The Call of the Quran
5. The call of da‘wah in the modern age
~ 105 ~
our own tribe. When we reached al-Aqbah,
men and women ascended the mountain and
there awaited the arrival of the Prophet. There
were seventy-three men and two women. The
Prophet arrived with his uncle al-Abbas, who
had not yet converted to Islam. Then Ibn
Abbas addressed them thus: ‘O men of
Khazraj, do you know for what you are
entering into
baya
(allegiance)
with this person
(i.e., the Prophet). They replied ‘Yes, we
know.’ Abbas said, ‘By entering into a
covenant with the Prophet, you are making a
covenant to wage war against all blacks and
whites, (that is, when the antagonists of Islam,
of both inside and outside of Arabia attack the
Muslims, you will have to defend him at all
costs). You will suffer losses both in lives and
in goods. If you are going to desert him then
you had better now say so and leave him,
alone. As by God, if you acted like this, it
would amount to humiliation both in this
world and the next. But if you think that you
will fulfill your covenant in spite of the loss of
your elders and leaders and other influential
people (as they may be killed in the ensuing
