Hunayn: When Numbers Failed

Days after Makkah fell, the great tribe of Hawazin and its allies massed to attack the Muslims. This time the believers marched twelve thousand strong, the largest Muslim army yet, swollen with new Makkan converts, and some among them looked at their numbers and said: we will not be defeated today for being too few. It was a thought that displeased Allah.

In the narrow valley of Hunayn, the enemy archers were waiting on the heights and unleashed a sudden storm of arrows in the half-light of dawn. The huge Muslim army, caught in the defile, broke and fled in confusion. For a terrifying moment the rout was near total. The Prophet ﷺ held his ground on his mule with only a handful of the steadfast around him, Abu Bakr, Ali, Abbas (ra) and a few others, calling out into the chaos: I am the Prophet, this is no lie; I am the son of Abdul-Muttalib.

He had Abbas (ra), famed for his powerful voice, cry out to the fleeing believers, reminding them of the pledge under the tree. The call reached them, and they came streaming back, ashamed, and rallied around the Prophet ﷺ, and Allah turned the battle. The Qur'an named the lesson precisely: Allah has helped you in many regions, and on the day of Hunayn, when your great numbers pleased you but availed you nothing... then Allah sent down His tranquillity and helped you.

After the victory the Prophet ﷺ besieged the survivors at Ta'if, the very city that had stoned him years before, but he lifted the siege rather than prolong the bloodshed, and prayed for Ta'if's guidance instead, the same du'a he had made bleeding in its orchard, and Thaqif would indeed come to Islam soon after. When the vast spoils of Hunayn were divided, he gave generously to the new Makkan converts to soften their hearts, and when some of the Ansar felt slighted, he gathered them and moved them to tears: are you not content that the people go back with sheep and camels, while you go back with the Messenger of Allah? They wept and said: we are content.