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Raid on Nakhla: what Wikipedia removed

The Raid on Nakhla was a 623 AD raid by companions of Muhammad against a Quraysh caravan, notable as the first raid in which Muslims killed and took captives. Through 2010 the opening recorded a scholarly debate about it: “Muslim scholars claim that the caravan raids were justified even if terror tactics were used, because Muslims were persecuted and driven out of Mecca.” The word is gone from the article entirely today; the opening now describes only the raid’s commanders, forces and casualties. A reader today does not learn that the opening once recorded a debate over whether the raid used terror tactics, even as it was defended as justified.

The word “terror” appeared 1 times in this article’s opening at its peak, in 2010. Today it appears nowhere in the article at all, references included. Checked against the full current article on 2026-08-01.

The tracked words, snapshot by snapshot

Section titled “The tracked words, snapshot by snapshot”
word2010201520206 October 20232025
terror10000

Counts are of the opening paragraph only, the part most readers, search engines and AI training sets ever quote.

What was taken out

Section titled “What was taken out”
  • The sentence recording Muslim scholars’ debate over whether the raid used terror tactics, even while defending it as justified, is gone from the opening and does not appear anywhere in the article.

How it opened then, and now

Section titled “How it opened then, and now”

2010 (revision 368145408):

Belligerents Muslims of Medina Quraysh of Mecca Commanders and leaders Abdallah Jahsh Amr al-Hadrami Strength 8-12 4 Casualties and losses 0 1 (2 Captured) The Nakhla Raid was the 7th Caravan Raid which was ordered by the Prophet Muhammad .This raid was a Saariya (battles which the prophet ordered) in which Abdallah Jahsh was the Commander. Muslim scholars claim that the caravan raids were justified even if terror tactics were used, because Muslims were persecuted and driven out of Mecca , as well as their goods seized. Another argument is that Muslims were being threatened and the Quraysh were building up their arsenal of weapons, so it was allright to capture their goods and weapons, for a…

2025 (revision 1292683067):

Muslim military expedition to Nakhla in October 623 AD Belligerents Muslims of Medina Quraysh of Mecca Commanders and leaders Abdullah ibn Jahsh Amr ibn al-Hadrami [ ar ] Strength 8–12 4 Casualties and losses 0 1 killed (2 captured) The Raid on Nakhla ( Arabic : سرِيَّة نَخْلَة ) was a raid that was initially unplanned by the companions of Muhammad, but is considered to be the first successful raid against the Meccans, since it was carried out during an espionage event. This raid took place at Nakhla , in the Hejazi region of what is now Saudi Arabia . It took place in Rajab A.H. 2 (January AD 624). The commander was ‘Abdullah ibn Jahsh al-Asadi , whom Muhammad dispatched to Nakhla as the he…

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