CHAPTER nVELVEA Dream, Peace
The victory over the Confederates and then the expedition against the
Banu Qurayzah had changed the situation in the Peninsula, with the
power of the Prophet and his Companions acknowledged. Some, such as
the Persian and Byzantine empires, were even beginning to speak of Mu-
hammad as the "powerful King of the Arabs," since the)' saw him as an
unchallenged regional power. As soon as he had intelligence o f danger,
Muhammad did not hesitate to send expeditions to the nearby tribes in
order to forestall any auempt at rebellion or attack and thus make it clear
to all neighboring clans that th e Medina Muslims remained o n alert and
were read y to defend themselves.
It was during one such expedition, against the Banu al-MustalkJ, in the
fifth o r sixth year of byra!;, that the episode of Afshah's necklace took
place, That event reminds us, like many others, that life and teachings
Went on as circumstances warranted and [har religious practice was being
clarified while the social dimensio n of Islamic ethics g rew in depth,
Internal difficulties also remained, par ticularly because of the actio ns of a
number of hypocrites who tri ed to take:: advantage of any situation to
cause ~:Iuhammad trouble.
A Dream
The month of Ramadan had begun, and the Prophet, as he usually did,
intens.ified night \\rorship and was e"en more attencive to the well· being of
the poor and needy. This. was a mo nth of intense spirituality, when