Life of Muhammad — Page 177
sa 177 One Dhu ’ l Khuwai s ira came near the Prophet sa and said, "Muhammad sa , I am a witness to what you are doing. " "And what am I doing? " asked the Prophet sa. "You are committing an injustice," said he. "Woe to you," said the Prophet sa. "If I can be unjust, then there is no one on the face of the earth who can be just" ( Muslim, Kit a bul Zak a t ). True believers were full of rage. When this man left the assembly some of them said, "This man deserves death. Will you let us kill him?" "No," said the Prophet sa. "If he observes our laws and commits no visible offence, how can we kill him?" "But," said the believers, "when a person says and does one thing but believes and desires quite another, would he not deserve to be treated accordingly?" "I cannot deal with people according to what they have in their hearts. God has not charged me with this. I can deal with them according to what they say and do. " The Prophet sa went on to tell the believers that one day this man and others of his kin would stage a rebellion in Islam. The Prophet's sa words came true. In the time of ‘ A li ra , the Fourth Khalifah of Islam, this man and his friends led the rebellion against him and became the leaders of a universally condemned division of Islam, the Khaw a rij. After dealing with the Haw a zin, the Prophet sa returned to Medina. It was another great day for its people. One great day was when the Prophet sa arrived at Medina, a refugee from the ill-treatment of the Meccans. On this great day, the Prophet sa reentered Medina, full of joy and aware of his determination and promise to make Medina his home. MACHINATIONS OF AB U ‘ A MIR We must now turn to the activities of one Ab u ‘ A mir Madan i. He belonged to the Khazraj tribe. Through long association with Jews and Christians he had acquired