29.3 Quraysh Revoke the Treaty At a distance things can be misrepresented, and the Muslims in Medina met their returning army with words of derision, because for them to turn round and not defeat the army of polytheists was a great shame. That the polytheist army was a hundred thousand and the Muslim army three thousand seems to have made no impression upon them. They met the army with the words, "Did you flee for Allah's sake?" as well as many other such remarks. The only person who gave the army a hearty welcome and encouragement was Mohamed. He congratulated them on their courage in facing two hundred thousand and called Khaled "the Sword of Allah." People wondered at the title, thinking that Khaled had hardly earned it, but a few years later after Mohamed had passed away and Khaled had defeated both the Persian and Roman empires in the name of Allah, this title was heard on every tongue and in every land. Quraysh heard rumors that the Muslims were finished, and that this battle of Muta had annihilated their fighting power. So they decided it would be quite safe to break the Treaty of AI-Hudaybiya without fear of retaliation. They went to the aid of their allies, Banu Bakr, in the old feud the latter had with Banu Khuzaa, who were the allies of Mohamed, and they killed some of them. This was a flagrant violation of the treaty of Al-Hudaybiya. In this treaty Mohamed had conceded so much to Quraysh to the extent that the Muslims felt it was a humiliation. Nevertheless the moment they felt that the Muslims were no longer as strong as they used to be, Quraysh broke it. A delegation from Khuzaa went to seek Mohamed's assistance and he assured them, Khuzaa, you will be aided. He hated war and bloodshed and had done everything to avoid it, but he hated even more aggression and treachery.There was nothing left now but to conquer Mecca, the city he loved and had tried so hard to spare. He began to collect troops without informing them what their destination would be. Quraysh began to realize the enormity of what they had done. They had miscalculated - the Muslims were not as weak as they had estimated, and they had broken their treaty and attacked the Muslims' allies without just cause. Mohamed was sure to retaliate. He was a man who never went back on any pact or treaty he had made or on any word he had given. If he had given his word to support Khuzaa against aggression, he was sure to do so no matter what price he had to pay.