Battle of Hunayn

Date	630 (8 AH)
Location	Hunain, near al-Ta'if in south-western Arabia
Result	Decisive Muslim victory

Belligerents

Muslims,
Quraysh

Hawazin,
Thaqif,
Qais
Nasr,
Jusham,
Sa‘d bin Bakr,
Bani Hilal,
Bani 'Amr bin Amir,
Bani 'Awf bin Amir

Commanders and leaders

Muhammad,
Ali

Malik ibn Awf al-Nasri

Strength

12,000

20,000

Casualties and losses

70 killed
6,000 prisoners taken
24,000 camels captured as booty.

The Battle of Hunayn was fought between Muhammad and his followers against the Bedouin tribe of Hawazin and its subsection the Thaqif in 630 in a valley on one of the roads leading from Mecca to al-Ta'if. The battle ended in a decisive victory for the Muslims, who captured enormous spoils. The Battle of Hunayn is one of only two battles mentioned in the Qur'an by name, in Sura Tawba.

The conquest of Mecca astounded both the Arabs and other tribes. The Hawazins had been long-standing enemies of Meccans. They were located north-east of Mecca and their territory sat beside the trade route to Hira in Iraq. The Hawazins were allied with the Thaqifs of Ta'if which was located south-east of Mecca and whose trade routes ran through Hawazin territory. The alliance had engage in several wars probably concerning trade routes between Ta'if and Mecca. Given this history they saw Muhammad as another powerful Quraish leader who had come to lead his people. They thought among themselves that a war with Muslims was imminent and that the once persecuted minority of Muslims had gained an upper hand against their non-Muslim Arab enemies. Some tribes favoured fighting him and the Muslims. Ahead of these were the tribes of Hawazin and Thaqif. According to the Muslim scholar Safiur Rahman Mubarakpuri "They thought that they were too mighty to admit or surrender to such a victory". So, they met Malik bin ‘Awf An-Nasri and made up their minds to proceed fighting against the Muslims. Malik persuaded other tribes to fight and gathered them before him. The confederation of tribes consistiing of Nasr, Jusham, Sa‘d bin Bakr, Bani Hilal, Bani 'Amr bin Amir and Bani 'Awf bin Amir gathered at Autas along with the Thaqif and Hawazin.

On that day Muhammad had twelve thousand armed soldiers under his standard. Out of them ten thousand were those, who had accompanied him from Medina and had taken part in the conquest of Mecca, and the other two thousand were from amongst Quraysh, who had embraced Islam recently.

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