn Saʿd, al-Ṭabaqāt al-kubrā, vol. 2, p. 23.
  5. Ibn Saʿd, al-Ṭabaqāt al-kubrā, vol. 2, p. 23; Balādhurī, Ansāb al-ashrāf, vol. 1, p. 310.
  6. Balādhurī, Ansāb al-ashrāf, vol. 1, p. 310; Ibn Saʿd, al-Ṭabaqāt al-kubrā, vol. 2, p. 23.
  7. Ibn Hishām, al-Sīra al-nabawīyya, vol. 2, p. 43.
  8. Wāqidī, al-Maghāzī, vol. 1, p. 183.

References

  • Balādhurī, Aḥmad b. Yaḥyā al-. Ansāb al-ashrāf. Edited by Muḥammad Ḥamīd Allāh. Cairo: Dār al-Maʿārif, 1959 CE.
  • Ḥamawī, Yāqūt b. ʿAbd Allāh al-. Muʿjam al-buldān. Beirut: Dār al-Ṣādir, 1995.
  • Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr, Yūsuf b. ʿAbd Allāh. Al-Istīʿāb fī maʿrifat al-aṣḥāb. Edited by ʿAlī Muḥammad al-Bajāwī. Beirut: Dār al-Jīl, 1412 AH.
  • Ibn Saʿd, Muḥammad b. Manīʿ al-Ḥāshimī al-Baṣrī. Al-Ṭabaqāt al-kubrā. Edited by Muḥammad ʿAbd al-Qādir ʿAṭā. Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya,1410 AH-1990.
  • Ibn Hishām, ʿAbd al-Malik. Al-Sīra al-nabawīyya. Edited by Muṣṭafā al-Saqā, Ibrāhīm Ābyārī and ʿAbd al-Ḥafīz Shalbī. Beirut: Dār al-Maʿrifa, [n.d].
  • Maqrizī, Aḥmad b. ʿAlī. Imtāʿ al-asmāʾ. Edited by Muḥammad ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd al-Namīsī. Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 1420 AH.
  • Wāqidī, Muḥammad b. ʿUmar al-. Al-Maghāzī. Edited by Marsden Jones. [n.p]. [n.d].
  • Wāqidī, Muḥammad b. ʿUmar al-. Al-Maghāzī. Beirut: Muʾassisa al-Aʿlāmī li-l-Maṭbūʿāt, 1409 AH-1989.