Political Manoeuvres of Quraish

a little time before the break out of the battle, quraish made some endeavours to sow the seeds of discord and dispute among the muslims. first, abu sufyan sent to the helpers a message saying: "leave us alone to fight our cousins and do not interfere. if you stand aside, we will not fight you; for fighting you is not a target of ours." but that attempt proved to be fruitless. what could such a wicked scheme do to those whose faith was as solid and firm as mountains?! the helpers reply was undoubtedly disappointing and contrary to abu sufyan’s expectations.

the zero-hour was due. the two parties drew nearer. undespaired by the first failure, quraish made another attempt, for the same purport but now with the assistance of a traitor called abu ‘amir al-fasiq, whose name was ‘abd ‘amr bin saifi. he was called a monk, but the messenger of allâh [pbuh] nicknamed him al-fâsiq (i.e. perverted transgressor; dissolute). as he was the head of aws in al-jahiliya, he could not tolerate islam when it came. he announced his enmity to the messenger of allâh [pbuh] in public. he left madinah for the quraishites in makkah to rally them against the messenger of allâh [pbuh] and to urge them to start the fight against him. he claimed that he was obeyed and esteemed by his people and that as soon as they saw him come they would join him immediately.

so he was the first one among the mob and slaves of quraish to show resistance. he called out unto his people, recognized them and said: "o kinfolk of aws! i am abu ‘amir." their reply was "no eyes of anybody shall be consoled by viewing you, o fâsiq." hearing them say so, he said: "my people must have been afflicted by an evil after my departure." therefore when the fight broke out, he fought them fiercely and pelted his people with stones, as well.

that was how the second attempt of quraish to sow the seeds of discord among people of faith. this, however, revealed the great terror of the quraishites cast in their hearts in spite of their supremacy in number and equipment.