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In Shawwal of the year 8, the Muslim army has just defeated the Hawazin at Hunayn. Their chief, Malik ibn ʿAwf an-Nasri, has taken refuge in Taif, in the fort of Thaqif. The Prophet ﷺ decides to march there. Ibn Ishaq describes the route: by Nakhla al-Yamaniya, then Qarn, then al-Mulayh, as far as « بَحْرَةِ الرُّغَاءِ مِنْ لِيَّةَ », a plain in the valley of Liyya.
According to the lexicographer al-Asmaʿi, quoted by Yaqut, Liyya is « وَادٍ قُرْبَ الطَّائِفِ، أَعْلَاهُ لِثَقِيفٍ وَأَسْفَلُهُ لِنَصْرِ بْنِ مُعَاوِيَةَ » (“a valley near Taif, whose upper part belongs to Thaqif and its lower part to the Nasr ibn Muʿawiya”). The Nasr are precisely the tribe of Malik ibn ʿAwf. As-Samhudi places it about eight miles from the valley of Taif.
Ibn Ishaq writes: « فَابْتَنَى بِهَا مَسْجِدًا فَصَلَّى فِيهِ » (“he built a mosque there and prayed in it”). Al-Waqidi recorded the memory of a witness who had seen the Prophet ﷺ « يَبْنِي بِيَدِهِ مَسْجِدًا بِلِيَّةَ، وَأَصْحَابُهُ يَنْقُلُونَ إِلَيْهِ الْحِجَارَةَ » (“building a mosque with his own hand at Liyya, while his Companions carried the stones to him”). He prayed the midday prayer there.
The same day, a man of the Banu Layth who had killed a man of Hudhayl is brought to the Prophet ﷺ. The two parties plead their case before him. He hands the killer over to the Hudhayl, who execute him. Ibn Ishaq says: « وَهُوَ أَوَّلُ دَمٍ أُقِيدَ بِهِ فِي الْإِسْلَامِ » (“it was the first blood for which retaliation was applied in Islam”).
The Prophet ﷺ then sees a castle and asks whom it belongs to. Al-Waqidi reports the dialogue. He is told: “It is the castle of Malik ibn ʿAwf.” He asks: « أَيْنَ مَالِكٌ؟ » (“Where is Malik?”). “He is watching you right now, from the fort of Thaqif.” He asks: « مَنْ فِي قَصْرِهِ؟ » (“Who is in his castle?”). “No one.” He says: « حَرِّقُوهُ ! » (“Burn it!”). The castle burned from the afternoon until sunset. Ibn Ishaq simply says that it was demolished. According to al-Waqidi, the Prophet ﷺ had first made sure that no one was inside.
Al-Waqidi places another scene at the same stage. Nearby was the grave of Abu Uhayha Saʿid ibn al-ʿAs, a notable of Quraysh who died refusing Islam. Abu Bakr cursed him. The two sons of the dead man, who were Muslims and were marching with the army, replied by cursing the father of Abu Bakr. The Prophet ﷺ stopped them: « إِنَّ سَبَّ الْأَمْوَاتِ يُؤْذِي الْأَحْيَاءَ » (“Insulting the dead hurts the living”).
Then the army left Liyya by the path of ad-Dayqa, which the Prophet ﷺ renamed al-Yusra, and camped under the lote tree of as-Sadira (see no. 10), before the siege of Taif (see no. 19).
Malik ibn ʿAwf did not lose everything. A few weeks later, at al-Jiʿrana, the Prophet ﷺ sent word to the delegation of the Hawazin: « أَخْبِرُوا مَالِكًا أَنَّهُ إِنْ أَتَانِي مُسْلِمًا رَدَدْتُ عَلَيْهِ أَهْلَهُ وَمَالَهُ، وَأَعْطَيْتُهُ مِائَةً مِنَ الْإِبِلِ » (“Tell Malik that if he comes to me as a Muslim, I will return his family and his wealth to him, and give him a hundred camels”). Fearing that Thaqif would hold him back, Malik left Taif by night, joined the Prophet ﷺ, received what he had been promised and embraced Islam.
In the 8th century AH, the Medinan scholar al-Matari visited Liyya. He writes that the mosque was « مَعْرُوفٌ الْيَوْمَ وَسَطَ وَادِي لِيَّةَ » (“known in our day, in the middle of the valley of Liyya”). No recent source describes it, and its location has yet to be found on the ground.
What is certain and what is not
- Historians' account: the passage through Liyya, the mosque built with his own hands, the midday prayer, the first retaliation and the destruction of the castle of Malik ibn ʿAwf (Ibn Ishaq, al-Waqidi). The two authors differ on how: castle burned or demolished.
- Al-Waqidi alone: the dialogue about the castle, the grave of Abu Uhayha and « إن سب الأموات يؤذي الأحياء ».
- The place: the valley of Liyya is well identified; the mosque was known in the 8th century AH, but its present location is unknown.
- Set aside: an object once shown near the mosque as a relic has no value and is not mentioned here.
Sources
1. Ibn Hisham, as-Sira an-nabawiyya, vol. 2, p. 481 (route, mosque, retaliation, « فهدم », ad-Dayqa); vol. 2, p. 490-491 (conversion of Malik ibn ʿAwf).
2. Al-Waqidi, al-Maghazi, vol. 3, p. 923-924 (witness of the building, midday prayer, retaliation, dialogue about the castle, « حرقوه », grave of Abu Uhayha).
3. Yaqut al-Hamawi, Muʿjam al-buldan, vol. 5, p. 29 (« لية », based on al-Asmaʿi; castle of Malik ibn ʿAwf).
4. As-Samhudi, Wafaʾ al-wafa, vol. 3, p. 181 (mosque of Liyya, distance, testimony of al-Matari).