(From Chapter2,
"The Wrath of Allah" by Robert E. Burns)
One day about 570
CE in Mecca, Abd Allah ibn Abdul-Muttalib went to the house of another wife he had
besides Amina bint Wahb. However he was still dirty from his work and she did
not accept his advances. He left her, washed himself and then went out to go to
Amina. The other wife saw him and called out to him but he went on to Amina and
possessed her. She then conceived Muhammad. Then he went to the other woman and
asked her if she were willing; she said "No, When you passed by me there
was a white light between your eyes. I called to you and you rejected me. You
went to Amina and she has taken away the light."1
Abdallah died at
Yathrib (later to be called Medina, "the City") while on a caravan
trip to Syria, but Amina had a vision and was consoled by it. She was conscious
of a light within her and one day it shone forth so intensely that it
illuminated even the castles of Bostra in Syria.2 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 evil of every envious person."
The babe was born
on a Monday, on the thirteenth day of Rabi in the year of the Elephant
(570CE?)3
It was a custom of
the Meccans to employ a wet nurse from the nomads - for one thing it was
healthier out of town. It was a year of drought and the wet nurse Halimah, her
she-ass, old she-camel and sheep were all near dry; no sooner had Halimah put
Muhammad to her breasts when she overflowed with milk for him. He drank his
fill and likewise his milk-brother. The camel's udders were also full and on
returning to her camp she found that her sheep were filled with milk.
One day, while
Muhammad was with his milk-brother, two men in white robes appeared bearing a
golden plate 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 … "weigh him against one
thousand of his people." This he did and I was found more heavy …"4
Halimah could see
no sign of blood or any wound on the lad nor could she budge the two boys in
their story so, in alarm, returned Muhammad to his mother. Amina died three
years later while at Medina, and was buried there.
* * *
When he was about
nine years old, Muhammad accompanied his uncle, Abu Talib, to Syria. There at
Busra was a Christian monk named Bahira. From the distance, he had seen the
Meccan caravan approaching, with a cloud following over it. Could it be that
the expected Prophet had at last come, and was among these travellers? … One
glance at the boy's face tallied with what he had read in his ancient
manuscripts. He conversed with the lad and asked him to remove his cloak. There
on Muhammad's back between his shoulders was the white oval mark designating
his prophethood. "Take thy nephew back to his country", Bahira told
Abu Talib, "and guard him against the Jews, for if they find out about him
they will contrive evil against him. Great things are in store for this
brother's son of thine."5
* * *
Little more is
known about the Prophet's life until he was twenty-five years old. He often
took caravans of goods across the desert and had come to be called al-Amin, the
Honest, the Trustworthy, the Reliable. Once a business associate asked Muhammad
to wait for him at a street corner, however he forgot the appointment. For
three days and three nights Muhammad stood waiting for him until something
jogged his associate's memory.
* * *
A rich widow,
Khadijah sent Muhammad together with a male slave Maysara on a trip to Syria.
There another monk, Nestor informed Maysara of Muhammad's mission and, indeed,
the slave lad saw two angels shading the apostle from the sun. These facts he
told Khadijah and they made her more determined to marry Muhammad even though
she was his employer and fifteen years his senior. He never married another
wife until she died.
Muhammad was in the
habit of retiring to a cave in Mount Hira, not far from Mecca. Many was the
time, after leaving the town, that he clearly heard the words "Peace be on
thee, O apostle of Allah.", but looking around all he could see were trees
and stones.
* * *
On the 26-27th of
Ramadan when he was in his fortieth year and alone in the cave there came to
him an angel in the form of a man. Gabriel recited what was to become the first
five verses of the Qur'an of sura 96. 6 Muhammad recited these words after the
angel. He later said, "It was as though the words were written on my
heart."7 Khadijah helped calm her husband and went to tell her cousin,
Waraqah. He reassured her that Muhammad had been called on as a Messenger but
warned him, "thou wilt be accused of falsehood, thou wilt be persecuted,
exiled and attacked."8
Muhammad continued
to receive Revelations from Allah, although spasmodically at first. Some were
spoken to him in the same manner as the first, but others came to him like the
reverberations of a bell and these were very hard on him.
The Prophet spoke
of the Revelations to those who were closest to him but asked them not to
divulge his secret for the time being.
One day while he
was on the hillside, Gabriel came to him, struck the ground with his heel
causing a spring to gush forth. Then he performed the ritual ablution to show
the Prophet how to purify himself for worship. Then Gabriel showed him how to
pray and what to say. The Prophet went home and taught Khadijah and his
followers all that he had learnt. The new religion was established.
* * *
One convert was the
young Abd Allah ibn Masud who was herding sheep. The prophet asked if they
could have a drink of milk. The lad replied that the sheep were not his own to
give of their milk. Thereupon the Prophet said:"Hast thou a young ewe that
no ram hath ever leaped?" Having had one brought to him, the Prophet her
udder and prayed, whereupon the udder filled with milk. When all had had their
fill, Muhammad said to the udder:'Dry" and it dried.
* * *
Some time later,
Muhammad was told to warn his family. Most of the clan of Hashim, about forty
men in all, came to a meal. Ali, the Prophet's young cousin, had prepared the
leg of mutton and a cup of milk. The Prophet took a piece of meat, bit on it
and put it back on the plate. The forty men ate their fill and drank their fill
and still there was more. However even this miracle did not convince the
non-believers.
* * *
The early group of
Muslims started to be more open, even insulting the Meccan gods; some found it
necessary to pray in private, however. One day, overcome by ridicule, Sa'd of
Zuhrah struck one of the disbelievers with the jawbone of a camel and caused
blood to flow. This was not the last time that Islam shed blood. The Ummah
(Muslim community) decided to refrain from violence and this patient endurance
was verified by the next Revelation: "Deal calmly with the disbelievers,
give them respite for a while.: (86:17)
* * *
One of the first
non-Meccans to be converted was Abu Dharr, of the Bani Ghifar, and returning to
his tribe, he converted many of them. Moreover, he was a highwayman and, having
robbed a caravan, he would offer to return the goods to those who accepted
Islam.
* * *
The Quraysh, the
main tribe of Mecca, had a profitable business catering for pilgrims to the
Ka'bah which, at that time, included three hundred and sixty pagan idols. They,
the Quraysh, tended to tolerate the new religion until they realised that,
being directed against their customs, it could seriously affect their income.
Nor did it improve matters when the Prophet reaffirmed to them that their
fathers and forefathers would be pinished in the Hereafter as there was no
respectivity in salvation.
A leading Meccan
who came to hate Muhammad was Abu Jahl. Hearing him speak derisively about him,
the Prophet said:"And as for thee, Abu Jahl, a calamity shall come upon
thee. Little shalt thou laugh, and much shalt thou weep."9
One day while the
Prophet was praying, Abu Jahl went to smash his head with a rock. Fortunately
Allah was with the Prophet. Abu Jahl was rushed at by a stallion camel with the
skull and teeth the like of which he had never seen. He dropped his stone and
ran from the apparition.
On another occasion
while the Prophet while the Prophet was prostrate praying, Abu Jahl went to
trample his neck but when he came near him he could be seen trying to ward off
something with his hands. Allah interposed a ditch of fire and terror and
wings. The Prophet said, "If Abu Jahl were to have come near me, the
angels would have torn him to pieces." (Sahih Muslim Chapter 1160)
The tribal elders
tried a different tack. If he would desist in his abuse, they offered him
wealth, the kingship of the tribe, and free medical help until he was cured of
the visiting spirit. The Prophet was reassured by Revelation of the Sura,
"The Pen".
"Thou, O
Prophet; by the grace of thy Lord art not possessed! (by jinn)
And truly a
boundless recompense doth await thee,
For thou art of a
noble nature (patiently bearing the taunts of the unbelievers)
But thou shalt see
and they shall see
Which of you is the
demented." (68:2-6)
Its offer having
been refused by Muhammad, the tribe went back to slandering and insulting
Islam. At last Muhammad could take no more and told them: "O Quraysh, will
you hear me? Verily by Him who holdeth my soul in His hand, I bring you
slaughter." 10
* * *
The conversion of
Rukana showed the Prophet's miraculous powers. Muhammad was fifty and Rukana
was physically powerful. Twice Rukana was thrown to the ground when he went to
tackle the Prophet. As a bonus, Muhammad called to a tree which moved until it
was at his feet; then he said to the tree, "Return to thy place!" and
it returned to its place.
The worst five
mockers of Muhammad had been warned in Revelation thus: "We shall suffice
thee against the mockers who worship another god with Allah; they will
know." 11 Indeed they did find out. Gabriel came to the Prophet while the
five were ambulating around the Ka'bah. "When the first mocker passed by,
Gabriel threw a green leaf in his face and he became blind. He pointed to the
abdomen of the second, who died of dropsy. The third had a scar on his heel
which opened again and killed him. When the fourth passed by he pointed to the
soul of his foot, and thereupon a thorn penetrated it and the man died. When
the fifth man passed by Gabriel pointed to his head and it began to ferment
with poison and he died." 12
* * *
One night on a full
moon a group of disbelievers asked the Prophet to split the moon in two as a
sign that he was the Messenger of God. To the delight of the believers, the
moon did indeed divide and each half shone on either side of Mount Hira. Some
of the hesitants entered Islam but those whose hearts were hardened rejected
the miracle as mere magic.("Muhammad, His Life Based on the Earliest
Sources", M. Lings P68) Sura 54, "The Moon"
"The hour hath
approached and the moon hath been cleft;
But whenever they
see a miracle they turn aside and say,
This is
well-devised magic
And they have
treated the Prophets as Impostors, and follow their own lusts; …
On the Day, the
Summoner shall summon to a stern business."
However Allah did
not always oblige with signs: His main miracle was The Revelation of the
Qur'an. Many were the people converted on hearing its recitation. Indeed Islam
teaches that ijaz is the incapacity of any mere mortal reaching the perfection
of composing the Qur'an." 13
To those who wanted
angels to be sent down as signs the Qur'an replies:"The day they behold
the angels, on that day there will be no good tidings for the evil-doers."
(25:22) "A day that shall turn the hair of children grey." (73:17)
What did surprise
the Muslims was the way in which some Meccans, previously well-regarded, could
turn nasty. "We give them cause to fear, yet it doth but increase them in
monstrous outrage." (17:60) One of these was an uncle of Muhammad, Abu
Lahab, who was convinced that his nephew was self-deceived if not a deceiver.
Allah revealed a short sura, "The Flame" about the Prophet's uncle:
"In the name
of Allah, the compassionate, the Merciful
Let the hand of Abu
Labah perish and let himself perish!
His wealth and his
gains shall avail him not.
Burned shall he be
at the fiery flame,
And his wife laden
with firewood - (as fuel)
On her neck a rope
of palm fibre." (111:1-5)
Apparently his aunt
had strewn the Prophet's path with thorns on one occasion. When she heard of the
verse she went in search of the Prophet carrying a pestle to hit him with. He
was sitting with Abu Bakr but she saw him not. She recited a little poem about
the Prophet:
"We disobey
the reprobate
Flout the commands
he doth make
And his religion
hate."
When she had left,
Abu Bakr expressed his amazement to the Prophet. "She saw me not,' he said
"Allah took away her sight from me."15
Later Abu Lahab was
killed by his sister-in-law Umm-el-Fadl, a secret Muslim, in an argument over
religion.
* * *
One day Ubayy took
a decayed bone to Muhammad and asked him sarcastically, "Can your Allah
bring this back to life?" He then powdered the bone in his hand and blew
the dust into the face of the Prophet, who replied:"Even so I do claim: He
will raise it and thee too when thou art as that now is; then will He enter
thee into the Fire."16
* * *
The Meccans sent
two envoys to the Jewish rabbis at Yathrib to question them about prophets. The
Jews sent back two questions to test Muhammad. For fifteen nights the Prophet
waited for a revelation and in the meantime he had to suffer the jibes of the
unbelievers. Nor were the worst of the Meccans convinced but it did help many
who were on the borderline.
One of the
questions pertained to the sleepers of Ephesus. In the middle of the third
century some young men who were being persecuted for the worship of the One God
hid in a cave. Here they and their faithful dog were miraculously put to sleep
for three hundred years (some say 309) until all danger was past. The dog whose
name was Katmir, will be admitted into Paradise, or so Muslims believe. The
story is given in Sura 18, The Cave
A second question
related to the great traveller Dhu al Qarnayn, said by tradition to be
Alexander the Great. How he came to be a Messenger of God we do not know.)
"When he
reached the setting of the sun
he found a people
who became subject to his laws.
He
said:"Whoever doth wrong
him shall we
punish: then
shall he be sent
back to his Lord
(capital
punishment) and He will Punish him with a punishment
Unheard of."
(Hell) (Qur'an 18:86)
When Dhu al Qarnayn
reached a valley between two mountains he came to a people who begged for
protection from the Gog and Magog jinns. God gave him the power to restrain
these jinns until shortly before the Hour of Judgement when they would break
forth and wreak terrible destruction. (18:93-99)
"And We shall
present Hell that day for Unbelievers to see." (18:100)
* * *
On one occasion
after the Prophet had recited from the Revelations, a poet Nadr by name rose to
his feet and said that he also had tales of old but that, unlike Muhammad, he
admitted that his were only stories. Sura 83 was Allah's reply:
"Woe on that
day, to those who treated our signs as lies,
Those that deny the
Day of Judgement.
None can deny it
but the transgressor, the criminal,
Who when Our signs
are rehearsed to him, says
"Tales of the
Ancients".
By no means, but on
their hearts is the cover of rust …
Then shall they be
burned in Hell-fire." (Qur'an 83:10-16)
Here and elsewhere is
the concept that the heart and not the brain is the centre of mental activity.
In a believer, the "eye of the heart" is receptive to faith.
* * *
For two years the
Meccans had banned trade and marriage with the Prophet's clan. When they went
to review the document which had been stored in the Ka'bah, it was found that
the worms had eaten the ban, all except for the opening words "In thy
name, O Allah."
* * *
Nor was the Prophet
sent to the world of men only. In 620 CE while Muhammad was praying at Naklah
seven jinn, created from fire, stopped to listen to him. They were converted
and returned to their community to spread the Word of Allah. Some would be
saved and some would be punished.
"But those who
stray from it shall be fuel for Hell." (Qur'an 72:15)
* * *
On the night of the
17th of Rabhy, twelve months before the Hijrah, Gabriel woke the Prophet and
led him outside. There was a white beast, half mule and half ass with wings at
its sides. Its name was Buraq and he carried the Prophet, accompanied by Gabriel
swiftly to the Temple at Jerusalem. (Apparently Muhammad did not know the state
of the "Furthest Mosque" (Qur'an 17:1) in 620 CE. According to Caliph
Omar in 638 CE, all that was left of the Temple Mount was a "dung
heap".) There he prayed with Abraham, Moses, Jesus and other Prophets.
Then two cups were brought to him, one milk and one wine. Muhammad drank the
milk and left the wine and Gabriel said: "… Thy people are likewise
guided; wine is prohibited to them." 17
Next a ladder was
brought to the Prophet and he climbed to the Gate of the Keepers. Here he met a
stern angel, Malik, the keeper of the fire. When Malik removed its cover the
fire raged and rose so furiously that the Prophet thought it would devour
everything.
As he climbed
higher he met Adam who checked the souls as they arrived. He saw men with lips
like camels who stuffed lumps of fire into their mouths. This fire issued from
the other end of their bodies when they farted. These, he was told were men who
had wrongly devoured the property of orphans.
The next men he saw
had absolutely huge bellies. Chasing them into the fire were crocodiles
charging like mad camels. These, he was told, had been usurers.
After that the
Prophet saw men who had the choice of beautiful meat and foul, putrid meat, but
who ate the latter. These, he was told, were men who had left the women that
Allah had permitted them, going instead into women prohibited to them.
Lastly while still
in the first heaven he saw women hanging from steel hooks through their
breasts. These, he was told, were women who attributed 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
their plunder and observe their nakedness."18
In Paradise, the
Prophet saw a black houri who took his fancy. She was, he was told, destined
for Zayd ibn Haritha. Later Zayd, the freed-man of the apostle, was well and
truly pleased with this good news.
Seventh Heaven
contained the Lote-tree, the loftiest spot in Paradise on thr right hand throne
of Allah. "Its leaves are fabled to be as numerous as the population of
the world and each leaf carries the name of an individual. This tree is shaken
just after sunset on the 15th of Ramadan each year. The leaves which drop are
for the people who are to die that year: how much green remains on the leaf
indicates the number of months or weeks the person has yet to live."19 The
Lote-tree was enshrouded in Divine Light and here the Prophet was told, by Allah,
that his followers should pray five times daily.
In 621 CE at
Aqabah, the Prophet came across six men of Khazrai from Yathrib. He converted
them to Islam and they went back to Yathrib to convert more of their tribe.
Later the Muslims at Yathrib were to be known as Ansars (helpers). This new
development was to be a turning point in the fortunes of Islam.
* * *
After Khadijah
died, Muhammad dreamed that he was to marry A'isha, the daughter of Abu Bakr.
She was six and he was fifty. But firstly he married the widow Sawdah who was
very motherly towards his children and, a few months later, to his child bride
A'isha. She continued to play with her dolls for several years until, at the
age of nine, her marriage was consummated.
* * *
For a few days the
Quraysh, Muslim and non-Muslim, were re-united when in Sura 53 (19-22) the
three goddesses were joined with Allah. Many Muslims deny this tradition of
Tabari which is known as the "Satanic Verses".
19 "Do you see
Al-lat and Al-Ozza.
20 and Manat,the
third goddess?
21 These are the
exalted birds (females)
22 And truly their
help may be expected."
Several days
Muhammad disowned verses 21 and 22 and they became:
21 "What! For
you the male sex, and for him the female?
22 This indeed
would be an unfair partition."
The backlash was
worse than if Satan had not inserted the two verses; the Meccans were livid.
Henceforth the condemnation of gods other than Allah became stronger and
stronger.
* * *
about this time
Muhammad was revealing Sura 23, "The believers":
Now of fine clay
have We created man;
Then We placed him,
a moist germ, in a safe abode [20]
Then We made the
moist germ a clot of blood:
Then made the
clotted blood into a piece of flesh;
Then made the piece
of flesh into bones; and We clothed
The bones with flesh;
and developed out of it yet another being."
At this point the
Prophet took a breather and Abdullah ibn Saud, his scribe, completed verse 14:
"Blessed therefore be, the most excellent of Makers", and to his
shock Muhammad replied: "Yes, that's it."
Abdullah left
Muhammad's employ and became an apostate [21].When Islam took Mecca some time
later, Abdullah was one of those not spared.
Another Revelation
included a reference to the Jewish Sabbath (Saturday).22 (7:163)
"Ask them
about the city that stood by the sea (Elath?) when its inhabitants broke the
Sabbath. For on that day their fish did come to them openly holding up their
heads; but on days which were not Sabbath they came not. Thus did We make trial
of them, for they were evil-doers."
* * *
In 622 CE Allah
gave his Prophet permission to wage war. The promise to fight became binding on
all Muslims. An act of allegiance was concluded with representatives of
Yathrib. Satan was so displeased at this that he roared from the top of a hill.
Muhammad replied to Satan:
"Listen to me,
enemy of Allah! I shall make an end of you."
Persecution became
so bad that the Muslims, some one hundred and fifty people, decided to emigrate
to Yathrib. This was the Hijrah, or Emigration, from which dates the Islamic
calendar.
Some of the Meccans
who had embraced Islam did not break with the infidels and make the Hijrah.
These persons were miraculously slain by angels later at Badr. "The
angels,... took the souls of those... who did not flee... their home shall be
Hell..." (4:99)
* * *
Satan, disguised as
an old sheikh, convinced the Meccan leaders that it was necessary to kill
Muhammad. Gabriel warned the Prophet who, with Allah's help, was able to slip
past the attackers without them seeing him. "And We have enshrouded them,
so they cannot see." (36:9)
He and Abu Bakr
went south, instead of north to hide in a cave on Mount Thaur. There they
remained for three days. In the meantime the Meccans offered a reward of one
hundred camels to anyone who brought him back. They remembered the Prophet
saying: "Quraysh, I bring you slaughter", and they realized that the
Muslims would not consider their kinship when it came into conflict with their
religion.
Most of the bounty
hunters went north but one party, knowing how wily Muhammad was, went south.
The emigrants heard the sound of voices of five or six men at the entrance of
the cave. "And he (the Prophet) said to his companion: "Have no fear
for Allah is with us." (9:40)
They heard the
searchers agree that no one could possibly be there. When the bounty hunters
had gone the emigrants went to the entrance of the cave and found that a large
acacia tree had grown in front of it. Some doves were nesting in the tree and
between it and the wall of rock a spider had woven its web
Later that night, as
prearranged, a Bedouin with two camels came to lead them, by a circuitous
route, to Yathrib. So many of the people there wanted to give him residence
that, not wanting to show favoritism, the Prophet declared that he would stay
where Qaswa, his camel guided by Allah, knelt. There Muhammad, Emigrants and
Ansars built a mosque.
* * *
.Muhammad was
becoming the most powerful man in Medina (formerly Yathrib). Unlike at Mecca
where all converts had been sincere, there were now sound political reasons for
converting to Islam. These "Muslims" were the Hypocrites that we read
of in the Qur'an.
And when they meet
the faithful they say, "We believe" but when they are apart with
evil-ones
They say
"Truly we hold with you and at them (the Muslims) we only mock." (2:14)
It was about this
time when the Muslims had to restrain themselves, that there was given the
famous saying:
"Let there be
no compulsion in religion." (2:256)
Later this dictum
was to be only in force when the Muslims were not powerful enough to impose Islam
by the sword.
* * *
Muhammad was still
hoping to secure the Jews as allies if not as Believers and an agreement was
drawn up with them. The Qur'an shows a positive attitude towards them:
"Dispute not, unless in kindly sort, with the people of the Book; save
with such of them as have dealt wrongfully
with you: And say
ye, "We believe in what hath been sent down to you. Our God and your God
is one, and to him are we self-surrendered." (Muslims) (29:46)
But the Jewish
hearts hardened and hardly any converts were plucked from their midst. The
Qur'an reflects a new attitude: "Desire ye them that for your sakes the
Jews should believe? Yet a part of them heard the word of God, and then,...
perverted it." (2:70)
Soon Allah revealed
a verse forbidding any contact with the Jews:
"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. . ." (3:118)
Seventeen months
after the Prophet arrived in Medina, the qiblah (the direction in which
Muhamrnad and his followers faced during prayers) was changed from Jerusalem to
Mecca.
. ·
To test Muhammad,
the rabbis sent to him a married man and a married Jewish woman who had
committed adultery together. "If he condemns them to the tajah (whereby
the criminals are lashed with a rope of date fibres dipped in resin) then obey
him, for he is a prince. But if he condemns them to be stoned, he is a Prophet
and be on your guard against him."23 The Prophet ordered the pair to be
stoned: the man bent over his mistress to protect her from the stones, but they
were both killed.
* * *
Once when some
Muslims were so weak with fever that they could barely stand, they prayed
sitting down. Muhammad told them: "The prayer of a seated man has only
half the value of a prayer performed standing." So they rose shakily to
their feet.
* * *
The Emigrants had
no regular source of income and so Muhammad decided to raid passing Meccan
caravans; this was an old Arab custom. Moreover, by plundering the Meccans, he
would be doing God's work.
In the month of
Rajab AH 2 (January 624) a party of seven to twelve Muslims was sent out to
observe a caravan. Instead they attacked it, killing one Meccan, capturing two
and one escaping. This was the first life that Islam took in combat but
certainly not the last. Muhammad was upset because Rajab was a month holy to
Mecca and he refused to take his twenty percent share of the booty. However
Gabriel revealed a sura to him wherein Allah approved, so Muhammad accepted his
share.
"They will ask
thee concerning war in the Sacred Month. Say: To war therein is bad, but to
turn aside from the cause of God.. . is worse in the sight of God." (2:27)
They ransomed one
prisoner for the sum of 1600 dirhams but the other elected to remain and became
a Muslim.
· .
Muhammad's grip on
some of his converts was still rather tenuous. One day as he was preaching, a
caravan entered Medina. It was preceded by musicians and all but 12 of his congregation
left the sermon and joined in the fun. The Prophet had to "like it or lump
it". Allah commented "But when they get a sight of merchandise or
sport, they disperse after it, and leave thee standing alone." (62:11)
. ·
In Ramadan AH 2
(March 624) a very large caravan from Gaza to Mecca attracted the interest of
Muhammad. However the Meccans were forewarned. The caravan took a different
route and a thousand Meccans were sent to teach the three hundred Muslim
plunderers a lesson. The Ansars came too saying, "O Messenger of Allah we
will obey you even though you command us to jump into the sea."
Muhammad had all
the wells filled in except the one that they occupied. He told his men that
they would go straight to Paradise if they met their death.
"Let those
fight in the cause of Allah who sell the life of this world for the Hereafter.
To him whom fighteth in the cause of Allah... We shall give him a reward of
great value." (Paradise) (4:74)
One Abu Daud went
to attack a Meccan but the latter's head flew off before he could strike.
Helping the Muslims were a thousand angels with white turbans, except for
Gabriel whose turban was yellow.
During the battle,
the Prophet threw a handful of sand and gravel in the general direction of the
Meccans. This miraculously landed in their eyes. God commented: "When thou
threwest (the sand and gravel), it was not thy act, but Allah's." (8:17)
Another miracle was
of no small assistance. Ukkashah broke his sword and was handed a wooden club
by Muhammad. It became a long, strong gleaming sword. They named it al-Awn.
The larger force
was defeated; "The one host fought in the cause of God, and the other was
infidel. To their own eyesight, the infidels saw you twice as many as
themselves." (3:11)
Muhammad's old
enemy, Abu Jahl was killed and his head brought triumphantly to him. The
Muslims lost fifteen dead but the Meccans about seventy and, in addition about
the same number were captured. Two of these the Prophet had executed-Nadr for
laughing at him and his divine revelations and Uqba for throwing offal at him
in Mecca. When Uqba asked him, "But who will take care of my sons,
Muhammad?", he answered him "Hell!"24
Umar and Saad
wanted to slaughter all of the prisoners but Muhammad decided to ransom those that
they could and only kill any that were left over.
Muhammad was
humbled and reduced to tears in the next Revelation from Allah which showed
Umar and Saad to have been correct.
"It is not
fitting for a Prophet that he should take prisoners of war until he has
thoroughly subdued the land... Allah is exalted in might, Wise." (8:67)
God did not make
this order retrospective and great was the ransom that the Muslims obtained. In
addition they scored one hundred and fifty camels, ten horses and a quantity of
arms and armour. In the meantime the prisoners were secured with their wrists
tied to their necks.
Years later one of
Abu Bakr's sons, fighting on the Meccan side said, "Father! at Badr you
were twice under my sword. But my love for you held back my hand".
"Son", replied Abu Bakr, "if I had that chance only once you
would have been no more.
Allah, however, was
not pleased that many of Muhammad's men fought with the spoils of war mainly in
their minds and He said: "You have sought ransoms and worldly goods, but
Allah wants the next world." meaning that they should kill rather to
spread his religion, which is the path to the next world."23
* * *
Muhammad was sorely
tried by several poets. One was Asma bint Marwan. When her latest verses were
recited to the Prophet, he cried out, "Will no one rid me ofthis daughter
of Marwan?" Umayr ibn Ali, a clansman of hers volunteered. That night she
was sleeping, her youngest child still at her breast, when her clansman thrust
his sword through her. On that day new converts were won as they could see the
power of Islam.24
A month later an
almost identical situation occurred. This time it was the poet Abu Afak,
reputedly over a hundred years old, who raised the Prophet's ire. Muhammad
exclaimed: "Who will avenge me on this scoundrel?" and Salim ibn
Umayr was the helper of God.
* * *
The victory at Badr
had increased the Prophet's standing: the Bedoums, in particular, showed him
much more respect. However, not one Jew had volunteered for Allah's army,
indeed they became more passively and actively hostile. When Muhammad demanded
tribute in the name of God from one tribe of Jews, the Banu Qaynuka, they
sarcastically replied: "Aye, God is poor and we are rich"...
"Taste ye the torment of burning." (3:177) The Prophet considered revoking
the covenant between them: he received a command from Allah:
"If thou
fearest treachery from any group throw back their covenant to them: For Allah
loveth not the treacherous." (8:58)
Soon an opportunity
presented itself to take on the Banu Qaynuka. A Muslim girl was selling her
wares at the Qaynuka market when some Jewish boys teasingly tried to lift up
her veil. Joining in the fun, a Jewish goldsmith tied her skirts without her
knowledge so that when she rose the world could see her private parts. The
honour of Islam was at stake and a Muslim, in revenge, killed the goldsmith.
Thereupon the Muslim was killed by a group of Jews.
The Qaynuka
withdrew inside their fort hoping that the affair would blow over. For two
weeks the Jews were besieged in their fort. The other Jewish tribes did not
come to their assistance. When the Qaynuka surrendered, Muhammad wanted to put
them all to death. However, Ibn Ubayy, a pagan Medinan whom he did not yet wish
to fight, persuaded him otherwise.
But Allah had
decreed: "If thou overcomest them in war, then make of them an example, to
strike fear into those that are behind them, that may take heed."(8:57)
The decision was
that the Jews should leave their homes and all their possessions behind them.
Eventually the Qaynuka reached exile near Syria. The booty the Muslims received
was enormous and the Prophet and his state received a fifth share.
A poet, Ka'b ibn
al-Ashraf who was partly Jewish was deeply upset by Muhammad's actions. Ka'b
went to Mecca to agitate the Quraysh against the Prophet, who determined to rid
himself of Ka'b and his satire. Kab's foster-brother and some accomplices
pretended that they were conspiring against the Prophet so that they could lure
Ka'b out of his fortress. They succeeded in tbis and having killed him
exultantly presented the head of Ka'b to the Prophet.
Muhammad was
becoming quite wealthy and took a third wife, Hafsah the daughter of Umar
(later to be the second Caliph).
The Quraysh were
seeking allies to help avenge the defeat at Badr. The decision to do something
drastic against him crystallized after a Muslim attack near Qaradah on a
caravan worth 100,000 dirhams.
On 20th March 625
CE, three thousand Quraysh and their allies rode against Medina. Muhammad
marched out to meet them with an army of a thousand men, but next morning Ibn
Ubayy and three hundred doubters ("hypocrites") turned back to
Medina.
One young man,
Hanzalah, caught up with the seven hundred. The previous evening had been his
wedding night and he had not even stopped for ablutions before setting out for
the battle.
The Prophet set his
men in the gorge of Uhud. In particular he ordered fifty archers to guard their
rear and to stay at their posts whatever happened.
At Badr the
battle-cry had been "One God", One God "but today it was
"Amit, Amit" which means "Kill, Kill". At first the Muslims
did well. So well indeed that a mass of them, intent on plunder, surged towards
the Meccan camp. Most of the archers left their posts hoping to secure their
share of the booty. The Meccans saw their opportunity of changing the tide of
battle and pushed right up to where the Prophet was seated. One Quraysh struck
a glancing blow on his helmet and the Prophet fell to the ground. Thinking
Muhammad had been slain, the enemy disengaged from battle.
The Meccans had
lost twenty two men killed and the Muslims seventy. One of these was the young
bridegroom, Hanzalah, who was seen supported by angels between heaven and
earth. They had taken him up there to wash him with water from the clouds.
Why had the angels
not helped the Muslims at Uhud? Allah's Revelations of sixty verses in the
"Family of Imran" explain;
We alternate days
of success and reverses among men,
that God may know
those who have believed,
and that He may
take martyrs from among you, …
And that God may
test those who believe..." (3:135)
"And ye
disputed about the order (to stay put at Uhud)
and disobeyed
the... Prophet..." (3:144)
"And it was
Satan alone who caused those of you
to fail in duty (the
300 who turned back) on the day when the hosts met...
But God hath
pardoned them." (3:149)
And that which
befell you on the day when
the armies met, was
certainly by the will of God,
and that he might
know the faithful, and that
He might know the
hypocrites." (3:160)
"And repute
not those slain on God's path be dead.
Nay alive with
their Lord, (Paradise) are they richly sustained."(3:163)
"And let not
the prosperity in the land (Mecca)
on the part of
those who believe not, deceive thee.
"'Tis just a
brief enjoyment! Then shall Hell be their abode." (3:196)
Thinking that Uhud
had demonstrated the Muslims' weakness, several tribes tried to attack them but
the believers held their own. News came that a chief of Hudhayl was planning
mischief so the Prophet sent Abd Allah ibn Unays to assassinate him. In revenge
some men of Hudhayl killed three Muslims including Asim of Aws. Now Asim's head
was worth money because he had killed two Qurayshites at Uhud. Their mother had
sworn to drink wine out of his skull. The Hudhayli cut off his head but a swarm
of bees prevented them from taking it away. In the afternoon a flood swept
Asim's head away so that they could not find it.
· .
The angel Gabriel
came to the Prophet to tell him that the Jewish tribe of Nadir was plotting to
kill him. The Prophet told the Jews: "Leave your land and take all that
your camels can carry, except your arms and your armour.
"And had it
not been that Allah had decreed Banishment for them, He certainly would have
Punished them in this world: and in the Here-after They shall have the
Punishment of the Fire." (59:3) Allah revealed that, as it had been a
bloodless victory, all that the Jews had left behind belonged to the Prophet
and that he was to share it with the poor. Now the Emigrants were financially
independent of the Helpers.
The Jews made their
way to Khaybar further north in the Hejaz and determined to get back their
homes. To show that his influence could reach as far as Khaybar, Muhammad sent
some men there to kill the aged Jew Atu Rafi. They struck him in his bed.
Zayd, the adopted
son of Muhammad, had divorced his wife Zaynab who was in love with the Prophet.
He had seen her in a state of undress and felt very strongly attracted toward
her. However, custom forbade marriage to the former wife of a foster son and,
moreover, the Prophet already had four wives, the maximum that Islamic law
permits. It was several months before he received a Revelation from God:
"And when Zayd
had divorced her We married her to thee, that it might not be a crime in the
faithful to marry the wives of their adopted sons once the affair is
settled." (33:37)
"O Prophet! We
allow thee... any believing woman (a non-believing woman could be taken as a
concubine) ... if the Prophet desires to wed her... a Privilege for thee above
the rest of the Faithful." (33:49)
However, having
been married to the Prophet, it would be an enormity in the eyes of God for his
wives to ever be given in marriage to another man (33:53) At the time of his
death in 632 CE, Muhammad had ten wives, apparently dressed in widows' weeds
for the rest of their lives.
. ·
In December 626 CE
at the well of Muraysi the Muslims surprised the army of the Banu l-Mustaliq.
The Muslims lost one man dead and the unbelievers ten. The booty was excellent:
two thousand camels, five thousand sheep and goats and two hundred women. A
very beautiful captive was Juwayriyya, daughter of the chieftain. Muhammad saw
her and she became wife number six.
The victors wanted
to have sex with their captives but the women were to be ransomed and not kept
as slaves. Muhammad agreed that his men could use azl, that is to go into the
women but withdraw before ejaculation. When a Jew called coitus interruptus
~the lesser child-murder" the Prophet said: "The Jews lie."25
* * *
.The Prophet had
taken his thirteen year old wife, A'isha, with him on the expedition. One
morning before breaking camp she went looking for a necklace which she had lost
while relieving herself. The troop left with her howdah empty. A straggler,
Sufwan came along and offered her his camel but they did not catch up with the
party until the next camp. Scandal-mongers spread rumours about A'isha and
Sufwan. The Prophet was upset for some time but Allah revealed to him the
innocence of his young wife, and he ordered the slanderers to be
whipped.(24:11-15).
Ali's remarks to
A'isha had been unsympathetic and that may have led to his assassination twenty
years later. In future if the accusers of any fornication or adultery could not
support their evidence with four witnesses they would be punished with eighty
lashes. (24:4)
· .
Some people of the
tribe of Uraina came to the Prophet and he told them that they could go to the
camels of Sadaqa and drink their milk and urine (used to cure certain diseases).
At first all was well but then they fell upon the shepherds and killed them,
turned apostates to Islam and drove off the camels of Muhammad. He sent men to
bring them in. The Holy Prophet had their hands cut off, their feet cut off,
their eyes put out and had them thrown on stony ground until they died. (Hadith
Muslim Chap. 669)
· ·
In March 627, the
"Confederates" consisting of the exiled Banu Nadir and other Jews,
and the Quraysh and other Arabs who hated the Prophet raised an army of ten
thousand with a thousand horses. To impede the cavalry, at the suggestion of
Salman, a Persian convert, a long deep trench was dug with the help of all the
believers including the Prophet himself.
During the digging
of the trench, which lasted six days, four miracles occurred. Jabir came across
a rock which he could not loosen. The Prophet spat into a little water,
sprinkled it on the rock which turned into sand. Umar came across another
obstinate rock. The Prophet hit it with a pick three times each time conducting
lightning. On the third strike the rock split into many pieces. One evening the
Prophet told Jabir to invite all the diggers to his home. There a ewe and some
bread were multiplied to feed the scores of workers. On another day the Prophet
multiplied a handful of dates so that everyone ate their fill.
The army of the
Lord numbered three thousand men and these lined the trench. There was no grass
for the horses and camels of the Confederate cavalry which was therefore
pressed for time. Coming up to the trench they quickly retreated under a hail
of arrows. Meanwhile at the fort of Hassan, Sofiya, the daughter of
Abdul-Muttalib, spotted a Jew looking around inquisitively. She was worried
that he would report back that, apart from Hassan, there were only women and
children in the fort. When Hassan did nothing she went down with a stick and
killed the Jew.
The Meccans were
able to convince a tribe of Jews, the Bani Qurayzah to break their pact with
the Prophet so that he had to garrison their town with three hundred cavalry.
This stretched the defence of the trench and in one place four horses were able
to cross. Two of the enemy were killed and two managed to escape back across
the trench. The exchange of arrows dragged on for two weeks and the horses of
the unbelievers were dying. The weather became very cold, wet and windy and the
tents of the infidels would not stay up.
One night the army
of the Confederates melted away. At noon on the same day, Gabriel came to the
Prophet telling him: "O Messenger of God. The Angels have not laid down
their arms, and return from pursuing the foe. God... commandeth thee to go
against the Qurayzah..."26
A thousand Muslims
besieged the fortress of the Bani Qurayzah for 25 days when the Jews eventually
opened their gates and threw themselves on Muhammad's mercy. They agreed to a
chieftain of a Medinan tribe, Sa'd ibn Muadh, judging them for their treachery
to the young Islamic state. The Mosaic law applied to the Jews and their
punishment should have been total extermination: "thou shalt save alive
nothing that breatheth" (Deuteronomy 20, 16). Allah was more merciful than
Jehovah however (33:26) and Sa'd's adjudication was to slay the men and take
the women and children into captivity. The Prophet was pleased and replied to
Sa'd: "Thou hast judged with the judgement of God from above the seven
heavens."
In the morning
Muhammad ordered long, deep and narrow trenches to be dug in the market place.
The seven hundred or so men from Bani Qurayzah were brought in small groups to
kneel beside the trench. Then the younger and stronger believers cut off the
Jews' heads each with a stroke of a sword. The last to die were beheaded by
torchlight.
The women, children
and property were divided amongst those who had taken part in the siege. The Bani
Nadir ransomed many of their kin but Muhammad kept for himself, as concubine, a
beautiful Jewess named Rayhanah.
"And He made
you heirs of their lands, their houses and their goods, and of a land which ye
had not frequented before, And Allah has power over all things." (33:27)
At the Battle of
the Trench, Sa'd had been wounded by an arrow which cut an artery and, several
days after the punishment of the Jews, the angel Gabriel came to tell Muhammad
that Sa'd was dead. When his bearers carried his bier to the cemetery they
remarked how light it was and the Prophet told them that he had seen angels
helping them.
"The Throne of
Allah shook at the death of 'Sa'd Muadh." (hadith Muslim 6033~)
Dying from his
wound, Sa'd was a martyr: "The handkerchiefs of Sa'd in Paradise are
better than this." (hadith M. 6036) (Apparently one still gets sniffles in
Heaven.)
* * *
In February 628 CE,
Muhammad decided to make the lesser pilgrimage to Mecca. He took a thousand
Muslim pilgrims with him. The Quraysh were in a quandary what to do but sent
out two hundred horsemen to prevent their entry. The Muslims re-directed their
route to the pass of Hudaybiyah. However there was almost no water in the soak.
There the Prophet performed a miracle: he spat into a bucket of the water and
had a helper pour it back into the empty dam and stir it with an arrow.
Thereupon a gush of clear, fresh water filled the waterhole, enough to satisfy
all the men and all the animals.
The Muslims were
not allowed to proceed past Hudaybiyah but a ten-year non-aggression pact was
drawn up and they could make the pilgrimage, unarmed, the following year. The
Prophet received a Revelation that Allah was well-pleased with this agreement
and counted it a clear victory. (Sura 48, The Victory)
The Meccans now had
no objection to the Muslims proselytizing and Islam doubled in two years. The
poor and homeless gravitated towards Medina.
* * *
The Jews had not
forgiven Muhammad. One, by the name of Labid was gifted in sorcery. He obtained
some combings of the Prophet's hair and tied eleven knots in it. His daughters
breathed curses upon each knot. The hair he attached to a male date-palm flower
and threw it in a deep well. The magic could only be countered by undoing the
knots.
The health of the
Prophet declined drastically. He lost his memory and began to imagine things.
He felt very weak and could not stomach food. He prayed to Allah for His
assistance and, in his sleep, heard two angels discussing the reason for his
illness. Gabriel verified his dream and gave him Suras 113 and 114.
"I seek refuge
in the Lord of Daybreak. ... against the mischief of women who blow on
knots." (133:1-5)~~... Against the mischief of Satan... against djinn and
man." (114:3-6)
These two suras
total eleven verses and as each verse was recited one of the eleven knots was
loosened. Soon the Prophet had made a full recovery.
Muslims call them
"the two takings of refuge" and recite them for protection against
the evil eye.
· .
With their south
secure, the Muslims decided to march on the Jewish fortresses of Khaybar. The
Muslim force was only sixteen hundred men and the Jews totalled fourteen
thousand. The Prophet decided to tackle the smallest fortress first and the
other Jews did not come to its aid. The Muslims were in luck as inside they found
machines for scaling and breaching the walls of fortresses.
The Prophet agreed
to kill none of the Jews provided that they vacated Khaybar leaving all
possessions behind. For concealing treasure two Jews, Kinana and his cousin
were executed. Kinana's beautiftil seventeen year old widow, Saffiyah was
attractive to Muhammad and he married her. "He was as twenty men."
[27]
The whole of
Khaybar became the property of Islam and Muhammad allowed some of the Jews to
remain behind and pay a rent of half their farm produce. On the same terms, the
Prophet became landlord of the Jewish settlements of Fadah and Wadi 1-Qura. Now
that his tenants had handed over their weapons, the Prophet had to protect them
from marauding Bedouins.
* * *
The ruler of Egypt replied
to the Prophet's letter. As far as converting to Islam was concerned, he was
non-committal but he did send some fine presents including two Christian slave
girls. One of these, Mariyah, the Prophet kept as a concubine and he visited
her several times a day. His wives became so jealous that he was forced to
swear that he would not see her again.
A Revelation now
known as "The Forbidding" rebuked the Prophet for submitting to the
pressure of his wives. It was quite lawful for him to take a concubine and
"perhaps if he divorces you, God will give him in exchange better wives
than you... penitent, obedient... both known of men and virgins. O believers,
save yourselves... from the Fire whose fuel is men and stones" (66:5-6)
And in another
Revelation each wife was given two choices. Firstly she could have fine things
in this world. He would give them to her and release her, OR instead she could
chose God, His Messenger and the Hereafter. They all chose the latter
alternative.
* * *
A year had passed
since Hudaybiyah and two thousand Muslim pilgrims trekked to Mecca to make the
lesser Pilgrimage. For three days the Quraysh vacated the whole of the town
leaving it to the pilgrims. The Prophet touched the Black Rock with his rod,
made seven circuits of the Ka'bah, made seven trips between the foot of Safa
hill and the hill of Marwah. At Marwah he sacrificed a camel and had his head
shaved.
The Prophet wished
to enter the Ka'bah but the locals would not give him the key as that was not
in the contract. Muhammad came home with an extra wife as he had met the widow,
Maymunah in Mecca.
The messenger
carrying the Prophet's letter to the Governor of Syria had been killed by the
Ghassanids, who were mainly Christian. Muhammad sent an army of three thousand
to punish them. However, the enemy had been reinforced by Byzantine troops and
the total was perhaps as many as a hundred thousand men. The Prophet saw the
battle at Mu'tah in his mind's eye. The small force attacked the Christians
bravely and were able to withdraw in orderly fashion with the loss of only
eight men. The Prophet told the families of the martyrs of their loved ones'
deaths and that night he saw a vision of the eight in Paradise.
On the next Muslim
incursion into Syria, Caesar's forces were not present and the Christians left
a trail of broken camps. The only Arabs to meet them were friendly.
. ·
Some allies of the
Quraysh with the aid of several individual Qurayshi made a night raid on some
allies of Medina, killing one person. The Prophet was livid with rage. Abu
Sufyan was sent by the Meccans to placate him but to no avail. Indeed it looked
as though Muhammad was glad for the excuse to fight. He set off for Mecca with
ten thousand men.
Abu Sufyan was sent
out to parley but he saw the strength of Islam and submitted to Islam. He
hastened back to Mecca with the Prophet's message: "Whoso entereth the
house of Abu Sufyan shall be safe and whoso locketh upon himself his door shall
be safe and whoso entereth the Mosque shall be safe."28
A small group of
unbelievers made a stand outside the city but the streets of Mecca were
deserted. The Prophet prayed, rested and then went to the Ka'bah. He touched
the Black Stone with his rod and called out: "Allah is greater". The
call was taken up and Mecca resounded with it. The Prophet completed the seven
circuits of the Ka'bah saying "the false is ever a vanisher"
referring to the idols surrounding the Ka'bah. One by one, the three hundred
and sixty idols toppled over as he pointed at them with his rod. He made it
known that all idols in homes were to be destroyed and that His former enemies
had been forgiven by God and could embrace Islam at the nearby hill of Safa.
The Prophet sent
Khalid to Naklah to destroy the temple of al-Uzza. He did this and smashed the
idol but he was sent back again. This time a wild black woman, completely
naked, came charging at him but he was able to cut her down. Within two weeks
two thousand Qurayshites had joined the Prophet's army. Hawajin who had a
temple to al-Lat raised an army of twenty thousand men to defend their goddess.
Three scouts sent out by the Hawajin came back in a terrible state shattered by
what they had seen: "White men on piebald horses", "People of
Heaven", "An unbearable sight."
The two armies met
at Hunayn. At first the battle did not favour the Muslims but the Prophet
prayed to Allah and threw some pebbles in the direction of the enemy just as he
had done at Badr. Allah revealed later that he had sent down, unseen, angels to
punish the disbelievers. (9:25-7)
The Hawazin had
brought their families and property with them. The booty consisted of six
thousand women and children, four thousand ounces of silver, twenty four
thousand camels and perhaps forty thousand sheep and goats. The Prophet gave
substantial presents to the rich Qurayshites who had not yet been converted, as
a recent Revelation had said that such people should be reconciled in the cause
of Allah. (9:60)
A deputation came
from the Hawazin and, on professing Islam, their women and children were
returned to them. Tribes came from as far away as the Yemen and the borders of
Syria and Persia to submit themselves to Muhammad.
The Prophet
determined to march on Tabuk, an outpost of the Byzantine empire. It was,
however, a time of great heat, and food and fodder were in short supply. Some
of the faint-hearted did not wish to set out. God lambasted the Hypocrites
thus:
"They said,
"Do not march out into the heat!" We say, "The Fire of Hell will
be hotter!"
Let them therefore
laugh a little now, For they will weep much hereafter." (9:81)
At al-Hijr the
people had no water so Allah sent a cloud and it rained so that the people had
water in plenty. At Tabuk no army came to meet them but John, the Christian
governor made peace with the Prophet and paid him tax.
Near Medina they
came upon a mosque which had been built by unrighteous people. Allah said:
"And those who erected a mosque out of opposition and unbelief and to
cause a schism among the Believers... Enter no such mosque." (9:107-8) So
the Prophet burned and destroyed it, although there were people in it.
* * *
This was the Year
of Deputations. Now that the Quraysh were Muslims, tribe after tribe came from
all directions to profess Islam. Amir ibn Tufayl was sent by the Bani Amir
saying that his people would convert to Islam if the Prophet named him as his
successor. When Amir had gone, Muhammad prayed: "O Allah, guide the Bani
Amir and rid Islam of Amir." Before he reached home, Amir was afflicted
with an abscess and died. His tribe entered Islam unconditionally.
Allah gave immunity
to the idolaters for a while, but "When the four sacred months have
elapsed
"Kill the
idolaters wherever you find them;
Make them
prisoners...
But if they repent
and pray according to the commands Of Allah,
and pay the tax,
then set them free,
As Allah is Often
Forgiving and Merciful." (9:5)
"After this
year, no idolater will be allowed to make the pilgrimage (9:28)
or walk around the
Ka'bah naked.
* * *
The Prophet sent
his followers to instruct the newcomers in Islam. Khalid and his sword were
sent out to convert the remaining stragglers to the faith. Usually they were
given three days to make up their minds. Jews and Christians were allowed to
remain as such provided that they paid a golden dinar or its equivalent. The
presence of all Muslims at Friday prayers was compulsorv.
* * *
Muhammad's only
remaining son, Ibrahim, died as a toddler. Soon after his burial there was a
solar eclipse. Some attributed he eclipse to the Prophet's loss but he replied:
"The sun and the moon are two signs of Allah. Their light is not dimmed
for any man's death. If ye see them eclipsed, ye should pray until they be
clear." The implication is nevertheless, that they are not natural
phenomena relying on the mathematical laws of science.
* * *
The next pilgrimage
was an exultant one. The Prophet set out from Medina at the head of thirty
thousand men. One of the many rites he performed was the Stoning of the Devil,
represented by three pillars, in the valley on Mina. This was in remembrance of
the Prophet Abraham.
* * *
The Prophet was
sixty three and he often talked of Paradise. One night he told his freedman,
Abu Muwayhibah that Allah had offered him a choice. Firstly he could have the
treasuries of the world and be immortal until the Day of Judgment when he would
ascend into Paradise. The other alternative was to go straight to Allah in
Paradise. Muhammad chose to go straight to Heaven rather than wait for the
Final Hour.
Too ill to lead the
prayer, Muhammad delegated the task to Abu Bakr. At noon on Monday, the eighth
of June 632 CE, Muhammad died. A great calamity befell the Muslims. A'isha, who
lived until 679 CE, recorded that: "When the apostle of Allah died many
Arabs relapsed into idolatry; Judaism and Christianity rose again, and
Hypocrisy became common, so that Muslims seemed like a flock of sheep on a
wintry night... Then Allah roused them again under Abu Bakr." Within two
years the first caliph had conquered Mesopotamia (Iraq) and was poised on
Syria.
* * *
Fundamentalists
believe that Allah sent Muhammad as the Model of Behaviour (Uswa-e-Hasna,
Qur'an 33:21). The Prophet is seen not as a man of the Seventh Century CE but
as a role model for all time to come.
REFERENCES
1.Ibn Hisham:
"Sira Des Leben Mahommeds" ed F. Weestenfeld, Go.· ttingen 1859 P101. Quoted in "Mohammed" M. Rodinson,
Pelican P42.
2.Ibn Ishaq
"The Life of Muhammad" P17. Apparently the chronicler did not know
about the curvature of the earth; only more light was needed to see Syria, the
light to see coming from the viewer?
3.CE Common Era
(Numerically equals AD)
4.Ibn Ishaq P17.
The lunar calendar of the Arabs has only 354 days and so in our calendar the
date is different each year.
5."Muhammad,
His Life Based on the Earliest Sources". M. Lings P30.
6.Qur'an means
Recitation in Arabic.
7.Ibn Ishaq, P36.
8.ibid, P37.
9.M. Lings, P65.
10.Ibn Ishaq, P183.
11.loc. cit.
12.ibid, P50
13.M. Lings, P68.
14.M. Rodinson,
P92.
15.Ibn Ishaq, P234.
16. ibid, P239.
17.ibid, P58.
18.ibid, P62.
19."The
Koran", J.M. Rodwell, Dent.
20.The implication is
that a child results from the father's sperm only. Apparently the womb is only
a "safe abode" for the foetus to grow. Elsewhere the female
lubricating fluid appears to be regarded as the female contribution to the
foetus.
21.An apostate is
one who repudiates his religion. The penalty for apostasy from Islam is death.
22.The Islamic
Sabbath is Friday.
23.Ibn Ishaq, P86.
24.Ibn Hisham,
P458.
25.Waqidi, Vol 1,
P413.
26.Ibn Ishaq, P684.
27.M.Lings,P271.
28.ibid, P296.
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