The Life & Character of the Seal of Prophets (sa) - Volume II — Page 29
I - Early Establishment of Madīnah and Foundation of the Islāmic Government 29 pursued him and left no stone unturned in trying to arrest him. Now they discovered that the Holy Prophet sa and his Companions had reached Madīnah, and Islām was quickly spreading there. Therefore, they instigated the people of Madīnah to annihilate Islām by waging war against the Holy Prophet sa , or to exile him from Madīnah by relinquishing their protection of him. By this letter of the Quraish, a custom of Arabia is also brought to light, whereby in war, they would kill the men, but the women would be taken as possession, and considered lawful for them. Moreover, with regards to the Muslims, their intentions were far more treacherous. The reason being that if this was the punishment they had prescribed for those who had only given protection to the Muslims, undoubtedly, their plans for the Muslims themselves must have been far more severe. Threat of Abū Jahl This letter from the Quraish of Makkah was not due to temporary vehemence. Rather, they had firmly decided never to allow the Muslims a life of peace, and were bent upon eliminating Islām from the world. As such, the following historical account demonstrates the bloody intentions of the Quraish of Makkah. There is a narration in Bukhārī that some time after the migration, Sa‘d bin Mu‘ādh ra , who was head chieftain of the Aus tribe and had become Muslim, travelled to Makkah with the intention of performing ‘Umrah. 1 He stayed with an old friend from the era of the Jāhiliyyah named Umayyah bin Khalf, a chieftain of Makkah. Since he knew that the Makkans would provoke him, in order to avoid altercation, he said to Umayyah, “I wish to perform Ṭawāf 2 of the Ka‘batullāh. Take me along at such a time when I can perform this duty alone in peace and return to my homeland. ” Hence, Umayyah took Sa‘d ra to the Ka‘bah at mid- day, when people were generally in their homes. However, it so happened that exactly at this time, Abū Jahl also turned up and as soon as he saw Sa‘d ra , his eyes gorged with blood in rage. Suppressing his anger however, he addressed Umayyah saying, “O Abū Ṣafwān, who accompanies you?” Umayyah responded, “This is Sa‘d ra bin Mu‘ādh, chieftain of the Aus. ” Upon this Abū Jahl furiously addressed Sa‘d ra saying: 1 Lesser Pilgrimage in which some of the rites of Ḥajj are left out. ‘Umrah can be performed at any time during the year. [Publishers] 2 Circumambulation of the Ka‘bah [Publishers]