Madinah was agriculturally quite self-sufficient, as it received sufficient rain but even then the citizens of Madinah could not meet all their needs from domestic sources alone. They were normally compelled to import things by trade from Syria and Bain-al-Nahreen.

After the economic and political siege of Madinah had been laid, the Quraysh, aided by other tribes and the Chief of Munafeqeen, Abdullah bin Obei, devised a new scheme against the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) and the Muslims. They planned to take the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) out of Madinah. They believed, without the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), the Muslims would not be able to defend themselves. They wanted to pounce on the Muslims suddenly in the absence of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace).

By the coasts of the Red Sea, there dwelt a tribe named Banu Mustalaq, whose chief was Harith. The Quraysh provoked this tribe to attack the Muslims. When the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) found out through his special sources that Banu Mustalaq was intending to attack the Muslims, he decided to take action against the tribe. At the time of departure from Madinah, the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) suggested Abdullah bin Obei to lead a small contingent of the Muslims and accompany them on the journey. Abdullah bin Obei who was the chief of Munafeqeen and had designs to inflict harm on the Muslims could not refuse the Prophet’s (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) offer.

On the pretext of leading a small army, the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) took Abdullah bin Obei with him to the battle front, thus leaving the party of Munafeqeen without any leader. Consequently, the Quraysh and the Jewish plan of attacking the Muslims in absence of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) could not be put into action. They could not count on the help of the Munafeqeen. In this journey, the number of Muslims was quite small. They were not more than thirty, ten were Mohajir and the rest Ansars. The army of Banu Mustalaq on the other hand was comprised of two hundred soldiers. The two armies met in the West at a distance of about eight miles from Madinah. Although the soldiers of Banu Mustalaq were seven times in number to that of the Muslims, yet the Muslims put to sword ten of their soldiers. As a result, the whole tribe surrendered to the Muslims. In this battle only one Muslim life was lost. This battle is known in history as Ghazwa-e-Mareese.

Before confronting the Muslims, this tribe had allied with the Quraysh They were "Harbi Kafir". Harbi Kafir were those Kufars who deliberately fought against Islam. All the men and women of this tribe including their chief came under servitude of the Muslims. All those captured were distributed among the Muslims according to the custom. The chieftain’s daughter "Birrah" came to the Prophet’s (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) share. She was a widow. After her arrest, she approached the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) and said, "I have heard that you are Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) of Allah and a just person, Now, as I have become a prisoner to you, find a way, for Allah’s sake, that I may become free again!".

The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) replied, "We have not imprisoned you by coercion. You have been arrested due to your father’s animosity to us. Had your father not picked up enmity with the Muslims and attacked us, he would neither have been arrested himself nor would any one of you".

Birrah wept helplessly. She said that she had never been a slave, and done the work, the slaves did and could never do it now. At this, the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) became immersed in deep thought. Addressing her, he asked, "Would you like to be the wife of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace)?"

The listeners standing by were astonished to hear this. They could not understand the reason for this wedlock. She agreed and her name was changed from Birrah to Javairiya at the time of marriage with the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace).

After this wedding, it was revealed to the common Muslims that Juwayriyyah’s father would be recognised as the father-in-law of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) and it was un-approving to keep him as their captive or slave. The owner of Harith thus announced to set him free in view of his status as the Prophet’s (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) father-in-law. As all the members of a tribe in Arabia were tied by blood relations and thus belonged to a single family, therefore, all those people who were imprisoned that day by the Muslims were reckoned, through the relationship of Juwayriyyah, close relatives of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace). As a result all the people of Banu Mustalaq were set free. When Banu Mustalaq observed this magnanimity and kindness of the Muslims, they all entered into Faith. The members of this tribe would later go on to perform glorious feats of valour in various battles for Islam.

When all the men and women of this clan entered Faith, it was only then that the common Muslims understood the prudence behind the Prophet’s (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) act of marriage. For through this relationship, the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) had converted an entire polytheist tribe to Islam.

Abdullah bin Obei, mentioned before as the chief of the Munafeqeen had come to this battle with the Muslims. He could not help himself from trying to spread intrigue amongst the Muslims. He approached the Mohajirs and taking them aside, whispered, "Have you seen how the Prophet of Allah has deprived you of your right?" He said, "Brothers! you left your houses, arrived here by difficulty and bore the hardships of travel and risked your lives in danger. You fought with Banu Mustalaq expecting a booty, but after the battle the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) entered into a relationship with the tribe’s chieftain and you were compelled to release the imprisoned without any booty. On your return to Madinah, you will be empty handed and you gained nothing by such devotion". He then approached the Ansar and sympathising with them said, "This time you have been at a loss in such a dangerous journey. I would even say that you have been deceived".

Quite astonished, the Ansar asked, "Deceived? How?"

Abdullah bin Obei answered, "Is it not a deception that you have been deprived of the booty. How could you release your prisoners? I cannot comprehend this. Have you not endangered your lives to get them? What is it to you that the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) has entered into a relationship with Harith. Why are you being deprived of the booty?"

The Ansar replied that the Prophet’s (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) relationship with Juwayriyyah had allowed Islam to expand and a whole tribe had entered Faith. They had therefore no complaints about deprivation of the booty. They had not fought for worldly gains but for Islam. If giving up the booty helped the cause of Islam, then they did not care about the loss.

On the way, Abdullah bin Obei’s son reached the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) and said, "O Prophet of Allah, as I had told you earlier that my father intended to cause a rift between you and the Muslims, Allah forbid, to eliminate you. As he has tried to play with your life, I suggest he should be put to death and if you permit, I myself am ready to inflict the punishment myself. Although he is my father, I will behead him and put his head under your feet. Whatever you say I will do. The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said that he would not command his father’s execution nor would he seek his death by any other means. It was his desire that Abdullah bin Obei to live and spend his life among them; for he may be blessed with righteousness. The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) had never been vindictive towards his enemies, here too he showed great clemency and forgiveness.

The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) used to take one of his wives along with him whenever he journeyed. It was A’ishah^R.A’s turn to accompany him on a journey. She thus mounted a camel and went to the battle-front with the Islamic caravan.

On the way back from the battle-field to Madinah, A’ishah^R.A climbed down the camel by cause of some need and when she returned she was shocked to see that the caravan had already left. As the curtain around A’ishah^R.A’s howdah was drawn, the people of the caravan had assumed she was sleeping inside it and had left with the camel.

When A’ishah^R.A realised that the caravan had left and she had been separated from it, she grew un-nerved and began running and crying out for help. At last, quite tired, she sat on the ground and started praying to Allah by raising her hands to the sky, "O Allah! Relieve me of this distress".

After some time, a young man who was riding a fast camel reached there. His name was Safwan bin Moatal Sehmi. Safwan was coming behind the Islamic caravan. He was assigned the task to pick up any lost items left or forgotten by the caravan and return them to their owners. When Safwan reached the deserted area, he recognised A’ishah^R.A sitting there and asked, "O Umm-al-Momeneen, how come you are alone here and why do you weep?" A’ishah^R.A narrated all the incident of how she had been lost from the caravan. Safwan bin Moatal let her ride on his camel and led the camel by his bridle to Madinah. They entered Madinah one day after the caravan had reached the city.

When Abdullah bin Obei heard that Safwan had brought A’ishah^R.A to Madinah, he realised it to be a great opportunity to malign the image of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace). Some other people also joined him including the poet Zayd bin Rafa’ah, Hassan bin Thabit and Mustah bin Athatha, who was a relative of A’ishah^R.A.

Abdullah bin Obei and his band started spreading rumours and slanders against A’ishah^R.A and Safwan bin Moatal. The Jews, who had been rearing enmity against the Muslims, also aired these rumours and one of their lampooning poet exaggerated this small incident to an extent which greatly perturbed not only the Muslims but the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) as well.

Islamic historians have stated that this situation persisted for about a month. Meanwhile, A’ishah^R.A underwent extreme anguish and grief. Even the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) came to her one day and said, "Do you know what people are saying about you?" Tears poured forth from her eyes and she replied with great difficulty, "O Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) of Allah! Whatever is being propagated about me is absolutely false and absurd. I swear to Allah, I have done nothing wrong!". The same moment, Wahi was revealed about her innocence with the verses present today in the twenty Fourth Surah, Al-Nur of the Holy Qur’an:

Similarly in the verse 12 of the same Surah is given:

And in the verse 13 is said:

In Islam if a man or a woman is slandered for adultery, then according to Holy Quranic injunction, it is necessary to produce four witnesses who must have seen the act being committed before their own eyes. If the person fails to bring up four witnesses to prove his accusation, then he himself would be charged for slander.

Thus, these verses brought solace and relief to the Muslims. On the other hand, Abdullah bin Obei, who was considering himself successful in hurting the Muslims and the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) by his false allegations, lost whatever power his slanderous remarks had and saw that his intrigue had failed once again.