Sirah

The First Patrols

The early expeditions toward the coast, 1 AH / c. 623 CE

1 AH / c. 623 CE

Imagined 360° reconstruction of The First Patrols

Educational historical reconstruction

Where

The coastal road of the Hijaz between Makkah and Madinah, toward the Red Sea

23.0000, 38.8000 · View on OpenStreetMap

Background

In the first year and more after the migration to Madinah, before the great encounter at Badr, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) sent out a series of small expeditions, the saraya, toward the coastal road of the western Hijaz along which the Quraysh caravans ran between Makkah and Syria. The sources of the maghazi, Ibn Ishaq, al-Waqidi in al-Maghazi, and Ibn Sa'd in the Tabaqat, record several of these early parties, among them the expedition of Hamza ibn Abd al-Muttalib toward Sif al-Bahr on the Red Sea coast, that of Ubayda ibn al-Harith toward Rabigh and the valley of the Thaniyyat al-Murra, and that of Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas toward al-Kharrar (radiyallahu 'anhum). Most of these patrols were small, mounted, and brief, sent to observe the movements of Quraysh, to make the new community's presence felt on the trade route that passed near Madinah, and to seek agreements with the tribes along the way; by the reports they mostly returned without any fighting, though at Rabigh arrows were exchanged. They belong to the period in which the believers, newly able to defend themselves, began to assert themselves on the road, and they form the immediate prelude to the campaign that led to Badr in the second year. This scene depicts the watchfulness of such a patrol: a small mounted party crossing a dry watercourse in the bare coastal lowland near the Red Sea and halting to scan the caravan road, with a distant caravan just visible beyond. In keeping with the Sirah tier the riders are kept distant and anonymous and no individual is depicted; the scene is movement and observation, not battle.

What you see

Bare coastal lowland of the western Hijaz near the Red Sea, dry watercourses crossing a hard plain toward the dunes and the shore; the country through which the Quraysh caravans ran between Makkah and Syria.

A small mounted watch-party of riders crosses a wadi and halts on the rise, scanning the caravan road; a patrol set out to observe the movements of Quraysh, not an army arrayed for battle.

These are the first expeditions (saraya) of the Madinan period, sent out in the first year or so after the migration toward the coast and the watering-places, among them Sif al-Bahr, Rabigh and al-Kharrar, mostly to watch the caravans, and they passed without fighting.

The new community at Madinah beginning to assert itself on the trade road that ran past it, the prelude to the larger encounter at Badr; the scene is watchfulness and movement, not combat.

A distant caravan is just visible on the far track, dust rising beyond the watch-party; riders, mounts and the open country carry the scene, the men kept distant and anonymous.

The early saraya, led by Companions such as Hamza, Ubayda ibn al-Harith and Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas (radiyallahu 'anhum), are recorded by Ibn Ishaq, al-Waqidi (al-Maghazi) and Ibn Sa'd. In the Sirah tier no person is depicted.

Primary sources

Ibn Ishaq via Ibn Hisham, al-Sira al-Nabawiyya: The narrative of the early expeditions of the Madinan period and their commanders among the Companions.

al-Waqidi, Kitab al-Maghazi (early 9th c.): The detailed Sunni record of the saraya, their destinations (Sif al-Bahr, Rabigh, al-Kharrar) and their largely bloodless character.

Ibn Sa'd, al-Tabaqat al-Kubra (9th c.): The catalogue of the early expeditions and the Companions who led them.

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