Life-of-Muhammad

Life of Muhammad sa 79climbed a hill before the encounter began. Two othershad gone to a wood to feed their camels. On returningfrom the wood they found sixty-six of their companionslying dead on the field. The two counselled together.Said one, "We should go and make a report of this to theHoly Prophet sa ."Said the other, "I cannot leave a spot where the chiefof our party, whom our Prophet sa appointed our leader,has been murdered." So saying, he sprang singlehandedupon the disbelievers and died fighting. Theother was taken prisoner but was later released infulfilment of a vow which the tribal chief had taken. Themurdered party included ‘Amir bin Fuhaira ra , afreedman of Abu Bakr ra . His murderer was one Jabbar rawho later became a Muslim. Jabbar ra attributed hisconversion to this mass massacre of Muslims."When I started murdering ‘Amir ra ," says Jabbar ra , "Iheard ‘Amir ra say, ‘By God I have met my goal' I askedsomeone why a Muslim said this sort of thing when hewas meeting his death. That person explained thatMuslims regarded death in the path of God as a blessingand a victory." Jabbar ra was so impressed by this reply,that he started making a systematic study of Islam, andultimately became a Muslim (Hisham and Usud al-Ghaba).The news of the two sad events, in which abouteighty Muslims lost their lives as the result of amischievous intrigue, reached Medina simultaneously.These were no ordinary men who were murdered. Theywere bearers of the Qur’an. They had committed nocrime and had harmed nobody. They were taking part inno battle. They had been decoyed into enemy hands by alie told in the name of God and religion. These factsproved conclusively that enmity to Islam was determinedand deep. On the other hand the zeal of Muslims forIslam was equally determined and deep.