Invasion of Dumatul Jandal

The Invasion of Dumatul Jandal, took place in Rabi‘ Al-Awwal, 5 A.H i.e. in June, 626 AD,^[2] or July 626 AD.^[3]

According to The Sealed Nectar, Dumat Al-Jandal is located at about a distance of fifteen days march from Madinah and five from Damascus.^[1] According to William Montgomery Watt, it is 500 miles from Medina.^[4]

Invasion

According to William Muir, due to a famine in the area, some tribes were attacking travellers and threatened to raid Medina.^[3]

According to The Sealed Nectar, after a six-month lull of military activities, Muhammad received intelligence that some tribes, in the vicinity of Dumat Al-Jandal, on the borders of Syria, were involved in highway robbery and plundering, and were on their way to muster troops and raid Madinah itself. He immediately appointed Siba‘ bin ‘Arfatah Al-Ghifari to dispose the affairs of Madinah during his absence, and set out at the head of 1000 Muslims, a man named Madhkur, from Banu Udhrah, was his guide.^[1]

On their way to Dumat Al-Jandal, they used to march by night and hide by day, so that they might take the enemy by surprise. When they drew near their destination, the Muslims discovered that the highway men had moved to another place, so they captured their cattle and shepherds. Muhammad stayed there for 5 days during which he dispatched expeditionary forces to hunt for the enemy personnel but they detected none. He made a treaty with ‘Uyainah bin Hisn while returning to Madinah.^[1]

William Muir states that the "robbers fled without offering any opposition".^[3]

Analysis

William Montgomery Watt claims that this was the most significant expedition Muhammad ordered at the time, even though it received little notice in the primary sources. Duma was 500 miles from Medina, and Watt says that there was no immediate threat to Muhammad, other than the possibility that his communications to Syria and supplies to Medina being interrupted. Watt says "It is tempting to suppose that Muhammad was already envisaging something of the expansion which took place after his death", and that the rapid march of his troops must have "impressed all those who heard of it".^[4]

William Muir also believes that the expedition was important as Muhammad followed by 1000 men reached the confines of Syria, where distant tribes had now learnt to fear his name, while the political horizon of Muhammad was extended. He also claims that the lust of the Muslim's to plunder was extended to a far wider range.^[3]

See also

• List of battles of Muhammad

Notes

1. 1 2 3 4 5 Rahman al-Mubarakpuri, Saifur (2005), The Sealed Nectar, Darussalam Publications, pp. 193–194  (online)
2. ↑ Hawarey, Dr. Mosab (2010). The Journey of Prophecy; Days of Peace and War (Arabic). Islamic Book Trust. Note: Book contains a list of battles of Muhammad in Arabic, English translation available here
3. 1 2 3 4 Muir, William (1861), The life of Mahomet, Smith, Elder & Co, pp. 225–226 
4. 1 2 Watt, W. Montgomery (1956). Muhammad at Medina. Oxford University Press. p. 35. ISBN 978-0-19-577307-1. This expedition receives scant notice in the sources, but in some ways it is the most significant so far. As Dumah was some 500 miles from Medina there can have been no immediate threat to Muhammad, but it may be, as Caetani suggests, 1 that communications with Syria were being interrupted and supplies to Medina stopped. It is tempting to suppose that was already envisaging something of the expansion which took place after his death.  (free online)