Muhammad: Seal of the Prophets — Page 162
MUHAMMAD : SEAL OF THE PROPHETS 162 friend, and appoint for us from Thyself some helper? These persons could take advantage of the proximity of a scouting party and slip out of Mecca and join the scouting party, and thus be delivered from persecution. They could also travel among parties of Quraish to the north and finding a suitable opportuni ty could join a Muslim scouting party. For instance, the very first party that the Holy Prophet dispatched under the leadership of Ubaidah bin Harith was confronted by a party of Quraish under the leadership of Ikramah bin Abu Jahl, out of whom Miqdad bin Amr and Utba bin Ghazwan, both Muslims, who had accompanied the party of Ikramah, left it and joined the Muslim scouting party. 3. One of the principal instruments that Quraish employed for the purpose of inciting tribes against Muslims was their trade caravans which proceeded to the north and then returned to Mecca and in the course of their journeys up and down set the tribes in the neighbourhood of Medina against the Muslims. This constituted a great danger for the Muslims. These caravans were accompanied by armed guards and their passing close to Medina in itself constituted a threat to the security of Medina. Besides, trade was th e principal source of livelihood of Quraish and the most effective way of persuading Quraish to abandon their hostility towards Islam and the Muslims was to disrupt their trade and to deprive them of the benefits thereof.