Chief of the Prophets — Page 203
Chapter Nine The Fall of Makkah The Battle of Ḥunain, and Reasons for the Initial Setback The Battle of Tabūk The Arrival of the Tribes from Various Directions Abū Bakr ra as the Amīr Ḥajj The Victory of Makkah, Rama*ān, 8 A. H. Following the Ḥudaibiyyah Treaty, fighting had largely halted in Arabia and the Muslims found ample opportunities to preach in peace. As a result, their strength was remarkably increasing day by day. The Quraish were very upset with the progress of the Muslims, and their tyranny and persecution of Muslims had crossed all bounds. They were therefore looking for an opportunity to incite people to wage an all-out war against the Muslims. In the meantime, Banū Bakr, a tribe allied with the Quraish, attacked Banū Khuzā‘ah, a tribe allied with the Muslims, because of their historic enmity. According to the conditions of the Ḥudaibiyyah Treaty, the Quraish were bound to stop Banū Bakr, but instead, they aided them with arms 1 and, as a result, 20 to 30 people of the Khuzā‘ah tribe were killed at the hands of Banū Bakr. A delegate of Banū Khuzā‘ah appeared before Muḥammad sa and narrated the story of their oppression in the form of a painful poetic rendition. Muḥammad sa was very sympathetic towards them; he comforted them and assured them of his help. After the return of the delegation of Banū Khuzā‘ah, Muḥammad sa sent one of his messengers to the Quraish and gave them three options: pay the blood money for the Banū Khuzā‘ah’s murdered people; distance themselves from Banū Bakr; or break the 1 Aṭ-Ṭabarī