Medina, Lift, and War \07in human history. History teaches us, after all, that nothing and nobody
should be idealized.
When they reached !vfedina, the Prophet was informed of the death of
his daughter Ruqayyah, Uthman ibn Affan's wife. He had just lost his first
Companions, and now he was given the news that his daughter was gone
as he was returning from a victorious exp~dition. T he blending of sorrow
and joy reminded him o f the fragility of life and, once more, of his essen-
tial relationship to the One through hardship or success. Nothing was
ever acquired to last. Later on, Uthman was to marry Urn Kulthum,
another of the Prophet's daughters, while the Prophet was to marry
Hafsah, Umar ibn al-Khattab's daughter, who came to live in one of the
dwellings near the mosque.
Bargaining with the prisoners' relatives began. Some relatives came to
pay their due and returned with their family member. Other prisoners were
freed without any ransom, while the poorest were dealt with individually,
according to their particular circumstances. For example, those of the cap-
tives who could read and write and wbo could not pay a ransom pledged
to teacb ten Medina youths to read and write in exchange for their free-
dom. Once more the Prophet demonstrated the importance of knowledge
by means of the message he sent the members of his community: whether
in peace or in war, knowledge-learning, reading, and writing-provides
people with essential skills and gives them dignity. T he knowledge some
capti\Tes possessed was their wealth and became their ransom.B anu QaynuqaThe months that followed the return from Badr brought difficulties on
the regional level. Only a few days after returning from R~rlr, the P rophet
had been compelled to lead a force of two hundred men to the villages of
the Banu Salim and Banu Ghatafan in the al-Qudr area to put an end to
a plot and prevent any harm. The inhabitants ran away. It was now clear
that the j\lmlim community's status had changed. Many cities in the area,
as well as those who had not co ncluded any pact, were afraid of the mil-
itary, political, and symbolic power :Muhammad was acquiring at the heart
of the Arabian Peninsula.
The P rophet was constantly getting intelligence about the initiatives
and alliance attempts carried out by the Quraysh leaders in order to