Islam - Its Meaning for Modern Man — Page 306
306 or guardian, he would be returned to the Meccans. Before the treaty was signed, Abu Jandal, son of Suhail, the very Meccan envoy with whom the terms of the treaty had been finally agreed, escaped from Mecca and arrived in the Muslim camp. He had become a Muslim and therefore was being kept in strict confinement by his father; he had been severely beaten several times, to which the bruises on his body bore eloquent witness. He asked for asylum, and begged some of the Muslims to try to persuade the Prophet not to deliver him to the Meccans. The Prophet pointed out to the young man that a clause in the treaty provided that in such a case the person concerned would be sent back to the Meccans, and that the Prophet was bound by the obligation he had undertaken. Because of the young man’s piteous pleadings, the Prophet agreed to speak to the father, and to ask him as a favour not to insist upon his son’s returning to Mecca; but the father was adamant, and the Prophet carried out his obligation, assuring Abu Jandal that if he were patient and steadfast, God would soon provide some way of deliverance for him and other young men in a similar position in Mecca. After the Prophet’s return to Medina another young man, Abu Baseer, who also had accepted Islam, escaped from Mecca and arrived in Medina. He was soon followed by two Meccans demanding his return. The Prophet directed that Abu Baseer should