Expedition of Khalid ibn al-Walid, to Mecca, against Banu Jadhimah, took place in January 630 AD, 8AH, 9th month, of the Islamic Calendar.
Khalid ibn al-Walid was sent to invite the Banu Jadhimah tribe to Islam. They accepted the invitation, but Khalid took all of them prisoners and executed a portion of the tribe anyway (before he was stopped), due to past enmity.
Expedition against Banu Jadhimah
On his return from Nakhla expedition to destroy al-Uzza, Khalid bin Al-Waleed at the head of 350 horsemen of Helpers, Emigrants and Banu Saleem was despatched once again in the same year 8 A.H to the habitation of Bani Khuzaimah bedouins, who were Sabaeans,
His mission was to invite them to Islam. Many of the tribe members accepted the offer and converted to Islam. However Khalid ibn Walid had a past Ancient enmity with this tribe. According to the non-Muslim scholar Sir William Muir, what happened next, was one of the reasons that got Khalid ibn Walid the title of "The Sword of Allah".
Khalid ibn Walid tied them up and made them all prisoners and ordered their execution despite their conversion. A portion were put to death, before some other Muslims who were citizens of Medina came along, intervened to stop this.
News of bloodshed reached the Muhammad. He was deeply grieved and raised his hands towards the heaven, uttering these words: "O Allâh! I am innocent of what Khalid has done," twice. He immediately sent ‘Ali to make every possible reparation to the tribes who had been wronged. After a careful inquiry, ‘Ali paid the blood-money to all those who suffered loss. The remaining portion was also distributed amongst the members of the tribe in order to alleviate their suffering. Khalid, had a row with ‘Abdur Rahman bin ‘Awf. Hearing this, the Prophet Muhammad got angry, and ordered Khalid to stop that altercation adding that his Companions (meaning ‘Abdur Rahman bin ‘Awf) were too high in rank to be involved in such arguments.
Islamic sources
Islamic primary sources
An early written mention of this event is in the Sirat Rasul Allah (Life of Muhammad) by Ibn Ishaq, written just over 150 years after Muhammad's death. According to this work, Khalid was sent to the Banu Jadhimah tribe. Khalid persuaded them to disarm by acknowledging that they had become Muslims, and then killed some of them. When Muhammad heard of this, he declared to God that he was innocent of what Khalid had done, and sent 'Ali b. Abi Talilb to pay the survivors compensation.
The event is also mentioned by the later Muslim Scholar Ibn Sa'd in his book "Kitab al-tabaqat al-kabir", as follows:
The Expedition is mentioned in the Sunni hadith collection Sahih al-Bukhari as follows:
Muhammad Muhsin Khan, said in his book "The Translation of the Meanings Of Sahih Al-Bukhari", that Muhammad sent Khalid to fight the Banu Jadhima, and used this hadith as a reference
Modern scholars
The Muslim scholar Muhammad Husayn Haykal (d. 1956), in his book "The Life of Muhammad" writes that Khalid intended to kill the people, he writes:
See also
- Muhammad as a general