The First Expeditions

The first ghazwah in which the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) participated is called Ghazwat al-Abwāʾ, but no fighting occurred; this army went out but did not meet the enemy. Then the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) sent out a sariyyah led by ʿUbaydah ibn al-Ḥārith. These were sixty of the Muhājirūn, all of them Muhājirūn, on foot; there were no mounts. They would walk at night and hide during the day. They exchanged arrows, but no one was killed. So the first shots fired in jihād fī sabīlillāh were in this Sariyyat ʿUbaydah ibn al-Ḥārith, and the first one to shoot was Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqāṣ (may Allah be pleased with him). He said, "I am the first one to strike an arrow in the path of Allah."

Then there is Sariyyat Ḥamzah ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib. This was a sariyyah led by Ḥamzah ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib, about thirty Muhājirūn, but this time they were riding camels, and they met with a caravan. This sariyyah went out to raid a caravan belonging to Quraysh, but the caravan was supported by a large number of guards. No fighting occurred, because one of the tribesmen in the area, who had a peace agreement with Muhammad (peace be upon him) and with Quraysh, interfered, and he saw that no fighting occurred. But when this happened, Abū Jahl, who was with the caravan, went back to Quraysh and gave warning to his people: Muhammad is out there and trying to lay his hands on our caravans and on us, so be careful. He was telling his people that Muhammad was like an angry lion, and he said, "We have driven them out of the land like insects would be driven off the back of a camel" — so he was telling his people to be careful.

Then there is another ghazwah called Ghazwat Buwāṭ: they went to raid a caravan but could not find it. And there is Ghazwat al-ʿUshayrah: they also went to pursue a caravan but were not able to find it. These caravans were a bit elusive, trying to hide their tracks in the desert. And then there is Sariyyat Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqāṣ and Ghazwat Badr al-Ūlā. All of these occurred within the first two years of the hijrah, before the Battle of Badr.