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“You have indeed in the Messenger of
Allah a beautiful example for anyone whose hope is in Allah and
the Last Day, and remembers Allah much.
When the Believers saw the Confederate forces, they said, ‘This
is what Allah and His Messenger promised us, and Allah and His Messenger
spoke the truth.’ It added only to their faith and obedience.
Among the Believers are men who have been true to their covenant
with Allah. Of them, some have completed their vow and some wait,
but they have never wavered in the least.
That Allah may reward the men of Truth for their Truth, and punish
the hypocrites if He wills, or turn to them in mercy, for Allah
is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.
And Allah turned back the Unbelievers for all their fury –
no advantage did they gain, and enough is Allah for the Believers
in their fight. And Allah is full of Strength, full of Might.
He took those of the People of the Book who aided them, down from
their strongholds, and cast terror into their hearts:some you slew,
and some you captured. He made you heirs of their lands, their houses,
and their goods, and of a land which you had not frequented before.
And Allah has Power over all things.”
[Quran 33:21-27]
For several days after
his return to Makkah, the Battle of Uhud occupied the mind of Khalid.
He thought time and again of how the opportunity had arisen when
the archers abandoned their position, and how quickly and accurately
he had grasped the possibilities of manoeuvre. Khalid was to repeat
such counterstrokes in later battles of his career. But the one
fact that weighed heavily on his mind, and which he found difficult
to explain, was the courage and tenacity of the Muslims. It did
not seem natural that a small force, so vastly outnumbered and attacked
from all directions, should hold out with such rocklike determination
and be prepared to fight to the end in defence of its leader and
its faith. After all, the Muslims were the same stock as the Quraish
and other Arabs. Perhaps there was something that the new faith
did to its votaries which other faiths could not do. Perhaps there
was something about the personality of Muhammad which other men
lacked. Such thoughts would occupy the mind of Khalid, but so far
he was not in any way inclined towards the new faith. In fact he
looked forward to facing the Muslims again, but without bitterness
or rancour. He thought of the next battle as a sportsman might think
of his next match.
And Khalid continued to enjoy the good life
with the vigour and enthusiasm which were characteristic of the
man.
For the next two years there was no direct
military clash between the Muslims and the Quraish. There was, however,
an incident known as the Incident of Rajee-a brutal and horrible
affair which further embittered relations between Makkah and Madinah.
This incident took place in July 625. Some
Arabs came to the Prophet as a delegation from their tribe, expressed
their desire to embrace Islam and asked him to send some men, well
versed in the Quran and the ways of Islam, to explain the faith
and its obligations to their tribe. The Prophet nominated six of
his Companions for this task, and these men, proud of being selected
to spread the true faith, set off with the delegation, entirely
unaware of the trap that awaited them. When these men, with their
guides, reached a place called Rajee, not far from Usfan, they were
ambushed by 100 warriors from the tribe which had invited them.
The Muslims drew their swords, but they never had a chance. Three
of them were killed and three captured. The prisoners were led to
Makkah, en route to which one of them was able to free himself from
his bonds and attacked his captors, but he too was killed. The two
captives who eventually got to Makkah were Khubaib bin Adi and Zaid
bin Al Dasinna. Both of them had killed infidels in battle; and
their captors now took them to Makkah and sold them at a high price
to the relatives of the dead infidels, who bought them eagerly with
the intention of killing them in revenge for those whom they had
lost.
For some days no action was taken against
the prisoners, as this was the holy month of Safar. As soon as the
month ended, the two captives were taken to Tan'eem, a place by
the north-western edge of Makkah, where the entire population of
the town had gathered, including, slaves, women and children. Two
wooden stakes had been dug in the ground, and to these the captives
were led. They asked to be allowed to say a final prayer and the
request was granted. When the prayer was over, the captives were
tied to the stakes.
Each of them was now given the option of
returning to the idol worship of the Quraish or death. Both the
Muslims chose the option of death. Next Abu Sufyan went up to each
captive and said, "Do you not wish that you were safe in
your home and Muhammad were here in your place?" Each of
them vehemently rejected the suggestion and said that no amount
of suffering could put such an idea into his mind. Vexed and angered,
Abu Sufyan turned away and remarked to his friends, "I have
never seen men love their leader as the men of Muhammad love Muhammad."
1
Zaid was the first to die, and his death
was quick and easy. A slave walked up to him and drove a spear through
his chest. Next came the turn of Khubaib, and this was to be a show.
This is what the people of Makkah had come to watch with joyful
anticipation.
At a signal, 40 boys carrying spears rushed
to the stake where Khubaib was tied and began to prick him with
their spears. Sometimes they would move away and then come rushing
at him again with raised spears as if to kill him, but would withhold
the blow at the last moment and just prick lightly?sufficient to
cut and pierce the skin but not to kill. Some of the boys were clumsy
and cut deeper than others, and soon the body of Khubaib was covered
with blood that flowed from hundreds of shallow wounds. As each
spear pricked him he would wince, but not a sound escaped his lips.
And the spectators were thrilled by the spectacle of Khubaib's suffering.
1. Ibn Hisham: Vol. 2, p. 172
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