Chief of the Prophets

Chief of the Prophets — Page 84

Chapter Six 84 Muḥammad sa looked for the last time towards the blessed town of Makkah and said with great despair: O town of Makkah! You are dearer to me than all other places, but your people do not let me live here. 1 Hearing these words of Muḥammad sa , Abū Bakr ra said, These people drove out their prophet; indeed they shall be destroyed. 2 Incident of Surāqah bin Mālik Because of the risk of the Quraish’s possible pursuit, the caravan of Muḥammad sa left the usual path, and took an alternate route next to the shoreline for Yathrib. As the Quraish had announced a prize of 100 camels for capturing and bringing Muḥammad sa back, several people had set out to capture him to win this precious prize. Abū Bakr ra repeatedly looked back to see if anyone was following them. Once when Abū Bakr ra looked back, he was worried to see a large cloud of dust behind them. He said to Muḥammad sa , “O Messenger of Allah, someone is following us. ” Muḥammad sa said: (At-Taubah 9:40) Grieve not, for Allah is with us. It was Surāqah bin Mālik chasing them. Surāqah later narrated: When I reached quite close to Muḥammad sa and his companions, my horse tripped and I fell down. But I quickly 1 Musnad Aḥmad and Tirmidhī. 2 Tirmidhī and Nasā’ī.