Muhammad (saw) – The Perfect Man — Page 358
CHAPTER 17 The Prophet sa as a Summoner to All a h 358 preaching cannot be ignored. During the period of siege another contact was made between Muslims and those gentlemen of Makkah who secretly helped Muslims and supplied them some goods. These men did have a soft heart for the Muslims. On one hand they observed the cruelty being perpetrated on the Muslims and on the other hand they witnessed the piety, decency and the good character of the Muslims. They were very much impressed by these factors. During this imprisonment another source of contact was the trade caravans of other countries who were under no obligation to abide by Quraish rules. Muslims used to buy necessary items from them. This opened up an opportunity for preaching. The non believers of Makkah could not stop these trade caravans but they did try to raise the prices of merchandise so that the Muslims would suffer more. Ab u Lahab used to instigate the traders to raise the prices so much that the Muslims could not buy these goods. Sometimes Ab u Lahab would pay more and buy all the merchandise. 28 The fourth means of contact was during the period of H ajj. According to the Arab tradition, no one was stopped from performing H ajj. So during the H ajj Muslims were able to move freely and perform H ajj. People from outside Makkah contacted the Muslims and