Life-of-Muhammad

80Life of Muhammad saENCOUNTER WITH BANU MUSTALIQAfter the Battle of Uhud, there was a severe famineat Mecca. Disregarding all enmity which the Meccansbore against him, and disregarding all machinationswhich they had been employing to spread disaffectionagainst him throughout the country, the Prophet saraised a fund to help the poor of Mecca in their direneed. The Meccans remained unimpressed even by thisexpression of goodwill. Their hostility went on unabated.In fact it became worse. Tribes which had so far beensympathetic towards Muslims also became hostile. Onesuch tribe was Banu Mustaliq. They had good relationswith Muslims. But now they had started preparing foran attack on Medina. When the Prophet sa heard of theirpreparations he sent men to find out the truth. The menreturned and confirmed the reports. The Prophet sadecided to go and meet this new attack. Accordingly, heraised a force and led it to the territory of BanuMustaliq. When the Muslim force met the enemy, theProphet sa tried to persuade the enemy to withdrawwithout fighting. They refused. Battle was joined and ina few hours the enemy was defeated.Because the Meccan disbelievers were bent uponmischief and friendly tribes were turning hostile, thehypocrites among Muslims had also ventured on thisoccasion to take part in the battle on the Muslim side.They probably thought they might have a chance to dosome mischief. The encounter with Banu Mustaliq wasover in a few hours. The hypocrites, therefore, did nothave any chance to do any mischief during the battle.The Holy Prophet sa , however, decided to stay in the townof Banu Mustaliq for a few days. During his stay aquarrel arose between a Meccan and a Medinite Muslimover drawing water from a well. The Meccan happenedto be an ex-slave. He struck the Medinite, who raised analarm, crying out for fellow-Medinites—known as theAnsar or Helpers. The Meccan also raised an alarm andcried out for fellow-Meccans—known as the Muhajirin or