Malik ibn Awf al-Nasri
مَالِك بْن عَوْف النَّصْرِيّMālik ibn ʿAwf an-Naṣrī
Biography
A newly elected chieftain of about thirty who led the great pagan confederacy of Hawāzin, Thaqīf and their allies against the Muslims at Ḥunayn, the largest gathering of pagan Arabs in their history. Against the counsel of the blind elder Durayd ibn al-Ṣimmah, he insisted on bringing the tribes' women, children and herds to the battlefield to stiffen the men's resolve, even threatening to kill himself if they disobeyed him. He devised the clever ambush at the pass of Ḥunayn that first routed the Muslims. He later accepted Islam and was set by the Prophet ﷺ over those of his people who converted.
Significance
The commander whose ambush nearly broke the Muslim army at Ḥunayn, and whose youthful pride Durayd warned against.
Stories
Thaqif and Hawazin Gather for Hunayn
historicalShaykh Yasir Qadhi explains: As the Prophet ﷺ camped in Mecca, word came that Thaqīf, the tribe of Ṭāʾif, whose idol was al-Lāt, was raising an army.…
Read the full story →Durayd Counsels the Young Malik
historicalShaykh Yasir Qadhi explains: The tribes brought to the camp their oldest nobleman, Durayd ibn aṣ-Ṣimmah, blind, aged, a famed warrior of many battles…
Read the full story →Hunayn: The Ambush and the Rally
historicalShaykh Yasir Qadhi explains: At twelve thousand, never so many before, a Muslim boasted, "How can we be beaten today?" The Prophet ﷺ rebuked it, tell…
Read the full story →The Hawazin Captives Returned, and the Ji'rana Umrah
historicalShaykh Yasir Qadhi explains: The Prophet ﷺ had waited nearly a month at Jiʿrānah for Hawāzin to come and accept Islam, for then, as with Juwayriyah's…
Read the full story →Mālik ibn ʿAwf Reinstated, and 'No King Would Do This'
historicalShaykh Yasir Qadhi explains: After Hawāzin embraced Islam and their families were restored, the Prophet ﷺ asked after their leader, Mālik ibn ʿAwf al…
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