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‘Umair agreed and asked Safwan to be reticent on the whole scheme. He left for Madinah, having
with him a sword to which he applied some kind of lethal poison. ‘Umar bin Al-Khattab saw him at
the door of the Mosque and understood that he had come with evil intentions. He immediately went
into the Mosque and informed the Prophet (Peace be upon him). He was let in looped by the sling of
his sword and in greeting he said “good morning”, to which the Prophet (Peace be upon him) replied
that Allâh had been Gracious and taught them the greeting of the dwellers of the Paradise: “peace
be upon you!” To a question raised by the Prophet (Peace be upon him), about his object, ‘Umair
said that he had come to see that his captured son was well treated. As for the sword, which the
Prophet (Peace be upon him) asked him about, he cursed it and said that it gained them nothing.
On exhorting him to tell his real goal, he remained obdurate and did not divulge the secret meeting
with Safwan. Here the Prophet (Peace be upon him) got impatient and he himself revealed to ‘Umair
his secret mission. ‘Umair was taken by surprise, and incredible astonishment seized him, and
immediately bore witness to the Messengership of Muhammad (Peace be upon him) He then began
to entertain Allâh’s praise for having been guided to the ‘Straight Path’. The Prophet (Peace be upon
him) was pleased and asked his Companions to teach ‘Umair the principles of Islam, recite to him
the Noble Qur’ân and release his son from captivity.
Safwan, meanwhile, was still entertaining false illusions as to the approaching redemption of
honour, and burying the memory of Badr into oblivion. He was impatiently awaiting ‘Umair’s news
but to his great surprise, he was told that the man had embraced Islam and changed into a devoted
believer. ‘Umair later came back to Makkah where he started to call people unto Islam and he did
actually manage to convert a lot of Makkans into Islam.
INVASION OF BANI QAYNUQA:
We have already spoken about the treaty that the Prophet (Peace be upon him) signed with the
Jews. He was very careful to abide by it to the letter and the Muslims did not show the least
violation of any of its provisions. The Jews, however, whose natural disposition is closely linked to
treachery, betrayal and covenant-breaching, could not rid themselves of the tradition of theirs, and
started a process of intrigues and troublemaking with the aim of producing schism in the growing
solid Muslim ranks. Here is a relevant model of their behaviour: Shas bin Qais, an elderly Jew, a
terrible disbeliever and a greatly envious man of the Muslims, passed by a group of Muhammad
(Peace be upon him) followers of Aws and Khazraj. He perceived a prevalent spirit of reconciliation
and an atmosphere of rapport and amity enveloping the whole group; an unusual scene
categorically in conflict with the animosity and hatred that characterized their pre-Islam behaviour.
He, therefore, sent a youth of his to sit among them, remind them of Bu‘ath war between them and
recite some of their verses which they used to compose satirizing each other; all of this with the
intention of sowing the seeds of discord and disagreement and undermining the new Islamically-
orientated inter-tribal relations. The youth did in fact succeed and the two parties at no time recalled
the old days and pre-Islam tribal fanaticism sprang to the front to bring about a state of war.
The Prophet (Peace be upon him) was reported of this account, and immediately, at the head of
some Emigrants, set out to see to the situation. He began to rebuke them but in the manner of the
great instructor and the tolerant spirit of the understanding guide: “O, Muslims! Do you still advance
pre-Islamic arguments after I have been sent to you (as a Messenger). Remember that it is not
rightful for you to turn backward after Allâh has guided you to the Straight Path, delivered you from
disbelief and created amity between you.” The Muslims readily realized that it was a Satanic whim
and a plot hatched by the enemies. They directly embraced each other and went back home quite
satisfied and in full obedience to the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him).
Such were the practices of the , trouble-making, dissension-sowing, falsehood-fabrication, faking
belief in the day, and practising disbelief at night. In everyday life, they used to tighten the ropes of
financial dealings on the Muslims. If they happened to owe a Muslim something, they would shirk
their obligations on grounds that he had converted into a new religion and they would allege the
basis of agreement was no longer valid. If it was the other way, they would never cease to harass
him day and night to pay back the debt, all of which in a desperate attempt to demolish the great
edifice of the new religion that was rapidly gaining ground and speedily towering up skyward.
THE QAINUQA' JEWS BREACH THE COVENANT:
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