Sariyyat Ghālib ibn ʿAbd Allāh

The Sariyyah of Ghālib ibn ʿAbd Allāh refers to a series of expeditions led by Ghālib ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Laythī during the Madinan period under the command of the Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ. Among the most well-known was the expedition against Banū al-Mulawwaḥ in the region of al-Kadīd, which took place after reports reached Madīnah concerning hostile tribal activity threatening Muslim security and trade routes.

According to the classical sīrah and maghāzī sources, Ghālib ibn ʿAbd Allāh was dispatched with a military detachment to confront the opposing group. The Muslim force launched a sudden attack, resulting in the dispersal of the hostile tribesmen and the capture of spoils. Some reports also connect Ghālib with expeditions directed against Banū Murrah and other tribes in the regions surrounding Madīnah, illustrating his active role in several military operations of the later Madinan years.

The sarāyā led by Ghālib ibn ʿAbd Allāh reflect the Prophet’s ﷺ broader military strategy of using mobile detachments to deter tribal aggression, secure caravan routes, and reinforce Muslim authority across Arabia. These expeditions, though smaller than major battles, formed an important component of the political and military consolidation of the early Islamic state.

## References

1 Ṣafī al-Raḥmān Mubārakpūrī, al-Raḥīq al-Makhtūm (Urdu) (Lahore: Maktabah al-Salafiyyah, 1995), 525. 2 Abū ʿUbayd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Saʿd al-Baṣrī, Ṭabaqāt Ibn Saʿd, trans. ʿAbdullāh al-ʿAmadī (Karachi: Dār al-Ishāʿat, 2003), 1:346.3 Qāḍī Muḥammad Sulaymān Salmān Manṣūrpūrī, Wa-mā arsalnāka illā raḥmatan li’l-ʿālamīn (Lahore: Progressive Books, 2022), 2: 150-70.4 Muhammad b. ʿUmar al-Wāqidī, Kitāb al-Maghāzī, Urdu trans. Sāʾīm Chishtī (Lahore: Chishtī Kutubkhānah, 2024). 5 Mūsā ibn ʿUqbah, Kitāb al-Maghāzī, ed. Muḥammad Bākhshīsh Abū Mālik (Casablanca: Dār Ibn Ḥazm, 1994).