The Life & Character of the Seal of Prophets (sa) - Volume II — Page 173
IV - Battle of Badr, Establishment of the Islāmic Empire and Destruction of the Chieftains of the Quraish 173 these people and upon witnessing this magnificent and extraordinary victory, many people from among them became convinced of the truth of Islām. Thereafter, the element of idol worship began to diminish very rapidly in Madīnah. However, there were also some in whose hearts this victory of Islām had sparked a fire of rancour and jealousy. Finding it unwise to oppose openly, apparently they accepted Islām, but from the inside they sought to uproot it and joined the party of the hypocrites. The most prominent among the latter class of people was ‘Abdullāh bin Ubayy bin Sulūl, who was a very renowned chieftain of the Khazraj tribe. Due to the arrival of the Holy Prophet sa to Madīnah, he had already suffered the shock of having his leadership taken from him. After Badr, this individual became a Muslim at the outset, but his heart was satiated with malice and enmity towards Islām. He became the leader of hypocrisy and secretly began to hatch a series of conspiracies against Islām and the Holy Prophet sa. As such, it shall become evident from events, which unfolded hereafter that on certain occasions, this individual became a means of creating very delicate situations for Islām. Victory of the Byzantine Empire and Prophecy of the Holy Prophet sa It was mentioned in Volume I of this book, that in those days the kingdoms of Byzantium and Persia were at war, and naturally the sentiments of the Makkans were with the Persians who were polytheist like themselves. The Holy Prophet sa was still residing in Makkah when he received revelation from God and prophesied that in this war although the Byzantines would have to face defeat in the beginning, but ultimately they would triumph over the Persians and in a period of three to nine years, the Byzantines would prevail. This prophecy was made at a time when the Persian armies continued overpowering Byzantium and much of its territory had been snatched by Persia. Apparently, it seemed as if there was no hope for Byzantium. Upon witnessing this state, the disbelievers of Makkah were very pleased and when the Holy Prophet sa made this prophecy, they would assert that it would never happen that Byzantium would now be able to attain dominance. Hence, motivated by them, Ḥaḍrat Abū Bakr ra also placed a wager on it. 1 However, the mistake committed by Ḥaḍrat Abū Bakr ra was that he agreed with the 1 Until then, it was not prohibited to set a wager in Islām.