The March Toward Makkah

They asked the woman:

“Where is the letter?”

She swore and said:

“I do not have any letter with me.”

Finally, she was made to come down from her camel. She was searched, but the letter could not be found.

“I swear by Allah, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ never says anything untrue.”

When the woman realized that these people would not accept her denial in any way, she loosened the hair on her head and took out the letter that was hidden underneath it and handed it to them.

In any case, these Companions brought the letter and presented it to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.

The letter had been written by Hazrat Hatib ibn Abi Balta‘ah رضي الله عنه. It stated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had begun preparing for war and that these preparations were certainly against the people of Quraysh. He had considered it appropriate to inform them and thereby do them a favor.

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ summoned Hazrat Hatib رضي الله عنه. He showed him the letter and asked:

“Hatib! Do you recognize this letter?”

In reply, he said:

“O Messenger of Allah! I recognize it. Please do not be hasty concerning me!

I have no relationship with Quraysh, whereas all the Muhajir Muslims who are with you have relatives among Quraysh.

Because of this, although their relatives there are still polytheists, those relatives remain safe. They do not harm them.

But because I have no family relationship with them, I remain concerned about my family. My wife and son are trapped there.

So I thought that on this occasion I should do this favor to Quraysh, so that they would not mistreat my family, and that is all.

This letter cannot cause any harm to the Muslims. The wrath of Allah is about to descend upon Quraysh.”

After hearing his explanation, the Noble Messenger ﷺ said to his Companions رضي الله عنهم:

“You have heard what Hatib has said. He has told you everything truthfully. Now what do you say?”

Hazrat ‘Umar رضي الله عنه said:

“O Messenger of Allah! Permit me to punish this man severely, because he has become a hypocrite.”

The Noble Messenger ﷺ said:

“O ‘Umar! This man was among those who participated in the Battle of Badr. And ‘Umar, how do you know? Perhaps Allah Almighty said to the people of Badr: ‘Do whatever you wish; I have forgiven you.’”

Upon hearing these blessed words of the Prophet ﷺ, tears came to the eyes of Hazrat ‘Umar رضي الله عنه.

Meanwhile, Allah Almighty revealed the following verse of Surah al-Mumtahanah:

“Translation: O believers! Do not take My enemies and your enemies as friends, showing them affection, even though they have rejected the faith that has come to you. They have driven the Messenger and you out of the city because you believe in Allah Almighty.”

After this, the Noble Messenger ﷺ departed from Madinah Munawwarah.

He appointed Abu Ruhm Kulthum ibn Husayn al-Ansari رضي الله عنه as his deputy in Madinah.

The Prophet ﷺ departed from Madinah Munawwarah on the 10th of Ramadan.

Ten thousand Companions accompanied the Noble Messenger ﷺ on this expedition.

This number is also mentioned in the Gospel. It is stated there:

“That Messenger will descend from the peaks of Paran with ten thousand holy ones.”

On this occasion, none of the Muhajirun or Ansar remained behind.

They had three hundred horses and nine hundred camels with them.

In addition to these blessed Companions, some tribes also joined them along the way.

During this journey, permission was also given regarding the exemption from fasting while traveling. That is, whoever wished could fast while traveling, while whoever did not wish to fast could make up the fast later.

In this way, this permission was established for times of travel and military expeditions.

As the army continued its journey, it eventually reached the place of Mar az-Zahran.

This place is now called Batn Marr.

Before the army departed, the Prophet ﷺ had prayed that Quraysh would not learn about the arrival of the Muslim army. Therefore, Quraysh had not been able to find out.

When the Muslims reached Mar az-Zahran, they lit fires at night.

Since their number was around twelve thousand, campfires could be seen burning over a very wide area.

At the time when this army had departed from Madinah Munawwarah, the uncle of the Prophet ﷺ, Hazrat ‘Abbas رضي الله عنه, had also set out from Makkah to migrate toward Madinah Munawwarah so that he could reach the Noble Prophet ﷺ and announce his acceptance of Islam.

However, he met the Noble Prophet ﷺ on the way.

This meeting took place at a place called Juhfah.

Hazrat ‘Abbas رضي الله عنه then continued with the Prophet ﷺ from there, while he sent the members of his household to Madinah Munawwarah.

On this occasion, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to him:

“O my uncle! Your migration is the last migration, just as my prophethood is the last prophethood.”

The Prophet ﷺ said this because, generally, Muslims used to migrate from Makkah to Madinah Munawwarah after becoming distressed by the persecution of Quraysh.

But now the Prophet ﷺ was proceeding to conquer Makkah. After that, there would no longer be any need to migrate from Makkah.

Therefore, the Prophet ﷺ said that this would be his final migration, just as his prophethood was the final prophethood.

This statement of the Prophet ﷺ completely rejected the claims of those who would claim prophethood after him.

(Khatm-e-Nubuwwat Zindabad — Long live the Finality of Prophethood.)

Hazrat ‘Abbas رضي الله عنه proceeded toward Makkah with the intention of informing Quraysh how far the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had advanced and telling them that it would be better for Quraysh to leave Makkah al-Mukarramah and present themselves before him ﷺ beforehand.

While he departed with this intention, Abu Sufyan, Budayl ibn Warqa’, and Hakim ibn Hizam also set out to obtain information about the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.

By this time, they had learned that the Noble Messenger ﷺ had departed from Madinah Munawwarah with an army.

However, they had not been able to discover in which direction he had gone.

When they went outside and saw fires burning in thousands of places, they became extremely frightened.

Abu Sufyan said:

“I have never seen fires like these tonight, nor have I ever seen such a huge army. These fires are as numerous as the fires lit by the pilgrims on the Day of ‘Arafah.”

At the very moment Abu Sufyan said these words, Hazrat ‘Abbas رضي الله عنه passed by that place.

He heard the words, saw these men, and came toward them.

Hazrat ‘Abbas رضي الله عنه was also a friend of Abu Sufyan.

“O Abu Hanzalah! Is that you?” Hazrat ‘Abbas رضي الله عنه said.

Abu Hanzalah was the kunyah of Abu Sufyan.

“Yes, it is me. Budayl ibn Warqa’ and Hakim ibn Hizam are with me as well. Where are you going?”

In reply, Hazrat ‘Abbas رضي الله عنه said:

“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ has brought such a huge army against you that there is now no path of escape left for you.”

Hearing this, Abu Sufyan became frightened and said:

“Ah! What will happen to Quraysh now? Tell me some way out of this.”

Upon hearing this, Hazrat ‘Abbas رضي الله عنه said:

“By Allah! If the Noble Messenger ﷺ gains control over you, he will have you severely punished. Therefore, it is better that you ride behind me on my mule so that I can take you to the Noble Messenger ﷺ and secure your safety.”

Hazrat Abu Sufyan immediately mounted the mule behind Hazrat ‘Abbas رضي الله عنه.

Hazrat ‘Abbas رضي الله عنه and Abu Sufyan passed by the place where Hazrat ‘Umar رضي الله عنه had lit a fire.

Hazrat ‘Umar رضي الله عنه saw them, immediately stood up, came toward them, and called out:

“Who is this? It is the enemy of Allah, Abu Sufyan!”

As soon as he said this, Hazrat ‘Umar رضي الله عنه rushed toward the Noble Prophet ﷺ.

Seeing this, Hazrat ‘Abbas رضي الله عنه also urged the mule forward and managed to reach the tent of the Noble Prophet ﷺ before Hazrat ‘Umar رضي الله عنه.

He quickly dismounted and entered the tent.

Immediately afterward, Hazrat ‘Umar رضي الله عنه also entered the tent and exclaimed:

“O Messenger of Allah! This is the enemy of Allah, Abu Sufyan. Allah Almighty has given us power over him without any treaty protecting him. Therefore, permit me to deal with him.”

But at the same time, Hazrat ‘Abbas رضي الله عنه said:

“O Messenger of Allah! I have already given him protection.”

The scene at that moment was that Hazrat ‘Umar رضي الله عنه was standing with his sword drawn, ready to act upon the Prophet’s ﷺ command, while Hazrat ‘Abbas رضي الله عنه was saying:

“By Allah! Tonight there is no one other than me trying to save his life.”