insincerity and resisted them so they killed him. The other two men who had killed some notables of
Quraish at Badr were taken and sold in Makkah. The first was Khubaib who was detained for some  time  and then it was unanimously decided to crucify him. He was taken from the Holy Sanctuary to At-
Tan‘im for crucifixion. He requested a respite to offer a two-Rak‘a prayer. After the final greeting, he  turned to his executioners, and said: “Had I not been afraid that you would think that I was afraid of  death, I would have prayed for a long time.” It was then that Khubaib first set the tradition of praying  two Rak‘a before being executed. He then said:
O Lord! Count them one by one, exterminate them to the last one.”
He then recited some verses of poetry which speak eloquently of the atrocities borne by him, and  testify to his Faith in Allâh at this hour of suffering:
The confederates have gathered their tribes around me,
And summoned all of them who could come.
They have gathered their women and children,
I am bound fastly to a lofty trunk.
To Allâh alone I complain of my helplessness and sufferings,
And of the death, the confederates have prepared for me.
Lord of the Throne! Give me endurance against their design,
They have cut my flesh bit by bit, and I have been deprived of sustenance.
They let me choose infidelity but death is preferable,
Tears roll out of my eyes, though not of fear.
By Allâh! I fear not if I die a Muslim,
On what side I fall for the sake of Allâh.
I will not show subservience to the enemy,
If Lord so desires, He will bless my torn limbs and broken joints.
Abu Sufyan then addressed him saying: “I adjure you by Allâh, don’t you wish that Muhammad (Peace  be upon him) were here in your place so that we might cut off his head, and that you were with your  family?” Khubaib answered, “By Allâh, I do not wish that Muhammad (Peace be upon him) now were  in  the place I occupy or that a thorn could hurt him, and that I were sitting with my family.” Quraish  ordered ‘Uqbah bin Al-Harith, whose father had been killed by Khubaib himself, to crucify him. They  also appointed someone to guard his corpse. ‘Amr bin Omaiyah Ad-Damari played a cunning trick and  carried the corpse stealthily at night to bury it somewhere. It was later reported that shortly before his  crucifixion, he was seen eating a bunch of grapes although there was not even one date available in
Makkah at that time. In fact, it was nothing but sustenance bestowed upon him by Allâh.
Safwan bin Omaiyah purchased the second man, Zaid bin Ad-Dathna, and killed him as an act of  vengeance for his father’s murder.
Quraish, whom ‘Asim had killed one of their notables, sent someone to fetch a portion of his body, but  to their disappointment, his corpse was inaccessible because a large swarm of hornets had been  shielding him against any malicious tampering. ‘Asim had already given his Lord a pledge to remain  immune against any polytheist tampering with respect to his body, and also stay detached from any  contact with the enemies of Allâh. ‘Umar bin Al-Khattab, when hearing this piece of news exclaimed,
“Allâh verily protects His believing slave after death just as He does during his lifespan.
THE TRAGEDY OF MA'UNA WELL:
Ma‘una Well tragedy, which was even more horrible than that of Ar-Raji‘, took place in the same  month.
Abu Bara’ — ‘Amir bin Malik — nicknamed ‘Spear Player’ came to the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be  upon him) in Madinah. The Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) called him to embrace Islam but  he  neither agreed nor refused. He said: “O Messenger of Allâh, if you dispatch some of your Companions  to the people of Najd to call them to Islam, I expect them to accept.” “I am afraid the people of Najd  willkill them.” Said the Messenger. But he replied, “I will protect them.” Ibn Ishaq confirms that forty  men were sent to them; but As-Sahih states that they were seventy — Al-Mundhir bin ‘Amr, one of
Bani
Sa‘ida, nicknamed ‘Freed to die’ — commanded that group, who were the best and most learned in  the
Qur’ân and jurisprudence.
On their way to Najd they used to gather firewood to buy food for the people of ‘Ahl As-Suffah’ as  charity by day and study, meditate on the meanings of the Qur’ân by night. They kept on doing that