Life of Muhammad — Page 45
sa 45 joined the fold of Islam who were not Muslims at heart. Its members played a very sinister part in subsequent history. Some of them became sincere Muslims. Others remained insincere and kept intriguing against Islam and Muslims. Some refused to join at all. But they could not stand the growing influence of the New Faith, so they migrated from Medina to Mecca. Medina became a Muslim town. In it was established the worship of the One God. There was not a second town in the world then which could make this claim. It was no small joy to the Prophet sa and his friends that within a few days of their migration a whole town had agreed to give up the worship of idols and to establish instead the worship of the One Invisible God. But there was no peace yet for Muslims. In Medina itself a party of Arabs had only outwardly joined Islam. Inwardly, they were the sworn enemies of the Prophet sa. Then there were the Jews, who continuously intrigued against him. The Prophet sa was aware of these dangers. He remained alert and urged his friends and followers to be on their guard. He often remained awake the whole night ( B a r i , Vol. 6, p. 6o). Tired by night-long vigilance he once expressed a desire for help. Soon he heard the sound of armour. "What is this?" he asked. "It is Sa‘d bin Waqq as ra , O Prophet sa , who has come to do sentinel duty for you" ( Bukh a r i and Muslim ). The people of Medina were alive to their great responsibility. They had invited the Prophet sa to come and live in their midst and it was now their duty to protect him. The tribes took counsel and decided to guard the Prophet's sa house in turn. In the unsafety of his person and in the absence of peace for his followers, there was no difference between the Prophet's sa life at Mecca and his life at Medina. The only difference was that at Medina Muslims were able to worship in public in the mosque which they had built in the name of God. They were able to assemble for this purpose five times in the day without let or hindrance. Two or three months passed. The people of Mecca recovered from their bewilderment and started making