The Bounty Placed on the Head of the Holy Prophet (sa)
The greed of the reward made a lot of people pursue the Holy Prophet (sa). There is an incident mentioned in books of history: Buraidah bin Husaib states, “When the Quraish announced a reward of 100 camels for whoever goes after the Holy Prophet (sa) and brings them back dead or alive, I was also tempted by greed. Subsequently, I set out with 70 riders from the Banu Sahm and met with the Holy Prophet (sa). The Holy Prophet (sa) asked me who I was, to which I replied, ‘Buraidah’. Upon this, the Holy Prophet (sa) turned towards Hazrat Abu Bakr (ra) and said, ‘O Abu Bakr! We have been granted relief and our matter has eased.’ The Holy Prophet (sa) then said, ‘Which tribe do you belong to?’ I replied, ‘The tribe of Aslam’. The Holy Prophet (sa) said, ‘May peace be with them.’ He then asked, ‘From which progeny?’ to which I replied, ‘From among the Banu Sahm.’ The Holy Prophet (sa) said, ‘O Abu Bakr! You are very fortunate.’”
Buraidah then asked the Holy Prophet (sa), “Who are you?” The Holy Prophet (sa) replied, “I am Muhammad (sa), son of Abdullah, the Messenger of Allah.” Upon this Buraidah said, “I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and Muhammad (sa) is His servant and messenger.” Buraidah accepted Islam and also all those who were with him. Buraidah then said, “All praise belongs to Allah, the Banu Sahm accepted Islam wholeheartedly without any compulsion.” The following morning, Buraidah said, “O Messenger (sa) of Allah! You ought to enter Medina with a flag.” He then took off his turban and tied it to a spear and began walking ahead of the Holy Prophet (sa) and the Muslims then entered Medina.
(Sharh al-Zurqani ala al-Mawahib al-Laduniyyah, Vol. 2 [Beirut, Lebanon: Dar al-Kutub al-Ilmiyyah, 1996], p. 148) (Ali bin Burhan al-Din al-Halabi, Al-Sirah al-Halabiyyah, Vol. 2, Bab al-Hijrah ila al-Medina [Beirut, Lebanon: Dar al-Kutub al-‘Ilmiyyah, 2002], p. 71)