The Life & Character of the Seal of Prophets (sa) - Volume II — Page 28
Seal of the Prophets - Volume II 28 companions. The letter stated, ‘Relinquish your protection of Muḥammad sa , or else. ’ As such, the letter read as follows: اِنَّكُم ْ اٰوَیْتُم ْ صَاحِبَنَا وَاِنَّا نَقْسِم ُ بِاللّٰه ِ لَتُقَاتِلُنَّه ٗ اَو ْ لَتُخْرِجَنَّه ٗ اَو ْ لَنَسِیْرَن َّ اِلَیْكُم ْ بِاَجْمَعِنَا ْ حَتّٰی نَقْتُل َ مُقَاتِلَتَكُم ْ وَنَسْتَبِیْح َ نِسَاءَكُم “You have given protection to an individual of ours (i. e. , Muḥammad sa ), and we swear in the name of Allāh that you shall either leave him and declare war against him, or in the least, exile him from your city. If not, we shall gather our entire army and attack you; and we shall kill your men and take your women in to our own possession, making them lawful unto ourselves. ” 1 When this letter reached Madīnah, ‘Abdullāh and his companions, who already harboured deep enmity in their hearts against Islām, prepared to wage war against the Holy Prophet sa. When the Holy Prophet sa was informed of this, he immediately met these people and explained to them that: “If you wage war against me, in fact it is you who shall suffer. For your own brethren and kindred would be your opponents. In other words, the Muslims from among the Aus and Khazraj will side with me in all circumstances. Hence, waging war against me only means that you would be taking up the sword against your very own sons, brothers, and fathers. Now you decide for yourself. ” ‘Abdullāh and his companions, who still vividly remembered the bloodshed of the Battle of Bu‘āth, understood, and refrained from carrying out this intention. 2 When the Quraish failed in this plan, after some time, they sent a similar letter to the Jews of Madīnah. However, mention of this shall follow ahead its appropriate place. In actuality, the purpose of the Quraish was to wipe out all traces of Islām from the face of the earth. Distressed by the persecution of the Quraish, when the Muslims migrated to Abyssinia, they pursued them there as well. They exerted their utmost effort to convince the pure-hearted Negus to hand over these oppressed and exiled Muslims to the Makkans. Then, when the Holy Prophet sa migrated to Madīnah, the Quraish 1 Sunanu Abī Dāwūd, Kitābul-Kharāji Wal-Imārah, Bābu Fī Khabarin-Naḍīr, Ḥadīth No. 3004 2 Sunanu Abī Dāwūd, Kitābul-Kharāji Wal-Imārah, Bābu Fī Khabarin-Naḍīr, Ḥadīth No. 3004