Muhammad: Seal of the Prophets — Page 190
MUHAMMAD : SEAL OF THE PROPHETS 190 Medina to attack your caravan. Make haste to gather a strong force for rescuing the caravan. ’ Hearing his cries of distress people began to assemble around the Ka’aba and leading Quraish harangued them and incited them to get ready to go forth against the Muslims and to destroy them. It was decided that a strong army should be got together for this enterprise and everyone who was capable of bearing arms should join it. If anyone was unable to do so for some unavoidable reason, he should provide a substitute in his place. The leaders of Quraish, with the exception of Abu Lahab and Umayya bin Khalf, declared themselves ready to proceed. Abu Lahab was afraid, as his sister had seen in her dream only three days earlier that ruin was about to overtake Quraish, bu t he provided a substitute in his place. Umayya bin Khalf was afraid because of the prophecy of the Holy Prophet about his being slain, which S’ad bin Muaz had mentioned to him earlier, but he was persuaded in the end to join the army that was to march nor th. Within three days, a well - armed and well - equipped force of more than a thousand warriors became ready to set out from Mecca. Some of the Quraish leaders were apprehensive lest Banu Bakr, a clan of Banu Kananah, with whom their relations were not friend ly, should take advantage of their absence from Mecca and attack it. It so happened, however, that a chief of Banu Kananah, Suraqa bin Malik bin Ja’tham, who happened to be in Mecca, reassured them and guaranteed that no one of his people would threaten th e security of Mecca in any way. He himself joined the Quraish army and accompanied it as far as Badr, but on arrival there, when he saw the Muslim force, he left Quraish and withdrew before the battle was joined. His conduct