Mālik ibn ʿAwf () was a

companion of Muhammad The Companions of the Prophet () were the Muslim disciples and followers of the Islamic prophet Muhammad who saw or met him during his lifetime. The companions played a major role in Muslim battles, society, hadith narration, and governance ...

and a leader of the

Hawazin The Hawazin ( / ALA-LC: ''Hawāzin'') were an Arab tribe originally based in the western Najd and around Ta'if in the Hejaz. They formed part of the larger Qays tribal group. The Hawazin consisted of the subtribes of Banu Sa'd, and Banu Jusham, a ...

tribe of

Ta'if Taif (, ) is a city and governorate in Mecca Province in Saudi Arabia. Located at an elevation of in the slopes of the Hijaz Mountains, which themselves are part of the Sarawat Mountains, Sarat Mountains, the city has a population of 563,282 pe ...

. Before he converted to Islam, he was one of the commanders in the

Battle of Hunayn The Battle of Hunayn () was a conflict between the Muslims of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and the tribe of Qays in the aftermath of the conquest of Mecca. The battle took place in 8 AH () in the Hunayn valley on the route from Mecca to ...

against the Muslims. His tribe,

, fought in the battle along with the Thaqif tribe. He was a prominent knight who commanded armies and held a high rank among his people. He converted to

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

before

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 inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...

's death.

Muhammad's visit to Ta'if

In the year 619, Prophet Muhammad's uncle Abu Talib died and a few weeks later his wife Khadija also died. As a result, the Prophet was deprived of the care and support he received from his uncle in his public life and from his wife at home. The position in Makkah was becoming more and more difficult for him. So he travelled to Tai'f, a town in the mountains about forty-five miles away from Mecca, where the tribe of Thaqif lived, to seek their support to defend himself against his tribe. At the same time, he wished that they would accept the message with which Allah had sent him. Malik ibn Awf criticized Muhammad when he came to Ta'if to spread Islam. When Muhammad went to the Thaqif leaders to proselytize, Awf and the leaders condemned his teachings. The Thaqif leaders sent their slaves to chase him out of the town, throwing stones and other things at him, until his feet bled.

Battle of Hunayn

Awf participated in the

after the

Conquest of Mecca The conquest of Mecca ( , alternatively, "liberation of Mecca") was a military campaign undertaken by Muhammad and Companions of the Prophet, his companions during the Muslim–Quraysh War. They led the early Muslims in an advance on the Quray ...

. Before the battle began, Awf ordered his fighters to shoot arrows at the Muslims. The Muslim fighters began to flee. Muhammad ordered Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib to call the Muslim army back to fight. Abbas did so, and approx 100 Muslims came back to the battle. After seeing those soldiers fight, the rest of the Muslim army returned. The Muslims won; Awf and his army fled to Ta'if. A verse of the Qur'an was revealed on this incident. Muhammad and his army laid siege to Ta'if, but they failed to take the city.

Full name

Malik ibn Awf's full name was Malik bin Awf bin Saad bin Rabia bin Waelah bin Dahman bin Nasr bin Muawiya bin Bakr bin Hawazen bin Mansour bin Ikrimah bin Khasfah bin Qais Aylan bin

Mudar The Mudar () was a principal grouping of the northern Arab tribes. History The Mudar and Rabi'a are recorded in central Arabia in the Arabic histories of the pre-Islamic period; the kings of the Kindah bore the title of "king of the Ma'add ( ...

bin Nizar bin Maad bin

Adnan Adnan () is traditionally regarded as the patriarch of the Adnanite Arabs, a major Arab lineage that historically inhabited Northern, Western, Eastern, and Central Arabia. The Adnanites are distinct from the Qahtanite Arabs of Southern Arabia ...

bin Adad.

Conversion to Islam

Malik bin Auf al-Nasri al-Saad had led the Hawazin and Thaqif tribes to the Muslim war in Hunayn, so they were defeated and their money, family and offspring fell into the hands of the Muslims. Ibn Ishaq said: "The Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him, said to the delegation of Hawazin on the authority of Malik bin Auf al-Nasri, What did he do? They said: He is in Taif with Thaqif. The Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him, said: (Tell Malik that if a Muslim comes to me, I will return his family and money to him, and give him a hundred camels). Malik came with that, so he went out to the Messenger of God, peace be upon him, from Taif, and he was Malik. So he ran until he came to his camel, where he ordered it to be imprisoned, so he rode it. So he followed the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, and caught him in Al-Jaranah or in

Mecca Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...

, and the Messenger of God, peace be upon him, returned his family and money to him, and gave him a hundred camels." After Malik's conversion, Muhammad used him over his people and those with him and remained with them until the war of conquests took place, where he participated with his tribe in the Battle of al-Qadisiyya, and they had an interest in it, as he witnessed the conquest of the city of

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

and resided there, and it became for him a house known as the House of Bani Nasr, which Malik first lodged Damascus opened.

References

{{reflist Medieval military leaders Companions of the Prophet Hawazin 640 deaths