Expedition of Ubaydah ibn al-Harith to Rabiigh

The Prophet sent Ubaydah ibn al-Harith ibn al-Muttalib with sixty Muhajirun riders to Thaniyyat al-Marrah, near Rabiigh on the route to Mecca. They encountered a large Quraysh force of two hundred men led by Abu Sufyan ibn Harb (or Ikrimah ibn Abi Jahl according to some reports). The two parties exchanged arrows at long range in what was the first exchange of hostile fire in Islamic military history. Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas shot an arrow that day, and it is said he was the first to shoot an arrow in the path of Allah. No close combat occurred, and both sides withdrew. Two members of the Quraysh force, al-Miqdad ibn Amr and Utbah ibn Ghazwan, who were secretly Muslim, defected and joined Ubaydah's party. This expedition further established the Muslim military presence along the Meccan trade routes.