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"When comes the Help
of Allah and Victory..."
[Quran 110:1]
As
stated earlier, two of the tribes of Makkah had entered the Truce
of Hudaibiya, the Khuza'a on the side of the Muslims and the Bani
Bakr on the side of the Quraish. These two tribes had an old feud
dating back to pre?Islamic days, which had lain dormant during the
past few years, and it might have been expected that now that they
had joined the truce, peace would prevail between them. But this
was not to be. The Bani Bakr once again took up the thread of the
feud. They organized a night raid on the Khuza'a in which they were
secretly assisted by the Quraish, who gave them not only weapons
but also a few warriors, among whom were Ikrimah and Safwan bin
Umayyah. In this raid twenty of the Khuza'a were killed.
A
delegation of the Khuza'a at once rode to Madinah and informed the
Prophet of this flagrant breach of the truce. The visitors invoked
the alliance between their tribe and the Muslims and asked for help.
Abu
Sufyan had not been directly concerned with the assistance given
by the Quraish in this raid. He was now seriously alarmed as he
had not wished to break the truce; and fearing Muslim retaliation,
he travelled to Madinah to negotiate a fresh truce. On arrival at
Madinah he first went to see his daughter, Umm Habiba, wife of the
Prophet, but she gave him the cold shoulder. He next went to the
Prophet and spoke to him, proposing a fresh truce, but the Prophet
remained silent and this did more to frighten him and disturb his
peace of mind than any threat could have done.
Not
knowing just where he stood with the Prophet, Abu Sufyan decided
to enlist the aid of the important Companions. He went to Abu Bakr
with the request that he talk with the Prophet and urge a fresh
truce, but Abu Bakr refused. He next went to Umar who, as warlike
as ever, replied, "By Allah, if I had nothing more than
an army of ants, I would wage war against you." Abu Sufyan
then went to the house of Ali, and there spoke first to Fatimah
and then to Ali. "Once the Messenger of Allah has made up
his mind," explained Ali, "nothing can dissuade
him from his purpose."
"Then
what do you advise?" asked Abu Sufyan.
"You
are a leader of the Quraish, O Abu Sufyan! Keep peace among men."
1
This
advice could be interpreted in many ways, but somehow it gave Abu
Sufyan more satisfaction than he had got from the others. Not knowing
what else to do, he returned to Makkah. He had achieved nothing.
Soon
after the departure of Abu Sufyan, the Prophet ordered immediate
preparations for a large?scale operation. His intention was to assemble
and move with such speed, and observe such strict secrecy, that
the Quraish would not get knowledge of the coming of the Muslims
until the Muslims were virtually knocking at their door. Thus the
Quraish would not have time to organise another alliance with neighbouring
tribes to face the Muslims. While the assembly of forces was in
progress, the Prophet came to know that a woman was on her way to
Makkah with a letter warning the Makkans of the preparations being
made against them. He sent Ali and Zubair in haste after her. These
two stalwarts caught up with the woman, found the message and brought
back message and messenger to Madinah.
1. 1bn Hisham: Vol. 2, pp. 396-7.
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