Quraysh Hears of the Meeting

Somehow the news reached Quraysh. It is not easy to conceal a meeting of seventy-plus people in the crowd of the pilgrimage. In one narration, it states that it was Shayṭān who announced it to the people of Quraysh, but regardless of how it happened, the news reached the people of Quraysh. They investigated the matter further, and it led them in the right direction — it led them to al-Anṣār. So the next day, early in the morning, a group of leaders from Quraysh went and visited the campgrounds of al-Aws and al-Khazraj. They went to them and said, "We have heard that you have met with Muhammad (peace be upon him), and that you have offered to take him with you and give him protection. Listen, people of Yathrib, you are the last people on the face of the earth whom we want to have a fight with" — because Quraysh knew that al-Anṣār were not an easy opponent; these were fighters, truly, as had already been said, who had inherited the skills of war generation through generation. So the people of Quraysh were saying, "We don't want to have a fight with you. So what have you done? Did you really meet with Muhammad (peace be upon him)?"

The Muslims among them, among al-Aws and al-Khazraj, remained silent, and the non-believers started speaking. They said, "That never happened. We never met with Muhammad (peace be upon him)," and they were speaking the truth — they had no idea of this secret meeting that had happened, because only the Muslims knew about it. They kept on refuting it and said, "We never met with Muhammad, we had nothing to do with him, we didn't see him." Kaʿb ibn Mālik said: "We, the Muslims, were staring at each other silently, and we didn't speak," while the people of Quraysh were becoming convinced. Kaʿb ibn Mālik says he wanted to change the topic, wanted to change the subject. There was al-Ḥārith ibn Hishām, one of the leaders of Quraysh, who was present, and he was wearing some new sandals — brand new. Kaʿb ibn Mālik said, "I told Abū Jābir, who's one of our seniors — I told him, 'Abū Jābir, being one of our leaders, you can't even afford to wear new sandals like this young man of Quraysh. You're one of our leaders, and you're wearing these old shoes, while this young man of Quraysh is wearing these brand new sandals.'" This young man of Quraysh was quite upset by that statement — what was he talking about, his shoes, so impressed with his shoes? — and took his sandals off and threw them to the Kaʿbah of Makkah. Abū Jābir said, "Take it easy, Kaʿb ibn Mālik — you have made the young man angry. Give him back his sandals." Kaʿb ibn Mālik said, "No, I won't give them back to him. This is a good omen to me. I will take his booty in war" — hādhā faʾlun ḥasanun sa-aslubuh, this is a good omen, he would take from him spoils of war. And that was the end of the meeting.

This meeting between the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) and al-Anṣār can fairly be said to be the most important meeting the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) had had so far. It was a turning point in Islam. Finally, now the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) had a solid base to start spreading the message from, with protection and freedom to go out and propagate the message of Allah, the Almighty and Majestic. This was the Second Pledge of al-ʿAqabah. A few lessons follow.