Life-of-Muhammad

Life of Muhammad sa 79
climbed a hill before the encounter began. Two others
had gone to a wood to feed their camels. On returning
from the wood they found sixty-six of their companions
lying dead on the field. The two counselled together.
Said one, "We should go and make a report of this to the
Holy Prophet sa ."
Said the other, "I cannot leave a spot where the chief
of our party, whom our Prophet sa appointed our leader,
has been murdered." So saying, he sprang singlehanded
upon the disbelievers and died fighting. The
other was taken prisoner but was later released in
fulfilment of a vow which the tribal chief had taken. The
murdered party included ‘Amir bin Fuhaira ra , a
freedman of Abu Bakr ra . His murderer was one Jabbar ra
who later became a Muslim. Jabbar ra attributed his
conversion to this mass massacre of Muslims.
"When I started murdering ‘Amir ra ," says Jabbar ra , "I
heard ‘Amir ra say, ‘By God I have met my goal' I asked
someone why a Muslim said this sort of thing when he
was meeting his death. That person explained that
Muslims regarded death in the path of God as a blessing
and a victory." Jabbar ra was so impressed by this reply,
that he started making a systematic study of Islam, and
ultimately became a Muslim (Hisham and Usud al-
Ghaba).
The news of the two sad events, in which about
eighty Muslims lost their lives as the result of a
mischievous intrigue, reached Medina simultaneously.
These were no ordinary men who were murdered. They
were bearers of the Qur’an. They had committed no
crime and had harmed nobody. They were taking part in
no battle. They had been decoyed into enemy hands by a
lie told in the name of God and religion. These facts
proved conclusively that enmity to Islam was determined
and deep. On the other hand the zeal of Muslims for
Islam was equally determined and deep.