The Life of Mohammad Part 22

She at once became Mohammad's concubine. Hirqal, (Heraclius), the Roman Emperor, and the Najashi, (Negus), of Abyssinia, both replied by most courteous letters.

Kesra (Chosroes), King of Persia, swore he would punish the Prophet for his audacity and the Almighty immediately chastised the monarch, for he was murdered by his son Shiru'e, (Siroes), who took his father's place on the throne. Al-Harith, son of Abu Shamar, was fated to see his kingdom torn asunder, even as he had torn the letters delivered to him by the Prophet's envoy.

Only one of these amba.s.sadors, Al-Harith ibn Amr, was received with contumely and afterwards treacherously murdered near Karak in the Balqua region, following orders given by Shurabil al-Gha.s.sani who governed this region under Roman rule.

[Sidenote: THE EXPEDITION OF MUTAH (_Year VII of the Hegira, A.D.

629_)]

When the news of the outrage on his amba.s.sador came to the Prophet's ears, he determined to be instantly avenged, although he did not conceal from himself the dangers of the undertaking.

This time the Believers had to face, not only the Syrian Arabs, outnumbering those of the Hijaz, but also the Roman troops who occupied the Balqua-Land. The Prophet placed Zayd ibn Al-Haris at the head of three thousand men; but foreseeing that in this unequal struggle, his army might be deprived of its leader, he nominated in advance, as successor, Jafar, son of Abu Talib; and if misfortune befell Jafar, Abdullah ibn Rawaha; and lastly, in the case of anything unluckily happening to the latter, it was left to the soldiers to choose a commander themselves.

A Jew was present at the council of war and made the following remarks: 'O Abul Qasim! (a surname of Mohammad), if thou art really a Prophet, all the men thou hast appointed are irretrievably lost. When our prophets of Israel, after having placed a general at the head of their armies, used to add: 'and, if he is killed, name such an one in his place,' that infallibly meant that he was bound to lose his life.'

Then, turning to Zayd, he went on: 'I swear to thee that if Mohammad is a true Prophet, thou wilt never return from this expedition.' Zayd replied simply: 'I swear to thee that Mohammad is the Prophet of Allah.' Then the Apostle tied the white "Liwa" (flag) to a spearhead and gave it into the hands of Zayd.

Filled with funereal sentiments, Mohammad accompanied his troops to Saniyat-ul-Wida, (the Pa.s.s of Farewells). It was there that he halted and gave them his final instructions: 'Remain ever in fear of Allah.

Fight in his name and kill His foes who are yours. But leave in peace such men as dwell in the seclusion of monasteries. Spare women, children and the blind. Destroy no monuments; cut down no trees; and when ye shall have avenged the death of Al-Harith ibn Amr, summon the Arab tribes of Syria to Islam.'

Shurahbil, anxious as to the results of his cowardly outrage, called upon all the Arabs of the surrounding country: the Banu Bahra, the Banu Lakhm, the Judham, the Baliyy, etc., and he notified his fears to Theodurus, lieutenant of Heraclius, who sent him all the Roman troops then occupying the land.

Shurahbil had therefore mustered an army of nearly a hundred thousand men before the Mussulman forces arrived at Mu'an. When they found themselves fronting such formidable cohorts, the Believers remained two days and two nights in consultation and many among them proposed that a messenger should be despatched to the Prophet who would then decide whether they were to turn back or fight. Perhaps he might send them reinforcements. But the utterances of Abdullah ibn Rawaha revived the courage of the Believers. 'O comrades! how is it that ye seem to fear the very thing ye come to seek: martyrdom in the Holy War? We reckon not on numbers to gain the victory, but on the faith with which Allah hath inspired us!'--'Thou dost speak truly!' they cried and, hesitating no longer, advanced towards the enemy, coming in contact with him at Mutah, a little village situated south of the Karab fort.

Like lions, they dashed into the centre of their ma.s.sed foes, whose chief, Malik ibn Rafila, was killed by a spear-thrust.... Recovering from their first surprise and profiting by their great numerical superiority, the Infidels were not long in getting the best of the struggle and they encircled the Mussulmans completely. Outnumbered, Zayd ibn Al-Haris died the death of a hero; and Jafar, obeying the Prophet's instructions, bounded forward to uphold the standard that Zayd's contracted fingers still gripped, and to take command in his place.

Jafar rode a magnificent chestnut charger, but seeing the immediate danger, he alighted and hamstrung his steed, so that if the master succ.u.mbed, his horse should not be captured by the enemy to be used against Islam. By his example, he was able to rally the Believers and lead them in an enthusiastic charge, whilst waving the Islamic standard which proudly spread its wings above their heads. But soon, like an eagle wounded in its flight, the flag fell down; the hand that held it being hacked off by a blow from a scimitar.

Jafar picked up the standard, grasping it in his left hand, when another sword-cut sliced his unwounded wrist. Jafar stooped, and seizing the flag between the bleeding stumps of his arms, he kept it aloft by pressing the staff against his breast, and with sublime heroism, continued to charge the enemy until he fell, riddled with ninety wounds.

Abdullah ibn Rawaha succeeded him and met with the same fate shortly afterwards. The Mussulmans, attacked on all sides, seeing their leaders struck down, gave way and began to flee in disorder. Arqam ibn Amir stopped them. 'O comrades!' he cried out, "tis better to be struck in the breast than in the back!' Picking up the standard, he pa.s.sed it on to Khalid ibn Walid who refused it at first, saying: 'Thou hast a better right to this honour than I, for thou wert at Badr.'

But Arqam insisting, Khalid took charge of the flag. His impetuous energy instilled fresh courage and confidence into the hearts of the Believers, ashamed of their momentary weakness, and being a skilful strategist as well as a valiant soldier, he succeeded with the help of Allah, in freeing the Mussulman troops and reorganising the fighting front in such masterly fashion that the Infidels were unable to claim the victory.

At sunrise, the next day, he was first to attack, so as not to give the enemy time to recover from his partial defeat. To deceive him with regard to the numerical weakness of the Islamic forces, he resorted to the following stratagem: by rapid evolutions of various sections of his army, he made the rearguards pa.s.s to the van, and _vice versa_, in such a way that the enemy, continually seeing fresh adversaries confronting him, imagined that the Mussulmans had been greatly reinforced during the night. The Infidels' certainty of triumph, mainly founded on their numbers, vanished; and seized with indescribable terror, they gave way, pursued by the Believers who slaughtered them ruthlessly. During that memorable day, Khalid had nine sabres broken in his hand.

By divine inspiration, the Prophet was informed of the ordeals of his army. After general prayer, he went up in the pulpit, his eyes full of tears, and cried out three times: 'The Gate of Good! Know ye all that Zayd hath fallen a martyr; implore the mercy of Allah in his favour.

Then Jafar and Abdullah died martyrs; implore the mercy of Allah for them. Then the standard was upheld by Khalid ibn Walid, who is the sword among all the swords of Allah. And the Almighty granted him victory.'

Mohammad afterwards went to see Asama bint Omis, the wife of Jafar, and bent down over his children to "smell" them; tears welling up in his eyes and trickling pearl-like down his beard. 'O Prophet!' asked Asama, 'what maketh thee weep? Hast thou had news of Jafar and his comrades?'--'Aye, and now they are no more!'

The wretched woman dropped down, groaning in despair and, lacerating her cheeks with her nails. Attracted by her shrieks, the other wives imitated her and the whole house resounded with lugubrious lamentation. The Prophet ordered one of his companions to impose silence on the women. 'It is not fitting,' said Mohammad, 'to mourn thus for Jafar. Hath he not obtained the great reward? I pray Allah that He may permit the father's place on this earth to be taken in posterity by the most accomplished among his children!'

Suddenly he lifted his eyes to heaven and murmured: 'The Salvation and Mercy of Allah be upon you!'--'To whom dost thou speak, O Prophet?'

asked one of his followers.--'I have just seen Jafar go by in the midst of a procession of angels. He was mounting to Paradise with ruby-studded wings in lieu of his amputated hands. He greeted me and I returned his greeting.'

Sohail, who recorded this tradition, is careful to add: 'Such are merely images: the wings are symbols of the supernatural strength of Jafar's soul; and the rubies are the precious drops of his blood.'

In the midst of the universal mourning at Al-Madinah, the Prophet ordered the funereal repast know as "Al-Oudhim," to be prepared. It was destined for the families of the martyrs; for it is hard for those whose souls are saddened to have to think about preparing nourishment for the body.

When the return of the army was announced, the whole of the population of the city, rich or poor, went out to meet it. The Prophet ordained that the mounted men should lift up the children and give them a ride on the pummels of the saddles. He took the son of Jafar in his arms and seated the child in front of him. The soldiers, on arriving, confirmed the tidings of their leaders' death and the people of Al-Madinah, thinking that these heroes had not been fully avenged, threw handfuls of dust in the soldiers' faces, and inveighed against them: 'O cowards! ye fled, even when ye trod the Path of Allah!'

The Prophet bade the crowd be silent and made this declaration: 'On the contrary, these warriors deserve your greatest praise, for they returned and charged courageously!'

[Sidenote: THE TAKING OF MAKKAH (_The 21st Day of Ramadhan Year VIII of the Hegira, January 11th A.D. 630_)]

It was not long before the idolaters of Makkah violated the ten years'

truce, signed at Al-Hudaibiyah.

By surprise, one night, they ma.s.sacred a score of Mussulmans belonging to the tribe of the Khuza'a, encamped at the well of Al-Watir. In face of such terrible treachery, the Prophet threw all scruples to the winds. Determined to attack, he proposed to organise an expedition.

The Makkans, well aware that their crime would not go unpunished, delegated Abu Sufyan to go to Al-Madinah, to offer compensation and ask for the truce to be maintained. On arriving, Abu Sufyan went to the dwelling of Umm Habiba, his daughter, who, as we know, was one of Mohammad's wives. But, when he made as if to sit down on a carpet, Umm Habiba, guessing his purpose, quickly folded up the rug and placed it on one side. 'O my daughter,' said Abu Sufyan in offended tones, 'dost find thy father unworthy of that carpet, or is that carpet unworthy of thy father?'--'That carpet belongeth to the Prophet,' she replied.

'Now thou art a worshipper of idols; therefore in a state of impurity, and thou wouldst sully it with thy impiety.'--'Of a surety, O my daughter, some misfortune hath happened, bringing disorder to thy mind, since the day thou left us!'

Understanding, by this kind of welcome, that there was no hope for him in that quarter, he sought out the Prophet from whom no reply was obtained. Then he made desperate attempts to circ.u.mvent Abu Bakr; and tried his best with Umar and Ali, supplicating them to intercede in favour of his fellow-citizens, but with no greater success. Full of apprehension, he mounted his camel and went back on the road to Makkah.

The steps taken by Abu Sufyan no longer allowed the Prophet to conceal his designs. His sole care was to hurry on with his preparation, so as to surprise the men of Makkah before they had time to place the city in a state of defence. On the tenth day of the month of Ramadhan, after having left Abu Ruhm Kulthum al-Shifari as his lieutenant at Al-Madinah, the Prophet set out, followed by an army of no inconsiderable strength, increased on the way by numerous tribes joining, and the total forces soon numbered ten thousand men.

The fast of Ramadhan was strictly kept by all the Faithful, but when they reached the well of Al-Kadid in the middle of the day exactly, the Prophet judged that their constancy had been sufficiently tested.

Fearing that deprivation of drink, joined to extreme fatigue, might have a dangerous effect on their health, he asked for a jar filled with water to be brought to him. Overlooking the crowd on his tall she-camel, he swallowed a mouthful in front of all, so as teach by his example that they might break their fast when on a journey as soon as they felt their strength exhausted. Thus prescribes the Qur'an: "_But he among you who shall be sick, or on a journey, shall fast that same number of other days._" (II, 180.)

After that halt, the Prophet hastened the march of his army so actively that he camped at Marru'dh-Dhahran, close to the town gates, before the Quraish were able to find out anything about the important strength of the Mussulman troops, or the road they had taken.

Abbas, Mohammad's uncle, kept in Makkah till then by his business functions as superintendent of the water supply, joined the Believers at Al-Juhfa, with the whole of his family. The sincerity of his conversion had not caused him to forget the love he felt for his fellow-citizens. He was most uneasy about their fate, in case they should behave in such a way that Mohammad would be forced to take the town by murderous onslaught.

Quoth Abbas: "When the tents were pitched, I rode the Prophet's white mule and went to Al-Arak, on the road to the Arafa, hoping to meet a carrier of wood, brickmaker, or pilgrim whom I might charge to take a warning to the Quraish and exhort them to go and implore the mercy of Allah.

"Whilst advancing with due precaution in the dark, two men pa.s.sed quite close to me. They were hidden from my sight by big boulders and they talked in whispers. One of them, his mind engrossed by the myriads of golden stars that the camp-fires of the Faithful caused to scintillate on the hills beneath the real silvery stars of the firmament, said: 'Never have I seen so many lights as this night on those mountains.'--'They are probably the camp-fires of the Khuza'a, determined to wage war to avenge their dead.'--'The Khuza'a are not so numerous. No, truly, these cannot be their fires!' replied the first speaker whose voice I recognised. It was that of Abu Sufyan. 'O father of Handala!' I called to him.--'O father of Al-Fadl! if 'tis thee, what dost thou want of me?' he returned, having also recognised my voice.--'O Abu Sufyan! the Prophet is here at the head of such a great army that all resistance is impossible. To-morrow the Quraish will be cut to pieces!'--'What is to be done! Canst thou advise me?'--'If thou art taken prisoner during the fight, thy head will be cut off. Doubt it not. But get up behind me on my mule. I will take thee to Mohammad and implore him for thee.'

"Abu Sufyan, understanding that this was his last hope of safety, could only submit. He got up behind me and we went on in front of his companion Budayl, who made up his mind to follow us.

"Every time the flicker of one of the many camp-fires lit up our little group, on the dark background, sentinels stopped us, asking: 'Who is that man?' But when I told them that I was Abbas, the Prophet's uncle, and as they recognised the mule, they allowed us to pa.s.s....

"All went well until we came to the lights of Umar's tents. He came forward to meet us and also demanded: 'Who is that man?' Just then, the flame of the brazier lit up the face of my companion who held me tightly. Umar knew him again, and cried out in sudden joy: 'Ah! 'tis thee, Abu Sufyan, with no treaty or safe-conduct, O enemy of Allah!

The Almighty be praised for delivering thee into our hands!'

"He ran to the Prophet's tent. I made the mule gallop along, outstripped him and jumped off, going into Mohammad's tent; but Umar arrived, almost at the same instant. 'O Prophet!' he shouted. 'Here is Abu Sufyan, Allah's enemy, without treaty or safe-conduct, given up to us by the Almighty! Charge me to cut his head off!'

"I interfered: 'O Prophet! He is under my protection. No one but me shall go near him this night.' As Umar kept on manifesting still greater hatred, I said to him: 'Softly, O Umar! If Abu Sufyan was one of the Banu Adi ibn Kab, thy relatives, thou wouldst not behave in this way; but he is one of the Banu Abd Manaf, related to the Prophet, which thou must not forget!'

"Umar made answer: 'Softly, O Abbas! Know that thy conversion gave me more pleasure than that of my father, Al-Khattab, would have caused me, for he lived and died in idolatry; for the sole reason that, as I know well, the Prophet attached more importance to thy conversion than to that of my father.' Allah's Messenger cut our dispute short by saying: 'Take away Abu Sufyan, O Abbas, and to-morrow at dawn, come back here with him.'

"I obeyed. Abu Sufyan pa.s.sed the night in perfect safety in my tent, but seeing all the Mussulmans rise up at one bound at the first glimmer of daybreak, he was overcome by anxiety. 'O father of Al-Fadl!' he asked; 'what are they about? Do they want to kill me?'--'Be not alarmed,' I told him in reply. 'They only want to pray.'

"At the sight of these ten thousand men, the mysterious light reflected by the rosy dawn playing on them; all piously repeating every gesture of the Prophet; bowing down when he bowed down and prostrating themselves when he prostrated himself, he could not refrain from exclaiming: 'By Allah! I have never seen kings obeyed as this man is obeyed; not even Chosroes, nor Caesar, nor any of the most powerful monarchs of the universe!'

"'Come,' I told him, when prayers had been said. 'I will intercede for thee; and thou wilt intercede for thy qawm.'--'How now?' asked the Prophet when the idolater came before him. 'Dost thou not acknowledge, O Abu Sufyan! that there is no G.o.d but Allah?'--'By my father and my mother! How patient, generous and conciliatory thou art! Yea, I acknowledge it. If with Allah there were other G.o.ds, they would have given me some little help.'--'Dost thou acknowledge that I am the Prophet of Allah?'--'By my father and my mother! As for that, there is still some doubt in my mind. I will see later.'--'Woe unto thee! O Abu Sufyan!' I exclaimed, indignant at his reply. 'Hasten to bear witness to the whole truth, or I deprive thee of my protection and thine head will fall from thy shoulders!'

"Abu Sufyan still hazarded a few objections: 'What wilt thou do with the statue of Al-Uzza that is in my dwelling?'--'Thou shalt throw it in the privy!' shouted an angry voice. It was that of Umar, listening behind the canvas of the tent, hoping to be ordered to execute the man who had been an enemy of Allah. 'Woe unto thee, O Umar! thou art an indecent fellow,' he replied. 'Let me come to terms with my uncle's son.'

"Having made up his mind by this time, he recited the profession of Islamic faith integrally, at the same time as his companion Budayl, who had just rejoined us.