Ibn Ishaq records that Muhammad, after having settled in Medina, would either lead or send his Companions out on raids with the intention of enriching both himself and his followers from the plunder that would be gained from these expeditions. Ibn Ishaq wrote:
The apostle had not been given permission to fight or allowed to shed blood BEFORE THE SECOND ‘AQABA. He had simply been ordered to call men to God and to endure insult and forgive the ignorant. The Quraysh had persecuted his followers, seducing some from their religion, and exiling others from their country. They had to choose whether to give up their religion, be maltreated at home, or to flee the country, some to Abyssinia, others to Medina.
Muhammad’s claim that he hadn’t commanded them to attack the caravan in the sacred month is nothing more than a lame excuse since he was the one who had sent them out at a time in which he knew the sacred month was close at hand. It is little wonder that this caused the Meccans to be angry to the point that they were now forced to go to war with Muhammad and his companions to save honor.
In other words, Muhammad again is the one who instigated the fight between the Meccans and himself by doing something considered shameful and despicable in the eyes of even some of his own companions.
