Life-of-Muhammad

Life of Muhammad sa 49Prophet sa . Parties to this covenant will not have the right toenter into any agreement with the Meccans or their allies.This, because parties to this covenant agree in resistingtheir common enemies. The parties will remain united inpeace as in war. No party will enter into a separate peace.But no party will be obliged to take part in war. A party,however, which commits any excess will be liable to apenalty. Certainly God is the protector of the righteousand the Faithful and Muhammad sa is His Prophet sa(Hisham).This is the covenant in brief. It has been preparedfrom scraps to be found in historical records. Itemphasizes beyond any doubt that in settling disputesand disagreements between the parties at Medina, theguiding principles were to be honesty, truth and justice.Those committing excesses were to be held responsiblefor those excesses. The covenant makes it clear that theProphet sa of Islam was determined to treat with civilityand kindness the other citizens of Medina, and to regardthem and deal with them as brethren. If disputes andconflicts arose later, the responsibility rested with theJews.As we have already said, two or three months passedaway before Meccans could renew their planned hostilityagainst Islam. An occasion was provided by Sa‘d binMu‘adh ra , chief of the Aus tribe of Medina, who arrivedat Mecca for the circuit of the Ka‘ba. Abu Jahl saw himdo this and said, "After giving protection to this apostateMuhammad sa , do you expect you can come to Meccaand circuit the Ka‘ba in peace? Do you think you canprotect and save him? I swear by God, that had it notbeen for Abu Sufyan ra , you could not have returned safeto your family."Sa‘d bin Mu‘adh ra replied, "Take it from me, if youMeccans stop us from visiting and circuiting the Ka‘ba,you will have no peace on your road to Syria." At aboutthat time Walid bin Mughira, a Meccan chief, becameseriously ill. He apprehended that his end had come.The other chiefs of Mecca were sitting around. Walid