Message #3371

[Zainab_M]

I do wonder about this bit though, seems a bit suspicious:

"Then he left the house and, it is said, blindness fell upon the would-be murderers so that he put dust on their heads as he passed by-without their knowing it."

Actually what keeps happening in history is .. the real and truthful occurence gradually gets clouded with layers of words & stories from people.  With rhetorical ornaments, history gets embellished and thus attracts more minds.  You might very well be right.  That portion you highlighted in bold could be different from the literal truth.  And the words "and, it is said," is an unclear style because it most likely refers to the sayings of the people .. not the actual eye-witnesses  but the story-tellers of later times. 

However, the historical fact of the incident was, that when the Prophet (pbuh) escaped from Mekkah, his home was being closely watched that night. Yet somehow, the Prophet was able to slip out carefully and quietly without being tracked by his enemies.  It was a very dangerous situation.  We know very well that at such times Allah Almighty helps and protects his devoted & sincere slaves.  Especially all Prophets, who are selected by Allah for a specific mission, were constantly protected by Him.  Threrfore, it goes without saying that Allah Almighty had a direct role in protecting Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) at this crucial moment, just the way He kept guiding and assisting him (the Prophet) throughout his life. 

We also know that we cannot vouch for all those minute details that keep sprouting with time.  It's possible that the words you've highlighted have originated from the Hadith because the style resembles it.  Even if it's not from the hadith, such descriptions usually carry a rhetorical purpose.   Besides, it's also possible that whoever wrote those words "blindness fell upon the would-be murderers" might not have alluded that the Prophet's enemies literally became blind.  But since they were unable to take the Prophet into custody in spite of an easy opportunity to do so, they were described as no different than blind men .. carrying a derogatory connotation.

Frankly, I do not focus on these intricate details, some of which are irrelevant and some fabricated.  The theme or the crux of the incident is the only important thing.  In this case, the basic substance that's true and important is .. the Prophet escaped from Mekkah under difficult and dangerous circumstances, and was yet safe and unhurt.   

The second time during this escape when the Prophet, along with Abu Bakr, came very near to danger but was protected by Allah Almighty, was when they were hiding in the cave in between Mekkah and Medina.  This incident has also been referred to in the Quraan. 

Salaams and peace to you, dear brother ...