Introduction to the Study of The Holy Quran — Page 129
129 him. When the Prophet’s family and the family of Abu Bakr left Mecca they raised no difficulty. The two families reached Medina unmolested. In the meantime the Prophet laid the foundations of a mosque on the site he had bought for the purpose. After this, he built houses for himself and for his Companions. About seven months were spent on their completion. Life Unsafe at Medina Within a few days of the Prophet’s arrival in Medina, the pagan tribes there became interested in Islam and a majority of them joined. Many, not persuaded at heart, also joined. In this way a party joined the fold of Islam who were not Muslims at heart. Its members played a very sinister part in subsequent history. Some of them became sincere Muslims. Others remained insincere and kept intriguing against Islam and Muslims. Some refused to join at all. But they could not stand the growing influence of the New Faith, so they migrated from Medina to Mecca. Medina became a Muslim town. In it was established the worship of the One God. There was not a second town in the world then which could make this claim. It was no small joy to the Prophet and his friends that within a few days of their migration a whole town had agreed to give up the worship of idols and to establish instead the worship of the One Invisible God. But there was no peace yet for Muslims. In Medina itself a party of Arabs had only outwardly joined Islam. Inwardly, they were the sworn enemies of the Prophet. Then there were the Jews, who continuously intrigued against him. The Prophet was aware of these dangers. He remained alert and urged his friends and followers to be on their guard. He often remained awake the whole night. 147 Tired by night-long vigilance he once expressed a desire for help. Soon he heard the sound of armour. "What is this?" he asked. "It is Sa‘d bin Waqqas, O Prophet, who has come to do sentinel duty for you. " 148 The people of Medina were alive to their great responsibility. They had invited the Prophet to come and live in their midst and it was now their duty to protect him. The tribes took counsel and decided to guard the Prophet’s house in turn. In the unsafety of his person and in the absence of peace for his followers, there was no difference between the Prophet’s life at Mecca and his life at Medina. The only difference was that at Medina Muslims were able to worship in public in the mosque which they had built in the name of God. They were able to assemble for this purpose five times in the day without let or hindrance. Two or three months passed. The people of Mecca recovered from their bewilderment and started making plans for the vexation of Muslims. They soon found that it did not fulfil their purpose merely to trouble Muslims in and around Mecca. It was necessary to attack the Prophet and his followers at Medina and turn them out of their new refuge. Accordingly they addressed a letter to ‘Abdullah bin Ubayy bin Salul, a leader of Medina, who, before the Prophet’s arrival, had been accepted as king of Medina by all parties. They said in this letter that they had been