Life-of-Muhammad

Life of Muhammad sa 63"The butchering of the cow" said the Prophet sa ,"indicates that some of my Companions will be killed inbattle. The broken point of my sword indicates thatsome important one among my relations will meet hisdeath, or maybe, I myself will suffer pain or injury ofsome kind. Putting my hand in a coat of armour seemsto mean that if we stay in Medina it is better for us. Thefact that I have seen myself riding a ram means that wewill overpower the commander of the disbelievers, andthat he will die at our hands" (Bukhari, Hisham andTabaqat).It was made clear by this vision and its interpretationthat it was better for Muslims to stay in Medina. TheProphet sa , however, did not insist upon this, because theinterpretation of the vision was his own, not a part ofrevealed knowledge. He accepted the advice of themajority and decided to go out of Medina to meet theenemy. As he set out, the more zealous section of Hisfollowing realizing their mistake, approached theProphet sa and said, "Prophet sa of God, the way youadvised seems better. We ought to stay in Medina andmeet the enemy in our streets.""Not now," said the Prophet sa . "Now the Prophet sa ofGod has put on his armour. Come what may, now weshall go forward. If you prove steadfast and persevering,God will help you" (Bukhari and Tabaqat). So saying, hewent forward with a force of a thousand. At a smalldistance from Medina they camped for the night. It wasthe Prophet's sa custom to let his fighting force rest awhile before they met the enemy. At the time of themorning prayers, he made a round. He found that someJews also had joined the Muslims. They pretended theyhad treaties of alliance with the Medina tribes. As theProphet sa had had knowledge of Jewish intrigues, hesent off the Jews. As soon as he did so, ‘Abdullah binUbayy ibn Salul, chief of the hypocrites, withdrew withhis three hundred followers. He said the Muslim armywas now no match for the enemy. To take part in thebattle was now certain death. The Prophet sa had made a