Muhammad: Seal of the Prophets — Page 277
MUHAMMAD : SEAL OF THE PROPHETS 277 means might be possible, to persuade the Muslims not to go forth to Badr. He went to Medina and spread exaggerated tales of the strength and preparations of Quraish and their eagerness for a trial of arms with the Muslims. His propaganda created a certain degree of restlessness among the weaker sections of the Muslims, who began to fear the prospect ahead. The Holy Prophet announced that he had accepted the challenge of Quraish and had promised to meet them at Badr, and would not fail to keep his promise, e ven though he may have to go forth alone and oppose the enemy with no support. This created a great stir among the Muslims who came forward in large numbers to go forth to Badr to meet Abu Sufyan’s challenge. The Holy Prophet, peace be on him, set out from Medina at the head of 1,500 followers. On the other side Abu Sufyan marched out from Mecca with 2,000 followers. The Muslims arrived at Badr by the agreed date, but when Abu Sufyan learnt of the failure of the mission of his emissary, Naeem, he gave out t hat, as there was a severe famine and conditions were not propitious for a fight, they would return to Mecca and would prepare to invade Medina at a more suitable opportunity. As there was an annual fair at Badr at the time, the Muslims stopped for eight d ays at Badr and many of them took advantage of the fair to trade their goods on very favourable terms. At the end of the fair, as there was still no sign of Quraish, the Holy Prophet returned to Medina. As the correspondence of the Holy Prophet was now expanding, he felt the need of a secretary who should be familiar with Hebrew, so that correspondence with the Jews might be facilitated, and no difficulty might be encountered with regard to