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Malik bin Auf had surprised
his would-be surprisers. During the night he had moved his army
into the defile of Hunain which allowed no room for manoeuvre. His
men moved into position on both sides of the track and hid behind
boulders and in broken ground which afforded excellent cover. In
front were the Hawazin, with a few groups of Thaqeef. Then came
the Thaqeef and behind them were other tribal contingents. Malik
had devised a masterly plan. He had delayed his move till after
dusk, so that the Muslims would continue to believe that his army
was at Autas, and then placed it in ambush in the defile of Hunain
with the intention of annihilating the Muslims or driving them back
in panic to Makkah and beyond. Behind the site of the ambush was
a narrow pass 1 to which Malik could withdraw
in case the battle did not go according to his plan. As long as
this pass was secure, the Muslims would not be able to advance to
Autas, Malik's base.
Most of the new Meccan converts were delighted
at this setback to the Muslims. Abu Sufyan remarked, "This
retreat will not stop until they get to the sea!" Present
with Safwan bin Umayyah was his half-brother, who said, "Now
the sorcery of Muhammad will be exposed." "Silence!"
Safwan snapped at him. "May Allah break your mouth! I would
rather see a man of the Quraish ruling over us than a man of the
Hawazin!" 2
The Prophet was left standing on the track
with nine of his Companions, including Ali, Abu Bakr, Umar, and
Abbas. As the Muslims ran past, he shouted to them, "O
Muslims! I am here! I, the Messenger of Allah! I, Muhammad, son
of Abdullah!" 3 But his cries
were of no avail. The leading elements of the Hawazin got to the
place where the Prophet stood, and here Ali brought down the first
infidel to fall at Hunain-a man mounted on a red camel, carrying
a long lance at the end of which flew a black pennant. This man
was chasing the Muslims as they fled. Ali pursued the man, along
with a fellow Muslim, and catching up with him cut the tendons of
the camel's hind legs with his sword. The infidel fell with the
camel, and the other Muslim cut off his head.
The Prophet now moved towards the right
with his group and took shelter on a rocky spur. A few men of the
Thaqeef came towards the Prophet's group, but were driven back by
the Companions.
Malik bin Auf had done to the Muslims what
no one had ever done before. For the Muslims this was the first,
and bitter, experience of being ambushed, and many of them lost
their heads and fled from the scene of action. In such a situation,
however, the bravest are wont to panic.
Malik had struck brilliantly; but unfortunately
for him, his men had not performed as expertly as he had hoped.
They had not waited until the main body of the Muslims had entered
the trap, but had opened up when just the advance guard was in their
field of fire. And Malik now made the mistake of being satisfied
with what he had achieved so far; beyond advancing a few hundred
yards he made no attempt to pursue the Muslims. If he had done so,
the story of this battle might have read differently. Moreover,
the archery of the Hawazin was extremely poor. While several Muslims
and their mounts were wounded, none were killed in the ambush.
The Holy Prophet surveyed the scene before
him, and the scene was anything but promising. He decided not to
let Malik get away with such an easy victory. He turned to Abbas
and ordered him to call the Muslims to rally around him. Abbas was
a large man with a powerful voice which, according to some accounts,
could be heard miles away. Now he yelled at the top of his voice:
"O Muslims! Come to the Messenger of Allah! O Ansar…O
Companions…O …" He called each tribe in turn
to report to the Prophet.
The call was heard by most of the Muslims
and they at once began to move to where the Prophet stood. As soon
as the first 100 men had gathered beside the Prophet, he ordered
a counter?attack. These men assailed those of the Hawazin who were
nearest to the Prophet and drove them back. Soon the assembling
Muslims increased in number until thousands of them had rejoined
the Prophet. When the Prophet felt that sufficient strength had
been gathered around him, he ordered a general attack against the
Hawazin.
1. I have not been able to place this pass.
It was probably at or near Zaima.
2. Ibn Hisham: Vol.2 pp. 443-5.
3. Ibid
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