Muhammad: Seal of the Prophets — Page 161
MUHAMMAD : SEAL OF THE PROPHETS 161 permitted to Muslims, the Holy Prophet, peace be on him, had recourse to certain measures which were designed to support and buttress the security of the Muslims. 1. He undertook visits to neighbouring tribes in order to establish treaty relations with them, which should make Medina secure against attacks by them. In this connection, he paid particular attention to tribes which were settled along or near the caravan ro ute to the north. These were the tribes whose help to Quraish and whose hostility towards the Muslims could spell great danger to the latter. 2. He started sending small scouting parties in different directions from Medina so that information should be procured on the movements and designs of Quraish and their allies, and Muslims might not be taken by surprise by them. Another purpose in dispatchin g these parties was that there still were in and around Mecca several persons who believed in Islam but could not profess it openly out of fear of Quraish, nor could they migrate to Medina, either because they were too poor or because Quraish would not let them. It is with regard to such persons that it is said in the Holy Quran (4:76): What keeps you from fighting in the cause of Allah and of the weak from among men, women and children who supplicate: Lord, deliver us from this town whose people are oppressors, and appoint for us from Thyself some