Life-of-Muhammad

50Life of Muhammad sacould not control himself and began to cry. The Meccanchiefs wondered at this and asked him why he wascrying. "Do you think I am afraid of death? No, it is notdeath I fear. What I fear is lest the Faith of Muhammad sashould spread and even Mecca go under him." AbuSufyan ra assured Walid that as long as they lived theywould resist with their lives the spread of this Faith(Khamis, Vol. I).MECCANS PREPARING TO ATTACK MEDINAFrom this narration of events it is quite clear that thelull in Meccan hostility was only temporary. The leadersof Mecca were preparing for a renewed attack on Islam.Dying chiefs bound their survivors to oaths of hostilityagainst the Prophet sa , and roused them to war againsthim and his followers. The people of Medina were invitedto take up arms against the Muslims and were warnedthat, if they refused to do so, the Meccans and theirallied tribes would attack Medina, kill their men andenslave their women. If the Prophet sa had stood asideand done nothing for the defence of Medina, he wouldhave incurred a terrible responsibility. The Prophet sa ,therefore, instituted a system of reconnaissance. He sentparties of men to places round about Mecca to report onsigns of preparations for war. Now and then, there wereincidents—scuffles and fights—between these partiesand Meccans. European writers say these incidents wereinitiated by the Prophet sa and that, therefore, in thewars which ensued, he was the aggressor. But we havebefore us the thirteen years of Meccan tyranny, theirintrigues for antagonizing the people of Medina againstthe Muslims, and the threatened attack upon Medinaitself. Nobody who remembers all this can charge theProphet sa with the responsibility for initiating theseincidents. If he sent out parties of Muslims for purposeof reconnaissance, it was in self-defence. Thirteen yearsof tyranny were justification enough for the preparations