Life-of-Muhammad

Life of Muhammad sa 61handcuffed, brought tears to the eyes of the Prophet saand his faithful friend Abu Bakr ra . ‘Umar ra , whosucceeded Abu Bakr ra as the Second Khalifah of Islam,saw this but could not understand. Why should theProphet sa and Abu Bakr ra weep over a victory? ‘Umar rawas bewildered. So he made bold to ask the Prophet sa ,"Prophet sa of God, tell me why you weep when God hasgiven you such a grand victory. If we must weep, I willweep with you, or put on a weeping face at least." TheProphet sa pointed to the miserable plight of the Meccanprisoners. This was what disobedience of God led to.The Prophet Isaiah as spoke again and again of thejustice of this Prophet sa , who had emerged victoriousfrom a deadly battle. Of this there was a granddemonstration on this occasion. Returning to Medinathe Prophet sa rested for the night on the way. Thedevoted followers who watched him could see that heturned from side to side and could not sleep. They soonguessed that it was because he heard the groans of hisuncle, ‘Abbas ra , who lay nearby, bound tight as aprisoner of war. They loosened the cord on‘Abbas ra .‘Abbas ra stopped groaning. The Prophet sa , nolonger disturbed by his groans, went to sleep. A littlelater he woke up and wondered why he no longer heard‘Abbas ra groan. He half thought ‘Abbas ra had gone into aswoon. But the Companions guarding ‘Abbas ra told himthey had loosened the cord on ‘Abbas ra to let him (theProphet sa ) sleep undisturbed. "No, no," said theProphet sa , "there must be no injustice. If ‘Abbas ra isrelated to me, other prisoners are related to others.Loosen the cords on all of them or tie the cord tight on‘Abbas ra also." The Companions heard this admonitionand decided to loosen the cords on all the prisoners, andthemselves bear the responsibility for their safe custody.Of the prisoners, those who were literate were promisedfreedom if they each undertook to make ten Meccanboys literate—this being their ransom for liberty. Thosewho had nobody to pay ransom for them, obtained theirliberty for the asking. Those who could afford to pay