An Attempt to Kill the Prophet

the impact of defeat at badr was so great that the makkans began to burn with indignation and resentment over their horrible losses. to resolve this situation two polytheists volunteered to quench their thirst and muffle the source of that humiliation i.e. the prophet [pbuh].

‘umair bin wahab al-jumahi, a terrible polytheist, and an archenemy safwan bin omaiyah sat together privately lamenting their loss and remembering their dead and captives. ‘umair expressed a fervent desire to kill the prophet [pbuh] and release his captured son in madinah, if it was not for the yoke of debts he was under and the large family he had to support. safwan, also had his good reasons to see the prophet [pbuh] killed, so he offered to discharge ‘umair’s debts and support his family if he went on with his plan.

‘umair agreed and asked safwan to be reticent on the whole scheme. he left for madinah, having with him a sword to which he applied some kind of lethal poison. ‘umar bin al-khattab saw him at the door of the mosque and understood that he had come with evil intentions. he immediately went into the mosque and informed the prophet [pbuh]. he was let in looped by the sling of his sword and in greeting he said "good morning", to which the prophet [pbuh] replied that allâh had been gracious and taught them the greeting of the dwellers of the paradise: "peace be upon you!" to a question raised by the prophet [pbuh], about his object, ‘umair said that he had come to see that his captured son was well treated. as for the sword, which the prophet [pbuh] asked him about, he cursed it and said that it gained them nothing. on exhorting him to tell his real goal, he remained obdurate and did not divulge the secret meeting with safwan. here the prophet [pbuh] got impatient and he himself revealed to ‘umair his secret mission. ‘umair was taken by surprise, and incredible astonishment seized him, and immediately bore witness to the messengership of muhammad [pbuh]. he then began to entertain allâh’s praise for having been guided to the ‘straight path’. the prophet [pbuh] was pleased and asked his companions to teach ‘umair the principles of islam, recite to him the noble qur’ân and release his son from captivity.

safwan, meanwhile, was still entertaining false illusions as to the approaching redemption of honour, and burying the memory of badr into oblivion. he was impatiently awaiting ‘umair’s news but to his great surprise, he was told that the man had embraced islam and changed into a devoted believer. ‘umair later came back to makkah where he started to call people unto islam and he did actually manage to convert a lot of makkans into islam.[ibn hisham 1/661-663]