Sa'd, with his soldiers, set up an ambush in the valley of Kharrar on the road to Mecca and waited to raid a returning Meccan caravan from Syria.
[2][3][5][6] [7] The fourth raid, known as the invasion of Waddan, was the first offensive in which Muhammad took part personally with 70, mostly Muhajir, troops.
[2] It is said that twelve months after moving to Medina, Muhammad himself led a caravan raid to Waddan (Al-Abwa).
[3] A month after the raid at al-Abwa, he personally led 200 men including Muhajirs and Ansars to Bawat, a place on the caravan route of the Quraysh merchants.
The purpose of these raids was to get back what they had lost when they migrated from Mecca to Medina to avoid persecution by Quraysh for practicing their religion.