spouses and children from. And if you observe those precepts, Paradise is in store for you.
In another version narrated by Ka‘b, he said:
The Prophet (Peace be upon him) began to speak, recited some Qur’ânic verses, called people unto
Allâh, exhorted them to enter the fold of Islam and concluded saying: “I give you my pledge that you  debar me from whatever you debar your women and children from.” Here Al-Bara’ bin Ma‘rur, caught  him by hand, and said: “Oh yes, we swear by Allâh, Who sent you as a Prophet in Truth, that we will  debar you from whatever we debar our women from. Have confidence in us, O Messenger of Allâh. By
Allâh, we are genuine fighters and quite reliable in war, it is a trait passed down to us from our  ancestors.”
Then ‘Abul Haitham At-Taihan interrupted and said: “O Prophet of Allâh! Between us and the Jews,  there are agreements which we would then sever. If Allâh grants you power and victory, should we  expect that you would not leave us, and join the ranks of your people (meaning Quraish)?” The
Prophet
(Peace be upon him) smiled and replied:
“Nay, it would never be; your blood will be my blood. In life and death I will be with you and you  with me. I will fight whom you fight and I will make peace with those with whom you make  peace.”
After the negotiations concerning the conditions of allegiance had ended, and all of the audience were  unanimously agreed to ratify it, two men of the early generation of converts who had embraced Islam  in the eleventh and twelfth years rose to their feet to apprise the others of the serious step they were  about to take so that they could give their pledge fully aware of the whole affair and consequently be  ready for the sacrifice they were expected to make. Al ‘Abbas bin Ubada bin Nadlah, in this context,  remarked: “O you people of Khazraj! Do you know the significance of the pact that you are entering  into with this man? You are in fact avowing that you will fight against all and sundry. If you fear that  your property will be at stake or the lives of your nobles will be endangered, then leave him now,  because if you do this after the pledge, it will be degrading for you both in this world and the world to  come. But if you think that you can carry out what you are called upon to do in spite of the loss of  precious lives and property, then undertake this heavy responsibility, and I swear by Allâh, that herein  lies the good of this world and that of the next.”
They replied, “We have already considered the loss of property and the murder of our notables, yet we  pay him allegiance. But what is our reward if we observe all the items of this pact?” The Prophet  replied: “Paradise is in store for you.” Then they asked him to stretch out his hand, and they all  stretched out their hands and took the pledge. Only at that time did As‘ad bin Zurarah come to realize  the people’s readiness for sacrifice in the cause of Allâh.
On the authority of Jabir, who said: “When we started to pay allegiance to the Prophet (Peace be upon  him) , As‘ad bin Zurarah stood up and gave the following short address: “Take it easy people of
Yathrib!
We have not covered that long distance except because we have had deep belief that he (Muhammad
(Peace be upon him) ) is the Messenger of Allâh. We are already convinced that following him entails  departure from the pagan Arabs even if it were at the risk of our life. Should you preserve in this  course, holdfast to it, and your great reward is placed in the Hand of Allâh, but if you are caught in  fear, I admonish you to give it up just now, and then you would be more excusable by Allâh.”
With respect to the two women, the pledge was taken orally for the Prophet (Peace be upon him) had  never shaken hands with a strange lady.
The Prophet (Peace be upon him) then asked the group to appoint twelve deputies to preach Islam to  their people in Madinah, to shoulder the responsibility of implementing the articles of this pledge and  to  guide the respective men of their own tribes in matters relating to the propagation of Islam. The  deputies elected were nine from Al-Khazraj: As‘ad bin Zurarah bin ‘Ads, Sa‘d bin Ar-Rabi‘ bin ‘Amr,
‘Abdullah bin Rawahah bin Tha‘labah, Rafi‘ bin Malik bin Al-‘Ajlan, Al-Bara’ bin Ma‘rur bin Sakhr,
‘Abdullah bin ‘Amr bin Haram, ‘Ubadah bin As-Samit bin Qais, Sa‘d bin ‘Ubadah bin Dulaim and Al-
Mundhir bin ‘Amr bin Khunais. Three others were from Al-Aws: Usaid bin Hudair bin Sammak, Sa‘d bin
Khaithamah bin Al-Harith and Rifa‘a bin ‘Abdul Mundhir bin Zubair. Once again, those twelvemen were  sworn to act as surety over the affairs of their people just as the Christ’s disciples did, and the Prophet  would act as surety over his people, meaning all the Muslims.
Somehow or other, the news of these secret desert meetings with the Madinese leaked out. The
Prophet immediately knew that it was a certain pudgy ugly devil, inhabited in Al-‘Aqabah, who  discovered their meeting, and he threatened to settle his account with him as soon as possible.
On hearing this, Al-‘Abbas bin Nadlah said “By Allâh, Who has sent you in Truth, we are powerful