Lessons of the Prophet’s Life

time. Difficulties were to be faced with fortitude. No impulse was to cause one to deviate from the path of God. To survey the situation, the Prophet halted at Hudaybiyyah, nine miles from Makkah. From Hudaybiyyah, he sent one Kharash ibn Umayyah on camelback to inform the Makkans that the Muslims had come to visit the House of God, not to do battle. On reaching Makkah, Kharash’s camel was slaughtered, and attempts were made to murder him, but somehow he managed to escape and return to Hudaybiyyah. The Prophet then sent ‘Uthman to appeal to the Makkans to refrain from hostilities and tell them that the Muslims would return quietly to Madinah after performing the rites of ‘Umrah.38 The Makkans paid no heed and took him, prisoner. Later Mikraz ibn Hafs and fifty men attacked the Muslim camp at night, raining stones and arrows down on the pilgrims. Mikraz was captured, but no action was taken against him: he was released unconditionally. Then, as the Muslims were praying in the early morning, eighty men attacked them from Tan’im. They were also taken captive and then allowed to go free unconditionally. Lengthy negotiations with the Quraysh ensued. Finally, a truce was made between the two sides. At first sight, this truce amounted to an outright victory for the Quraysh and a defeat for the Muslims. The Prophet’s followers could not understand how, when God had given them tidings of a visit to the House of God, the Prophet could have agreed