Threatening Letter from the Quraish to the Idolaters of Madīnah

Much time had not passed since the arrival of the Holy Prophet(sa) in Madīnah, when a threatening letter was sent by the Quraish addressing ‘Abdullāh bin Ubayy bin Sulūl, chieftain of the Khazraj tribe, and his idolatrous companions. The letter stated, ‘Relinquish your protection of Muḥammad(sa), or else.’ As such, the letter read as follows:

“You have given protection to an individual of ours (i.e., Muḥammad(sa)), and we swear in the name of Allāh that you shall either leave him and declare war against him, or in the least, exile him from your city. If not, we shall gather our entire army and attack you; and we shall kill your men and take your women in to our own possession, making them lawful unto ourselves.”1

When this letter reached Madīnah, ‘Abdullāh and his companions, who already harboured deep enmity in their hearts against Islām, prepared to wage war against the Holy Prophet(sa). When the Holy Prophet(sa) was informed of this, he immediately met these people and explained to them that:

“If you wage war against me, in fact it is you who shall suffer. For your own brethren and kindred would be your opponents. In other words, the Muslims from among the Aus and Khazraj will side with me in all circumstances. Hence, waging war against me only means that you would be taking up the sword against your very own sons, brothers, and fathers. Now you decide for yourself.”

‘Abdullāh and his companions, who still vividly remembered the bloodshed of the Battle of Bu‘āth, understood, and refrained from carrying out this intention.2 When the Quraish failed in this plan, after some time, they sent a similar letter to the Jews of Madīnah. However, mention of this shall follow ahead its appropriate place. In actuality, the purpose of the Quraish was to wipe out all traces of Islām from the face of the earth. Distressed by the persecution of the Quraish, when the Muslims migrated to Abyssinia, they pursued them there as well. They exerted their utmost effort to convince the pure-hearted Negus to hand over these oppressed and exiled Muslims to the Makkans. Then, when the Holy Prophet(sa) migrated to Madīnah, the Quraish pursued him and left no stone unturned in trying to arrest him. Now they discovered that the Holy Prophet(sa) and his Companions had reached Madīnah, and Islām was quickly spreading there. Therefore, they instigated the people of Madīnah to annihilate Islām by waging war against the Holy Prophet(sa), or to exile him from Madīnah by relinquishing their protection of him. By this letter of the Quraish, a custom of Arabia is also brought to light, whereby in war, they would kill the men, but the women would be taken as possession, and considered lawful for them. Moreover, with regards to the Muslims, their intentions were far more treacherous. The reason being that if this was the punishment they had prescribed for those who had only given protection to the Muslims, undoubtedly, their plans for the Muslims themselves must have been far more severe.