The Life & Character of the Seal of Prophets (sa) - Volume II — Page 352
Seal of the Prophets - Volume II 352 Abū Sufyān and his followers were so awe-struck by these comments of Ma‘bad, that they abandoned the idea of returning to Madīnah and made haste to Makkah at once. 1 When the Holy Prophet sa received news that the army of the Quraish had fled in this manner, he thanked God and said, “This is the awe of God, which He has struck into the hearts of the disbelievers. ” 2 After this, the Holy Prophet sa remained in Ḥamrā’ul-Asad for another two or three days, and after an absence of five days, he returned to Madīnah. In this campaign, two warriors from among the Quraish, one of whom was treacherous and the other a spy, were captured by the Muslims. According to the laws of war, since their punishment was death, they were executed by order of the Holy Prophet sa. From among them, one was a renowned poet of Makkah named Abū ‘Uzzah, who was taken captive at the hands of the Muslims in the battle of Badr. On that occasion, the Holy Prophet sa released him without ransom upon his seeking forgiveness and promising that he would never come forth to fight the Muslims again. However, he betrayed the Muslims and participated in war against the Muslims again. Moreover, not only did he participate himself, but with his provocative couplets, he incited others as well. Hence, since the treachery of such a man could have proven to be severely injurious to the Muslims, when he was now taken captive at the hands of the Muslims a second time, the Holy Prophet sa ordered that he be put to death. Abū ‘Uzzah attempted to talk his way to freedom again with a verbal apology, but the Holy Prophet sa refused and said: ِ لَا یُلْدَغ ُ الْمُوٴْمِن ُ مِن ْ جُحْر ٍ وَاحِد ٍ مَرَّتَیْن “A believer is not stung by the same hold twice. ” 3 The second captive was Mu‘āwiyyah bin Mughīrah. This individual was from among the relatives of Ḥaḍrat ‘Uthmān bin ‘Affān ra , but was a staunch 1 * Tārīkhur-Rusuli Wal-Mulūk (Tārīkhuṭ-Ṭabarī), By Abū Ja‘far Muḥammad bin Jarīr Aṭ-Ṭabarī, Volume 3, pp. 80-81, Thumma Dakhalatis-Sanatuth-Thālithatu Minal-Hijrah / Ghazwatu Ḥamrā’il- Asad , Dārul-Fikr, Beirut, Lebanon, Second Edition (2002) * As-Sīratun-Nabawiyyah, By Abū Muḥammad ‘Abdul-Mālik bin Hishām, pp. 546-548, Ghazwatu Ḥamrā’il-Asad, Dārul-Kutubil-‘Ilmiyyah, Beirut, Lebanon, First Edition (2001) 2 Sharḥul-‘Allāmatiz-Zarqānī ‘Alal-Mawāhibil-Ladunniyyah, By Allāmah Shihābuddīn Al-Qusṭalānī, Volume 2, p. 467, Ghazwatu Ḥamrā’il-Asad, Dārul-Kutubil-‘Ilmiyyah, Beirut, Lebanon, First Edition (1996) 3 As-Sīratun-Nabawiyyah, By Abū Muḥammad ‘Abdul-Mālik bin Hishām, p. 548 (footnote), Ghazwatu Ḥamrā’il-Asad, Dārul-Kutubil-‘Ilmiyyah, Beirut, Lebanon, First Edition (2001)