Expedition of Surad ibn Abdullah

Battle and Massacre of Jurash (Expedition of Surad ibn Abdullah
Date Spring 632 AD, 10 AH Location Jurash, (south of Sanaa) Result Muslim Victory Massacre of all of cities inhabitants and Khath'am tribesmen [1]
Belligerents
First Islamic State	Jurash defenders Allied Khath'am tribesman
Commanders and leaders
Muhammad (oversaw the expedition) Surad ibn Abdullah (field commander)	Unnamed Tribal Leaders
Units involved
Likely 200-500 total fighters (15-20 fighters from Azd)	Likely 300-600 defenders
- Muslims besieged Jurash for 1 month. - Surad used a feigned withdrawal to lure defenders into a pitched battle. - Heavy casualties were inflicted on Jurash defenders; ambassadors later found the inhabitants had been killed. - Muhammad approved the campaign. [2]

Expedition of Surad ibn Abdullah to attack the people of Jurash took place in 10 AH of the Islamic calendar, ^{[3] [4]} around Spring ^{[5] [6]} (632 AD in the Gregorian calendar).

Background

In 10 AH of the Islamic calendar, 15–20 men from the Banu Azd, led by Surad ibn Abdullah, presented themselves to Muhammad to submit to Islam. Muhammad recognized Surad as the ruler of his clan, and ordered him to war against the Non-Muslim tribes in his neighborhood who didn't convert to Islam. The 15-20 men were later reinforced. The city of Jurash and the Khath'am tribe were pagans. ^{[4] [5] [6]}

Expedition

Initial attack

Surad ibn Abdullah then set out on his military expedition to Jurash in Yemen, and Muhammad provided him with an army of Muslim fighters to fulfil his task. At that time, Jurash was a closed city inhabited by Yemeni tribes. The Khath'am tribe sought refuge with the people of Jurash, when they heard of the Muslim marching to the area, they shut themselves inside the closed city and refused to open the doors. ^{[3] [5] [6]}

Surad ibn Abdullah besieged the city of Jurash for 1 month, but with no success. But then he pretended to withdraw from the area into the hills, the enemy fell into the trap, and then in pitch battles he defeated the pursuing enemy, ^[7] and Tabari mentions that he inflicted heavy casualties on them. ^{[3] [5] [6]}

Massacre of Jurash

The people of Jurash sent 2 ambassadors to Muhammad for talks of reconciliation, they talked to Muhammad kindly by referring to him, as "The Messenger of God". ^{[5] [6] [8]}

They then asked Muhammad what was currently happening at Jurash, he said that camels were being slaughtered, to which Abu Bakr or Uthman (which the 2 men were sat next to) said that what Muhammad meant was, that their people have been killed already i.e. slaughtered. Abu Bakr or Umar then said to the 2 men, that they should go to Muhammad, and ask him to pray to remove the affliction (pain and suffering). They did just that and they later returned to their city to find all their people were killed. ^{[3] [5] [6]}

See also

• Military career of Muhammad
• List of expeditions of Muhammad
• Spread of Islam

References

1. William Muir (August 1878), The Life of Mahomet, Kessinger Publishing Co, p. 219
2. John Walter Jandora (1990), The March from Medina: A Revisionist Study of the Arab Conquests, Kingston Press, p. 42, ISBN   978-0-940670-33-4 – via University of Michigan
3. Tabari, Al (25 Sep 1990), The last years of the Prophet (translated by Isma'il Qurban Husayn), State University of New York Press, p. 88, ISBN   978-0-88706-691-7 See pg 88–89
4. Muir, William (August 1878), The life of Mahomet (Full free digitized version), Kessinger Publishing Co, p. 219
5. Jandora, John Walter (1990), The march from Medina: a revisionist study of the Arab conquests, Kingston Press, Original from: University of Michigan, p. 42, ISBN   978-0-940670-33-4
6. Watt, William Montgomery (1981), Muhammad at Medina, Oxford University Press, p. 120, ISBN   978-0-940670-33-4
7. Muir, William (August 1878), The life of Mahomet (Full free digitized version), Kessinger Publishing Co, p. 220
8. Muir, William (August 1878), The life of Mahomet (Full free digitized version), Kessinger Publishing Co, p. 206