The Life & Character of the Seal of Prophets (sa) - Volume II — Page 369
VIII - Blow of a Misfortune, Law of Inheritance, Prohibition of Alcohol, Treachery of the Disbelievers and Two Tragic Incidents 369 their behalf. As such, according to the historical account, the Holy Prophet sa said, “I do not trust the people of Najd,” to which he responded, “Do not worry, I give you the assurance that your Companions shall not be harmed. ” This indicates that the people of Ri‘l and Dhakwān had also come with Abū Barā’ and the Holy Prophet sa was concerned on their account. 1 ُ وَاللّٰه ُ اَعْلَم In any case, the Holy Prophet sa dispatched a party of Companions under the leadership of Mundhir bin ‘Amr Anṣārī ra in Ṣafar 4 A. H. 2 These people were mostly from the Anṣār and totaled seventy in number, and almost all of them were Qāris , i. e. , they were well-versed in the Holy Qur’ān. They would collect wood from the jungle by day to make ends meet and would spend a better part of the night in worship. 3 When these people reached a place known as Bi‘r-e-Ma‘ūnah, which was named as such due to a water well, an individual named Ḥarām bin Milḥān ra , who was the maternal uncle of Anas bin Mālik ra , went forward with the message of Islām to ‘ Āmir bin Ṭufail, who was chief of the ‘Āmir tribe and paternal nephew of Abū Barā’ ‘Āmirī. The rest of the Companions remained behind. When Ḥarām bin Milḥān ra arrived to meet ‘ Āmir bin Ṭufail and his followers as an emissary of the Holy Prophet sa , at first, they warmly welcomed him in their hypocrisy; but after he had been fully seated and made to feel at ease, and began to preach the message of Islām, a few evil ones from among them made a signal to someone, who struck this innocent emissary with a spear from behind and put him to death there and then. At the time, the following words were on the tongue of Ḥarām bin Milḥān ra , ِ اَللّٰه ُ اَكْبَر ُ فُزْت ُ وَرَب ِّ الْكَعْبَة , i. e. , “Allāh is the Greatest. By the Lord of the Ka‘bah, I have attained my objective. ” 4 ‘Āmir bin Ṭufail did not suffice upon the murder of this emissary of the Holy Prophet sa alone. As a matter of fact, after this he incited the people of his tribe, the Banū ‘Āmir, to attack the remaining party of Muslims as well, but they refused and said that they would not attack the Muslims due to the guarantee of Abū Barā’. Upon this, ‘Āmir collected the Banū Ri‘l, Dhakwān and ‘ Uṣayyah, etc. from the tribe of Sulaim (i. e. , the same tribes who had come to the Holy Prophet sa as a delegation according to the narration 1 And Allāh knows best [Publishers] 2 * Aṭ-Ṭabaqātul-Kubrā, By Muḥammad bin Sa‘d, Volume 2, p. 275, Sariyyah Al-Mundhir bin ‘Amr, Dāru Iḥyā’it-Turāthil-‘Arabī, Beirut, Lebanon, First Edition (1996) * As-Sīratun-Nabawiyyah, By Abū Muḥammad ‘Abdul-Mālik bin Hishām, p. 601, Ḥadīthu Bi’ri Ma‘ūnah Fī Ṣafarin Sanata Arba‘in, Dārul-Kutubil-‘Ilmiyyah, Beirut, Lebanon, First Edition (2001) 3 Ṣaḥīḥul-Bukhārī, Kitābul-Jihād Was-Siyar, Bābul-‘Auni Bil-Madad, Ḥadīth No. 3064 4 * Ṣaḥīḥul-Bukhārī, Kitābul-Jihād Was-Siyar, Bābu Maiń- Yunkabu Fī Sabīlillāh, Ḥadīth No. 2801 * Ṣaḥīḥul-Bukhārī, Kitābul-Maghāzī, Bābu Ghazwatir-Rajī‘. . . . . , Ḥadīth No. 4091-4093 (Makhluṭan)