The Battle of Fajar

When Muhammad was twenty years old, a battle broke out at the Fair of ‘Okaz in the month of Dhul Qa’dah. The warring tribes were Quraysh and Kinana on one side and the Qays Ghilan on the other. The fighting was fierce, and several people on both sides were killed. At last they made peace on condition that whichever side had suffered the most casualties would get blood money (recompense 24 for unlawful killing). This battle was the fourth and most deadly in a series of skirmishes that had erupted each of the previous years. It would, however, be the last. It came to be known as the Battle of Fajar (Arabic for immorality) as it took place in a sacred month when fighting was prohibited and violated the sanctity of a sacred month with bloodshed. As a member of the Quraysh, Muhammad was also present in the battle. His role was to collect the enemy’s arrows and hand them over to his uncles.