Whilst alluding to the Ghazwah of Badrul-Mau‘id, the famine in Makkah was also mentioned. This famine still continued. The Quraish of Makkah were afflicted with great suffering due to this famine, especially those who were poor. When the Holy Prophet(sa) was informed of this, as an act of compassion, he sent some silver to the less fortunate of Makkah.1 In doing so, the Holy Prophet(sa) furnished practical evidence that his heart possessed a deep and immense sympathy for even his most bitter enemies; and that his only opposition was with doctrines and concepts, not with human beings.
It is ascertained from Bukhārī that on another occasion as well, the people of Makkah were afflicted by a famine. Abū Sufyān bin Ḥarb presented himself before the Holy Prophet(sa) on their behalf and requested him to supplicate for their deliverance from the famine on the basis of kinship and relation.2 This demonstrates that the people of Makkah held mixed emotions with regards to the Holy Prophet(sa). They accepted his innate virtue, piety and purity, but were also bent upon expunging the teaching of the Holy Prophet(sa), finding it to be at odds with their ancient way of practice and pagan concepts. Such mixed emotions are not impossible in light of principles of psychology.
1 Tārīkhul-Khamīs Fī Aḥwāli Anfasi Nafīs, By Ḥusain bin Muḥammad bin Ḥasan, Volume 1, p. 470, Shiddatu Quraish, Mu’assasatu Sha‘bān, Beirut
2 Ṣaḥīḥul-Bukhārī, Kitābul-Istisqā’i, Bābu Du‘āin-Nabiyyi(sa) Ij‘alhā ‘Alaihim Sinīna Ka-Sinī Yūsuf, Ḥadīth No. 1007