Muhammad: Seal of the Prophets — Page 355
MUHAMMAD : SEAL OF THE PROPHETS 355 Prophet rejoined, ‘Indeed I did, but did I also say that it would happen this very year?’ Umar confessed that such had not been the case, on which the Holy Prophet counselled him, ‘Then wait; you will, God willing, certainly enter Mecca and perform the cir cuit of the Ka’aba. ’ Still excited, Umar approached Abu Bakr and had a similar exchange with him. Abu Bakr admonished him, ‘Umar, hold yourself in check, and do not let your grip on the stirrup of the Messenger of Allah be loosened, for by God, he to whom we have sworn allegiance is certainly true. ’ Umar subsequently confessed that, in his momentary excitement, he said all this to the Holy Prophet and to Abu Bakr, but was soon overtaken by remorse and sought to wash out this stain of weakness through prayer , and fasts and almsgiving and the freeing of slaves. The inscribing of the treaty was completed and it was attested, on behalf of the Muslims, by Abu Bakr, Uthman, Abdul Rahman bin Auf, S’ad bin Abi Waqqas, and Abu Obadiah. A copy was handed to Suhail bin Amr who returned with it to Mecca. The original was r etained by the Holy Prophet. After Suhail had departed, the Holy Prophet directed his Companions to slaughter their sacrificial animals, to have their heads shaved or close - cropped, and to prepare for the return journey to Medina. They were very gloomy over what they considered were t he humiliating terms of the treaty and in their perplexity they paid no attention to the Holy Prophet’s direction, though he repeated it two or three times, as if they had not even heard him. The Holy Prophet took their inaction to heart and retreated into his tent. Um Salama, who had witnessed all this