Chief of the Prophets

Chief of the Prophets — Page 97

Chapter Six 97 overjoyed the Prophet. This was the Ka‘bah, the first house of God and a reminder of Abraham as , the Father of the Prophets and the Friend of Allah. Thereafter, the Muslims started facing the Ka‘bah while offering Ṣalāt after this commandment. The injunctions regarding fasting 1 in the month of Ramaān and the celebration of ‘ Īdul-Fiṭr 2 were also announced in the same year. Muḥammad sa directed that after the fasting of Ramaān, Muslims would celebrate the ‘Īd on the first of the Islamic month of Shawwāl. The Battle of Badr and the Destruction of the Chieftains of the Quraish, Rama*ān, 2 A. H. It has been mentioned that the people of Makkah, and especially the chieftains of Makkah, had been eagerly looking for an opportunity to launch a full scale attack on the Muslims, though they had already launched a small attack on a pasture of Muslims. Now the killing of ‘Amr bin Ḥaramī provided a great opportunity to provoke the Quraish of Makkah. Abū Jahl—making use of this opportunity— aroused hostile and violent sentiments against the Muslims. In the meantime, Muḥammad sa received news that a trade caravan of the Quraish was returning to Makkah from Syria under the command of Abū Sufyān. As the stopping of a caravan could be an effective means of curbing the hostilities of the Quraish, Muḥammad sa sent Ṭalḥah bin ‘Abdullāh and Sa‘īd bin Zaid to gather information about it. Abū Sufyān also somehow found out about the intentions of Muḥammad sa , and sent a rider named famam to Makkah to bring an army of Quraish for the protection of the caravan. The messenger of Abū Sufyān reached Makkah and according to the tradition of Arabs he made himself appear extremely terrified and began wailing and screaming. People became frightened on hearing his wailing and crying and gathered around the Ka‘bah. The chieftains of the Quraish, who were looking 1 Please read a note about fasting in Rama. ān in Part II of Sīrat Khātamun-Nabiyyīn. 2 The Islamic festival celebrated at the end of the Islamic month of Rama. ān.