The Expedition of Abdullah ibn Unais, also known as the Assassination of Khaled bin Sufyan was the first attack against the Banu Lahyan, which took place in the month of Muharram in the year A.H. 3. It was reported that

Khaled bin Sufyan Al-Hathali Khaled bin Sufyan Al-Hathali (name also al-Hudhali, or Hudayr) belonged to the Banu Lahyan tribe at the time of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad. Muhammad said that Khalid was planning on attacking Madinah and instructed the people of Nakhla and Uranah ...

(also known as Hudayr, the chief of the Banu Lahyan tribe), considered an attack on Madinah and that he was inciting the people on Nakhla or

Uranah Uranah is a location in Saudi Arabia. The Expedition of Abdullah Ibn Unais The Expedition of Abdullah ibn Unais, also known as the Assassination of Khaled bin Sufyan was the first attack against the Banu Lahyan, which took place in the month of Mu ...

to fight Muslims. So Muhammad sent

Abdullah ibn Unais Abdullah ibn Unais was a companion (Sahaba) of the Islamic prophet Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic ...

to assassinate him. After cutting off Khaled bin Sufyan's head at night, Unais brought it back to Muhammad.Note: Book contains a list of battles of Muhammad in Arabic, English translation availabl
here
/ref>

Attack on the chief of Banu Lahyan

After the migration to Medina Muhammed also faced the daunting task of protecting those who had migrated to Medina with him and the residents of Medina who had allowed him and his followers to settle in Medina. In this vein, he proactively tried to gather information of possible attacks and acted to crush the enemies. This expedition was executed on a similar news. It was reported that Khaled bin Sufyan Al-Hathali (also known as Hudayr, the chief of the Banu Lahyan tribe), considered an attack on Madinah and that he was inciting the people on Nakhla or Uranah to fight Muslims.

found Hudayr in the company of his wife, when asked about his identity. Unais replied:

"I A man from the Arabs; it came to me that you were gathering (any army) for this man (i.e. Prophet ﷺ). Hence I came to you in connection with this matter." He (Khalid bin Sufayn) said: "I am (engaged) in this (work)." I then walked along with him for a while; when it became convenient for me, I dominated him with my sword until he became cold (dead)."

Khaled bin Sufyan trusted him. Then Unais asked to talk to him privately, once, while conversing, Abdullah ibn Unais walked a short distance with ibn Sufyan, and when an opportunity came he struck him with his sword and killed him. After killing ibn Sufyan, he cut off his head and brought that to Muhammad. Muhammad gave him his staff as a reward and said:

This will function as a sign of recognition for you and me, on the day of resurrection (
Musnad Ahmad ''Musnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal'' ( ar, مسند أحمد بن حنبل) is a collection of musnad hadith compiled by the Islamic scholar Ahmad ibn Hanbal (d. 241 AH/855 AD) to whom the Hanbali fiqh (legislation) is attributed. Description It is one ...
3:496)As-Sunnah
says Ahmad 3:496, al-Waqidi 2:533

/ref>

This assassination had the effect of silencing the Banu Lahyan, for some time. But another branch of Banu Lihyan wanted to take revenge for the killing of their leader, Khaled bin Sufyan and were thinking of means to do so.

Islamic sources

Biographical literature

This event is mentioned in

Ibn Hisham Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Hishām ibn Ayyūb al-Ḥimyarī al-Muʿāfirī al-Baṣrī ( ar, أبو محمد عبدالملك بن هشام ابن أيوب الحميري المعافري البصري; died 7 May 833), or Ibn Hisham, e ...

's biography of Muhammad. The Muslim jurist

Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyya Shams al-Dīn Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Abī Bakr ibn Ayyūb al-Zurʿī l-Dimashqī l-Ḥanbalī (29 January 1292–15 September 1350 CE / 691 AH–751 AH), commonly known as Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya ("The son of the principal of he school ...

also mentions the event in his biography of Muhammad,

Zad al-Ma'ad ''Zad al-Ma'ad Fi Hadyi Khair Al 'Ibaad'' ( ar, زاد المعاد في هدي خير العباد) is a 5-volume book, translated as Provisions of the Hereafter in the Guidance of the Best of Servants, written by the Islamic scholar Ibn al-Qayyim. ...

. Modern secondary sources which mention this, include the award winning book,
Ar-Raheeq Al-Makhtum - The Sealed Nectar
''. Dar-us-Salam Publications.

Ar-Raheeq Al-Makhtum ''Ar-Raheeq Al-Makhtum'' ( ar, الرحيق المختوم; ), is a seerah book, or biography of the Prophet, which was written by Safiur Rahman Mubarakpuri. This book was awarded first prize by the Muslim World League in a worldwide competition ...

(The Sealed Nectar). The Muslim jurist

Tabari ( ar, أبو جعفر محمد بن جرير بن يزيد الطبري), more commonly known as al-Ṭabarī (), was a Muslim historian and scholar from Amol, Tabaristan. Among the most prominent figures of the Islamic Golden Age, al-Tabari i ...

, also mentions the event in his biography of Muhammad:

Hadith literature

The incident is also mentioned in the Sunni Hadith collection Sunan Abu Dawud: The event is also mentioned in

Musnad Ahmad ''Musnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal'' ( ar, مسند أحمد بن حنبل) is a collection of musnad hadith compiled by the Islamic scholar Ahmad ibn Hanbal (d. 241 AH/855 AD) to whom the Hanbali fiqh (legislation) is attributed. Description It is one ...

3:496.

References

Notes