Quraysh Puts Reward On Capturing The Prophet - Our Prophet 5 - Road To Medina

Now the Makkans realized if the Prophet, salla Allahu 'alayhi wa alihi, leaves, that is it. Their mission is destroyed and the Prophet will seek a lot of support in Madinah. They tried everything they could they could to find the Prophet. One of the things they did, they placed a reward, a huge price on capturing the Prophet and arresting him.

100 camels. Do you know how much that is, how much money that is? A camel by today's value is worth several thousand dollars, sometimes tens of thousands of dollars. One single camel. So you do the math. 100 of them. We are talking about hundreds of thousands of dollars by today's value, or even possibly more than a million dollars.

The Quraysh wanted the Prophet, salla Allahu 'alayhi wa alihi, captured, so they placed this reward. Whoever can find Muhammad and bring him to us we will give him this reward. Now, interestingly, there was a man by the name of Saraqah ibn Jasham [according to others Suraqa Ibn Jusham]. Saraqah heard about this reward, so he was very greedy to secure that reward.

He had an idea of where the Prophet's caravan was. Some people from Quraysh, they came. The Prophet was on his way to Madinah. Now, they had dispatched hundreds of people looking for the Prophet. So they kind of discovered where the Prophet was.

Saraqah, he comes and he tells them, no, I was just there. I already investigated that route. Muhammad is nowhere to be found there. So those people who had come seeking the reward, they went back then. You know what he did?

Look at how sly and cunning he was. You know what he did? He went to his house, he armed himself with a horse, with a sword. And then he went to locate the Prophet. He did not want the others to claim the prize. He wanted the reward for himself. So he lied to them just to get rid of them. And he would be the only one to meet the Prophet.

So he had located where the Prophet is. He goes to the Prophet and he has a sword. And he tells the Prophet, salla Allahu 'alayhi wa alihi,, you know what? I found you. There is a huge prize. I have to capture you and take you back.

The Prophet, salla Allahu 'alayhi wa alihi, does du'a, he prays to Allah. He says, 'O Allah, protect me from this man. Protect me, O Allah.' As soon as the Prophet does that, we have two reports as to what happened. One report says the horse violently shook him such that he fell on the ground.

Another report says the feet of the horse got stuck. Khallas! he just would not move anymore. By the command of Allah, his horse just stopped from moving. Saraqah when he hears the Prophet make this du'a, and he sees the result, he realizes, you know what? This guy is really a Prophet and he is supported by Allah. So he tells him, O Muhammad, I know what happened to me right now with my horse is because of your du'a. Please ask Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala to release me, to release my horse. And I can move.

The Prophet asks, 'O Allah! Release him.' Again the Shaytan comes- he is like, no, this is your chance. Look, it is like a million dollars, it is very tempting. Again, he is about to attack the Prophet. The Prophet does the same du'a. He gets stuck.

Historical accounts tell us that this happened three times. He would not learn his lesson. The third time he learned his lesson. He told him, okay, now, I truly believe that you are supported by God. I will not harm you. I can not benefit you. I am not going to benefit you, but I will not harm you.

Then he offered to the Prophet. He is like, I am willing to give you my horse and even a servant to go with you. Would you like to take that offer? The Prophet, salla Allahu 'alayhi wa alihi, says, 'No, thanks, I do not accept that.' Because the Prophet never wanted a pagan to have a favor on him. So he would not accept the gift of pagans who would openly attack Allah and his Messenger and the Muslims. So the Prophet thanked him. He told them no, I will not take that from you. But he let him alone. He left him alone.

And the Prophet, salla Allahu 'alayhi wa alihi, continued north. Now, who was with the Prophet? A few people were with the Prophet. One of them was the son of Umm Ayman. And Umm Ayman, later, she joined the Prophet. Umm Ayman and her son, they were slaves owned by the Prophet. Originally Abdul Muttalib according to one report.

According to another report, Aminah, the mother of the Prophet, she had secured Umm Ayman. She was a slave girl from Abyssinia. She used to work for aminah, so the Prophet, salla Allahu 'alayhi wa alihi, inherited her and they would serve him. Later, the Prophet freed them in the way of Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala.

And Umm Ayman has a very high position. In fact, she is one of those women whom the Prophet promised paradise for her. He was very good to her. So they were with him on this journey. So we had a handful of people now with the Prophet going to Madinah.