The Incident of al-Raji
The al-Raji trap (Safar 4 AH); martyrdom of Asim & Khubayb ibn Adi.
Hijri Muharram–Safar 4 AH CE c. 625 CE
A treacherous ambush at the Well of al-Raji in which a party of ~10 Companions, sent out by the Prophet ﷺ as teachers at a faked request for guidance, was trapped and killed — the surviving three sold or executed. Its roots lie in the earlier Expedition of Abdullah ibn Unays, the pre-emptive killing of a hostile chieftain.
Date
Abdullah ibn Unays’ expedition: Muharram 4 AH. The al-Raji ambush that followed: Safar 4 AH (c. 625 CE) — the same night, per al-Waqidi, that news of Bir Ma’una also reached Madinah.
Background — the Expedition of Abdullah ibn Unays
After the apparent loss at Uhud, Bedouin tribes grew emboldened. The tribe of Hudhayl, under its chieftain Khalid ibn Sufyan al-Hudhali, began gathering an army to raid Madinah. The Prophet ﷺ chose a single man, Abdullah ibn Unays al-Juhani (ra), to pre-empt him, telling him he would find Khalid “in the Valley of Arana” and that “when you see him, you shall feel more terrified than you have ever been at anybody’s appearance” — the Prophet ﷺ had never seen the man, so the knowledge is taken to be from Allah. On the way, fearing Zuhr’s time would pass, Abdullah prayed walking, with gestures of the head — the first instance of a form of Salat al-Khawf. He infiltrated Khalid’s camp on the ruse of “joining your army,” then killed him. The Prophet ﷺ gifted him a staff — “This shall be the sign between me and you on the Day of Judgment” — and Abdullah was buried with it.
What happened — the al-Raji ambush
In revenge for their chieftain, Hudhayl paid off two tribes, Udal and al-Qara, to set a trap: they came to Madinah pretending to accept Islam and begged the Prophet ﷺ to send teachers. About 7–10 Companions (most likely 10), under Asim ibn Thabit (ra), were sent. At the Well of al-Raji, ~100 warriors ambushed them. The Companions took a hilltop and fought with bows.
- Asim ibn Thabit had killed the husband of a pagan woman, Sulafa bint Sa’d, at Uhud; she had vowed to drink wine from his skull and offered 100 camels for it. Asim refused surrender, praying: “As I protected Your religion in the daytime, now protect my body at night.” He fought until arrows, spear, and sword failed, and died a shaheed.
- Karamat: when the enemy rushed his body for the reward, a swarm of wasps drove them off; at sunset a river gushed out where none existed, carried his body away, and his burial place was never known — Allah guarded his corpse from Sulafa’s vow.
The pagans killed the party down to three, whom they coaxed into surrendering for ransom under a promise of safety, then bound like animals:
- Abdullah ibn Tariq (ra) — cried “This is the first sign of treachery,” refused to march, and was killed on the spot.
- Khubayb ibn Adi (ra) — bought by the Banu al-Harith to avenge a man he killed at Badr; his story continues in his page.
- Zayd ibn al-Dathinah (ra) — bought by Safwan ibn Umayyah to avenge his father Umayyah ibn Khalaf (whom Zayd had helped kill after Badr). Executed at Makkah in a public spectacle. When Abu Sufyan asked whether he wished the Prophet ﷺ were in his place, Zayd answered he would not want the Prophet ﷺ even pricked by a thorn — moving Abu Sufyan to say he had never seen a people love a leader as the Companions loved Muhammad ﷺ.
Participants
Abdullah ibn Unays al-Juhani; Asim ibn Thabit; Khubayb ibn Adi; Zayd ibn al-Dathinah; Abdullah ibn Tariq (Muslims). Hudhayl, Udal, al-Qara (pagan tribes); Sulafa bint Sa’d; Safwan ibn Umayyah; Banu al-Harith (opponents).
Outcome & significance
The teaching party was wiped out; two Companions were sold to Makkah and executed. Coming on the same night as Bir Ma’una, it marked the shift from a war between Muslims and Quraysh toward an all-out war between Islam and shirk. Both surrender-and-be-ransomed and fight-to-the-death were shown to be honourable, rewarded choices.
Lessons
- Surrender vs. fight — both are permissible; each has precedent, each is rewarded.
- Abdullah ibn Tariq’s choice shows that provoking one’s own death at another’s hand is not suicide.
- Karamat (mini-miracles for non-prophets): the wasps and river for Asim; Khubayb’s grapes.
- The Companions’ love of the sunnah even at death (Khubayb’s purification; the two rak’at before execution he initiated).
- The absolute prohibition of harming women and children (Khubayb and the child).
- The permissibility of ijtihad in the Prophet’s ﷺ lifetime (Abdullah ibn Unays’ walking prayer; the pre-execution prayer).
Cross-references
Muhammad ﷺ · Madinah (Yathrib) · Mecca · The Battle of Uhud · The Battle of Badr · The Incident of Bir Ma'una · Khubayb ibn Adi (ra) · Safwan ibn Umayya · Abu Sufyan ibn Harb (ra) · Salat al-Khawf (The Prayer of Fear) · Expeditions Between Uhud and Khandaq (Second Badr & Dhat al-Riqa) · Quraysh · Seerah Timeline
Sources
- S008 — Yasir Qadhi Seerah EP 051–060 (EP 051). Draws on al-Waqidi (Maghazi, the same-night report), Ibn Ishaq/Ibn Hisham, and the reports of Khubayb, Zayd ibn al-Dathinah, and Asim ibn Thabit preserved in the classical seerah and hadith literature.