THE PLEDGE OF RIDHWAN
In the meantime, the Prophet (r) was informed that ‘Uthman had been killed. He sum-
moned the people to vow in avenging ‘Uthman’s death. Everybody gathered round the
Prophet (r) impatiently. Standing under the shade of a tree, the Prophet (r) took one
person at a time from the fourteen hundred standing around him to get their assurance.
And after everyone had obliged to the oath, he struck one of his hands on the other, saying.
“This is the pledge on behalf of ‘Uthman.” (Zad al-Ma’ad, Vol. p. 382) Thus was the pledge of
Ridhwan (the pledge that earned God's pleasure) taken under an Acacia tree. It is men-
tioned in the Qur'an:
“Allah was well pleased with believers when they swore allegiance unto thee beneath
the tree, and He knew what was in their hearts, and He sent down peace of reassur-
ance on them, and hath rewarded them with a near victory.” [Qur'an 48:18]PARLAYS, CONCILIATION AND ACCORD
The deadlock still lingered on when Buday b. Warqa’ of the tribe of Khuza’a suddenly ap-
peared with a few of his clansmen to resolve the impasse. He asked the Prophet (r) “What
have you come for?”
“We have come to perform the ‘Umra’, replied the Prophet (r), “The Quraysh are already
wrecked by war. If they agree I will make peace with them for a specified period and they
should give way to my companions and me. If they want, they may merge with the group
that others have joined and this would give them a respite. But if nothing is acceptable to
them except war, then by Him who holds my life, I would fight them until I lose my head or
Allah makes His religion victorious.”
Budayl b. Warqa conveyed to the Quraysh what he had heard from the Messenger of God
(r). Urwa b. Masud al-Thaqafi, who happened to be present on the occasion, advised the
Quraysh that they ought to accept the terms proposed by the Prophet (r) for they were
absolutely reasonable. He also suggested that he might personally see the Prophet (r) to
which the Quraysh agreed. And so, ‘Urwa went to the Prophet (r) to discuss the matter
with him but he also kept his eyes open to closely monitor the Muslims’ treatment of the
Prophet (r). He saw that if he asked for anything, they vied for complying with his order;
and if he spoke, everybody listened with full attention. Nobody even dared to look straight
into his eyes. When ‘Urwa went back to the Quraysh, he said, “I have been to the courts of
the kings and have seen the splendor of the Caesar, the Chosroes and the Negus. But never
have I seen any king as revered as Muhammed was by his companions.” (Zad al-Ma’ad, Vol.
p. 382) He gave the details of his assessment of the Prophet (r) and again advised the Qu-
raysh to accept the terms offered to them.