the madinese muslims, however, remained silent neither negating nor confirming. the quraishite leaders seemed to be almost convinced by the arguments presented by the polytheists, and went back home frustrated. however, they did not fully acquiesce in the words they heard. they began to scrutinize the smallest details, and trace the minutest news till it was established beyond a shadow of doubt that the pact did take place, but that was after the madinese pilgrims had left makkah. in a fit of rage, they pursued the pilgrims but did not succeed in catching hold of anyone except sa‘d bin ‘ubadah. they subjected him to unspeakable tortures, but he was later rescued by al-mut‘im bin ‘adi and harith bin harb bin omaiya with whom he had trade relations. [za'd al-ma'ad 2/51,52; ibn hisham 1/448-450]

that is the story of the second ‘aqabah pledge, later known as the great ‘aqabah pledge, effected in an atmosphere of love, allegiance and mutual support between madinese believers and weak makkan muslims. this new spirit of affection, rapport and cooperation could never be attributable to a fleeing whim, on the contrary, it totally derived from an already deeply-established approach, viz. belief in allâh, his messenger and his book. it was a belief so rooted in the selves that it managed to stand immune to all powers of injustice and aggression, and could be translated into miracles in the practical aspects of action and ideology pursuit. that sort of belief was the real instrument for the muslims to record in the annals of history unprecedented breakthroughs. we are also sure that the future will always remain wanting as regards those great achievements carried out by those great men.