Life-of-Muhammad

Life of Muhammad sa 23
has this fashion begun?" To appease Labid, a man from
among the audience rose and said, "Go on and take no
notice of this fool". ‘Uthman ra XE "Persecution to the
Muslims:‘Uthman bin Maz‘un ra insisted that he had
said nothing foolish. This exasperated the Quraishite,
who sprang upon ‘Uthman ra and gave him a sharp blow,
knocking out an eye. Walid was present at the scene. He
was a close friend of ‘Uthman's ra father. He could not
endure such treatment of his deceased friend's son. But
‘Uthman ra was no longer under his formal protection
and Arab custom now forbade him to take sides. So he
could do nothing. Half in anger, half in anguish he
turned to ‘Uthman ra , and said, "Son of my friend, you
would have saved your eye, had you not renounced my
protection. You have to thank yourself for it."
‘Uthman ra replied,
"I have longed for this. I lament not over the loss of one
eye, because the other waits for the same fate. Remember,
while the Prophet sa suffers, we want no peace" (Halbiyya,
Vol. 1, P. 348).
‘UMAR ra ACCEPTS ISLAM
About this time, another very important event took
place. ‘Umar ra , who later became the Second Khalifah of
Islam, was still one of the fiercest and the most feared
enemies of Islam. He felt that no effective step had yet
been taken against the new Movement and decided to
put an end to the Prophet's sa life. He took his sword and
set out. A friend was puzzled to see him going and asked
where he was going and with what intent. "To kill
Muhammad sa ," said ‘Umar ra .
"But would you be safe from his tribe after this? And
do you really know how things are going? Do you know
that your sister and her husband have joined Islam?"
It came like a bolt from the blue and greatly upset
‘Umar ra . He decided to go and have done with his sister
and her husband first. As he reached their house he