The Battle of Ghatafaan

From the book · p. 48

In brief· the site’s own summary, not the book’s words

In Rabi-ul-Awwal 3 A.H., Du'thoor bin Haarith Muhaaribi set out with four hundred and fifty men to attack Madinah, but they fled to the mountain tops when the Muslims came out. On the way home, while Nabi ﷺ (peace and blessings be upon him) rested alone under a tree, Du'thoor came at him with a sword and asked who would save him now. Nabi ﷺ (peace and blessings be upon him) answered that Allah ﷻ (exalted is His majesty) would save him; Du'thoor trembled and dropped the sword, and Nabi ﷺ (peace and blessings be upon him) picked it up, asked him the same question, and then spared him. Moved by this, Du'thoor accepted Islaam and called his own people to it, and the book asks whether anyone fair could still say that Islaam spread by the sword.

In 3 Du’thoor bin Haarith Muhaaribi marched with an army of four hundred and fifty soldiers to attack Madinah. He intended destroying the Muslims.

ﷺ (peace and blessings be upon him) and the رضي الله عنهم (may Allah be pleased with them) came out of Madinah to confront Du`thoor but Du’thoor and his army fled out of fear for the Muslims and hid in the mountain tops. Nabi ﷺ (peace and blessings be upon him) was then at ease and returned from the battlefield.

On their return it rained and their clothes were wet. Nabi ﷺ (peace and blessings be upon him) removed his upper garment and hung it on a tree to dry whilst he rested under its shade. The rest of the Sahaabah رضي الله عنهم (may Allah be pleased with them) were some distance away from Nabi ﷺ (peace and blessings be upon him).

Du`thoor recognized this as a good opportunity to attack Nabi ﷺ (peace and blessings be upon him) because he was alone. He approached Nabi ﷺ (peace and blessings be upon him), unsheathed his sword and asked: “Who will save you from me now?” Nabi ﷺ (peace and blessings be upon him) replied: “My Allah will save me.” Du’thoor heard this and began trembling. This caused the sword to fall from his hands. Nabi ﷺ (peace and blessings be upon him) lifted the sword and asked Du`thoor: “Who will now save you from me?” “Nobody is there to save me,” he replied.

Nabi ﷺ (peace and blessings be upon him) felt sorry for him and spared him. Du’thoor departed and was so affected by the noble character of ﷺ (peace and blessings be upon him) that not only did he accept Islaam, but after returning to his people, he began propagating Islaam amongst them with great enthusiasm.

This was the noble character of our Nabi ﷺ (peace and blessings be upon him) that caused the greatest of enemies to relent. They became deeply affected by the noble character of Rasulullah ﷺ (peace and blessings be upon him) and were honoured with the acceptance of Islaam. If any person would care to observe this objectively without any bias, can he claim that Islaam spread by the sword?

In brief· the site’s own summary, not the book’s words

In Rabi-ul-Awwal 3 A.H., Du'thoor bin Haarith Muhaaribi set out with four hundred and fifty men to attack Madinah, but they fled to the mountain tops when the Muslims came out. On the way home, while Nabi ﷺ rested alone under a tree, Du'thoor came at him with a sword and asked who would save him now. Nabi ﷺ answered that Allah ﷻ would save him; Du'thoor trembled and dropped the sword, and Nabi ﷺ picked it up, asked him the same question, and then spared him. Moved by this, Du'thoor accepted Islaam and called his own people to it, and the book asks whether anyone fair could still say that Islaam spread by the sword.

The book’s text

The book’s text