Sariyyat ʿUbayd ibn al-Ḥārith

The Sariyyah of ʿUbayd ibn al-Ḥārith was among the earliest military expeditions dispatched by the Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ after the Hijrah to Madīnah. The expedition took place in 1 AH / 623 CE and was led by ʿUbayd ibn al-Ḥārith ibn al-Muṭṭalib (RA), a close relative of the Prophet ﷺ and one of the early converts to Islam. The detachment reportedly consisted of approximately sixty to eighty members of the muhājirūn and was sent toward the valley of Rabigh, near the route used by Quraysh caravans traveling between Makkah and Syria. The mission formed part of the Prophet’s broader strategy to monitor Quraysh commercial movements and demonstrate the emerging strength of the Muslim community in Madīnah.

At Rabigh, the Muslim force encountered a Quraysh caravan protected by a sizeable escort under the leadership of Abū Sufyān ibn Ḥarb. Although the two groups confronted one another, no large-scale battle occurred. According to several reports preserved in the maghāzī literature, Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqāṣ (RA) fired an arrow during the encounter, which some historians identify as the first arrow shot by a Muslim in the path of God. The confrontation ultimately ended without significant casualties, and the Muslim detachment returned to Madīnah.

The Sariyyah of ʿUbayd ibn al-Ḥārith occupies an important place in early Islamic history because it represented one of the first organized military demonstrations by the Muslims after the hijrah. The expedition reflected the growing tension between the Muslims and the Quraysh and foreshadowed the larger military engagements that would culminate in the Battle of Badr. Classical historians such as Ibn Hishām, al-Wāqidī, Ibn Saʿd, and al-Ṭabarī preserve accounts of the expedition within their broader narratives of the early sarāyā and the formation of the Islamic polity in Madīnah.