Expedition of Bir Maona

The Expedition of Bir Maona (also spelt Ma'una), took place 4 months after the Battle of Uhud in the year 4 A.H of the Islamic calendar. Muhammad sent missionaries to preach Islam, at the request of Abu Bara. Forty (as per Ibn Ishaq) or seventy (as per Sahih Bukhari) of the Muslim missionaries sent by Muhammed were killed.

Background
Four months after the Uhud battle, a delegation of Banu Amir came to Muhammad and presented him with a gift. Abu Bara stayed in Medina. Muhammad declined to accept that gift because it was from a polytheist and asked Abu Bara to embrace Islam. He requested Muhammad to send some Muslims to the people of Najd to call them to Islam. At first, Muhammad was quite apprehensive of this, as he feared that some harm might befall on these Muslim missionaries. On Muhammad’s hesitation, Abu Bara guaranteed the safety of the emissaries of Muhammad.

But he replied, "'I will protect them.'"Ibn Ishaq's Biography claims that forty men were sent to them; but Sahih al-Bukhari states that there were seventy — Al-Mundhir bin ‘Amr, one of Banu Sa‘ida, nicknamed ‘Freed to die’ — commanded that group, who were the best and most learned in the Qur'an and jurisprudence.

Attack on Muslims
At Bir Maunah, the Muslims sent a messenger(Haram bin Milhan) with a letter of Muhammad to Amir bin Tufayl, the cousin of Abu Bara and the chief of Banu Amir. Amir did not read the Message but rather ordered a man to spear Haram bin Milhan in the back.

Amir bin Tufayl then requested the Banu Amir people to help him fight the Muslims. They refused to his request, as they were reluctant to betray the promise of safety by Abu Bara to the Muslims.

So, Amir bin Tufayl took the help of Banu Salim against the Muslims. Together, they attacked the Muslims. The Muslims fought back, but in the end, all of them were killed except for Ka‘b bin Zaid bin An-Najjar who was carried wounded from among the dead. He later died in the Battle of the Trench

When the news of this massacre reached Muhammad, he was greatly grieved and sent Amr bin Umayyah and an Aansar to investigate the whole matter.

On his way back to Qarqara, ‘Amr bin Omaiyah rested in the shade of a tree, and there two men of Banu Kilab joined him. When they slept, Amr killed them both, thinking that by doing that he would avenge some of his killed companions.

Then he found out that they had been given a pledge of protection by Muhammad. He told Muhammad what he had done. Then Muhammad said to ‘Amr, that he (Muhammad) must pay a debt for the killing of those he pledged protection to (the Dhimmi's)

Muhammad was so deeply moved by this tragedy that he used to invoke God's wrath against those people and tribes who killed his Companions. Anas reported that for thirty days Muhammad supplicated God against those who killed his Companions at Ma‘una Well.

Every dawn prayer he would invoke God's wrath against Ri‘l, Dhakwan, Lihyan and ‘Usaiyah tribes. He would say,

"Usaiyah disobeyed Allâh and His Messenger. [Sahih Al-Bukhari 2/586-588]"

A new Qur’ânic verse was revealed that he kept on reciting till it was abrogated later on:"Inform our folk that we have encountered our Lord and He is satisfied with us and we are satisfied with Him" (Quran 3:169-173).

Motives for attacking Muslims
According to William Montgomery Watt, the motives of the Banu Lahyan for attacking Muslims, was that the Banu Lahyan wanted to get revenge for the assassination of their chief at Muhammad's instigation.

Biographical literature
This event is mentioned in Ibn Hisham's biography of Muhammad. The Muslim jurist Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyya also mentions the event in his biography of Muhammad, Zad al-Ma'ad. Modern secondary sources which mention this, include the award winning book, Ar-Raheeq Al-Makhtum (The Sealed Nectar). The event is also mentioned by the Muslim jurist Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyya in his biography of Muhammad, Zad al-Ma'ad.

Hadith literature
The event is mentioned in the Sunni hadith collection Sahih Bukhari, as follows: We do not know of any tribe amongst the 'Arab tribes who lost more martyrs than Al-Ansar, and they will have superiority on the Day of Resurrection. Anas bin Malik told us that seventy from the Ansar were martyred on the day of Uhud, and seventy on the day (of the battle of) Bir Ma'una, and seventy on the day of Al-Yamama. Anas added, "The battle of Bir Ma'una took place during the lifetime of Allah's Apostle and the battle of Al-Yamama, during the caliphate of Abu Bakr, and it was the day when Musailamah Al-Kadhdhab was killed." The event is also mentioned in the Sahih Muslim hadith collection as follows: Anas b. Malik reported that the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) invoked curse in the morning (prayer) for thirty days upon those who killed the Companions (of the Holy Prophet) at Bi'r Ma'una. He cursed (the tribes) of Ri'l, Dhakwan, Lihyan, and Usayya, who had disobeyed Allah and His Messenger (may peace be upon him). Anas said: Allah the Exalted and Great revealed (a verse) regarding those who were killed at Bi'r Ma'una, and we recited it, till it was abrogated later on (and the verse was like this):, convey to it our people the tidings that we have met our Lord, and He was pleased with us and we were pleased with Him".

Quran
According to Mubarakpuri, Quran 3:169-173 is related to the event, and the verse was later abrogated.