A few days after the Battle of Ushayrah, ¹ in the month of Jumada-al-Akhirah, 2 A.H., ² the Holy Prophet  set out for the Battle of Safwan. ³ He set out in pursuit of Kurz ibn Jabir al-Fihri, ⁴ a well-known horseman from Makkah. The forces of the Holy Prophet pursued him till Safwan because Kurz ibn Jabir al-Fihri had stolen the camels and other grazing animals of the Muslims. Upon arriving there, The Holy Prophet found no trace of Kurz, so he returned to Madinah. ⁵ This expedition is also known as ‘Badr-ul-Ula’ (The first Expedition to Badr) ⁶ or Ghazwah-e-Safwan.

Kurz ibn Al-Fihri’s Raid

Near the valley of Aqiq, there was a pasture called ‘Umm-e-Khalid’ where the residents of Madinah would graze their animals. ⁷ Kurz ibn Jabir al-Fihri, accompanied by some horsemen, raided this pasture ⁸ and stole a few of the Muslims’ camels and other grazing animals. ⁹ This was the first move made by the people of Makkah against the people of Madinah. It was an attack that the Islamic state could not afford to leave unanswered. Thus, when the Holy Prophet received the news of this incident, he immediately raised an army. He made Ali ibn Abi Ṭalib the commander of the army ¹⁰ and left Medina with 70 companions for the valley of Safwan, ¹¹ which was located near Badr and was 73 kilometers away from Madinah. ¹² On one front, there was The Holy Prophet and his army, and on the other front he sent Saad ibn Abi Waqaṣ to follow Kurz ibn Jabir al-Fihri. They searched for him all the way till Kharrar but remained unsuccessful in finding him. ¹³ The Holy Prophet also searched for Kurz all the way to Safwan, but he too could not find him and He deemed any further pursuit to be futile. Thus, he returned to Madinah and spent the months of Rajab and Shaban there. ¹⁴

The Holy Prophet’s response sent a clear message to the Quraysh, that the Islamic State was willing to and capable of sending a militarized response to any aggression by the Quraysh and that it was not willing to compromise its political sovereignty under any circumstance.

• ¹  Abd Al-Malik ibn Hisham (1955), Al-Seerat Al-Nabawiyah le-ibn Hisham, Shirkah Maktaba wa Matba’a Mustafa Al-Babi, Cairo, Egypt, Vol. 1 Pg. 601.
• ²  Muhammad ibn Umar ibn Mubarak Al-Himyari (1419 A.H.), Hadaiq Al-Anwar wa Matal’e Al-Asrar fi Seerat Al-Nabi Al-Mukhtar, Dar Al-Minhaj, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Pg. 517.
• ³  Muhammad ibn Ahmed Bashmeel (1988) Min M’arik Al-Islam Al-Fasila, Al-Maktaba Al-Salfiyah, Cairo, Egypt, Vol. 1, Pg. 114.
• ⁴  Abd Al-Malik ibn Hisham (1955), Al-Seerat Al-Nabawiyah le-ibn Hisham, Shirkah Maktaba wa Matba’a Mustafa Al-Babi, Cairo, Egypt, Vol. 1, Pg. 601.
• ⁵  Abd Al-Rahman ibn Abdullah Al-Suhaili (2009), Al-Raudh Al-Unf fi Sharha Al-Seerat Al-Nabawiyah le-ibn Hisham, Dar Al-Kutub Al-Ilmiyah, Beirut, Lebanon, Vol. 3, Pg. 41.
• ⁶  Abd Al-Malik ibn Hisham (1955), Al-Seerat Al-Nabawiyah le-ibn Hisham, Shirkah Maktaba wa Matba’a Mustafa Al-Babi, Cairo, Egypt, Vol.1, Pg. 601.
• ⁷  Abu Abdullah Yaqut ibn Abdullah Al-Hamwi (1995), M’ujam Al-Buldan, Dar Sadir, Beirut, Lebanon, Vol. 3, Pg. 353.
• ⁸  Abu Bakr Ahmed ibn Al-Husain Al-Bayhaqui (2008), Dalail Al-Nabuwah wa M’arifat Ahwal Sahib Al-Shariyah, Dar Al-Kutub Al-Ilmiyah, Beirut, Lebanon, Vol. 3, Pg. 13.
• ⁹  Muhammad ibn Ahmed Bashmeel (1988) Min M’arik Al-Islam Al-Fasila, Al-Maktaba Al-Salfiyah, Cairo, Egypt, Vol. 1, Pg. 114-115.
• ¹⁰  Muhammad ibn Abd Al-Baqi ibn Yusuf Al-Zurqani (2012), Sharah Al-Zurqani ‘Ala Al-Mawahib Al-Laduniyyah, Dar Al-Kutub Al-Ilmiyah, Beirut, Lebanon, Vol. 2, Pg. 237.
• ¹¹  Safi Al-Rahman Al-Mubarakpuri (2010), Al-Raheeq Al-Makhtum, Dar Ibn Hazam, Beirut, Lebanon, Pg. 219.
• ¹²  Abd al-Malik (2022), Aṭlas al-Ghazawat, Maktabat al-Arab, Karachi, Pakistan, Pg. 60.
• ¹³  Abu Muhammad Ali ibn Ahmed ibn Hazm Al-Undulasi (2002), Jawami Al-Seerat al-Nabawiyya, Dar Al-Kutub al-Ilmiyah, Beirut, Lebanon, Pg. 78.
• ¹⁴  Abd Al-Rahman ibn Abdullah Al-Suhaili (2009), Al-Raudh Al-Unf fi Sharha Al-Seerat Al-Nabawiyah le-ibn Hisham, Dar Al-Kutub Al-Ilmiyah, Beirut, Lebanon, Vol. 3, Pg. 41.