Banu Bakr's Raid on the Khuza'a at al-Watir

The Khuza'a and the Banu Bakr were two tribes living on the outskirts of Makkah. For about a hundred years they had fought on and off, much like the Aws and the Khazraj of Madinah before Islam. The Treaty of Hudaybiyyah allowed other tribes to join either the Muslims or the Quraysh. Many of the Khuza'a had become Muslim, so they joined the Muslims' side. The Banu Bakr, the only pagan tribe left near Makkah, joined the Quraysh.

The treaty forced the old feud to pause, but the Banu Bakr still wanted revenge for their dead. In 8 AH their noblemen asked the Quraysh for permission to carry out just one raid. The Quraysh agreed, even though they knew it broke the treaty. Some of their leaders, including Suhayl ibn Amr and Safwan ibn Umayyah, even supplied weapons, most likely for a share of the plunder. One of them assured the raiders that if they attacked in the middle of the night, the Muslims would never find out.

The Banu Bakr attacked the Khuza'a at night while they were camped at al-Watir, a small pond outside the boundary of the Haram, the sacred area around Makkah. They expected to take some camels and plunder and slip away. Instead someone raised the alarm, and a real fight broke out. More than twenty of the Khuza'a were killed, including women and children.

One man of the Khuza'a fled into the Haram, where even the pagan Arabs held that fighting was forbidden. He turned to his pursuer and called on him to fear his God. The man from the Banu Bakr replied, "There is no God today," and killed him inside the Haram.