Journey Of Reflection From Mecca to Medina

The traveler was walking alone in the Arabian desert during the time of 8th Hijri. It was a vast and fearsome desert where Mecca and Medina were located. The scorching desert, with its shifting sand dunes, posed its own challenges, and the threat of bandits loomed. Travelers usually journeyed in caravans, but this traveler was venturing alone.

He rode a noble warhorse, adorned with fine gear. A sword hung from his waist, and a bow was in his hand. In those times, men were tall, broad-chested, and muscular, and this lone traveler was no exception. However, the way he sat upon his horse indicated he was a warrior, not an ordinary man. There was a faint hint of fear on his face, not because he feared being robbed by bandits or losing his fine steed, but because his thoughts were consumed by memories.

Ahead, a valley appeared. The horse ascended and the ground became smooth at a certain height. The rider halted the horse, turned it around, and looked back. Mecca was not in sight; he had left it behind.

"Abu Suleiman!" A voice seemed to echo. "Don't look back, rid your mind of Mecca. You are a warrior; don't let yourself be torn in two. Stand by your decision; your destination is Medina." He averted his gaze from Mecca's direction. The horse turned towards Medina, and the rider gently nudged it forward.

The horse understood its rider's signal and began to walk steadily. The rider, aged 43, looked youthful for his years. His name was Suleiman, and his father's name was Alwalid, but the rider preferred to be called "Abu Suleiman" rather than "Khalid ibn Walid." He did not know that history would remember him as "Khalid ibn Walid" and that this name would become synonymous with the military exploits and fervor of Islam.

But at the age of 43, as he journeyed towards Medina, he was not yet a Muslim. Besides minor skirmishes, he had fought two major battles against Muslims: the Battle of Uhud and the Battle of the Trench. When the Noble Messenger met him or when the first revelation came upon him on Monday, 610 AD, Khalid was 24 years old.

Until then, he had become the leader of his tribe, Banu Makhzum's military force. Banu Makhzum was counted among the esteemed clans of the Quraysh. The military affairs of the Quraysh were entrusted to this clan. The Quraysh obeyed the commands and decisions of Khalid's father, Al-Walid.

Khalid had attained this position at the age of 24, but rejecting it, Khalid was now heading to Medina, being the father of Suleiman. He felt sometimes as if some force from within his own being was pulling him back. When he felt the influence of this force, his neck turned backward, but his own essence raised a voice within him.

Look ahead, Khalid! You are the son of Walid, but he is deceased now, and you are the father of Suleiman. He is alive. Two names stuck in his mind, Muhammad (the Messenger of Allah), who brought a new religion, and Al-Walid, who was Khalid's father and a staunch enemy of Muhammad, the orphan, and his new religion of Islam.

His horse had changed direction on its own towards a water skin. Khalid looked there and saw date palm trees and thorny shrubs of the desert. The horse was heading there. Khalid entered the orchard and dismounted from his horse by the water's edge, kneeling down.

He scooped water in his cupped hands and splashed it onto his head, then threw two or four handfuls onto his face. His horse was drinking water. Khalid drank from the spring, which was solely for human use. It was a small jungle.

Khalid removed the horse's bridle and, with Zain, opened a small hidden stream and spread a small mat under the banners of the thorny shrubs, then lay down. He was tired. He wanted to sleep for a while, but the caravan of memories that had set out in his mind was not letting him sleep.

He remembered a day seven years ago when his dear ones had planned to kill Muhammad Ali or Ham. Khalid's father, Al-Walid, was involved in that plan. It was a night in September 622. The Quraysh had chosen men to kill the Messenger of God while he slept, men who were wild and beastly in human form.

Khalid, the young scion of the Quraysh noble family, was nineteen at the time. He was involved in the conspiracy to assassinate Ali but was not part of the group that went for the kill. That night seven years ago haunted him like yesterday.

He was both happy and unhappy about that murder. He was happy because a man from his own tribe, who had denounced his religion of idol worship as false and claimed to be the messenger of God, was killed. Being pleased with the death of such an enemy was natural. And he was unhappy because he was ready to face his enemy openly in battle. He had never thought of killing his defeated enemy, but he did not oppose this conspiracy. However, on the night of the murder, when the assassin went to kill the Messenger of God at the appointed time, the Muslim's house was empty. There was neither household goods nor a Muslim's horse or camel.

The Quraysh were hopeful that they would receive good news in the morning that their religion had been destabilized and their opponents had been killed for inviting them to their new religion. However, in the morning, they were looking at each other in disappointment. Then, they began to ask each other in whispers, "Where is Muhammad?" The Messenger of God, knowing about his assassination well before it happened, had migrated to Yathrib (Madinah). By morning, you had traveled a long distance. Memories were flashing through Khalid's mind. Memories kept receding as time went by.

Khalid was not present at this gathering; his father was invited. He had told Khalid jokingly that Muhammad's nephew Ali had accepted Muhammad's prophethood. "Certainly, Muhammad's family holds a high position, but why would anyone from this family claim prophethood? By God's oath and the honor of Arabs, my family's rank is not lower than anyone else's. Can anyone claim prophethood and become higher than us?"

What did you say to him? Khalid asked. "First, we were silent. Then we all laughed," Al-Walid said. "But Muhammad's uncle's son Ali has accepted Muhammad's prophethood."

Khalid had not forgotten his father's sarcastic remarks. He remembered a day in 629 AD when he was lying in a date palm grove on the way between Mecca and Medina. The leaders of the Quraysh were refusing to accept the prophethood of Ali and the people were gradually accepting it, mostly the youth and some poor people. This acceptance boosted the morale of Prophet Muhammad, and he intensified his efforts to spread Islam. Khalid remembered how he had witnessed people mocking the idols placed inside and outside the Kaaba.

Before the rise of Islam, the Arabs believed in one God and worshipped these idols, considering them to be gods and goddesses, and swore by Allah in every matter. Seeing that the religion preached by Muhammad was gaining acceptance despite their mockery, the Quraysh leaders, including Khalid's father, Al-Walid, opposed the efforts of Ali and made life difficult for Muslims. Khalid remembered how he had seen that the idols could neither benefit nor harm people. He believed that true worship was only for the one God, who has no partners.

The four leaders of the Quraysh opposing the Messenger of Allah were Khalid's father Al-Walid, Abu Lahab, Abu Sufyan, and Abu Jahl, who was Khalid's maternal uncle. Abu Jahl was known for his extreme cruelty and oppression against Muslims, earning him the nickname "Abu Jahl" (Father of Ignorance). This name became so common that people almost forgot his real name. History has remembered Abu Lahab, who was as strong as a piece of iron, as Abu Jahl. These memories troubled Khalid, perhaps even embarrassed him.

The people of Quraysh had often hurled insults at the house of the Messenger of Allah. Whenever a Muslim was preaching Islam, Quraysh men would arrive and disrupt the gathering. They assigned men to constantly harass the Messenger of Allah, who was working tirelessly to spread the message of Islam.