Sariyyat Abū Salamah

The Sariyyah of Abū Salamah was an early military expedition dispatched by the Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ during the Madinan period. The expedition was led by Abū Salamah ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-Asad and is generally dated to 4 AH / 625 CE, shortly after the Battle of Uḥud. Its principal objective was to confront Banū Asad ibn Khuzaymah, whose members were reportedly preparing hostile action against Madīnah and the Muslim community.

According to the classical sīrah and maghāzī sources, the Prophet ﷺ sent Abū Salamah at the head of a force of Emigrants and Helpers to the territory of Banū Asad in the region of Qaṭan, located in Najd. Upon learning of the Muslim advance, many members of the tribe dispersed before direct fighting could occur. The Muslim force succeeded in disrupting the tribe’s preparations and returned to Madīnah with some spoils, thereby preventing a potential threat from developing into a larger conflict.

The expedition is significant within the early sīrah because it demonstrates the Prophet’s ﷺ policy of proactive defense following the setback at Uḥud. Through such sarāyā, the Muslims sought to deter hostile tribes, maintain security around Madīnah, and reinforce the political authority of the emerging Islamic state. The Sariyyah of Abū Salamah is also remembered as one of the final major missions undertaken by Abū Salamah, who later died from wounds connected to earlier battles.

## References

1 Ṣafī al-Raḥmān Mubārakpūrī, al-Raḥīq al-Makhtūm (Urdu) (Lahore: Maktabah al-Salafiyyah, 1995), 384. 2 Shiblī Nuʿmānī and Syed Sulaimān Nadwī, Sīrat al-Nabī (Lahore: Maktabah Khalīl, 1990), 1: 180, 266. 3 Muhammad b. ʿUmar al-Wāqidī, Kitāb al-Maghāzī, Urdu trans. Sāʾīm Chishtī (Lahore: Chishtī Kutubkhānah, 2024). 4 Qāḍī Muḥammad Sulaymān Salmān Manṣūrpūrī, Wa-mā arsalnāka illā raḥmatan li’l-ʿālamīn (Lahore: Progressive Books, 2022), 2: 150-70. 5 Mūsā ibn ʿUqbah, Kitāb al-Maghāzī, ed. Muḥammad Bākhshīsh Abū Mālik (Casablanca: Dār Ibn Ḥazm, 1994).