Muhammad: Seal of the Prophets — Page 346
MUHAMMAD : SEAL OF THE PROPHETS 346 his quiver and asked one of his followers to descend with it into a well and scrape away the obstructing sand. Abundance of water soon accumulated. The same night there was plentiful rain and all anxiety with regard to the supply of water was removed. On t his the Holy Prophet observed that some of his followers had welcomed the morning with strengthened faith, and that others had rendered their faith doubtful. He who had said that God had sent down rain, by His grace and mercy, had adhered firmly to the rea lity of faith, but he who said that rain had descended under the influence of such and such a planet affirmed his belief in the planet but denied God. He thus instilled into the minds of his followers the verity that though there was a system of cause and effect behind all phenomena, yet faith in the Unity of God demanded that a believer should overlook the intervening causes and sources and fix his attention upon God Who is the Cause of all causes. The road from Hudaibiyya led by a circuitous route to Mecca. Quraish no sooner learned that the pilgrims had taken this direction, than they fell back on the city for its defence, and began sending deputations to ascertain the real intentions of the Muslim s. Hudaibiyya being only nine miles distant, the communications were rapid and frequent. Budail bin Warqa, a chief of Khuzaa, a neighbouring tribe, with a party of his people, was the first to arrive. He acquainted the Holy Prophet with the excited state o f Quraish, and their resolve not to let the Muslims enter the city at any cost. The Holy Prophet explained: ‘We have not come to fight. Our only purpose is to perform Umra. I regret that Quraish still entertain warlike designs. I am even ready that