battle of fijar

the fijar
war

Khadeejah Jamil
1 tirmizi

What is battle of fijar about?

Modern historians have
generally assessed that the
Fijar War was related to the
Quraysh's attempts to close
the caravan route between al-
Hirah and Yemen through

Ta'if, a town which
commercially rivaled Mecca,

or to redirect the route
through Mecca.

Ḥarb al-Fījar, lit. 'the Sacrilegious
Wars') were a series of battles that
took place in the late 6th century
mainly between two major tribal

confederations of Arabia, the
Quraysh and the Hawazin.

Assuming the sources are correct,
the fighting took place on eight
days over the course of four years.

[1]

Early years…

early years…

Muhammad (s.a.w.a.) was born in such
a family on Friday, the 17th Rabi'-ul-

Awwal, 1st year of 'Amul-Fil
(corresponding to 570 C.E.) to bring the
Message of God to the world. In Sunni

circles, 12th Rabi'-ul-Awwal is more
famous. Thus, the prayer of Ibrahim
while constructing the Ka'bah was

granted:

Lord! And raise a Messenger from
among them who shall recite to

them Thine verses, and teach them
the Book and the wisdom, and

purify them, indeed Thou art the
Mighty, the Wise (Qur'an, 2:129).

And the tidings of Christ came true:-

O Children of Israel! Surely, I am
the messenger of Allah to you,

verifying that which is before me
of the Torah and giving the

good news of a Messenger who
will come after me whose name

will be Ahmed. (Qur'an, 61:6)

Abdullah, father of the Prophet,
died a few month before (or two
months after) his birth, and his
grandfather 'Abdul­Muttalib took
over the care and upbringing of the

child. After a few months,
according to the age-long custom

of the Arabs, the child was
entrusted to a bedouin woman
Halimah by name, of the tribe of
Bani-Sa'd, for his upbringing.

When he was only six years old, he lost his
mother as well; so, the doubly-orphaned
child was brought up by 'Abdul-Muttalib
with the most tender care. It was the will of
God that the Prophet to-be should undergo
all the sufferings, pains and privations
incidental to human life in order that he
might learn to bear them with becoming
fortitude and raise his stature in human
perfection. Not two years had passed before

'Abdul-Muttalib also expired.

'Abdul-Muttalib died at the age of 82,
leaving the care and custody of the

orphaned Muhammad (s.a.w.a.) to Abu
Talib. Abu Talib and his wife, Fatimah Bint

Asad, loved Muhammad more than their
own children. As the Holy Prophet himself

said, Fatima Bint Asad was his "mother"
who kept her own children waiting while
she fed the Holy Prophet, kept her own

children cold while she gave him warm
clothes. Abu Talib always kept the child

with him day and night.

Abu Talib had succeeded 'Abdul-Muttalib in
Siqayah and Rifadah and was an active participant
in the trade caravans. When Muhammad (s.a.w.a.)

was 12 years old, Abu Talib bade farewell to his
family to go to Syria. Muhammad (s.a.w.a.) clung
to him and cried. Abu Talib was so moved that he

took the child with him. When the caravan
reached Busra in Syria they, as usual, stayed near

the monastery of a monk, Buhayra.

It is not possible to give here the full account
of that visit. Suffice it to say that the monk, seeing

some of the signs, which he knew from the old
books, was convinced that the orphan child was
the last Prophet-to-be. To make sure, he started a
conversation with him, and at one point said: "I
give you oath of Lat and Uzza to tell me..." The
child cried out: "Don't take the names of Lat and
Uzza before me! I hate them!" Buhayra was now
convinced. He advised Abu Talib not to proceed to
Damascus "because if the Jews found out what I
have seen, I am afraid they will try to harm him.
For sure, this child is to have a great eminence."

Abu Talib, acting on this advice, sold all his
merchandise for cheaper prices then and there,

returning at once to Mecca.

Battle of fijar

Our Holy Prophet (PBUH) was 20 years old
when the fourth Battle of Fijar broke out.


Before Islam, in the Era of Ignorance,
murders, bloody clashes, violence, feuds, all
kinds of theft and corruption followed one

another. Besides, what else could be expected
from a people who would frequently destroy

one another, whose hearts were devoid of
compassion and mercy, and whose societal
lives were far away from justice and law?

Since the very beginning, the Arabs had
deemed the months of Muharram, Rajab,
Dhilqada, and Dhilhijja to be holy. The
spilling of blood and the committing of any
misdeeds and any sort of injustice were all
strictly prohibited during these months. For
this reason, they were referred to as the

“haram (forbidden) months”.

battle of fijar took place during one of these
months. It acquired its name since blood was
split and because both sides committed great

injustice and cruelty.

The Battles of Fijar were fought four times
among Arabs. The Pride of the Universe
(PBUH) was ten years old at the time of the

first Battle of Fijar.
These four battles, which took place in a long
period of nine to ten years, arose from shallow

and insignificant reasons.



A man from the Ghifaris said “I am the most

honorable among the Arabs”, while lying

down in the Ukaz fair. Upon hearing this, a

man from the Hawazin tribe assumed that

it was an insult directed towards him, drew

his sword, and wounded the man’s foot.

Due to this reason, the first Battle of Fijar

began between the Kinana and Hawazin

tribes..

The second battle broke out between the
Quraysh and the Hawazin after a woman had

been harassed at the Ukaz Fair.



The third battle took
place between the
Kinana and Hawazin tribes when a tribesman
from Sons of Kinana did not pay his debt to a
man from the tribe of the Sons of Amir, and

had instead, extended the grace period.



Whereas the Fourth
Battle of Fijar, in

which our Holy Prophet (PBUH) took part

when he was 20 years old, was fought

among the Quraysh, Sons of Kinane, and

the Qays al-Aylan. It resulted from an

incident in which a man named Barraz bin

Qays from the Kinana killed a man called

Urwa from the Qays al-Aylan (Hawazin).

The Quraysh were the allies of the Sons of
Kinana; therefore, they had to fight in this

battle.

S

Abu Talib did not want to partake in the
fourth battle, which was being fought in the
Ukaz Fair, since it was a haram month and

because he guessed that there would be
much cruelty inflicted. However, he was
obliged to join when the other branches of

the Quraysh insisted on fighting.

The two sides reached an agreement when
they realized that this clash would not end.
According to their agreement, the dead bodies
would be counted, and the opponent would
pay the blood money to whichever side that
had the most losses; in this way, the war would

finally end.

The final tally resulted in there being about
twenty more dead soldiers on the Qays al-
Ayan’s side; thus the Sons of Kinana and the
Quraysh paid the blood money for these twenty
individuals. It was in this manner that this
bloody war finally came to an end, which was
twenty years after the year of the incident of the

elephant.