152course, because they did not know what J\I uhammad's actual intentions
were. They decided to send an envoy from the Banu Khuzaah clan,
Buday! ibn Warqa, who had no quarrel with any of the clans present and
could therefore act as a mediator. He went to the Prophet, who assured
hini that he had no intention of waging war, but only wanted to perform '
the lesser pilgrimage with his Companions and go home. He added, how-
ever, that he was ready to fight anyone who opposed their right to enter
th e sanctuary freely, tike all the o ther clans and tribes. J f, nevertheless, the
Quraysh needed time to get rcady to let the pilgrims in, they would wait
at al-Hudaybiyyah until the Quraysh had finished their preparations. Budayl
returned to Mecca and suggested that tbe Quraysh should let the Muslims
in , but his proposal got a chilly reception; in particular, it was tlatly reject-
ed by l krimah, Abu J ahl's son.
A chief named Urwah decided to meet lvIuhammad and negotiate,
while at the same time taking a closer look at the people with him and the
narure of the expedition. He went to the Prophet and began talking with
him according to the customs habitual among Arab clans: he addressed
him familiarly, on an equal footing, and took hold of his beard, as was
usual among tribal chiefs. For thi~ he was firmly taken to task by .l\'lug-
hirah, one of the exiles from l\kcca, who threatened to beat him up if he
went on behaving like that. Urwah was surprised, but before he left, he
stopped to observe and visit the Muslims' camp, and was amazed at the
respect and devotion the believers showed their leader, 1Juhaffimad. He
went back to the Q uraysh and told them, as Budayl had done, that it
would be wiser to let the M uslims in, since they obviously had no inten-
tion of fighting. H owever, the Quraysh's leaders refused again.
\'!hile Urwah was on his mission, 1\",0 other negotiation attempts had
taken place. I-Iulays, of the Banu al-Harith, had also come to speak with
the P rophet. The latter recognized him from a distance and, Imowing how
much H ulays and his dan respected religious and sacred matters, had the
herd of camels consecrated for sacrifice sent out to meet him. \"\Then
Hulays saw the camels, he understood the message and decided to turn
back immediately, certain that Muhammad indeed had no intention other
than peacefully performing a pilgrimage. The Prophet himself had not
remained inactive: he had sent the QUfaysh an envoy named Khirash, but
l krimah refused to listen to him, cut his camel's legs, and \",as about to