Life of Muhammad — Page 160
sa 160 It is not the day of slaughter. It is the day of forgiveness. The Quraish and the Ka‘ba will be honoured by God. " Then he sent for Sa‘d ra , and ordered him to hand over the An sa r flag to his son, Qais ra ( Hish a m , Vol. 2). The command of the An sa r thus passed from Sa‘d ra to Qais ra. It was a wise step. It placated the Meccans and saved the An sa r disappointment. Qais ra , a pious young man, was fully trusted by the Prophet sa. An incident of his last days illustrates the piety of his character. Lying on his death-bed, Qais ra received his friends. Some came and some did not. He could not understand this and asked why some of his friends had not come to see him. "Your charity is abundant," explained one. You have been helping the needy by your loans. There are many in the town who are in debt to you. Some may have hesitated to come lest you should ask them for the return of the loans. " "Then I have been the cause of keeping my friends away. Please announce that no one now owes anything to Qais ra. " After this announcement Qais ra had so many visitors during his last days that the steps to his house gave way. When the Muslim army had marched past, ‘ Abb a s ra told Ab u Sufy a n ra to hasten for Mecca and announce to the Meccans that the Prophet sa had come and explain to them how they could all have peace. Ab u Sufy a n ra reached Mecca with this message of peace for his town, but his wife, Hind, notorious for her hostility towards Muslims, met him. A confirmed disbeliever, she was yet a brave woman. She caught Ab u Sufy a n ra by the beard and called on Meccans to come and kill her cowardly husband. Instead of moving his townsmen to sacrifice their lives for the defence and honour of their town, he was inviting them to peace. But Ab u Sufy a n ra could see that Hind was behaving foolishly "That time is gone," said he. "You had better go home and sit behind closed doors. I have seen the Muslim army. Not all Arabia could withstand it now. "