The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 1) — Page cclix
GENERAL INTRODUCTION that there was to distribute had been distributed among the deserving and the poor. Still there were those who remained unsatisfied, who mobbed the Prophet, protested against the distribution charging the Prophet with injustice. One Dhul-Khuwaişirah came near the Prophet and said, "Muḥammad, I am a witness to what you are doing. " "And what am I doing?" asked the Prophet. "You are committing an injustice," said he. "Woe to you," said the Prophet. "If I can be unjust, then there is no one on the face of the earth who can be just" (Muslim, Kitābuz-Zakāh). True believers were full of rage. When this man left the assembly some of them said, "This man deserves death. Will you let us kill him?" "No," said the Prophet. "If he observes our laws and commits no visible offence, how can we kill him?" "But," said the believers, "when a person says and does one thing but believes and desires quite another, would he not deserve to be treated accordingly?" "I cannot deal with people according to what they have in their hearts. God has not charged me with this. I can deal with them according to what they say and do. " The Prophet went on to tell the believers that one day this man and others of his kin would stage a rebellion in Islam. The Prophet's words came true. In the time of ‘Ali, the Fourth Khalifah of Islam, this man and his friends led the rebellion against him and became the leaders of a universally condemned division of Islam, the Khawārij. After dealing with the Hawāzin, the Prophet returned to Medina. It was another great day for its people. One great day was when the Prophet arrived at Medina, a refugee from the ill-treatment of the Meccans. On this great day, the Prophet re-entered Medina, full of joy and aware of his determination and promise to make Medina his home. Machinations of Abū 'Āmir We must now turn to the activities of one Abū ‘Amir Madani. He belonged to the Khazraj tribe. Through long association with Jews and Christians he had acquired the habit of silent meditation and of repeating the names of God. Because of this habit, he was generally known as Abū ‘Āmir, the Hermit. He was, however, not a Christian by faith. When the Prophet went to Medina after the Hijrah, Abū ‘Āmir escaped from Medina to Mecca. When at last Mecca also submitted to the growing influence of Islam, he began to hatch a new intrigue against Islam. He changed his name and his habitual mode of dress and settled down in Qubā, a village near Medina. As he had been away for a long time and had altered his appearance and his dress, the сехххііі