Episode 50: Events After Uhud
Expedition Against Banu Asad (Expedition of Qatan):
A tribe called Banu Asad were preparing themselves to attack Madinah. However, the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ received intel from his sources that this tribe was planning an attack on them.
Banu Asad were led by a man called Tulayha ibn Khuwaylid.
The Prophet ﷺ then sent an army to attack this tribe and appointed Abu Salamah, one of the early Muslims, as the commander of the army.
Abu Salamah had a wound from the Battle of Uhud which he later died because of.
A month after the Battle of Uhud, Abu Salamah and his army of one hundred and fifty soldiers surprisingly attacked the tribe of Banu Asad as they were not expecting the Muslims to attack them.
The tribe of Banu Asad ran away and left all of their possessions, which the Muslims collected before returning to Madinah.
When the Muslims witnessed this, they were uplifted after what they had experienced at the Battle of Uhud.
Death of Abu Salamah:
As mentioned above, Abu Salamah was severely wounded at the Battle of Uhud.
This wound had re-opened during this expedition and Abu Salamah passed away because of it.
The Threat of Hudhayl Neutralised:
Another tribe, called the Hudhayl, tried to attack Madinah and they had a huge army but the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ sent an army of one man.
He sent Abdullah ibn Unais and instructed him to assassinate the leader of the tribe, Sufyan ibn Khalid to neutralise the threat of this tribe.
Abdullah ibn Unais assassinated Sufyan and returned back to Madinah.
Amr ibn Al-A’as and the Najashi:
Amr ibn Al-A’as, who wasn’t a Muslim at this time, went to Abyssinia to do some business and took some skins of animals to give to the Najashi as a gift.
Amr ibn Al-A’as then wanted to take Amr ibn Umayyah as a prisoner for the Quraysh and he requested the Najashi for Amr ibn Umayyah to be sent back with him.
The Najashi replied: Do you think that I will send the messenger of the Messenger of Allah with you? Do you know who Muhammad is? He is the one who receives revelation just like Musa did, and do you think the one he sent, I will surrender to you?
Amr ibn Al A’as was surprised by this and replied: you consider Muhammad as a Prophet like Musa was? The Najashi replied: Yes.
The Najashi then explained and taught the religion of Islam to Amr ibn Al A’as.
Islam entered into the heart of Amr ibn Al A’as and later, he became a Muslim.
The Prophet’s Proposal to the Daughter of Abu Sufyan:
Around the same time, the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ sent Amr ibn Umayyah to Abyssinia in order to propose on behalf of the Prophet, to Umm Habiba, the daughter of Abu Sufyan.
Umm Habiba was a Muslim and she was left without a husband, but she accepted the proposal of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.
The Prophet married Umm Habiba and the Najashi conducted the Nikkah and set up the Walima.
The Prophet Marries Umm Salamah:
After the Battle of Uhud, the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ also married Umm Salamah, the wife of Abu Salamah.
After Abu Salamah died, Umm Salamah learnt the following Dua from the Prophet ﷺ: Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi rajioon.
The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said: anyone who makes this Dua after being afflicted with calamity, Allah will give them reward for their patience and replace it with something better.
Umm Salamah then made the Dua but she would think to herself: how could someone be better than Abu Salamah?
Later on, Allah SWT answered her Dua and she received a proposal from the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.
They got married and she became one of the ‘Mothers of the Believers’, and Allah SWT had answered her Dua as He replaced her late husband, with someone better in the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.
The Prophet’s Marriage to Zaynab bint Jahsh:
The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ then married Zaynab bint Jahsh, who before this, was married to Zayd ibn Al-Haritha.
Zayd ibn Al-Haritha was the adopted son of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and was known as Zayd ibn Muhammad before it was haram to take a child and replace it with their own name.
The Prophet wanted the marriage between Zayd and Zaynab to work out and did not want their marriage to end, so he even acted as a counsellor for them.
The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ had this fear that if Zayd ibn Al-Haritha divorced her, Allah SWT would command him to marry his cousin, Zaynab.
The Quraysh still considered Zayd to be the Prophet’s son so he was afraid that people would say: Muhammad married the wife of his son.
Zayd ibn Al-Haritha ended up divorcing Zaynab and Allah SWT commanded the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ to marry Zaynab bint Jahsh.
Allah SWT performed their marriage (mentioned in the Quran, 33:37).