The Expedition of Abdullah ibn Unais, also known as the Assassination of Khaled bin Sufyan was the first attack against the Banu Lahyan, which took place in the month of Muharram in the year A.H. 3. It was reported that Khaled bin Sufyan Al-Hathali (also known as Hudayr, the chief of the

Banu Lahyan Banu Lahyan () were an Arab pagan tribe during the time of Muhammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely i ...

tribe), considered an attack on Madinah and that he was inciting the people on Nakhla or Uranah to fight Muslims. So Muhammad sent Abdullah ibn Unais to assassinate him. After cutting off Khaled bin Sufyan's head at night, Unais brought it back to Muhammad.Note: Book contains a list of battles of Muhammad in Arabic, English translation availabl
here
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Attack on the chief of Banu Lahyan

After the migration to Medina Muhammed tried to gather information of possible attacks and acted to crush his enemies. This expedition was executed on a similar news. Abdullah ibn Unais found Khaled bin Sufyan Al-Hathali (also known as Hudayr, the chief of the Banu Lahyan tribe) in the company of his wife. Khaled bin Sufyan trusted him. Then Unais asked to talk to him privately, once, while conversing, Abdullah ibn Unais walked a short distance with ibn Sufyan, and when an opportunity came he struck him with his sword and killed him. After killing ibn Sufyan, he cut off his head and brought that to Muhammad. Muhammad gave him his staff as a reward and said:

This will function as a sign of recognition for you and me, on the day of resurrection ( Musnad Ahmad 3:496)As-Sunnah
says Ahmad 3:496, al-Waqidi 2:533

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Another branch of Banu Lihyan planned to take revenge for the killing of their leader, Khaled bin Sufyan.

Islamic sources

Biographical literature

This event is mentioned in

Ibn Hisham Abu Muhammad Abd al-Malik ibn Hisham ibn Ayyub al-Himyari (; died 7 May 833), known simply as Ibn Hisham, was a 9th-century Abbasid historian and scholar. He grew up in Basra, in modern-day Iraq and later moved to Egypt. Life Ibn Hisham has ...

's biography of Muhammad. The Muslim jurist

Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyya Shams ad-Dīn Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Abī Bakr ibn Ayyūb az-Zurʿī d-Dimashqī l-Ḥanbalī (29 January 1292–15 September 1350 CE / 691 AH–751 AH), commonly known as Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya ("The son of the principal of he scho ...

also mentions the event in his biography of Muhammad,

Zad al-Ma'ad ''Zad al-Ma'ad Fi Hadyi Khair Al 'Ibaad'' () is a 5-volume book, translated as Provisions of the Hereafter in the Guidance of the Best of Servants, written by the Islamic scholar Ibn al-Qayyim. The word 'Zad' in Arabic is used to refer to the fo ...

. Modern secondary sources which mention this, include the award winning book,
Ar-Raheeq Al-Makhtum - The Sealed Nectar
''. Dar-us-Salam Publications.

Ar-Raheeq Al-Makhtum ''Ar-Raheeq Al-Makhtum'' (; ) is a seerah book (biography of Prophet Muhammad) by Safiur Rahman Mubarakpuri. It was awarded first prize by the Muslim World League in a worldwide competition of biographies of Prophet Muhammad held in Mecca in 19 ...

(The Sealed Nectar). The Muslim jurist

Tabari Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad ibn Jarīr ibn Yazīd al-Ṭabarī (; 839–923 CE / 224–310 AH), commonly known as al-Ṭabarī (), was a Sunni Muslim scholar, polymath, historian, exegete, jurist, and theologian from Amol, Tabaristan, present-day ...

, also mentions the event in his biography of Muhammad:

Hadith literature

The incident is also mentioned in the Sunni Hadith collection Sunan Abu Dawud: The event is also mentioned in Musnad Ahmad 3:496.

References

Notes