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Sirat
Rasoul Allah
The
earliest biography of Muhammad, by ibn Ishaq
An
abridged version
INTRODUCTION
It is always extremely difficult to be objective about the life of the
founder of a great religion - his personality is inevitably blurred by
an aura of the miraculous. Early biographers are preoccupied, not with
historical fact, but with glorifying in every way the memory of one
they believe to have been a Messenger of God or even God Himself.
Consequently, there is a rich accretion of myth and miracle,
mysterious portents and heavenly signs, of residues from other
religious beliefs and traditions, the propaganda, in fact, of an
expanding faith. All these will be found in the biography of Muhammad
which follows. But behind the legendary Muhammad there lies one of the
great figures of history, and, although very little is known about his
early years - the first certain date being that of the migration from
Mecca to Medina, which took place in AD 622 - it is possible to build
up the events of his real, as distinct from his symbolic, life.
Muhammad was born at
Mecca
about AD 570 into a poor family of the Quraysh tribe. When he was
twenty-five years of age he was employed by Khadija, a wealthy widow,
to go with one of her trading caravans to
Syria
. On the successful completion of the journey, Muhammad married Khadij
a, who was some fifteen years older than he. Two sons and four
daughters were horn of this marriage. The two boys died in infancy,
but one of the daughters, Fatima, married Muhammad's cousin Ali, and
it is the descendants of Fatima and Ali who are said to be the true
heirs of the Prophet.
The community Muhammad
was born into was pagan, the gods often being represented by stones.
One of the most important places of pilgrimage was the sanctuary of
the Kaba, in which was a black stone, at
Mecca
. Scattered about Arabia at this time were communities of Jews and
Christians, whose belief in only one god was to influence Muhammad
when he came to state his own religious ideas. How he learned of these
beliefs during the fifteen years between the date of his marriage to
Khadija and the revelation of the first divine communication is not
known, but there were many Arab converts to Judaism and Christianity
and, as Muhammad grew more and more dissatisfied with the pagan gods,
it is obvious that he must have investigated the religions of those
who claimed to worship the one true god.
Muhammad was in the
habit of spending periods in meditation on
Mount
Hira
, near
Mecca
, and there in his fortieth year he is supposed to have received his
first revelation from God. The communication terrified him and he
spoke of it and of a number of others which followed only to Khadija
and a few close friends. But finally he received a command to proclaim
publicly what had been revealed to him. Most of his family had
scornfully rejected his teaching and his early converts were slaves
and people of the lower classes. His preaching soon drew not only
mockery but active opposition from the people of
Mecca
, who believed that his mission threatened their position as guardians
of the Kaba a position which brought them great wealth from the
pilgrim traffic. The Meccans tried to discredit him, charging him with
sorcery and with stealing his ideas from Jews and Christians. From
opposition to persecution was but a step. A hundred of his followers
emigrated to Abyssinia, and finally Muhammad himself decided to leave
Mecca
and went to
Medina
in AD 622. From this year the Muslim Era is dated.
From a persecuted
religious teacher in
Mecca
, Muhammad In Medina became the leader of a religious community and
was acknowledged to be the messenger of God. He still, however, had
doubters and enemies. The Jews, whom he had hoped would welcome him,
were among his bitterest opponents. His assumption of authority at
Medina
was also resented by some of that city's leading men. Nevertheless, by
careful diplomacy and firmness of purpose, he began to create a
brotherhood of the faith, transcending all other ties and
relationships, even those of father and son. This brotherhood united
all Muslims by giving them a common purpose - the defence of the faith
- and made God, and His prophet, the final source of law.
This achieved, Muhammad
began to look outward, not only because he wished to convert all Arabs
to his teaching, but also in an attempt to alleviate growing economic
distress in
Medina
. Muhammad's first step was to persuade the Medinans that they must
attack
Mecca
. This was, in fact, the first test of the new brotherhood, for many
of those in
Medina
had relatives in
Mecca
and to the Arabs the ties of blood were sacred. Muhammad, however,
insisted that war was a sacred duty, demanded by Allah, and he was
finally able to persuade his followers that this was so.
Muhammad first sent parties to attack the caravans of
Mecca
on their journeys to or from
Syria
. One attack was carried out during the sacred month of Rajab
(January 624), when war was banned throughout
Arabia
. In the Koran, Muhammad justified this break with tradition by
claiming that there could be no scruples in the fight to
overcome idolatry.
From this time onwards
events moved rapidly. Two months later a battle took place at
Badr between three hundred Muslims and nearly a thousand Meccans. The
former were triumphant, taking many prisoners. Soon after, Muhammad
began a series of campaigns to expel the Jews from around
Medina
. These campaigns were interrupted firstly by an attack by the Meccans,
in which the Muslims were defeated at Uhud, and then by an
unsuccessful Meccan attempt to besiege
Medina
. After the Meccans had retired, Muhammad dealt with the last Jewish
tribe near
Medina
which had supported the Meccans. The men were killed and the women and
children enslaved.
Muhammad now began to
subdue the tribes surrounding
Mecca
, and the result was a ten-year truce permitting the Muslims to return
to
Mecca
for the yearly pilgrimage to the Kaba. After this, adherents flowed in
and, though the prophet only lived four more years, in that time the
future of the countries of the
Near East
was to be determined for hundreds of years to come. The attacks on
Jewish tribes continued and much of the wealth of the country, which
had previously been monopolized by Jewish traders and landowners, was
seized by the Muslims. From a despised minority the followers of
Muhammad were now becoming the most powerful single force in
Arabia
.
The truce was broken by
the Meccans in AD 630, when the Quraysh attacked a tribe under Muslim
protection. Muhammad marched on
Mecca
and occupied the city with very little opposition. The prophet showed
great magnanimity in dealing with his opponents and only four people
were put to death after the capture of the city, though one was a
singing-girl who had composed satirical verses about Muhammad. He was
now accepted as the apostle of God. Soon his armies were moving out to
areas occupied by Christians, but an expedition against the Byzantines
was soundly defeated. Deputations, however, came to pay him homage and
there were so many that the year 9 of the hijra (AD 63 1) is known as
the Year of Deputations. But the prophet had not much longer to live.
He died at
Medina
on 8 June 632.
There is no doubt that
Muslims are right when they date the beginning of an era from the
prophet's migration to
Medina
in 622. In
Mecca
, Muhammad had been merely a preacher of unpopular doctrine. In
Medina
, however, he found a centre from which to propagate a new religion.
In organizing a community of believers, Muhammad gradually established
religious, social and political laws, and from them produced a
distinct religious system. The system was all-embracing, and from it
emerged something like a totalitarian state, with Allah as the
universal king and His prophet ruling in His name. Muhammad, though
preaching compassion and mercy, sometimes acted cruelly, but he
must be judged within the context of his times and none of his
contemporaries criticized his actions on moral grounds. He was a man
of extraordinary powers and he must have had great personal charm, for
he was able to attract and keep the devotion of men of widely
differing types. Within a century of his death the cry 'Allah is most
great!' was to be heard from
Spain
to
China
. Today, over two hundred million people in the Near East and
Africa, in South and South-east Asia, still listen to the same call to
prayer that was first heard in the remote Arabian desert thirteen
centuries ago.
The followers of Muhammad, like the followers of Christ, are 'People
of the Book'. The Bible of the Christians was once believed to be the
literal word of God. Today, modern research has made this difficult to
accept. To the Muslims, however, the doctrine of God's infallible word
is a fundamental article of faith and very few have ever
questioned it. The sacred book which contains the word of God
is called the Koran. The actual words were given to Muhammad by
an angel, Gabriel, over a period of some twenty years, firstly
in
Mecca
and then in
Medina
. Muhammad, who is said to have been unable to read and write,
repeated the angel's words from memory and they were either written
down or memorized by his followers. After the death of the prophet,
Abu Bakr, his successor as Caliph of Islam, commissioned the
prophet's secretary Zayd to make the first collection of the Koran.
The final form was reached under the third Caliph, Uthman.
The Koran is divided
into 114 chapters, called suras. They are not chronologically
arranged, and only occasionally is there a clue as to when the words
were spoken or upon what occasion. The arrangement is based upon
length, the longest suras first and the shortest, last. For many
hundreds of years scholars have bftn trying to relate individual suras
to particular periods of Muhammad's life, but until the same
scientific treatment that has been given to the Christian Bible is
given to the Koran no great progress can be expected.
The contents of the Koran can be divided under four main heads: (i)
Those passages concerning the worship of the one god, Allah, the
creator of all things, and from whom all that is good flows. (2)
Passages concerned with the doctrine of death, resurrection, judgement,
and the rewards of heaven and hell. The delights of paradise are very
considerable. There, beautiful girls and youths minister to the
pleasures of believers; but hell is black smoke and terrible heat. (3)
Stories of earlier messengers of God, most of them Jewish and derived
from the Old Testament. (4) Proclamations and regulations, mainly from
the
Medina
period. The laws expounded show the influence of Judaism and
Christianity, but are in many cases adaptations of old Arab customs.
The chief religious
duties laid down by the Koran are prayer, alms-giving, fasting and
pilgrimage. Prayer is the 'key to paradise' and requires religious
purifications, bathing before prayer, and so on. 'The practice of
religion being founded on cleanliness', the ground upon which the
believer prays must also be clean and a special prayer-carpet is
suggested. There are five prayers every twenty-four hours, and the
face of the worshipper must be turned towards
Mecca
.
Alms were originally
collected by the ruler and were supposed to represent one-fortieth of
a man's income in money or kind. Today, however, it is left to the
conscience of the individual.
The third duty is fasting. This is based upon Christian and Jewish
practices and is specifically stated to be so in the Koran. The month
of Ramadan, which does not fall at the same season every year - since
the Muslim calendar is a lunar one - often occurs in the hottest time
of the year and, in consequence, imposes very considerable strains on
Muslims. During the fast, eating, drinking, smoking, smelling
perfumes, bathing, and all other worldly pleasures are forbidden
between sunrise and sunset. None except the sick, travellers, and
soldiers in time of war, are exempt, and they must fast an equal
number of days at some other time in recompense. Nurses and pregnant
women need not fast at all.
The last of the
principal - and binding - duties is that of a pilgrimage. Every
Muslim, unless prevented by sickness or poverty, is expected to make
the pilgrimage to
Mecca
once in his
ife
. There he must walk around the Kaba seven times, kiss the black stone
set in one of its walls, run between the two hills of Safa and Marwa
near by, travel to Arafat, a hill some twelve miles from
Mecca
, and on the way back sacrifice sheep and camels at Mina, where a
ceremonial stoning of devils takes place.
These four duties plus
the profession of faith in Allah and Muhammad, His prophet, are known
as the five 'Pillars of the Faith'.
Among the many other
ordinances contained in the Koran s a prohibition against alcohol, as
giving rise to 'more evil than good'. Pork is also forbidden, and
animals must be slaughtered according to fixed rules. Idolatry is an
unforgivable sin and the laws against the making of images and
pictures are particularly stringent. Anyone who makes an imitation of
any living thing will, on the day of judgement, undergo punishment in
hell for a certain period of time. Usury is prohibited and all forms
of gambling are condemned. Slavery is recognized, but slaves must be
kindly treated and even encouraged to purchase their liberty. Women
slaves may be taken as concubines.
The Koran has much to
say about the position of women. That position is implicitly defined
by the word for marriage, which is the same as that used for the
sexual act. A man may have four wives and any number of concubines,
but all his wives must be treated equally. A man may divorce his wife,
but a woman cannot divorce her husband. The Koran specifically
states that women are inferior to men.
An injunction to fight
the infidel guarantees to those who die in defence of Islam the reward
of martyrdom and entry into paradise. People of different faiths on
whom war is declared are first to be offered the choice: to
embrace Islam; to pay tribute, in which case they may continue to
practise their faith; or to settle the affair by the fortunes
of war, in which case captives are made slaves, the men usually being
slain unless they embrace Islam. One-fifth part of any spoil belongs
to the ruler.
- ethical teaching of the
Koran is high and it may be said to represent a sort of mercantile
theology, emerging as it does from the commercial background of
Muhammad and the Arabs. It was the duty of an Arab in Muhammad's
time to support his tribe, to give food and shelter to the
traveller, and to protect those who claimed his protection.
Commerce was impossible without good faith and honest dealing. To
these precepts Muhammad gave a religious sanction and offered in
return rewards according to each man's deeds. But the appeal is
not only to self-interest. It is God who hates injustice and
oppression, and who is above all compassionate and merciful; man
has the responsibility and the power to be the same.
The present life of Muhammad is by the earliest biographer whose work
has survived. Ibn Ishaq was born in
Medina
about eighty-five years after the hijra (AH 85) and died in
Baghdad
in AH 151. No copy of Ibn Ishaq's biography in its original form is
now in existence, but it was extensively quarried by Ibn Hisharn (died
AH 213 or 218). Much of the material used was left in the original
words and in whole sections, so that Ibn Hisham's work can best be
described as an edited version of the original biography, with
interpolations by the editor.
Ishaq's work is not a
biography in the modern sense, but more a compilation of anecdotes and
traditions collected by him and arranged in chronological periods.
Collected within a century of the prophet's death, it bears the stamp
of authenticity, though again not in a modern sense. The miraculous is
always present and is given the same weight as mundane descriptions of
the prophet's actions. Because tales of miracles may be unacceptable
today, this does not mean that other parts of the biography are
untrustworthy. The facts are there, and the miraculous is that
essential embroidery of faith which the life of no religious leader -
from Christ to the Buddha - is without.
The translation which
follows is the first known English version of Ibn Ishaq's biography,
and is here published for the first time. The translator, Edward
Rehatsek, was born in
Hungary
in 1819 and died in
Bombay
in 1891. He arrived in
India
in 1847 and spent a number of years in research upon oriental
subjects. He later became professor of mathematics and Latin at
Wilson
College
,
Bombay
, from which position he retired in 1871. Rehatsek lived the life of a
recluse, working upon his translations from Arabic and many other
languages. After his death, his body was burned in the Hindu manner,
the first European, it is said, to be cremated in
India
. The manuscript of the translation was completed just before his
death and was presented to the Royal Asiatic Society,
London
, by F. F. Arbuthnot, the Islamic scholar, in 1898. This edition is
published by courtesy of the Society.
The original work is
extremely long, over a thousand pages of the translator's small
yet clear handwriting. Rehatsek produced an almost literal translation
and it suffers somewhat from scholarly pedanticism. In preparing this
edition for publication, I have kept one main aim in view - to present
the earliest extant life of Muhammad in a form, and at a length,
acceptable to the general reader. To do this it has been necessary to
cut the text as well as to make some rearrangement in the interests of
orderly chronology. I have inserted linking passages, printed in
italic, where the text seems to require it. Generally speaking, those
parts which have been excised have been repetitions of events,
long lists of names, confusing accounts of minor battles, and a
large quantity of verse. Some errors have been corrected and
verbal infelicities removed. The transliteration of Arabic names is
always something of a problem in books intended for the reader who
has no knowledge of Eastern languages. In this instance I have omitted
all diacritical marks, believing it preferable for the reader
to mispronounce the words rather than be prevented from pronouncing
them at all by the intrusion of apostrophes and other symbols.
MICHAEL EDWARDES
The
Early Life of the Apostle of Allah
It is recorded that when the mother of the apostle of Allah
became pregnant with him she had a vision, and a voice spoke to her,
saying, ‘Thou art pregnant with the prince of this nation. When he
is born on this earth, thou must say, “I place him under the
protection of the only One, from the wickedness of every envious
person.” And thou must name him Muhammad.’
While she was carrying the child in her womb she saw a light
issue from her which illuminated even the castles of Busra in
Syria
. And Abdullah b. Abdul‑Muttalib, the father of the apostle,
died while the child was yet unborn.
The apostle of Allah was born on a Monday, on the thirteenth
(lay of the month of Rabi in the year of the Elephant [c‑ 570]*
At the time of the apostle’s birth a Jew standing on the flat roof
of a house in Medina called forth the Jewish people and when they
assembled around him, saying, ‘Woe to you. What is the matter?’ he
told them ‘This night the star has risen, under which the apostle is
born.’
[*The year of an invasion by the Abyssinians, whose army was
made memorable in
Arabia
by having an elephant in its train.}
When his mother was delivered of the apostle of Allah she sent
the following message to his grandfather: ‘An infant is born to you;
come and see him.’ He came and she informed him of what she had seen
and heard during her pregnancy and the name she had been ordered to
give the child. It is said that his grandfather took the boy into
the Kaba [place of worship] and prayed to Allah and thanked Him for
His gift; then he brought him again to his mother. Soon he hired for
the boy a nurse, whose name was Halima.
Halima was the daughter of Abu Dhuayb of the Banu Sad tribe.
The tradition concerning her is that she went forth with her husband
and a little son whom she was suckling, with others of the women of
the Banu Sad who were in search of children to nurse. She relates:
‘In a year of dearth, when nothing was left us, I went forth on a
piebald she‑ass and we had with us a she‑camel which gave
us not one drop of milk. We could not sleep the whole night, because
the infant we had with us cried for hunger, there being nothing in my
breasts to satisfy him nor anything in our camel to nourish him. We
were, however, hoping for aid and deliverance; accordingly I continued
the journey, riding on my she‑ass which was so weak that it
lagged behind and the people complained.
‘At last, we arrived in
Mecca
to look for sucklings, and there was not a woman among us to whom the
apostle of Allah was not offered. They all refused to take charge of
him as soon as they were told that he was an orphan, because we
expected benefits from the father of an infant but did not like
orphans, thinking that a mother or a grandfather would do us but
little good. Not a woman, however, remained who had not obtained a
suckling except myself. When we assembled to depart, I said to my
husband, “I am unwilling to return with my companions and not take a
suckling. I shall go to that orphan and take it.” He replied, “Do
so! Perhaps Allah will make it a blessing to us.” Then I went and
took him just because I could find no other child.
“After that, I took him to my arms and offered him my breast
he drank as much as he liked till he was satisfied, and his
‑brother did the same till he had enough. After that both of
slept, whereas before we could not sleep for our child wailing. Then
my husband approached our she‑camel, and lo! It was full.
Accordingly I milked it, and we both drank until we were satisfied and
filled, so that we had a good night. In the morning, my husband said,
“By Allah, Halima, you have brought a blessed soul.” I
replied “This is just what I hope for.” After that we departed. I
mounted my she‑ass with the infant, but the animal ran so fast
that the other donkeys were not able to keep up with it, and my
companions asked, “0 daughter of Abu Dhuayb, is not this the
same donkey on which you came?” I replied, “Yes. It is the
very same”, and they exclaimed, “There is something the matter
with it!” When we arrived at our habitation in the country of the
Banu Sad ‑ a more sterile land than which I do not know on the
earth of Allah ‑ our sheep met me in the evening, filled with
milk so that we had only to milk and drink, whereas others could not
milk a single drop. And those of those of our people who were present
said to their shepherds, “Woe toyou! Pasture where the shepherd of
the daughter of Abu Dhayb is pasturing.” Nevertheless their sheep
returned in the morning hungry, without a drop of milk, and my sheep
were filled with milk.
“In this manner we continued to receive from Allah increase
benefits for two years; then I weaned the boy and he had become strong
as no other boys had. We returned him to his mother, although we were
anxious that he should remain with us since we had seen the blessing
he brought. I asked his mother to leave him with us to grow fat, and
told her that I feared the climate and disease in
Mecca
might harm him. We did not cease to importune her until she
allowed us to take him back.
“It was not longer than a month after our return that his
milk-brother came running to me and his father, saying, “Two men
dressed in white garments have taken hold of my brother, and have
thrown him on the ground. They ripped open his belly, and are
squeezing him.” I and his foster‑father hastened out and found
him standing apparently unharmed but with his countenance quite
altered. We questioned him, and he said, “Two men dressed in white
garments came to me, who threw me down, opened my abdomen and searched
in it for I know not what.” We returned with him to our tent, and
his foster‑father said to me, “0 Halima! I fear something has
happened to the boy. Carry him to his family ere the injury
becomes apparent!”
‘Accordingly, we took him back to his mother, who asked,
“What has brought you here, when you were so anxious that he should
remain with you?” I replied, “Allah has caused my son to grow and
I have done my duty, but I feared that something might befall him and
therefore I have brought him back to you as you desired.” She said,
“Such is not the case! Tell me the truth about it.” And she would
not let me alone until I had told her everything. Then she asked,
“Are you afraid that he is possessed by Satan?” and I replied,
“Yes.” She said, “No, by Allah! Satan has no access to him,
because something great is the matter with my son. Shall I tell you
about it? While I was pregnant with him, I saw a light issuing from me
and, by Allah, I could not have had a pregnancy which was easier or
lighter than this. When he was born, he placed his hands on the ground
and raised his head to heaven. Do not trouble yourself about him, and
return home.” ‘
Later, the apostle of Allah himself described what had happened.
‘Whilst I and my milk brother were pasturing some animals in the
rear of our house, two men came to us dressed in white garments and
bearing a golden platter full of snow. They took hold of me, opened my
belly, extracted my heart, split it open and took out of it a black
lump of blood which they threw away. Then they washed my heart and
belly with snow, until they had purified them. Then one of them said
to his companion, “Weigh him against one hundred of his people.”
And he weighed me with them, but I proved heavier than they. Then he
said, “Weigh him with one thousand of his people.” This he also
did, and I was again found more heavy. After that he said, “Leave
him; for if you were to weigh him against his whole nation, he would
outweigh it.” ‘ Later, the apostle of Allah was in the habit of
saying that there was not a prophet who had not pastured sheep.
According
to their traditions, the people believe ‑ but Allah knows best
‑ that when his nurse brought him back to
Mecca
, she lost him amongst the crowd while she was taking him to his
family. She searched, but could not find him again, and she
went his grandfather, Abdul‑Muttalib, and said, ‘I have
arrived this night with Muhammad, but while I was in the upper part of
the city he strayed from me, and I know not where he is.’ The
grandfather of Muhammad stood up near the Kaba and prayed to Allah to
restore the boy, and it is believed that he was found by two men of
his own tribe who brought him to Abdul‑Muttalib with the words,
‘Here is your son. We found him in the upper of
Mecca
.’ Then his grandfather took him and, making him ride on his back,
walked round the Kaba, recommending him to Allah and praying for him.
After that he sent him to his mother, Amina.
The apostle of Allah and his mother and his grandfather were
under the protection and keeping of Allah, and the boy grew a
prosperous plant on account of the grace for which He had predestined
him. When the apostle had attained his sixth year his mother Amina
died in the place called Abwa, between
Mecca
and
Medina
, when she was returning to
Mecca
with him from a visit to his uncles. The apostle of Allah remained
with his grandfather, Abdul‑Muttalib.
It was usual to place a bed for Abdul‑Muttalib in the
shade of the Kaba, around which his sons sat until he arrived; none of
his sons ventured to sit on the bed, from respect towards him. Once
the apostle of Allah, who was a plump boy, came and sat on it, and
they pushed him away. When Abdul‑Muttalib saw this, he
said, ‘Let my son alone! By Allah, he will become something
great.’ Then he made the boy sit down by his side on the bed, and
allowed him to stroke his back with his hands, and whatever he did
pleased Abdul‑Muttalib. But when the apostle of Allah had
attained his eighth year his grandfather died.
AbduI‑Muttalib
had been the acknowledged leader of the Quraysh tribe, guardians of
the holy city of
Mecca
. When he died none of his many sons was influential enough to succeed
him and leadership and influence began to pass to the descendants of
his cousin, Umayya, who had long been envious of the power wielded by
Abdul‑Muttalib.
After the death of his grandfather, the apostle of Allah lived
with his uncle Abu Talib, to whose care Abdul‑Muttalib is
believed to have entrusted him because Abu Talib and the father of the
apostle were brothers by the same father and mother.
A soothsayer came once to
Mecca
to prophesy to the Quraysh and they brought their sons to him to hear
his prophecies. Abu Talib visited this man, who looked at the apostle
of Allah, but was then diverted from him. When the soothsayer was
again at leisure, he asked for the boy and wanted to see him; but when
Abu Talib perceived the man’s anxiety he took his nephew away. The
soothsayer exclaimed, ‘Woe to you! Bring back the boy whom I have
just seen; for, by Allah, he will have high dignity.’ But Abu Talib
would not return.
On another occasion Abu Talib went with a caravan on a trading
journey to
Syria
. When he was about to depart the apostle of Allah clung to him, and
it is believed that Abu Talib was so touched by this that he
exclaimed, ‘By Allah! I shall take him with me, and we shall never
be separated from each other.’ Accordingly he took the boy with him.
Now, at Busra, in
Syria
, there was a monk named Bahira who was of the Christian faith. He had
always lived in the same hermitage, which possessed a book ‑ for
the instruction of the monks ‑ which was passed down and was
always kept by the oldest among them. When the caravan encamped in the
vicinity of Bahira’s hermitage ‑ and they had previously often
passed by without his speaking or presenting himself to them ‑
he prepared a great deal of food for them, reputedly because of
something he had seen whilst in his cell. It was said that, from his
hermitage, he had seen the apostle of Allah in the caravan, and that
as the caravan approached a cloud hung over the apostle of Allah. When
the caravan arrived the people halted under a tree near the cell of
the hermit, and he saw the cloud overshadow the tree, and the branches
bent themselves over the apostle of Allah so protect him. When Bahira
saw this he came down from his cell and ordered food to be prepared.
When it was ready he sent the following message to the people of the
caravan, ‘I have made a dinner for you, o ye Quraysh people. I
should like you all to come, the small and the big, the bondmen and
the free! One man among them replied, ‘By Allah, Bahira! There is
something the matter with you today, because you have not acted thus
with us before, though we passed often near you! What is the matter
with you now? Bahira replied, ‘You have spoken the truth. But you
are guests and I should like to honour you, and give a dinner to all
of you.’ Accordingly they all assembled, but the apostle of Allah
remained under the tree, because of his extreme youth, with the
baggage of the people. When Bahira looked around and missed him, he
said, ‘O, ye Quraysh people! Leave no one of you behind, deprived of
my food.’ They replied, ‘No one who ought to come has remained
behind, except a boy, and he is the youngest of the people and
therefore has been left with our baggage.’ Bahira said, ‘Do not
treat him in this way, but call him to dine with you,’ and one of
the Quraysh exclaimed, ‘I swear by al-.Lat and by al‑Uzza that
we are at fault for excluding the son of Abdullah from partaking with
us of this dinner!” Then he went to him, brought him in his arms,
and seated him among the people. When Bahira saw him he scrutinized
him closely and examined him to find the signs lie sought.
When the people had finished eating and dispersed Bahira
addressed the apostle of Allah as follows, ‘I adjure you by
al‑Lat at‑Uzza; answer the questions I shall ask.’ (Bahira
used these words because he had heard the Quraysh swearing by these
two idols.) It is said that the apostle of Allah
replied, ‘Do not ask me by a]‑Lat and by al‑Uzza; for,
by Allah, I have never hated anything more intensely than these
two.’ Bahira continued, I adjure you by Allah to answer what I shall
ask’, and the apostle of Allah said, ‘Ask me what thou wilt.’
Accordingly he put to him various questions about his state
during sleep, and his condition and
circumstances, to which the apostle of Allah gave replies which agreed
with what Bahira expected of him. Then Bahira looked on his back and
discovered the seal of prophecy between his shoulders.
After he had examined the boy, Bahira went to Abu Talib and
asked, ‘What is this boy to you?’ He replied, ‘My son! Bahira
rejoined, ‘He is not your son, nor is there any need for this boy to
have a father living.’ Abu Talib said, ‘He is the son of my
brother’, and Bahira asked, ‘What has become of his father?’
When Abu Talib replied, ‘He died whilst the boy’s mother was
pregnant with him’, Bahira said, ‘You have spoken the truth.
Return with your nephew to his country, and guard him from the Jews;
for, by Allah, if they see him and know about him what I know, they
will try to injure him, because something very great will happen to
this nephew of yours. Therefore make haste to return with him to his
country.’ Accordingly his uncle departed quickly with the apostle of
Allah and took him to
Mecca
as soon as he had finished his trading in
Syria
.
According to the legend current among the people, three
Christians or Jews named Zurayr, Tammam, and Daris, had the same
information about the apostle of Allah as Bahira had. When they saw
the boy during this same journey with his uncle Abu Talib, and
contemplated doing him some harm, Bahira warned them against it and
reminded them of God and of the description they would find in the
scriptures; he said, too, that even if they persisted in their
intention they could not carry it out. At last they understood and
believed what he said, and they departed.
The apostle of Allah grew ‑ Allah protecting, keeping and
guarding him from the abominations of idolatry, having predestined
him to become His apostle and the recipient of His grace ‑ till
he became the most excellent man of his people, the most agreeable in
behaviour, the most noble in descent, the finest in neighbourly
feeling, the greatest in meekness, and the most truthful in utterance;
the greatest in fidelity, the furthest from wickedness and from acts
which pollute; so exalted and noble that he was called among his
people ‘the faithful’, because of the good qualities Allah had
bestowed upon him.
The apostle of Allah later told how Allah had preserved him in
his childhood and state of innocence, saying, ‘I was among Quraysh
boys and we were carrying stones for some play. We were all naked, and
every boy had placed his ezar [loincloth] around his neck to
carry stones in it, and I had done the same as . When I was thus
moving about, some Being whom I did see struck me a fearful blow and
exclaimed, “Bind on thy ezar “; accordinglyl I girded
myself therewith, and thus carried the stones on my neck, I being the
only one among my companions who wore his ezar.’
The War of the
Wicked broke out when the apostle of Allah was twenty years old, and
it was called Wicked because during the sacred month two tribes, the
Kinana and the Qays Aylan, considered it right to do what was not
right at such a time. The Quraysh, after the sacred month, went to the
aid of their allies, the Kinana. The apostle of Allah was taken out by
his uncles during one battle to witness the fight, and he afterwards
said, “I was arrowing to my uncles, that is to say, I brought them
the arrows, which the enemies had shot against them.’
2-
Khadija
When the apostle of Allah was twenty‑five years old he
married Khadija, a rich and noble merchant‑woman who engaged men
to sell her merchandise and allowed them part of the profits; the
Quraysh was a trading tribe. She had heard of the veracity, honesty,
and excellence of the apostle of Allah, and sent for him to propose
that he take some of her goods to
Syria
as a trader. She promised to allow him a larger profit than other
merchants, to send with him her male slave, Maysara. The apostle of
the offer and departed with the goods and the slave.
On his arrival in
Syria
the apostle of Allah alighted in the shade of a tree near the
hermitage of a monk, who approached Maysara and asked, ‘Who is this
man under the tree?’ Maysara replied, ‘This man is one of the
Quraysh from the sacred city.’ And the monk said, ‘Under this tree
no one ever alighted except a prophet.’
Then the apostle of
Allah sold the goods he had, purchased others and returned with
Maysara to
Mecca
. It is said that
Maysara saw, at noon during this return journey
when the heat was strong, two angels shading the apostle of Allah from
the sun while he rode on his camel. When he arrived at
Mecca
and came to Khadija with his goods, she sold them and found their
value doubled or almost so. Maysara, too, informed her of what the
monk had said, and what he had seen of the two angels shading the
apostle; and Khadija ‑ who was an intelligent, noble and good
woman, predestined to great favour by Allah ‑ sent for the
apostle of Allah and spoke the following words: 'O son of my uncle! I
have taken a liking to you on account of our relationship, your
respectability among the people, your honesty, character and
veracity.' Then she offered herself to him for a wife. She was at that
time the most honoured woman among the Quraysh because of her lineage,
the highest in nobility, and the richest in property; for this
everybody envied her. When she had made this proposal to the apostle
of Allah he mentioned it to his uncles, and his uncle, Hamza, went
with him to her father, whom he asked for her; and he married her. The
apostle of Allah gave her twenty young camels for a dowry. She was the
first wife he married, and he never married another until she died.
Khadija
bore to the apostle of Allah all his children except Ibrahim. She gave
birth to al‑Qasim, and to al‑Tayyib, to alTahir, to
Ruqayya, to Zaynab, to Umm Kulthum and to
Fatima
. Al‑Qasim, al‑Tayyib and al‑Tahir died during
'ignorance' [before the promulgation of Islam], but all the daughters
of the apostle of Allah lived to see the establishment of Islam, made
profession of it, and emigrated with him to Medina.
Khadija
told her cousin, Waraqa, who was a Christian well versed in sacred and
profane literature, what Maysara had related of the conversation of
the monk and what he had seen of the two angels shading the apostle of
Allah, and Waraqa replied, 'If this be true, o Khadija, then Muhammad
is the prophet of his people. I know that a prophet is expected at
this time.'
Waraqa had been one of the men of the Quraysh
known as the 'four inquirers', who had gone in search of the true
religion of Abraham. This happened in the following manner:
Some decades earlier the Quraysh had begun to
establish the of 'The Hums', which imposed acceptance of Quraysh
priority over the other Arab tribes. 'We are the sons of Abraham, men
of honour, governors of the house of Allah, inhabitants of
Mecca
. No Arab has such virtue as we, nor such dignity as we. No man of the
Quraysh should honour territory which is secular in the way he honours
that which is sacred. For if he does so the Arabs will slight his
honour, and will say of the Quraysh, "They have honoured that
which is profane [outside the sacred limits] in the same way as that
which is sacred [within .the sanctuary of the holy
territory
of
Mecca
]." ' Accordingly the Quraysh abandoned certain holy ordinances
of pilgrimage enjoined by the religion of Abraham, saying: 'We are the
inhabitants of the sacred city of
Mecca
and it is not proper for us to leave
it and honour another place as we honour
Mecca
. We are the Hums, the people of the sacred place.' But they imposed
the ordinances on all other Arabs born either without or within the
limits of
Mecca
.
They next invented new
observances for themselves. They announced that it was not proper for
the Hums to prepare eqth [milk
be dried and reduced to powder], to
melt fat, or to enter a camel‑hair tent whilst they were in a
state of purity and sanctity [performing the ceremonies of the
pilgrimage]. They added even to these rules, saying that persons who
had come from outside the sacred city ought not to eat food they had
brought in with them, whether they came as pilgrims or visitors. The
pilgrims’ first circuit of the Kab a should be made in dress
provided by the Hums, or, if such could not be procured, in no dress
at all; but rich men or women unwilling to do either could walk around
the temple in the garments in which they had arrived, provided they
afterwards threw them away and neither touched them any more nor
allowed anyone else to touch them. The Arabs were induced to agree to
this and made the circuit of the Kaba, the men naked, and the women
clad only in an open cassock.
One day, when the Quraysh
held a festival near one of the stone idols which they honoured, for
which they slaughtered sacrifices, near which they assiduously prayed,
and around which they walked in procession, four men (one of whom was
Waraqa) separated from the rest, saying one to another: 'Will we make
a covenant of mutual friendship and protection?' And each said,
'Indeed we will! Our people have no religion! They have lost the
religion of their father Abraham! What worth has a stone that it
should be walked around, which can neither hear nor see anything,
neither hurt nor profit anyone? O ye Quraysh, seek a religion for
yourself, for, by Allah, you have none whatever.'
And the four dispersed to
various countries to seek the religion of Abraham. Waraqa decided on
Christianity and followed the books of its teachers until he had
obtained knowledge of the scripture. Ubaydullah remained in doubt
until, after the revelation, he made profession of Islam and went to
Abyssinia
; but when he arrived there he became a Christian and died thus, after
having renounced Islam.
The third, Uthman, went to
Byzantium
, where he became a Christian and attained high office.
The fourth man, Zayd,
became neither Jew nor Christian, although he renounced the religion
of the Quraysh and abandoned idols, blood, and sacrifices slain for
idols, and condemned the burying alive of female infants. He said, 'I
worship the Lord of Abraham', and, when he was a very old man, was to
be seen leaning with his back against the Kaba, saying, 'O ye Quraysh
people! I swear by Him in whose hand the life of Zayd is, there is not
one among you of the religion of Abraham, except myself. O Allah ! If
I knew which way is most pleasing to Thee, I would worship Thee
according to it, but I do not know it.' He set forth in search of the
religion of Abraham and made inquiries from monks and Jewish priests.
He passed through Mesopotamia, and then wandered through the whole of
Syria
until he found a monk in whom the knowledge of Christianity was
concentrated. Him he asked about the orthodox religion of Abraham, and
the monk replied, 'You are in search of a religion to which no one can
guide you at present; but the time is at hand when a prophet will
arise in your country; he will be sent with the religion of Abraham.
Adopt it, for he comes now, and this is the time.'
Shortly
after this Zayd departed for
Mecca
, but he was attacked and died by the way.
When the apostle of Allah was thirty‑five years old some
evil men stole the treasure which was kept in a well inside the Kaba.
The treasure was found again in the possession of a manumitted slave,
and the Quraysh cut off his hands, although they believed others had
stolen the treasure and merely left it with the slave.
The
Quraysh now felt it necessary to rebuild the Kaba and roof it
in, but they were afraid to demolish it, because there was a
serpent which always came up to the wall to warm itself. The people
feared it because when anyone approached it raised itself, hissed and
opened its mouth. One day, however, whilst it was warming itself as
usual in the sun on the wall, Allah sent a bird which snatched it up
and flew off with it. Thereon the Quraysh said: 'Allah must
approve of our intention. We have a workman,
we. possess wood. and Allah has
delivered us from the serpent.”
They were now firmly determined to pull down the
Kaba and build it up again, and Abu Wahb rose and took a stone
from the Kaba. But the stone leapt from his hand and returned to its
place, and he exclaimed: 'O ye Quraysh people! In the building of the
Kaba, do not employ any of your goods unless they be of righteous origin;
do not use in it the profit of iniquity, nor of usurious sale, nor of
injustice towards any man.'
The Quraysh had decided
that different parts of the Kaba should be demolished by different
sections of the community, but the people were still afraid to destroy
the edifice. Then al-Walid said: 'I shall make a beginning for you',
and he took up a pickaxe,stood up before the Kaba and declared: 'O
Allah! Let us not be afraid! We want only what is good”. Then he
began to pull down the wall between the two buttresses. But the people
waited that night, saying: 'We shall see; and if anything happens to
al‑Walid, we shall not demolish it, but leave it as it was; but
if nothing befalls him, Allah is pleased with what we have done
demolition.' The next morning al‑Walid continued his work of
demolition, and the people aided him till they reached the
foundations. In the buttress they found an inscription in Syriac, and
knew not what it meant until a Jew read it for them. It was as
follows: 'I am Allah, the lord of
Mecca
! I created it when I created the heavens and the earth, when I
fashioned the sun and the moon, and I have appointed over it seven
angels;
Mecca
will not perish until its two hills perish! It will be blessed to its
inhabitants in water and milk!” When they reached the foundations
they found them to be green boulders adhering together like a single
stone, and when a man of the Quraysh inserted a lever to separate the
boulders, the whole of
Mecca
began to shake; so the people touched the foundation no more.
The
groups of Quraysh now collected stones for the rebuilding, each
group gathering separately, and they built until they reached the spot
for the ruku [the sacred black stone]. Then all the people
quarrelled, because each group wished the honour of lifting the stone
into place; so bitter were the quarrels that the groups made alliances
and prepared to fight. One group produced a dish filled with blood
and entered into a covenant unto death with another group by dipping
their hands into the dish ‑they were therefore called
blood‑lickers. The situation remained thus for four or five
nights; then the Quraysh assembled in the mosque to consult and reach
a decision, and the oldest man among them said at last, 'Why not let
he who next enters through the door of this mosque be the arbiter in
this quarrel, and let him decide it?' They agreed, and the first man
who entered was the apostle of Allah. And they said, 'This is the
faithful one! We agree that he shall judge.' When he came near they
told him of the problem and he said, 'Bring me a cloak'. When they had
brought one, he placed the ruku [black stone] in it with his
own hands, saying, 'Let every group take hold of a part of the cloak.'
Then all of them lifted it together, and when they reached the spot,
the apostle placed it in position with his own hands, and the building
was continued over it.
Thus matters stood when
Allah sent for Muhammad, His prophet, and revealed to him His religion
and the proper usages of the pi 1grimage.
'Therefore go [ye Quraysh] in procession as the people [the other
Arabs] go in procession, and ask pardon from Allah; because Allah is
forgiving and merciful.' As for the prohibitions invented by the
Quraysh concerning cooking, dress, the circuit of the Kaba, and food
brought from beyond the sacred territory, Allah revealed the
following: 'O children of Adam! Wear decent apparel at every place of
worship, and eat, and
drink but be not
prodigal, for He loveth not
prodigals. Say, who has forbidden the decent apparel of Allah which He
has brought forth for His servants, and the good things of His
providing? Say,
these benefits, especially on the day of resurrection
shall be
for those who were believers during their present life”.
Thus, when Allah established Islam by sending his apostle, he
set aside the observances the Quraysh had invented for their own
people.
3-
The Revelation
As
the time approached for the revelation of the apostle, Jewish priests
and Christian monks discussed prophecies concerning the event
contained in their sacred books and inherited from their own
prophets.
One day, according to an
Arab tribesman, 'I was lying in the courtyard of our family house and
a Jew who conducted business with us told us of the day of judgement,
the resurrection, the reckoning, of paradise and of hell. We who were
idolaters had no knowledge of the resurrection, and said, "Woe be
unto you! Do you think it possible that men will be raised up after
death in a place where there is a paradise and a hell, and in which
they will be requited according to their acts?" And he assured
us, by Him who is sworn by, that he would prefer to be cast into the
greatest oven in this world, scorching though it might be and sealed
tight, rather than face the torments of hell in the next. My kinsmen
said, "What will be the sign?" and he replied, "A
prophet will arise in the direction of this country", and pointed
towards
Mecca
and
Yemen
. They asked, "When will this happen?" and, looking at me,
the youngest of the people, he said, "When this boy's life
attains maturity he will see him." And by Allah, not a day nor a
night passed after that until the time when sent his apostle to live
among us during which we did not expect his arrival. But when it came,
that refractory and envious Jew refused to become a believer, even
after the apostle had promulgated Islam, and we said, "Woe be to
you! Did you not yourself inform us about the prophet?" And he
replied, "Indeed! But not about this one!" '
There
was also a Syrian Jew who paid a visit to the Banu Quraysa,a Jewish
tribe, several years before the establishment of Islam and settled
down among them; and many later said had never seen a man who did not
recite five prayers daily [i.e. was not a Muslim] of a better
character than he. He remained with them, and when they suffered from
drought they said to him, 'Come, and procure us water!' After
being paid with dates and barley, he went out into the fields and
prayed to Allah for rain and did not move until clouds came and
drenched him. This he did not once, twice or thrice, but many times.
As his death approached, he said, 'Why do you think I came away from
the land of abundance to the land of misfortune and famine? I have
come to this country to await the arrival of a prophet, whose time is
near at hand; and it is to this country that he will flee. I hoped
he would be sent during my lifetime, that I might follow him. His time
is near at hand. Do not allow others to forestall you in believing
in his mission; for he will be sent to shed the blood, and to capture
the children and women, of those who oppose him; but let not this
hinder you from following him.' Years later, when the apostle of Allah
besieged the Banu Qurayza, the friends of the dead Jew said, 'By
Allah! This is the prophet foretold to us. This is he according to his
description!
They accordingly came down from their fort, made profession of Islam,
and thus preserved their lives, their property and families.
Like
the Jews and Christians, the Arab soothsayers also spoke coming of the
coming of an apostle, but their people paid no heed until Allah
actually sent him, when, the prophecies made by the soothsayers having
been fulfilled, the people became aware of their significance.
Whereas the Jews and Christians
culled their
prophecies from scripture,
the Arab soothsayers received their foreknowledge of most events from
the djinns, spirits of the air who stole information by listening
close to heaven. But when the coming of the apostle was close at hand
meteors from heaven were hurled at all the djinns and they were driven
away from the places where they used to sit and listen; and they
realized that this was by the command of Allah.
The
first Arabs to be struck with fear at the sight of the shooting
stars ‑ for that was how the meteors thrown at the djinns
appeared on earth ‑ went to the wisest man of their tribe and
said, 'Have you seen what happened in the sky and the falling of some
of the stars?' He replied, 'If the stars thrown down were those which
serve as signs and guides by land and sea, those by which the seasons
of summer and winter are defined and by which the various affairs of
mankind are regulated, then by Allah the world has come to an end with
all the people thereof; but if those stars remain in their places and
it is others which have been hurled down, then Allah has a different
intention and does not mean to destroy creation.'
Afterwards,
the apostle of Allah asked some men of
Medina
what had been said there about the falling stars and was told: 'We
said, "A king has died or has begun to reign; a child has been
born, or has died." ' The apostle of Allah replied: 'It was not
so. When Allah reaches any decision concerning His people He is heard
by the bearers of His throne, who praise Him; and this praise is taken
up by the angels below them, and by others still further below; and
the praise continues to descend until it reaches the sky of this
world, where other angels also praise. Then these ask each other why
they praise, and the question ascends gradually till it reaches the
bearers of the throne. They then, tell of the decree of Allah
concerning His people, and the news travels down by degrees until it
reaches the heaven of this world, where the angels discuss it. But the
evil djinns, who used to listen to such discussions by stealth,
sometimes misheard, and what they retailed to soothsayers on earth was
sometimes true and sometimes false. The soothsayers also conversed
about these matters, some giving true and some false accounts. So,
when the coming of the apostle was being discussed by the angels,
Allah foiled the evil djinns by hurling meteors, and from that time
onwards an end was made to soothsayers.'
For
some time the mind of Muhammad had been in a state of ferment. The
religious aspect, however, was not without political overtones, as can
be seen in the parts of the Koran dating
From
this period: and an imperfect understanding of Christianity and
Judaism coloured the beginnings (and, indeed, the later development of
the new religion in his mind.
At the start of his mission, Muhammad saw himself as the latest in the
line of prophets which began with Moses and ended with Jesus of
Nazareth
.
When
Muhammad was forty years old Allah sent him as a prophet of mercy to
the people of the visible and of the invisible worlds, and to all
mankind.
With
every prophet whom
Allah had sent before the time of Muhammad, He had made a covenant,
binding each of them to the coming of Muhammad, to declare him a true
apostle, to aid him against every opponent, and to testify to every
man who believed in
the truth of their own prophetic missions that the mission of Muhammad
was still to come. They complied, according to His command, and spread
the covenant of Allah to all who believed in them, so that many men
who believed in the Old or the New Testament believed also in the
truth of this covenant.
According to his wife, the
first prophetic sign shown by the apostle of Allah
‑ after Allah determined to
honour him and, through him, to show mercy to His servants ‑
took the form of true visions. That is to say, the apostle of Allah
never had a vision in his sleep; instead, it came like the break of
day. She also said that Allah made him love solitude, so that he loved
nothing more than to be alone.
When
Allah had
determined on the coming of the apostle of Allah, Muhammad went out on
some business at such a distance that he left human
habitation behind and came to
deep valleys. He did not pass by a
stone or a tree but it said 'Salutation to thee,
o apostle of Allah!” The apostle turned to his
right, to his left, and looked behind, but saw nothing except trees
and stones. Thus he remained for some time looking and listening, till
Gabriel came to him with that revelation which the grace of Allah was
to bestow upon him when he was at Hira during the month of Ramadan.
Every year the apostle of Allah spent a month praying at Hira
and fed the poor who came to him; and when he returned to
Mecca
he walked round the Kaba seven or more times, as it pleased Allah,
before entering his own house. In the month of Ramadan, in the year
when Allah designed to bestow grace upon him, the apostle of Allah
went to Hira as usual, and his family accompanied him. In the night
the angel Gabriel came with the command of Allah. The apostle of Allah
later said, 'He came while I was asleep, with a cloth of brocade
whereon there was writing, and he said, "Read." I replied,
"I cannot read it." Then he pressed the cloth on me till I
thought I was dying; he released his hold and said, "Read."
I replied, "I cannot read it." And he pressed me again with
it, till I thought I was dying. Then he loosed his hold of me and
said, "Read." I replied, "I cannot read it." Once
more he pressed me and said, "Read." Then I asked,
"What shall I read?" And I said this because I feared he
would press me again. Then he said, "Read in the name of the Lord
thy creator; who created man from a drop of blood. Read, thy Lord is
the most bountiful, who taught by means of the pen, taught man what he
knew not." Accordingly I read these words, and he had finished
his task and departed from me. I awoke from my sleep, and felt as if
words had been graven on my heart.'
This reading is, in fact, recorded in the
Koran. From this point on in the text, every revelation from Allah
appears in the wording of a Sura (chapter) or verse in the Koran, the
Muslim bible which is neither more nor less than a compilation of the
revelations vouchsafed by Allah to Muhammad. Appearing here as they
do in the context of the events to which they refer, these revelations
are ‑ in spite of their inspirational overtones ‑ a
logical reflection of what was happening at the time.
Afterwards I went out, and
when I was on the centre of the mountain, I heard a voice from
heaven, saying, "O Muhammad!Thou art the prophet of Allah, and I
am Gabriel." I raised my head to look at the sky, and lo! I
beheld Gabriel in the shape of a man with extended wings, standing in
the firmament, with his feet touching the ground. And he said
again, "O Muhammad! Thou art the apostle of Allah, and I am
Gabriel." I continued to gaze at him, neither advancing nor
retreating. Then I turned my face away from him to other parts of the
sky, but in whatever direction I looked I saw him in the same form. I
remained thus neither advancing nor retreating, and Khadija sent messengers
to search for me. They went as far as the highest part of
Mecca
and again returned to her, while I remained standing on the same spot,
until the angel departed from me and I returned to my family.
When
I came to Khadija I narrated to her what I had seen, and she
said, "Be of good cheer and comfort thyself ! I swear by him
whose hand the life of Khadija is, that I hope thou wilt be the
prophet of this nation!" Then she rose, collected her garments
around her and departed to Waraqa.' She described to him what the
apostle of Allah had seen and heard, and Waraqa exclaimed, 'Holy!
Holy! I swear to Him in whose hands the life of Waraqa is that the law
of Moses has been bestowed on him and he is the prophet of this
nation! Tell him to stand firm.' Khadija then returned to the apostle
of Allah and informed him of what Waraqa had said.
When the apostle of Allah
ended his sojourn at Hira he departed to
Mecca
and went first round the Kaba as was his habit. And he was met by
Waraqa, who said, 'Thou wilt be accused of falsehood, thou wilt be
persecuted, exiled, and attacked.' Then Waraqa bent his head towards
the apostle and kissed him on the crown of the head, and the
apostle of Allah departed to his house.
But the
revelations were not continued and the apostle became much
downcast, until Gabriel came to him with a message from Allah saying
that He had not abandoned Muhammad; 'By brightness, and by the night
when it is dark, thy Lord has not forsaken nor hated thee, and the
next life will be better for thee than the first. The Lord will give
thee victory in this world and reward in the next. Did He not find
thee an orphan and procure thee shelter? He found thee erring and
guided thee; He found thee needy and enriched thee.' The message to
Muhammad continued: 'Declare the goodness of thy Lord; declare what
has come to thee from Allah, and declare His bounty and grace in thy
mission; mention it, record it, and pray for manifestations of it.'
Accordingly the apostle of Allah began, at first in secret to those of
his family whom he trusted, to promulgate the gospel bestowed by Allah
on him, and on mankind through his agency.
Prayer
was made an ordinance to Muhammad, and accordingly he prayed. The
apostle of Allah was first commanded to make two prayer‑flexions
[prostrations] for every prayer, but later Allah commanded four
prayer‑flexions for those who were at home, although He
confirmed the first ordinance of two prayer flexions for those who
were on a journey.
When
prayer was made obligatory to the apostle of Allah, Gabriel came to
him when he was in the highest part of
Mecca
, and spurred his heel into the ground towards the valley; a spring
gushed forth and Gabriel performed religious ablutions. The apostle of
Allah observed how purification for prayers was to be made, and washed
himself likewise. Then Gabriel rose and prayed, and the apostle of
Allah did so after him, and then Gabriel departed. When the apostle of
Allah came to Khadija he performed the religious ablution in her
presence to show her how purity was attained, just as Gabriel had
done. And she, too, washed as she had been shown. Then the apostle
prayed as Gabriel had prayed, and Khadija prayed after him.
Then
Gabriel came to him and held noon‑prayers when the sun passed
the zenith; and prayed the afternoon prayers with him when his shadow
was the same length as his own body. Then he prayed the sunset prayers
when the sun disappeared, and the last evening prayer when the
twilight disappeared. Next day he held morning prayers with the
apostle at dawn; then the midday prayers when the shadow was one with
him; and the afternoon prayers when it was twice as long as he; then
the sunset orisons when the sun disappeared, as on the preceding day.
Then he
Prayed with him the last
evening prayers when the first third of the night had elapsed, and
lastly the morning prayers, when the morning dawned but the sun had
not yet risen. Then he said, 'O Muhammad! The time of prayer is
between thy prayers of yesterday and today.'
The
first man to believe in the apostle of Allah, to pray with him t his
prophetic mission, was Ali, who at that time was ten years old. Even
before Islam, Allah had favoured him by allowing him to live under the
protection of the apostle of Allah. The Quraysh had been visited by
severe famine, and, as Abu Talib had a numerous family, the apostle of
Allah went to another uncle, al‑Abbas ‑ who was
among the wealthiest of the tribe and said, 'Your brother Abu Talib
has a large family and you must be aware from what scarcity the people
are suffering. Come therefore with me, and we shall ease him of his
burden. I shall take one of his sons, and do you take another under
your care? Al-Abbas agreed, and they went to Abu Talib and said, “We
wish to alleviate your troubles until the people are released from
their distress.' Accordingly, the apostle of Allah took Ali and
pressed him to his heart, and al‑Abbas took Jafar.
Ali
remained with the apostle of Allah and followed him, believed
in him, and accepted the truth of his doctrines. When the time of
prayer was at hand, the apostle of Allah habitually went out to the
valleys of
Mecca
, and took Ali with him, unknown to his father Abu Talib or to his
people; and they prayed together and returned in the evening. This
continued for some time, until one day Abu Talib happened to discover
them at prayer and asked the apostle of Allah, 'What religion is this
I see you practising?'
'This is the religion of
Allah, and of His angels, of , and of our father Abraham. Allah has
sent me with this religion, as an apostle to His servants; and you, my
uncle, are the most worthy on whom I could bestow advice and invitation
to guidance; you are the most worthy to comply in it and to aid
me therein.' But Abu Talib said, 'I cannot abandon the religion
of my forefathers and what they believed in; but no harm shall be done
to you as long as I live.' It is also said that he
asked Ali, 'What religion is this thou believest
in?' and Ali replied, 'I believe in the apostle of Allah, and that his
revelation is true. I pray with him, and I follow him.' His father
said, 'He has called thee only to what is good; therefore obey him.'
Next, Zayd, the manumitted
slave of the apostle of Allah, made his profession of Islam, being the
second man who did so. The youth Zayd had arrived from
Syria
as a slave, and the nephew of Khadija said to her, 'Select any of
these slaves you wish, as a present.' She chose Zayd and took him
away, but when the apostle saw him he asked for him. Khadija agreed,
and the apostle of Allah gave him his liberty and adopted him as his
son. (This was before the apostle had received the revelation.) Meanwhile,
the father of Zayd mourned‑for him and wept for his loss; but at
last he found his son with the apostle of Allah. The apostle said to
Zayd, 'Remain with me if you wish, or depart with your father if you
wish', and Zayd replied, 'I shall abide with you!' Accordingly he
never parted from the apostle until Allah bestowed his mission on him.
Zayd then professed Islam.
Next Abu Bakr, called
Assidiq ('The True'), made his profession of Islam, confessing it
publicly. The apostle of Allall later said, 'I have preached Islam to
no one who did not hesitate, consider, and contradict, save Abu Bakr,
who neither hesitated nor was perplexed.' Abu Bakr invited the people
to believe in Allah the most high and glorious, and in His apostle. He
was popular with his people, amiable, and compassionate, and was
unusually well acquainted with Quraysh genealogy, and with whatever
was good or evil therein. He was a merchant, of humane and kindly
disposition, so that the people of his tribe sought after his company
more than that of any other man, on account of his knowledge, his
scrupulous honesty, and his friendly conversation. He now invited to
Islam all the people who trusted in him, and associated with him.
At his invitation Uthman
made profession of Islam, as well as al‑Zubayr, Abdul‑Rahman,
Sad b. Abu Waqqas, and Talha. Abu Bakr went with them to the apostle
of Allah and they made their profession of Islam and prayed. These
eight men preceded all others in Islam; they prayed, they believed in
the apostle of Allah, and accepted as true the revelation which had
come to him from Allah. Soon several men and women had made their
profession of Islam and it was much discussed in
Mecca
. Then Allah commanded his apostle to make public the revelation and
to invite the people to accept it; hitherto, for the three years since
his first revelation, it had been kept secret by the apostle.
Allah said 'Publish that which thou hast been commanded, and turn away
from the idolaters.'
When the apostle began to
spread Islam among his people as Allah had commanded him, they did not
gainsay him until he began to abuse their idols; but when he had done
this, they accused him of seeking power, denied his revelation, and
united to injure him. The companions of the apostle of Allah went into
the valleys to pray, unknown to the people; and once, whilst Sad and
several companions of the apostle were at prayer, they were discovered
by idolaters who heaped insults upon them, condemned their deeds, and
provoked them to fight. Then Sad struck an idolater with the jawbone
of a camel, and wounded him; and this was the first blood shed in
Islam.
But Abu Talib, uncle of
the apostle, defended him. Several nobles of the Quraysh, including
Utba and Abu Sufyan, went to Abu Talib and said, 'Your nephew has
insulted our gods and condemned our religion. He considers our young
men to be fools, and our fathers to have erred. You must either
restrain him or allow us free action against him, since your religion
is the same as ours, opposed to his.' But the apostle continued to
preach the religion of Allah and to seek conversions, and the people
hated him. Again they went to Abu Talib and said, 'You are aged,
noble, and highly respected among us, and we have already asked
you to prohibit your nephew from offending us. But you have not
prohibited him, and, by Allah, we shall not overlook his insults
unless you guarantee his future good behaviour. Otherwise, we shall
fight both him and you.' After this they departed, and Abu
Talib was much grieved by the enmity of his tribe; but he could
not surrender or desert the apostle of Allah.
After this visit, Abu
Talib sent for the apostle and said, 'Consider my life and yours, and
do not burden me with what I cannot bear.' The apostle of Allah feared
from these words that his uncle, being too weak, had determined to
desert him and he replied, 'If they were to place the sun in my right
and the moon in my left hand, I would not abandon my mission.' Then
tears started in his eyes and he wept. But when he turned to depart
Abu Talib said, 'Nephew! Go, and speak what you wish. By Allah! I
shall never fail you.'
And the nobles went once
more to Abu Talib and offered him the brilliant youth Umara in
exchange for Muhammad, but he replied, 'It is a wicked thing you
propose, that you give me your son to feed, and I give you mine to
kill! This shall never be.'
Then
the Quraysh incited each other to enmity towards the companions of the
apostle of Allah, and persecuted them, and endeavoured to lead them
astray from their religion. But Allah protected His apostle and Abu
Talib, and Abu Talib gathered his friends around him.
When the season of pilgrimage was at hand, the
Quraysh assembled to agree on the attitude they should display about
the apostle. They asked, 'Shall we call him a soothsayer?' but
al‑Walid, the chief, replied, 'He is not a soothsayer. We have
seen soothsayers; he does not murmur and rhyme as they do.' They
continued, 'Then we shall say that he is possessed by djinns.' He
replied, 'He is not possessed. We have seen lunatics and know them. He
does not gasp, nor roll his eyes, nor mutter.' They said, 'Then we
shall say that he is a poet. 'Al‑Walid replied, 'He is not a
poet. We know all the poets and their styles. He is not a poet.' They
asked, 'Then what shall we say?' Al‑Walid replied, 'You cannot
say any of these things, for it will be known that they are false. The
best will be to say that he is a sorcerer, because he has come with
words which are sorcery and which separate a man from his father or
from his brother, or from his wife, or from his family.'
When the season of the
pilgrimage arrived, the Quraysh sat by the roadside and allowed no man
to pass without warning about Muhammad. And the Arab pilgrims
carried away from
Mecca
news of the apostle of Allah, so that his fame spread over the whole
country.
When Islam began to spread
in
Mecca
, the Quraysh imprisoned its believers or sought to turn them
away from Islam. The nobles sent for Muhammad in order to
justify themselves, and the apostle of Allah hastened to them in the
hope that they had conceived a favourable opinion of what he had told
them. But they only accused him once more of seeking riches and power.
This he denied, and reaffirmed his mission from Allah. Then they said,
'You know that no people are in greater want of land, of and of food
than we are. Ask the Lord who has sent you to take away these
mountains which confine us and to level out the country, to cause
rivers to gush forth like the rivers of
Syria
, resurrect our ancestors that we may ask them whether what you say is
true or false. If they declare you to be truthful and if you do what
we have asked, we shall believe you and shall know that Allah has
sent you to be an apostle.' He replied, 'I have not been sent to you
with this, but I have brought to you from Allah the revelation He has
sent. If you reject it, I appeal in this affair to Allah, that He
decide between me and you.'
They continued, 'Ask,
then, your Lord to send an angel to bear witness to your
veracity. Ask Him to give you gardens, and treasures of gold and
silver to enrich you; we know you go now to the markets to procure
food as we procure it. Then we shall know your rank and station with
Allah.' The apostle of Allah said, 'I shall not do this, nor ask for
this. I was not sent to you for this; but Allah has sent me as
a bearer of glad tidings and a preacher.'
They went on, 'Then cause
the heavens to fall upon us, for we shall not believe you unless you
do something miraculous.'
The apostle of
Allah replied, 'This is the choice of Allah! If He wishes He will do
it.' Then they said, 'We shall not cease to persecute you until
we destroy you or you destroy us. We shall not believe you until you
come with Allah and all the angels.'
So the apostle of Allah
returned home, sad and downcast with disappointment in his people and
their estrangement from him. When the apostle had left them, Abu Jahl
said, 'I now make a vow to Allah, that I shall wait for him tomorrow
with a stone as large as I can carry and when he prostrates himself in
prayer, I shall smash his head with it! After that you may either
surrender me or defend me.' They replied, 'We shall never surrender
you!' Next morning, Abu Jahl took a stone as he had said, and waited
for the apostle of Allah, who arrived and prayed as usual at
Mecca
with his face towards the Kaba and
Syria
beyond. Abu Jahl approached him; but suddenly he turned back and fled,
his countenance altered, so frightened that his hands could not hold
the stone. 'When I approached,' he said, 'a stallion‑camel
appeared before me with a skull, a collar bone, and teeth the like of
which I have never seen. It rushed to devour me.'
Later,
Utba, who was a prince among the Quraysh, said, 'Shall I speak to
Muhammad so that he may cease to trouble us?' They said, 'Yes, go and
speak to him.' So Utba went to Muhanimad, and said, 'You have
disturbed our concord; listen to my proposal and consider it, that you
may perchance accept a part thereof. If property be your desire in
this affair, we shall collect as much of it as will make you the
richest of us; but if dignity be your object, we shall make you our
prince so that no affair, will be decided without you; and if you want
to be a king, we shall make you our king; but if this be a spirit who
visits you and you are unable to repel it, we shall find a physician
for you and give him money till he cures you of it.' The apostle of
Allah listened and then recited to him a verse from the Koran, and
Utba returned to his companions, saying, 'I have heard words the like
of which I have never heard. This is neither poetry, nor sorcery, nor
soothsaying. Do not interfere with this man or his vocation but let
him alone. The words which I have heard will spread far and wide. If
others should kill him, you will be rid of him, but if he conquers the
Arabs, then his power will be your power, and
his glory your glory, so that you will through him become the
happiest of people.' But they thought him bewitched.
After
this, the Quraysh sent al‑Nadr, a bitter enemy of Muhammad, and
Uqba to the Jewish priests in Medina with instructions to ask about
the apostle, for they said the Jews 'are possessors of the first book
[the Pentateuch] and have knowledge about prophets which we have not'.
The Jewish priests told them, 'Ask him three questions which we shall
give you. If he answers them obey him, for he is a prophet; but if
not, then he is a pretender, and you may deal with him as you think
proper.”
Al-Nadr
and Uqba returned to Mecca and told the people what the priests had
said, and they said to the apostle, 'Inform us about the young men who
passed away in ancient times, because their case is wonderful;
tell us also about the traveller who went from the east to the west of
the earth, and tell us about the soul and what it is!'
The apostle of Allah replied: 'I shall tell you tomorrow.'
Two weeks, however, passed and the apostle
received no revelation from Allah and no visit from Gabriel, and the
people began to murmur against him. At last Gabriel came and the
apostle of Allah said, 'Thou hast remained away from me so long
that I became troubled by evil imaginings!' Gabriel 'We descend only
by command of thy Lord! To Him belongs the present, the past, and
whatever is between them. Nor is thy Lord ever forgetful.' And Gabriel
brought a revelation from Allah in the form of the Sura known as The
Cave. Part of the revelation contained a warning that 'We will
surely reduce whatever is on earth to dust and desolation. To Me you
must return, and I shall requite everyone according to his works; do
not therefore be distressed or grieved about what thou seest or
hearest on earth.'
Then Gabriel told the apostle the answer
concerning the young men whose case was wonderful. 'Verily they were
young believed in the Lord and We increased our guidance and We
fortified their hearts, and they said "Our Lord is the Lord of
heaven and earth, we shall invoke no other god him, for that would be
to utter sacrilege." And they took refuge in a cave from those
who worshipped idols; and thou mightest have seen the sun, when it
rose, pass from their cave to the right, and when it went down it left
them on the left hand, and they were in the centre thereof. This is
one of the signs of Allah that will satisfy thy questioners. An
onlooker would have thought the youths to be awake, though they were
sleeping; and their rulers said, "We shall build a place of
worship over them. " '
'And the men dwelt in
their cave three hundred years, and nine more. Say, "Allah knows
best how long they remained. He possesses the secret of the heavens
and of the earth. How well He sees and hears! They have no other
master besides Him, and He makes no one His associate in
judgment." '
Gabriel continued by
warning Muhammad: 'Say not of anything "I shall do this
tomorrow", without adding "If Allah willeth it".
Namely, never say as thou hast done in this instance "I shall
inform you tomorrow", but reserve the will of Allah. Remember thy
Lord if thou knowest not an answer, and say "Perhaps my Lord will
guide me to the information about which you have asked". Thou
knowest not what Allah will decide.
Then Gabriel told the
apostle of Dhul‑Qarnayn [possibly another name for Alexander the
Great], the traveller who was gifted like no other man, and to whom
the roads were opened so that he travelled to the east and the west,
even to a place where the people scarcely understood the sound of the
voice, and he built a rampart faced with molten brass.
'They will ask thee also
about the spirit. Say "The spirit stems from the command of my
Lord, and as to knowledge, ye have yet received but little of
it."
When the apostle of Allah
gave the people these replies, they were convinced of the truth of his
position as a prophet, but envy prevented them from following him, and
they continued in their unbelief, attempting to mock the apostle
because they feared they would be defeated in honest argument.
Whenever the apostle of Allah recited the
Koran aloud in his devotions, they refused to listen to him, save some
who approached secretly and stayed only as long as they were not observed
by the Quraysh. The injunction from Allah, 'Do not utter thy prayers
too loud nor too low, but keep a balance between them' was given the
apostle because of such men; prayer must not be too loud, or the
people would go away; and not too low, lest he who listened by stealth
and who might in some measure profit by it, would not be able to hear.
On a certain occasion,
however, when the companions of the apostle of Allah were assembled,
they said, 'The Quraysh have never heard this Koran publicly spoken.
Who is the man who will let them hear it?' Abdullah replied, I will!'
but they said, We fear they will injure you. It should be a man whose
people
can defend him against the
tribe.' Abdullah insisted, 'Let me do it.
Allah will protect me!' Accordingly, he made his appearenc e next morning at daylight, and spoke: 'In the name of Allah the
merciful, the compassionate! The merciful who taught the Koran”. The
Quraysh asked, 'What says that son of a slave-woman?
Then they leapt up and belaboured him, but he continued to
recite as much of the Koran as Allah willed, and afterwards returned
to his companions. 'The enemies of Allah never seemed to me to be more
despicable than now,' he said. If you wish,I shall serve them in the
same way tomorrow!' But they said, 'Let it suffice! You have caused
them to hear what they dislike”.
The followers of Muhammad
were often subjected to torture and some gave up their belief through
weakness, some because of their great sufferings; but others were
protected and strengthened by Allah so that they remained steadfast.
Bilal, a slave to one of
the Banu Jumah, was of a pure heart and sincere in his profession of
Islam. He was dragged out by Ummaya when the midday sun was hot and
thrown on his back out in the
valley
of
Mecca
. A great stone was placed on his breast, and he was told, 'Remain
thus until you expire, or until you renounce Muhammad and worship
al‑Lat and al‑Uzza.' But during all this pain he merely
repeated, 'One God! One!' Abu Bakr chancing to pass by on a day when
Bilal was suffering thus, said to his torturer, Ummaya, 'Do you not
fear Allah?' but he replied, 'You have corrupted the slave! You can
pull him out from under his burden!' Abu Bakr said, 'I
shall do so; I have a black boy, smarter and stronger in your faith
than this; I shall give him to you in exchange.' Accordingly Abu Bakr
gave Ummaya his slave and took Bilal, whom he presented with his
freedom, as he did six other slaves who professed Islam.
The idolaters so tormented
many companions of the apostle of Allah that their apostasy from Islam
was excusable. 'I'hey used to beat a man and to make him suffer hunger
and thirst until he was unable to sit upright, such was his agony, and
he would finally succumb to temptation and agree to all they asked of
him. They would say to him, 'Al‑Lat and al‑Uzza are your
gods as well as Allah', and he would agree. They went so far that,
when even a dung‑beetle happened to crawl by, they exclaimed,
'This is your god!' and he would agree in order to be rid of them and
of his pain.
When the apostle of Allah
saw the distress which his companions suffered, while he himself
enjoyed comparative immunity under the protection of Allah and of his
uncle Abu Talib, and that he was unable to save them, he said, 'If you
were to go to the country of the Abyssinians, you would do well; there
is a king there under whom no one is persecuted; it is a country of
truth where you can remain until Allah grants you deliverance from the
miseries of the present.' So the companions of the apostle of Allah
emigrated for fear of temptation, flying for refuge, and those who
emigrated were eighty‑three in number. Among them was Ubaydullah,
one of the 'four inquirers'.
These and similar events had occurred over a
period of several years, the
Quraysh becoming progressively more bitter about Muhammad. The apostle
himself had too much moral protection from such elders as Abu Talib to
suffer more than unpleasantness at their hands: there was little
physical violence, and his attackers confined themselves mainly to
slander and sneers.
The
Quraysh now sent a deputation to the Negus of
Abyssinia
asking for the return of the fugitives ('the first emigrants'), but
the Negus chose to shelter them. Meanwhile, at
Mecca
, the faith continued to spread.
Rukana, the strongest of
the Quraysh in physical power, happened one day to be with
Muhammad in one of the passes, and the latter addressed him thus,
'Will you not fear Allah, and accept the revelation which I offer
you?' He replied, 'If I knew what you say to be true, I would follow
you!' The apostle of Allah asked, 'Will you know my statements to be
true if I prostrate you to the ground?.' Rukana said, 'Yes', and the
apostle continued, 'Then rise that I may throw you down.' Accordingly
Rukana rose to the attack, but as soon as the apostle of Allah
assailed him, he fell to the ground helpless. After a while, he said,
'Once more, o Muhammadl' But he was knocked down And the apostle of
Allah said, 'I shall show you something wonderful still, if you will
promise to fear Allah and to follow my religion. I shall call out to
this tree here and it will come to me.' Accordingly he called it, and
it approached till it stood fast before the apostle of Allah; then he
said to the tree, “Return to thy place!”
and it returned to its place.
While the apostle of Allah was at
Mecca
twenty or so Christians arrived to visit him from
Abyssinia
, having heard of his fame. They found him in the mosque, and sat down
with him and conversed and asked questions. After they had asked their
questions, and been answered, the apostle of Allah invited them to
become believers in Allah the most high and glorious, and recited to
them the Koran. As they listened, tears flowed from eyes and they
believed in him and in his truth.
One day a slave girl saw
Abu Jahl insult the apostle who made no reply; when, shortly
afterwards, Hamza ‑ a great hunter, who was also uncle and
foster‑brother of Muhammad ‑ returned from chase with his
bow hanging from his shoulder, she told him of the event. Hamza was
filled with great wrath ‑ because Allah had predestined him for
great favours ‑ and hastened away to punish Abu Jahl.
Approaching him, he struck him a fearful blow saying, 'Dare you insult
him, when I am of his religion and say what he says? Return my blow if
you are able ! Several witnesses rose to aid Abu Jahl, but he
exclaimed, 'Let Hamza alone for I have insulted his nephew
shamefully.' Hamza then completed his profession of Islam, begun in
the haste of passion, by following the advice of the apostle in all
the ordinances, and after this the Quraysh realized that
Muhammad had even stronger protection and so ceased their worst
incitement,
Another valuable convert at this time was
Umar, hitherto a vociferous
enemy of the apostle.
When the deputation of
Quraysh returned disappointed from
Abyssinia
, the tribe decided to counteract Muhammad's influence by forming a
league against him and his followers. They applied economic and social
sanctions, forbade trade with him, and banned the Believers from
marrying Quraysh women. This boycott had some success and the apostle
lived almost in a state of siege for close on three years, except
during the period of pilgrimage. All he could do was consolidate the
faith of those who were with him. At last, however, the ban was lifted
through the influence of several Quraysh who, though not Believers,
sympathized with their plight. The apostle was now fifty years of age.
The
apostle, by the orders of Allah, continued patiently, confidently, and
lovingly to preach to his people, despite their accusations of
falsehood, their insults, and their mockeries. The worst mockers were
five in number, and after these men had persisted in their wickedness
for some time, and had heaped their mockeries upon the apostle of
Allah, the following verse was revealed: 'We shall suffice thee
against the mockers who worship another god with Allah; they will
know.'
Gabriel
came to the apostle of Allah whilst these five were circumambulating
the Kaba, and the apostle of Allah rose and stood by the side of
Gabriel. When the first mocker passed by Gabriel threw a green leaf
into his face, and he became blind. Then another passed to whose
abdomen he pointed, and the man was attacked by dropsy, of which he
died. When the third approached he pointed to the scar of a wound on
the mocker's heel which had been inflicted years ago, and this wound
opened again and killed him. When the fourth passed by he pointed to
the sole of his foot, and afterwards a thorn penetrated it and the.
man died. When the fifth mocker passed by he pointed to his head and
it began to ferment with poison and he died.
Khadija, the wife of the
apostle, and Abu Talib, his uncle and protector died in the same year,
and after that calamities followed in losing his wife the apostle of
Allah lost his faithful supporter in Islam, and in losing his uncle he
lost his defender against the people. This happened three years before
the emigration to
Medina
. After the death of Abu Talib the Quraysh insults upon the apostle of
Allah which they would not attempted during his life, and one of the
fools among the Quraysh even went so far as to strew dust on his head.
The apostle went with the dust on his head to his own house, and one
of his daughters washed it off and wept; but the apostle of Allah
said, “Do not weep daughter Allah will protect thy father.' And he
added, 'The Quraysh would do nothing disagreeable to me until Abu
Talib died.'
Once, when Muhammad had
asked the nobles 'Will you say is “There is no god but Allah?"
and abandon whatever you worship besides Him?' Abu Talib had
said, 'Nephew! In my opinion you have asked them to do something
extraordinary!' When Abu Talib uttered these words the apostle of
Allah conceived hope for him and exclaimed, ' Then, uncle! Pronounce
that phrase, and it will procure you redemption on the day of
resurrectionl' When he perceived Muhammad's anxiety to convert him Abu
Talib said, 'O son of my brother, if I feared not such curses as will
fall upon you and the sons of your father after I am dead, and that
the Quraysh would suppose I had submitted from fear of death, I would
pronounce it just to please you’.
When Abu Talib was on his
deathbed, al‑Abbas saw him move his lips and, having bent
towards him, said to Muhammad, By Allah! My brother has uttered the
phrase which you desired him to speak.' But the apostle of Allah
replied, 'I did not hear it.' And Abu Talib died.
After the death of Abu
Talib, when the apostle began to meet with such persecution from the
Quraysh as he never had before, out to al‑Taif [the nearest city
of importance] in search of aid and protection from the Thaqif, in the
hope that they would accept the revelation he brought from Allah. He
went out to them quite alone.
He
sat down with the three brothers who were the princes of the Thaqif
and invited them to Allah, and told them he had come to ask their aid
in the propagation of Islam, and their support against those of his
people who opposed him. But one of the men said he would tear up the
cloth which covered the Kaba if Allah had sent him; and the second man
said, 'Could Allah find no better to send except you?' and the third
man complained, 'I shall never speak to you! For, if you are an
apostle of Allah, your dignity is too great for me to contradict you;
and if you are lying, there is no necessity for me to speak to you.'
So
the apostle of Allah left them, in despair of receiving any aid from
the Thaqif. He said to them, 'Since you have done what you have done,
at least keep my request secret', for he was
unwilling that his people should hear of the matter lest they
be further incensed against him. The three princes did not keep
silent, however, but encouraged their slaves to curse him and to shout
after him, so that he was compelled to take refuge in an orchard
belonging to Utba and Shayba, both of whom were there at the time.
The rabble of Thaqif withdrew and the apostle of Allah sat down in the
shade of a vine while Utba and Shayba looked on.
When
he felt himself safe the apostle cried, 'O Allah! To thee I complain
of my weakness, lack of resource, and helplessness before men. O most
merciful Allah! Thou art the Lord of the weak! Thou art my Lord! If
Thy wrath is not upon me, I care not for persecution; I fly for refuge
to the light of Thy countenance, which illuminates darkness and
regulates this world and the next. There is neither might nor power
except with Thee!
Utba
and Shayba were moved with compassion for the apostle and told their
Christian slave, Addas, to pluck a bunch of grapes, place it in a
dish, and take it to him. Addas placed the dish before the apostle of
Allah, telling him to eat, and the apostle put his hand into the dish,
said, 'In the name of Allah!’ and began to eat. Addas gazed at him
and said, 'These are words uncommon to the people of this country',
and the apostle of Allah asked him from which country he came and what
was his religion; Addas replied, 'I am a Christian from
Nineveh
.' The apostle of Allah said, From the town of the pious Jonah? He is
my brother; he is a prophet and I am a prophet! and Addas bowed down
and kissed the head, the hands, and the feet of the apostle.
Addas
returned to the brothers they said, 'Woe betide you! Why did you kiss
the head of that man, and his hands, and his feet? He replied, 'O my
masters! There is no finer man on earth than he! He has told me what
none but a prophet can know', but they said, 'Let him not turn you
away from your religion for it is better than his.'
Then
the apostle of Allah returned to
Mecca
, but his people more violent in their resistance and opposition, save
only a few poor people who believed in him. He was in the habit
of presenting himself at the time of seasonal fairs to the Arab
tribes, in the following manner. He would stand before the Arab
encampments and say, 'I am an apostle from Allah to you and command
you to adore Allah and not to bestow this adoration on any other; to
renounce the worship of idols; to believe me, His apostle, and to
defend me that I may explain to you the revelation with which Allah
has sent me.' But sometimes there stood behind him a
shrewd‑looking, well‑dressed man, wearing a cloak, and
with a lock of hair on each cheek, who addressed the people as soon
as the apostle of Allah had ended his discourse. “This man” he
would say, “invites you to cast off al‑Lat and al-Uzza,your
allies among the djinns, in favour of his own invention and falsehood!
Neither obey nor hear him!” This man was Abu Lahab, an uncle of the
prophet.
For some time the apostle
had little success with the tribes, although in the case of the Banu
Amir one man among them said, “By Allah! If I could take this man
away from the Quraysh and have him on my side I could eat up all the
Arabs with him!” He went on 'If we pay homage to your religion, and
Allah aids you to victory, what then?' and Muhammad replied,
'The dominion is Allah's! He placeth it where He willeth.' And the man
exclaimed, 'If you expect us to make ourselves targets for the Arabs
but offer us no certainty of dominion in the case of victory, we have
no need of your religion!' So they rejected him.
But when the Banu Amir returned home they went,
as was their custom, to tell an aged sheikh what had taken place
during the pilgrimage. When they went to him that year they told him,
'A fellow of the Quraysh came to us, saying that he is a prophet. He
asked us to defend him, to join him, and to take him to our country.'
The sheikh placed his hands upon his head, saying, 'Could it have been
otherwise? Can the escaped bird be caught again? I swear that no
Ismaili ever falsely claimed to be a prophet. He spoke truth. Where
was your sense? It had deserted you.'
The
apostle of Allah never failed to attempt the conversion of any man of
note or position who came to
Mecca
.
When
Abul‑Haysar came to Mecca with members of his tribe, seeking an
alliance with the Quraysh, the apostle of Allah heard about the visit,
sat down with the men, and said,' Are you willing to accept something
better than that which you have come for?,' They asked what that might
be and he replied, 'I am an apostle of Allah, sent by Him to mankind
in order to invite them to adore Allah and none other; and He has
revealed a scripture to me.' Then he told them of Islam, and recited
the Koran, and one young man said, 'By Allah! This is something better
than what we came for!” But Abul‑Haysar threw a clod of earth
at the boy and bade him be silent. The young man died some months
later, and people who were present told how he never ceased to speak
of the name and virtues of Allah even at the very moment of his death.
They had no doubt that he was a Muslim because he had learnt the
tenets of Islam during his single meeting with the apostle of Allah.
When Allah at last decided that the moment had
arrived to glorify His prophet, and to fulfil His promise to him, the
apostle of Allah went forth during the season of pilgrimage, as was
his custom, to introduce himself to the Arab tribes, and met a small
company of the Khazraj whom Allah had destined for favour.
When
the apostle of Allah met them at al‑Aqaba he asked, 'Are you
allies of the Jews?' and they said, 'Yes.' They sat down with him and
he invited them to believe in Allah, expounded Islam and recited the
Koran. Now, Allah had ensured that the Jews
who lived in the country of the Khazraj, and who were of the
scripture (whereas the Khazraj themselves were polytheists and
idolaters), should always say whenever a quarrel broke out between
them and the Khazraj, 'A prophet will soon be sent and we shall become
his followers and kill you with his aid.” So when the apostle
of Allah spoke to these men of the Khazraj and invited them to believe
in Allah they said to one another,
'This is the prophet with whom the Jews have threatened us.
We must forestall them and join him before they do.'
Accordingly they accepted Islam, saying, 'We have left our
people, for there is no tribe so divided by enmity and
wickedness as they. Perhaps Allah will unite them through you.
We shall go to them
and urge them to accept your views and this religion, so that,
if Allah unites them around you, none will be more exalted than
yourself.' Then they returned to their country as believers.
4-
The Helpers
When they reached
Medina
they spoke of the apostle of Allah and invited their people to accept
Islam, so that acquaintance with it spread until there was not one
among the dwellings of all their families in which the name of the
apostle of Allah had not been spoken. The converts in
Medina
became known as the Helpers.
The next year [AD 621], when the season of pilgrimage came
again, twelve men of the Helpers met the apostle at the hill of al-Aqaba;
this is called the meeting of 'the first hill'. 'We paid homage to the
apostle of Allah after the unmilitant manner of women - this happened
before war was made incumbent upon us. We pledged that we should not
associate other gods with Allah, nor steal, nor commit fornication,
nor kill our female children, nor tell lies, nor disobey what was
right. If we fulfil these conditions paradise is to be ours; if we
transgress and suffer punishment in this world, it will be an
expiation; but if our sin remains concealed till the day of
resurrection, the affair rests with Allah to punnish or forgive.'
When
the men left, the apostle of Allah sent Musab with them to read the
Koran to them, to teach them Islam, and to give them.
instruction in religion; therefore Musab was
known in
Medina
, as 'The Reader'.
One
day Musab went out with Asad, one of the Helpers of 'the first hill',
and they entered an orchard and sat down near a well called Maraq,
where several men who had made profession of Islam gathered around
them. The princes of the Banu Abdul‑Ashhal at that time were Sad
b. Muadh, a cousin of Asad, and Usayd b. Hudayr, both of them
idolaters like the rest of their people. They heard of the arrival of
Asad and Musab, and Sad said to Usayd, 'Go to these two men who have
come here to fool the weakminded among our people! Drive them away and
forbid them to approach our dwellings. If Asad were not one of my
kinsmen, I would have spared you this errand, but he is my cousin and
I prefer to avoid him on this subject.' Accordingly Usayd took a sword
and went to them; and when Asad saw him he said to Musab, 'This is the
prince of his tribe. Show him the truth of Allah!' Musab replied, 'If
he sits down I shall speak to him.' But Usayd remained standing in
front of them, casting insults, saying, 'What has brought you here?
Will you mislead the weakminded among our people? Leave us if you
value your lives!' Musab replied, 'Sit down and listen; and if you are
pleased with what you hear, accept it, but if you are displeased, that
will put an end to the matter!' Saying, 'You have spoken well', and
planting his sword in the ground, Usayd sat down, and Musab told him
of Islam and recited the Koran. Then Usayd exclaimed, 'How beautiful
and wonderful this is! What must one do to enter into this religion?'
He was told, 'Wash yourself and purify your garments, then make
profession of the truth, and pray.' Accordingly he rose, washed
himself, purified his garments, made profession of the truth, and then
prayed with two prayer flexions.
After
that, Usayd said, 'Behind me there is another man. If he were to
follow you, not one of his tribe would fail to do the same. I shall
send him to you now. His name is Sad.' Then he took his sword and
departed to Sad and his tribe, who were sitting in their assembly;
when Sad saw him, he exclaimed, 'Usayd returns with a different
countenance from that he departed with.
What
have you done, Usayd?' He replied, I conversed with the two men, and I
have seen no evil in them. I told them they must not stay and they
said, "Do what you will."
Sad
jumped up angrily and snatched the sword from Usayd's hand saying, 'By
Allah! I think you have done nothing worth doing.” But when he
approached the two men he realised that Usayd had merely enticed him
there to hear what they had to say, so he stopped short and began to
insult them. He said 'If we were not kinsmen, you would not have dared
to insult us in our own homes.' Musab replied as he had done to At
last, Sad asked, 'How does one make profession of Islam and enter into
this religion.?' Musab and Asad told him, and he rose, washed himself,
purified his garments, made profession of the truth, prayed on his
knees, took up his sword and I with altered countenance to his people.
He asked them, ‘What is my position among you?.' and they replied,
'You are our prince most loved, the most wise, and the most beneficent
among us !’ He continued, 'It will not now be right for me to Any of
you until you believe in Allah, and in his prophet.'
Thus, that evening, there
was not a man nor a woman in the tribe who had not made profession of
Islam.
Then Assad and Musab
returned to their place and remained there, inviting the people to
Islam till not a dwelling among all the tribes of the Helpers remained
which did not include Muslim men and women, except only those few
groups whose poet and leader was Sayfi. He was obeyed and followed by
them and he kept them away from Islam until the apostle of Allah
himself emigrated to
Medina
, and until the battles of Badr, Uhud, and the Ditch had been fought.
While Musab and the
Medina
converts ‑ the Helpers (or Ansar)
–were having considerable success at
Medina
, the apostle in
Mecca
fared no better than before. It was a period of waiting and watching.
Muhammad looked more and
more eagerly to
Medina
and the north. The next vital part of the legend ‑ the 'night
journey and ascension to heaven' ‑further reflects the way in
which his creed, even in the twelfth year of his mission, remained
associated in his mind with Jewish and Christian doctrine: he still
regarded the Jews and Christians as possible allies against the
idolaters.
5-
Night Journey
The
apostle of Allah said, 'While I was asleep within the northern
enclosure of the Kaba, Gabriel came and kicked me with his foot. I sat
up, but perceived nothing; therefore I again laid myself down. He came
again and the same thing happened again, but when he kicked me the
third time he took hold of my arm, so that I rose and went with him to
the gate of the mosque. And lo! There I saw a beast, white in colour,
resembling part mule and part donkey, with two wings covering its hind
legs, and with its forelegs placed as far as its sight could reach.
[This was Buraq, the animal on which all prophets before Muhammad had
been conveyed.] When I approached the beast to mount, it became
restive, but Gabriel placed his hand on its mane and said, "Art
thou not ashamed, o Buraq? No servant of Allah has yet ridden thee who
is more favoured than Muhammad!" Then the beast became steady,
and I mounted it.'
The
apostle of Allah, accompanied by Gabriel, was transported to
Jerusalem
, where he found Abraham and Moses and other prophets. He went to them
and prayed with them; then two vessels were brought, one containing
wine and the othert milk. The apostle drank of the milk, but touched
no wine, and Gabriel said, 'Thou art guided to the fundamentals of
religlion and thy people likewise; wine is prohibited to them.'
Then
the apostle of Allah returned to Mecca, and in the morning he told the
Quraysh what had happened to him; but most of them exclaimed, 'This is
obviously nonsense! Caravans take a month to travel from
Mecca
to
Jerusalem
and another to return! Could Muhammad go there and return in a single
night ?' And many believers lapsed from the faith, and others went to
Abu Bakr and said, 'What is your view concerning Muhammad, who
imagines that he went last night to
Jerusalem
, where he prayed, and again returned to
Mecca
?' Abu Bakr replied, 'If he himself has said so, he spoke the truth!
What is there to astonish you in this? By Allah, he tells me that
revelation comes all the way from heaven to him on earth in a single
hour of the night or the day and I believe him! And this is a greater
distance than the one which astonishes you.' Then he betook himself to
the apostle and said, 'Describe
Jerusalem
to me; I have been there.' The apostle of Allah said, 'It was lifted
up to me so that I might look at it and he described the town in such
a manner that Abu Bakr said, 'You have spoken the truth! I testify
that you are an apostle of Allah!' And every part of the town Muhammad
described, Abu Bakr confirmed, saying, 'You have spoken the truth! I
testify that you are an apostle of Allah!' When he had finished his
description the apostle said, 'And thou, o Abu Bakr, art also
truthful', and on that day he surnamed him Assidiq, The
Truthful One.
The
apostle of Allah was in the habit of saying: 'My eye sleeps while my
heart is awake", but Allah knows best whether what was revealed
to him took place in waking or sleeping state. The apostle of Allah
gave his companions a description of Abraham, Moses and Jesus, as he
saw them during that night. 'As to Abraham, I have never seen a man
more resembling your companion [Muhammad] than he, nor your companion
[Muhammad] resembling any other more than he. But as for Moses, he is
a tall, dark, lively man with curled hair and a long nose; the son of
Mary, is neither tall nor short, with flowing hair, and a countenance
shining as if he had just come out of a bath, and you would imagine
that water is dripping from his head although there is none on it.'
The
apostle himself, according to his adopted son, Ali, 'was neither too
tall nor too short, he was of a middling stature; his hair was neither
too curly nor too flowing, it was like the hair of any other man. He
was neither too plump nor too fat, and his complexion was pale, with a
tinge of red. His eyes were large and black, his lashes long, his head
and shoulder‑bones large, and the hair of his breast was scanty.
His hands and feet were strong, he walked as if wading in water, and
when he looked at anything he turned his whole person towards the
object. Between his shoulders was situated the seal of prophecy, he
being the last of the prophets, the most open‑handed of men, the
most courageous, truthful in speech, the most faithful in protection,
of the mildest disposition, and most gracious in converse. Whoever saw
him unawares was awe‑struck, but those who conversed with him
loved him.' Ali concluded, 'I have neither before, nor afterwards,
seen the like of him.'
But
neither the description of
Jerusalem
nor of the prophets convinced the people, so Muhammad continued, 'I
passed near a caravan of one tribe in a valley, and the sound of my
beast startled them so that a camel ran away; and I found it and
directed them to it. And when I was in Dajanan I met a caravan of
another tribe, and found the people asleep. They had a covered water
vessel which I opened; I drank the contents, and covered it again as
it had been. Their caravan is now arriving through the pass, led by a
dark camel loaded with two bags, one of which is black and the other
reddish‑brown.' The crowd hastened up to the pass, where the
first sight they saw was the camel he had described. Then they asked
the caravan about the water‑vessel, and were told
that the tribe had put it down covered, and full of water, but
although the cover was in the same state when they awoke, the water
was gone. When the second caravan arrived in
Mecca
they confirmed Muhammad's other story, saying: 'He has spoken the
truth. He did indeed scare us in the valley and a camel ran away, but
we heard a man's voice calling us to it, and we found it.'
The
apostle of Allah further said: 'When I had ended my visit to
Jerusalem
a ladder was brought to me, the like of which for beauty I had never
seen before. This is the ladder which the dead yearn to see brought
forth [that they may mount to heaven on the day of the last judgement].
Gabriel made me ascend this ladder until we arrived at that gate among
the gates of heaven which is called The Gate of the Keepers. Over
this, an angel of angels presides, whose name is Ismail and who
commands 12,000 angels each of whom also commands 12,000. The hosts of
Allah are known to Himself alone! When he took me in Ismail asked:
"Who is this, o Gabriel? Has a prophetic mission been confered
upon him?" Gabriel said: "Yes", and then Ismail
congratulated me.
'The angels met me when I
entered those heavens which are closest to earth, and not one
addressed me without smiling and congratulating me,
until an angel of the angels met me who spoke to me and invoked
happiness for me as they had done, but neither laughed nor was pleased
like the others. Therefore I asked, ‘O Gabriel ! Who is this angel
who has spoken to me like the others, but neither smiled nor
manifested any signs of as they did?" Gabriel replied, "If
he had ever laughed before, or was destined ever to laugh in the
future, he would have with thee now; but he never laughs; he is
Malik, the keeper of fire." Then I asked Gabriel who is empowered
by Allah to be obeyed in that heaven I now describe to you and who is,
moreover, the faithful servant of Allah, "Wouldst thou order him
to show me the fire?" He said, "Show Muhammad the fires of
hell!” Accordingly Malik removed the cover thereof, and it raged and
ascended in such a manner that I thought it would devour all that I
saw. Therefore I cried, "Order him to confine it again and the
angel said, "Retire!" Then the fire returned to the place it
had issued from, and when he replaced the cover upon it I cannot
compare its disappearance with anything but the falling of the shadow
of night.
When
I entered the heaven which is next to the earth I beheld a man sitting
therein, to whom the souls of men are delivered. With some of these he
was pleased, and said, "A good soul issued from a good
body." To others, however, he said with a frown on his
countenance, "A wicked soul departed from a wicked body." I
asked, "Who is this?" and Gabriel replied, “This is thy
ancestor Adam, to whom the souls of his progeny are delivered; and if
a faithful soul arrives he is pleased, but when an unbeliever’s soul
passes he is displeased and grieved."
After that I beheld
men with lips like the lips of camels, having their hands filled with
lumps of fire which they stuffed into their own mouths. The lumps of
fire issued again from the other end of their bodies. I asked,
"Who are these, o Gabriel?"and he replied, "These
have wrongfully devoured the property of orphans!”
Next
I observed men with bellies the like of which I had never seen, and on
the road were crocodiles rushing upon them like mad camels and driving
them into the fire, trampling upon them so that they could never
escape from it. I asked, "Wlio are these, o Gabriel?" and he
replied, "They are usurers."
'After
that, I beheld men who had before them nice plump meat and at their
sides foul and putrid meat, but they ate of the latter and abstained
from the former. I asked, "Who are these, o Gabriel?" and he
replied, "They are those who abandon the women Allah has
permitted to them, and go instead to those whom Allah has prohibited
to them." Then I saw women hanging by their breasts and asked,
"Who are these?" .,\ml Gabriel replied, "They are women
who attribute to their husbands children they did not father."
The wrath of Allah is very great towards a woman who introduces into
the family one who does not belong to it, to eat up their plunder and
to observe their nakedness.
'After
this, Gabriel took me up to the second heaven, and it contained the
two cousins, Jesus the son of Mary, and John the son of Zakariah. Then
he lifted me to the third heaven where I saw a man with a countenance
like the full moon, and asked, "Who is this, o Gabriel?" and
he replied, "This is thy brother prophet, Joseph son of
Jacob." Next he made me ascend to the fourth heaven, where one
man appeared, and when I asked, Gabriel said, "This is Idris."
Then he raised me to the fifth heaven, which contained an aged man
with white hair and flowing beard. I have never seen an old man
more beautiful than he, and when I asked Gabriel, he said, "This
is the beloved of his nation, Aaron son of Imran." And he raised
me to the sixth heaven, where there was a dark man with a long nose. I
asked, "Who is this, o Gabriel?" and he replied, "This
is thy brother Moses, son of Imran." Then he made me go up to the
se\'ciAl heaven, where I beheld an old man seated on a chair near the
roof of the heavenly Kaba, which is entered daily by 70,000 angels who
will not leave it till the day of the resurrection. I have never seen
a man resemble your companion [Muhammad] more closely, nor your
companion resemble anyone more than he. I asked, "Who is this, o
Gabriel?" and he said, "This is thy ancestor Abraham."
Then Gabriel entered paradise with me, where I
saw a black houri and asked her, "Who art thou?" because she
took my fancy as I perceived her. She said, "I am destined for
Zayd b. Haritha.' Zayd,
the freedman of the apostle, rejoiced at these glad tidings.
According to tradition,
Gabriel did not ascend to a single heaven of the heavens without being
asked 'Who is this, o Gabriel’? ' When he replied, 'Muhammad', he
was again asked, ‘Has he really been sent as a prophet?' Then he was
welcomed with, ‘Allah greet him on the part of his friend and
brother.' This lasted till they arrived in the seventh heaven, where
the
Apostle met his Lord, who
made fifty daily prayers incumbent upon him.
The apostle of
Allah continued his story. 'Then I began my return When I passed near
Moses, who was a good friend to man, he asked, "How many prayers
have been made incumbent upon thee?" and I replied, "Fifty
prayers every day." Moses said prayer is heavy, and thy people
are weak. Go to thy Lord and ask Him to lighten it for thee, and for
thy people." Accordingly I returned to my Lord and asked Him to
alleviate it for me and for my people. And He deducted ten. I went
away again and passed near Moses, who repeated what he had said
before. So I returned and asked my Lord, who once more deducted ten;
and I we nt
back to Moses, who sent me many times to Allah with the
same injunction, until so many prayers were deducted that only
five prayers remained for each day and night. On this last occas
ion, when I returned to Moses, he repeated his words once more,
but I said to him, "I have gone back to my Lord and asked him so
many times that I am ashamed; therefore I shall do it no more."
Nevertheless, whosoever among you recites these five prayers,
believing wholly in their efficacy and validity, will receive the
reward due for the fifty prayers originally prescribed’.
At the season of pilgrimage [AD 622] Musab returned to
Mecca
with many of the Helpers as well as some idolaters. One who was the re recorded: 'We went on the pilgrimage and promised to meet the
apostle of Allah at the hillside [al‑Aqaba]. When the agreed
night had set in we kept our errand secret from those of our people
who were idolaters, except from Abdullah b. Amr, the prince. To him we
said, "You are one of our princes and nobles! We fear that as an
idolater, you will hereafter become fuel for the fire!" and we
invited him to accept Islam and told him of our impending meeting with
the apostle of Allah at the hillside. Then he made profession of Islam
and came with us to the meeting. We lay down that night as if to sleep
with our people and baggage, then left silently for the
trysting‑place. We travelled warily and secretly like the
sandgrouse, until we reached the pass by the hillside; there were
seventy‑three men of us, and two of our women.
'The
apostle of Allah came with his uncle al‑Abbas, an unbeliever who
nevertheless wished to see his nephew conclude a firm alliance.
Al‑Abbas spoke first, saying, "You know that Muhammad is
our kinsman! We have protected him against those of our own people who
oppose him. He enjoys dignity among his people, and protection
in his country; nevertheless, he shuns them and wishes to ally himself
with you. If, therefore you think you can keep your promise and
protect him against his enemies, you may assume the burden you have
undertaken; but if there is any likelihood of your surrendering and
abandoning him after he has gone over to you, then leave him be for he
is safer among his own people." Then we asked the apostle for his
opinion and he said, "I call on you to protect me as you would
protect your own women and children!" A man called
al‑Bara then took hold of his hand, and swore, "We shall
protect you against everything from which we protect our own
selves. Accept therefore our allegiance. We are warriors who have
inherited the right to arms."
'This
speech was interrupted by Abul‑Haytham, who said, "We have
ties with other men (he meant the Jews) which we should have to sever.
If we do this, and Allah aids you to victory, will you not return to
your own people and abandon us?" The apostle of Allah smiled and
replied, "By no means. Blood is blood, and shedding is shedding;
you belong to me and I to you’.
I shall fight those whom
you fight, and I shall be at peace with him who is at peace with you.
Bring me twelve leaders who may be charged with their people's
affairs." And they brought nine men from the Khazraj tribe and
three from the Aus tribe.
The
apostle of Allah said to the twelve leaders' "You are the
sureties for your people just as Jesus' disciples were, and I stand
surety for my people." And they agreed.
Al-Abbas
asked the people, "Are you aware of the conditions on which you
pledge allegiance to this man? You pledge yourselves to him, to wage
war against all and sundry. If your possessions should be ruined by
misfortune and your nobles slain, and you should give him up, then you
will reap shame in this world and the next. If, however, you think you
can keep your promises in the face of all misfortune, then it will
profit you in this world and the next ." They replied, "We
shall take him even at the risk of losing all else", and turning
to the apostle they asked, "But what will be our reward if we
keep our promise?" He replied, “
Paradise
" and they said "Stretch forth thy hand", and paid
homage.'
6-
Permission to Wage War
When
Allah gave His apostle permission to wage war, the promise to fight immediately
became a condition of allegiance to Islam. This had not been so at the
first meeting on the hillside, when homage was paid 'in the manner of
women'; Allah had not then given His apostle permission to fight. He
had given permission neither to wage war nor to shed blood, but only
to call men to Allah, to endure insults patiently, and to pardon the
ignorant. Some of the followers of the apostle had therefore been
forced to flee from persecution into the countryside, some to
Abyssinia, others to
Medina
and elsewhere. When the Quraysh rejected the mercy of Allah and
spurned His prophet, they tormented or drove away men who proclaimed
the One‑ness of Allah, believed in His prophet, and adhered to
His religion.
Allah therefore permitted Muhammad to fight and to aid his
against those who tyrannized over them. The first verse which came down
permitting him to wage war and to shed began, 'Permission is
granted unto those who fight they have been oppressed, and Allah may
aid those who have been driven from their homes merely for saying
“Our Lord is Allah”. The verse continued by explaining that they
had committed no crime against the people except that they worshipped
Allah, and when they made Islam universal they would observe the
appointed times of prayer, give alms, and enjoin all men to do good
and to abstain from evil. Then a further verse was recorded: ‘Fight
against them until there be no more temptation’ ‑ until
Believers shall no more be tempted to abandon their religion ‑
‘and until the religion be Allah’s’, that is, until Allah alone
shall be worshipped and none else besides Him.
Since
permission to fight had now been granted, the apostle of Allah
accepted allegiance at the second meeting on the hill only from people
who swore to fight for him and his Lord against all men. He promised
paradise as a reward.
‘After the act of allegiance was over, Satan roared from the
top of the hill in such a loud voice as I had never heard. He cried to
the people of Mina [the surrounding countryside]: “Beware of this
despicable apostate and his followers! Verily they are assembled to
attack you!” And the apostle of Allah replied “This is the
Contemptible One of the hill. Hearken to me, o enemy of Allah! I shall
make an end of thee yet!” Then the apostle told the people to depart
to their caravans again, but one of them said, “If thou wish it,
tomorrow we shall attack these people of Mina with our swords.” The
apostle of Allah replied, “We have not been commanded to do that.”
Accordingly we returned to our caravans and slept there till the
morning.
‘When we rose in the morning some of the most distinguished
Quraysh paid our encampments a visit and said they had heard we meant
to take Muhammad from them and had pledged ourselves to attack them.
Then several of the idolaters among our people rose, knowing nothing
of the night’s work, and swore that such was not the case, and that
we knew nothing about it. Herein
they spoke the truth, but only on their own account.’
After the Helpers had left for
Medina
, the Quraysh made inquiries about the rumour and found confirmation
of it. Accordingly, they
set off in pursuit and overtook two of
the twelve ‘leaders’. One of these escaped, but they
captured the other, tied his hands to his neck with thongs from his
camel, and took him to
Mecca
, where they beat him and dragged him about by his abundant hair.
Later he told how ‘some Quraysh men approached and among them was
one of handsome appearance, neatly dressed. So I said to myself, if
there be good in any of these people, it will be in this man; but when
he approached me he raised his hand, and struck me a violent blow.
Then I said to myself, “There is no good among them.” But one man
had pity on me and said, “Is there no alliance between thee and any
man of the Quraysh?” I replied, “There are some whom I have protected
or defended against those who wished to oppress them in my country”,
and he said, “Then shout out the names of these men and tell what
has taken place.” So he went in search of them and they came and
delivered me from the hands of the Quraysh,
When on the hill, the
Helpers swore allegiance to the apostle, to adopt Islam, to aid him
and those who followed him as well as any other Muslims who might seek
shelter with them, he ordered his companions and others who were with
him in
Mecca
to emigrate to
Medina
, that they might meet their Helper brothers. He said: ‘Allah has
marked out for you kinsmen and homes where you may find refuge.’
Accordingly, the Meccan followers left the city in groups. These were
afterwards known as the Emigrants, and were then over one hundred in
number.
But the apostle of
Allah remained in
Mecca
, waiting for his Lord’s command to leave
Mecca
and to migrate to
Medina
.
7-
Hijra
The apostle of Allah remained in
Mecca
after his companions emigrated, awaiting divine permission to depart.
None of his followers remained ‑ except such as were forcibly
prevented by the Quraysh or who had apostasized ‑ but Ali, son
of Abu Talib, and Abu Bakr, may Allah reward them both. Abu Bakr often
asked the apostle for permission to emigrate, but he always received
the answer, ‘Be not in such haste; perchance Allah may give thee a
companion’, and Abu Bakr hoped that the companion might be Muhammad
himself.
When the Quraysh saw that the apostle of Allah had gathered a
united group and had gained adherents in another country, and when
they saw his companions emigrating to that country, they realized that
he had found shelter and protection. Accordingly they began to fear
that the apostle of Allah might join his followers, and they knew that
he was now determined to fight if necessary. They therefore met to
consult on what they should do.
Satan himself greeted them at the door of their
meeting‑place in the guise of an aged sheikh, dressed in a
cloak. When they asked him who he was, he replied, ‘A sheikh who has
heard of your intended
discussion and has come to listen to what you say; and perhaps my
opinion and advice will not be lost upon you.’ So he entered with
them.
When they all began to discuss the problem of Muhammad, one of
them said, ‘Put him in irons, imprison him, and wait till he dies as
has happened to other poets before him.’ Then the sheikh exclaimed,
‘No, by Allah! If you incarcerate him as you propose, the news will
leak out to his companions and they will undoubtedly attack you and
liberate him. Then, through his agency they will so increase in number
as to conquer you. This is not the thing to do; you must devise
another plan !’ They consulted further, and another man said, ‘We
shall expel him from our midst, and exile him from our country. After
he departs, we care not where he goes nor what happens to him as long
as we can arrange our affairs and re‑establish peace amongst
us.’ ikh said again, ‘No, by Allah! Do you not realize that by his
fine conversation, his sweetness of speech, and his power over the
hearts of men, he could conquer any Arab encampment in which he might
settle; then the people would follow him, march against you, and
deprive you of your supremacy. After that he could deal with
you just as he liked. Therefore think of another plan.’
Abu
Jahl at last exclaimed, ‘By Allah I I have a plan which none of you
has yet thought of’, and they asked, ‘What is it, o father of
wisdom?’ He said, ‘I propose that from every tribe we should take
one young, powerful, well‑born man. To each of these, we should
give a good sword with which to strike Muhammad. So we shall be
delivered of him, his blood will be divided among all the tribes, and
his followers will not have the strength to make war on so many.’
The sheikh said, ‘I see no other plan and the people adopted the
proposal and then dispersed.
But
Gabriel came to the apostle of Allah and said to him, ‘Do not spend
this night in thy accustomed bed.’
When a part of the night had elapsed the conspirators assembled
at Muhammad’s door to watch him, intending to fall upon lie he was
asleep. When the apostle of Allah saw them he said to Ali, ‘Sleep on
my bed and cover thyself with my green cloak, and they will do thee no
harm.’ It was the custom of the apostle to sleep in that cloak.
Meanwhile Abu Jah1jeeringly told the waiting conspirators, ‘Muhammad
says that if you follow him you will become princes both of the Arabs
and the non-Arabs, that you will be resurrected after death, and given
gardens like the gardens of Jordan; but if you do not follow him, he
will kill you and after death you will be resurrected and burn in the
fires of hell.’
The apostle went out to them and said, ‘Yes! That is thc
truth’, and Allah blinded them so that they could not see him. Then
Muhammad scattered dust on their heads, recited a verse from the
Koran, and went about his business.
After a while, a man came along and asked the still waiting
conspirators, ‘What are you waiting for?’ and they replied,
‘Muhammad.’ ‘May Allah confound you!’ the man exclaimed.
‘Muhammad came out to you, and scattered dust on the head of
every man among you, and then went his way. Can you not see what has
happened to you?’ Every man placed his hand on his head, and found
that dust was on it, and then they began to search around. Finding Ali
on the bed, wrapped in the cloak of the apostle, they said, ‘Here is
Muhammad still sleeping in his mantle!’ ‑ and so they did not
move until morning. But it was Ali who rose from the bed, and they
realized that the man who had spoken to them had told the truth.
Allah now permitted His
prophet to emigrate. Abu Bakr, who was a man of property, had in the
hope of this eventuality purchased two camels which he had kept
stabled and fed in preparation for an emergency. The apostle never
failed to visit Abu Bakr either in the morning or in the evening, but
on the day when Allah gave him permission to emigrate he arrived
unexpectedly at noon. The apostle said to Abu Bakr, ‘Allah has given
me permission to depart and to emigrate’, and Abu Bakr asked,’In
company, o apostle of Allah?’ He replied, ’In company’. Then Abu
Bakr wept for joy and said, ‘I have kept these two camels in
readiness for this!’ Then they hired an idolator as guide and left
the camels with him until they were ready to depart from the district.
No one knew of the departure of the apostle except Ali, and Abu
Bakr and his family. Ali was ordered to remain in Mecca until he had
returned all the goods which people had entrusted to the keeping of
the apostle; there was not a man in Mecca who had property about which
he was anxious who did not deposit it with Muhammad because of his
renowned truthfulness and honesty.
When the time for departure came the apostle and Abu Bakr by
way of a gap at the rear of Abu Bakr’s house and went to a cave on
Mount
Thaur
, beneath
Mecca
. Abu Bakr instructed his son Abdullah to listen during the day to
what people in
Mecca
were saying about them, and to bring them the news in the evening. He
also ordered Amir, his freedman to pasture the sheep during the
day, and bring them to the cave in the ; and he told his daughter,
Asma, to bring food at nightfall.
The apostle of Allah remained in the cave with Abu Bakr for
three days . When the Quraysh missed him they offered a reward of one
hundred camels to anyone who would bring him back; Abdullah, the son
of Abu Bakr, brought this news. Amir, the freedman, pastured his sheep
among the other shepherds of
Mecca
, but brought the flock to the cave at nightfall and they milked the
flock and slaughtered some. When Abdullah went in the morning to
Mecca
, Amir followed him with the flock so as to conceal his tracks.
When the three days had elapsed and the people ceased to
inquire about them, the hired guide arrived with their two camels, and
a third belonging to himself, and Asma, the daughter of Abu Bakr came
with provisions. But she had forgotten to bring a cord, and they could
not tie the provisions to the camels until she removed her girdle and
used it for a rope; therefore Asma became known as ‘She of the
Girdle’.
Abu Bakr offered the better of the two camels to Muhammad, but
the apostle replied, ‘I shall not mount a camel which is not
my own’. Abu Bakr said, ‘Then she is thine, for thou art as my
father and mother to me.’ The apostle refused the gift and asked
what Abu Bakr had paid for the camel, saying, ‘I shall accept her
for that.’ So they agreed, and then they mounted and set off, with
the freedman Amir sharing Abu Bakr’s camel.
Meanwhile, in
Mecca
, several Quraysh men paid a visit to the house of Abu Bakr. Asma,
‘She of the Girdle’, went out to them and they asked ‘ “Where
is thy father, o daughter of Abu Bakr?” I replied, “I do not know
where my father is.” Then Abu Jahl, who was a brutal, wicked fellow,
lifted up his hand and struck my cheek so violently that my
ear‑ring fell out.
‘We remained three nights without knowing in what direction
the apostle of Allah had gone, until a djinn arrived from the lower
part of Mecca, reciting verses in the Arab manner. From him we learned
where the apostle of Allah had gone, and that his destination was
Medina
.
‘Abu Bakr took away with him all his property, amounting to
five or six thousand dirhams. My grandfather, who was blind
came to us and said, “I think Abu Bakr has deprived you of his
property as well as his person”, but I replied, “By no means,
grandfather. He left us a great deal.” Then I took some stones and
placed them in a hole where my father used to keep his valuables, and
covered the hole with a cloth; and I took hold of my grandfather’s
hand, saying “Lay your hand upon this, father.” When he had done
so, he said, “There is nought ill; if he has left you this,
he has acted well; it will suffice you.” But in truth, he had left
us nothing, and I dissimulated to ease the old man’s mind.’
One man at least, Suraqa by name, determined to earn the
promised hundred camels for capturing Muhammad. Having heard a
rumour of the apostle’s route, he ordered his horse, then “put on
my armour and consulted the arrows which foretell the future. But the
one I did not wish to see, that which said “ He will escape”, came
out. When I mounted my horse to pursue him it stumbled and I fell to
the ground. I said to myself, “What is this? “ and again took out
my arrows. They gave me the same reply as before. Nevertheless, I
continued to ride in pursuit of him; again my horse stumbled and fell.
Once more I consulted my arrows, and once more they gave me the same
reply. Nevertheless, I mounted again to pursue him. When the little
group of fugitives at last came in sight, my horse stumbled and its
sank in the ground so that I fell; and when the horse its forefeet out
of the ground they were followed by of dust as if there were a
sandstorm. Then I knew that Muhammad was protected from me and that he
would conquer.’ The apostle reached
Medina
eight days after leaving the cave, on a Monday when the sun was near
the meridian.
8-
Medina
When news reached
Medina
that the apostle had left
Mecca
, Abdul-Rahman told how the followers of the apostle ‘used to go
morning prayers, expecting his arrival. We went out to a stony plain
to look for him, and did not move until the sun drove us into the
shade; but if we could find no other shade we had to enter our houses,
because it was the hot season. The first man who caught sight of him
on the day he at last arrived was a Jew, who knew that we
awaited the apostle of Allah; and he at the top of his voice, “See!
your good fortune has arrived’.
“ We went out to the apostle, who was sitting in the shade of
a date‑palm with Abu Bakr, a man of the same age as he. As most
of us had not seen the apostle of Allah before, the people
could not distinguish him from Abu Bakr until the sun fell on the
apostle and Abu Bakr rose to shelter him with his cloak. Then we knew
which he was.’
Then the apostle of Allah took up his abode at Quba, two miles
outside
Medina
, with Kulthum, a friendly chief, and Abu Bakr dwelt with Khubayb; and
they were assured that all
Medina
waited to welcome them.
The apostle of Allah remained at Quba on Monday, Tuesday,and
Wednesday, and on Thursday he laid the foundation of a mosque; on
Friday he left for
Medina
, and, during the short journey he prayed at the foot of the valley
called Ranuna. These were the first Friday prayers he held in
Medina
.
Many tribes and families welcomed him and invited him to their
houses, but he replied, ‘Allow my camel to go where because she
is guided by Allah.’
At last the camel stopped in a courtyard which was part burial
ground, part date‑grove, part camel enclosure, and knelt down;
then it rose and went on a short distance. But it looked backwards and
returned to the place where it had first intended to stop; there it
knelt down, murmured and placed its chest on the ground. So the
apostle of Allah alighted and took up his lodgings at the house
of Abu Ayyub, near the courtyard. He inquired to whom the courtyard
belonged and was told to two orphans, named Sahl and Suhayl; so he
bought it to build a mosque thereon.
Abu Ayyub records that, ‘When the apostle of Allah had taken
up his abode in my house, he dwelt below and I above.
Then I said to him, “o prophet of Allah, who art dear to me
as my father and mother; I dislike and think it sinful that I should
be above thee and thou below me.” But he replied, “It is more
pleasing to us and to those who visit us, that we should be in the lower
part of the house.” Accordingly the apostle of Allah remained
beneath and I above.
‘We used to prepare his supper and send it to him. When he
returned what he could not eat, both I and Umm Ayyub touched the spot
where his hand had been; then we ate what he had left hoping thus to
gain a blessing. We sent him one evening a supper into which had gone
onions or garlic, and the apostle of’ Allah returned it, and we
found no trace of his hand on it; therefore I went to him in terror
and asked him the reason. He replied, “I found in it the smell of
this plant, and I am a man who has close contact with others. But you
may eat it.” Accordingly we ate it, but never offered him that plant
again.’
The apostle of Allah remained in
Medina
until the following year when his mosque and his dwellings were built.
He worked on them with his own hands to encourage his followers. Islam
in
Medina
soon became so complete that only a handful of houses remained whose
tenants had not made profession of Islam.
The first public sermon delivered by the apostle was as follows
‘Send good works ahead of you for the benefit of your souls When one
of you is snatched off by death your Lord will say unto you - for
there will be no interpreter or chamberlain between you and Him
‑ “Has not my apostle come and preached to thee? I have given
thee possessions, and bestowed benefits upon thee! What hast thou sent
ahead for thy soul’s reward?” Then you will look to the
right and to the left, but will see nothing .And you will look
forward and see nothing but hell!
‘But he who can give even a little piece of date, and does
so, to shade his countenance from the fire of hell; and he who has
nothing to give, let him shield himself by means of the Good Word. For
good is rewarded from tenfold to seven hundred fold !
Peace be unto you, and the mercy and blessing of Allah!’
When the apostle of Allah addressed the people for the second
time he said, ‘Let us take refuge with Allah from the of our own
souls, and from the evil of our own deeds. He whom Allah guides, none
can lead astray; and whom He leads astray, none can guide. There is no
god but Allah and He has no companion. Verily, the finest words are
the scripture of Allah; blessed is the man whose heart Allah has
adorned with it, whom He has caused to profess Islam after unbelief,
and who has preferred it to all the other beliefs of men; indeed, it
is the most eloquent of all. Love what Allah loves. Love Allah with
all your hearts, and be not weary of the word of Allah or the mention
thereof; but let not your hearts be hardened against it because it is
the most exquisite and high of all Allah has created.
Therefore adore Allah, and associate nothing idolatrous with
Him! Fear him with the fear that is His due. Carry out towards Allah
all that you say you will, and love one another in the spirit
of Allah, because He becomes wrathful when His covenant is broken.
The peace of Allah be with you, and His mercy !’
By no means all the inhabitants of
Medina
and the surrounding districts were converts to Islam. Some idolaters
remained, who rallied round Abdullah b. Ubayy, a man of great
authority in
Medina
before the advent of the apostle and who remained a continuing thorn
in the flesh of his success. It soon became apparent, too, that
some of the Helpers were not altogether convinced of the political
wisdom of supporting the apostle: these came to be regarded as paying
lip‑service to Islam, but hiding treachery in their hearts, and
they were known and reviled as ‘the Hypocrites’. Finally there
were three Jewish tribes settled just outside the city. Since much of
the apostle’s authority claimed to be derived from the Jewish
scriptures, he attempted to win the Jews over to his cause, as allies
if not as Believers.
In
Medina
the apostle of Allah drew up a document concerning the Emigrants and
the Helpers, and the making of a treaty with the Jews which would
ensure to both sides the maintenance of their religion and
possessions, and laid down certain conditions of the alliance.
‘In the name of Allah the merciful, the compassionate! This
concerns the Believers fled from
Mecca
and those of
Medina
, as well as those who follow them; join with them, and fight with
them, for they are a community excluding all other men. ‘The
Emigrants from
Mecca
shall pay blood‑ransom among themselves and redeem their
prisoners with the righteousness and justice suitable among Believers.
The Helper tribes of
Medina
shall do the same. Believers shall not abandon him who is destitute
among them, but shall aid him with gifts, drawn either from the
ransom of prisoners or the blood‑ransom paid for persons slain.
‘Believers shall guard against him who rebels, or seeks to
spread enmity or wickedness among them; let every man’s hand be
against him, even should he be the son of a Believer. No Believer
shall kill another for the sake of an infidel nor aid an infidel
against a Believer. Verily, the protection of Allah is indivisible and
extends to the meanest Believer of all; and each must befriend other
Believers above all men.
‘Jews who follow us shall be given aid and equality; they
shall not be oppressed, nor shall aid be given to others against them.
‘The safety of Believers is indivisible; no one shall be
saved at the expense of another, when battles are being fought in the
name of Allah, save with equity and justice. In every religious
casmpaign, Believers must aid one another in avenging blood spilled in
the way of Allah.
‘No idolater is permitted to take under his protection any
property, nor any person, belonging to a Quraysh Unbeliever, or to aid
a Quraysh against a Believer. He who kills a Believer will himself be
killed ‑ unless his victim’s kinsmen accept blood‑ransom
and it is the duty of all Believers to exact the penalty. He who aids
or shelters a malefactor will earn the curse and wrath of Allah on the
day of resurrection, nor will there be any escape therefrom. If you
are at variance on any matter, refer it or to Allah or to Muhammad.
‘The Jews will share the cost with the Believers as long as
they fight a common foe; the Jews are one community with the Believers
(but they have their own religion as the Believers have theirs). As
with the Jews, so with their adherents, except for him who commits a
crime.
‘None shall depart to war except by the permission of
Muhammad, but none shall be hindered from avenging an injury. He who
does ill only brings ill upon himself and upon his family, unless he
be oppressed; then Allah will justify his deed. There shall be mutual
aid between Believers and Jews, in face of any who war against those
who subscribe to this document, and mutual consultations and advice.
No man shall injure his ally, and aid shall be granted to the
oppressed. The Jews, when fighting alongside the Believers, will bear
their own expenses.
Medina
shall be sacred territory to those who agree to this covenant.
If there should be any
differences of opinion concerning this covenant and its meaning, they
must be placed before Allah and Muhammad the apostle of Allah.
‘Neither the Quraysh nor those who aid them are to be
protected. Mutual aid will be given by Believers and Jews against who
may attack
Medina
. If the Jews are called on by the Believers to make peace, they must
comply; and if the Believers are called on by the Jews to make peace,
they must agree, except in the case of a holy war. Every man shall be
allotted his reward by his own tribe.
‘Allah requires that this document shall be ratified and put
into effect; but it will not protect the unrighteous or the sinner.
Allah protects the just and the pious, and Muhammad is the apostle of
Allah’.
Soon after the arrival in
Medina
, the apostle of Allah established 'brotherhood in Allah' between his
companions of the Emigrants and the Helpers, saying, 'Become brothers
in Allah! Two by two!’ Then he himself took the hand of Ali and said
'This is my brother!' Thus the apostle of Allah ‑ prince of
apostles, leader of the pious, ambassador of the Lord of both worlds,
he who.has no peer in dignity, nor any equal among the servants of
Allah ‑ became the brother of Ali. Then the uncle of Muhammad -
Hamza ‑ the lion of Allah, and of His apostle ‑
became the brother of Zayd, the freedman of the apostle of Allah; and
Jafar ‑ the two‑winged, who was to soar in paradise
‑ became the brother of Muadh; and Abu Bakr became the brother
of Kharija. So it was with many others.
While
the mosque was being built one of the first Medinan converts, Asad,
died of a throat complaint, and the apostle foretold that his
enemies would say he was powerless, that 'If I were truly a prophet,
his companion would not have died.'
The
tribe, whose leader Asad had been, asked Muhammad to appoint a new
chieftain, but he replied: 'I know your needs and I shall be your
chieftain.' In fact, the apostle was unwilling exalt any man of them
above the others. For centuries after, it was a boast of this tribe
that the apostle of Allah had been their chieftain.
When
the apostle of Allah had settled himself in
Medina
, h.ad assembled his fellow refugees around him, and arranged the
affairs of the Helpers, Islam became properly established. Prayers
were regularly held; the poor tax and the fasts were prescribed; laws
were formulated, and what could and what could not properly be done
was defined.
When he first arrived in
Medina, the people had assembled around him at the appointed times for
prayer, without waiting for any summons, but now the apostle
considered whether he ought to call the people to prayer by the sound
of a trumpet, as is customary among the Jews; however, he disliked the
idea.
Then he ordered a wooden
gong to be made, and one was fashioned for his use;
but while this was being done, a man named Abdullah had a
vision. He went to the apostle of Allah and said, a wanderer came to
me last night, a man who wore two green garments, and carried a gong
in his hand. I said, "Wilt thou sell
This gong?” and he asked
me my purpose with it. I said, "We shall call to Prayers with
it", but he replied, " Shall I tell thee something better
than that? Cry: Allah Akbar [Allah is greatest] !, Allah Akbar! Allah
Akbar! Allah Akbar! I testify that
there is no god but Allah! I testify that Muhammad is the apostle of
Allah! Come to prayer, come to prayer! Come to blessedness, come to
blessedness! Allah Akbar! Allah Akbarl There is no god but Allah!"
'
When he heard this
Muhammad said, 'This is a true vision, if it pleaseth Allah. Arise
therefore with Bilal, give him the words and let him shout them,
because he has a better voice than thine.' When Bilal acted as muezzin
[the caller to prayer] and shouted these words, Umar heard him and
went to the apostle of Allah, trailing his cloak after him, and said,
'I swear by Him who sent thee, that I have had the same vision as
Abdullah.' The apostle said, 'Praise be to Allah!”
A
woman whose house was the largest near the mosque later told
how thereafter Bilal daily proclaimed the morning prayers. He used to
come in the morning, and sit in my house waiting for the morning star.
On beholding it, he would stretch himself and say, "0 Allah! I
praise Thee and invoke Thy aid that the Quraysh may accept Thy
religion." Then he would begin his prayer.
Among the converts and
inquirers who came to
Medina
seeking the truth of Islam were many whose stories were strange. One
such was Salman the Persian.
Salman the Persian was the
son of a rich man who loved him so intensely that he imprisoned him in
the house. But one day Salman went out to visit his father's property
and passed near a Christian church where the people were at their
prayers, he could not understand what they were doing, because his
father had kept him incarcerated, and he entered the church to see.
When he saw them, their devotions so pleased and impressed him
that he remained till sunset. After this, his father placed fetters on
his legs, and again imprisoned him, but he threw away the fetters and
went to
Syria
, where he had been told the root of Christianity was.
There
he served in succession five good and wise upholders of the faith.
When the fifth felt death was near, Salman
asked, 'To whom do you recommend me to go; what should I d o
now?” The wise one replied: 'My son, I know not whether anyone exists
today who is of the same religion as we, and to whom I might order
thee to go; but the time of a prophet of the religion of Abraham is
near at hand. This prophet will arise in the Arab country, and will
flee to a region situated within two stony ranges which contain
date‑trees. He is endowed with marks which cannot be concealed,
consumes gifts but not alms, and bears the seal of prophecy between
his shoulders. If thou art able to go to that country, do so.' He then
died and was buried.
Then
Salman said to some passing merchants:'Take ine tit I country of
Arabia
, and I will give you all my cows and sheep. But they took his
goods and sold him as a slave. After a time he was resold and taken to
Medina
, and when he reached there he recognized it from the description of
his dead master as the place where the prophet would appear.
Soon
the apostle fled from
Mecca
to
Medina
, and Salman heard of 'a man who has this day arrived from
Mecca
, and is believed to be a prophet'. Salman gathered some dates, and
when the evening set in, took them to the apostle of Allah, and said:
'It has reached me that you are a pious man, and have companions with
you who are strangers and needy. These dates intended for alms, but I
consider you to be worthier of them than others.' Then he offered them
to him, whereon the apostle of Allah said to his companions: 'Eat!”
But he himself restrained his hand and abstained from eating. Then
Salman said to himself: 'This is one sign.'
He went away and again
collected some dates and when the apostle of Allah appeared
again in
Medina
he paid him a visit, brought the dates, and said: 'I have seen that
you do not eat what is given as alms; but this is a gift wherewith I
intend to honour you.' Now the apostle of Allah ate, beckoned to his
companions, and they ate with him; and Salman said to himself: “This
is the second sign.'
On another occasion he
went to the apostle of Allah and walked in a circle around him to
ascertain whether he could see on his back the seal mentioned to him
by his master. When the apostle of Allah noticed this he knew that
Salman desired to verify something which had been described to him.
Accordingly he threw off his cloak and Salman beheld the seal and
recognized it. Then Salman bent over to kiss it, and to weep. The
apostle said, 'Turn round!' Salman obeyed, sat down in front and told
him his story, and the apostle of Allah was pleased that the
companions had heard it.
But Salman remained a
slave for another two years, until the apostle of Allah said,
'Purchase thy liberty, o Salman!' Salman accordingly made a bargain
with his owner for three hundred date-trees to be planted in furrows,
and forty ounces of gold. The apostle said to his companions: 'Aid
your brother!’ And some gave thirty, some twenty, some fifteen, and
some ten trees to aid Salman; every man according to his ability, so
that Salman collected three hundred plants. Then the apostle said:
'Go, Salman, and dig the furrows, so that I may plant with my own
hands’. Accordingly Salman dug and his friends helped him. When
Salman had terminated the work he went and informed the apostle of
Allah. Then the apostle of Allah went forth with him; they brought him
the plants, and he planted them with his own hands, until the work was
completed, and not a single plant died, so that Salman had paid
all the date saplings and only the money remained. But a nugget of
gold as large as a hen's egg having been brought to the apostle
of Allah he asked, 'What has the Persian done who was redeeming
himself?' Accordingly Salman was sent for, and the apostle said: 'Take
this and pay it for what thou owest, Salman!' Salman asked: “What
will this amount to in my debt?' and he replied: 'Take it, because
Allah will aid thee with it to pay thy debt.' Therefore Salman took
the lump and weighed it, and it weighed forty ounces. With this Salman
paid his debt, and became free.
In spite of his covenant with the Jewish tribes, relations
became progressively more
strained. From the 7ewish point of view, Muhammad daily moved farther
away from Judaism as he became ever more positive in what he required
of his followers: while, to the
apostle, the Jews appeared overcritical of his claims, and the
possibility of an alliance between the Jews and the Hypocrites was
a continuing source of disquiet. In Ibn Ishaq's biography of
the apostle the rift in a never very firm alliance is illustrated
with innumerable
anecdotes.
Some
Jewish rabbis came one day to the apostle of Allah and said, 'Answer
us four questions satisfactorily, and we shall believe in you.' The
apostle replied, 'On the covenant of Allah? Then ask what you
will.' They asked,'Tell us how an infant can resemble its mother, when
the seed comes from the man?’ The apostle of Allah said, 'Do you not
know that the seed of a man is white and thick, whereas that of a
woman is yellow and thin and that which prevails over the other
imparts the resemblance They exclaimed, 'That is the truth', and
continued: 'Then tell us about thy sleep.' He said, 'My eyes sleep,
but my heart is awake.' Then they asked: 'Tell us what Israel
denied himself and he replied, 'Do you not know that the food and
drink he most relished was the flesh and milk of the camel; and when
he fell prey to a disease and Allah delivered him, in gratitude he
forswore the food and drink he liked most, the flesh and milk of
camels.' They said, 'That is the truth.' Then they asked, '. Tell us
about the Spirit?' He replied, 'It is Gabriel, who comes to me.' Then
the rabbis said: 'Agreed. But Gabriel is an enemy to us, and comes
with violence and bloodshed. If this were not so we would follow
thee!'
On
another occasion the apostle of Allah wrote to the Jews of Khaybar in
this manner. 'In the name of Allah the merciful, the compassionate!
This is from Muhammad, apostle of Allah, friend and brother of
Moses, who confirms the revelation which Moses brought!
Verily, Allah says to you, men of the scripture – and you
will find it in your scripture ‑ "Muhammad is the apostle
of Allah! Those with him are violent against Unbelievers but merciful
to one another. You can see them kneeling or prostrated, suing for the
bounty and approbation of Allah; their foreheads are marked
by traces of that prostration. Allah promises to those who
believe and do good works, forgiveness and a great reward." By
Allah, and by that revelation which He has hitherto sent down to you,
by Him who fed with manna and quails the tribes that went before you,
and by Him who dried up the sea for your ancestors that he might
deliver them from Pharaoh ‑ I adjure you to tell me if you find
in that revelation which Allah sent down to
You, that you should
believe in Muhammad. If you cannot find that in your scripture, no
displeasure will fall on you. Guidance will be distinguishable from
error, and I invite you to Allah and to His prophet.'
When the Christians of
Najran came to the apostle of Allah, Jewish rabbis came also and they
disputed before the apostle. One Jew said to the Christians, 'You are
nothing!' and denied Jesus and the gospel; then a Christian said to
the Jews, 'You are nothing and denied that Moses was a prophet, and
denied the Torah. Then Allah revealed the following verse. 'The Jews
say the Christians are nothing, and the Christians say the Jews are
nothing yet they both base their arguments on scripture. They are
ignorant, and Allah will judge between them on the day of the
resurrection.'
Then the Jewish rabbis
disputed with the Christians of Najran saying, 'Abraham was no other
than a Jew.' And the Christians from Najran said, 'Abraham was no
other than a Christian’. Then Allah revealed the verse, 'Why do you
quarrel about Abraham, when the Torah and the gospel were not sent
down until after his time. You have disputed about things you know ,
why then do you dispute about things you know not? Allah knoweth, but
you know not. Abraham was neither a Jew nor a Christian. He was an
orthodox Muslim, and he was no idolator. Those closest to
Abraham are those who
follow him and this prophet, and those who believe. Allah is the
protector of the faithful.'
Then a Christian asked
Muhammad, 'Do you want to worship you as we worship Jesus, son of
Mary?' The apostle replied, 'Allah forbid that I should worship anyone
besides Him, or command any other besides Him to be worshipped. Allah
has not sent me to do that."
9-
The Qibla
Seventeen
months after the apostle arrived in
Medina
the qibla [the direction in which Muhammad and his followers
faced during prayers] was changed from
Jerusalem
to
Mecca
. Several Jews came to him and taunted him: '0 Muhammad! What
has turned you away from the qibla you used to face? You allege
that you follow the religion of Abraham; return, then, to the qibla
of the religion of Abraham, to which you turned before, and we
shall follow you and believe in you. 'But they slyly intended thus to
turn him away from his religion. Then Allah revealed the words:
'Foolish men say "What hath turned them away from the qibla to
which they prayed?" Reply, "Allah's is the east and the
west, He leads whom He will to the straight path." ' And Allah
said, 'Turn thy face to the holy mosque [the Kaba at
Mecca
; and wherever you are, turn thy face to that.'
Once,
Muadh asked some Jewish rabbis about a subject mentioned in the
Torah, but they refused to answer him about it. So Allah revealed the
verse, 'Those who conceal what We have sent down, after We have made
it plain, will be cursed by Allah.'
Again
the apostle of Allah invited the Jews, possessors of' the scripture,
to accept Islam and tried to enlist them in its favour; but he also
threatened them with the punishment and vengeance of Allah. He was
told, 'Nay. We shall follow that religion which our fathers
professed, because they were more learned and better men than we are.'
Allah the most high and glorious therefore sent down the verse which
says, 'And when it is said to them "Follow that revelation which
Allah has sent down", they say. "Nay, we shall follow that
which we found our fathers practise." What? Though their fathers
knew nothing, and were not rightlv guided!'
On another occasion the
apostle entered a Jewish school and invited those who were present to
Allah. They asked, 'What is your religion, Muhammad?' and he
replied, 'The religion of Abraham .' They said, 'Abraham was a Jew.'
Then the apostle told them, 'Bring the Torah and let that judge
between me and you', but they refused.
Among the tribes who had
professed Islam were the Khazraj and the Aus, who had formerly been in
a constant state of enmity. One day a sheikh who hated Islam passed by
and, seeing the new friendship between the tribes, became angry and
decided to chief. Accordingly, he beckoned to a young Jew and and sit
with them; then mention the battle of Bu'ath and what preceded it!”
Bu'ath was the day on which the two tribes, and the Khazraj, had
fought; the Aus had been victorious. The young Jew did what he was
told and the people began to talk on the subject, to dispute, and
boast to one another, till at last two men jumped up, arguing hotly,
and one said, 'If you wish we shall repeat the battle!” Now, both
parties became enraged and cried, 'The challenge is accepted! Outside
the arms! To arms!' and they all rushed off. As soon as th apostle of
Allah heard of this, he went after them, and when he reached them he
said, 'Do you now revive the disputes which raged during the years of
idolatry? After Allah has led you to Islam and united you in
friendship?' Then the people realized that this was a trick of Satan,
and wept, and the Aus embraced raj and all departed with the apostle
of Allah, attentive and obedient.
Some Muslims tried to keep
up connexions with the Jews because of the alliance which had existed
between them during the years of ignorance; but Allah revealed the
following verse, prohibiting this kind of association. 'Contract no
friendships except among your own number. Others would certainly
corrupt you. They desire your humiliation; their hatred is clear
enough in what they say, but what their hearts conceal is even worse.
You have more right to hate them than they you. When they meet you
they say, "We believe", but when they are alone they bite
their fingers with rage against you. Say, "Die in your rage!”
One day Abu Bakr entered
the schoolhouse of the Jews and found many of them assembled around a
man whose name was Finhas. He was a doctor and rabbi, and had with him
another rabbi called Ashya. Abu Bakr said to Finhas, 'Woe betide thee.
Fear Allah, and make profession of Islam!' Finhas replied, “We have
no need of Allah, but He has need of us! We do not beseech Him
as He beseeches us. We are independent of Him, but He is not
independent of us. If He were independent of us, He would not ask for
our money as your master Muhammad does [for a war against
Mecca
]. He forbids usury to you, but pays us interest; if He were
independent of us He would give us no interest.' .At this, Abu Bakr
became angry, and struck Finhas violently, saying, 'I swear by Him in
whose hands my life rests that if there were no treaty between
us I would have struck off your head, you enemy of Allah!' Then
Finhas went to the apostle of. Allah and said, 'See what your
companion has done to me! Abu Bakr explained what happened, but Finhas
denied the whole matter and said, 'I spoke no such words!' But Allah
revealed a verse confirming the words of Abu Bakr.
10-
Rajam
Early in Muhammad's stay
at
Medina
the rabbis had met to judge a married man who had committed adultery
with a Jewish woman who was also married. They said, 'Send this man
and this woman to Muhammad, ask him for a judgement of the case, and
let him prescribe the penalty. If he decides to condemn them to the tajbih
‑ when criminals are scourged with a rope of date‑fibres
dipped in resin, then have their faces blackened and are placed on two
donkeys with their faces turned towards the rump ‑ 'then obey
him, for he is a prince, and believe in him. But if he condemns them
to be stoned, he is a prophet; then be on your guard against him, lest
he deprive you of what you have.'
They
had asked the apostle's judgement and he went to where the
priests sat, and said to them, 'Bring me your learned men!” They
brought him Abdullah b. Suriya, who was the most learned,
though one of the youngest, among them. The apostle talked alone with
him and had him confirm on oath that according to the Torah, Allah
condemns to stoning the man who commits
adultery
after marriage'. Suriya added, 'They know you are an inspired prophet,
but they envy you!' Then the apostle went out and ordered the culprits
to be stoned in front of the mosque. When the man felt the first stone
he bent over his mistress to protect her from the stones, until they
were killed. This is what Allah did for His apostle, to exact the
penalty for adultery from these two persons.
The apostle asked the Jews
what had induced them to abandon of stoning for adultery, when it was
prescribed in the Torah. They said the penalty had been observed until
a man of royal blood committed adultery, and 'the king would not allow
him to be stoned. When, after this, another man committed adultery and
the king desired that he be stoned, they said, "Not unless
you also permit the first man to be stoned." Then all
agreed to resort to scourging, and both the memory and practice of
stoning died out.' Then the apostle of Allah said, 'I was the first to
revive the command of Allah, His scripture, and obedience to it.
On another occasion a
company of Jews came to the apostle 'Allah has created creation, but
who created Allah?'
And the apostle became so
angry that his colour changed, and he lept up in zeal for his Lord.
But Gabriel came and quieted him, and said, “Calm thyself,
Muhammad!” Gabriel brought a reply from Allah to what they had asked
him. 'Say "He is the one god! Allah is self‑generating! He
begetteth not, nor is begotten! And ther is none equal."
After he had recited this
to them, they said: 'Describe Him to us, o Muhammad! What is His
shape? His arm ‑ what is the strength of His arm?' The apostle
became even more wrathful and he leapt up once more; but Gabriel again
came and told him to be calm and brought a reply from Allah. 'They
have not properly understood the power of Allah! He will grasp the
whole earth on the day of the resurrection, and the heavens will be
rolled up in His right hand! Praised be He, and exalted above all
their idols’.
A deputation of Christians from Najran,
consisting of sixty riders, arrived on a visit to the apostle; among
them were fourteen of their most respected men, three of whom were
entrusted with the management of their affairs. The leader of the
people, the chief councillor whose advice they always followed, was
Abdul‑Masih. Their administrator was al‑Ayham. Their
bishop, scholar, religious leader and master of their schools, was Abu
Haritha, who was respected among them and a renowned student with
an extensive knowledge of their religion; the Christian princes
of Byzantium had honoured him with gifts of goods and servants, built
churches for him, and venerated him for his learning and
religious zeal. On the way to visit the apostle, Abu Haritha said to
his brother, 'This is the prophet whom we were expecting.' His brother
rejoined, 'Then what hinders you from acknowledging him?' Abu Haritha
replied, 'Those who have paid us respect, given us titles and
shown us favours, are opposed to him; if I acknowledge him, they will
deprive us of all we enjoy.'
When the delegation
arrived in
Medina
they entered the mosque while the apostle was holding his afternoon
prayers. When the time arrived for their own prayers they stood up in
the mosque of the apostle and made their devotions; and the apostle of
Allah said, 'It is permitted.' And they prayed with their faces
towards the east.
The three leaders,
although Christians, differed among themselves on some points. They
said that He was God [or 'Allah'], because He brought the dead to
life, healed the sick, made known the unknown, created a bird from
clay, breathed on and gave it life; they said that He was also the Son
of God because He had no known father and spoke in His cradle, which
no other human had ever done before; and they said, too, that He was
the third of the Trinity, because the word of God was always 'We have
acted, We have commanded . . .'and if God were but one, His
word would be 'I have commanded, I have created…’
Thus He is He, and He is Jesus and He is Mary.*
11-
The Trinity
*Muhammad and his
followers (and consequently his biographers) found the doctrine
of the Trinity far from clear and often referred to Mary, mother of
Jesus, as the third of the Trinity.
The apostle said to them,
'Resign yourself to the will of Allah' [he presumably meant
'Profess Islam', but the three leaders took the injunction at its face
value], and they replied, 'We did so before thee”.
'You lie! said Muhammad. 'You say that Allah has a son, you
worship the cross, and you eat the flesh of pigs; these prohibit you
from submission.'
Then Allah revealed
the Sura known as The Family of Imran which begins by refuting
the Christian Trinity, and proclaiming omnipotence and
one‑ness of Allah. There is no god but He, the Living, the
Eternal who cannot die; but Jesus died and was crucified. Allah has
sent down the Koran, the criterion of truth and falsehood in matters
of difference over Jesus and others. Those who disbelieve the
directions of Allah will suffer grievous punishment; for Allah is
mighty and avenging. Nothing is hidden from Allah on earth or in
heaven and He knows what the Christians intend with their claims that
Jesus is Lord and God. But Allah formed Jesus in the womb – this the
Christians do not deny ‑ as He formed other human beings; how,
then, can Jesus be god?
It is Allah who has sent
down the scripture with clear and categorical verses at the core. But
other verses are obscure and convoluted and can be explained in
several ways; and these are
Sent by Allah to test men.
Those in whose hearts there is perversity expound their own
interpretation of them as if it were categorical truth, or clothe
their own inventions in the obscurity of the verses. But truthful men
balance the clear verses with the obscure and thus the parts of the
scripture clarify each other; the argument is plain, the justification
becomes evident, falsehood is removed, and unbelief is defeated.
Although Allah gave Jesus powers of various
kinds (on the basis of which the Christians believe him to be God), it
was in order to ma
ke him a sign to mankind, to furnish them with proofs of his
prophetic mission. But Allah held back many manifestations of
His dominion and power, such as the succession of day by night and
night by day, and bringing forth the living from the the dead and the
dead from the living. Over none of these matters did He give power to
Jesus, but all of these would have been at his disposal had he been
God; instead, he fled from kings, from country to country.
Then Allah explained to
them the origins of Jesus. Allah selected Adam and Noah, and the
family of Abraham and the family of Imran above all other men, in
successive generations. The wife of Imran dedicated the child in her
womb to Allah and when she was delivered of it she said, 'O Lord, I
have brought forth a daughter. I have called her Mary, and I commend
her and her issue to Thy protection.' Allah accepted her graciously,
and made her grow to a goodly woman. Then the angels said to her:
'Allah has chosen thee and has purified thee. He has chosen thee above
all other women. Bend down to the Lord and worship!' She said: 'Lord!
How can I have a child when no man has touched me.' He said: 'Allah
createth what He pleaseth, Then He said: 'We shall teach him the
scripture, and wisdom and the Torah' ‑ which had been with them
from the time of Moses ‑'and the gospel. And he will be an
apostle to the children of
Israel
, saying, "I have come to you with a sign from your Lord. Allah
is my Lord and your Lord, and I shall heal those who are blind from
birth, and lepers. And I shall revive the dead with the permission of
Allah, and will tell you of what you eat, and what you store up in
your houses. Herein will be a sign for you that I am an apostle from
Allah, if ye are believers in the Torah."'
Allah
took Jesus to Himself when they had determined to kill him. 'They
devised a stratagem, and Allah devised a stratagem but Allah is the
best deviser of stratagems.' Allah lifted him up and purified him;
'the likeness of Jesus with Allah is as the likeness of Adam, whom He
created of dust, saying 'Be” And he was. I created Adam of dust,
without the intervention of man or woman, and he became ‑ like
Jesus ‑ flesh, blood, hair, and skin. So the creation of Jesus
without a man is no more wonderful than that of Adam.'
After hearing this, the
Christians said to Muhammad, 'Allow us to consider the matter and let
us then return to tell you what we mean to do.' Then they discussed in
private and Abdul Masih said: 'You know that Muhammad is an inspired
prophet; and no nation ever cursed a prophet without its chiefs
dying, and the number of its children diminishing. If you do this, you
will perish; but if you do not curse him and yet wish to stay in your
own religion, then take leave of the man and return to your own
country. ' Accordingly, they went to the apostle and said to him,
“We have decided to leave you in your religion, and to remain in our
own; but send one of your companions with us and let him judge among
us concerning all differences of property that may arise; for we are
impressed with you.' The apostle of Allah agreed to their request.
Aisha, the daughter of Abu
Bakr and now Muhammad's youthful wife told how 'When the apostle
arrived in Medina, whose climate was unlike Mecca, fever was more
prevalent than in any other place on earth, and the companions
suffered and fell sick with it. Allah, however, guarded His
prophet.' Abu Bakr and his two
freedmen caught the fever, and Aisha 'went there and paid them a
visit; at that time veils had not yet been commanded to us. They were
stricken with violent fever, and when I asked my father "How art
thou?" he replied, "A man may rise with his family in the
morning, but death may be nearer to him than his
sandal‑strings." I decided my father knew not what he said,
and went to his two freedmen; but they, too, spoke in riddles. So I
told the apostle of Allah what I had heard them say, and he explained
that they were delirious because of their high temperature and fever.
The apostle prayed to Allah: “Make Medina as dear to us as Thou hast
made
Mecca
, or more dear. Bless everything therein, and carry this epidemic away
to another place.",
While this fever raged the
apostle's followers were so weak that to pray sitting down. He visited
them while they were praying thus and told them, 'The prayer of a
seated man has only half the value of a prayer performed standing!' So
the Muslims forced themselves, in spite of their weak and shaky
condition, to pray standing, that they might gain merit.
A year after his arrival
in
Medina
, and thirteen years after his ‘call’, the apostle of Allah
prepared himself for war in obedience to the command of Allah that he
should attack the idolaters. He was then fifty‑three years old.
Religious hostility and a measure of personal
resentment against the Quraysh idolaters were deeply implanted in the
mind of the apostle. He had sworn vengeance against them and, now that
his followers were settled in
Medina
, he felt the time had come to make good his threats.
Not
far from
Medina
was the main caravan route which the Quraysh used in their trade with
the north. Frankincense, silk, precious metals and leather passed
regularly back and forth between
Mecca
,
Syria
, Abyssinia, and the
Yemen
. The prizes were too rich not to add an irresistible weight to
basically religious and political impulses. And attack on the caravans
of the Quraysh meant an attack on what was simultaneously their
weakest and most valued link.
This
was the first occasion on which the white banner of Muhammad was seen.
Muhammad sent out from
Medina
sixty or eighty of the Emigrants, led by Ubayda; none of the Helpers
accompanied them. They rode as far as the water in the Hijaz and there
found a great trading caravan of Quraysh from
Mecca
. There was no battle, but Sad shot an arrow which was the first arrow
shot in Islam. Then the parties separated. Two men fled from the
Unbelievers to join the Muslims; these were al‑Miqdad and Utba.
At
the same time, the apostle sent his uncle, Hamza, with thirty riders
to the sea‑coast at al‑Is; there they met a party of three
hundred men from
Mecca
, led by Abu Jahl, but a man named Majdi ‑who was on good terms
with both sides ‑mediated between them and they separated
without coming to blows. Hamza also bore a white banner which had been
tied on by Muhammad, and some say that this was the first time the
banner was seen; but his expedition and that of Ubayda occurred at the
same time and this has caused the confusion.
The apostle himself next
went forth in search of the Quraysh and reached Buwat, in the
direction of Radwa. But he returned to
Medina
without encountering his enemies and remained in
Medina
for some weeks before he again went forth. He passed through the
valley of the Banu Dinar, then through Fayfau‑l-Khabar, then
halted under a tree in the
valley
of
Ibn Azhar
. Food had been prepared for him nearby; there he prayed, and there
his mosque is. He and his companions ate, and the very spot on which
his cooking‑vessel stood is still known. He continued his
journey until he reached al‑Ushayra in the
valley
of
Yanbu
and remained there for a month, forming alliances with neighbouring
tribes along the sea‑coast, before returning to
Medina
. He encountered no enemies, the caravan from
Mecca
‑ commanded by Abu Sufyan ‑ having passed before he
reached al‑Ushayra.
When
he returned from the expedition to al‑Ushayra, the apostle
remained at
Medina
for only ten nights before he had to sally out against one Kurz, who
had plundered the herds of
Medina
. He marched as far as the
valley
of
Safawan
in the region of Badr, but was unable to overtake Kurz, and returned
to
Medina
, where he remained for a further two months. This was the first
expedition to Badr.
12
First
Caravan
Shortly
after this expedition to Badr the apostle sent Abdullah b. Jahsh and
eight Emigrants on a journey. He gave a letter to Abdullah, but
ordered him not to read it till the end of a two days' march; he also
told him to avoid giving offence to any of his companions.
After
Abdullah had marched two days' journey, he opened the letter, and
found it contained the following instructions: 'Go on to Nakhla,
between
Mecca
and Al‑Taif, and keep watch over the Quraysh there and bring
back news of their business.' Abdullah said, 'I read and obey!' Then
he told his companions about the letter, and added, 'He has also
prohibited me from forcing any one of you to do anything against his
will. If, therefore, any of you wishes to earn martyrdom, let him come
with me; but if not, let him go back.' All his companions went with
him, and none remained behind, but at Bahran two of the travellers
lost the camel which they had been riding in turns and they fell
behind to look for it. Abdullah marched on with the rest of his
companions to Nakhla, where they came upon a Quraysh caravan laden
with raisins, tanned hides, and various other goods., and accompanied
by four men.
When
the caravan saw Abdullah and his companions they were afraid because
they had alighted so near to them, but when Ukkasha – whose head was
shaved like that of a pilgrim – approached them, they recovered
their confidence and said, “These are pilgrims, and we need have no
fear of them.’
This
took place on the last day of the sacred month Rajab [October].
Abdullah and his companions conferred among themselves: ‘If we allow
these people to continue and reach sacred territory tonight, they will
be safe from us; but if we attack them now, we profane the sacred
month.’ And they vacillated and hesitated to attack, but at last
mustered up their courage and agreed to slay as many of the Quraysh as
they could, and take possession of what they had with them. So Waqid
shot an arrow and killed one of the Quraysh, two others were made
prisoner, and the fourth fled.
Then
Abdullah, with his companions, the caravan, and the prisoners,
returned to
Medina
, saying, One fifth part of our plunder belongs to the apostle of
Allah.’ This was before Allah had made it encument on Believers to
give up a fiftyh part of any booty to Him. One fifth of the caravan
was set aside for the apostle of Allah, and Abdullah distributed the
rest anong his companions.
When they arrived at
Medina
, however, the apostle said, 'I did not command you to fight in the
holy month, and he walked away from the caravan and the prisoners, and
refused to take anything from them. The captors were crestfallen and
decided they were doomed, and their Muslim brethren too, reproved them
for their deed. In
Mecca
, the Quraysh were saying: “Muhammad and his companions have
violated the sacred month; they have shed blood in it, and taken
booty, and captured prisoners.’ The Jews interpreted
the event as a bad omen for the apostle.
When speculation on the
subject became widespread Allah revealed these words to His apostle:
'They will ask thee about the sacred month and the fighting. Say
"To fight in the sacred month is a matter of grave import, but to
obstruct the worship of Allah and not to believe in Him, to prevent
men from entering the holy mosque or to drive them out of it, these
are of even graver import." '
So
the apostle of Allah took possession of the caravan and the prisoners.
The Quraysh sent men to negotiate for the ransom of the prisoners, but
the apostle replied that he could not release them until the two
Emigrants who had fallen behind Abdullah to look for their camel
returned, because he feared the Quraysh might have met and harmed
them. 'If you have killed them, we shall kill our prisoners,' he said.
But the two wanderers returned and the apostle released the prisoners,
one of them making profession of Islam and remaining in
Medina
with Muhammad.
When
Allah made plunder permissible He allowed four parts to those who had
won it, and one part to Himself and to His apostle, exactly as
Abdullah had done with the captured caravan.
This
was the occasion when the first booty was taken by the Muslims, when
the first prisoners were taken by the Muslims and when the first man
was slain by the Muslims. It was eighteen months since the Emigrants
had arrived in
Medina
.
Soon the apostle of Allah heard that Abu Sufyan
‑ whom he had missed at al‑Ushayra ‑ was returning
from
Syria
with a large caravan of merchandise, accompanied by thirty or forty
men. Then he addressed the Believers, saying: 'Go forth against this
caravan; it may be that Allah will grant you plunder.' The people
soon assembled, though some were fearful and others hesitated because
they had not thought the apostle would really go to war.
Meanwhile,
Abu Sufyan was approaching the Hijaz, gathering information and
questioning every rider he met, lest he expose his people to danger.
At last he heard: 'Muhammad has gathered his companions to attack you
and your caravan.' Greatly alarmed, he sent off a messenger named
Damdam to
Mecca
to call out the Quraysh to protect their goods and to warn
them of the threat of Muhammad and his companions.
When
Damdam arrived in
Mecca
he cut off the nose of his camel, turned its saddle back to front, and
rent his own shirt, all to indicate the alarming news he brought. He
shouted, '0, ye Quraysh! Your prized caravan is in danger from
Muhammad. You may be too late to save it. Help! Go now!' The people
hastened to prepare, exclaiming, 'Does Muhammad believe this will be
as easy a victory as at Nakhla? No, this time we shall teach him
otherwise!' Thus the Quraysh assembled, and not a well‑born man
among them remained behind save Abu Lahab, who sent in his place a man
who owed him money and who could not pay.
The
apostle himself left
Medina
with his companions early in the month of Ramadan [December], leaving
Abu Lubaba in control of affairs at
Medina
.
The
white banner of the apostle was carried by Musab, and one black banner
(The Eagle) by Ali, and another by the Helpers. There were seventy
camels, which the men rode in turn. When the party arrived in
al‑Safra, a village between two mountains, the apostle asked the
names of the village tribes and was told they were called Banu
al‑Nar [sons of fire] and Banu Huraq [sons of burning]. The
apostle was uneasy and read an evil omen in the names, so he
by‑passed the village and the mountains and travelled through
a valley known as Dhafiran. Halting here, he received news that the
Quraysh were on the march from
Mecca
to protect their caravan. He asked his people what they thought should
be done and al‑Miqdad said, 'Go where Allah leads! We are with
thee, and we shall not say to thee what the children of
Israel
said to Moses, "Thou and thy Lord may go and fight; we shall
remain here!" Instead we say "Go thou and thy Lord and
fight; we shall fight with you!" ' The apostle thanked him for
this declaration and blessed him, and said, 'Advise me also, you men
of the Helpers.' He feared the Helpers might aid him only by defending
him against attack in
Medina
, and that they would not think it incumbent upon them to fight for
him outside their own territory. But Sad answered, 'We believe in
thee, and have testified that the revelation thou hast brought is
true. Therefore we have made a covenant! We hear and obey thee! Go
where thou wilt, we are with thee; we shall be steady in battle and
true in combat. And perhaps Allah will show thee something of us which
will rejoice the eye, and procure the blessing of Allah.'
13-
Badr
When
the apostle of Allah arrived near Badr he received news of the
whereabouts of the Quraysh, and sent several of his companions to
the well at Badr to investigate further. The companions brought back
two slaves, watermen of the Quraysh, who confessed to Muhammad that
'The Quraysh are at the rear of that sandhill.' The apostle asked,
'How many men are there?’ and they replied, 'Many!' He asked, 'What
is their number?' but the slaves said that they did not know. 'How
many camels do they slaughter daily?' The slaves replied, 'Some days
nine, and some days ten', and the apostle said, 'Then they must be
from nine hundred to one thousand in number.'
Meanwhile,
two of the companions had gone back to the well to fetch water, and
they overheard a conversation between two girls and a tribesman, who
said, 'Tomorrow or the day after tomorrow the caravan will arrive.'
Abu
Sufyan, however, had scouted ahead of his caravan and he reached the
water unobserved, after the two companions had left. There he asked
the tribesman if any strangers had been seen and was told, 'No one
suspicious, except two riders, who alighted near the hill, took water
to fill their water‑bottles and departed.' Abu Sufyan went to
the spot where they had halted and, examining the camel‑dung
there, found that it contained date‑stones. 'This is the fodder
of
Medina
,' he exclaimed, and returning briskly to the caravan he diverted it
from the road and along the coast, and by‑passed Badr
altogether. They hastened on beyond the reach of danger and when Abu
Sufyah decided the caravan had reached safety he sent a message to the
Quraysh army telling them they could return to
Mecca
.
But
Abu Jahl refused to return to
Mecca
without giving a display of strength at Badr. 'We shall stay there
three days, slaughter cattle, feast the people, drink wine, and
be entertained by singing‑girls. All
Arabia
will hear of us, of our march, of our festivity, and they will
respect us ever afterwards! Therefore, let us proceed.' One group, who
saw no further purpose in the expedition, returned to
Mecca
, but the rest of the army followed Abu Jahl.
The
Quraysh army marched until they reached the sandy foothills on the
western side of the
valley
of
Badr
, but they were impeded by rain and mud sent by Allah. In the valley
itself Muhammad and his force were not so hampered, and they reached
the wells of Badr first and halted at the nearest of them. Al‑Hubab
inquired of the apostle if this halting‑place were the choice of
Allah, and when the apostle replied that it had been selected
according to his own strategy and according to no higher instruction,
al‑Hubab said: 'Then let the people arise and march to the well
next to the enemy; on the way, let us close up all the wells except
the last. Around that, let us make a reservoir and fill it with water;
then, when we fight, we shall drink, but not the enemy.' The apostle
replied, 'Thy advice is good! and they acted accordingly.
Some
of the Quraysh, however, went down to the reservoir and the apostle
said, 'Let them drink', but only one man of those who drank survived
the next day's battle. This was Hakim, who later professed Islam.
That
night the Quraysh sent Umayr to spy out the number of the companions.
He circled the army, then returned to report: 'They are a little more
or less than three hundred in number; but give me time to see whether
they have any other men in ambush or in reserve.' He again departed,
and rode some distance, but returned and said, 'I have not seen
anything; but listen to me. Battles bring misfortune. The camels of
Medina
carry sudden death. These men have no other refuge or protection
than their swords and I believe that not one of them will die without
first killing one of us. If one of us dies for every one of them, what
will life have to offer after that?'
Then
Utba rose and addressed the Quraysh: 'You will gain nothing by
attacking Muhammad and his companions! If you conquer him, many of his
men being our kinsmen, you will never escape the loathing of those
fellow Quraysh whose kinsmen you have slain. Return therefore, and let
Muhammad fight with other Arabs.' But Abu Jahl sneered, 'His lungs are
swollen with fear at the sight of Muhammad and his companions! We
shall not retreat until Allah decides between us and Muhammad', and he
sent a message to Amir, the man whose brother had been killed at
Nakhla, the first man killed in Islam. 'Your ally wishes to turn back.
Arise, therefore, and avenge the murder of your brother by leading the
people on to fight.' Thus the flame of war was fanned, the Quraysh
became fixed in their evil course, and the advice of Utba was spurned.
When
Utba heard of Abu Jahl's insult he cried, 'We shall see which of us
two is the coward!' and sought a helmet to put on his head; but he
could not find one in the whole army to fit because his skull was so
great. So he wrapped a piece of cloth around his head.
Soon
the apostle of Allah saw the Quraysh entering the valley, and he
prayed. 'Allah! These are the Quraysh with their arrogance and vanity,
who have offended Thee and accused Thy apostle of falsehood. 0 Allah!
Grant me Thy promised aid and annihilate them this day!'
The
battle of Badr took place on Friday morning, the seventeenth day of
Ramadan.
One
man of the Quraysh, a vicious, quarrelsome fellow, now stepped forth
from the army and said, 'I call Allah as witness that I shall drink
from their reservoir and destroy it, or die in the attempt.' Hamza
advanced to do battle with him and when they met Harnza struck him
violently and severed his leg between the knee and the foot. The man
fell on his back and the blood from his leg spurted towards the
Quraysh army; but he dragged himself on to the reservoir to redeem his
vow. Hamza slew him there.
Next,
Utba came forth, flanked by his brother and his son, and uttered the
challenge to single combat. Three men of the Helpers stepped forward,
but the Quraysh refused to fight with them and cried: 'Let us fight
with equals from our own tribe! So the apostle of Allah gave them
Ubayda and Hamza and Ali, and they said, 'Agreed. These are noble and
our equals!' Ubayda confronted Utba, Hamza confronted the brother of
Utba, and Ali
the son. Ubayda and Utba
wounded one another, but Hamza and Ali killed their opponents at once
and then turned and slew the wounded Utba. Thereafter, they carried
Ubayda back to his companions.
The
apostle of Allah took up a handful of gravel, and threw it in the
direction of the Quraysh. 'May confusion strike them! he cried, and
ordered his companions to attack.
Victory
was theirs, and Allah slew many of the Quraysh chiefs, and caused many
of their nobles to be taken prisoner. According to one of Muhammad's
followers, on the day of Badr one Abu Daud 'followed an idolater in
order to strike him down, and lo! his head fell off ere my sabre
reached it; then I knew that some other agency had killed him'.
Turbans are the diadems of the Arabs, and the sign of the angels on
that day was white turbans, flowing at the back; only Gabriel wore a
yellow turban. The angels never fought with distinguishing marks
except on the day of Badr. They were present at other battles, but
merely to increase the numbers, not to fight.
Ukkasha
fought on the day of Badr until his sword broke in his hand. Then the
apostle went to him and gave him a piece of wood, saying, 'Fight with
this'. When he took it in his hand and waved it, it became a sword
with a long blade, strong, gleaming and sharp. He fought with it until
Allah bestowed victory upon the Muslims that day, and kept it, and
fought many battles with it in the company of the apostle of Allah.
As
the companions were engaged in taking captives after the battle, the
apostle of Allah saw signs of displeasure on the face of Sad, who
stood beside him. The apostle said: 'You seem displeased with what
the people are doing?' and Sad replied, 'Yes, by Allah. This is the
first defeat which Allah has visited on the infidels, and I would
rather have seen wholesale slaughter than this preservation of life.'
The apostle of Allah, however, had told his companions that day: 'I
know for a certainty that many of the Banu Hashim and others of the
Quraysh have been brought against their will to fight us. If,
therefore, any man of you meets one of the Banu Hashim he is not to
kill him.' The apostle gave similar instructions concerning his uncle
al‑Abbas and certain others of the Quraysh who had protected the
apostle in the past. Nevertheless, the slaughter was great.
On
the day of Badr, after the battle, Abdul‑Rahman passed near some
Quraysh who had been unable to flee, and saw his old friend Ummaya
with his son. Ummaya exclaimed: 'Are you willing to take me prisoner?
My ransom will be of more value to you than the plunder you are laden
with! Throwing away his plunder, Abdul‑Rahman took him and his
son by the hand and walked with them. 'But Bilal saw him with me, and
it was Ummaya who had tormented Bilal when he was a slave at
Mecca
. When he caught sight of him now, he exclaimed, "Worst of infidels!
Let me die if he be allowed to live!" and he cried out to the
companions of the apostle to kill Ummaya. They formed a ring round us,
and I tried to protect him, but a man struck off the leg of the son of
Ummaya and he fell to the ground. Then Ummaya uttered a cry such as I
had never heard before. I said to him, 'Save thyself. I can no longer
help thee,' and the people fell upon them with their swords and killed
them both; and I said "May Allah have mercy on Bilal! My plunder
has gone and he has deprived me of my captives, too!" '
After
the apostle of Allah had done with the enemy, he ordered that the body
of Abu Jahl be sought among the slain. The first man who had
encountered Abu Jahl in the battle was Muadh, who had attacked him,
and struck off his foot and ankle; but Abu Jahl's son dealt Muadh such
a blow as almost cut his hand from his arm. 'It remained dangling at
my side held only by the skin,' said Muadh. 'After that the battle
drew me away from Abu Jahl and I continued to fight all day, dragging
my hand after me; but after a while it annoyed me too much, and I
placed my foot on it and wrenched it off. Then I threw it away.'
Another of the companions later smote the crippled Abu Jahl, but there
still remained a spark of life in him. When Muhammad ordered the
search he was found by Abdullah b. Masud. 'I found him in his last
agony and recognized him. I placed my foot on his neck ‑ for he
had once caught hold of me in
Mecca
, insulted me, and kicked me in the chest ‑ and said to him
"Allah has at last put you to shame, o enemy of Allah!" He
retorted, "In what way has He put me to shame? Is it shame to a
man that you have killed him? Tell me who is victorious this
day?" I replied, "Allah and His apostle!" Then I cut
off his head and brought it to the apostle of Allah and said,
"This is the head of Abu Jahl, the enemy of Allah!" Then I
threw the head down before the apostle, and he praised Allah.'
Then
the apostle of Allah ordered the slain to be thrown into a pit and all
were thrown into it, except Ummaya, whose body was so swollen that it
could not easily be taken out of its armour; therefore they threw as
much earth and rubble on the body as would cover it. When the bodies
had been thrown into the pit the apostle said, 'Now, you people of the
pit, have you realized the truth of your Lord's promise? For I have
found what my Lord promised me has been fulfilled.' His companions
said: 'Do you speak to dead men?' and he replied, 'They know that what
I say is true !'
After
the battle the apostle ordered all the plunder to be collected, and
the companions disputed about it. Those who had collected it said, 'It
belongs to us', and those who had pursued the enemy said, 'Had it not
been for us, you would not have been able to collect it.' Those, too,
who had guarded the person of the apostle lest he be attacked, said,
'You have no greater right to it than we. We desired to fight, but we
could not leave the apostle of Allah.' Then Allah took out of their
hands all cause for dispute, entrusting His apostle with the
distribution of the spoils; and he promised equal shares to all the
Muslims.
The
apostle of Allah sent a messenger ahead to bear the glad tidings of
victory, and then set off himself for
Medina
, with the army, plunder, and prisoners. At Rauha, the faithful met to
congratulate him on the victory which Allah had granted to him and his
companions. But Salama exclaimed: 'Why do you congratulate us? By
Allah, we met only bald‑headed old men whom we slaughtered like
hobbled camels!' At this the apostle smiled and said, 'But, nephew,
those were the elders of the community 1'
At
al‑Safra, on the return journey, the apostle ordered one of the
prisoners, al‑Nadr, to be executed, and another, Uqba, later in
the journey. The apostle of Allah reached
Medina
one day ahead of the prisoners, and when they arrived he distributed
them among his companions, saying, 'Treat the captives well.' And they
treated them with great kindliness.
Soon
after his return the apostle assembled the Jews in the
market‑place and addressed them: 'Make profession of Islam
before Allah punishes you as He has punished the Qurayshl' But they
replied: 'Do not deceive yourself! You have slain a few Quraysh who
were inexperienced and did not know how to fight. If you had fought
with us, you would have learnt that we are men, such as whom you have
not yet encountered.' Then Allah sent down the verse, 'Say to those
who disbelieve, "You will be conquered and gathered together in
hell. It was a miracle when the two armies met at Badr. One army
fought in the name of Allah; the other was thrice their number but
thought the Believers as numerous as themselves. But Allah gives
strength by His aid to those whom He will." Surely in that there
is a lesson for those with eyes to see'.
Concerning
the affair of Badr, Allah revealed a whole Sura, The Spoils. 'Say
"The spoils belong to Allah and to His apostle . . . Allah
promised that one of the two parties [the caravan, or the Quraysh
army] would fall to you, and some hoped that it might be the weaker
one [the caravan]; but Allah proposed to establish the truth of His
word, and to cut down the uttermost part of the Unbelievers. When you
prayed for assistance from your Lord, beholding the multitude of your
enemies, Allah said, 'I shall aid you with a thousand angels in
serried ranks.' . . . And Allah instructed His angels, 'I shall throw
terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve. Therefore
strike off their heads and strike off their fingers, because they have
resisted Allah and His apostle and Allah is severe in His punishment.'
'
". . . Those who feign belief in Allah are dumb concerning
whatever is good, and deaf concerning the truth. If Allah knew there
to be any good in them He would make their feigned belief into
reality. If these Hypocrites had gone forth to battle with you,
they would have turned back and failed you.
' "Ye who believe! Remember
when you were few and weak in the land, dreading the threat of being
despoiled, He sheltered you, strengthened you with His aid, and
provided you with good things, that you might be thankful. . . . Fear
Allah! He will grant you deliverance, and will expiate your sins, and
will forgive you; for Allah is generous. . . . And if those who disbelieve
give up their disbelief, what is past shall be forgiven them, but if
they come to attack you, they shall fare like those slain on the day
of Badr. Therefore fight them, till there be no more persecution and
all belong to Allah alone. Allah is your guardian and He is the best
guardian and the best helper.
Whenever you win plunder, a fifth shall belong to Allah and His
apostle, and his kindred, and orphans,
and the poor, and the traveller.
When you meet an army in battle, stand firm and remember Allah,
that you may prosper; and do not quarrel, lest My cause should suffer.
Be not like those who make parade of their deeds in pursuit of the
approbation of men, but act purely for the sake of Allah and for His
reward in giving your religion victory; work only for this, and covet
nothing else. . . . Prepare against the infidels what force you are
able, that you may strike terror into your enemy and that of Allah.
And whatever you shall expend for the religion of Allah, it shall be
repaid unto you, and you shall not be without reward. But if they
incline to peace, do you also incline to peace; and trust in Allah,
for He heareth and knoweth all things.
0, apostle of Allah! Stir up the Faithful to war; if twenty of
you persevere, they shall overcome two hundred, and if there be one
hundred of you, they shall overcome a thousand of those who disbelieve
because they are a people who are not inspired.” ‘
When this verse was revealed the Muslims thought it very hard
and difficult that twenty of them should fight against two hundred,
and one hundred against one thousand; so Allah eased the burden and
replaced that verse with another: ‘Now Allah hath eased you, for He
knew you were weak. If there be one hundred of you who persevere, they
shall overcome two hundred by the permission of Allah; and if you be
one thousand, you shall overcome two thousand.’ That is to say, they
were to fight if the enemy outnumbered them by two to one, but they
were permitted to retreat from any more uneven contest.
Allah said, ‘You have sought ransoms and worldly goods, but
Allah wants the next world’, meaning that they should kill to spread
His religion, which is the path to the next world. Allah had before
this time determined not to mete out punishment save when His
prohibitions were disregarded; otherwise the men of Badr would have
been punished severely for taking captives. However, He allowed the
spoils of war to the apostle and his companions as a gift from Allah
the merciful, the compassionate. He said, ‘Enjoy therefore what
you have acquired, for it is lawful and good; and fear Allah, for
Allah is forgiving and merciful.’
Then He called the Muslims to unite and made the Helpers and
the Emigrants friends in religion, and declared infidels of all creeds
to be alike excluded from the friendship of Muslims. ‘Unless you do
this, there will be doubt on earth and great corruption.’
In all, eighty‑three Emigrants and two hundred and thirty
one Helpers took part in the battle of Badr, and eight of these died
as martyrs in the fighting. Fifty Quraysh were slain and
forty‑three were made prisoner.
The battle of Badr was a turning‑point in the history
of Islam and ‘the Three Hundred’ who fought there became the most
honoured of Believers. The apostle made full use of the divine
intervention which had made such a victory possible, and the victory
itself has been transmitted through the centuries in exhaustive
detail. Badr also made total conflict with the people of Mecca
inevitable: their honour had been brutally sullied by an outcast, and,
furthermore, it was now clear that Muhammad intended to wrest from
them the spiritual and temporal influence they had for so long wielded
in the Arabian peninsula. The Quraysh had no alternative but to carry
matters to a conclusion.
In
Medina
itself the apostle continued to be harassed by both Jews and
Hypocrites. Not yet strong enough to take action against them as
groups, he resorted to other tactics. The months following Badr are
marred by increasing ruthlessness and fanaticism, and by murders
carried out in a spirit of impassioned and bloody righteousness. The
year after Badr passed in an atmosphere of excitable unrest, and then
came the salutary battle of Uhud.
During the year which followed the battle of Badr the apostle
made several small raids on the Quraysh; while at
Mecca
those sons whose fathers had been slain as Unbelievers at Badr
gathered their people together to fight the apostle. And they sent
their emissaries out into the countryside to stir up the people
against him.
14-
Uhud
At last the Quraysh marched out with the flower of their army,
with some black Abyssinian troops, with allies from the Banu Kinana
and the lowlands, and with women in howdahs who went to keep their
anger and courage alight. The army was led by Abu Sufyan, and they
went as far as Aynayn and halted on a hill in the
valley
of
Qanat
near
Medina
.
When the apostle of Allah heard of this he said, ‘By Allah, I
have had a favourable vision. I have seen cows, and a notch on the
blade of my sword; and in the vision I thrust my hand into a strong
coat of mail which represents, I believe,
Medina
.’ Then he told his followers, ‘If you think it proper to remain
in Medina and leave the enemy where they are, it will be well; for
they will either remain in their position, which is a bad one, or come
in to us and we shall fight them in the town.’ Although the apostle
did not wish to march out against the Unbelievers, several of his
followers ‑ whom Allah favoured with a martyr’s death on the
day of Uhud, and who included some who had missed the battle at Badr
‑ exclaimed, ‘Come out with us against these enemies lest they
take us for cowards and weaklings.’ Others said, ‘Remain in
Medina
. Do not go out to them. If they enter Medina, our men will fight them
face to face, whilst our women and children throw stones upon them
from above; and, if they retreat, they will retreat as disgraced as
they came.’ But the people who wished to rush out and meet the enemy
did not cease to importune the apostle of Allah until he entered his
house and donned his armour. All this took place on a Friday, when he
had finished prayers.
When the apostle reappeared from his house, however, they had
repented, and said, ‘We have vexed thee, and ought not to have done
so. Remain in the city, therefore, and may Allah bless thee! But the
apostle replied, ‘After a prophet has put on his armour, he must not
lay it aside until he has fought! Therefore he marched out with seven
hundred of his companions.
They advanced as far as the hollow of Uhud and the apostle
said, ‘Let no man of you fight until we command him.’ Then he drew
up his army in battle array and appointed over his fifty archers a man
who was conspicuous by his white garb, saying to him, ‘Keep off the
cavalry with thy arrows, that they may not attack us from the rear.
Whether the battle move in our favour or against us, always remain in
thy place lest we be attacked from thy side.’ Then the apostle of
Allah put on two coats of mail and gave the standard to Musab.
The apostle offered a sword to his followers, saying, ‘Who
will take this sword for a worthy price?’ Many coveted it, but he
would not give it up until Abu Dujana asked, ‘What is its priceP He
replied, ‘That thou strike the enemy with it until it bends’, and
Abu Dujana took the sword; he was a brave man, anxious to distinguish
himself in war, and he was best known by his red head‑dress
which he wore when he was ready to fight. He took the sword, put on
his red turban, and strutted about the ranks; seeing this, the apostle
said, ‘Such a gait pleases Allah only on occasions like this!’
The Quraysh also drew up in battle array; their army consisted
of three thousand men including two hundred horsemen on the flanks,
commanded by Khalid b. al‑Walid on the right and by the son of
Abu Jahl on the left.
As the two armies approached each other, Hind ‑ the
daughter of that Utba who had been slain at Badr ‑ and the other
women from
Mecca
beat their drums and uttered cries of encouragement to the Quraysh
army.
On the day of Badr, the followers of the apostle had cried,
‘One god! One god!’ but on the day of Uhud their war cry was
‘Slay! Slay!’
The people fought violently, and Abu Dujana penetrated into the
very heart of the enemy army and killed every man he attacked. But
there was one man among the Quraysh who never failed to kill any man
he wounded, and these two met and exchanged blows. Then a blow from
the infidel struck the shield of Abu Dujana and stuck there and Abu
Dujana slew the man with a single blow. Soon he saw a Meccan inciting
the enemy to further efforts and ‘lifting my sword I heard a yell,
and lo! It was a woman! [Hind.] I had too much respect for the sword
of the apostle to kill a woman with it.’
Hamza also fought valiantly on that day, killing several infidels.
But one of the Quraysh had instructed his slave Wahshi, who was an
Abyssinian and skilled in throwing the javelin, that he must kill
Hamza in the battle. ‘If you kill Hamza, the uncle of Muhammad, in
revenge for my uncle who died at Badr, you will be free.’ While
Hamza was engaged in battle with another man, Wahshi related, ‘I
poised my spear well and threw it with such force at his groin that it
came out between his legs at the back. He was overcome with weakness
and fell, and I waited until he expired then went and took out my
spear from his body. Then I returned proudly to the camp, for I had
business with no other but him.’
Musab, too, died on that day, being slain by one who mistook
him for the apostle of Allah and returned to his army, saying, ‘I
have killed Muharnmad.’ When Musab was slain, the apostle gave the
banner to Ali, and Ali and the Muslims continued to fight.
Then Allah sent his aid to the Muslims and fulfilled his
promise so that they assailed the infidels with their swords and put
them to flight. But the Muslim archers disobeyed the orders of the
apostle and turned aside into the deserted Quraysh camp, leaving the
Believers’ rear open to the Quraysh cavalry. And the Quraysh cavalry
attacked and put the Muslims to flight.
Soon the enemy even approached the apostle himself. He was
struck down by stones and one of his front teeth was lost.
‘His face being wounded, blood trickled down it; and wiping
it, he exclaimed: “How can a nation prosper which dyes the face of
its prophet with blood, though he invites them to the worship of
Allah?” ‘ Ali took the apostle by the hand, and Talha lifted him
up until he stood upright; Malik licked the blood from the face of the
apostle and swallowed it, and the apostle said, ‘He whose blood has
touched mine will be exempted from the threat of hell‑fire.’
When the foe pressed close on the apostle, he asked, ‘Who will save
my life?’ and six men of his followers arose and fought by his side.
One by one they were martyred until a single defender remained, and
he, too, was wounded; but a company of Muslims arrived and put the
infidels to flight. Then the apostle said ‘Bring him near to me 1’
and they brought the wounded man to him and he made his foot a pillow
under the man’s head; and thus he expired, with his cheek on the
foot of the apostle of Allah.
Abu Dujana now shielded the apostle with his body, bending over
him so that his own back would accept the thickly falling arrows of
the enemy, and Sad, nearby, shot at the infidels with the apostle
‘handing arrows to me, saying “Shoot. May my father and mother be
a ransom for thee!” He even gave me an arrow without a point, saying
“Shoot with that!” ‘ The apostle of Allah also shot arrows
himself until his bow broke. The bow was then taken and prized by
Qatada, whose eye was injured on that day so that it hung out upon his
cheek; but the apostle of Allah replaced the eye in its socket with
his own hand, and afterwards it became the better, and the keener of
his two eyes.
The first man who recognized the apostle of Allah after the
rumour spread that he had been killed, was Kab; ‘I recognized his
eyes under the helmet, and I shouted with my loudest voice “0
Muslims, rejoice! Here is the apostle of Allah!” But he beckoned to
me to remain quiet.’
Now the apostle, with Abu Bakr, Umar, Ali, Talha, al‑Zubayr
and others withdrew to a hollow near by, and rested.
Ali went out and filled his water‑bottle from the
reservoir, and brought it to the apostle to drink from; but he found
it had an evil smell, and would not drink. Instead he washed the blood
from his face, and as he did so, said, ‘The wrath of Allah will be
great against him who made the face of His prophet bleed.’ While the
apostle and his companions were in the hollow, the Quraysh cavalry
appeared on the mountain, and the apostle exclaimed, ‘0 Allah! it is
not meet that they should be above us!’ So a company of the
Emigrants attacked them and drove them off; but most of the
apostle’s army had fled.
The infidel woman, Hind, and her companions mutilated the
bodies of the Muslims slain that day; they cut off the ears and noses,
and Hind made necklaces, bracelets and earrings from them. Also she
cut off a piece of Hamza’s liver and chewed it but could not swallow
it, so she spat it out again. Then she climbed a high rock and shouted
the Quraysh victory from it.
When Abu Sufyan decided to leave the field of battle, he
climbed to the mountain and cried aloud, ‘The day is decided;
victory goes by turns ‑ today in exchange for the day of Badr!
Defend thy religion!’ The apostle said to Umar, ‘Arise and say
“Allah is the most high and glorious. Our slain are in paradise;
yours are in hell.” ‘ After Umar had exposed himself and replied
thus, Abu Sufyan summoned him to approach and asked, ‘Have we killed
Muhammad?’ Umar replied, ‘No, praise be to Allah. He hears your
words.’ Then Abu Sufyan shouted, ‘Some of your dead have been
mutilated, but I am neither pleased nor displeased, I neither
forbade it nor commanded it. We shall meet at Badr next year’; and
he and his companions prepared to depart. The apostle of Allah
instructed one of his companions to reply, ‘Agreed. Let that be our
meeting‑place.’
Then the people of
Medina
went searching for their dead, and the apostle sent a man of the
Helpers to see whether Sad were alive or dead; the man found Sad
fatally wounded. ‘I am among the dead,’ he said. ‘Give my
salutations to my people and say I sent them this message: “There
will be no forgiveness from Allah for you if your prophet is injured
as long as you have life in you.” ‘ Thus saying, he died. The
apostle himself went out in search of his uncle, Hamza, and when he
found the mangled body he said, ‘If it were not that it would pain
his sister and that it might become customary after me, I would leave
this body to be consumed by the beasts and birds. But if Allah aids me
against the Quraysh in a future battle, I shall mutilate thirty men of
them.’ When the Muslims saw the apostle’s grief and his wrath
against those who had dealt thus with his uncle they swore that if
Allah should aid them to victory they would mutilate their foes as no
Arab had been mutilated before. But Allah sent down a commandment, and
his apostle followed it by giving pardon, waiting in patience, and
forbidding mutilation. The other corpses were placed by the side of
Hamza, and seventy‑two prayers were spoken over them, and then
they were interred.
The apostle returned to
Medina
and there was great lamentation there. He passed a house of the
Helpers and heard weeping for the dead, and his own eyes overflowed
with tears as he realized that there were no women to weep for Hamza.
Then two of his companions returned and ordered their women to gird up
their loins and go weep for the uncle of the apostle. The apostle
listened and then went out to them, saying, ‘Return home, and Allah
have mercy upon you. You exhaust yourselves.’ On that day the
apostle prohibited wailing and lamentation.
One woman lost her husband, her brother and her father on that
day of Uhud, but when she was told of their deaths she asked, ‘What
of the apostle of Allah?’ They replied, ‘He is well’, and she
said, ‘If he is still with us, all other misfortunes are
trifling.’
When the apostle arrived at the home of his family he gave his
sword to his daughter Fatima, saying, ‘Wash the blood from it,
little one. By Allah, it has been true to me today.’ Ali, too, gave
her his sword and said, ‘Take this and wash the blood from it. By
Allah, it has been true to me today’. The name of the apostle’s
sword was Dhul‑Faqar.
The next morning, so that the enemy might know they were
pursued and that the followers of the apostle were in no way cowed by
the result of the battle of Uhud, Muhammad and the survivors marched
out for eight miles from the city, as far as Hamraul‑Asad and
remained there three days before returning to
Medina
.
The day of Uhud was a day of testing, of calamity and of
purification, when Allah put the Faithful on trial and struck at those
whose belief was no deeper than their words; it was a day on which
Allah rewarded those he designed to favour with the reward of
martyrdom.
The part of the Koran revealed by Allah concerning the day of
Uhud amounts to sixty verses of the Sura, Family of Imran. It
mentions the calamity which befell the Faithful at Uhud, and the trial
which led to their purification and His taking martyrs from among
them. Then Allah gave them consolation and information: ‘Before
your time, there have been examples set; go over the earth and behold
what has become of those who accused the apostle of Allah of
imposture. . . . This is a clear declaration to men and an
admonition to the pious. Be not dismayed or grieved over what has
befallen, for you shall enjoy the end and the victory if you are
Believers. If a hurt has been inflicted upon you, your enemies have
received as great a hurt, and we cause such days to alternate among
men that Allah may know those who believe and may take martyrs from
among you; Allah loveth not those whose belief is in their mouth and
not in their heart. . . . Did you imagine you should enter paradise
when Allah as yet knew not which among you was strong to fight, and
steadfast?
‘. . . Allah had already made good unto you His promise [at
Uhud] and you put the infidels to flight by His permission; but you
became faint‑hearted and disputed about His command and
disobeyed His prophet [when the archers went after plunder instead of
keeping their position]. So He made you flee from them to try you. But
now He hath pardoned you, for He is generous towards the Faithful. Do
not believe that the infidels will be victorious in the end, but hold
fast to Me and obey My command. . . . Trust in Allah, for Allah loveth
those who trust in Him. If Allah aid you, none shall conquer you, but
if He desert you, who will aid you? . . . Allah was gracious unto the
Believers when He raised up among them an apostle of their own nation
who should recite His signs unto them and purify them and teach them
the scripture and wisdom; whereas they were before in manifest error.
When a misfortune befalls you [at Uhud] after you have won a battle
twice as great, do not say “Whence cometh this?” Say “This is
from ourselves, because Allah is omnipotent.” And what happened to
you on the day when the two armies met was by the permission of Allah,
in order that He might know the Believers, and also the Hypocrites
among you . . .
‘Do not think that those slain in the path of Allah are dead;
I have raised them up again and they are with Me, rejoicing in the
pleasures and the cool breezes of paradise, happy in the reward Allah
has bestowed upon them because they waged holy war for Him.’
Then the apostle said, ‘When your brothers were defeated at
Uhud, Allah placed their souls in the bodies of green birds, which
flit about the rivers of paradise and drink the waters of the river
and eat the fruits of the garden of paradise and perch on golden
candlesticks under the throne of Allah. When they learned the pleasure
of all this, they said, “Would that our brothers knew what Allah had
given us, that they might not weaken in their efforts in the holy
war.” ‘
Of the Muslims who fought on the day of Uhud, sixty‑five
were martyred; and twenty‑two infidels were slain on that day.
This explanatory ‑ and, in its complete form,
extremely lengthy ‑Sura from Allah was very necessary to restore
the badly shaken faith of the Believers. The argument that Allah
wished to discover the Hypocrites among the warriors lacked conviction
in face of the fundamental tenet ‘Allah knows all’, but the
failure of the archers to carry out their orders, thus turning victory
into defeat, was much more plausible and confirmed the
often‑repeated injunction to obey ‘Allah and His prophet’.
The apostle soon restored his people to serenity, and the dead of Uhud
became revered as martyrs.
After Uhud, in the third year of the Hijra, a deputation came
from two neighbouring tribes who asked Muhammad to send teachers with
them to instruct them in Islam. The apostle sent Marthad, Khalid, Asim,
Khubayb, Zayd b. al‑Dathinna, and Abdullah b. Tariq, and they
went with the tribesmen as far as the water of al‑Raji, which
belonged to the Hudhayl tribe. Then the tribesmen betrayed them and
men with swords fell upon them while they were resting in the night;
but when the men from
Medina
snatched up their own swords, their attackers swore they did not wish
to kill them, but only to make use of them in an attempt to gain
something from the people of
Mecca
. Marthad, Khalid and Asim replied, ‘By Allah! We never believe a
promise or a covenant from an idolater’, and they fought against the
idolaters and were slain.
Asim had killed the two sons of a Meccan woman on the day of
Uhud and she had sworn to have the skull of Asim and drink wine from
it. But a swarm of bees settled around his body and kept the idolaters
away; they said, ‘Leave him there until the evening when the bees go
away, and then we shall cut off his head.’ But Allah sent a torrent
of water and swept away the body of Asim, who had sworn to Him that he
would never touch or be touched by an idolater lest he be defiled;
thus Allah protected him from defilement after death as he had been
protected in life.
The other three men from
Medina
surrendered themselves and were taken to
Mecca
to be sold, but Abdullah tried to escape on the way and was killed.
Khubayb and Zayd were exchanged by their captors for two prisoners of
their own tribe who were held by the Quraysh, and the Quraysh slew
Zayd and crucified Khubayb in revenge for the deaths at Uhud.
Four months later a similar treachery took place. Forty of the
best of the Muslims went out as invited guests to tell of Islam to the
people of
Najd
and all save two were slain.
15-
Banu Nadir
Shortly after this the Jews of the Banu al‑Nadir plotted
to murder the apostle of Allah himself, but Allah sent down a warning
to the apostle. He issued orders to prepare an expedition against the
Jews, and marched out and besieged them for six nights, during which
time Allah sent down the prohibition against the drinking of wine.
Meanwhile, certain persons of
Medina
who were not Believers sent a message to the Banu al‑Nadir,
saying, ‘Hold out, and defend yourselves; we shall not surrender you
to Muhammad. If you are attacked we shall fight with you and if you
are sent away we shall go with you.’ But they were in truth
unwilling to fight on behalf of the al‑Nadir, for Allah had
filled their hearts with terror. Then the Jewish tribe asked that the
apostle of Allah should not shed their blood, but permit them to carry
away as much of their property as their camels could bear. He
consented and they loaded as many of their possessions as they could
on their camels, even demolishing their houses that they might
take away the thresholds. Then they left, with their wives, children,
and household goods, and accompanied by their drums, flutes and
singers. The rest they left to the apostle of Allah.
When the Jews had departed Muhammad went on an expedition to
punish the people of
Najd
, who had slain all but two of the forty men he had sent to instruct
the people in Islam. The parties approached each other, but no battle
took place, for they were afraid of each other, and the apostle
marched his men away again.
In the fourth year of the Hijra the apostle marched to Badr as
he had agreed with Abu Sufyan after the battle of Uhud, and waited
there eight days. Abu Sufyan marched out from
Mecca
with his army as far as Majanna; then he said to his people, ‘This
is not meet for you, save in a year of plenty when there are shrubs
where the cattle may browse and milk for the men to drink. This year
is one of scarcity and I shall return home. Do you likewise.’ So the
Quraysh army returned to
Mecca
and were nicknamed by the people who had stayed at home ‘the Sawiq
army’ ‑ the army that went out only to drink porridge. So
Muhammad waited in vain at Badr and then returned to
Medina
.
For some months after’the Second Badr’, Muhammad was
occupied in small punitive and foraging expeditions, during one of
which he ventured as far as the borders of
Syria
.
His personal life at this time was not without incident.
Since the death of Khadija, he had acquired seven wives, foremost
among whom was the daughter of Abu Bakr, Aisha. She had been married
to the apostle at the age of ten, and was still only sixteen years old
when, quite innocently, she provoked a scandal at
Medina
.
16-
Aisha Sufwan
According to Aisha, ‘When the apostle of Allah was about to
depart on a journey, he used to throw lots to decide which of his
wives he would take with him. Before an expedition against the Banu
Mustaliq, my lot came out; so the apostle of Allah took me with him.
In those days women used to eat only the necessities of life, and did
not become strong and heavy on meat. When my camel was ready, I would
seat myself in the howdah, which my attendants would then lift on to
the back of the camel; then they would attach it to the beast and we
could set off.
‘During our return from the Mustaliq expedition we paused to
rest for a night. Before the company set off again, I withdrew for a
moment; but I was wearing a string of Yemeni beads and when I returned
I found they had fallen from my neck. Although the people were about
to start I went back to the place where I had been and searched until
I found them. The attendants who were in the habit of saddling my
camel had meanwhile done so and had taken up the howdah (thinking that
I was in it as usual) and tied it upon the camel; then they had led
the camel off. When I returned to the camp not a soul was there, so I
wrapped myself in my cloak and laid myself down, for I knew that they
would miss me and come to seek me.
‘While I was thus reclining, Sufwan ‑ who had fallen
behind the company for some reason, and had not spent the night with
them ‑ passed by and observed me. He exclaimed, “To Allah we
belong, and to Him we must return! This is the wife of the apostle of
Allah!” and he brought his camel near and said, “Mount!” He
withdrew a little and I mounted, then he took hold of the camel’s
head and advanced rapidly, being anxious to overtake the company; but
we neither overtook them, nor did they miss me, until they again
encamped. When Sufwan arrived, leading me on his camel, slander was
uttered against me although I knew nothing of it.
‘I became very ill when we arrived in
Medina
and so I still did not hear the slanders, but they were communicated
to the apostle as well as to my parents. They did not speak of it to
me, but I observed the absence of that kindliness which the apostle of
Allah used always to show me when I was ill. This I thought strange on
his part. However, I knew nothing of the matter until I had recovered
from my illness, after more than twenty days.
‘At that time we still lived like true Arabs and had no
privies in our houses as the Persians did, because we despised and
disliked such luxuries. Instead, we went out to an open plain in
Medina
, the women going at night. Thus I walked out one night, and the woman
who walked with me stumbled over the hem of her skirt and cursed,
saying “Let Auf perish!” “By Allah!” I exclaimed. “That
seems to me an evil wish, since it concerns a Believer who has fought
at Badr.” The woman asked, “Has not the news reached thee, o
daughter of Abu Bakr?” and when I asked what news she told me of the
slanders. I could scarce believe it and fled to the house of my
mother, weeping so that I thought my heart would break. I said to my
mother, “May Allah forgive thee; the people slander me and you have
said nothing of it to me!” and she replied, “Do not be unhappy.
There are but few handsome women ‑ who are loved by their
husbands, and have rivals ‑ who escape false imputations and
slander.”
‘Meanwhile,
unknown to me, the apostle of Allah addressed the people, glorified
and praised Allah, and said, “How do you dare to insult me by
insulting my family, and by saying things about them which are not
true? By Allah, I know nothing but good of them.” [The lies were
spread by some of the Khazraj and by the sister of another wife of the
apostle.] When the apostle of Allah had finished, Usayd, one of the
Aus, rose and said, “If the slanders are spoken by the Aus, we shall
silence them; and if they be spoken by our brothers, the Khazraj, say
the word and we shall punish them!” Then one Sad b. Ubada, who had
hitherto seemed a true Believer, said, “You lie. By Allah, you have
suggested this punishment only because you know the slanderers are
of the Khazraj; had they been of your tribe you would not have
suggested it.” Usayd retorted, “ You lie, by Allah! You are a
Hypocrite and give your support to the Hypocrites!” Then the people
assailed each other, and it would have taken little for evil to come
to pass between the two tribes.
‘The Apostle of Allah now consulted Ali and Usama, and Usama
spoke only what was
good, saying, “0 apostle of Allah. We know only good of Aisha, and
thou knowest only good of her, and these are merely false and idle
rumours!” But Ali said, “There are many women! Thou canst take
another! Ask her slave and she will tell thee the truth.” So the
apostle of Allah summoned my slave to examine her. Ali rose and struck
the woman a violent blow, and said, “Tell the truth to the apostle
of Allah”, and she replied, “I know only what is good; and I
cannot say ill of Aisha, save that one day I was kneading my dough and
asked her to watch it, but she fell asleep and a sheep came and ate it
up.”
‘After this, the apostle came to me, while both my parents
were with me; and I wept. He sat down, glorified and praised Allah,
and then said, “Thou must have heard what the people are saying.
Fear Allah! If thou hast done wrong, then repent, for Allah accepts
the repentance of his servants.” While he spoke thus, my tears
ceased to flow. I waited for my parents to reply to the apostle, but
neither of them spoke; and I entertained too low an opinion of myself
to hope that Allah would reveal verses of the Koran about me. But I
hoped the apostle might have a vision in his sleep, in which Allah
would expose the liars, or justify me, or tell the apostle the truth.
When I saw that my parents did not speak, I asked, “Will you not
reply to the apostle of Allah?” They said, “We know not what to
say to him!”
‘When I saw my parents thus estranged from me my tears flowed
once more, and I cried, “I shall never repent to Allah for what I am
accused of, because Allah knoweth I should be repenting something
which did not occur, and thus I should speak untruth. But if I deny
the charges, you will not believe me.”
‘And the apostle of Allah had not yet left us when he lost
consciousness, as always happened before a revelation; then I neither
feared nor cared, for I knew that I was innocent, and that Allah would
do no injustice to me. But my parents seemed about to die for fear,
lest Allah might send a revelation confirming the words of the
slanderers.
‘The apostle of Allah came back to consciousness and sat up,
and the perspiration trickled like pearls from his forehead, although
it was a winter day. Then he wiped it away, and said, “Allah has
revealed thy innocence”, and I replied, “Allah be praised!”
After that, he went out to the people and recited to them verses of
the Koran revealed to him by Allah, and he ordered the slanderers to
be scourged.’
Sufwan, who had been slandered with Aisha, met one of the worst
slanderers, the poet Hassan, and struck him with his sword. Another
man, Thabit, hastened to assist Hassan, grasping Sufwan, and tying his
hands to his neck with a rope; he then took him to the dwelling of one
of the Khazraj, where Abdullah b. Rawaha met them. He asked, ‘What
is this?’ and Thabit replied, ‘Are you displeased? He struck
Hassan with a sword and, by Allah, he might have killed him.’
Abdullah asked, ‘Does the apostle of Allah know of this?’ and when
Thabit said he did not, Abdullah told him, ‘You have been
presumptuous 1 Let the man go.
When the apostle heard of this, he had Sufwan and Hassan
brought before him, and Sufwan explained, ‘He offended and mocked
me; anger overcame me, and I struck him.’ Then the apostle said to
Hassan, ‘Why do you malign my people when Allah has given them
enlightenment? I think you deserved the blow.’ However, the apostle
soothed the poet by presenting him with a fortress in
Medina
, and a Coptic slave girl. Then Hassan composed verses complimentary
to the chastity and beauty of Aisha.
In the fifth year of the
Hijra the campaign of the Ditch occurred. A number of Jews went to the
Quraysh in
Mecca
and invited them to wage war against the apostle of Allah, saying,
‘We shall
aid you against him until
we wipe out him and his followers.’ The Quraysh replied, ‘You are
the possessors of the first scripture; tell us whether our religion
is better than his?’ They said, ‘Your religion is better than his,
and you are nearer to the truth than he.’Then the Quraysh
were encouraged to accept the invitation to fight against the
apostle of Allah, and the Jews went to the Ghatafan and invited them
to wage war against the apostle of Allah, saying they would aid them,
and that the Quraysh had already consented to fight. So the Quraysh
marched out under the command of Abu Sufyan, and the Ghatafan under
the command of Uyayna.
17-
The Trench
When the apostle of Allah heard of their intention he made a
ditch around Medina, working there himself in order to encourage the
Muslims to covet reward in paradise, and they worked diligently with
him except for the Hypocrites among them, who were dilatory, pretended
to be ill, and stole away to their families without the permission or
knowledge of the apostle. Any true Muslim, faced by an unavoidable
emergency, always reported it to the apostle of Allah and obtained his
permission to attend to the business. And Allah, the most high and
glorious, revealed the verse ‘When Believers are engaged with the
apostle in public business, they do not depart without asking his
permission. For those who ask permission are those who believe in
Allah and in His apostle. . . . But Allah knoweth those who steal away
privately; let those who resist His command take heed, lest some
calamity befall them, or grievous punishment.’ So the Muslims
worked in the ditch till they had fortified it.
While the ditch was being excavated, Allah caused certain
things to happen to display the truth of His apostle and confirm his
prophetic dignity. The hard soil which they met with in some parts of
the trench distressed the Muslims, and they complained to the apostle,
who asked for a vessel of water. He spat into it, prayed for a while
according to the will of Allah, and then poured the water on the hard
soil. Those who were present said, ‘The soil softened till it became
like a sand heap, and resisted neither pickaxe nor hoe.’
On another occasion a little girl was sent to take dates to her
father and uncle for breakfast. ‘I went, and while looking for my
father and uncle I happened to pass near the apostle of Allah, who
said, “Come here, my little one. What hast thou there?” I replied,
“These are dates which my mother sends to my father and to my uncle
for their breakfast.” Then the apostle said, “Give them to me.”
So I poured them into the palms of his hands, and they did not
overflow. He ordered a cloth to be spread out, and placed the dates on
it, then he said to a man nearby, “Call the people of the Ditch to
come to breakfast.” The men arrived and began to eat of the dates,
but they increased in such a manner that when the men of the Ditch
went away the dates were still overflowing from the sides of the
cloth.’
Another man told how ‘We were working with the apostle in the
Ditch, and I had with me a small lamb which was not very fat; and I
said, “We might prepare it for the apostle of Allah.” So I ordered
my wife to grind some barley and to bake with it some bread; then I
slaughtered the lamb, and we roasted it for the apostle. When the
evening set in, and the apostle was about to depart from the Ditch (it
being our custom to work there during the day and return to our
families in the evening), I said, “Apostle of Allah! I have prepared
for thee a young lamb, and we have baked some barley‑bread; and
I should be honoured if thou were to come with me to my house.” I
wanted him to come alone, but when I had uttered the words, he ordered
a crier to shout, “Follow the apostle of Allah.” Then I said to
myself, “To Allah we belong and to Him we must return.” The
apostle came, and the people with him. He took his seat, we brought
the roasted lamb, he pronounced grace in the name of Allah, ate, and
the people did so, too, one after the other; and when they had
finished they rose and another batch of men arrived, till all the
people of the Ditch had been fed on my one lamb.’
Salman the Persian told how ‘I was digging in a portion of
the Ditch and found it hard. The apostle was near me, and when he saw
how troublesome the spot was, he came down, took the pickaxe from my
hand, and struck the soil thrice. And each stroke brought forth a
spark. Then I said, “Thou art to me as my father and mother, o
apostle of Allah! What was this lightning I saw under the pickaxe when
thou struck the soil?” He asked, “Didst thou really see it, Salman?”
and I said, “Yes.” He told me, “The first spark means that Allah
has promised me the conquest of
Yemen
; the second that Allah has granted me the conquest of
Syria
and the West; and the third that Allah has bestowed upon me victory
over the East.”
hen the apostle of Allah had completed the Ditch, the Quraysh
came and encamped at the confluence of the Ruma torrents. Their army
consisted of 10,000 men, including their allies and followers; the
Ghatafan, with their followers from
Najd
, also came and encamped in the direction of Uhud; and news came that
the Jewish tribe of Banu Qurayza had broken their treaty with Muhammad.
So the apostle of Allah marched out with his Muslims, amounting to 3,000
men in all, and encamped so that Sal was behind him and the Ditch in
front, separating him from the enemy. He had ordered the children and
the women to be shut up in the forts.
To the followers of the apostle fear was in the air; the enemy
was on all sides and the Believers gave way to every kind of surmise.
The Hypocrisy of some became manifest, and one man even declared,
‘Muhammad used to promise us that he would swallow the treasures of
Croesus and of Caesar; but at this moment, no one of us can even feel
safe when he goes to relieve himself 1’
Then the apostle of Allah and the idolaters remained encamped
more than twenty days opposite each other, without any hostilities
taking place save for the shooting of arrows and the siege.
When the difficulties of the siege began to bear hard on the
people the apostle of Allah dispatched messengers to two commanders of
the Ghatafan, promising them one‑third of the datecrop of
Medina
if they agreed to depart with their people, and to leave him alone with
his. Peace was concluded between them to the extent of drafting a
document; but the final signature brought hesitation. The apostle sent
for two of his Believers and consulted them. They asked, ‘Is this
something thou wouldst wish to do? Or is it something which Allah has
commanded thee, and which we must do? Or is it something which thou
wouldst wish to do for our sake?’ He replied, ‘It is something which
I wish to do for your sake; and by Allah, I would not do it but that the
Arabs shoot at you as from one bow, and distress you from all sides. It
is my intention to lessen their sting somewhat.’ Then one of the men
exclaimed, ‘We and these people were once idolaters, together, but
they did not eat of our dates except as our guests or for money. Shall
we now ‑ when Allah has favoured us with Islam, and has honoured
us with it and with thee ‑ present them with our property? We
shall not. By Allah, we shall not give them anything except the sword,
until Allah decides between us and them.’ The apostle said, ‘You are
right’, and the man took the document and obliterated the writing, and
he said, ‘Let them do their worst against us!’
So the apostle and the Muslims held on and their enemies
besieged them, but no battle took place except that some horsemen of
the Quraysh rode out dressed for battle on their horses; and they cried
to the defenders, ‘Prepare for battle, and you shall know who are the
true fighters this day!’ Then they pranced around and came to a halt
near the ditch. When they saw it, they said, ‘This is a device which
no Arab has thought off (Indeed, it is said that Salman the Persian
suggested it to the apostle of Allah.) Then they sought out a narrow
part of the ditch and whipped their horses across it and drew them up in
the marshy area between the ditch and
Mount
Sal
. Now Ali rushed out with several companions to guard the spot over
which the horses had leapt, and the horsemen galloped up to them. Their
leader gave the challenge to single combat which was accepted by Ali,
and Ali slew him and the other horsemen fled back to their army.
Safiya, the daughter of
Abdul‑Muttalib, was at the fort of Hassan, who had remained to
guard the women and children. She told how ‘A Jew approached and began
to walk round the fort. Now, the Banu Qurayza Jews had broken their
treaty with the apostle of Allah, and their fort was to the rear of
ours. There was no one to protect our side of the city, and the apostle
of Allah was occupied with the invaders and unable to come to our aid.
Accordingly, I said, “0 Hassan! A Jew is walking round the fort, and
by Allah! I am not convinced that he will not report our weak position
to the Jews in our rear. The apostle is fully engaged; go thou therefore
to the man and kill him.” He replied, “May Allah pardon thee! Thou
knowest full well that this is not a task for me.” When I saw that he
would do nothing, I girded
"Who will go and see what our enemy is
doing? Whoever goes will have a safe return, and I shall pray to Allah
to make him my companion in paradise." But not one of the people
would rise, because of their great fear, their great hunger, and the
great cold; and when no one rose the apostle of Allah called me and
said, "Hudhayfa! Go forth, enter among the enemy and see what they
are doing, then return to me." Then I went out and moved among the
enemy, while the wind and the hosts of Allah so worked among them that
neither a cooking‑pot nor a fire nor a tent remained unharmed. And
Abu Sufyan rose and said, "Let every man identify his neighbour!"
Accordingly I took the hand of the man next to me and asked "Who
are you?" and he told me his name. Abu Sufyan continued, "This
is not our home. Our cattle and camels have perished, the Banu Qurayza
have abandoned us and their attitude is disquieting. We suffer from
this violent gale; not a cooking‑pot is safe, nor a fire burning,
nor a tent standing! Go, as I am going!" Then he went to his camel
and mounted, and whipped it upright.
'Accordingly
I went back to the apostle, whom I found praying, and told him my
tidings.' In the morning, the Quraysh had vanished, and the Ghatafan,
too. Then the apostle of Allah and his army left the Ditch and returned
to
Medina
and put away their arms.
18-
Banu Qurayza
At noon of the same day Gabriel came to the
apostle, wearing a silken turban and riding on a mule saddled with
brocade. He said, 'Hast thou put away thy arms, apostle of Allah?' He
replied, 'Yes', and Gabriel said, 'But the angels have not yet put away
theirs. I have come here to call the people to follow the command of
Allah and march against the Banu Qurayza. I go myself to make them
tremble.' Therefore the apostle of Allah ordered it to be proclaimed
that none should hold afternoon prayers until they reached the Jewish
stronghold.
The
apostle sent Ali ahead with his standard and the people hastened to join
it. When Ali reached the fort he heard language offensive to Islam and
returned to meet the apostle, whom he warned not to approach the Qurayza.
'Why?' asked the apostle. 'Didst thou hear them insult me? Had they seen
me there, they would not have spoken thus.' When he arrived in the
territory
of
Qurayza
he alighted near the Well of Ana and the people assembled around him.
Many arrived after the last evening prayers without having held their
afternoon prayers, so they held their afternoon prayers after the last
evening prayers; but Allah did not punish them for that nor did the
apostle of Allah reproach them.
The
apostle of Allah besieged the Qurayza for twenty‑five days until
they were distressed, and Allah struck fear into their hearts.
When
they had become convinced that the apostle would not depart until he had
humbled them, Kab, their chief, spoke to them thus. I have three
suggestions to make, of which you may select whichever you prefer. We
can obey this man and believe in him; for it is plain that he is an
inspired prophet. In this case, your lives, property and children will
be secure.' They replied, 'We shall never abandon the commandments of
the Torah, nor substitute any others for them.' He went on, 'If you
reject this, we can kill our children and women, and go out to Muhammad
and his companions with drawn swords; then God will decide between us
and Muhammad. If we perish, we shall perish without leaving orphans who
might suffer evil, but if we are victorious, I swear we shall take their
wives and their children!' They rejoined, 'Should we kill these poor
creatures? What would life be to us without them?' He said, 'If you
reject this, too, then consider. This is the Sabbath night, and it is
possible that Muhammad thinks he is secure. Let us therefore make a
sortie, and we may surprise him and his men.' But they answered, 'Shall
we desecrate the Sabbath, and do on the Sabbath what none has done
before save those who were afterwards transformed into apes?' Kab said
at last, 'Not a man of you has, from the time his mother gave him birth,
been able to hold firm to a decision for even one single night’
Then
the Qurayza asked the apostle to send them Abu Lubaba ‑ one of the
Aus, to which tribe they had been allied ‑that they might consult
with him. When he arrived the men rose, and the women and children
crowded around him in tears, so that he was deeply touched. They said,
'Think you that we ought to leave the fort as Muhammad commands?' and
although he said 'Yes', he drew his hand across his throat, to show that
they would be slaughtered.
Abu
Lubaba said afterwards, 'By Allah! I had scarcely left them before I
realized that I had betrayed Allah and His apostle! When Abu Lubaba
departed he did not go to the apostle of Allah, but tied himself to one
of the pillars of the mosque, saying, 'I shall not stir from this place
until Allah pardons me for what I have done', and he swore by Allah that
he would never tread the soil of the Banu Qurayza nor be seen again in
the country where he had acted treacherously towards Allah and His
apostle. When the apostle of Allah heard of this, he said, 'Had he come
to me, I would have interceded for him; but as he has acted in this way,
1 will not deliver him until Allah pardons him. Abu Lubaba remained tied
six days; whenever the hour for prayers arrived, his wife came and
untied him that he might make his devotions. Afterwards she again bound
him to the post.
In
the morning the Qurayza came down from their fort to surrender to the
apostle of Allah, and the Aus begged that ‑ as the apostle had
dealt leniently with allies of the Khazraj ‑ he would do the same
for the allies of the Aus. The apostle said, 'Would you like one of your
own people to decide their fate’ and they welcomed it. He continued,
'Then let Sad b. Muadh decide.' Sad had been struck by an arrow in the
defence of the Ditch, so his people mounted him on a donkey ‑ with
a leather pillow under him, for he was a stout and handsome man ‑
and brought him to the apostle. They told him, 'Deal kindly with thy
allies, because the apostle of Allah has appointed thee for this
purpose.' But they entreated him too much and he said, 'Sad will take
good care not to incur the censure of Allah by fearing the censure of
men.' Then some of his people went away and lamented for the men of the
Banu Qurayza, before Sad even reached them, because Sad had spoken thus.
When
Sad appeared the apostle said to the Muslims, 'Arise in honour of your
chief!” Then Sad asked, 'Do you covenant with Allah to abide by my
decision?' and they said, 'We do!’ The apostle of Allah also replied,
'Yes.' And Sad pronounced the following sentence, 'I decree that the men
be killed, the property be divided, and the women with their children be
made captives.' The apostle of Allah said, 'Thou hast decided according
to the will of Allah, above the seven firmaments.'
The
apostle of Allah imprisoned the Qurayza in
Medina
while trenches were dug in the market‑place. Then he sent for the
men and had their heads struck off so that they fell in the trenches.
They were brought out in groups, and among them was Kab, the chief of
the tribe. In number, they amounted to six or seven hundred, although
some state it to have been eight or nine hundred. All were executed. One
man turned to his people and said, 'It matters not! By God's will, the
children of
Israel
were destined for this massacre!’ Then he seated himself and his head
was struck off.
Aisha,
the wife of the apostle, said, 'Only one of their women was killed. By
Allah! She was with me, talking and laughing, while the apostle
slaughtered her countrymen in the marketplace; and when her name was
called, I asked, "What is this for?" and she replied, "I
am going to be slain!" I asked why and she answered, "For
something I have done!" Then she was taken away, and her head was
struck off. But I shall never cease to marvel at her good humour and
laughter, although she knew that she was to die." She was the woman
who threw a millstone down from the Qurayza fort and killed a Believer.
Now
the apostle distributed the property of the Banu Qurayza, as well as
their women and children, to the Muslims, reserving one‑fifth for
himself. Every horseman received three shares, one for himself and two
for his steed, and every foot soldier one share. There were
thirty‑six horses present on the day of the Qurayza. The apostle
dispatched an emissary to
Najd
with the prisoners, to barter them as slaves in exchange for
horses and camels.
The
apostle of Allah selected one of the Jewish women, Rayhana, for
himself, and she remained with him as his slave until she died. He had
suggested marriage to her, that she should wear the veil (to separate
her from all other persons, as his wives did), but she replied, 'Rather
allow me to remain thy slave; it will be more easy for me, and for
thee.' At the time of her capture she was an enemy of Islam, and desired
to remain a Jewess; so the apostle was sad and stayed aloof from her.
Then one day, while he was sitting with his companions, he heard the
sound of sandals behind him, and said, 'This is one who comes to inform
me that Rayhana has made profession of Islam.' It was indeed so, which
pleased him greatly.
After
the Qurayza had been slain, and their possessions dispersed, the wound
of Sad opened again and he died a martyr. In the middle of the night
Gabriel, wearing a turban of gold brocade, came to the apostle, and
asked, 'Who is this dead man for whom the gates of heaven stand ajar and
for whom the throne quivers with joy?' At this, the apostle rose in
haste and went to Sad, but he found him dead.
Sad
was a corpulent man, but when the people carried him to be buried they
found him light. And some said, 'Though he is stout, we never bore a
lighter corpse than his.' When this came to the hearing of the apostle
of Allah, he explained, 'Sad had other bearers besides you, and I swear
by Him who holds my life in His hands that the angels bore the soul of
Sad, and the heavenly throne shook for him.'
The apostle's victory of the Ditch was a
vindication of Uhud. At
Medina
he was now supreme, opposed only by a minority of Hypocrites. Two of
the three Jewish tribes had been exiled and the third virtually
exterminated in a manner which effectively discouraged any active
challenge to his position. Every dispute was now referred to him and his
word was law.
19-
Pilgrimage
It
was now nearing the end of the sixth year of the Hijra and the apostle
decided to set out on a pilgrimage to
Mecca
. This was not a warlike expedition, and it was a month not lawful for
war. The apostle invited the surrounding Arab tribes and the nomad
Bedouin to accompany him, for he feared the Quraysh might either attack
him or prevent him from entering the Kaba. Many Arabs delayed in joining
him, so the apostle went forth with men of the Helpers, the Emigrants,
and such Arabs as had appeared. He took animals suitable for sacrifice,
and assumed the pilgrim garb, so that people might know he had no
warlike intentions and went forth only to visit and honour the Kaba. 'He
took seventy camels for sacrifice and, as the number of his men amounted
to seven hundred, each camel had ten men assigned to it,' one witness
recorded, but another said there were fourteen hundred men.
When
the apostle reached Usfan he was told, 'The Quraysh have heard about thy
expedition; and they have brought their milk‑camels, and dressed
themselves in leopard skins, and encamped at Dhu Tuwa, swearing to
Allah they will not allow thee to enter Mecca. Khalid has, with the
cavalry, already occupied Kuraul‑Ghamim.' The apostle said, 'Woe
betide the Quraysh! War has ruined them! How would it have harmed them
to allow me to go my own way and the way of Allah? But I shall not cease
to fight for the word of Allah until it becomes victorious, or until my
throat is cut.' Then he said, 'Who will take us by a road which will
by‑pass them?' and a man of Aslam took them through a pass which
was uneven and stony, until they reached an easier track.
When
the Quraysh cavalry saw that the Muslims travelled by another road they
hastened back to rejoin their people. When the Muslims reached the pass
of al‑Murar the apostle's camel knelt down, and the people said,
'She is obstinate.' He replied, 'She is not obstinate; it is not her
nature to be so. But He who kept the elephant from
Mecca
holds this camel back, too. If the Quraysh ask this day for anything by
which I may show them my kinship, I shall give it to them.' Then he said
to the people, 'Camp!' and they demurred, saying, 'In this valley there
is no water.' So the apostle pulled out an arrow from his quiver and
gave it to one of his companions, who went down into a dried‑up
waterhole and pierced its bed with the arrow; then so much water gushed
out that all the people drank, and they encamped around.
After
the apostle had settled himself comfortably, he was visited by Budayl
and several men of the Khuzaa, who talked with him and asked him the
purpose of his expedition. He replied that he had come not to wage war
but to visit the sacred Kaba as a pilgrim. Accordingly, they returned to
the Quraysh and said, 'You are hasty in your assumptions. Muhammad has
not come to fight, but to visit the Kaba.' The Quraysh persisted in
their suspicions, saying, 'Although he may not have come to fight, he
shall not enter against our will, nor shall the Arabs ever be able to
accuse us of that.' Nevertheless, they sent observers to watch the
apostle, and one of them was a devout Bedouin of the nomad tribes. When
the apostle saw him approach he said, 'This man is one of the pious. Let
loose the sacrificial animals before him, that he may see them!' When
the man saw the animals advancing towards him from the side of the
valley, wearing ornamental garlands and browsing among the
salt‑shrubs of this barren soil, he returned struck with awe to
the Quraysh without even meeting the apostle of Allah and made his
report. But they replied, 'Sit down! Thou art an Arab of the desert and
have no knowledge.' Then the Bedouin became angry and said, 'My tribes
did not enter into an alliance with you for such a purpose as this!
Shall men be kept away from the house of Allah who have come but to
honour it? You must either allow Muhammad to carry out his purpose or I
and my tribes will all depart.' They replied, 'Control yourself, and we
will obtain favourable terms for ourselves.'
Next
they sent Urwa, another of their allies, to the apostle, and they swore
they would accept his report of the matter. The apostle of Allah spoke
to him as before, and told him he had not come to fight. While he was
with the apostle, Urwa paid close attention to the behaviour of the
companions; the apostle did not perform his ablutions without their
hastening to preserve the water, nor spit without their running to
gather up the saliva, and no hair fell from his head but they snatched
it up. When Urwa returned to the Quraysh he said, 'I have seen the
sovereign of Persia in his own country, and the sovereign of Byzantium
in his own country, and the sovereign of Abyssinia in his own country;
and I have not seen the king of any nation honoured as Muhammad is among
his companions! I have seen a people who will never abandon him at any
price! Do therefore as you think fit.'
The apostle of Allah
called Uthman and dispatched him to Abu Sufyan and the Quraysh nobles,
to inform them that he had not come to fight but to make a pilgrimage to
the Kaba and honour its sanctuary. Uthman reached the presence of Abu
Sufyan and delivered the apostle's message, and when he had done this
they said to him, 'If you yourself wish to walk around the Kaba you are
at liberty to do so.' But he replied, 'I shall not do it until the
apostle of Allah has done it', so the Quraysh kept him prisoner and it
was reported to the apostle and the Muslims that Uthman had been
murdered.
The
apostle then swore, 'We shall not leave until we have fought these
people,' and he called on his followers to swear an oath. This they did,
in the shade of a tree, offering allegiance to the apostle and vowing
not to flee from the battle. Only one man, al‑Jadd, evaded taking
the oath.
Soon,
however, news came that the report of Uthman's death had been untrue.
The Quraysh dispatched Suhayl to the apostle with these instructions:
'Make peace with him on condition that he goes away now; we cannot let
the Arabs say he entered
Mecca
against our wish.' When the apostle observed Suhayl approaching he said,
'The Quraysh want to make peace, since they have sent that man.'
When
Suhayl reached the apostle they spoke long, and at last a treaty of
peace was concluded between them. When all had been arranged, only the
document remained to be written. The apostle summoned Ali and said,'
Write.'
He
said, 'Write "In the name of Allah, the merciful, the compassionate
. . . " ', but Suhayl intervened, saying, 'I cannot accept that.
Write "In thy name, o Allah." ' The apostle turned to Ali, and
said, 'Write "In thy name, o Allah. This is a treaty of peace
between Muhammad the apostle of Allah and . . ." ' But Suhayl
intervened again. 'If I acknowledge thee to be the apostle of Allah,
then I should not have fought thee! Write thy own and thy father's narne.'
So the apostle of Allah said, 'Write "This is a treaty of peace
between Muhammad b. Abdullah and Suhayl b. Amr. They have agreed not to
wage war against each other for ten years, and that their people shall
not wage war against each other for ten years. If Quraysh fugitives come
to Muhammad, he will send them back; but if fugitives come to the
Quraysh from Muhammad, the Quraysh will not give them up. Enmity is to
end and neither deceit nor theft will be permitted between them. Any man
is at liberty to make a treaty of alliance, either with Muhammad or with
the Quraysh." '
It
was agreed that the Muslims should give up their attempt to enter Mecca
this year, but that they should have three days' clear and sole access
the following year, so long as they were armed no more heavily than
ordinary travellers.
When
the companions of the apostle had marched out from Medina they had had
no doubt that they would enter Mecca, because the apostle had had a
vision; but when they witnessed the signing of this treaty and what the
apostle had been obliged to submit to they were much distressed.
Now
the apostle of Allah became anxious to fulfil his pilgrimage in some
measure, so, after he had concluded the treaty of peace, he slaughtered
the sacrifices, and had his own head shaved. When the people saw this
they did the same. They were very close to the borders of the sacred
territory.
The
apostle began his return march, and during it the Sura The Victory
was revealed to him. 'We have granted thee a manifest victory, that
Allah may forgive thee thy past and future sins, and complete His
favours to thee, and guide thee in the right way.
They
who swear homage unto His apostle, swear homage unto Allah; the hand of
Allah is over theirs. Whoever violates his oath, harms only his own
soul; but whoever performs that which he hath covenanted with Allah, He
will give him a great reward.' Then the Sura refers to the Arabs who
lagged behind when the apostle called them to join him at the beginning
of the pilgrimage. 'The Arabs of the desert who were left behind
will say "Our possessions and our families held us back" ',
but this is false, for they rejoiced at the possibility that you might
never return. When you set forth in search of plunder, they will offer
to go with you; you must refuse. Tell them they will be called to fight
against a great nation, and if they obey they will be blessed, but if
they turn their backs, Allah will bring on them a great chastisement.
'Allah was well pleased with the true Believers, when they swore
faithfulness to His apostle under the tree; He knew what was in their
hearts, and therefore He sent down tranquillity of mind, and rewarded
them with a speedy victory, and they will take many spoils; for Allah is
mighty and wise. . . . He kept the hands of your enemy off from you, and
your hands from them, in the
valley
of
Mecca
, although He could have given you victory over them . . . Otherwise you
might have struck down Believers [among the Meccans] whom ye knew not,
and thus incurred guilt unknowingly. . . . Allah has fulfilled the
vision of His apostle: You shall enter the sacred mosque (if Allah wills
it) in security, with heads shaved or cropped, without fear. He knows
what you do not.'
Before
this, there had been no greater victory in Islam. War had been rife
wherever the people met, but after the treaty it was stopped and the
people felt safe and could meet and enter into discussion and
disputation; thus no intelligent man to whom Islam was proposed in
discussion failed to profess it. In these next two years as many people
adopted Islam as had done since its first beginnings. Perhaps more. Two
years later, instead of the fourteen hundred men who went on the
pilgrimage, the apostle was able to march out with ten thousand men.
When
the apostle of Allah was back in Medina a fugitive from Mecca arrived
whose name was Abu Basin The Quraysh sent a letter with two messengers
asking for his return under the terms of the treaty, and the apostle
said to Abu Basir, 'Thou knowest our treaty, and our religion forbids
treachery! Allah will grant deliverance and a happy outcome to thee and
to those who are likewise helpless. Return therefore to thy people.' Abu
Basir pleaded, 'Canst thou force me back to the infidels to be seduced
from my religion?' but the apostle repeated, 'Depart! Allah will grant
deliverance.'
Accordingly,
Abu Basir went away with the messengers and when they had gone as far as
Dhul‑Hulayfa he sat down on a wall with them. 'Is your sword
sharp?' he asked one of them. 'May I look at it?' Then Abu Basir drew it
out from the man's scabbard and killed him. The other messenger fled
back to the apostle of Allah, who was sitting in the mosque and greeted
him with 'Woe betide thee, what is the matter?' He replied, 'Thy
companion has killed my companion.' Shortly afterwards Abu Basir arrived
with the sword girded on and said to the apostle, 'Thou hast kept thy
promise and Allah has absolved thee! Thou hast duly surrendered me into
the hands of the Quraysh, but I have protected my religion.' The apostle
of Allah exclaimed, 'Here is a man who would kindle a war if he had men
enough’
Abu
Basir went away and halted at al‑Is on the sea‑coast, which
was the route the Quraysh took with their caravans to Syria; and when
the Believers in Mecca were told the words of the apostle, 'He would
kindle a war if he had men enough', they went out to Abu Basir, as many
as seventy men. Then they harassed the Quraysh, and slew every man of
them that they could lay hands upon, and waylaid every caravan that
passed near them, so that the Quraysh at last wrote to the apostle and
begged him to allow the raiders to live in Medina as they desired, so
that they would cease to harry the Quraysh, who no longer wished to have
them returned to Mecca. Thus the raiders were accepted in
Medina
.
After this, Muhammad conceived the idea of
summoning the rulers of surrounding states to listen to his teaching.
The
Byzantine empire
appeared to be crumbling, the Christian Church was divided, and the
possibilities seemed worth exploring. He determined to send out official
embassies. At the same time he began to subdue or make alliances with
the surrounding tribes of the peninsula.
20-
khaybar
In
the seventh year of the Hijra the apostle rode out with sixteen hundred
followers on an expedition against the Jewish tribe of Khaybar, about
one hundred miles distant. They travelled by a route which would
prevent the Khaybar from receiving assistance from their allies, the
Ghatafan.
When
the apostle reached the
valley
of
Khaybar
he halted his companions and prayed to Allah. 'Lord of the heavens and
the earth they embrace, Lord of both worlds and all they contain, Lord
of the devils and those they pervert, Lord of the winds and all that
they scatter! We ask Thee for the good of this village, the good of its
inhabitants, and the good of whatever is in it, and we flee to Thee for
refuge from its evil, from the evil of its inhabitants, and from the
evil of whatever is in it. Onward, in the name of Allah!' These words he
uttered in every village he entered.
The
apostle of Allah would not attack the Khaybar until next morning; if he
heard the call to prayers, he would not attack, but if he failed to hear
them, he would attack. 'We halted at Khaybar for the night, and the
apostle waited and heard no morning call to prayer, so he mounted his
horse and we mounted ours. I [the prophet's servant, Anas] rode behind
Abu Talha, so close that my foot touched that of the apostle of Allah.
We met a few labourers going forth early to their work, bearing spades
and baskets, and when they beheld the apostle with his army they cried
out and fled. The apostle said "Allah Akbar! Khaybar will be
destroyed." '
The apostle occupied the
Jewish forts one after the other, taking prisoners as he went. Among
these were Safiya, the wife of Kinana, the Khaybar chief, and two female
cousins; the apostle chose Safiya for himself. The other prisoners were
distributed among the Muslims. Bilal brought Safiya to the apostle, and
they passed the bodies of several Jews on the way. Safiya's female
companions lamented and strewed dust on their heads. When the apostle of
Allah observed this scene, he said, 'Remove these she‑devils from
me’ But he ordered Safiya to remain, and threw his reda [cloak]
over her. So the Muslims knew he had reserved her for his own. The
apostle reprimanded Bilal, saying, 'Hast thou lost all feelings of
mercy, to make women pass by the corpses of their husbands?'
The
Muslims were in the habit of eating the flesh of their own donkeys, but
on this day the apostle made various prohibitions for the future; no
Believer was to eat the flesh of tame donkeys. Although the apostle of
Allah forbade this flesh, he permitted consumption of horse flesh. He
also declared, 'It is not lawful for a Believer to irrigate another
man's harvest [to have intercourse with pregnant captives]; nor shall
any Believer have intercourse with a captive woman until she has been
purified; neither shall a Believer ride a captured animal which has not
been assigned to him and return it, emaciated, to the joint stock of
plunder; neither shall he wear a captured garment and return it, worn
out, to the stock of plunder.'
After
the apostle of Allah had conquered the Khaybar forts and possessions, he
arrived near the forts of al‑Watih and al-Sulalim, which were
the last strongholds. These he besieged.
Then
Marhab the Jew came out and uttered the challenge to single combat. The
apostle said, 'Who will answer this man's challenge?' and Muhammad b.
Maslama replied, 'I shall! I must avenge my brother who was slain
yesterday!'
As
they approached one another the two combatants were separated by an aged
tree which served both of them as a shelter, and when one of them dodged
behind it the other lopped off branches with his sword; and they
continued this game until the tree was quite denuded of branches, and
looked like a man. Then Marhab assailed the Muslim and struck at him,
but he held out his shield and the sword stuck fast in it; then the
Muslim killed him.
Ali
performed great feats in the battle. 'When he approached the castle its
people came out and he attacked them. A Jew struck him so as to make him
drop his shield from his hand, but Ali took up a door near the fort and
used it as a shield to protect himself, using it as such until Allah
bestowed victory on him; then he threw it away. When all was over, I and
seven men tried to turn this door over, but we had not the strength.'
After
about ten days, the people realized the hopelessness of attempting to
hold out; so they asked for peace and that their lives be spared. The
apostle agreed, because he had already subdued all the other territory.
Kinana,
the husband of Safiya, had been guardian of the tribe's treasures, and
he was brought before the apostle, who asked where they were hidden. But
Kinana refused to disclose the place. Then a Jew came who said, 'I have
seen Kinana walk around a certain ruin every morning.' The apostle asked
Kinana, 'Art thou prepared to die if we find thou knewest where the
treasure was?' And he replied, 'Yes.' So the apostle ordered the ruin to
be dug up, and some of the treasure was found. After that Kinana was
asked again about the remainder, but he still refused to tell. The
apostle of Allah handed him over to al‑Zubayr, saying, 'Torture
him until he tells what he knows', and al‑Zubayr kindled a fire on
his chest so that he almost expired; then the apostle gave him to
Muhammad b. Maslama, who struck off his head.
When
the people of Fadak, a Jewish town nearby, heard what was taking place
they sent emissaries to the apostle to ask him to spare them and they
would abandon to him all their property. He agreed. After he had reached
an understanding with the people of Khaybar, they asked to be allowed to
cultivate their own lands, and to retain one‑half of the produce,
saying, 'We know the estates better than thou, and how to cultivate
them.' The apostle concluded peace with them on this basis, but added,
'If we should find it convenient to expel you, we shall do so.' The
people of Fadak made peace with him on the same terms; the property of
Khaybar was thus common to all the Muslims, but that of Fadak belonged
to the apostle of Allah, because he had conquered it without the aid of
cavalry or camels.
After
the apostle of Allah had rested, the captive woman Zaynab brought him a
roasted sheep. She had asked what portion of the sheep the apostle of
Allah most enjoyed and, having been told that it was the leg, she put
much poison into it, although she also poisoned the whole sheep. When
she placed it before the apostle he took a bite, but did not swallow;
Bishr likewise took a piece, but he did swallow. Then the apostle of
Allah spat his out, saying, 'This bone informs me that it is poisoned.'
He summoned the woman, who confessed what she had done, and asked, 'What
made thee do this?' She replied, 'It is no secret to thee, what my
people feel towards thee. I said to myself, "If he be only a king,
we shall be delivered of him; but if he be a prophet, he will know of
the poison and guard himself."' The apostle released her, but Bishr
died of the piece he had eaten.
During
his last sickness, years later, the apostle said, 'I feel the vein of my
heart bursting from the food I ate at Khaybar'; from these words,
Muslims conclude that the apostle died a martyr of battle, as well as
being favoured by Allah with the dignity of prophetic office.
The plunder of Khaybar,
the richest part of the Hijaz, was greater than any before. There were
dates, oil, honey and barley, as well as sheep and camels and jewels.
Punishment
for disobeying the prohibitions given on the day of Khaybar was swift.
On the way back to
Medina
a slave of the apostle was struck by a chance arrow and killed. 'We
said, "May he rejoice in paradise", but the apostle replied,
"By no means! I swear that the cloak which he stole from the booty
at Khaybar is now burning on him in hell!" A companion of the
apostle who heard these words approached, and said "0, apostle of
Allah! I took two thongs for my sandals", and he replied,
"Then you will suffer two thongs of fire." '
21-
pilgrimage of retaliation
The apostle of Allah returned to
Medina
and remained there for several months, sending out various raiding
parties and expeditions. Then the month of pilgrimage came round and
it was one year since the expedition of al‑Hudaybiya when he had
turned back from
Mecca
.
Then
took place what is called the Pilgrimage of Retaliation, when the
apostle retaliated against the Quraysh who had prevented him from
entering
Mecca
in the sixth year of the Hijra by entering
Mecca
in the sacred month of the seventh year. The Muslims who had been kept
out with him on the previous occasion now marched out on this
pilgrimage, and when the Meccans heard of their approach some left the
city.
But
some of the people of Mecca stood near the assembly house to observe the
apostle, and when he entered the mosque he threw his mantle over his
left shoulder and, stretching forth his right arm, cried, 'May Allah
have mercy on the man whom He shows this day to be strong.' Then he
embraced the stone and went out and his companions followed him. He
leapt to embrace the Yemeni stone and the Black Stone and ran thrice
round the Kaba before slowing his pace. This leaping in the pilgrimage
of valediction became a religious ordinance.
The
apostle of Allah remained three days in
Mecca
and on the third day he was visited by men of the Quraysh who said to
him, 'The time has expired! Depart from us!' Accordingly the apostle of
Allah departed and returned to
Medina
.
In the first month of the eighth year of the
Hijra the apostle sent an expedition to Muta on the borders of
Syria
and appointed over it Zayd, saying, 'If Zayd should be killed, Jafar is
to take the command, and if Jafar be slain, then Abdullah b. Rawaha.'
The men prepared, and when they were ready to march their number
amounted to three thousand. While some of the companions of the
apostle were taking leave of Abdullah b. Rawaha, he wept, and they
asked, 'What makes thee weep?' He replied, 'There is no love of the
world in me, nor do I grieve for you, but I heard the apostle of Allah
recite a verse from the scripture of Allah, the most high and glorious,
which talks of hell‑fire thus: "Every one of you must go down
to it. This is a decree of thy Lord which must be fulfilled." And I
do not know how I shall escape after I have gone down into it.' Then the
Muslims said, 'May Allah go with you and protect you, and bring you back
to us safely.'
Then the people marched
out, and the apostle accompanied them some way and then left them.
They marched till they
reached Maan in
Syria
, where they heard that the Byzantine emperor, Heraclius, was encamped
at Maab with 100,000 Greeks reinforced by another 100,000 men from Arab
tribes commanded by a man named Malik. When the Muslims received this
news they remained two nights in Maan in order to consider the matter.
They said, 'Let us write to the apostle and tell him the numbers of our
foe. He will either send us reinforcements, or give us some guidance.'
Abdullah b. Rawaha tried to raise the spirits of his men by saying,
'What you now recoil from is just what you came in search of, martyrdom.
We do not go to fight these people with numbers, strength, or
multitudes, but with the religion of Allah! Therefore press on. Only one
of two things can happen ‑ both good ‑ either victory or
martyrdom.' The people exclaimed, 'By Allah! The son of Rawaha has
spoken the truth!' and they set out again on their march until they came
to the region of Balqa and saw the armies of Heraclius. Then a battle
took place at a village called Muta.
The
Muslims drew up in battle array; their right flank was commanded by a
man named Qutba, and the left by Ubaya. The two armies met and fought.
Zayd fought holding the banner of the apostle, until he fell to the
lances of the enemy. After that, Jafar grasped the banner and fought
with it, but the struggle became intense and he leapt down from his
brown horse, hamstrung it to signify 'death or victory', and fought
till he, too, was slain. He was the first man in Islam who hamstrung his
horse. Jafar was only thirty‑three years of age; he had his arms
cut off in the battle and Allah replaced them in paradise with two wings
on which he soars.
When
Jafar was killed Abdullah b. Rawaha took the flag. He dismounted and a
cousin brought him a marrow‑bone, saying, 'Strengthen yourself
with this, because you have undergone many hardships.' He took it and
bit into it, but hearing a disturbance among the soldiers, he
reproached himself, 'I am too much engrossed in life', and threw the
bone away, snatched up his sword and rushed into the battle, where he
fought till he was killed.
After
that, Thabit snatched up the standard, crying, 'Muslims! Choose
another commander’ They replied, 'Thyself', but he refused the honour
and they elected Khalid, who kept off the foe and decided to retreat to
spare the lives of his men. The enemy also withdrew and Khalid was able
to march away with his army.
Qutba,
however, who commanded the right flank of the Muslims, had killed Marith,
the leader of the Arab troops reinforcing Herachus.
When
the returning army approached
Medina
the apostle of Allah and the Muslims went out to meet them. The children
ran ahead, and the apostle followed on a mule. The people began throwing
earth at the army, shouting, 'Runaways! You have fled from the path of
Allah!' but the apostle said, 'They are not runaways, and if Allah
pleaseth they will attack again.'
After the expedition to
Muta, the apostle remained in
Medina
for a time. The Banu Bakr had a feud of long standing with the Khuzaa
which had been temporarily interrupted by the hostilities between the
apostle and the Quraysh. When the treaty of peace was concluded between
the apostle and the Quraysh one of the terms of the treaty was that
tribes were free to enter into an alliance with either party. The Banu
Bakr chose to ally with the Quraysb, and the Khuzaa with the apostle.
But the Banu Bakr took advantage of the peace to revenge themselves upon
the Khuzaa, and Naufal, their leader, went out with some of the tribe;
his command was not acknowledged by all of them. He and his followers
fell upon the Banu Khuzaa in the night and killed one man; Naufal was
secretly aided by some of the Quraysh. They drove the Khuzaa back until
they reached the sacred territory [
Mecca
] and the Banu Bakr were struck with fear, saying to Naufal, 'We have
entered the sanctuary ! Take heed! Fear God’ But he replied grandly,
'There is no god this day, 0 sons of Bakr! Take your revenge! By my
life, you are accustomed to robbing sacred territory. Why not take
vengeance there, too?' When the Khuzaa fell back into
Mecca
they sought protection in the house of Budayl.
The
Banu Bakr and the Quraysh, by combining against the Khuzaa, who were
allies of the apostle, had thus broken the agreement which existed
between the Quraysh and the apostle, and Amr b. Salim of the Khuzaa went
to the apostle and told him of the event.
The
man entered the mosque of
Medina
, where the apostle was sitting in the midst of the people, and asked
for aid and retaliation, and the apostle replied, 'It shall be done'.
Then a cloud appeared in the firmament and he said, 'This cloud betokens
victory.'
After
that Budayl and several men of the Khuzaa also visited the apostle at
Medina
, uttering the same plea. When they had left to return to
Mecca
the apostle said to his people, 'I fancy we will have a visit from Abu
Sufyan, desirous of reinforcing our alliance and extending our
agreement.'
When
Budayl was two days' journey from
Mecca
he met Abu Sufyan on his way to see the apostle. When Abu Sufyan met
Budayl he asked, 'Where have you been?' and Budayl replied, 'I have been
roaming the valleys.' Abu Sufyan said, 'Have you not been with
Muhammad?' and Budayl replied, 'No.' After Budayl had left him, Abu
Sufyan went to the place where Budayl's camels had been hobbled and,
examining the dung, he found date‑kernels in it; and he said, 'Budayl
has indeed been with Muhammad in
Medina
.'
Then
Abu Sufyan continued his journey till he arrived at
Medina
and went to the apostle of Allah, who would not speak to him. So he went
to Abu Bakr and asked him to persuade the apostle to talk with him, but
Abu Bakr refused; and it was the same with every one of the companions
Abu Sufyan approached. At last Abu Sufyan went to the court of the
mosque and cried aloud: 'Listen, ye people. I promise protection between
men.' Then he mounted his camel and departed.
When
he arrived back in
Mecca
the Quraysh asked, 'What is the news?' He told them what had taken place
and they poured scorn on him, saying, 'Of what use will your words be?'
and he replied, 'None. But what else could I do?'
Meanwhile,
the apostle of Allah ordered preparations to be made. Abu Bakr went to
his daughter Aisha, who was arranging some of the equipment the apostle
would need in the campaign, and said, 'Has the apostle ordered you to
make things ready for him?' She confirmed that he had and suggested Abu
Bakr also prepare himself, but she said she did not know the purpose of
the expedition. Later, the apostle informed the people that he was going
to
Mecca
and ordered them to hasten their preparations.
When
the apostle announced the expedition, however, Hatib ‑ one of his
trusted companions ‑ wrote a warning letter to the Quraysh and
gave it to Sara, a freedwoman, to carry to
Mecca
. She placed the letter on her head, plaited her hair over it, and
departed. But Allah told His apostle of the letter and he sent Ali after
her. Ali overtook the woman in al‑Khulayqa and made her dismount;
he examined her baggage, but found nothing. Then he said, 'I swear to
thee by Allah! The apostle has been told no lie, nor have we been told a
lie! Produce this letter, or we shall strip thee naked !'When she saw
that he was in earnest she loosed the plaited hair, took out the letter
and gave it to Ali. When it was brought to the apostle he sent for Hatib
and asked why he had sent the warning to the Quraysh. Hatib replied, 'I
believe in Allah and in His apostle. I have not altered, nor have I
changed my belief. But I hoped to benefit my wife and son, who still
live in
Mecca
.' Then the apostle pardoned him, because he had fought at Badr.
22-
Conquest of Mecca
The
apostle reached Marr al‑Zahran with an army of ten thousand; the
Bedouin tribes ‑ the Sulaym and the Muzayna ‑each
contributed a thousand men, and many of them Believers. Not an Emigrant
nor a Helper remained in
Medina
. The Quraysh knew nothing of the apostle's approach, although Abu
Sufyan and Budayl constantly sent out in search of news. But the apostle's
uncle, al‑Abbas, came out from
Mecca
and joined the apostle.
When the apostle of Allah
was encamped at Marr al‑Zahran
his uncle al‑Abbas said to himself, ' "It will be the
end of the Quraysh if the apostle enters
Mecca
by force without their having come to implore mercy from him." So I
mounted the white mule of the apostle and rode out, thinking,
"Perhaps I may meet some wood‑gatherer who will tell the
Meccans where the apostle is encamped, so that they may come out to him
and ask for mercy before he has to take the town by force." After I
had gone some way, I heard two voices and they were the voices of Abu
Sufyan and Budayl. Abu Sufyan said, "I have never seen as many
fires as there are this night, nor so great an army!" and Budayl
replied, "These are the Khuzaa, aroused by war." But Abu
Sufyan interrupted, "The Khuzaa are too mean and few for these to
be their fires and troops." .
'Then
I appeared and greeted him and he asked, "What is afoot?" I
said, "Woe betide thee, Abu Sufyan! That is the apostle of Allah
with his people! All is over with the Quraysh! " He asked,
"What is to be done?" and I told him, "If he conquers
you, he will strike off your head. Mount behind me on this mule and I
will take you to the apostle to ask for mercy." So he mounted
behind me, but his companion returned to
Mecca
.
'I
rode back and whenever I passed near a fire of the Muslims, they said,
"This is the uncle of the apostle" and let me pass. Then I
passed the fire of Umar and, seeing Abu Sufyan, he exclaimed,
"This is the enemy of Allah! Praise be to Allah who has delivered
him into our hands." Then he ran to the apostle, but I spurred the
mule and overtook him, and hastened in to the apostle with Umar
following. Umar cried, "Allow me to strike off the head of Abu
Sufyan!" but I said "No. I have granted him protection."
Then we argued the case and the apostle told me to guard Abu Sufyan and
bring him to the apostle in the morning.
'At
dawn we went to the apostle, who said to Abu Sufyan, "Is it not yet
clear to thee that there is no other god save Allah!" He replied,
"Had there been another god he should have proved himself by now
and aided me!" The apostle continued, "Is it not yet clear to
thee that I am the apostle of Allah?" Abu Sufyan replied, "I
still have doubts in my mind as to that." Then I said to him,
"Woe betide thee! Make profession of Islam and say, ‘I testify
that there is no God but Allah and that Muhammad is the apostle of
Allah,' before he strikes off thy head!" So Abu Sufyan testified to
the truth, and made profession of Islam. I said to the apostle,
"Abu Sufyan is a man who likes to have something to boast of. Grant
him some favour," and the apostle granted that any man entering the
house of Abu Sufyan would be secure, so also would any man who locked
himself in his own house, and so also would any man who entered the
mosque.
'Then
I took Abu Sufyan to a hollow of the mountain to watch the apostle and
his army pass by. And all the auxiliary tribes passed first. At last the
apostle appeared with the dark legion.' It was called 'dark', because of
all the armour it wore; only the eyes of the men were visible. 'Abu
Sufyan exclaimed, "None could resist men such as these! 0 Abbas,
the power of your nephew has become great!" I replied, "It is
the power of his prophecy! " Then I told him, "Hasten back to
your people!" '
As
soon as Abu Sufyan reached
Mecca
he cried aloud to the people, 'Muhammad comes and cannot be resisted;
but whoever enters the house of Abu Sufyan will be safe’ They replied,
'Curses be upon you. Your house cannot shelter all!' so he told them,
'And whoever shuts himself up in his own house will be safe, and whoever
enters the mosque will be safe’ Then the people dispersed to their
houses and to the mosque.
When
the apostle of Allah arrived at Dhu Tuwa he rose in his stirrups and
humbly bowed his head to Allah as he observed the empty streets which
betokened victory.
Starting from Dhu Tuwa, the apostle divided his
troops, giving al‑Zubayr command of the left wing, and giving the
Helpers to Sad b. Ubada. But one of the Emigrants heard Sad chanting,
'This is a day of slaughter; today the sanctuary will be profaned.' So
the apostle sent Ali after him with orders to take the banner from Sad
and lead the Helpers himself. Khalid was appointed over the right flank,
which consisted of the Arab tribes, and Abu Ubayda commanded the
Emigrants, who were followed by the apostle himself He entered the upper
part of
Mecca
and had his tent pitched there.
Safwan
b. Ummaya, Suhayl b. Amr, and Ikrirna the son of Abu Jahl, however, had
gathered some men together to fight at al‑Khandama. They were
attacked by Khalid's column of tribesmen, two of whom strayed from the
main body and were slain; but twelve or thirteen of the idolaters were
killed, and the others put to flight. The apostle had instructed his
commanders not to fight against any man except those who attacked. There
were, however, some enemies of Allah whom he ordered to be slain even if
they were hidden in the curtains of the Kaba itself. One of these was
Abdullah b. Sad; the apostle of Allah ordered him to be killed because,
after having made a profession of Islam and assisted the apostle in
writing the revelations, he had relapsed into idolatry, returned to his
home, and taken refuge with his milk‑brother. This brother
concealed him, but at last brought him to the apostle of Allah, after
Mecca
had settled down peaceably. He pleaded for him, and it is recorded that
the apostle of Allah remained silent for a long while; then he said,
'Yes.' After the man had departed, the apostle turned to his companions
and said, 'I remained silent, expecting that one of you would rise and
strike off his head.' Then a man of the Helpers asked, 'Why didst thou
not give me a sign, o apostle of Allah?' and he replied, 'A prophet does
not kill by a sign.’
Another
ordered to be slain was a man who, after becoming a Muslim and being
sent by the apostle of Allah with one of the Helpers to collect the
poor‑tax, had killed his freedman, who was a Muslim. Whilst on a
journey he had halted at a caravanserai and had ordered his freedman to
slaughter a kid and prepare a meal from it, but the freedman had fallen
asleep. When his master awoke and found that nothing was prepared he
fell upon him and killed him; then he relapsed into idolatry, and kept
two singing‑women, both of whom sang songs insulting the apostle
of Allah, who ordered them to be killed with their master.
Another
who had insulted two daughters of the apostle was also killed, and some
who had persecuted the apostle himself were put to death. But some were
given pardon. The daughtor of Abu Talib, the uncle and one‑time
guardian of the apostle of Allah, told how 'Two men of the tribe of my
father‑in‑law fled to me, then my brother came and said
"By Allah, I shall kill them." I locked my house upon them and
went to the apostle of Allah, who was in the upper part of
Mecca
. I found him washing himself from a kneading trough still containing
vestiges of dough, whilst his daughter Fatima was shielding him with his
robe. After he had finished he put on his garments and recited his
morning prayers. Then he turned to me, saying "Welcome! What has
brought thee here?" I told him about the two men and about my
brother's wish to kill them, and he replied, "We protect whom thou
protectest, and we grant safety to whom thou grantest safety
He shall not kill these two men." '
When
peace reigned once more the apostle went to the Kaba and rode seven
times round it on his camel, touching the sacred stone with a stick
which he held in his hand. After this, he called Uthman b. Talha and
took from him the key of the Kaba. This was opened to him, and he
entered. There he found a pigeon made of aloe‑wood, and he broke
this idol with his own hand and threw it outside. The other idols stood
fixed with lead, and the prophet made a sign with his stick in the
direction of the idols, saying, 'Truth has arrived and falsehood has
gone, because falsehood was perishable.' Nor did he point to the front
of any idol, but it fell down on its back; nor did he point to its back,
but it fell down on its face. Not one idol remained standing. The
apostle remained at the door of the Kaba and the people from the mosque
surrounded him.
Then
the apostle said, 'There is no God but Allah alone. He has kept His
promise, and aided His servant. He alone has put the confederates to
flight. Every prerogative now lies with me save two ‑ the
guardianship of the Kaba, and the office of providing water for
pilgrims.
'Killing,
when heavy injury was all that was intended, must be made good by a fine
of one hundred camels, among which there must be forty pregnant ones.
'People
of the Quraysh! Allah has freed you from the arrogance of idolatry. All
men are from Adam, and Adam is from earth! . . How do you expect I shall
deal with you?' They said,
Well.
Thou art our noble brother’, and he replied, ‘You may go free.’
The apostle of Allah then entered the Kaba with Bilal, and ordered him
to give the call to prayers.
On
the day of the conquest a man entered
Mecca
who had murdered one of the allies of the Khuzaa. He was recognized and
menaced by the Khuzaa. 'Then came Khirash, warding off the swords of the
Khuzaa and shouting "Keep away!" We imagined his intention was
that the people should leave the man alone, but when we moved away he
himself attacked and speared him through the belly; and I can still see
him with his entrails spilling out and his eyes becoming fixed. The man
gasped, "You have done wrong, you Khuzaa", and then died.'
The
apostle of Allah said, 'There has been enough slaughter.' He said
further, 'Allah established
Mecca
as a sanctuary on the day He created the heavens and the earth;
therefore it is a sanctuary till the day of the resurrection. No man
who believes in Allah and in the resurrection may shed blood in it or
fell a tree in it. It was not permitted to anyone who came before me,
nor will it be permitted to anyone after me. It has been permitted to me
only during this hour, because of the wrath of Allah towards the
inhabitants of
Mecca
; now again it is a sanctuary as before. Let those of you who are
present tell this to those who are absent. If any man says to you,
"Verily the apostle of Allah has killed in
Mecca
", say "Allah has made it right for His Apostle but not for
you." 0, ye Khuzaa! Stay your hands from killing. You have
committed a murder for which I shall pay the blood ransom; but if after
my stay here anyone is killed, the relative of the murdered man will
have the choice between the blood of the murderer or a ransom.'
Then
the apostle paid the ransom due for the [blood of the] man whom the
Khuzaa had slain. The amount of the ransom was one hundred camels.
The
apostle sent out expeditions to the surrounding territory to invite the
people to Allah, but not to kill. Khalid, however, used violence on one
expedition, against the Jadhima, and killed some of them. The apostle
remained in
Mecca
for twenty‑five days after the conquest.
23- Hawazin
When the Hawazin tribe heard about the conquest
Allah had vouchsafed to the apostle, Malik b. Auf gathered them all
together, as well as the Thaqif, the Nasr, and the Jusham, and a few men
of the Banu Hilal.
Malik
determined to march against the apostle of Allah, and he told the people
to carry their goods, their wives and their children with them. When
they encamped at Autas, the aged chieftain Durayd said, 'This is a good
place for cavalry; it is neither too uneven nor too stony, neither too
soft nor too hard; but why have we brought the women and children and
animals?' Malik said, 'I wanted every man's family and property behind
him, that he may fight for them.' Durayd snorted at him in disgust.
'Thou art a mere shepherd!' he said. 'Nothing will stop a fugitive in
flight. If you conquer, only men with swords and lances will be of use
to you, and if you are conquered, your families and property will be as
shamed as you.' He added, 'The Kab and Kilab tribes have not joined us,
so both bravery and alertness are wanting! If this were to be a day of
glory and honour, neither the Kab nor the Kilab would be absent. 0,
Malik, you have gained nothing by bringing the most precious possessions
of the Hawazin. Take them back to a safe place.' But Malik replied, 'I
shall not do so. You are in your dotage and your mind is failing.'
Then
Malik ordered his men, 'As soon as you see the enemy, break your swords
from the scabbards and rush on the enemy as one man.'
When
the apostle heard of the Hawazin massing and decided to march against
them he was told that Safwan had a stock of arms and armour. He sent to
Safwan, who was still an idolater, saying, 'Lend us thy arms, that we
may attack our foes tomorrow. We want only to borrow them, and will
return them to thee.' Safwan said 'There is no harm in that,' and gave
one hundred coats of mail and sufficient arms for them.
Then
the apostle marched out with two thousand Meccans and the ten thousand
companions who had gone with him before to the conquest of
Mecca
. The apostle said, gazing at the greatness of this army of Allah, 'This
day we shall not be overcome because our number is small!' They marched
to meet the Hawazin.
'When
we arrived at Hunayn, we descended into a valley; it was not yet day and
the valley was very steep. The enemy had reached the defile before us
and lay in ambush for us in every hollow, cranny and side‑track.
They were all ready, and attacked us before we even saw them. Only a few
of our men had descended when they all fell upon us at once, so that
our people fled and no man heeded his neighbour.'
The
apostle turned aside, and shouted, 'Where do you flee to? Come to me! I
am the apostle of Allah!' But it was useless and the camels jostled each
other, and the men fled; some of the Emigrants and the Helpers, however,
and others of the apostle's family, made a stand with him. Among them
were Abu Bakr, Umar, Ali and al‑Abbas.
When
the Muslims fled some ill‑disposed Meccans who had accompanied the
expedition sneered. Abu Sufyan exclaimed, 'They will run as far as the
sea’ and the brother of Safwan said, 'Sorcery will riot suffice
today!' But Safwan told him, 'Be silent! I would rather be commanded by
a man of the Quraysh than of the Hawazin!'
Al‑Abbas
was with the apostle of Allah, holding the bridle of his grey mule. 'As
I was at that time a strong man with a powerful voice, the apostle said
to me, "Abbas! Shout and remind those who flee where their
allegiance lies!" I did so, and the men answered, "We are at
thy command." Then every man endeavoured to turn his camel, but
could not because of the crush. So they took off their coats of mail,
dismounted and fought their way to the apostle.'
When
about one hundred men had gathered around him, they rallied and attacked
the enemy, and made a good stand. The apostle alighted from his camel,
and, seeing how hotly the people fought, said, 'Now at last the battle
rages’ A man who took part in the battle told how, while the fight was
raging, 'something like a striped black carpet came down from the sky,
and settled between us and the enemy. When I looked about, I saw that
black ants were strewn around the whole valley; I had no doubt that
these were angels. The enemy at once fled.'
Thus
Allah put the idolaters to flight, and many were slain. Some idolaters
who escaped went to al‑Taif, and they included the leader, Malik;
others went to Autas. But a young Believer named Rabia overtook the aged
Durayd and took hold of the bridle of his camel, expecting Durayd to be
a woman, because he was conveyed in a litter. When he discovered an old
man, he said, 'I intend to kill you', and struck him with his sword. But
this produced no effect. Durayd said, 'Your mother has armed you badly!
Take my sword from behind my saddle, and strike me with it above the
spine and beneath the skull. This is how I used to kill men. Afterwards,
when you go to your mother, tell her you have killed Durayd; for during
many a day I gave protection to the women of your family.'
On that day the apostle
happened to pass near a woman around whom the people had assembled. He
asked, 'What is this?' and they replied, 'A woman whom Khalid has
killed.' Then the apostle said to one of the people, 'Go to Khalid and
say, "The apostle of Allah forbids thee to kill child, women or
slave." '
The apostle sent an
expedition after the fugitives who had gone to Autas and himself marched
off to besiege the other fugitives at al‑Taif. The siege was
notable for the showers of arrows and red‑hot metal sent down by
the defenders; and, after twenty days, the apostle and his army
withdrew.
They
marched to al‑Jirana and camped there. A deputation came from the
Hawazin to discuss the six thousand children and women captives whom the
apostle held, and the camels and sheep beyond number. The men of the
deputation professed Islam, then said, 'We are of the same root and race
as thou’ Be gracious to us, and Allah will be gracious to thee’ Then
a man of the Banu Sad clan of Hawazin rose and said, 'You were fostered
among the Banu Sad and the nurses who suckled you are now your captives.
Be kind and merciful to us; you are the best of all who have been
nursed.' The apostle asked, 'Do you love your children and women more
than your property?' and they said, 'Is there a choice? Restore to us
our wives and children, for we love them more than our property.' He
said, 'As far as my portion and that of my family is concerned, it shall
be returned to you. When I have ended my noon prayers with the people,
arise and say "We ask for the intercession of the apostle with the
Muslims, and the intercession of the Muslims with the apostle on behalf
of our children and women!" Then I shall grant your request, and
intercede for you.'
When
the apostle had prayed at noon the Hawazin rose and spoke as they had
been instructed: the apostle replied, 'My share, and that of my family,
will be given to you.' Then the Emigrants and Helpers gave theirs, but
the allied tribes hesitated until the apostle said, 'Whoever still
insists on his right to the prisoners, shall (if he now yields the
right) receive for every captive six camels taken from the next booty
Allah permits us to win.' Then the women and children were restored to
the Hawazin.
The
apostle asked the deputation from the Hawazin what had become of Malik
and they replied, 'He is in al‑Taif.' The apostle said, 'Tell him
that if he comes to me as a Muslim I shall restore his family and his
property to him and shall present him with a hundred camels.' Malik
accepted this offer and made profession of Islam; he became a valuable
Believer, and the apostle appointed him to lead three tribes who had
embraced Islam. With them, he harried the idolaters.
When
the apostle returned the prisoners taken at Hunayn he rode away, but his
followers clamoured after him, saying, 'Distribute our shares of the
camels and sheep' At last they crowded up to him against a tree, so that
his mantle was torn from his body. Then he exclaimed, 'Shame! Restore my
cloak to me! By Allah, if you had captured as many beasts as there are
trees in Tihama, I would distribute them to you! You have never found me
to be grasping, cowardly or false’ And he turned to a camel, and
pulled one hair from its haunch; he took it between his fingers, lifted
it up, and said, 'I have not retained as much as this hair, beyond my
one‑fifth. You must give back even the most worthless articles,
because theft will bring shame, fire and disgrace on the day of the
resurrection for the man who steals.' Then a Helper produced a bundle of
camel hair, saying, 'I took this bundle to make a cushion for the
wounded back of my camel.' The apostle replied, 'I make you a present of
my share in it!' The man, however, exclaimed, 'If it has come to that, I
have no need of it’ and he threw the whole bundle away.
The
apostle made gifts to those whose hearts he desired to win, nobles whom
he wished to please. To Abu Sufyan he gave one hundred camels, and to
Malik, and to Safwan and others. To some, he gave fewer than one
hundred. To one man he gave only male camels, and the man was displeased
instead of grateful, so the apostle said, 'Take him away, and silence
him.' So they gave him camels till he was satisfied. This is what the
apostle meant by 'silence him'.
One
of the companions complained that a man named Juayl had received no
gift, and the apostle of Allah replied, 'I swear by Him in whose hand my
life is that Juayl is better than men such as those to whom I have given
gifts. The gifts were given to make these men become good Muslims; but
in Juayl's belief I have perfect trust.'
When
the apostle had distributed his gifts to the Quraysh and to the Arab
tribes he had still not given anything to the Helpers. They felt
themselves aggrieved, and one man even said, 'The apostle of Allah has
reverted to his own tribe.' So the apostle summoned the Helpers to him
and said, 'What is this I hear about you? What has taken possession of
your minds? Did I not come to you when you strayed, and Allah showed you
the right direction? Were you not poor, and Allah enriched you? Were you
not enemies and Allah united you?' They replied, 'Yes. Allah and His
apostle were merciful to us.' He continued, 'That is no answer.’
They
said, 'What shall we answer to thee? To Allah and to His apostle belong
kindness and mercy.' He said again, 'If you choose, you may truthfully
say, "Thou hast come to us discredited, but we believed thee.
Helpless, but we helped thee! An outcast, but we sheltered thee!
Destitute and we provided for thee!" Are you grieved in your souls
because I have used the trifles of this world to gain the hearts of
people that may become good Muslims, whereas I have had faith in the
strength of your belief? Is it not enough for you to return home with
the apostle of Allah, or must you have sheep and camels, too? Had
it not been for the arrival of the Emigrants, I swear that I would have
become as a man of
Medina
. Allah have mercy on the Helpers, on their sons, and on the sons of
their sons.' Then the people began to weep and said, 'We are satisfied
with our share and our portion.' Afterwards the apostle went on the
lesser pilgrimage and then returned to
Medina
.
The conquest of
Mecca
and of the Hawazin began a new era in Islam, and the apostle ‑ now
guardian of the holy city ‑ had every claim to paramount power in
Arabia
. Religious domination was reinforced with social organization, by taxes
and tributes levied from unbelievers as well as from the Faithful.
Tribes came from as far away as the
Yemen
, the borders of
Syria
and
Persia
, to submit themselves to Muhammad. These submissions, coupled with a
succession of punitive expeditions, aroused some unease in the
Byzantine empire
, and Heraclius was rumoured to have commanded his own feudatory border
tribes to assemble to meet the challenge of the apostle.
24-
Byzantium
The
apostle of Allah remained in
Medina
for some months and then issued orders to the people to prepare for a
campaign against the
Byzantine empire
. It happened, however, to be a time of drought and of great heat, and
food was short; as the fruit crops were just ripening, the people were
reluctant to obey the call. Normally, the apostle would conceal the
preparations for an expedition and pretend that he was going in another
direction to the one he really had in view. In the case of Tabuk,
however, he made an exception because of the great distance, the
difficulty of provisioning an army, and the size of the enemy force.
Many
Hypocrites said to each other, 'Do not march out in the heat', because
they were averse to fighting in heat, doubted the truth of Islam, and
wanted to sow discontent with the prophet of Allah. Then Allah revealed
this verse. 'They said, "Do not march out in the heat." Say,
"The fire of hell will be hotter." Let them therefore laugh a
little now, for they will weep much hereafter.'
The apostle of Allah specially exhorted the rich
to furnish money and beasts of burden and they did so, hoping for the
eternal reward; Uthman was the most liberal of them, and the apostle
said, 'Allah! Be pleased with Uthman; for I am pleased with him'
Then
seven Muslims came weeping to the apostle because they were poor men and
could not afford beasts to carry them on the expedition. The apostle
could not help them and they went away with tears pouring down their
cheeks because they could not provision themselves. But Ibn Yamin met
two of the Weepers and, hearing their tale of woe, presented them with a
camel which they mounted, and with some dates; so they went forth with
the apostle of Allah.
Meanwhile,
several of the nomadic tribes asked to be exempted from the expedition,
offering excuses. But Allah did not accept their words as true. Some
good and true Muslims also hesitated and then remained behind when the
apostle and his army left
Medina
. The apostle had ordered Ali to remain behind and take care of his
family; but the Hypocrites reviled him, saying, 'He has been left behind
because the campaign would be too much for himV When Ali heard this he
snatched up his arms and hastened after the apostle. He caught up with
him at al‑Jurf, but the apostle sent him back and continued his
march.
In
Medina
, Abu Khaythama returned home one hot day and found his two wives in the
arbours of his garden. Each had sprinkled her arbour with water to cool
it for him, and had prepared a repast. He entered, and then stopped
short, looking at his two wives and at the preparations they had made
for him. Then he exclaimed, 'The apostle of Allah is in the sun, the
wind, and the heat, while Abu Khaythama is in cool shade with a meal
prepared and a fine woman, safe at home. This is not just! By Allah, I
shall not enter the tent of either of you, but join the apostle. Prepare
provisions for me!' They obeyed, and he went in pursuit of the apostle;
as he came up with him, the people said, 'Here is a rider following
along the road.' The apostle replied, 'Would that it were Abu Khaythama';
and it was.
At
al‑Hijr the people had no water, and complained to the apostle;
then Allah sent a cloud and it rained, so that the people slaked their
thirst, and gathered as much water as they needed. Farther on during the
journey the apostle's camel went astray and his companions went in
search of it. A Hypocrite complained, 'Muhammad alleges that he is a
prophet, and gives you news from heaven, but he knows not where his
camel is!' Then the apostle said, 'I know nothing except what Allah
tells me, and He has directed me to the camel; she is in the hollow in
that valley, entangled with her bridle in a tree. Go and bring it.'
Accordingly they went and brought the camel.
The
apostle of Allah continued his march and some men began to lag behind.
Each time, the apostle said, 'Leave him! If there be any good in him,
Allah will help him catch us up again; but if not, Allah has delivered
us of him.'
When
the apostle arrived in Tabuk, he was visited by John, the Christian
governor of Ayla, who made peace with the apostle and paid him tax. Then
the Jewish inhabitants of Jarba and Adhruh also came and paid him tax;
and the apostle gave them a document, and one to John in the following
terms. 'In the name of Allah, the merciful, the compassionate! This is a
guarantee from Allah and from Muhammad, the prophet and apostle of
Allah, to John and to the inhabitants of Aylal Their ships and their
caravans on sea and on land are under the protection of Allah and
Muhammad His prophet, as are those people of
Syria
, of
Yemen
, and of the sea‑coast who escort them. Whosoever commits a crime
against them will be unable to atone for it with property; but his life
will be at the mercy of all. The people of Ayla shall not be kept back
from water nor hindered from taking any direction in which they choose
to proceed, whether by land or by sea.'
Next
the apostle of Allah dispatched Khalid to the Christian, Ukaydir, at
Duma. It was a clear moonlit night and the cavalry, led by Khalid, took
Ukaydir wholly by surprise and brought him to the apostle of Allah, who
spared his life and, granted him peace on condition that he paid tax.
Then he set him free and he returned to Duma. The apostle remained about
ten days at Tabuk, and then returned to
Medina
. [There was no sign of Heraclius or the rumoured invading force.]
25 Tabuk
Before
the apostle had left for Tabuk he had been approached by some men who
said, 'We have built a mosque for the sick and the needy, for wet and
for cold nights, and we are anxious that thou shouldst come and pray
therein.' He had replied, 'I am on the verge of leaving, but when we
return, we shall, if Allah willeth, pay you a visit and pray in the
mosque.' When he alighted at Dhu‑Awan, an hour's ride from
Medina
, on his return, information was sent down to him from Allah about the
mosque. He called two of his followers and said, 'Go to this mosque,
whose people are unrighteous; destroy it; burn it.' So they departed in
haste and took a blazing date‑branch to the mosque. Although there
were people in it, they burned and destroyed it. This was the verse of
the Koran revealed concerning this matter: 'And those who erected a
mosque out of opposition and unbelief and to cause a schism among the
Believers ‑they will say "We desired nothing but good".
Allah knows they lie. Enter no such mosque.'
The
apostle of Allah was greatly displeased with those who had remained
behind and evaded the expedition. He dismissed the false excuses of the
Hypocrites, and dealt sternly with three staunch Believers who had
remained behind through procrastination, not ill will. He prohibited
the people from speaking to these three, who included the poet Kab, who
had told the truth and made no excuses for himself. 'The people avoided
us and changed their behaviour, so that I seemed to have become a
stranger even to myself, and the country seemed to me to differ from the
one I had known. We remained fifty days in this condition. My
companions remained secluded and sat in their houses, but I, being the
youngest and most active, used to go out and attend prayers and walk
about in the public bazaars. But nobody spoke to me. I went also to the
apostle and saluted him while he was sitting in his assembly after
prayers; I would ask myself whether he had moved his lips to return my
greeting. Then I prayed near him and kept glancing at him, and saw that
he watched me while I prayed, but looked away when I turned towards him.
'After this estrangement
had lasted some time, I became impatient and climbed over the
garden‑wall of my cousin, whom I loved more than any other man,
and saluted him. But he took no notice of me. Then I said, "Do you
not know that I love Allah and His apostle?" He remained silent,
and only replied after I had thrice repeated this question. "Allah
and His apostle know best!" he said. Now my eyes overflowed with
tears and I went to the bazaar and walked about. A Nabati trader from
Syria
came to me and handed me a letter from the king of Ghassan. It was
wrapped in a silken envelope, and said, "We hear your master has
slighted you; come instead and be welcomed by us." Then I said to
myself, "Here is a further ordeal, that an idolater should hanker
for my company!" And I burned the letter.
'We
remained thus for forty days, when a messenger came to me and said,
"The apostle orders you to separate from your wife!" I asked,
"Am I to divorce her?" but he said, "No! Only separate
from her, and do not approach her!" So I told my wife to go to her
family until Allah decided the matter according to His pleasure.
'In
this condition we remained for ten days more, so that fifty days had
elapsed from the time the apostle of Allah forbade the people to speak
to us. On the morning of the fiftieth day I made my prayers at the top
of the house as Allah decreed, and life was a burden to me. I had
pitched a tent on the hill near
Medina
and I was there when I heard a man shouting, "Here are glad
tidings!" Then I prostrated myself, because I knew that deliverance
was at hand. When the apostle had dismissed the people after morning
prayers he announced that Allah had pardoned us, so they ran to tell us.
Some ran to my two companions; one man came to me on horseback, but
another hastened up the mountain, and his voice reached me faster than
the horse. When he arrived with the good news I took off my garments and
gave them to him in gratitude. But by Allah! I had no others there that
day and was compelled to borrow garments to cover myself!
'I
went to pay my respects to the apostle and was met by many who
congratulated me on the pardon, saying, "May the forgiveness of
Allah bring you fortune!" At last I reached the mosque, where the
apostle was sitting among the people. Talha rose, saluted me, and
congratulated me; but no other Emigrant did so. (I never forgot this
kindly act of Talha.) When I saluted the apostle his face was lit up
with joy, and he said, "Rejoice at thy happiest day since thou wast
begotten!" I asked, "Is the forgiveness from thee or from
Allah?" and he replied, "It is from Allah!" Whenever the
apostle gave good news his face would glow like the moon. I sat in front
of him and said, "One sign of my penitence shall be that I shall
divest myself of all my goods for the sake of Allah and His
prophet!" but the apostle replied, "Keep some of thy property
for thyself; it will be better for thee." I said, "Then I
shall retain only the share I received in Khaybar. Allah has forgiven me
because I invented no excuses; therefore another sign of my penitence
will be that I shall never speak anything but the truth as long as I
live." Since I uttered those words to the apostle I know of no man
whom Allah can have found more truthful than myself. From that day to
this I have uttered no untruth, and I pray that Allah will always find
me so.'
The apostle returned from Tabuk in the month of
Ramadan. In the same month he received a deputation from the Hawazin who
had been besieged in the fortress of al‑Taif. After their
discussion, they parted, and the apostle was followed by one of the
deputation, a leader named Urwa, who then made profession of Islam. He
asked that he be permitted to return to his tribe, who remained
idolaters, but the apostle replied, 'They will kill thee’ Urwa said,
'I am dearer to them than their firstborn sons', and indeed he was much
beloved by them. So he went back to al‑Taif to invite his people
to Islam, hoping they would not resist him, but when he made his
appearance in the upper part of one of his houses and invited them to
Islam, they shot arrows at him from every direction and one struck and
killed him. Thus he became a martyr.
After
this, the people at al‑Taif deliberated several months, and
arrived at the conclusion that they were not strong enough to fight all
the Arabs around them who had paid homage to Muhammad and made
profession of Islam. Then they determined to send another deputation to
the apostle of Allah and proposed that Abdu Yalil should go; but he
refused, because he feared that when he returned he might be treated as
Urwa had been. As he refused to go alone, they decided to send with him
six men representing the several tribes.
When
the emissaries came to the apostle he had a tent pitched for them near
his mosque, and Khalid acted as intermediary until agreement was
concluded. They would not eat of any food sent them by the apostle
unless Khalid had tasted it first, until the time when they professed
Islam and settled their treaty. One of the emissaries' stipulations was
that the apostle should permit them to keep their goddess al‑Lat
for three years; but he refused. Then they insisted upon one year, but
he again refused. Then they pleaded for a single month, but he refused.
They said that they merely wished to spare the feelings of the
weaklings, the women and the children among them, and that they were
nervous of frightening their people by destroying the goddess before
Islam was fully established in al‑Taif. But the apostle still
refused, and insisted on sending Abu Sufyan and al‑Mughira back
with them to destroy her.
The
Hawazin further asked to be excused from prayers and from destroying
their idols with their own hands. The apostle replied, 'We shall excuse
you from breaking your idols with your own hands. But as for prayers!
What is there good in a religion which has no prayers!' They said, 'We
shall comply even though it be a humiliation!'
When
they had made their profession of Islam the apostle appointed over them
Uthman b. Abul‑As, the youngest of them in years, but the most
diligent in learning the religious doctrines of Islam. He said to Uthman,
'Be brief in prayers, and estimate the people according to the weakest
of them; among them thou wilt find old ones, and young ones, weak ones
and needy ones.'
The
document which the apostle gave to the deputation permitted certain
privileges to the inhabitants of al‑Taif. 'In the name of Allah,
the merciful, the compassionate. From Muhammad the prophet, who is the
apostle of Allah, to the Believers!
The forests of Wajj and the game therein shall
not be injured, and any man found disobeying this shall be scourged and
stripped of his garments. Any who transgress this command must be
brought to the prophet, Muhammad, for this is a matter which concerns
him who is the apostle of Allah.'
The apostle spent the remainder of the month of
Ramadan and the next two months in
Medina
, and then dispatched Abu Bakr in command of the pilgrimage in the ninth
year of the Hijra. The idolaters also made their customary pilgrimage.
When
Abu Bakr and the Muslims who accompanied him had departed the Declaration
of immunity was sent down by Allah. It proclaimed that Allah and His
apostle, after this pilgrimage, were absolved from observance of all
treaties which they had previously made with idolaters. 'Therefore if
you [the idolaters] repent, this will be better for you; but if you turn
your backs, know that you cannot weaken Allah! And warn those who
disbelieve that there will be grievous punishment. An exception shall be
made for those idolaters who have not infringed treaties, and who have
given no one aid against My prophet. Their treaties shall be observed
until their terms expire, because Allah loves those who are pious.
'When four months have
elapsed, the instruction to Muhammad continued, 'kill the idolaters
wherever you find them; make them prisoners, surround them, and besiege
them wherever they may be. But if they repent and pray according to the
command of Allah and pay the tax, then set them free, because Allah is
forgiving and merciful.'
When
the Declaration of immunity was revealed to the apostle, he sent
for Ali and said to him, 'Go with this account of the first part of the Declaration
of immunity, and proclaim it among the people on the day of
sacrifice when the pilgrims assemble in Mina. Say "No infidel can
enter paradise, and after this year no idolater will be allowed to make
the pilgrimage, or walk around the Kaba naked; he who has a treaty with
the apostle of Allah may depend on it, until its appointed span!" '
Ali mounted the apostle's
she‑camel and pursued Abu Bakr and went with him to
Mecca
. When the day of sacrifice arrived Ali rose and made his proclamation
to the people as he had been commanded. Then he gave four months' grace
from the day of this proclamation, so that every tribe might return home
in security.
Allah
said, 'Fear no idolaters; rather fear Allah. Attack them! Allah desires
to punish them by your hand, to put them to shame and give you the
victory over them.
.'The
Quraysh have said, "We are the people of the sacred city, providers
for the pilgrims, and builders of the Kaba; and there is none more
excellent than we." But only he shall visit the mosque of Allah who
believes in Allah and in the day of judgement. . . . Do you imagine
that giving drink to pilgrims and visiting the holy mosque is the same
as believing in Allah, and fighting for the word of Allah? . . . The
idolaters are impure; let them not approach the holy mosque after this
year.'
Then
Allah promised to recompense the Believers for the trade they would lose
through pursuing this course, and assigned to them tax and tributes
levied from the Jews and Christians. He spoke of the wickedness and
superstition of those who lived according to the Old and New Testaments,
saying, 'Priests and monks devour the property of men, in vanity, and
obstruct the way of'Allah. For those who lay up gold and silver, and
spend it not in furthering the word of Allah, there will be grievous
chastisement.' Then he said, 'The number of months is twelve in the
book of Allah since the day He created the heavens and the earth, and
four of these months are sacred [war is forbidden in them]. This is the
true religion. Do not therefore act unrighteously in them as the
idolaters have done. . . .'
Then
he spoke of the distribution of property. 'Alms are due to the poor, and
the needy; to those whose hearts are to be won over; for the redemption
of slaves, and the freeing of debtors; to further the word of Allah, and
to give to travellers. This is an ordinance from Allah, and Allah knows
all and is wise. ''
'0,
prophet! Wage war against the
Unbelievers and against the Hypocrites who utter belief but have none,
and be severe unto them, for their abode shall be in hell. The apostle
and those who
truly believe went to the holy war [the Tabuk
expedition] with their wealth and their lives; they will enjoy good
fortune and be happy. . . .' The first of the Emigrants and the first of
the Helpers have special favour in the sight of Allah and their reward
in paradise will be great.
When the apostle of Allah had conquered
Mecca
and completed the campaign of Tabuk, and when al‑Taif had
surrendered and made profession of Islam, deputations of Arabs arrived
from all directions. This, the ninth year after the Hijra, was called
the Year of Deputations. The Arabs had delayed professing Islam until
they saw how the affair between the apostle and the Quraysh would end,
because the Quraysh were the leaders of men, the people of the Kaba and
of the sacred territory, and they were acknowledged as the descendants
of Ishmael, son of Abraham. Not one chief of the Arabs denied this. But
when
Mecca
was conquered and the Quraysh submitted to Islam, the Arabs knew that
they themselves were not strong enough to wage war or to show enmity to
the apostle of Allah. So they entered into the religion of Allah in
droves, arriving from all directions.
When
a deputation from the Banu Tamim arrived they entered the mosque and
shouted to the apostle to come out from his private apartments. This
shouting displeased the apostle, but he went out to them, and they said,
'We come to contend with you for glory! Allow our poet and orator to
speak’ Then Utarid, their orator, rose and declaimed the virtue and
greatness of the Banu Tamim: 'Who is like us among men? Are we not
chiefs of the human race and most excellent of all?' and more to similar
effect.
He
sat down, and the apostle called on his own orator, Thabit, to reply to
the harangue. Thabit rose and extolled the 'most noble descent, most
high dignity, and most favoured reputation of the Muslims'.
Then
the poet of the Banu Tamim rose in his turn to enter the contest of
words, and when he had done the apostle sent for Hassan. Hassan waxed
long and eloquent, and when he fell silent at last, one of the Banu
Tamim exclaimed, 'This poet is more poetical than ours, and this orator
more eloquent than ours; and their voices are clearer than ours.' So
they made profession of Islam, and the apostle gave them valuable gifts.
After
many such tribes had come to Islam and others had given submission to
the apostle, he sent out a number of his followers to instruct people in
Islam and collect the public taxes. He placed Muadh over these
collectors. When he sent Muadh out he gave him instructions and the
following injunction, 'Be gentle and not harsh; announce the good
tidings; give no offence. When thou arrivest among people who are of the
scripture [Christians and Jews], they will ask thee, "What is the
key to paradise?" Say, "The testimony that there is no God but
Allah alone, and he has no associate." ' Accordingly, Muadh
departed, and when he reached
Yemen
he acted as the apostle had ordered him.
Certain
tribes still remained who had not accepted Islam, so the apostle sent
Khalid to the Banu al‑Harith in Najran, with orders to give them
three days to embrace Islam, and thereafter to subdue them if they
refused. Khalid sent out mounted parties in every direction to invite
the people to Islam, shouting, 'Make profession of Islam and you will be
saved!' The people responded to the call and entered the religion, and
Khalid remained among them to teach them the doctrines of Islam, the
Koran, and the ordinances of the apostle of Allah. After a time, Khalid
brought a deputation of the Banu al‑Harith to meet the apostle at
Medina
.
When
they arrived the apostle at first asked, 'Who are these people? They
look like men from
India
’ Then they stood before him and saluted him, and said, 'We testify
that thou art apostle of Allah, and that there is no God but Allah!'
Then they returned to their people and the apostle appointed Qays to be
their leader, and sent Amr to instruct them in Islam and teach them the
doctrine and collect alms from them. Amr was given detailed orders
concerning what the al‑Harith should be taught.
'He
[Amr] is to prohibit any man from praying in a small garment unless it
be such that both its extremities may be wrapped round the shoulders;
nor may anyone perform his prayers in such a garment as will expose his
private parts. He must also prohibit men from plaiting their hair and
allowing it to hang down their backs. He must prohibit the people, in
case of a quarrel, from calling out their tribes to help them ‑
they should invoke the aid of Allah alone; and those who fail to call
upon Allah, but call instead upon their tribes, must be visited by the
sword until they call upon Allah. He is to command the people to perform
religious ablution before their prayers, by washing their faces, and
their hands as far as the elbows and their feet as far as the ankles;
they must likewise wipe their heads as Allah has ordained. He commands
that the prayers be held at their due seasons, with bowing and
prostration, when the morning dawns and at noon when the sun begins to
decline; the afternoon prayers are to be held when the sun declines, and
the evening when the night sets in, but they are not to be delayed until
the stars begin to appear; and the night devotions are to be held during
the first part of the night. The presence of the people at Friday
prayers, when the call goes forth, is incumbent upon them as is the
ablution beforehand.'
The
apostle gave many other instructions. And he commanded Amr to take
one‑fifth of any booty for Allah, as well as the legal alms from
the land. These consisted of 'one‑tenth from land irrigated by
springs and rains; one‑twentieth from land irrigated with buckets.
For every ten camels, two sheep; for every twenty camels, four sheep;
for every forty horned cattle, one cow; for every thirty, one male or
female calf entering its third year; for every forty sheep, a young one
old enough to graze alone. This is an ordinance from Allah ordained to
Believers as the required alms; but he who is more generous will win
merit. Any Jew or Christian who persists in his religion is not to be
turned away from it, but must pay one golden dinar or its equivalent in
cloth. He who pays this will be protected by Allah, and His prophet; he
who refuses is an enemy of Allah and His prophet, as well as of all
Believers. The grace of Allah be upon Muhammad; and salutation to him
with the mercy and blessings of Allah.'
The
apostle of Allah sent his Amirs [representatives] and officials
to collect the poor‑tax of all the districts subject to
Islam. A man named Musaylima, who claimed he, too, was an apostle of
Allah, wrote to the apostle the following letter. 'From Musaylima, the
apostle of Allah, to Muhammad the apostle of Allah! Greetings! I am thy
partner in authority. One half of the earth will belong to us and the
other half to the Quraysh, but the Quraysh people are sinners.' With
this letter he sent two messengers, and the apostle of Allah, having
read the letter, asked them, 'What do you say to this?' They replied,
'We say what he says.' The apostle exclaimed, 'If it were not that
messengers are guaranteed their safety, I would strike off your heads.'
Then he wrote these lines, 'In the name of Allah, the merciful, the
compassionate! From Muhammad the apostle of Allah to Musaylima the liar!
Salutations to him who follows the true guidance! The earth belongs to
Allah, and He bestoweth it upon those of His servants whom He will. The
pious will meet with a happy destiny.'
In the next year, the tenth of the Hijra [AD
630], the apostle made preparations for the pilgrimage, and ordered his
people to do the same. He took with him sacrificial animals, and ordered
that all the people (except those who had brought sacrificial animals)
should, after visiting the holy places, divest themselves of their
pilgrim habit. Then he entered
Mecca
, and all the people who had brought no sacrificial animals divested
themselves of their pilgrim habit.
The
apostle of Allah had sent Ali to Najran, and Ali returned to
Mecca
to rejoin the apostle during the pilgrimage. He gave him a report on the
journey to Najran and the apostle then said, 'Go and walk round the Kaba;
then divest thyself of the state of pilgrim as thy friends have done.'
But Ali said, 'When I assumed the state of a pilgrim, I said, "I
dedicate myself to Thee, Allah, as Thy apostle Muhammad has done."
' Ali had no sacrificial animals, so the apostle of Allah gave him part
of his own. And the apostle of Allah slaughtered the sacrifices in both
their names.
During
this pilgrimage the apostle of Allah clarified sacred usages and
ceremonies to the people He preached a sermon, in which he explained
many things. After giving praise to Allah, he said, 'Listen to my words,
because I do not know whether I shall meet you again here after this
occasion. Your blood and your property shall be sacred to you until you
meet your Lord. You will meet your Lord and He will examine you about
your deeds. Whoever has charge of another person's wealth, let him
return it to the man who has deposited it. Usury is forbidden, but
capital belongs to you. Do no wrong, and none shall wrong you. Time has
come full circle since the day when Allah created the heavens and the
earth. The number of months with Allah amounts to twelve months, four of
which are sacred.
'You
have rights over your wives, and they have rights over you. Your rights
over them are that they shall allow no one of whom you disapprove to
enter your bed, nor must they commit open fornication; if they commit
it, Allah permits you to exclude them from your beds, and to beat them
(with moderation). Treat your wives well, because they cannot fend for
themselves; you have taken them on trust from Allah, and they are yours
by the grace of Allah.
'Ponder
my words. I have left with you knowledge which, if you follow it, will
preserve you for ever from going astray; the words of Allah and the
injunctions of His apostle. Know that every Muslim is brother to every
Muslim. No man may take anything from his brother save what is freely
given.'
Thus
the apostle terminated his pilgrimage. This was the pilgrimage of
instruction and valediction, because after it the apostle of Allah went
no more on pilgrimage. It was 'The Farewell Pilgrimage'.
When the apostle returned
to
Medina
he dispatched envoys from among his companions to various rulers, and
sent letters in which he invited them to accept Islam. He said to his
companions, 'Do not resist me as his disciples resisted Jesus.' His
companions asked, 'How did the disciples resist?' He said, 'He sent them
as I send you; but those whom he sent to a place near by were pleased,
and obeyed, whereas those whom he sent to a distance, went unwillingly
and considered it a hardship. Jesus complained to Allah; and everyone
who had considered it a hardship was the next morning able to speak the
language of the nation to whom he had been sent.'
The
apostle of Allah sent envoys to the Caesar of Rome, the king of Persia,
the Negus of Abyssinia, the Byzantine emperor, the kings of Alexandria,
of Uman, and of Bahrein and to many others.
26-
Last Illness
While the people were thus engaged the last
illness of the apostle began in which Allah took him to Himself, to His
mercy and grace. The malady began thus. He had given orders for an expedition
to set out to the borders of
Syria
; that night, his manumitted slave recorded, 'The apostle of Allah
awoke me in the middle of the night and said, "I am commanded to
implore pardon for the dead in the cemetery!" So I went there with
him, and when he stood among the dead, he exclaimed, "Peace be upon
you, tenants of these graves! May the state you are in be better than
that which lies in store for mankind! Rebellions are setting in like
waves of darkness. They will follow each other, and the last will be
worse than the first". Then he turned to me and said, "I have
been offered a choice between the treasures of this world and
everlasting life, or paradise and the meeting with my Lord. I have
chosen the second." I replied, "Thou art my father and my
mother; take the treasures of this world now and paradise
afterwards." But he continued, "No. I have chosen to meet my
Lord." After that, the malady of the apostle began, and Allah took
him away.'
According
to Aisha, 'The apostle of Allah returned from the cemetery to me. I had
a headache and complained "My head! My head! " And he replied,
"No, Aisha. My head! " Then he said, "Wouldst thou be
distressed to die before me, that I might stand over thee and enshroud
thee, and pray for thee, and bury thee?" But I exclaimed, "If
that were to happen, I can see thee no sooner bury me than return to my
house, to celebrate thy wedding with some other woman!" The apostle
smiled, and, though the malady began to develop, he continued to make
the round of his wives until, in the house of Maymuna, it overcame him.
Then he called his wives to ask their permission to spend in my house
such time as he was ill, and permission was granted to him.'
The
total‑number of the apostle's wives was thirteen. After
Khadiia' and Aisha, he married Sauda; then Zaynab, who had been the wife
of his freed slave, Zayd, who divorced her that she might wed the
apostle; and Umm. Salama, to whom he gave as dowry a mattress stuffed
with palm fibres, a cup, a dish, and a handmill. Then he wed Hafsa; and
Umm Habiba, as a compliment to Abyssinia; and Juwayriya from among the
captives of the Banu Mustaliq; and Saflya from among the captives at
Khaybar; and Maymuna, and Zaynab b. Khuzayma, who was called 'Mother of
the Poor' because of her compassion and kindliness.
With
these eleven wives the apostle consummated his marriages. Two died
before him, namely Khadija and Zaynab, but nine survived him. With two
others he did not consummate marriage: with Asma, who had the white
spots of leprosy and whom he sent back to her family; and with Amra, who
had lately been an Unbeliever and who fled to Allah for refuge from the
apostle of Allah. He said, 'Who flees for refuge to Allah is well
protected', and sent her back to her family.
At
the time of his illness, Aisha said, 'The apostle of Allah came walking
between two men, with his head wrapped in a cloth, and he walked slowly
till he entered my house. Then the apostle fainted, and his malady
became worse. He said, "Pour seven leather bags of cold water from
the well over me, that I may go out to the people, and give them my last
injunctions." So we seated him in a tub and poured water over him
till he said, "Enough! Enough!"'
The
apostle went out with his head bandaged, and sat upon the pulpit. The
first words he spoke were words of prayer for those who had fallen at
Uhud; for them he implored pardon and again prayed at some length. Then
he said, 'Allah has given one of His servants the choice between this
world and the next, and he has chosen to be with Allah.' Abu Bakr
understood these words and knew that he meant himself; so he wept,
saying, 'Nay. We shall give our own lives and those of our children for
thine.' But the apostle said,'Look to these doors which open into
the mosque, and close them all save those which lead to the house of Abu
Bakr, because I have known no better companion than he.'
While
the apostle was sick the people delayed the expedition he had commanded,
but he said, 'Carry out the expedition to the Syrian border', and the
people hastened their preparations.
He
commanded the Emigrants to treat the Helpers well, saying, 'Other groups
increase, but the Helpers must remain the same in number and cannot
increase. They were my asylum and gave me shelter. Be kind to those who
are kind to them, and punish those who injure them.' Then the apostle
entered his house, and the sickness overcame him so that he fainted.
The
wives of the apostle gathered to consult, and all agreed that they ought
to pour medicine into his mouth. The uncle of the apostle, al‑Abbas,
offered to pour it himself. When the apostle recovered from his swoon he
asked, 'Who has done this to me?' and they replied, 'Thy uncle’ He
said, 'This is a medicine brought by women from
Abyssinia
. Why have you done this?' Then his uncle replied, 'We feared thy having
pleurisy', and the apostle said, 'That is a disease with which Allah the
most high and glorious has not afflicted me! Let no one remain in this
house without swallowing some of this medicine, except my uncle.'
Accordingly even Maymuna swallowed some ‑ although she was fasting
at the time ‑ because the apostle swore that all must taste it as
a punishment for what they had done to him.
According
to Aisha, 'When the apostle had become very ill, he said, "Order
Abu Bakr to pray with the people!" And I replied, "Abu Bakr is
a tender‑hearted man with a weak voice, and he weeps much when he
reads the Koran." But he said, "Order him to pray with the
people!" I objected only to spare my father, because I knew the
people would never wish another man to stand in the prophet's place, and
would blame my father for any evil which might occur.'
On
the Monday on which Allah took His apostle he went out to the people at
their morning prayers. The curtain at Aisha's door was lifted, the door
opened, and the apostle of Allah came out and stood in the doorway. When
the Muslims caught sight of him they were almost diverted from their
prayers through joy at his presence. He signalled them to continue their
devotions, and smiled with pleasure as he watched them pray; never had
the watchers seen him wear a more beautiful expression than then. After
the prayers he addressed the people in a voice loud enough to be heard
outside the door of the mosque. He said, 'The fire is kindled, and
confusion descends like darkness. But ye have nothing to reproach me
for. I have allowed only what the Koran allows, and have forbidden what
the Koran forbids.' When the apostle had finished speaking Abu Bakr
said, 'Apostle of Allah! I see thou hast risen this morning, by the
favour and grace of Allah, in the state of health we love to see thee
in!' Then the people went to their homes, satisfied that the apostle was
recovered from his illness.
But
al‑Abbas had said that morning to Ali, 'I swear by Allah that I
have seen death in the face of the apostle.' And he was not mistaken.
Aisha
said, 'When the apostle of Allah returned that morning from the mosque
he rested on my lap.' Usama, in command of the Syrian expedition, had
camped outside
Medina
, but when he heard the apostle was dangerously ill he went down to
Medina
with his army. 'When I went in to the apostle he had already lost the
power of speech and said nothing; but he lifted his hands to heaven and
then again lowered them, and I knew he was praying for me.'
According
to Aisha, 'a man of the family of Abu Bakr happened to enter with a
fresh toothpick in his hand and the apostle of Allah looked at it in
such a way that I knew he wanted it. I asked, "Shall I give thee
this toothpick?" and he replied, "Yes". So I took it and
chewed it until it became soft and gave it to him. He rubbed it against
his teeth, more sharply than I had ever seen him do, and then he laid it
down again. Then I found that he was becoming heavy in my lap, and I
looked at him and saw that his eyes were turned upwards; and he said,
"Nay! Rather the companion in paradise!" I had often heard the
apostle say, "Allah takes no prophet away without giving him a
choice", and when he died his last words were, "Rather the
companion in paradise". Then I thought, "He has not chosen our
companionship". And I said to him, "The choice was thine,
and I swear by Him who sent thee that thou hast chosen what is
right." Then the apostle of Allah died, at noon on Monday.
'The
apostle died on my breast, despite my foolishness and youth. I
placed his head on a cushion, and then I rose and began to strike my
face and beat my breast with the other women.'
Now Umar rose before the people and said, 'Some
Hypocrites say that the apostle of Allah is dead! He has not died, but
has departed to his Lord, just as Moses left his people for forty days,
and returned to them when it was rumoured he was dead. By Allah! The
apostle will return just as Moses did, and the hands and feet of the men
who have said that the apostle is dead will be cut off!'
Abu
Bakr arrived, and alighted at the door of the mosque while Umar was
talking thus. But he took no notice, and went in to see the body of the
apostle in the house of Aisha. It was laid out and shrouded with a
striped mantle. This he removed from the face of the apostle and,
kissing it, said, 'Thou art to me as my father and mother! Thou hast
tasted the death which Allah decreed for thee; but after it, no death
will ever come to thee again.' Then he covered the face of the apostle
and went out. He went to Umar and said, 'Gently! Listen to me’ but
Umar paid no attention, and continued his speech.
When Abu Bakr saw that he would not listen he
himself turned to the people, who left Umar and came to him. Then he
gave praise to Allah and said, 'Let all who adored Muhammad know that
Muhammad is dead, and let all who adore Allah know that Allah is eternal
and never dies.' Then he recited the verse 'Muhammad is but an apostle.
Other apostles have passed away before him. If he die or be slain will
ye turn back? He who turns back does no injury to Allah; and Allah will
surely reward those who give thanks.' And it was as if the people had
never heard this verse until Abu Bakr recited it then.
Umar
told thereafter how'When Allah had caused His apostle to die, the
Helpers disagreed with the Emigrants about what should next be done, and
they gathered to discuss it. I said to Abu Baky, "Let us go to our
brethren the Helpers", and we went, and sat down with them. Then
their orator pronounced the Confession of Faith, uttered due praise to
Allah, and said, "We are the Helpers of Allah and the army of
Islam, and you Emigrants are a part of us." And they intended
thus to take dominion away from us. When he ceased to speak I prepared
to reply and had already thought out an oration which pleased me when
Abu Bakr said, "Gently, Umar!" And I was unwilling to anger
him.
'Then
he spoke and he was more learned and dignified than I. There was not a
sentiment I had intended to use which he did not express in the same or
even in a better way than I could have done. He said, "Whatever
good qualities you claim, you are possessed of! But the Arabs concede
supremacy only to us of the Quraysh, who are the centre of the Arab
world by heredity and position. I propose to you one of these two men as
leader and you may pay homage to whichever you prefer!" Then he
took hold of my hand and that of Abu Ubayda. This was the only sentiment
in his speech which displeased me, for I would rather have had my head
struck off than govern over a man so great as Abu Bakr.
'Then
a Helper rose and said, "Let there be one Amir selected from the
Helpers, and one from the Emigrants", and many voices were raised
and there was confusion. So, fearing dissension, I cried to Abu Bakr to
stretch out his own hand and I paid him homage. Then all paid him
homage.'
Finally,
Abu Bakr spoke again. He said, 'I am appointed to govern you, although I
am not the best of you. If I act well you must aid me, and if I act
unjustly you must correct me. Truth is faithfulness and falsehood is
treachery! No nation has failed to fight for Allah but Allah has
punished it with abasement; nor has wickedness become widespread without
Allah sending calamity. Obey me as long as I obey Allah and His
prophet! But should I rebel against Allah and His prophet you will owe
me no obedience! Rise to your prayers and may Allah have mercy on you’
On Tuesday, after allegiance had been paid to
Abu Bakr, the people made preparations for the burial of the apostle of
Allah. Ali, al‑Abbas and his sons al‑Fadl and Qutham, with
Usama and Shuqran, took it upon themselves to wash the corpse. Ali
leaned the body against his own breast, while al‑Abbas, al‑Fadl
and Qutham helped to turn him. Usama and Shuqran poured the water whilst
Ali washed him. Ali said, 'Thou art my father and my mother! How
beautiful thou art, alive and dead.' And there was nothing distasteful,
as with other dead bodies, in the corpse of the apostle of Allah.
Aisha
said, 'When they were about to wash the apostle, they disagreed and
said, "By Allah! We do not know whether we ought to strip the
apostle of Allah as corpses are usually stripped, or whether to wash him
in his clothes". As they were discussing, Allah sent sleep upon
them so that there was not a man among them who did not slumber; and
they heard a voice which they knew not, saying, "
Wash
the prophet in his garments! " They rose and washed the apostle of
Allah in his shirt, pouring water over it, and rubbing it with their
hands, so that the shirt was between their hands and the body.' After
the washing had been completed, the apostle was wrapped in three
garments.
When
the body had been arranged and laid out on the couch in his own house
the Muslims knew not where to bury him. One said, 'Let us bury him in
his mosque.' Another said, 'Let us bury him with his companions.' And
Abu Bakr said, 'I have heard the apostle of Allah say that every prophet
should be buried on the spot where he died.' Accordingly the bed on
which the apostle had been resting was lifted up, and the grave dug
under it. But there was doubt about the form of the grave.
Abu
Ubayda was accustomed to dig graves plainly, according to the fashion of
Mecca
, but Abu Talha, the grave‑digger of
Medina
, dug them in a vaulted shape. Al‑Abbas therefore called two men,
and said to one of them, 'Go to Abu Ubayda', and to the other, 'Go to
Abu Talha.' He added, 'Allah, choose for Thy apostle.' Abu Ubayda could
not be found, but the man who went to Abu Talha found him and brought
him; so he dug the grave of the apostle in the
Medina
fashion.
Then
the men entered in throngs to pray for him. When they had completed
their devotions the women came in; and when they had finished the
children came. Yet no one had directed the people to visit the corpse of
the apostle of Allah.
The
apostle of Allah was buried in the middle of the night on Wednesday.
Aisha said, 'We knew nothing about the burial of the apostle until we
heard the sound of pickaxes in the middle of the night.' Those who went
down into the grave of the apostle were the same men as washed the
corpse. When the apostle had been laid in the grave and it was to be
built up, his freed slave, Shuqran, took a wrapper which the apostle had
used often and worn out; and, burying it in the grave, he said, 'No one
shall wear it after thee.' It remained interred with the apostle.
According to Aisha, the apostle had said when he
was dying, 'The curse of Allah is on a nation which makes the graves of
its prophets into places of worship', but he knew that his own
followers would do this. And it was true, for when the apostle died a
great calamity befell the Muslims. Aisha, who survived the apostle
forty‑seven years, recorded, 'When the apostle of Allah died many
Arabs relapsed into idolatry; Judaism and Christianity rose again, and
Hypocrisy became common, so that the Muslims seemed like a flock of
sheep on a wintry night, because of the loss of their prophet. Then
Allah roused them again under Abu Bakr.'
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