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eight families. Khalid ibnWalid wasMaymuna’s nephew, whom she
had brought up as a son. So Khalid, the Quraysh’s greatest warrior,
became the Prophet’s stepson. After this Khalid did not join in any
hostilities against the Muslims, and before long he himself entered
the fold of Islam. After his marriage to Maymuna the Prophet had
arranged a wedding reception for the people of Makkah, but the
Quraysh reminded him that—according to the terms of the Treaty
of Hudaybiyyah—he was only allowed to remain in Makkah for
three days. His period was up and he would have to leave the city
immediately.The wedding reception, which was aimed at softening
the hearts of the people could not take place. Khalid ibnWalid and
‘Amr ibn al-‘As became Muslim together. Someone who saw them
on their arrival in Madinah exclaimed: “With these two in the bag,
Makkah has been tamed.”
UmmHabiba, the daughter ofAbu Sufyan, a prominentmember
of the Quraysh, and her husband Ubaidullah ibn Jahsh accepted
Islam and emigrated to Abyssinia. There, however, the husband
became a Christian. Not long after that he died. Hearing of this,
the Prophet made arrangements to marry Umm Habiba by proxy.
After the death of Abu Jahl on the field of Badr, Abu Sufyan had
become the most prominent leader of the Quraysh. The Prophet
would now be his son-in-law. The marriage had to be completed by
proxy, for it was feared that if Umm Habiba returned to Makkah,
her father would not allow the marriage. The ceremony was
then conducted by Najashi, king of Abyssinia, and the bride left
immediately for Madinah.With this relationship now established,
Abu Sufyan could no longer be at enmity with the Prophet, and he
converted to Islam one day before the conquest of Makkah.
The other aspect of this policy was that of “striking terror” into
the hearts of the enemies of Islam. This consisted of mustering up
enough strength and making such a show of it that there would be
no need to use it.
The defeat of theMuslims at Uhud (3
a
.
h
.) coul d have t ur ned
into a rout if Abu Sufyan had followed up his victory with
another attack, instead of turning back to Makkah. Indeed,
