Life-of-Muhammad

148Life of Muhammad sapresume, the Prophet sa complained of the preparationswhich had been visible on the Syrian border and of thefoul and entirely unjust murder of the fifteen Muslimswhom he had sent to report on the border situation.This letter was carried by al-Harth ra , a Companion of theProphet sa . He stopped en route at Mauta where he metShurahbil, a Ghassan chief acting as a Roman official."Are you a messenger of Muhammad sa ?" asked thischief. On being told "Yes," he arrested him, tied him upand belaboured him to death. It may quite reasonably beassumed that this Ghassan chief was a leader of thearmy which had engaged and put to death the fifteenMuslims who had tried only to preach. The fact that hesaid to al-Harth ra , "Perhaps you are carrying a messagefrom Muhammad sa " shows he was afraid lest theProphet's sa complaint that tribesmen under the Kaiserhad attacked the Muslims should reach the Kaiser. Hewas afraid lest he should have to account for what hadhappened. There was safety, he thought, in murderingthe Prophet's sa envoy. The expectation was not realized.The Prophet sa got to know of the murder. To avenge thisand the earlier murders, he raised a force of threethousand and despatched it to Syria under thecommand of Zaid bin Haritha ra , freed slave of theProphet sa , whom we mentioned in our account of his lifein Mecca. The Prophet sa nominated Ja‘far ibn Abi Talibas the successor of Zaid ra , should Zaid ra die, and‘Abdullah bin Rawaha ra , should Ja‘far die. Should‘Abdullah bin Rawaha ra also die, Muslims were tochoose their own commander. A Jew who heard thisexclaimed, "O Abu’l Qasim sa , if thou art a true Prophet sa ,these three officers whom thou hast named are sure to die;for God fulfils the words of a Prophet sa ." Turning to Zaid ra ,he said,"Take it from me, if Muhammad sa is true you willnot return alive." Zaid ra , a true believer that he was, said inreply, "I may return alive or not, but Muhammad sa is a trueProphet of God" (Halbiyya, Vol. 3, p. 75).The following morning the Muslim army set out onits long march. The Prophet sa and the Companions went