Sirah

The Expedition to the Wells of al-Muraysi'

The campaign against Banu Mustaliq, c. 5-6 AH

c. 5-6 AH / c. 627 CE

Imagined 360° reconstruction of The Expedition to the Wells of al-Muraysi'

Educational historical reconstruction

Where

The well of al-Muraysi', in the country of Banu Mustaliq toward the Red Sea coast, south-west of Madinah

23.5500, 39.2000 · View on OpenStreetMap

Background

The expedition against the Banu Mustaliq, a bedouin tribe of the Khuza'a confederation living in the low country toward the Red Sea coast south-west of Madinah, is dated by most Sunni authorities to the fifth year after the Hijra (c. 627 CE) and by some to the sixth. Learning that the tribe was massing against the Muslims, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) marched out and surprised them at their well of al-Muraysi'; the fighting was brief and the tribe was overcome, with captives and herds taken. Two episodes on the return journey, not the skirmish itself, give the campaign its lasting place in the Sirah. First, a quarrel at the water set the hypocrites (munafiqun) under 'Abdullah ibn Ubayy to sowing discord, prompting the words recorded in Surat al-Munafiqun. Second, and gravest, was the incident of the slander (hadith al-ifk): 'A'isha (radiyallahu 'anha), travelling in her curtained litter, was left behind when the army moved at night and was brought to the camp the next day by a Companion, and malicious tongues spread a calumny against her. The matter weighed on the community for weeks until the Qur'an itself declared her innocence in Surat al-Nur (Q 24:11-20) and laid down the law of testimony against slander. The account is preserved in detail in Sahih al-Bukhari (the long hadith of al-ifk on 'A'isha's authority) and in the Sirah of Ibn Ishaq. This scene depicts the place and the moment of the raid's aftermath, the stone well, the resting litter, the homeward track, without depicting the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) or any individual, in the strict Sirah tier; the gravest matter, the slander and its Qur'anic answer, is alluded to through the litter and the road rather than shown.

What you see

Low coastal country south-west of Madinah, sloping toward the Red Sea, open scrub and sandy flats around a watering place, not the lava plains or palm oases of the city itself. The land is the territory of a bedouin confederation, far out toward the coast.

A stone-lined desert well (the well of al-Muraysi') is the centre of the scene, the water source that gives the day its name, with troughs and the churned ground of a halt around it.

A curtained camel-litter (hawdaj) rests beside the camp, the screened howdah in which a woman travelled. It is a quiet but pointed detail: the return from this expedition is bound up in the tradition with the trial of the slander (al-ifk).

A short, decisive skirmish has just ended: a tribe caught at its water, quickly overcome, with captives and herds gathered rather than a pitched battle fought. The mood is the unsettled aftermath of a raid, not a great clash of armies.

The light and vegetation read as the warmer, lower Tihama side of the Hijaz toward the sea, distinct from the higher inland country of Madinah and the eastern battles.

It was on the return from al-Muraysi' that the hypocrites (munafiqun) under 'Abdullah ibn Ubayy stirred discord, and that the slander against 'A'isha (radiyallahu 'anha) arose, later answered by the revelation of Surat al-Nur (Q 24:11-20). The litter and the homeward road carry that weight without depicting it.

The track leads back north-east toward Madinah, the homeward march on which the famous incidents of the campaign unfolded, more than the brief fighting at the well itself.

Primary sources

Sahih al-Bukhari, the hadith of al-Ifk (on the authority of 'A'isha, RA): The long, detailed narration of the slander on the return from this expedition and its Qur'anic resolution. The primary Sunni frame for the campaign's significance.

The Qur'an, Surat al-Nur (24:11-20) and Surat al-Munafiqun: The exoneration of 'A'isha (RA) and the law on slander; and the exposure of the hypocrites' discord. Used for the meaning of the return, not the physical scene.

Ibn Hisham, al-Sira al-Nabawiyya (Ibn Ishaq recension): The narrative of the raid on Banu Mustaliq at al-Muraysi', the captives, and the events of the return.

al-Waqidi, Kitab al-Maghazi (early 9th c.): Detailed maghazi account of the expedition, its dating (the source of the 5 vs 6 AH discussion), and the route; used with caution on specifics.

al-Tabari, Tarikh al-Rusul wa-al-Muluk (9th-10th c.): Sunni historical synthesis of the expedition and the disputed year.

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