The Mission
In 4 AH (625 CE), a man named Abu Bara’ Amir ibn Malik came to the Prophet and asked him to send teachers to the people of Najd, who were receptive to Islam. The Prophet was hesitant — he feared treachery. Abu Bara’ pledged his protection. The Prophet sent seventy Companions — a significant proportion of the Muslim community’s most learned — under the command of al-Mundhir ibn Amr.
The Betrayal at Bir Mauna
When the group reached the well called Bir Mauna, in the territory of the Amir tribe, Abu Bara’s nephew Amir ibn al-Tufayl (who had not pledged protection) incited the Amir and their allies to attack. The seventy Muslims were massacred.
Al-Mundhir ibn Amr went out to fight knowing he was hopelessly outnumbered. His epithet — al-mu’niqu li’l-mawt (he who hastens toward death) — was applied to him for this charge.
Only three Companions survived by being absent from the site, or by escaping. The survivors reported back to the Prophet.
The Qunut
The Prophet was reported to have wept when the news came — a rare public display. For thirty consecutive days, he recited the qunut supplication in his dawn prayer, naming the betrayers. The Quranic verse that the tradition associates with the Bir Mauna martyrs: “And convey to the people from us that we have met our Lord, and He is pleased with us and has made us pleased” — a verse no longer in the standard mushaf but preserved as revelation in this context.
See also: Seerah Khabbab Ibn Al Aratt, Seerah Hanzala Ibn Abi Amir, Seerah Usama Ibn Zayd, Seerah Julaybib, Seerah Sad Ibn Muadh