Chief of the Prophets

Chief of the Prophets — Page 173

Chapter Eight 173 handed over the sword to Abū Baṣīr. Abū Baṣīr got the opportunity and swung the sword so skillfully that he severed the neck of one of the guards. The other guard ran away. Abū Baṣīr chased the guard towards Madīnah, but the guard reached there first and appeared before Muḥammad sa. The guard was still in the Masjid an-Nabawī narrating his story when Abū Baṣīr got there. Muḥammad sa seeing Abū Baṣīr said, “It looks like this person (Abū Baṣīr) wants to instigate a fight. ” These words of Muḥammad sa convinced Abū Baṣīr that it would be difficult for him to live in Madīnah. He said to Muḥammad sa , “O Messenger of Allah, you have fulfilled your promise and handed me over to the disbelievers of Makkah. But now God freed me, so I beg leave, and I will spend the rest of the days of my life at some other place. ” Abū Baṣīr went towards the coastal areas, and settled at a place called Saiful-Baḥr. This place was neither under the power and authority of Muḥammad sa nor under the Quraish. When the persecuted Muslims of Makkah who were unable to go to Madīnah because of the treaty came to know about the migration of Abū Baṣīr to Saiful-Baḥr, they also started migrating to Saiful Baḥr, and in a little while, quite a few Muslims settled there. As these people were not bound by the Ḥudaibiyyah Treaty, they started raiding the trade caravans of the Quraish and greatly aggravated the Quraish. The Quraish sent a request to Muḥammad sa to dismiss the second condition of the treaty, and pleaded with him to call the Muslims of Saiful-Baḥr to move to Madīnah under the authority of the Prophet sa. Muḥammad sa accepted the request of the Quraish, and removed the restriction on these Muslims to enter Madīnah. But unfortunately when the messenger of Muḥammad sa reached Abū Baṣīr, he was sick. He held the blessed letter of Muḥammad sa with great passion and passed away in a little while.