The Dream of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ
Salamah ibn al-Akwa‘ رضي الله عنه ran with the speed of a leopard until he reached the attackers. As soon as he saw them, he began shooting arrows at them. Whenever he shot an arrow, he called out:
«“Take this! I am Ibn al-Akwa‘. Today is the day of destruction and ruin.”»
Whenever the enemy turned their horses toward him, he would move away from his position to another place and begin shooting arrows from there.
He continued doing this and kept pursuing the enemy. One after another, the enemy fell victim to his arrows.
Salamah ibn al-Akwa‘ رضي الله عنه himself says:
«“I would run ahead until I reached one of them, shoot an arrow at his leg, and injure him. But whenever one of them turned back, I would hide behind a tree and then shoot arrows from there, injuring the attacker, or I would begin dropping stones upon them. They became extremely troubled by my shooting and the shower of stones. Eventually, the rain of my arrows forced them to flee.»
«“Those who fled while wounded dropped more than thirty spears and an equal number of cloaks along the way so that they could reduce their burden and flee more easily. Whatever they threw away, I would place a stone upon it so that I could collect it later.»
«“I continued pursuing them until almost all the camels belonging to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ were left behind. The enemy went ahead, and I also moved ahead of those camels while pursuing them. In this way, I recovered all the camels from the attackers.”»
When the Prophet ﷺ learned about Salamah ibn al-Akwa‘ رضي الله عنه’s call, he had an announcement made in Madinah:
«“O riders of Allah! Prepare yourselves and set out mounted!”»
After this announcement, the first Companion among the horsemen to prepare himself and arrive was Miqdad ibn ‘Amr رضي الله عنه, who was also known as Ibn al-Aswad.
After him came ‘Abbad ibn Bishr رضي الله عنه, then Sa‘d ibn Zayd رضي الله عنه, and then the remaining mounted Companions reached the presence of the Prophet ﷺ.
The Prophet ﷺ appointed Sa‘d ibn Zayd رضي الله عنه as their commander and ordered:
«“Set out. I will join you with the remaining people.”»
Accordingly, this mounted detachment went out in search of the enemy and succeeded in reaching them.
The first person among the horsemen to reach the enemy was Mihraz ibn Fadalah, who was also known as Akhram al-Asadi.
He advanced and stood before the enemy and called out:
«“O accursed people! Stop! The Muhajirun and the Ansar have set out against you.”»
Akhram al-Asadi رضي الله عنه was the first to approach the enemy and began advancing toward them.
Salamah ibn al-Akwa‘ رضي الله عنه came out from his position, took hold of the reins of his horse, and said:
«“O Akhram! Do not attack the enemy yet. Let the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and his Companions arrive.”»
Hearing this, Akhram al-Asadi رضي الله عنه said:
«“Salamah! If you believe in Allah Almighty and the Day of Judgment, and if you know that Paradise is true and Hell is true, then move away from between me and martyrdom.”»
Hearing these words, Salamah رضي الله عنه released the reins of his horse.
He immediately moved forward and struck one of the enemy’s horses, injuring it.
At that very moment, another enemy struck Akhram al-Asadi رضي الله عنه with a spear, and he was martyred.
At this point, Abu Qatadah رضي الله عنه arrived there.
One of the enemies struck his horse, injuring it. Abu Qatadah رضي الله عنه immediately struck the man and killed him.
At that moment, a horseman came forward to face him. His name was Mas‘adah al-Farari.
As soon as he arrived, he said:
«“How would you like to fight me—with swords, with spears, or in wrestling?”»
Abu Qatadah رضي الله عنه replied:
«“Whichever you prefer.”»
He chose wrestling.
He dismounted from his horse and hung his sword from a tree. Abu Qatadah رضي الله عنه also dismounted and hung his sword from a tree.
The two then began wrestling.
Eventually, Allah Almighty granted victory to Abu Qatadah رضي الله عنه. He took his sword down from the tree and killed him.
Then he attacked Mas‘adah’s nephew. Frightened, he abandoned the remaining camels.
Abu Qatadah رضي الله عنه returned with the camels.
As he came back, he saw the Prophet ﷺ approaching.
When the Prophet ﷺ saw the camels with him, he said:
«“May your face remain radiant, Abu Qatadah.”»
He replied:
«“And may your face also remain radiant, O Messenger of Allah!”»
After this, the Prophet ﷺ said to him:
«“May Allah place blessings in you, in your children, and in the children of your children.”»
At that moment, the Prophet ﷺ noticed his forehead.
There was a wound there, and the tip of an arrow remained inside the wound.
The Prophet ﷺ gently removed that part of the arrow. He then applied his blessed saliva to his wound and placed his palm over it.
Abu Qatadah رضي الله عنه says:
«“By the One who honored you with prophethood, as soon as you placed your hand upon the wound, the pain disappeared completely.”»
After this, the Prophet ﷺ gave Abu Qatadah رضي الله عنه Mas‘adah’s horse and weapons and prayed for him.
Regarding Abu Qatadah and Salamah ibn al-Akwa‘ رضي الله عنهما, the Prophet ﷺ said on this occasion:
«“The best of our mounted riders is Abu Qatadah, and the best of our foot soldiers is Salamah.”»
Then the Prophet ﷺ set out toward Madinah.
The Dream of the Prophet ﷺ
A few days later, the Prophet ﷺ saw a dream.
He saw that he was entering Makkah peacefully with his Companions. Then, after performing Umrah, the Prophet ﷺ and his Companions shaved their heads, while some of them shortened their hair.
He also saw that he had entered the House of Allah, then taken the key of the Kaaba, and stayed with those who were standing at ‘Arafat.
He also saw that the Prophet ﷺ and his Companions were performing Tawaf around the House of Allah.
The Prophet ﷺ narrated this dream to his Companions.
Everyone became extremely happy at this glad tidings.
Then the Prophet ﷺ said to the Companions رضي الله عنهم:
«“I intend to perform Umrah.”»
After hearing this, everyone began making preparations for the journey.
Eventually, one day, the Prophet ﷺ departed from Madinah for Umrah.
The Prophet ﷺ had already announced the journey as an Umrah journey so that people would regard this caravan as a caravan of pilgrims, and the people of Makkah and the surrounding areas would not rise up for war.
The polytheists and other enemies were to know beforehand that the Prophet ﷺ was coming with the intention of performing Umrah and had no other intention.
The Prophet ﷺ entered into Ihram at Dhul-Hulayfah.
First, he offered two units of prayer in the mosque. Then, from the mosque itself, he mounted a she-camel.
Most of the Companions رضي الله عنهم also entered into Ihram from there.
The Prophet ﷺ set out on this journey in the month of Dhul-Qi‘dah.
Sacrificial animals were also traveling with the caravan.
At Dhul-Hulayfah, the Prophet ﷺ offered the Zuhr prayer.
He placed coverings over the sacrificial animals so that it would be known that they were intended for sacrifice. Marks were also made on their humps. This mark was made by causing a small wound on them.
There were fourteen hundred Companions رضي الله عنهم accompanying the Prophet ﷺ on this journey.
Since the Prophet ﷺ had set out with the intention of performing Umrah, neither he nor his Companions had any weapons with them except swords.