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The assassins already had the Prophet's house encircled,
when finally God's command to emigrate came. Ali covered
himself with the Prophet's green shawl and lay on
his bed while the Prophet slipped out of the house,
despite the vigilant assassins outside. (Most Muslims
believe that angels clouded the assassins' vision
for that moment). The Prophet and Abu Bakr left Makkah
the same night and hid in the cave of Theur which
is located some 3 miles south of Makkah - whereas
the road to Yathrib, where the search would be centered,
goes due North, in exactly the opposite direction.
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- A
frenzied search ensued the next morning. A reward
of 100 camels (a very substantial offer in those days)
was announced for the capture of the Prophet, dead
or alive. The Makkan frenzy is easy to understand.
They had banked on the killing of the Prophet. Without
him the handful of Muslims who had gone to Yathrib
were of no consequence. But, if he were to live there
was no telling what kind of trouble might ensue, especially
with a safe base like Yathrib to operate from, the
Makkans feared. They were thinking that the emigration
will result in all kinds of trouble. It was fully
justified by the developments.
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- Before
the end of 622 CE, barely six months after the Hijrat,
Muslims started shadowing caravans to and from Syria.
These caravans were the lifeblood of the Quraish and
the Prophet wanted them to know how easily he could
disrupt its flow. All he wanted was freedom for the
Muslims to visit and worship at the Ka'bah. Being
a man of peace, always and every time, he sent these
'Jitter Parties' with strict instructions to avoid
a clash but to be seen in the hope that the Quraish
would realize that now he had them in his power and
it would be wise for them to agree to this simple
requirement of peaceful worship at the Ka'bah. But
despite 3 such encounters, the Quraish refused to
acknowledge the new power equation and had to be taught
a bloody lesson at the battle of Badr. (More on this
in a 'Glimpse' to follow).
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- Theur
was not much of a cave really. It was just 2 to 3
feet high at the entrance and was located in a totally
arid and unfrequented mountain side. However, 100
camels constitute a powerful incentive and some searchers
reached the cave eventually. But they noticed that
a pigeon had built its nest in the cave mouth and
was sitting on its egg. Not only that, but a spider
was also busy weaving its web there. Obviously no
humans could be inside, the searchers concluded and
so moved on. Muslim historians and poets touchingly
refer to this episode as the time "when the fate
of Islam hung from a single slender thread of spiders
web".
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