The Prophet Muhammad had a dream in Madinah that he was undertaking a journey to Makkah for the purpose of performing ‘umrah. In accordance with this, he left for Makkah along with his companions. But at that time, the conditions were very adverse. There was a great fear that there would be a clash with the Quraysh and that the Muslims would be killed in large numbers. As they approached Makkah, the Quraysh did indeed start pelting the Muslim group with stones and attempted to provoke them in different ways, so that they would become overwrought and start fighting, and the Quraysh would thus have an excuse to do battle with them. But the unilateral tolerance shown and the overlooking of these acts on the part of the Muslims deprived the Quraysh of the occasion to fight them. Many weak Muslims belonging to the areas surrounding Madinah did not join the pilgrims on their journey due to the fears mentioned above. When the Prophet had safely returned, these people came to him to profess their loyalty and started asking his pardon. But they were not pardoned, because their excuse was lame and false. Before God, a proper reason is acceptable at all times, while a false pretext is inevitably rejected outright. They had no real excuse for their non-participation in the journey along with God’s Prophet, except for their own feelings of uncertainty. They thought that they were protecting their interests by refusing to go on such a dangerous journey. They did not know that God is the Lord of all benefits and all harm. If God does not protect an individual, no protective armour can save him. Destruction will be the lot of such people in this world as well as in the Hereafter.