Sariyyat Dhawāt al-Qiṣṣah

The Sariyyah of Dhawāt al-Qiṣṣah was an expedition dispatched by the Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ during the Madinan period to confront hostile tribal groups threatening the security of Madīnah. Dhawāt al-Qiṣṣah was a location situated near Madīnah and served as an important route frequented by tribal groups in the surrounding region. The expedition formed part of the Prophet’s ﷺ broader efforts to maintain stability and deter aggression against the Muslim community.

According to the classical sīrah and maghāzī sources, the Muslim force was sent after reports emerged of hostile preparations among certain tribes. A confrontation took place in which the Muslim detachment faced resistance, and some members of the expedition were reportedly killed or wounded. Despite the limited scale of the engagement, the operation demonstrated the continuing tensions between the Muslims and hostile tribal elements during the consolidation of Muslim authority in Arabia.

The Sariyyah of Dhawāt al-Qiṣṣah illustrates the strategic use of smaller military detachments in the Prophet’s ﷺ military policy. Such expeditions aimed not only to respond to immediate threats but also to establish deterrence, secure routes around Madīnah, and reinforce the authority of the emerging Islamic state.

## References

1 Ṣafī al-Raḥmān Mubārakpūrī, al-Raḥīq al-Makhtūm (Urdu) (Lahore: Maktabah al-Salafiyyah, 1995), 438-9. 2 Qāḍī Muḥammad Sulaymān Salmān Manṣūrpūrī, Wa-mā arsalnāka illā raḥmatan li’l-ʿālamīn (Lahore: Progressive Books, 2022), 2: 150-70. 3 Muhammad b. ʿUmar al-Wāqidī, Kitāb al-Maghāzī, Urdu trans. Sāʾīm Chishtī (Lahore: Chishtī Kutubkhānah, 2024). 4 Mūsā ibn ʿUqbah, Kitāb al-Maghāzī, ed. Muḥammad Bākhshīsh Abū Mālik (Casablanca: Dār Ibn Ḥazm, 1994).