Introduction to the Study of The Holy Quran — Page 130
130 shocked at the Prophet’s arrival at Medina and that it was wrong on the part of the people of Medina to afford refuge to him. In the end they said: Now that you have admitted our enemy in your home, we swear by God and declare that we, the people of Mecca, will join in an attack on Medina unless you, the people of Medina, agree to turn him out of Medina or give him a joint fight. When we attack Medina, we will put to the sword all able-bodied men and enslave all women. 149 ‘Abdullah bin Ubayy bin Salul thought this letter a God-send. He consulted other hypocrites in Medina and persuaded them that if they allowed the Prophet to live in peace among them they would invite the hostility of Mecca. It behoved them, therefore, to make war upon the Prophet, if only in order to appease the Meccans. The Prophet got to know of this. He went to ‘Abdullah bin Ubayy bin Salul and tried to convince him that such a step would prove suicidal. Many people in Medina had become Muslims and were prepared to lay down their lives for Islam. If ‘Abdullah declared war upon Muslims, the majority of the people of Medina would fight on the side of Muslims. Such a war would, therefore, cost him dear and spell his own destruction. ‘Abdullah, impressed by this advice, was dissuaded from his plans. At this time, the Prophet took another important step. He collected the Muslims and suggested that every two Muslims should become linked together as two brothers. The idea was well received. Medinite took Meccan as his brother. Under this new brotherhood, the Muslims of Medina offered to share their property and their belongings with the Muslims of Mecca. One Medinite Muslim offered to divorce one of his two wives and to have her married to his Meccan brother. The Meccan Muslims declined to accept the offers of the Muslims of Medina out of regard for the needs of the latter. But the Muslims of Medina remained insistent, and the point had to be referred to the Prophet. The Muslims of Medina urged that the Meccan Muslims were their brothers; so, they had to share their property with them. The Meccan Muslims did not know how to manage land. But they could share the produce of the land if not the land itself. The Meccan Muslims declined with thanks this incredibly generous offer, and preferred to stick to their own vocation of trade. Many Meccan Muslims became rich again. But Muslims of Medina always remembered their offer to share their property with Meccan Muslims. Many a time when a Medinite Muslim died, his sons divided the inheritance with their Meccan brothers. For many years, the practice continued, until the Quran abolished it by its teaching about the division of inheritance. 150 Pact between Various Tribes of Medina Besides uniting Meccan and Medinite Muslims in a brotherhood, the Holy Prophet instituted a covenant between all the inhabitants of Medina. By this covenant, Arabs and the Jews were united into a common citizenship with Muslims.