The Battle of Dhu al-Qassah took place in the area of Dhu al-Qassah, located approximately 36 kilometres (22 mi) east of Medina, in the Medina Province, in the central-western part of Saudi Arabia, from 25 to 30 July 632. It pitted the forces of the Rashidun Caliphate led by the Caliph Abu Bakr against the rebel apostates led by General Hibal ibn Khuwailid.
This battle, comprising four engagements resulted in a victory for the Rashidun Caliphate, marking the beginning of the Wars of Apostasy, the withdrawal of the apostate rebels to the Abraq area and a consolidation of Abu Bakr As-Siddiq's legitimacy in his new role as caliph.
Background
Situation following the death of Muhammad
After the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, on June 8, 632, Abu Bakr was appointed as his successor to lead the newly emerging state. However, the tribes of the Arabian Peninsula, which had mostly submitted and become Muslim under Muhammad from 631 abandoned Islam after his death, expelled the Zakat collectors, and triggered widespread apostasy affecting all the tribes of Arabia with the notable exception of the inhabitants of Mecca, Medina, and the Banu Thaqif of Ta'if. Some clans entirely renounced the faith, while others were divided between those who abandoned the belief and those who remained loyal.
Two self-proclaimed prophets, Tulayha ibn Khuwaylid and Musaylima ibn Habib, as well as a false prophetess, Sajah bint Al-Harith, fueled this apostasy. Musaylima had long been known as an impostor, while Tulayha began proclaiming himself a prophet during Muhammad's illness.
The main threat to Medina came from Tulayha ibn Khuwaylid and the tribes of central, western, and northern Arabia that followed him.
Course of events
Pre-battle
According to Agha Ali Ibrahim Akram
In his work The Sword Of Allah, Agha Ali Ibrahim Akram relates that about a week or two after the departure of Usama bin Zayd's army, delegates from Dhu al-Qassah came to Caliph Abu Bakr in Medina and declared:
We continue to pray, but we no longer pay the tax,,.
However, Abu Bakr refused this proposal. He responded firmly:
By Allah, if you withhold even an ounce of what is due, I will fight you. I give you one day to give your answer.,,,,.
The next morning, before the one-day ultimatum expired, the emissaries discreetly left Medina, signaling their rejection of Abu Bakr's demands,. Shortly after their departure, Abu Bakr sent his own emissaries to all the apostate tribes, urging them to remain faithful to Islam and continue paying their taxes, which did not have the desired effect.
The emissaries from Dhu al-Qassah, observant and attentive, noticed the absence of fighters before leaving Medina,,,. Upon their return, they reported to their compatriots about the conversation with Abu Bakr and the apparent vulnerability of Medina,,,, however, although Usama bin Zayd's main army had not yet returned from its expedition, the city was not as defenseless as they thought, as there were still many able-bodied men, particularly from the Banu Hashim clan, who had stayed behind to mourn their deceased relatives.
Meanwhile, Tulayha ibn Khuwaylid, now in Samira, reinforced the apostates of Dhu al-Qassah with a contingent led by his brother Hibal ibn Khuwailid.
After hearing the reports from the emissaries, the temptation to destroy Medina while it was still vulnerable became too great for the apostates. They then decided to march on the city. From Dhu Husa, where the apostates had established a base, part of the forces from Dhu al-Qassah advanced even closer to Medina in the third week of July 632 and set up camp, preparing to attack the city.
According to Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari
In his work The History of al-Tabari Vol. 10: The Conquest of Arabia, Al-Tabari relates that about ten days after the death of the Muhammad, delegations from the apostate tribes of the Banu Asad tribe, reinforced by a contingent of Tulayha ibn Khuwaylid led by Hibal ibn Khuwailid, the Banu Ghatafan, the Banu Hawazin, and the Tayy went to meet Caliph Abu Bakr. Upon their arrival to Medina, they were received by the Muslim leaders, except for Al-Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib. These delegations proposed performing the ritual prayer while requesting an exemption from the Zakat. Abu Bakr rejected this proposal, stating:
If they refuse me even the halter of a camel, I will fight them for it,,,
He issued an ultimatum, giving the delegations one day and one night to accept his conditions,,. After this period, the delegations, having refused the conditions imposed, returned to their respective tribes. Upon their return, they reported the small number of defenders in Medina, thus arousing their compatriots to covet the city and prompting them to prepare for an attack. After expelling the rebel delegations, Abu Bakr then placed men to monitor the mountain passes around Medina,, including Ali ibn Abi Talib, Zubayr ibn al-Awwam, Talha ibn Ubayd Allah, Abd Allah ibn Masud, Khalid ibn al-Walid, and Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf. He then gathered the people of Medina in the mosque and declared to them:
The country has fallen into disbelief. The members of the delegation have observed that you are few in number and that you could be caught off guard in case of an attack, whether by day or night. The nearest enemies are only a stage away from you. They hoped that we would accept their demands and reconcile with them, but we rejected their proposals and annulled their treaty. So prepare yourselves.
As a result, the inhabitants of Medina prepared themselves.
Battle
First confrontation
Abu Bakr was informed of the rebels' movement and immediately began organizing the defense of Medina. The Caliph gathered a fighting force from the remaining men. Ali ibn Abi Talib, Zubayr ibn al-Awwam, Talha ibn Ubayd Allah, and Abd Allah ibn Masud each commanded a part of this new army.
For three days, nothing happened. The apostates, uncertain of where to start, took no action. Abu Bakr then decided, on his order, to have the Muslims leave Medina to launch a swift attack on the apostates' forward camp. This successful offensive pushed the apostates back to Dhu Husa. Informed of this success, Abu Bakr ordered the Muslims to stay in place and await further instructions.
Less than three days later, the apostate forces launched a nighttime attack on Medina, leaving half of their men at Dhu Husa as a reserve. The attacking cavalry reached the mountain passes during the night, where fighters were already positioned. Scouts on foot preceded them, alerting the defenders and sending a message to Caliph Abu Bakr.
Abu Bakr ordered them to hold their positions, which they did, while the caliph led the inhabitants from the mosque, mounted on their pack camels. Faced with this response, the apostates lost their resolve and turned back.
In his work Biographies of the Rightly Guided Caliphs, Tamir Abu Suood Muhammad relates that after three days, the apostate rebels began to move actively within the Dhu Husa camp. Muslim scouts reported that the apostates were planning to attack Medina that night. Caliph Abu Bakr gathered all the adult Muslim men in the mosque. After the Isha prayer, these men were divided into groups to guard the various neighborhoods of the city. Leading a contingent, Abu Bakr took position at a strategic point facing Dhu Husa, where the attack was expected to occur.
The apostates launched the attack at midnight, hoping to take the city by surprise. Convinced that there was no fighting force in Medina, they expected to meet no resistance and anticipated an easy victory. As the apostate forces advanced in the darkness of the night, Abu Bakr's contingent fell upon them, taking them by surprise. Many apostate rebels were killed in the battle, while the others fled in total confusion back to Dhu Husa, where the Muslims pursued them.
Second confrontation
The day after this first victorious confrontation for the Rashidun Caliphate, Abu Bakr left Medina accompanied by a large number of pack camels, as all the riding camels had been requisitioned for the Expedition of Usama bin Zayd. Upon their arrival at the abandoned camp of the apostates, the Muslims who had expelled them mounted the camels, and the army headed towards Dhu Husa, the apostates' base camp.
Hibal ibn Khuwailid, anticipating the Muslims' approach, displayed his military skills by strategically positioning his troops behind a slope, at some distance from the base towards which the Muslims were advancing. The Muslims, riding their pack camels, advanced unsuspectingly, unaware of the apostates' presence hidden behind the slope. As they approached the summit, the apostates suddenly emerged and hurled numerous water-filled goatskins towards the Muslims. Loud noises echoed among the apostates, with some drumming and shouting. The pack camels, untrained for battle and unaccustomed to sudden noises or unfamiliar objects, panicked and fled. Despite the Muslims' efforts to control their mounts, they failed and soon, the entire Muslim force retreated towards Medina.
Hibal ibn Khuwailid, having repelled the Muslims without truly engaging in battle, interpreted their retreat as a sign of fear, not realizing that the camels' panic was the real cause. The part of his forces remaining at Dhu al-Qassah was informed of this success and prepared to advance. That same evening, the entirety of the apostate forces advanced and re-established their camp near Medina, which they had left the previous day. The morale of the apostates was strengthened by this success.
The Muslims pursued the apostate cavalry on their pack camels to Dhu Husa, where the enemy reserves suddenly appeared with inflated goatskins, tied with ropes. They then rolled them with their feet towards the camels, each skin unwinding on its tether. The Muslims' pack camels, panicking as never before. despite the Muslims' efforts to control their mounts, failed and brought them back to Medina. However, no Muslim was thrown off or injured.
The apostates, believing that the Muslims were in a weakened position, sent instructions to the troops at Dhu al-Qassah, urging them to advance. In response to this situation, Abu Bakr spent the night reorganizing and preparing his army.
Third confrontation
The Muslims, furious and determined to take revenge, learned that the apostates had returned to their camp near Medina and decided to attack them before they could finalize their battle preparations. Under the instructions of Abu Bakr, the Muslims spent most of the night reorganizing their small army and preparing for combat.
During the last part of the night, Abu Bakr led his army out of Medina and deployed it in an assault formation, with a center, two flanks, and a rear guard. He kept the center under his direct command, placed the right flank under al-Nu'man ibn Muqarrin, the left flank under Abd Allah ibn Muqarrin, and the rear guard under Suwayd ibn Muqarrin. Before dawn, the army advanced towards the enemy camp, where the apostates, confident of an easy victory the next day, were sound asleep. This time, it was Hibal ibn Khuwailid who was caught by surprise.
Before the first light of dawn appeared, the Muslims launched a furious assault on the apostates' camp. Without quarter, they killed many enemies. while most of the survivors fled, stopping only at Dhu al-Qassah to rest and regroup.
After this attack, the morale of the apostates was significantly weakened. Abu Bakr had opted for a surprise attack to compensate for his numerical inferiority, and this strategy proved successful.
After spending most of the night reorganizing and preparing his army, Abu Bakr marched out in battle order during the last part of the night, with Al-Nu'man ibn Muqrin on his right flank, Abdullah ibn Muqrin on his left flank, and Suwaid ibn Muqrin commanding the cavalry at the rear.
At dawn, they found themselves on the same plain as the apostates. The Muslims advanced in silence, without making a sound, until they attacked the apostates with their swords, massacring them before the night was over. Thus, before the first ray of sunlight rose, the Muslims had already turned their backs on the enemy, and Hibal ibn Khuwailid was killed. The Muslims seized all their riding camels after the confrontation.