The Tragic Event of Bir al-Mauna
It was the month of Safar in the 4th year of the Migration
Abu Bara Amir b. Malik, who was the leader of the Sons of Amir tribe, came to Madinah to visit Rasulullahﷺ. Abu Bara was a sincere person and a friend of the Rasulullahﷺ and Muslims. He brought two horses and two camels as presents to Rasulullahﷺ. However, Rasulullahﷺ said to him, “I do not accept the presents of polytheists. If you want your present to be accepted, be a Muslim.” Rasulullahﷺ did not accept his presence and asked him to be a Muslim.
Abu Bara did not become a Muslim at that time but he did not lose interest in Islam. He said to Rasulullahﷺ, “O Muhammad! The religion that you ask me to accept is very nice and honorable. My tribe will obey what I say. If you send some of your Companions to them in order to teach the Quran and the sunnah, I hope they will accept your call!”
Rasulullahﷺ did not rely on the people of Najd very much. Rasulullahﷺ was worried that they could betray and kill his Companions. Rasulullahﷺ expressed his concern by saying, “I fear the people of Najd regarding the people I will send.”
However, Abu Bara gave a guarantee and said, “The people of Najd cannot dare to touch them if I take them under protection.”
The worry of Rasulullahﷺ was eliminated because Abu Bara was a trustable man. Then, he decided to send a group of forty or seventy people of guides and teachers. Six of them were from Muhajirin and the others were from Ansar. All of them were the people of Suffa. Mundhir b. Amr رضي الله عنه was appointed as their leader.
In addition, Rasulullahﷺ sent a letter with the group to the people of Najd and the leaders of the Sons of Amir.
The group of guides and teachers reached a place called Bir Maunah. It was a water well belonging to Sons of Sulaym in the east of Madinah between the lands of Sons of Sulaym and Sons of Amir. Haram b. Milhanرضي الله عنه undertook the duty of taking the letter of Rasulullahﷺ to Amir b. Tufayl. He delivered the letter to Amir. However, Amir did not even bother to read the letter and killed Haram b. Milhan.The last words of the martyr when he was killed were:
“Allahu Akbar! I swear by the Lord of the Kaaba that I have succeeded!”
Amir b. Tufayl did not find it sufficient to kill that innocent Companion; he called the Sons of Amir to help him kill the other Companions. However, the Sons of Amir had promised Abu Bara not to do anything to the group of teachers and guides; so they did not help him.
When the Sons of Amir refused to help Amir, he asked for the help of some tribes of Sons of Sulayman, who was full of hatred and they agreed. They set off to kill the innocent Companions waiting near Bir Maunah well, without being aware of what had happened.
Meanwhile, when the other Companions noticed that the Companion who went to deliver the letter was late, they left Mauna well and started to go toward Najd.
Just then, they saw a large group of armed polytheists.
The Companions drew their swords and said to the people who surrounded them, “We swear by God that we have nothing to do with you. We are on our way to fulfill the duty given to us by Rasulullahﷺ!”
However, the blood-thirsty polytheists did not heed their words. Their decision was final: they were going to kill those Companions, who had set off with the intention of teaching Islam and belief, one by one.
The Companions, who realized what would happen to them, opened their hands and prayed to their Merciful Lord, “O Lord! There is nobody that can inform Rasulullahﷺ about our situation here. Send our greetings to him. O God! Inform our tribe through our Rasulullahﷺ that we have attained our Lord. Our Lord is pleased with us and we are pleased with our Lord”
Meanwhile, Angel Gabriel informed Rasulullahﷺ about the greetings and the situation of those heroic Companions. Rasulullahﷺ answered their greetings by saying, “Alayhimussalam” (Peace be upon them); he turned to his Companions and said that the polytheists were about to martyr their self-sacrificing brothers; he asked them to ask forgiveness for them.
When Rasulullahﷺ informed his Companions about their situation, almost all of those Companions had been killed through the spears of the enemy. Two of the Companions that had gone to herd the camels were saved; one Companion was left among the martyrs because they had thought he was dead. When the two Companions that had gone to herd the camels returned to Bir Mauna, they shivered due to the terrifying scene. They shed tears when they saw the deplorable scene. One of them could not bear it and started to follow the polytheists and fought them until he was killed. The other one was taken captive but he was released later. Ka’b b. Zayd, who had been left among martyrs went to Madinah after the polytheists left.
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The Prophet’s Prayer against the Polytheists
Rasulullahﷺ became extremely sad when those distinguished Companions were killed traitorously.
Anas b. Malik said, “I had never seen Rasulullahﷺ feel so sad when he was informed that his Companions had been martyred in Bir Maunah.”
The deep sadness that Rasulullahﷺ felt caused him to pray against the polytheists that had killed them. Rasulullahﷺ was informed about their situation at night; the following day, in the second rak’ah of the morning prayer after bowing down and standing, he uttered the following prayer against them:
“O, Allah! Destroy the tribes of Mudar!
O, Allah! Make their years and years of famine like the time of the Prophet Joseph; make life unbearable for them!
O, Allah! I refer Sons of Lihyan, and the tribes of Adal, Qara, Zi’b, Ri’l, Dhakvan, and Usayya to your punishment because they opposed Allah and His Rasul!”
Rasulullahﷺ kept saying this prayer for a month after each daily prayer. The Companions said ‘Amin’ when he prayed like that.
The prayer of Rasulullahﷺ was accepted. After a while, there was famine and drought in that region. The rains stopped and no water was left there.
On the other hand, Abu Bara could not bear it any longer when Rasulullahﷺ said, “This incident was caused by Abu Bara” because his nephew Amir b Tufayl broke his promise; he got very ill due to grief and distress; he died after a short time.
About eighty distinguished Companions died in the tragedies of Raji and Bir Mauna, which took place one after the other.
Al-Imam Al-Bukhari narrated from Anas bin Malikرضي الله عنه:
"Rasulullahﷺ was qunut for a month when the qurra` were killed, and I have never seen Rasulullahﷺ so sad compared to that incident."
(Maqtufah 194)
Al-Imam Al-Bukhari narrated this in his Sahih:
َكَو اًبيكاَر َينيعْبَس يفِ ٍمْيَلُس ِّمُلأ ٌخَأ ُهَلاَخ َثَعَ ب َمَّلَسَو يهْيَلَع ُللها ىَّلَص َّيبَِّنلا َّنَأ ٍسَنَأ ْنَع
َنا
يلْهَّسلا ُلْهَأ َكَل ُنوُكَي :َلاَقَ ف ،ٍلاَصيخ يثَلاَث َْينَ ب َرَّ يَخ يلْيَفُّطلا ُنْب ُريماَع َينيكيرْشُمْلا َسييئَر
يفِ ٌريماَع َنيعُطَف . ٍفْلَأَو ٍفْلَأيب َناَفَطَغ يلْهَأيب َكوُزْغَأ ْوَأ َكَتَفييلَخ ُنوُكَأ ْوَأ يرَدَمْلا ُلْهَأ يلَِو
ِّمُأ يتْيَ ب
َتاَمَف .ييسَرَفيب ينِوُتْ ئا ،ٍنَلاُف يلآ ْنيم ٍةَأَرْما يتْيَ ب يفِ يرْكَبْلا يةَّدُغَك ٌةَّدُغ :َلاَقَ ف ٍنَلاُف
ُك :َلاَق .ٍنَلاُف ينَِب ْنيم ٌلُجَرَو ُجَرْعَأ ٌلُجَر َوُهَو ٍمْيَلُس ِّمُأ وُخَأ ٌماَرَح َقَلَطْناَف ،يهيسَرَ ف يرْهَظ ىَلَع
اَنو
َح اًبييرَق
َلاَسير ْغِّلَ بُأ ينِوُنيمْؤُ تَأ :َلاَقَ ف .ْمُكَباَحْصَأ ْمُتْيَ تَأ ينِوُلَ تَ ق ْنيإَو ْمُتْنُك ينِوُنَمآ ْنيإَف ْمُهَ ييتآ َّتَّ
َة
َعَطَف يهيفْلَخ ْنيم ُهاَتَأَف ٍلُجَر َلَيإ اوُئَمْوَأَو ْمُهُ ثِّدَُيُ َلَعَجَف ؟َمَّلَسَو يهْيَلَع ُللها ىَّلَص يللها يلوُسَر
َن
.ُه
ُلُجَّرلا َقيحُلَ ف .يةَبْعَكْلا ِّبَرَو ُتْزُ ف ُرَ بْكَأ ُللها :َلاَق .يحْمُّرلايب ُهَذَفْ نَأ َّتََّح ُهُبيسْحَأ ٌماََّهَ :َلاَق
اوُليتُقَ ف
يإ( يخوُسْنَمْلا ْنيم َناَك َُّثُ اَنْ يَلَع ُللها َلَزْ نَأَف ،ٍلَبَج يسْأَر يفِ َناَك يجَرْعَلأْا َرْ يَغ ْمُهُّلُك
اَنَّ بَر اَنييقَل ْدَق اَّن
ٍلْعير ىَلَع اًحاَبَص َينيثَلاَث ْميهْيَلَع َمَّلَسَو يهْيَلَع ُللها ىَّلَص ُّيبَِّنلا اَعَدَف )اَناَضْرَأَو اَّنَع َييضَرَ ف
َو يهْيَلَع ُللها ىَّلَص ُهَلوُسَرَو َللها اْوَصَع َنييذَّلا َةَّيَصُعَو َناَيْيلِ ينَِبَو َناَوْكَذَو
َمَّلَس
"From Anas, that the Prophet sent his uncle (Umm Sulaim's brother) with 70 horsemen. At that time the leader of the polytheists was 'Amir bin Tufail. He gave three choices, and said: "For you are the people of Sahl and I am the people of Madar, or I am your successor, or I fight you with the people of Ghathafan with two thousand troops."
Finally 'Amir was stabbed in the house of Umm Fulan, he said: "Ghuddah is like Al-Bakri's ghuddah,[1] in the house of a Bani Fulan woman. Bring my horse, and he died on his horse. Then Umm Sulaim's brother Haram set out, he was a lame man, and one of Bani Fulan. He said: "Come closer, until I meet them, if they guarantee my safety, that's your business. If they kill me, then look for your companions."
Then he said: "Do you give me the security to deliver the letter of the Messenger of Allah? Then he began to speak to them, but someone beckoned to
(3) someone who came to him from behind and stabbed him. Hammam said, I counted until the spear penetrated his body. He said: "Allahu Akbar, I am lucky, for the sake of the Lord of the Kaaba." Then his companions were chased and they were all killed except for one who was lame and was on the top of the hill.
Allah revealed to us a verse that was later abrogated: "Indeed, we have met our Lord, and He was pleased with us and made us pleased. So
The Prophet prayed for evil against them for 30 days; against Ri'l, Dzakwan, and Bani Lihyan and 'Ushaiyyah who disobeyed God and His Messenger."
Ibnu Hajar in Fathul Bari also presents the story mentioned by Al-Imam Al-Bukhari in his Sahih, among others he said:"That there is an agreement between the polytheists and Rasulullahﷺ. They are the group that did not fight him. Narrated by Ibn Ishaq from his companions, as well as by Musa bin 'Uqbah from Ibn Shihab, that the one who entered into an agreement with him was Bani 'Amir led by Abu Barra' 'Amir bin Malik bin Ja'far the Spear Player. While the other group is Bani Sulaim. And 'Amir bin Tufail wanted to betray the agreement with the Prophet's companions.
He also incited Bani 'Amir to fight the companions, but Bani 'Amir refused, they said: "We will not violate the guarantee given by Abu Barra`." Then he incited 'Ushaiyyah and Dzakwan from Bani Sulaim and they followed him killing the Companions..." thus in brief.Finally, Rasulullahﷺ performed qunut for one month praying for evil againstthe people who killed his qurra` companions in Bi`r Ma'unah.The companions had never seen Rasulullahﷺ so sad than when they heard this news.Al-Imam Al-Bukhari narrated from Anas bin Malikرضي الله عنه :
ىَّلَص ِللها َلوُسَر ُتْيَأَر اَمَف ُءاَّرُقْلا َلِتُق َنيِح اًرْهَش َمَّلَسَو ِهْيَلَع ُللها ىَّلَص ِللها ُلوُسَر َتَنَ ق
َع ُللها
ُهْنِم َّدَشَأ ُّطَق اًنْزُح َنِزَح َمَّلَسَو ِهْيَل
"Rasulullahﷺ recited qunut for a month when the qurra` were killed, and I have never seen the Messenger of God so sad compared to that incident."
Ibn Jarir also narrated in his Tarikh, as quoted by Ibnul Qayyim in
Zadul Ma'ad (3/247), that at the time of the massacre, Amr bin Umayyah Ad Dhamriرضي الله عنه and Al-Mundzir bin 'Uqbah bin 'Amir رضي الله عنه lived in the compound of the Muslims. They did not know about the massacre except because of the birds that circled the scene. Finally, they saw the sad truth.
They wondered what they were going to do. 'Amr bin Umayyah Ad Dhamriرضي الله عنه thought they should return to tell Rasulullahﷺ of this bitter incident, but Al-Mundzir refused and preferred to go down and attack the polytheists. He went down and attacked until he was killed. Finally, 'Amr bin Umayyah Ad Dhamriرضي الله عنه was captured, but when he mentioned that he was from the Mudhar tribe, 'Amir cut his hair and freed him.
'Amr bin Umayyah Ad Dhamriرضي الله عنه: returned to Madinah, but when he arrived at Al-Qarqarah, a region near Al-Arhadhiyah, about 8 posts from Madinah, he stopped and took shelter under a tree. Then two men from Bani Kilab came and took shelter in that place as well. When they both fell asleep, 'Amr ambushed them and he thought that he had avenged his companions. It turns out that both of them have an agreement with Rasulullahﷺ that he was not aware of. After arriving in Madinah, he told everything to Rasulullahﷺ and he said:
مُهَّ نَ يِدَلأ َ ِنْيَلْ يِتَق َتْلَ تَ ق ْدَقَل
"Truly you have killed them both, of course, I will redeem them both."[2]
This is one of the causes of the Bani An-Nadhir war, which will be told in the next edition, God willing.
From this story, the scholars concluded that the qunut done by Rasulullahﷺ was only " qunut nazilah" and that's what he did for one month, praying for evil against
Bani Lihyan, 'Ushaiyyah and others. Not continuously as some Muslims do today.
This is also narrated by Al-Imam Ahmad and others from the hadith of Anas bin Malik:
ُهَكَرَ ت َّمُث اًرْهَش َتَنَ ق َمَّلَسَو ِهْيَلَع ُللها ىَّلَص َّيِبَّنلا َّنَأ
"That the Prophet qunut for one month left him."
Similarly, what Ibnul Qayyim concluded in the discussion of this qunut problem, see the book Zaadul Ma'ad (1/273-285).
Finally, he said that what was narrated from the companions about this qunut are two, namely:
a. Qunut when there is a calamity or disaster that befalls (nazilah) like the qunut that Ash-Siddiq did when the companions fought Musailamah Al-Kadzdzab and the people of the book. Also, the qunut that 'Umar and 'Ali did when facing the forces of Mu'awiyah and the people of Syria.
b. Absolute qunut, which is meant to extend the pillars of prayer (such as standing, prostrating, and others) to pray and praise God.
Rasulullahﷺ Remains Loyal to the Treaty
Amr b. Umayya Ad Dhamri رضي الله عنه, who had been saved from the tragedy by saying he was from Mudar, set off for Madinah. He met two people on the way. He thought they were from the tribe that killed the Companions in Bir Mauna and killed them.
When he returned to Madinah, he told Rasulullahﷺ about it. Rasulullahﷺ said, “You did something bad!”
In fact, those two people were from the Sons of Amir. They had come to Madinah and talked to Rasulullahﷺ. When they left Madinah, Rasulullahﷺ gave them a document stating that they would not be harmed. The people that Amr killed were those people.
Only Rasulullahﷺ and those two people who had been killed know about the document. However, Rasulullahﷺ paid the ransom for those two people who had been killed by a Companion, who was not aware of the promise of Rasulullahﷺ. Thus, he showed that Rasulullahﷺ was loyal to his promise and treaties.
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[1]Ibn Hisham, Sirah, Vol. 3, p. 193-194; Ibn Sa’d, Tabaqat, Vol. 3, p. 514; Tabari, Tarikh, Vol. 3, p. 34.
[2]Ibn Hisham, ibid, Vol. 3, p. 194; Ibn Sa’d, ibid, Vol. 2, p. 52; Bukhari, Sahih, Vol. 3, p. 28.
[3]Ibn Sa’d, ibid, Vol. 2, p. 52; Bukhari, ibid, Vol. 3, p. 29.
[4]Bukhari, ibid, Vol. 3, p. 29.
[5]Bukhari, ibid, Vol. 3, p. 28.
[6]Bukhari, ibid, Vol. 3, p. 29; Muslim, Sahih, Vol. 6, p. 45.
[7]Ibn Hisham, ibid, Vol. 3, p. 194; Ibn Sa’d, ibid, Vol. 2, p. 52.
[8]Ibn Sa’d, ibid, Vol. 2, p. 54.
[9]Ibn Sa’d, ibid, Vol. 2, p. 53.
[10]Abu Dawud, Sunan, Vol. 2, p. 68.
