Muhammad: Seal of the Prophets — Page 267
MUHAMMAD : SEAL OF THE PROPHETS 267 and we should have executed him and you would thus have been saved to spend your days happily in the bosom of your family?’ Zaid was outraged and retorted indignantly, ‘What is it that you have said, Abu Sufyan? I call God to witness that I would not wish that I might be rescued in return for a thorn pricking the foot of the Messenger of Allah. ’ Abu Sufyan exclaimed involuntarily, ‘By God, I have never seen anyone who is loved so devotedly as Muhammad is loved by his followers. ’ Nastas swiftly cut down Zaid. It is related that when Quraish learnt that Aasim bin Thabit was among those who had been killed by Banu Lihyan at Raji’, they, recalling that Aasim had, in the battle of Badr, killed a leading Quraish personage, sent chosen messengers to Raji’, instructin g them to bring back Aasim’s head or a limb of his, so that their spirit of vengeance might be assuaged. It is also related that the mother of the one whom Aasim had killed had made a vow that she would drink wine in the skull of her son’s killer. When the emissaries of Quraish arrived at Raji’ they found that Aasim’s corpse was completely covered by swarms of hornets and bees who could not be made to fly off despite their utmost efforts. In the end they returned to Mecca frustrated. Soon thereafter there w as a storm, which brought heavy rain, and Aasim’s corpse was swept away by the fierce flood. It is written that when Aasim embraced Islam he had determined that he would abstain altogether from everything that was related to paganism, so that he would not even touch a pagan. When Umar learnt of his martyrdom and the safeguarding of his corpse by swarms of hornets and bees, he observed, ‘God Almighty has regard even for