3.2 The Covenant Of Redress (Al-Fudul) It so happened that a man from one of the clans of Quraysh killed a man from the tribe of Hawazin out of jealousy, for the latter had acquired the job of guide to a caravan of Al-Mundhir, which the man from Quraysh had coveted. The result was a war between Quraysh and Hawazin, which lasted for four years. In this war Mohamed used to collect the arrows for his uncles to use again and perhaps, in the last year or so, he was old enough to take part in battle. After this war Quraysh felt that it was their man who had been in the wrong and that, if they continued to support his claim, their prestige among the tribes would suffer and their unrivalled position as keepers of the Ancient House would be challenged. They were the keepers of the House of Allah and as such it was their duty, more than any other tribe, to be absolutely fair and impartial even against their own. They knew that had Abdul-Muttalib been alive this would not have happened. No man now held the position of high esteem and authority that Abdul-Muttalib had enjoyed, so they decided to make a covenant that would given them jointly the authority he had enjoyed. The different branches of Quraysh made a covenant together to be on the side of the wronged party until he obtained redress. Mohamed, young as he was, was delighted by this covenant. It was in accord with his upright nature and he used to remember it fondly, saying, "It was a covenant I attended at the house of Judan and, if I had been called to fight to uphold it, I would have answered the call."