Guillaume--Life of Muhammad.pdf - Radical Truth

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TilE RAID ON B. AL-MUSTALIQ
The apostle stayed in "'Iedina during the latter part of Jumiidii'l-Akhira
and Rajab; then he attacked B. al-Mu~talig of Khuzii'a in Sha'biin A.II. 6
(737)·
'Asim b. 'Umar b. Qatiida and 'Abdullah b. Abu Bakr and Muhammad
b. YaJ:tyii b. Habbiin each told me a part of the fo~lowingstory: The apostle
received news that B. al-Mu$~aliq were gatherIng together agaInst hIm,
their leader being al-J-.liirith b. Abu Oiriir, the father of Juwayriya d. al­
Hiirith (afterwards) wife of the apostle. When the apostle heard about
them he went out and met them at a watering place of theirs called al­
1\1uraysi' in the direction of Qudayd towards the shore. There was a fight
and God put the B. al-'VIu~talig to flight and killed some of them and gave
the apostle their wives, children, and property as booty. A MuslIm of B.
Kalb b. 'Auf b. 'Amir b. Layth b. Bakr called Hishiim b. ~ubiiba was killed
by a man of the An~iir of the family of 'Ubiida b. al-~iimit who thought he
was an enemy and killed him in error.
While the apostle was by this water a party came down to it. 'Umar had
a hired servant from B. Ghifiir called Jahjiih b. Mas'ud who was leading
his horse. This Jahjiih and Siniin b. Wabar aI-Juhan!, an ally of B. 'Auf b.
I
The Life of Muhammad
Tell the truthI to those you meet whenever you come Qut.
Conceal not the news in assemblies.
Say, We slipped away from the claws of the angry lion
With rage in his heart which he could not work off (73 6).
Shaddiid b. 'Arid said concerning the day of Dhu Qarad with reference
to 'Uyayna who \vas surnamed Abu Malik:
Whv, a Abu Miilik, did you not return to the fight
\Vh~n your cavalry were in flight and being slain?
You mentioned going back to 'Asjar. 2
Nonsense! it was too late to return.
You trusted yourself to a spirited horse
Quickly covering the ground when given free rein.
\Vhen VOllr left hand reined him in
He rea~ed like a flaming cauldron.
And when you saw that God's servants
Did not wait for those behind to come up
You knew that horsemen had been trained
To chase warriors when they took to the plain.
When they chase the cavalry they bring disgrace on them,
And if they are pursued they dismount
And protect themselves in evil case
With swords which the polisher has made bright.
Readingfasduqu with C. against v..'.'sfaktumu.
2 A place ncar Mecca.
The Life of Muhammad 49'
al-Khazraj, thrust one another away from the water and fell to fighting.
The Juhan! called out 'Men of aJ-Ansiir!' and Jahjiih called out 'Men of the
Muhiijirun I'. 'Abdullah b. Gbayy b. Salul was enraged. With him was a
number of his people including Zayd b. Arqam, a young boy. He said,
'Have they actually done this? They dispute our priority, they outnumber
us in our own country, and nothing so fits us and the vagabonds of Quraysh
as the ancient saying "Feed a dog and it will devour you". By Allah when
we return to Medina the stronger will drive out the weaker.' Then he went
to his people who were there and said: 'This is what you have done to
yourselves. You have let them occupy your country, and you have divided
your property among them. Had you but kept your property from them
they would have gone elsewhere.' Zayd b. Argam heard this and went and
told the apostle when he had disposed of his enemies. 'Umar, \vho was with
him, said, 'Tell 'Abbiid b. Hishr to go and kill him.' The apostle answered,
'But what if men should say IVluhammad kills his own companions? No,
but give orders to set off.' Now this was at a time when the apostle was not
accustomed to travel. The men duly moved off.
When Abdullah b. Ubayy heard that Zayd had told the apostle what he
had said he went to him and swore that he had not said what he did say.
He was a great man among his own people and the An$ar who were present
with the apostle said: 'It may well be that the boy was mistaken in what
he said, and did not remember the man's words,' sympathizing with Ibn
Ubayy and protecting him.
When the apostle had begun his journey Usayd b. J-.lU