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The Caravan raids refer to a series of raids which Muhammad and his companions participated in, most of which were against Quraish of Mecca. They were generally offensive in nature and carried out to gather intelligence or seize the trade goods of enemy tribes. Skirmish and ambush tactics were used.^[1] Muhammad justified the raids because he claimed God gave him permission to "fight back". Muslim scholars say Muslims were persecuted, so fighting and raiding caravans was permissible.^[2][3]

Background

After Muhammad and his followers migrated to Medina in 622, the Quraish confiscated the belongings they had left behind.^{[citation needed]}

Muhammad's followers suffered from poverty, and beginning in January 623 some of them resorted to the tradition of raiding the caravans that traveled along the eastern coast of the Red Sea from Mecca to Syria.

Communal life was essential for survival in desert conditions, as people needed support against the harsh environment and lifestyle. The tribal grouping was thus encouraged by the need to act as a unit. This unity was based on the bond of kinship by blood.^[6] People of Arabia were either nomadic or sedentary, the former constantly traveling from one place to another seeking water and pasture for their flocks, while the latter settled and focused on trade and agriculture. The survival of nomads (or bedouins) was also partially dependent on raiding caravans or oases; thus they saw this as no crime.^[7][8]

First raid

Muhammad ordered the first caravan raid led by Hamza ibn 'Abd al-Muttalib (Muhammad's uncle) seven to nine months after the Hijrah.^[4][5] A party of thirty to forty men assembled at the seacoast near al-Is, between Mecca and Medina, where Abu Jahl (Amr ibn Hishām), the leader of the caravan was camping with three hundred Meccan riders.

Hamza met Abu Jahl there with a view to attack the caravan, but Majdi bin Amr al-Juhani, a Quraysh who was friendly to both the parties intervened between them; so, both parties separated without fighting. Hamza returned to Medina and Abu Jahl proceeded towards Mecca.

Second raid

Ubaydah ibn al-Harith was the Commander of the second raid.^[4][5] This raid took place nine months after the Hijrah, a few weeks after the first one at al-Is.

About a month after Hamzah's unsuccessful bid to plunder, Muhammad entrusted a party of sixty Muhajireen led by Ubaydah to conduct another operation at a Quraysh caravan that was returning from Syria and protected by two hundred armed men. The leader of this caravan was either Abu Sufyan ibn Harb.

The Muslim party went as far as Thanyatul-Murra, a watering place in Hejaz. No fighting took place, as the Quraysh were quite far from the place where Muslims were in the offing to attack the caravan. Nevertheless, Sa`d ibn Abi Waqqas, one of the ten companions of the Prophet Muhammad who was promised paradise, shot an arrow at the Quraysh. This is known as the first arrow of Islam.^[9] This unprovoked attack surprised the Quraysh. However, no fighting took place and the Muslims returned empty-handed. It is believed that Ubaydah was the first to carry the banner of Islam; others say Hamzah was the first to carry the first banner.

Third raid

Sa`d ibn Abi Waqqas was ordered to lead the third raid.^[4][5] His group consisted of about twenty Muhajirs. This raid was done about a month after the previous. Sa'd, with his soldiers, set up an ambush in the valley of Kharrar on the road to Mecca and waited to raid a returning Meccan caravan from Syria. But the caravan had alteady passed and the Muslims returned to Medina without a fight.

Battle of Waddan

The fourth raid, known as the Battle of Waddan, was the first offensive in which Muhammad took part personally.^{[citation needed]} It is said that twelve months after moving to Madina, Muhammad himself led a caravan raid to Waddan (Abwa). The aim was to intercept the caravans of the Quraysh and the Banu Damra. The raid party did not meet any Quraysh during the raid.^[5]

But the Caravan of Banu Damrah was raided.^{[citation needed]} Negotiations began and the two leaders signed a treaty of non-aggression. Banu Damrah pledged to not attack Muslims or side with the Quraysh; and Muhammad pledged to not attack the caravans of Banu Damrah or seize their goods, and to not attack the tribe, and make peace with them. But they managed to make a treaty of peace and cooperation with the Banu Damra.

Fifth raid

Muhammad was the commander for the fifth raid as well.^[5] A month after the raid at al-Abwa, he personally led two hundred men including Muhajirs and Ansars to Bawat, a place on the caravan route of the Quraysh merchants. A herd of fifteen hundred camels was proceeding, accompanied by one hundred riders under the leadership of Umayyah ibn Khalaf, a Quraysh. The purpose of the raid was to plunder this rich Quraysh caravan.

No battle took place and the raid resulted in no booty. This was due the caravan taking an untrodden unknown route. Muhammad then went up to Dhat al-Saq, in the desert of al-Khabar. He prayed there and a mosque was built at the spot.^{[citation needed]} This was the first raid where a few Ansars took part.

Sixth raid

Two or three months after Muhammad's return from Buwat, he appointed Abu Salamah Ibn Abd al-Assad to take his place in Medina while he was away commanding another raid. Between 150 and 200 followers joined this operation to al-Ushayra, Yanbu in Jumada al-awwal or Jumada al-thani.^[4][5]

They had thirty camels that they rode upon by turns. When they arrived at al-Usharayh, they expected to raid a rich Meccan caravan towards Syria led by Abu Sufyan. Muhammad already had the knowledge of this caravan’s departure from Mecca and waited for about a month for this caravan to pass. But the Meccan caravan had already passed.

In this operation, Muhammad entered into an alliance with Banu Madlaj, a tribe inhabiting the vicinity of al-Ushayra. He also concluded another treaty that was made with Banu Damrah previously.^{[citation needed]} All those treaties established good political connections for him.

Nakhla raid

The Nakhla Raid was the 7th caravan raid ordered by Muhammad.Abdullah ibn Jahsh was the commander of this raid. Muhammad did not participate.^[10] Abdullah ibn Jahsh and eight Muhajirs^{[citation needed]} were dispatched in the month of Rajab for the operation. Abdullah was given a letter to be opened only after they had travelled two days from Medina. The letter instructed him to proceed to Nakhla, situated between Mecca and Taif, lie in wait for the Quraysh and observe what they were doing.

At Nakhla, four Quraysh were guarding a donkey caravan. When they saw the Muslims they were afraid of them. One of Abdullah ibn Jahsh’s men, Ukkash ibn Mihsan, had shaved his head. This was to hide the real purpose of their journey, instead giving the Quraysh the impression of lesser Hajj (Umra).^{[citation needed]} Rajab was one of the four months in which fighting was forbidden and the Qurays did not expect hostilities.

The attack began while the Quraysh were busy preparing their food. In the short battle that ensued, Waqid bin Abdullah killed the leader of the Quraysh caravan, Amr ibn Al-Hadrami. The Muslims took two prisoners: Uthman bin Abdullah and al-Hakam bin Kaysan. Abdullah ibn Jahsh returned to Medina with the booty and with the two captured Quraysh.^{[citation needed]}

Since this bloodshed took place during a sacred month, Muhammad was initially quite unhappy about what had happened and refused to take his share from the raid. He freed the prisoners and paid blood money for the killed man. Muslims in Medina also reproached the raiders.^[4] The Quraysh spread the news of the raid and the killing by Muhammad in the sacred month. Later, Muhammad changed his attitude and justified the raiders' action in a Quran verse: Persecution is worse than killing.^[11]

The two prisoners were released in exchange for ransom and two Muslim prisoners. Soon after his release, al-Hakam bin Kaysan became a Muslim.^[12]

Permission to fight

Up to this point the Prophet told people to endure insults and abuse. Now however, the Muslims had the upper hand. Muhammad claimed that Allah gave him permission to fight.

The permission to fight was given in many stages:

• At first Muslims were only allowed to fight the Quraysh as they were the first to oppress the Muslims in Mecca. Muslims were allowed to seize their goods. Those tribes which the prophet made a peace treaty with were exempted from this treatment.
• Muslims were later allowed to fight those Pagan tribes that allied with the Quraysh.
• Subsequently Muslims were allowed to fight the "people of the book" (Christians and Jews). If these people paid "Jizya tax", then the Muslims were forbidden to fight them.
• Eventually, Muslims were required to make peace with any polytheist, Jews or Christians who embraced Islam, and were required to treat them with respect.^[4]

References

1. ^ Gabriel, Richard A. (2008), Muhammad, Islam first general, Blackwell, p. 73, ISBN 9780806138602, http://books.google.co.uk/books-id=nadbe2XP2o4C&pg=PA73&lpg=PA73&dq=muhammad+Caravan+Raids&source=bl&ots=sCbFWh-NPA&sig=isN95FU8t8yaO8q2YvpvM2uVnXQ&hl=en&ei=HTsQS5jCB4mh4QbwhYyJBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CAwQ6AEwATgK#v=onepage&q=muhammad%20Caravan%20Raids&f=false 
2. ^ Welch, Muhammad, Encyclopedia of Islam
3. ^ See:
   • Watt (1964) p. 76;
   • Peters (1999) p. 172
   • Michael Cook, Muhammad. In Founders of Faith, Oxford University Press, 1986, page 309.
4. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j} Al-Mubarakpuri, Saifur Rahman (2002), When the Moon Split, DarusSalam, pp. 145–148, http://books.google.co.uk/books-id=xJL6gxPUV4EC&pg=PA147&dq=the+first+sariyya#v=onepage&q=the%20first%20sariyya&f=false 
5. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m} Haykal, Husayn (1976), The Life of Muhammad, Islamic Book Trust, pp. 217–218, ISBN 9789839154177, http://books.google.co.uk/books-id=fOyO-TSo5nEC&pg=PA218&dq=raid+on+quraysh+caravan#v=snippet&q=first%20raids&f=false 
6. ^ Watt (1953), pp. 16-18
7. ^ Loyal Rue, Religion Is Not about God: How Spiritual Traditions Nurture Our Biological,2005, p.224
8. ^ John Esposito, Islam, Expanded edition, Oxford University Press, p.4-5
9. ^ Sahih al-Bukhari 5:57:74
10. ^ Nakhla Raid, 2008, http://mercytomankind.net/TheLifeOfMohamedDir/AbdullahIbnJahshRaid.html 
11. ^ ^{[Qur'an 2:217]}
12. ^ http://www.tafsir.com/default.asp-sid=2&tid=5727