The Life of the Prophet Muhammad by Ibn Kathir - Volume 3 of 4

98 THE LIFE OF THE PROPHET MUHAMMAD
He went on, "Ibn Ishiiq h. Yassr related to me, from al-MughTra b. 'Ahd
al-wman h. al-Haith b. Hishw, and 'Abd al-Raiynsn h. Ahn Bakr h.
Muhammad h. 'Amr b. Hazm, along with scholars other than these two men,
as follows, 'Ahii Bad 'Amir b. M2lik b. Ja'far, (known as) mula%b al-asmna, "He
who Toys with Spears", came to the Messenger of God (SAAS) in Medina, who
explained Islam to him and invited him to accept it. But Abn Bars' neither did
so nor refused, hut said, "0 Muhammad, if you were to despatch some
of your Companions to the people of Najd, inviting them to join you, I would
hope they would respond positively to you."
"'But the Messenger of God (SAAS) replied, "But I would fear for them from
the people of Najd."
"'Aha Bar2 replied that he would give them protection.
"'And so the Messenger of God (SAAS) despatched d-Mundhir b. 'Am,
brother of Bana Sa4da, (known as) al-muhrq 11 yamtit, "Eager for Death", with
a party of 40 of his companions, some of the best of the Muslims. They included
al-Haith b. al-Simma, Har%n b. Miban, brother of Bana 'Adi h. al-Najjar,
Wrwa h. Asm2 b. al-Salt al-Sulami, Nstic b. Budayl b. Warqa' al-KhuaCi, 'Amu
b. Fuhayra, the freed-man of Ahii Bakr, along with other warriors of the Muslim
elite.
"'They travelled as far as the well at Ma'iina, between the territory of Bann
'Amir and the ham, "the lava field", of Bann Sulaym, where they halted. Having
made camp, they sent out Haram b. Millpln with a letter from the Messenger of
God (SAAS), addressed to 'Amir h. al-Tufayl. When Harm reached him, 'Amir
did not look at the document hut attacked and killed the man. He then invited
Bana 'Amir to attack, but they refused to do as he wanted, responding, "We'll
not betray Aba Bars'; he has given them a pledge and his protection."
""Amir b. al-Tufayl then invited the tribes of Bana Sulaym, Wgayya, Ri'l,
Dhakwan and al*ra, and they agreed to attack the Muslims. They came out
against them by surprising and surrounding them while the Muslims were with
their baggage. When they saw the enemy attacking, they drew their swords and
fought them until all the Muslims were killed, except for Ka'b h. Zayd, brother
of Banii Dinsr b. al-Najjs. The left him there barely alive; he was picked up
from among the dead and lived on until he was killed at the battle of al-khandaq.
'"'Am h. Umayya al-pamri and another Muslim, one of the an@, of Banii
'Amr b. 'Awf, were out grazing the camels and did not know of the death of
their comrades until they saw vultures circling over their camp. They assumed
something was wrong when they saw the birds and when they came in to see,
they found them lying in their blood while the horsemen who had killed them
were still there. The man of the an:ar asked 'Amr b. Umayya what they should
do; 'Amr suggested they return to the Messenger of God (SAAS), to give him
the news. But the ansiW could not bring himself to leave the place where
al-Mundhii h. 'Am had heeli killed, and he also did not want to be the one to
inform the others of the had news. He therefore fought the enemy until he was