Conquest of Mecca
In December 629, on the eve of the Conquest of Mecca, Muhammad sent Al-Zubayr and Ali to intercept a spy who was carrying a letter to the Quraysh. When they could not find the letter in her baggage, they realised she must have concealed it on her person, so they talked her into it. The spy then produced the letter, which she had hidden in her hair, and Al-Zubayr and Ali brought it back to Muhammad, confident that the Muslims would now take Mecca by surprise.