The Life of Mohammad Part 12

[Sidenote: HOW THE MOSQUE OF AL-MADINAH WAS BUILT]

At Al-Madinah, Mohammad's first care was to erect a Mosque.

He sought for the owners of the ground where his she-camel had knelt, and they turned out to be two orphans, named Sahil and Sohail, whose guardian was Muaz ibn Afra. The Prophet asked them how much they wanted for their piece of property. 'Allah's reward is the only price we ask,' was their reply. Mohammad, however, refused the gift. The purchase-money, fixed at ten dinars, was advanced by Abu Bakr, who had transferred all his wealth from Makkah to Al-Madinah.

Acting under the Prophet's orders, the Believers lost no time in getting to work. They cleared up the "Marbad," where there were ruined walls, a palm-tree and a few neglected tombs. They levelled the ground and, as soon as the foundations were dug, Mohammad lifted a big stone to place in the cavity, and his n.o.ble breast became covered in dust. Seeing this, his companions tried to prevent him from doing manual labour; but he said to Abu Bakr: 'Say no more, but follow my example. Put a stone next to mine.' He then commanded Umar to place another at the side of the one set down by Abu Bakr; and each of the leading Moslems contributed in succession his stone to the structure.

When the stone foundations reached up to a third of the eventual height of the walls, the Believers began to knead clay with water, making unbaked bricks, with which they intended to finish the building. The Prophet, as before, continued to encourage his followers by his example, and he carried bricks in his mantle. Seeing one of the workers with a double load on his back, Mohammad wiped his disciple's hair and neck, soiled with clay, and said: 'The reward of the labourer awaits him in heaven, but thou wilt find a double reward.'

All the Believers toiled in high spirits, and to quicken their task by working in measure, the masons sang in chorus, and the verses of their chants related to their exalted hopes. When the walls were seven cubits high, the Faithful covered the building with a flat roof, made of palm-tree trunks, thatched with lathes and palm-leaves. On this, they spread a layer of beaten earth, thick enough to prevent rain filtering through. The ceiling was supported inside by columns of date-tree trunks, and the floor was sprinkled with gravel.

The building was one hundred cubits in length; its breadth being a little less. It could be entered by three doors; of which the princ.i.p.al was called "Bab-ur-Rahma," or "Door of Mercy." The "Mimbar,"

or pulpit, was fashioned out of a simple palm-tree trunk on which the Prophet mounted when he preached his sermons.

It can thus be seen that this first Mosque, identical with those of the poorest villages of the Sahara, was far from resembling the marvellous edifices which were to be constructed a little later for the Islamic religion.

At the same time as the Mosque was being finished, Mohammad had caused two little hovels to be built with clods of earth--"Hujrah"--leaning against the walls of the temple. The Prophet proposed to live there with his family and he sent Zayd, his adopted son, to Makkah to fetch them. When the houses were finished, he left the dwelling of Abu Ayyub and settled down with his people who lost no time in arriving.

As for the Muhajirun, they had all been generously and hospitably welcomed by the Ansars, proud and joyful to receive beneath their roof-trees those of the strangers who fell to them by lot.

Mohammad was especially moved by the cordial welcome extended to his fellow-countrymen by his new disciples. But, with his great insight concerning the souls of mortals, he resolved to tighten the bonds of such touching friendship. So that it should be proof against all insinuations dictated by the rivalry, inevitable in the future, between the Muhajirun who had forsaken their country, families and wealth to follow him; and the Ansars who had offered the safe shelter and material a.s.sistance to which his triumph was due. Would not each party have some little reason to claim for it alone first rank in the Prophet's affection and the annals of Islam?

In order to avoid such dangerous contingencies and create real family ties for the exiles, Mohammad profited by the cloudless exaltation uniting Muhajirun and Ansars just then, to issue a decree of perfect brotherhood between them. He ordained that they should pair off in couples consisting of a man of the Mohajirun and an Ansar. 'Fraternise in Allah!' he told them. 'Ye are brothers!' Henceforward, every Mussulman of Al-Madinah had for brother a Mussulman of Makkah.

It would be sheer madness to try and find words to express the degree of devotion attained by this brotherhood of religion, stronger than ties of blood, for it was supernatural. All these men's hearts, united in the love of Allah, were now nothing more than a single heart, palpitating in different b.r.e.a.s.t.s. Each man loved his brother better than himself, and during the first years of the Hegira, when one died, the other inherited his property, to the exclusion of his natural heirs.

Among the fraternal unions thus const.i.tuted, we may note those of Abu Bakr with Kharijah ibn Zayd; Ummar with Usman ibn Malik; Abu Ubaidah with Sad ibn Muaz; and Usman ibn Affan with Aus ibn Najar. The prophet had been the first to choose Ali for his brother, thus sealing the bond of fraternity that he had signed when beginning his mission. But as Ali belonged to the Muhajirun, the Ansars might have been vexed because the Apostle did not choose a brother in their ranks. That was why, at the death of one of their Najibs, Asad ibn Zararah, Mohammad took his place as Najib, pretexting that he was one of them, because his uncle on his mother's side had formerly dwelt in their city.

In this way, thanks to his sense of psychology and diplomatic skill, Mohammad achieved a wonderful result: the wars between the Kajraz and the Aus which, for centuries past, had deluged Yasrib with blood, ceased as by magic, soon after his arrival. He metamorphosed the inhabitants of Al-Madinah into the brothers of the Makkan emigrants, formerly their rivals.

[Sidenote: THE QUIBLAH OF MAKKAH]

In the beginning, the Prophet allowed the Believers full liberty to turn in any direction they pleased when saying their prayers, for: "_The East and the West is Allah's; therefore, whichever way ye turn, there is the face of Allah. Truly Allah is Omnipresent, Omniscient._"

(THE QUR'AN, II, 109).

While terminating the building of the first Mosque, the Prophet divined that prayerful impulsiveness diverted in one direction would be more thrilling, because of the feeling of union in the same ideals that was bound to result. By means of a cube of masonry, composed of stone and clay placed against the wall of the building looking south, he primitively established the Qiblah, or direction of prayer, towards the Temple of Jerusalem.

But he was ordered by a verse to change the direction towards Makkah: "_We have formerly seen thee turning thy face towards every part of the Heaven; but We will a.s.suredly have thee turn to a Qiblah which shall please thee. Turn then thy face towards the Sacred Mosque, and wherever ye be, turn your faces in that direction._" (THE QUR'AN, II, 139).

And ever since that day, the Qiblah remains definitively fixed for all the Mussulmans of the world, in the direction of the Temple of Makkah.

[Sidenote: INSt.i.tUTION OF THE AZAN, OR CALL OF THE MU'AZZIN]

Prayer in common is incontestably the most profitable; the fervour of each Believer communicating with the soul of his neighbour. "It is worth twenty-seven times more than isolated prayer," says the Prophet.

It was therefore necessary to summon all Believers together every day, at the same hours fixed for the five prayers.

How was the exact time of meeting to be determined? Scattered over the different districts of the city, some came too early; others too late.

A consultation of the leading Moslems took place. Some were for the use of a beacon, to be lit on a commanding eminence; others suggested the blowing of a horn; and the rest proposed bell-ringing. But all these methods were rejected, because they were borrowed, from Persians, Jews or Christians.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _The Mu'azzin's Call._]

Meanwhile, Abdullah ibn Zayd arrived, and he told of a dream he had had the night before. A man attired all in green pa.s.sed close to me, carrying a hand-bell. I stopped him and begged him to sell me his bell. 'What dost thou want it for?'--'To summon Believers to prayer.'--'A much better way,' he replied, 'would be to proclaim the profession of faith of Islam with all the strength of thy lungs.'

The Prophet, alive to the fact that the resonance of the human voice is more capable of communicating emotion than the most perfect metal instrument of music, declared at once: 'In thy dream was truth. Go and find Bilal. His voice is powerful and harmonious. I charge thee to order him to mount to the roof of the Mosque and summon the Believers to prayers.' So Bilal, the freed negro, told to call all the Believers together, of all ranks and races, uttered from the terrace of the Mosque the cry of the Islamic soul: "_Allah is great! There is no G.o.d but Allah, and Mohammad is the Prophet of Allah! Come to prayer! Come to Salvation!_"

Like exquisite perfume wafted from a priceless flask, these words in the melodious voice of Bilal and issuing from his strong lungs, resounded through the city. Echoing in all dwellings, they caused every citizen to inhale with delight the refreshing scent of prayer.

Ever since, in every Mosque all the world over, it is the duty of a crier, called a "muazzin," to give this summons to prayer five times daily which he does from the top of a slender minaret erected for that purpose.

[Sidenote: THE FAST OF RAMADHAN]

After having decided that the human voice should be used for the call to prayer, Mohammad, when first he dwelt in Al-Madinah, continued to set forth the formal obligations of the Islamic religion.

He was in the habit of fasting three days every month when he received this Revelation: "_As to the month Ramadhan, in which the Qur'an was sent down to be man's guidance ... as soon as anyone of you observeth the moon, let him set about the fast..... You are allowed on the night of the fast to approach your wives: they are your garment and ye are their garment ... Eat and drink until ye can discern a white thread from a black thread by the daybreak: afterwards fast strictly till night, and go not in unto them, but pa.s.s the time in the Mosques._"

(THE QUR'AN, II, 181, 183).

By these verses was the fast of the month of Ramadhan established, and numerous were the advantages accruing therefrom: man, full of self-love, runs after everything bringing material gratification, and flees from all that falls to the lot of the poor and the weak. To rid him of this fatal propensity, nothing is more salutary than the pangs of hunger and thirst. The Faithful, their bodies no longer burdened by their aliments, foregathered all day long, and the nourishment that prayer provided for their souls, was more impatiently expected than the nourishment of their stomachs.

In the torrid climate of Al-Madinah, nevertheless, their thirst, unquenched during never-ending summer days, became real torture. With dry throats, gasping, many among them were on the point of breaking down when they looked upon the limpid water of the "saqiya" and heard its tempting trickling. The example of their brethren, more resigned, soon made them pluck up fresh courage. The bonds of religious fraternity were tightened still more by this ordeal, and, having a.s.sisted each other to vanquish such terrible adversaries as hunger and thirst, Believers were ready to stand firm against the fiercest enemies among mortals.

During thirty days, without murmuring and with ever-increasing exaltation, the Ansars and the Mohadjirun went through the first fast of Ramadhan. At last the crescent of the new month was about to appear; every terrace-roof and all the hills were crowded with the Faithful, all trying to get the first glimpse. The sun's golden disc was scarcely submerged in the blue waves of the desert's horizon when every eye scrutinised anxiously the depths of the sky of emerald-like limpidity. Suddenly, in the lower part of the shaded canopy of heaven, the thin silver bow appeared. A long-drawn sigh escaped from every breast, as if each had been pierced by invisible arrows, shot from this bow.

But the Faithful had heaved no sigh of deliverance. On the contrary, the sigh was caused by regret at having so soon concluded the fasting ordeal, in easy payment of the debt of grat.i.tude owing to the Benefactor. During this pious trial, each soul was fortified and each body strengthened. In order to pa.s.s through the frightful deserts that encircled them, before going forth to conquer the world, the Believers were training themselves to get accustomed, as if it were a mere pastime, to endure the tortures of hunger and thirst that they were bound to undergo, later on, in the depths of these very wildernesses.

When, after such self-imposed deprivation, they were able to appreciate the real value of the benefit of food, the Prophet imposed upon them the "Sadaqat-ul-Fitr," the Alms of the Breaking of the Fast, forcing the Faithful rich to give a share of their victuals to the Faithful poor.

[Sidenote: PROPERTY BESTOWED IN ALMS, AND THE PROHIBITION OF FERMENTED LIQUOURS]

Mohammad judged that the obligation of feeding the poor once a year, the day after the fast, was insufficient. He completed his ruling by inst.i.tuting the "Zakat-ul-Mal," the bestowal of property in alms, intended to safeguard the existence of pauper Mussulmans without overburdening rich folks.

This kind of almsgiving, being one of the five foundations of pratical religion, is due upon all property and revenue whatsoever: gold, silver, flocks, fruits, grain; and varies from a third to a tenth of such resources. It should be bestowed with the greatest tact and humility:

"_O ye who believe! make not your alms void by reproach and injury, like him who spendeth his substance to be seen of men. The likeness of such an one is that of a rock with a thin soil upon it, on which a heavy rain falleth, but leaveth it hard * And the likeness of those who expend their substance from a desire to please Allah, and through their own steadfastness, is as a garden on a hill, on which the heavy rain falleth, and yieldeth its fruits twofold; and even if a heavy rain fall not on it, yet there is a dew ... * If ye give your alms openly, it is well; and if ye conceal them and give them to the poor, this too will be of advantage to you ... * Those who know them not, think them rich because of their modesty. By this their token thou shall know them--they ask not of men with importunity: and whatever good thing ye expend in alms, Allah verily taketh knowledge of it. *

Ye shall by no means attain to goodness till ye expend that which ye love as alms. * But alms are only to be given to the poor and the needy, and those who collect them, and to those whose hearts are won to Islam, and for ransoming, and for debtors, and for the cause of Allah, and the wayfarer. This is an ordinance from Allah._" (THE QUR'AN, II, 266, 267, 275. III, 86. IX, 60.) By the foregoing verses, was inst.i.tuted the impost of the "Zakat-ul-Mal;" literally: "The Purification," because it serves, as it were, to "purify" wealth and excuse it.

The Prophet foresaw the universal ravages of alcoholism, as deadly in its effects as the worship of idols, and he forbade the use of fermented liquors. He had first received this Revelation: "_They will ask thee concerning vinous liquors ... Say: In them is great sin, and advantage also, to men; but their sin is greater than their advantage._" (THE QUR'AN, II, 216.)

Many among the Faithful gave up these beverages, whilst others could not bring it over their hearts to do so. A second Revelation brought this caution: "_Come not to prayer when drunken, bid wait till ye can understand what ye utter._" (THE QUR'AN, IV, 46.)

Ali caused this announcement. Having drunk to excess just at the hour of prayer, he recited: 'O ye Unbelievers ... we worship what ye worship. Ye have no religion and I have no religion,' instead of saying: "_O ye Unbelievers * I worship not what ye worship! * To you your religion; and to me my religion._" (THE QUR'AN, CIX, 1, 2, 6.)

Formal prohibition was finally decreed in these imperative verses: "_O Believers! Wine and games of chance, and statues and the divining arrows, are only an abomination of Satan's work! Avoid them, that ye may prosper. * Only would Satan sow hatred and strife among you, by wine and games of chance, and turn you aside from the remembrance of Allah, and from prayer: will ye not, therefore, desist from them? Obey Allah and obey the Apostle!_" (THE QUR'AN, V, 92, 93.)

[Sidenote: AYISHAH IN THE HOUSE OF THE PROPHET]

Ayishah, so kind, witty, and learned, was only the Prophet's wife in name. About this time, she became a member of his household.

Quoth Ayishah: "One day, surrounded by my companions, I was playing on a swing. Umm-i-Rumman, my mother, called me.