Excerpts from "The Sealed Nectar"
When he Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam was 20 years of age, the 'sacrilegious' wars - - which continued with varying fortunes and considerable loss of human life for a number of years - - broke out between tribes; the Quraish and Banu Kinanah were on one side and Qais 'Ailan tribe on the other. It was thus called because the inviolable was made violable, the prohibited months being included. Harb bin Umaiyah, on account of his outstanding position and honorable lineage, used to be the leader of Quraish and their allies. In one of those battles, the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi vasallam assisted his uncles. His efforts were confined to picking up the arrows of the enemy as they fell, and handling then over to his uncles.