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The dam. It closes a deep gorge south-east of ath-Thamad. It is 200 to 250 m long and about 30 m high. It is made of undressed stones, in steps. The upstream face has a yellow coating. A double staircase goes down on the downstream side. About a third of it, at the north end, has collapsed. Its date is uncertain: before Islam or in early Islam. Saudipedia classifies it as an early Islamic dam. A sign of the Commission for Tourism and Antiquities stands on site. It is reached by a track, in a 4x4.
As-Sahbaʾ in the hadith. Suwayd ibn an-Nuʿman relates that on the way to Khaybar, they reached as-Sahbaʾ, « وَهْيَ مِنْ أَدْنَى خَيْبَرَ » (“on the outskirts of Khaybar”). There the Prophet ﷺ prayed ʿasr, ate sawiq with his companions, then prayed maghrib without renewing his ablution (Bukhari 4195). Ibn Saʿd, quoted by Samhudi, places as-Sahbaʾ one barid from Khaybar, about 22 km, toward Medina.
Safiyya's wedding. On the way back, Anas relates: « فَخَرَجَ بِهَا حَتَّى بَلَغْنَا سَدَّ الصَّهْبَاءِ حَلَّتْ، فَبَنَى بِهَا » (“He set out with her; when we reached Sadd as-Sahbaʾ, she became free to marry, and he consummated the marriage with her”) (Bukhari 4211). The meal was hays, served on a small leather mat (Bukhari 4211). The Prophet ﷺ stayed three nights between Khaybar and Medina for this wedding. There was neither bread nor meat, only dates, dried curd and butter (Bukhari 4213).
The route. Al-Waqidi gives the stages from Medina: Thaniyyat al-Wadaʿ, az-Zaghaba, Naqma, al-Mustanakh, ʿIsr, then as-Sahbaʾ. Ibn Ishaq says that a mosque was built for the Prophet ﷺ at ʿIsr. These stages are not located today. They can be recalled on the road from Medina.
The return. After Khaybar, the army went to Wadi al-Qura, present-day AlUla. A servant of the Prophet ﷺ, Midʿam, was killed there by a stray arrow. The people said: “Blessed is he, he is a martyr.” The Prophet ﷺ replied that the cloak he had taken from the spoils of Khaybar before the division was burning on him (Bukhari 4234).
Other dams. Saudipedia also mentions Sadd al-Hasid and remains of dams on Samna, Hudna, al-Hilhal and az-Zuwaydiya. They are not dated.
What is certain and what is not
- Certain: the stop at as-Sahbaʾ on the way there (Bukhari 4195); Safiyya's wedding at Sadd as-Sahbaʾ on the way back (Bukhari 4211, 4213); the story of Midʿam (Bukhari 4234).
- Historians' account: the distance of one barid (Ibn Saʿd); the stages of the route and the mosque of ʿIsr (Ibn Ishaq, al-Waqidi). Ibn Ishaq also reports, with a broken chain, the story of Bilal falling asleep on the way back and missing the time of the dawn prayer.
- Tradition: the identification of Sadd al-Bint with the « سد الصهباء » of the hadith, and a nearby place called « قبة صفية ». The area matches the distance given by Ibn Saʿd. But nothing proves that the word “sadd” in the hadith means a dam; it can mean a rocky ridge. Nor does anything prove that it is this place.
- Uncertain: the date the dam was built.
- The sun brought back for ʿAli at as-Sahbaʾ. A narration says that the sun, which had already set, was brought back so that ʿAli could pray ʿasr. Grade: very weak. Ibn Kathir judges it « ضعيف جدا لا أصل له » (“very weak, without any basis”). It has nothing to do with the authentic hadith of as-Sahbaʾ (Bukhari 4195).
Narrations with a weak or disputed chain
Sources
1. Bukhari 4195, 4211, 4213, 4234 (sunnah.com).
2. Samhudi, Wafaʾ al-wafa, vol. 4 p. 107, 118.
3. Ibn Hisham, as-Sira an-nabawiyya, vol. 2 p. 329, 337-340.
4. Al-Waqidi, al-Maghazi, vol. 2 p. 638-639.
5. Saudipedia, « محافظة خيبر ».
6. Madain Project, “Sadd al-Bint (Khaybar Dam)”.
7. Al-Madina, 8 February 2013, « سد الصهباء (سد البنت) ».