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The Prophet remained in
Makkah, bearing up against what became increasingly more unbearable.
Then some men of Madinah (at the time known as Yathrib) met the
Prophet and accepted Islam. Knowing the danger to which the Prophet
was exposed, they invited him to migrate to their settlements and
make his home with them. With this invitation came Allah's permission
for the Muslims to migrate, and the Prophet sent most of them to
Madinah.
In September 622, the Quraish finally made up
their minds to assassinate Muhammad. On the eve of the planned assassination,
during the night, the Prophet left his house and, accompanied by
Abu Bakr, a slave and a guide, migrated to Yathrib. With his safe
arrival at Yathrib, Madinah (as the place was now to be called)
became the seat and centre of the Muslim faith and the capital of
the new Muslim State. The era of persecution was over.
Three months after the Prophet's departure from
Makkah, Al Waleed called his sons to his death bed, He knew that
he was dying. "O my sons!" he said. "There
are three tasks that I bequeath you. See that you do-not foil in
carrying them out. The first is my blood feud with the Khuza'a.
See that you take revenge. By Allah, I know that they are not guilty,
but I fear that you will be blamed after this day. The second is
my money, accruing from interest due to me, with the Saqeef, See
that you get it back. Thirdly, I am due compensation or blood from
Abu Uzeihar."1 This bad man married
the daughter of Al Waleed and then put her away from him without
returning her to her father's home.
Having made these bequests, Al Waleed died. He
was buried with all the honour due to a great chief, a respected
elder and a noble son of the Quraish.
The first of the problems was settled without
too much difficulty; the Khuza'a paid blood money, and the matter
was closed without violence. The second matter remained pending
for many yeays, and was then shelved as unsettled. As for the third
problem, i.e. the feud with the son-in-law of Al Waleed, Khalid's
brother, Hisham, decided that he would be content with nothing less
than the blood of Abu Uzeihar. He waited more than a year before
he got his chance. Then he killed his man. The matter assumed an
ugly aspect, and there was danger of further bloodshed between the
two families; but Abu Sufyan intervened and made peace. No more
blood was shed.
During the years following his father's death,
Khalid lived peacefully in Makkah, enjoying the good life which
his wealth made possible. He even travelled to Syria with a trade
caravan, to a large town called Busra, which he was to approach
many years later as a military objective.
We do not know how many wives or children
he had at this time, but we know of two sons: the elder was called
Sulaiman, the younger, Abdur-Rahman. The latter was born about six
years before the death of Al Waleed, and was to achieve fame in
later decades as a commander in Syria. But according to Arab custom,
it was Sulaiman by whose name Khalid became known. Thus he was called
variously: Khalid, his own name; Ibn Al Waleed, i.e. the son of
Al Waleed; and Abu Sulaiman, i.e. the father of Sulaiman. Most people
addressed him as Abu Sulaiman.
1. Ibn Hisham:
Vol. 1, pp. 410-411.
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