The Sariyyah of Nakhla: The First Blood and Q 2:217

Dr. Yasir Qadhi narrates in detail the Sariyyat al-Nakhlah, the first armed skirmish in Islamic history that resulted in blood being shed, the first prisoners of war, and the occasion for the revelation of Qurʾān 2:217. It took place in Rajab 2 AH.

❧Context: Reconnaissance After First Badr

After the inconclusive First Badr (in which the Quraish-allied ambushers escaped), the Prophet ﷺ began sending out reconnaissance missions, teams tasked with gathering intelligence on Quraish movements and trade routes. He was keeping all options open, including the possibility of attacking the Yemeni caravan (going south, the opposite direction of Syria) to catch the Quraish by surprise from behind. One such mission became the Sariyyat al-Nakhlah.

❧The Selection and the Sealed Letter

For this mission, the Prophet ﷺ departed from his usual practice of calling for volunteers. He handpicked eight Muhājirūn, no Anṣār (as with all expeditions at this stage). He placed them under the leadership of his cousin ʿAbdullāh ibn Jaḥsh (raḍiyallāhu ʿanhu) and handed him a sealed letter with strict instructions: "Do not open this until two days have passed."

The eight men departed Madīnah traveling northeast, away from Makkah. This was deliberate deception (al-ḥarbu khidʿah, "war is deception," the same principle famously articulated by Sun Tzu): to any observer, they appeared to be heading in the opposite direction. Even the eight men themselves did not know where they were going.

❧Opening the Letter

After two days, ʿAbdullāh ibn Jaḥsh broke the seal and read: "When you read this letter, proceed to Nakhlah", a valley east of Makkah on the road toward Ṭāʾif. This meant doubling back south through the desert, effectively walking toward enemy territory. The letter continued: "Monitor the movements and preparations of the Quraish and report back to us. Do not force any of your companions, whoever wishes to return to Madīnah may do so without shame."

ʿAbdullāh ibn Jaḥsh assembled his men and said: "The Prophet ﷺ has commanded me to proceed to Nakhlah. As for me: samiʿnā wa aṭaʿnā, I hear and I obey. Whoever desires *shahādah and is eager to meet Allāh, come with me. Whoever wishes to return to Madīnah, go, there is no shame."* He personally expected not to return alive: they were eight men walking into essentially enemy territory with no military support. Not a single one of the eight turned back.** (They had four camels shared between eight men, two per camel, the chronic resource scarcity of the early Muslims.)

❧Two Men Left Behind

That morning, the camel shared by Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqāṣ and ʿUtbah ibn Ghazwān broke its tether and vanished into the desert. Camels, unlike horses, do not need men to survive, they are independent enough to wander freely. Despite the ḥadīth: "Trust in Allāh, and tie your camel," the tethered camel still broke free. Saʿd and ʿUtbah insisted: "Go ahead. Leave us. The mission must continue." They were left in the open desert with no mount and uncertain fate. The remaining six pressed on.

❧Arrival at Nakhlah: The Dilemma

The six reached Wādī Nakhlah on the 30th of Rajab, the last day of the sacred month, with only hours remaining before Shaʿbān. Before they could even establish a reconnaissance post, they spotted in the distance a small Quraish commercial caravan returning from trade: loaded with spices, raisins, and assorted goods, guarded by only a handful of men, no military escort. The caravan was traveling confidently, certain no one would attack during the Ashhur al-Ḥurum (sacred months), when fighting was universally prohibited.

The six Muslims faced a stark dilemma:

- Wait for sunset (Shaʿbān): The caravan would have passed into Makkah's proximity, effectively unreachable.

- Attack now: They would be fighting in the sacred month, a major prohibition in both the Sharīʿah of Ibrāhīm and Islamic law.

The setup felt almost engineered to test them: they were so close, the prize so accessible, the window so narrow. After deliberation, they chose to act.

❧The Attack

They attacked. One member of the caravan was killed, making this the first blood shed between Muslims and the Quraish in battle. Two were captured as prisoners of war, the first prisoners of war in Islamic history, predating Badr. The merchandise and camels were seized. The six turned immediately back toward Madīnah without even setting up camp, they had effectively done neither the reconnaissance nor the trade-caravan mission they were sent for. They had simply stumbled into a confrontation and now returned with the consequences.

❧The Prophet's ﷺ Distress

When they arrived in Madīnah, the Prophet ﷺ was visibly troubled. He said: "I did not command you to fight." He refused to accept the booty. He refused to formally take the prisoners. The Quraish, led by Abū Sufyān and other leaders, spread news across the entire Arabian Peninsula: "Look at the Muslims! They have violated the Ashhur al-Ḥurum! They shed the blood of an innocent man in the sacred months! They have contradicted the Sharīʿah of Ibrāhīm!"

The Jewish tribes of Madīnah were also pleased with the controversy. From this incident onward, it became clear to the Prophet ﷺ that the Jewish tribes would not be genuine partners or allies, they would opportunistically take the side of whoever was causing friction for the Muslims.

The criticism, as Ibn Isḥāq notes, was valid in its place: the Muslims had erred.

❧The Revelation of Q 2:217

As the fitnah (controversy) mounted, Allāh revealed in Sūrat al-Baqarah, verse 217:

> يَسْأَلُونَكَ عَنِ الشَّهْرِ الْحَرَامِ قِتَالٍ فِيهِ ۖ قُلْ قِتَالٌ فِيهِ كَبِيرٌ

> "They ask you about fighting in the sacred month. Say: Fighting in it is a grave matter [kabīr, a major sin]."

Allāh confirmed the sin, did not excuse it, did not sanction it. But then:

> وَصَدٌّ عَن سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ وَكُفْرٌ بِهِ وَالْمَسْجِدِ الْحَرَامِ وَإِخْرَاجُ أَهْلِهِ مِنْهُ أَكْبَرُ عِندَ اللَّهِ

> "But preventing people from the path of Allāh, disbelieving in Him, preventing access to the Sacred Mosque, and expelling its people from it, all this is greater [akbar] in the sight of Allāh."

> وَالْفِتْنَةُ أَكْبَرُ مِنَ الْقَتْلِ

> "And fitnah is greater than killing."

Ibn ʿAbbās (raḍiyallāhu ʿanhumā) said the fitnah here is shirk. Ibn al-Qayyim comments on this verse at length: Allāh confirmed the sin without exonerating it, and then turned to the critics: Who are you to criticize? When what you have done, rejecting Allāh, preventing access to His House, expelling His people from their homes solely for saying Rabbunā Allāh, is far greater in Allāh's sight than the sin you now condemn.

The speaker notes the grammatical complexity of this verse: the ʿaṭf (conjunction) and maʿṭūf ʿalayhi (what is being conjoined) are so unusual that Zamakhsharī, Ṣāḥib al-Durr al-Maṣūn, Ṣāḥib Iʿrāb al-Qurʾān, and other classical grammarians debated its analysis at length, and it has even generated a dedicated academic paper in Western Quranic studies. The verse is the height of Arabic eloquence: simultaneously acknowledging the Muslims' error, refuting the critics' hypocrisy, and embedding a Just War principle in a single sweep.

❧The Contemporary Parallel

The speaker draws the parallel to the modern world: yes, acts of terrorism or unjustified violence must be condemned. But you cannot evaluate those acts while ignoring the structural oppression, the killing of innocents, the seizure of lands, the denial of rights, that produced the rage behind them. Wal-fitnatu akbaru mina al-qatl. The fitnah of systemic oppression is greater than the individual act of violence it generates. The speaker points the audience to writers like Noam Chomsky, Chris Hedges, Robert Fisk, and Glenn Greenwald, journalists who, without excusing individual acts, document the broader context of state violence that mainstream media ignores.

❧Resolution

After the revelation, the Prophet ﷺ accepted the booty and formally recognized the two prisoners of war. He sent word to the Quraish: "We will ransom them, but we will not release them until our two companions return to us safely." Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqāṣ and ʿUtbah ibn Ghazwān had found their camel after a week or more in the desert and arrived safely in Madīnah. The ransom was paid. The prisoners were released.

❧Al-Ḥakam ibn Kaysān Accepts Islam

One of the two prisoners, al-Ḥakam ibn Kaysān, had embraced Islam during his time in Madīnah. Yet after the ransom arrived, instead of returning to Makkah, he turned around and walked back into Madīnah, formally declaring his Islam in front of the Prophet ﷺ. The speaker notes this became a recurring pattern: several prisoners of war, at Badr, at Nakhlah, and elsewhere, would deliberately wait until after their ransom was delivered to the Prophet ﷺ before accepting Islam. In doing so, they ensured the Muslim state received the financial compensation before they converted, a form of honoring the Prophet ﷺ financially even at personal cost. Al-Ḥakam ibn Kaysān later died a shahīd (martyr) during one of the battles in the Prophet's ﷺ lifetime.