Muhammad: Seal of the Prophets — Page 251
MUHAMMAD : SEAL OF THE PROPHETS 251 you have no guardian. ’ Abu Sufyan said, ‘We shall meet after a year again at Badr. ’ ‘Be it so,’ answered Umar. With these words Abu Sufyan turned to go and the Meccan army began its homeward march. Of the Muslims 70, 4 Emigrants and 66 Ansar, had laid down their lives on the field of battle. It was evident that the destruction of the greater part of the Muslim force was only averted by the foresight of the Holy Prophet in keeping a secure place of re fuge in his rear. On the enemy’s side, the loss was but 23. It is surprising that though Quraish had vanquished the Muslims on this occasion and, if they had so wished, they could have pushed their victory further and could have attacked Medina itself, yet they decided to start on their return journey to Mecca. The Holy Prophet, out of abundant caution, sent S’ad bin Abi Waqqas after them to discover whether Quraish intended to invade Medina itself. He told him, ‘If you find them riding their camels and leading their horses, you may conclude that they intend to retu rn to Mecca and have no design against Medina; but if you find that they are mounted on their horses, then it is likely that they have some further design. ’ S’ad returned soon and informed the Holy Prophet that the Quraish army was headed towards Mecca. The Holy Prophet had been much distressed by the barbarities committed by Quraish on the Muslim dead. The case of Hamza has been mentioned. The corpse of Abdullah bin Jahsh, cousin of the Holy Prophet, peace be on him, had been treated in a similar way. Fo r a moment the Holy Prophet felt that Quraish should be repaid in their own coin, but he rejected the impulse