31.9 Banu al-Mustaliq While the tribe of Banul-Mustaliq were making preparations to raid Medina, Mohamed pre-empted them by a surprise attack. This saved lives and Medina from the carnage of war. Among the captives was Juwayriya, the daughter of Al-Harith, the head of Banul-Mustaliq. She had fallen to the lot of one of the Supporters, and feared since the man knew who her father was that he would ask for an exorbitant ransom. So she went to Mohamed to solicit his assistance. He was at Aisha's house at that time. As Juwayriya insisted that she had to see him, they let her in and she related her problem to him. Mohamed thought a moment, and then said, "Shall I tell you what would be better than this?" He then asked her to marry him, and she immediately accepted. Juwayriya was a beautiful woman, but Mohamed was thinking of how to save her and all her tribe from an ignoble fate. A way had to be found to let them enter into Islam with honor and wipe away the humiliation of defeat which, according to Arab custom, would not be wiped away except by a war of vengeance that would continue until one of the parties concerned was exterminated, or by a marriage. Mohamed, as always, chose the more humane of the two solutions. As soon as the marriage was announced, all the booty taken from Banul- Mustaliq was returned and all the captives were set free. The Muslims said, "These are the in-Iaws of the Prophet." Aisha says about Juwayriya, "I know of no woman who was more of a blessing to her people than Juwayriya, the daughter of Al-Harith."