Sariyyah of Zaid bin Ḥārithah(ra) to ‘Īṣ - Jamādi’ul-Ūlā 6 A.H.

Not many days had passed since the return of Zaid bin Ḥārithah(ra), when the Holy Prophet(sa) sent him from Madīnah once again during the month of Jamādi’ul-Ūlā, commanding 170 companions. The scholars of Sīrat have written that the cause of this expedition was that a caravan of the Quraish was arriving from Syria and that the Holy Prophet(sa) had sent this squadron for the interception of this caravan. We have already written a principle note on the interception of these caravans in the beginning of the section on wars,1 therefore, repetition is unnecessary here. However, here it is sufficient to allude to the fact that these caravans of the Quraish were always armed and whilst travelling between Makkah and Syria they passed very closely by Madīnah, and so they were a constant threat. Other than this, as has already been mentioned in the preliminary discussion on this topic, these caravans would provoke the tribes of Arabia against the Muslims wherever they passed. Due to this, a dangerous fire of animosity had been ignited throughout the country against the Muslims, due to which their interception was necessary. In any case, upon receiving news of this caravan, the Holy Prophet(sa) dispatched Zaid bin Ḥārithah(ra) to meet it. He moved forward with such intelligence, seizing the opportunity, that he was able to successfully reach ‘Īṣ and intercepted the caravan. ‘Īṣ is the name of a place situated at a distance of four days’ travel from Madīnah, towards the ocean. Since this was a sudden attack, the people of the caravan were unable to combat this assault of the Muslims. They left all their belongings and fled. Zaid(ra) captured a few prisoners and took hold of the caravan’s load, set off to Madīnah and presented himself before the Holy Prophet(sa).2