T rirA!l and T rYlaian^147
Prophet asked her to join him tn Medina with her small daughter
Umamah. Zaynab deeply loved he r husband, but meir different life choic-
es had eventually caused them to part. However, neither of them had
remarried.
A few months after the Battle of the Moat, the Prophet scnt an expe-
dition to stop a rich Quraysh caravan coming from the north. 2ayd, who
commanded the Muslim horsemen, seized the caravan's goods and cap-
cured most of the men, while others managed to get away. Among the lat-
ter was Abu al-As, who decided o n his journey back to Mecca to stop at
Medina and pay a secret visit to his wife and daughter. This in itself wa~
madness, b ut his desire to see his wife and child was stronger than his
awareness of the risks incurred. H e knocked on his wife's door in the
dead of night, and Zaynub let him in. He stayed with her, and when dawn
drew nca r, she went to t.he mosque for prayer as she usually did. She
entered the mosque and stood in the first line of women, just behind the
men. \xrhen the Pro phet said the formula announcing the beginning of
prayer, she took advantage of the short pause [0 exclaim in a very loud
voice: "0 you people! 1 grant my protection [0 Abu ai-As, son of Rabi!"
\'(/hen prayer was O\Ter, the Pro phet, who had had no prior knowledge of
what had happened between his daughter and her husband, had the audi-
ence confirm that they had heard th e proclamation as welL He insisted
that the protection granted-whethe r by his daughter o r b)' any other
o rdinar y Muslim-must be respected. He then went to his daughter, who
told him about the situation facing Abu ai-As, whose goods had all been
taken during the recent expedition in the north and who was therefore in
debt, for the said goods had been entrusted to him by people in Mecca.
Muhammad suggested that the people who had those goa<ls in their pos-
session might give them back to Abu ai-As if they wished to, ami all of
them complied. Some Companions advised Abu ai-As to convert to Islam
and keep those belongings fo r himself. He refused, saying that becoming
a i-Iuslirn and beginning by betraying people's trust would nOt have been
suitable. He took all the goods, went back to !\'tccca, and gave each owner
his due. He then came back to Medina, converted to lshm, and was
reunited with Zaynab and their daughter Umamah.
Thus., the firSt Muslims' generosity and open-handedness were plain
for all to see. like the Prophet, they had required nothing of Abu ai-As:
he was not a l.[uslim, he belo nged to an enemy clan, and he refused to