The poets reached Makkah at a time when they were burning in the flames of revenge against the Muslims. The chiefs of Makkah had raised a slogan, "Lament not the dead, avenge them!"

By the ‘dead’ was meant the victims of Badr. They had announced if any man or woman was found weeping, he or she would be cast out of the city and their tribe. Such an expulsion into the desert meant death. There was no chance of their survival without communal help. That was the reason mothers, sisters and wives of the dead dared not mourn the death of their loved ones. One night, a mother heard a woman weeping. She followed the voice and reached a house where she found an old lady mourning.

She asked, "Mother, has the constraint on weeping been withdrawn?"

Quite terrified, the old lady said, "Why do you ask?"

The woman said, "My heart is also bursting with grief and I want to weep over the death of my son but I am afraid of being banished from the tribe. If the restriction on weeping has been withdrawn then let us shed tears together for our children!".

The old woman could dare not tell that she wept for her son, instead she said the tears and lamenting was for the loss of a camel. This incident indicates to what extent the citizens of Makkah were intimidated and influenced by the Quraysh elders.

After Abu Jahal’s death in Badr, a council of three people was formed which included the heralds of Quraysh. One member of the council was Abu Lahab, the second was Abu Sufyan and the third Safwan bin Umayyah. The three of them vowed not to rest unless they eliminated the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) and put Islam to an end.

Abu Lahab had not participated in the Battle of Badr, though it had been extremely important for him to do so considering the ancient custom. When the Battle started he contracted a disease and therefore sent another person named "A’s bin Hashim" to the battlefield in his place. He paid him four thousand Dirhams for his replacement in the Battle.

When the "Mushreqeen-e-Makkah" suffered the humiliation of defeat at Badr and paid Fidyah for the release of prisoners, Abu Lahab contrived to assassinate the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) in revenge. He secretly hired a person and after instructing, sent him to Madinah. In addition, Abu Lahab accepted the responsibility to meet the expenditure of the journey as well as the expenses of the assassin’s family till his return.

It would not be difficult to launch an attack on the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) as he did not keep a troop of guards. He had his doors open for everyone. Anyone who wished entered his house. The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) would be found repairing his shoes or arranging his clothes or helping the family in domestic chores like any common Muslim.

Muhammad (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) had a servant but not for his protection. He was to receive and arrange meetings with the people who came to the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) for their problems. The servant would also watch the Prophet’s (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) shoes when he went to the mosque. This was not for fear of them being stolen. When people came out of the mosque after prayer to put on their shoes, there was a chance of them getting mixed up with the shoes of others, and thus the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) may have difficulty in finding them which wasted his time. When his servant looked after his shoes, such a confusion did not arise and the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) used to go towards his house without any botheration.

The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) led a very simple life in Madinah. His way of life was not different from that of the common Muslims. Hence anyone intending to attack the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) could have carried out his plans at any time.

The person selected by Abi Lahab to attack the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) was Umair bin Wahab. The excuse Umair bin Wahab gave for entering Madinah was that he was going to have his son released by paying Fidyah.

Umair on reaching Madinah, asked for the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace). He was told that the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) was in his house. Umair entered the Prophet’s (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) house and saw that he was busy in washing his "Rawa", a kind of sheet. Seeing him enter the house, the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) lifted his head and inquired what his business was. Umair answered, "O Muhammad (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), I am seeing that you are busy in washing the sheet, and to see this being done by a person who claims to be a Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) is quite astonishing!"

The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) smiled and asked, "What is so strange about it?"

Umair said, "For a person who claims to be a prophet should not have to wash his clothes but leave them washed by his slaves".

The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) answered, "I do not have an army of slaves. I do all my task with my own hands. I assure you that it does not demean the Prophethood of a prophet if he washes his clothes himself".

Then changing the topic of conversation, the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) addressed Umair and said, "What business you have with me?" Umair replied, "I have come to ask how much I have to pay as Fidyah for my son’s release?"

When the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) heard this, he said, "O Umair you are telling a lie! You have come not to pay Fidyah for your prisoner but to murder me".

Umair was taken aback. He threw down the dagger hidden in his clothes and said, "By God! No one, except I and three others were aware that I had come to murder you. I am sure that these three have not disclosed it to you. As you have come to know of it, you are no doubt the true Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) of Allah. I enter the Faith and I seek penitence from you".

It is stated that Umair after entering the Faith announced that he had denied the reality of Islam before but from now on he would work for the promotion of Islam. After this incident Umair left for Makkah. On entering the city, he heard that Abu Lahab had died.

The listeners were spell-bound and enchanted by his eloquence. It appeared that his sermon was influencing the gathering. When Abu Lahab observed their deep involvement, he was stricken by rage. Rebuking the man he said, "You are telling a lie! Angels did not descend from heavens to help the Muslims".

The person addressed pointed towards Abu Lahab and replied in a cold manner, "O People! As I see this man standing before me, I saw angels descending from the skies. They were clad in coloured robes and their helmets were also coloured.....".

Abu Lahab interrupted him again angrily. "You tell a lie! and intend to infuse fear of the Muslims among Makkans by inventing tales!". One person from the audience said he told the truth. If it were not for the angels, how could the Quraysh be humiliated before three hundred and thirteen unarmed men? The other party defended Abu Lahab. The disagreement irritated them to an open scuffle during which Abu Lahab was injured.

People carried him to his home and laid him on a bed, but he did not recover and died after seven days. An Arab historian "Eisah" writes; "When wounded Abu Lahab took to bed, he was struck by Bubonic plague and died of it. His relatives buried him quite far from the city. They feared the spread of an epidemic of plague from his dead body".

After Abu Lahab, Abu Sufyan took over the leadership of the adversaries of Islam, and his wife "Hind" exhibited more malice against Islam than her husband.

It is noteworthy that the word Hind is feminine of Hin, which means an unimportant and useless thing. As the Arabs gave no importance to their daughters, therefore some people used to name their daughters "Hind" meaning an insignificant thing!

Ten weeks after the Battle of Badr, the Makkan chiefs sent an army led by Abu Sufyan to punish the Muslims in Madinah. Abu Sufyan was considered the foster-brother of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) as both had been breast-fed by the same governess. Abu Sufyan’s real profession was trade, but he used to say verses also.

Accompanied by four hundred soldiers, Abu Sufyan left Makkah in the month of Haram, when war was forbidden. He ordered his soldiers to stay at "Koh-e-Nayb". He entered Madinah along with few of his soldiers.

The Quraysh of Makkah and the Jews of Madinah had made a deal in secret that whenever the Makkans intended to attack the Muslims, the Jews of Madinah would help them. Abu Sufyan was confident to have the Jews with him, therefore he made straight to the house of "Salam bin Meesham" - an eminent Jew.

Salam bin Meesham arranged a feast for his guests and entertained them by good food and drinks. After the feast, Abu Sufyan told the purpose of his visit and said, "We have come here counting on your support, so that we can wipe out the Muslims tonight".

Salam bin Meesham replied, "We honour our promise, and would stand by you against the Muslims, but it never occurred to us that you would be so hasty to reach Madinah. At present we have not prepared ourselves for the duel, therefore we cannot participate tonight, nor the night after, or for a further few nights".

Abu Sufyan who had come with the intention of attacking the Muslims the same night, became perplexed. His plans were falling apart. He decided to leave Madinah, but he set fire to the Muslim houses in the Jewish quarters, killing two Muslims and looting their property that included some sacks of barley. The quarters he looted were situated in the North of Madinah and were called the quarters of "Areeq" (or "Areedh").

When the Muslims came to know about the incident, they started off in pursuit of Abu Sufyan. To escape the Muslims, Abu Sufyan ran faster and his soldiers began dropping off the loads of barley from their horses and camels. Afterwards barley were secured by the Muslims. For this reason the incident is recalled as the "stealing of barley". This incident is mentioned as "Ghazwa-e-Saweq" in Islamic history, as barley is called Saweq in Arabic.

The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) had ordered to intercept any Makkan caravan passing through the territories of Madinah. One day the Muslims received news of a passing caravan led by Abu Sufyan and Safwan bin Umayyah. It was going from Khaybar to Makkah and its goods comprised of silver utensils and ornaments.

Khaybar was a city in the North of Madinah. Most of its inhabitants were Jews who earned their livelihood by trading in gold. They were experts in making silver utensils, gold ornaments and such other precious things. Not only did they sell silver utensils and ornaments, but also rented them out. When the rich of Madinah held sumptuous feasts or conducted marriages, they arranged for such precious items and crockery on rent from the Jews of Khaybar.

Many years before the Prophet’s (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) migration, an eminent man of Makkah rented some precious crockery items to celebrate a festival. Perchance some of the things got lost, more probably, they were stolen. The Jews of Khaybar demanded their return and in compensation received ten thousand gold coins.

The Jews of Khaybar checked the credibility of the persons of other cities before renting out their things. They had to be rich enough to compensate any loss. They would not rent otherwise. The Makkan’s caravan had lot of silver utensils and ornaments.

When the Muslims saw the Makkan caravan camped near the stream of "Alqaradah" near Madinah, they launched an immediate attack. Abu Sufyan and Safwan bin Umayyah fled leaving all the goods of the caravan that were confiscated by the Muslims.

The Muslims gained booty worth about one hundred thousand Dirhams. This was the first Makkan caravan that fell in the hands of the Muslims in the true sense. By confiscating this wealth they compensated for Abu Sufyan’s attack on Madinah.

When this news reached Makkah, the Makkan infidels were extremely irritated and they began preparations for another battle.