Sporadic Invasions
The Expedition called Dhat-ur-Riqa' (in the year 7 A.H.):
Having subdued two powerful sides of the Confederates coalition, the Prophet peace be upon him  started preparations to discipline the third party, i.e. the desert bedouins, who took Najd for  habitation,  and continued in their usual practices of looting and plundering. Unlike the Jews of Khaibar and people  of Makkah, they had a liking for living in the wilderness dispersed in scattered spots, hence the  difficulty of bringing them under control, and the futility of carrying out deterrent campaigns against  them. However, the Prophet peace be upon him was determined to put an end to this unacceptable  situation and called the Muslims around him to get ready to launch a decisive campaign against those  harassing rebels. Meanwhile it was reported to him that Bani Muharib and Banu Tha'lbah of the
Ghatfan  tribe were gathering army in order to encounter the Muslims. The Prophet peace be upon him  proceeded towards Najd at the head of 400 or 700 men, after he had mandated Abu Dhar - in another  version, U ' thman bin A ' ffan - to dispose the affairs of Madinah during his absence. The Muslim fighters  penetrated deep into their land until they reached a spot called Nakhlah where they came across some  bedouins of Ghatfan, but no fighting took place because the latter had agreed to go into reconciliation  with the Muslims. The Prophet peace be upon him led his followers that day in a prayer of fear.
Al-Bukhari, on the authority of Abu Musa Al-Ashari ' , narrated that they set out on an expedition with  the Messenger of Allâh peace be upon him. "We were six in number and had (with us) only one camel  which we rode turn by turn. Our feet were injured. My feet were so badly injured that my nails came  off. We, therefore, bandaged our feet with rags, so this expedition was called Dhat-ur-Riqa' (i.e. the  expedition of rags.)"
Jabir narrated: In the course of Dhat-ur-Riqa' expedition, we ca me to a leafy tree where the Prophet  peace be upon him sat shading himself off the burning sun. The others dispersed here and there  seeking shelter from heat. The Prophet peace be upon him had a short nap after he had hung his  sword  on the tree. A polytheist, meanwhile came, seized the sword and unsheathed it.
The Prophet peace be upon him woke up to find his sword drawn in the mans ' hand. The bedouin here  asked the Prophet (unarmed then): "Who would hold me back from killing you now?" The Prophet  peace be upon him then answered: "It is Allâh." In another version, it was reported that the Prophet  peace be upon him took the sword when it had fallen down and the man said: "You (the Prophet) are  the best one to hold a sword." The Prophet peace be upon him asked the man if he would testify to  the
Oneness of Allâh and the Messengership of Muhammad. The Arabian answered that he would never  engage in a fight against him, nor would he ally people fighting the Muslims. The Prophet peace be  upon him set the man free and let him go to his people to say to them that he had seen the best one  among all people.
A woman from the Arabians was taken prisoner in the context of this battle. Her husband, on hearing  the news, swore he would never stop until he had shed the blood of a Muslim. Secretly at night, he  approached the camp of the Muslims when he saw two sentries stationed there to alert the Muslims  against any emergency. He shot the first one, Abbad bin Bishr, who was observing prayer, with an  arrow but he did not stop prayer, he simply pulled it out. Then he was shot by three other arrows but  would not interrupt his prayer. After he had done the closing salutations, he awakened his companion
A ' mmar bin Yasir , who remonstrated that he should have alerted him to which the latter replied that  he  was half way through a Chapter and did not like to interrupt it.
The victory at the expedition of Dhat-ur-Riqa' had a tremendous impact on all the Arabians. It cast  fear  into their hearts and rendered them too powerless to antagonize the Muslim society in Madinah. They  began to acquiesce in the prevailing situation and resigned themselves to new geo-political conditions  working in favour of the new religion. Some of them even embraced Islam and took an active part in  the conquest of Makkah and the battle of Hunain, and received their due shares of the war booty.
From that time onward, the anti-Islam tripartite coalition had been subdued, and peace and security  prevailed. The Muslims, then started to redress any political imbalance and fill in the small gaps that  still triggered unrest here and there in the face of the great drive of Islamization that enveloped the  whole area. We could in this context mention some of these incidental skirmishes which pointed  markedly to the ever-growing power of the Muslim society.
1. A platoon headed by Ghalib bin A ' bdullah Al -Laithi in Safar or in Rabi ' Al -Awwal 7 A.H. was