The Life of Mohammad Part 23

"I remarked to the Prophet: 'Thou knowest how proud is Abu Sufyan.

Invest him with some authority, no matter what, and he will be bound to us definitively.'

"My idea met with Mohammad's approbation and he gave out the following proclamation: 'He who taketh refuge in the dwelling of Abu Sufyan will be in safety; he who taketh refuge in the Temple will be in safety; he who layeth down his arms and remaineth shut up in his house will be in safety.'

"The Prophet then said to me: 'O Abbas! bring Abu Sufyan to a halt where the valley is narrow, on the mountain top, so that all the warriors of Allah will pa.s.s before his eyes.' I obeyed and took my stand with Abu Sufyan on one of the rocks overhanging the outlet of the valley. One after the other pa.s.sed the soldiers of the Sulaym, the Muzayna, the Banu Ghifar, the Banu Ka'b, the Kinana, the Juhayn, etc., and my companion, despite all his efforts, could not hide the impression made upon him by the numbers of the Believers. When he caught sight of the Ashja, he cried out: 'Those tribesmen, notwithstanding, were the most inveterate of all the Prophet's enemies!'--'Truly,' I retorted, 'but Allah, in His Generosity, instilled Islam in their hearts!'

"At last, the Prophet appeared, surrounded by his bodyguard, the flower of his army, comprising the Ansars and the Mohadjirun, called "Al-Khadra," the green guards. When Abu Sufyan saw these warriors entirely covered in sombre armour, from which the sun caused blinding sparks to fly, he started in affright: 'By Allah! O Abbas, who are those men?'--'The Prophet with his companions, the Ansars and the Mohadjirun.'--'None can make a stand against such troops! Verily, O Abbas, this morning, thy brother's son is resplendent with the majesty of a glorious king!'--'His majesty is not that of a king, O Abu Sufyan! 'tis that of a Prophet. And now that thine eyes convince thee that all resistance would be rank folly, hasten back to thy people and let thy good advice save them from misfortune!' Without losing a minute, Abu Sufyan went on his way to the town, where immediately on arriving, he was surrounded by anxious crowds overwhelming him with questions. 'O a.s.sembly of the Quraish!' he cried, 'Mohammad is upon us with such an army that ye cannot hope to resist him for a single instant!'"

His wife, Hind, furious at the emotion caused by these tidings, caught him by his moustaches to make him hold his tongue and she bawled: 'Hearken not to the old fool and traitor! Kill him!' Tearing himself out of the shrew's clutches, Abu Sufyan went on: 'Woe unto you, if ye let yourselves be led astray by this woman! Again I say to you, ye are lost without fail if ye dream of resistance.' He then added proudly: 'All those who take refuge in the dwelling of Abu Sufyan will be in safety.'--'May Allah cause thee to perish!' was the reply made to him on all sides. 'How can thy house afford security for all of us?'

It was then that he concluded to announce that which he had intentionally omitted, out of pure vanity: 'Likewise will be in safety all those taking refuge in the Temple; and eke those who, laying down their arms, remain behind closed doors in their dwellings.'

[Sidenote: ENTRY OF THE PROPHET INTO MAKKAH]

The Prophet stopped his she-camel at Dhu Tawad. At the sight of Makkah, where he hoped to make his entry victoriously without shedding the blood of his fellow-countrymen, he offered up thanksgivings to the Most Generous, bowing down deeply until his beard swept the pummel of his saddle. He then placed his troops for the occupation of the city: Zubayr was to go in by the Kuda road; Khalid ibn Walid, by the outlying western districts; Sa'd ibn Ubayda, by the pa.s.s of Al-Kada.

But as the latter chieftain, in his ardour, let drop this remark: 'To-day is a day of carnage; allowable even in the holy precincts!'

Mohammad bade Ali deprive the rash speaker of his command and take charge of the standard in his place.

Zubayr, Ali, and Ubayda met with no resistance and, without striking a blow, occupied the parts of the city a.s.signed to them. As for Khalid, just as he pa.s.sed through the suburbs, a volley of arrows disturbed his troops and several of his men were killed. The darts came from marksmen in ambush, posted by Safwan ibn Umayya and Ikrimah, behind the rocks of the Jabal Al-Khandama. Without the least hesitation, Khalid called on his soldiers to storm the position. He routed the enemy, ma.s.sacred many and pursued the survivors, putting them to the sword. Some fled to the Temple; others ran towards the sea.

From the summit of Al-Hajun, which the Prophet had just reached, he saw the sparkle of spearheads and swords. 'What's this?' he cried.

'Did I not forbid all fighting?' He despatched an Ansar to Khalid and when he came into the presence of Mohammad, he upbraided him severely for having given battle against his strict orders.

'The enemy were the agressors. They riddled us with their arrows,'

replied Khalid. 'I held back as much as I could, but I was obliged to unsheath my sword to defend ourselves.... And Allah granted us the victory!'--'The Will of Allah be done!' concluded the Prophet, getting ready to make his own entry into the town.

He rode Qaswa, his favourite she-camel. Behind him, on the same animal, was Usama, the son of Zayd ibn Al-Haris. Mohammad prostrated himself on his saddle and recited the surah of Victory: "_Verily, We have won for thee an undoubted victory * In token that Allah forgiveth thy earlier and later faults, and fulfilleth his goodness to thee, and guideth thee on the right way. * And that Allah succoureth thee with a mighty succour._" (THE QUR'AN, XLVIII, 1, 2, 3.)

Round the red-striped drapery that covered his head, the Prophet rolled a black turban, letting one end hang down between his shoulders. He rode to the Ka'bah to perform the "tawaf", and without leaving the saddle, saluted the Black Stone by touching it with the end of a hooked stick. He then alighted to enter the sanctuary, but seeing the idols that dishonoured it, he started back in horror. In front of an image of Abraham holding divining arrows, he cried out: 'May Allah annihilate all those who represent our ancestor Abraham trying to peer into futurity by means of arrows!' Mohammad ordered the impious statue to be destroyed. With his own hands, he shattered a dove carved in wood and went in proclaiming: 'Allah is Great!'

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Bird's-eye View of Makkah, the Most Sacred City, as seen from the Jabal Abi-Qubais._ 2 views]

He then went up to the three hundred and sixty idols ranged round the Temple. Beginning with the biggest: Hubal, he pierced its eyes with the hooked stick, saying: 'Truth hath come, error hath vanished; error is perishable!' The idol fell face downwards, shattered in a thousand pieces.

One after the other suffered the same fate, as he pa.s.sed in front of them. A single effigy remained standing--the idol of the Khuza'a--fashioned out of bronze and enamel. It stood superbly erect on the Temple's terrace-roof. 'Kneel down,' was the order given by the Prophet to Ali. Mohammad mounted on his shoulders. 'Rise!' Ali was unable to do so, despite all his bodily strength. He felt himself crushed by supernatural weight: that of the Prophecy. Seeing this, the Prophet got down, knelt in his turn and said to Ali: 'Climb up on my back to destroy that idol!' Ali, overcome by confusion, refused; but finally obeyed, as Mohammad persisted.

Quoth Ali: "I stood upon the Prophet's shoulders; he drew himself up erect and I felt myself lifted by some unknown force by which I could have risen to heaven had I tried.

"The idol was fixed by iron clamps, but at the words of the Prophet: 'Truth hath come; error hath vanished,' it tottered without the least effort on my part and falling to the ground, crumbled away in dust."

The people, recovered from affright, stole gradually forth from their dwellings and, dumb with stupor, looked on while their impotent idols were being destroyed.... When the last vestige of idolatry had disappeared, the Prophet, turning towards the Ka'bah, proclaimed: 'There is no G.o.d but Allah! He hath no a.s.sociates! He hath kept his word and succoured His Servant and dispersed His enemies!' Mohammad turned to the Makkans: 'O a.s.sembly of the Quraish! how shall I treat you, do ye think?'--'With generosity, O generous brother, son of a generous man!' they replied, devoured by anxiety.--'Begone!' he told them. 'Ye are free!' (According to the laws of war, they were slaves and captives.)

The only exceptions to this magnanimous amnesty were made in the cases of eleven men and six women whose conduct had been inexcusable. He ordered them to be put to death, wherever found. The sentence was immediately carried out, and a few of the condemned were executed, including Huwarith, who brutally ill-treated Fatimah, the Prophet's daughter and Ali's wife, when she went away from Makkah.

In order to establish the new state of affairs firmly, Mohammad proceeded to appoint immediately the two most important functions of Makkah: the custodian of the Ka'bah and that of the Zamzam well.

He sent to claim the keys of the Temple from Uthman ibn Talha who, after having in a fit of fury locked the gates, took the keys away with him to his house. The Prophet had them torn from him forcibly, and intended to confide them to his uncle Abbas whom he maintained at his post as Superintendent of the Zamzam well. But a Revelation made the Prophet alter his mind and he was ordered to reinstate the former custodian of the Temple. Mohammad therefore charged Ali to take the keys back to Uthman and say to him: 'O son of Talha, take the keys once more and with them the appointment as custodian of the Ka'bah.'

This official, touched by such generosity, so little deserved, hastened to give the Prophet the promise of sincere grat.i.tude and absolute fidelity.

Just then a touching group approached: there was Abu Quhafa, an old blind man, bent beneath the burden of his eighty-seven years, and leaning on the arm of his son, Abu Bakr. 'Why didst thou not let this n.o.ble old man remain in his dwelling, whither I could have gone to see him?' said the Prophet to Abu Bakr.--'It is only right that he cometh to thee, and not that thou shouldst go to him,' replied Abu Bakr.

Mohammad made the venerable sightless man sit by his side, paying him great attention, stroking his breast affectionately, and was overjoyed to hear that Abu Quhafa had come to announce his conversion to the faith of Islam.

[Sidenote: THE PROPHET AT SAFA]

Next day, all the inhabitants of Makkah wended their way towards the hill of Safa where the Prophet had called them together to receive their submission.

Tranquilized already by the generosity of the first utterances and acts of their conqueror, they did not seem to be affected by the feelings of sadness, shame and dejectedness that usually overcome the vanquished. Was not their conqueror one of their own people? Would not his glory become their glory; his triumph, their triumph; and his empire, their empire? As a matter of fact, despite their hostility towards him, most of them had suffered cruelly at being separated from their genial fellow-countryman; the man who, in the heyday of his youth, had been called by them: "Al-Amin," the Reliable. They were greatly moved as they called to mind the mysterious charm of his personality and the irresistible allurement of his speech.

For some time past, in secret, they had feverishly longed to join the enthusiastic religious movement that Mohammad stirred up throughout the whole of Arabia, and become converted in their turn. How derisive their idols seemed now; the miserable fragments of the graven images swelling the garbage heaps swept out of the city! Even those men who exploited the superst.i.tion surrounding the false G.o.ds of wood or stone, were the first to arrive at Safa, being in a hurry to get the fact forgotten that they had been the priests of such a coa.r.s.e cult.

Despite the levelling humility which Mohammad required of all his disciples, those who had waxed fat on the proceeds of commercial idolatry were inwardly proud of the family ties binding them to the Prophet upon whom, of old, they had showered the vilest insults.

As for Mohammad, it is impossible to describe the sublime emotion that seized upon his great soul when he saw flocking to him from all parts, their eyes at last open to the Light, all those among his fellow-countrymen who had so stubbornly fought against him and whom he cherished, notwithstanding their injustice. Seated beneath the Prophet, Umar, as his deputy, received the submission of the Makkans who all came, one after the other, to strike his palm, and in the name of Mohammad, he pledged his word to protect them. When this grand ceremony was finished, a most poignant scene was enacted on the slopes of the hill.

An odious barrier, formed by the idols, which for nigh upon twenty years separated the Quraish Mohadjirun from the Quraish dwelling in Makkah, was broken down never to be set up again, and all the enemy brethren threw themselves in each other's arms, reconciled and reunited in "the Path of Allah."

A third group of brothers rejoined them soon. They were the Ansar citizens of Al-Madinah, the rival town to Makkah; and the two cities, now having become two sisters, called themselves by the glorious name of "Al-Haramani, the two Sacred Cities."

One incident, however, cast a gloom over this unforgettable manifestation that realised so perfectly the dream which had haunted the Prophet, filling him with superhuman perseverance. The Khuza'a, falling across one of the murderers of their brethren, cut his throat.

Mohammad caused the guilty parties to be brought before him and, after blaming them severely, he added: 'I will compensate your victim's relatives myself, but cease all reprisals. Too much blood hath been shed already. On the day when He created the Heavens and the Earth, Allah declared the territory of Makkah to be holy; its sacred character hath remained for all before me and shall remain for all after me. Not only shall the lives of human beings be sacred here, but it is likewise forbidden to hunt game, fell trees and cut gra.s.s.'--'In this prohibition, O Prophet! the Idhkhir must be excepted,' remarked Abbas. 'It furnisheth us with that which we cannot do without, to wit: fuel for the forge and the cooking of food.' After a moment's silence, the Prophet concluded: 'With the exception of the Idhkhir, which it will be allowable to uproot.' Following this declaration, all those condemned to death, and who had not been executed the first day, were granted a free pardon.

Among the crowd of Makkan women who came to declared their devotion, Mohammad's attention was drawn to a female hiding herself behind her companions. Despite the fact that she was disguised, he recognised ferocious Hind, the wife of Abu Sufyan. 'Aye! 'tis I!' she cried, throwing off her veil, 'I am Hind, and I implore pardon for the past!'

The Prophet, in spite of the odious mutilation of the body of his uncle Hamzah, forgave her. Hind, when she returned to her dwelling, lavished insults on her private family idol: 'O impotent idol! How mad we all were to rely on thy succour!' And she smashed it to pieces.

The son of Abu Jahal, Ikrimah, who had organised the ambush that nearly entrapped Khalid, fled to the sea coast. The fugitive's pardon was granted to Umm Hakim, his wife, who rejoined him when he was on the point of embarking. She brought him back, and the Prophet, fearful lest his companions, remembering how he had been so often outraged by Abu Jahal, Ikrimah's father, might seek to be avenged on Ikrimah personally, declared: 'Ikrimah hath come to Islam. Let no one insult his father's memory! To insult the dead is to wound the living!' And Ikrimah, deeply moved by such rare tolerance, became one of the most ardent defenders of the Religion.

Al-Uhayha, the slayer of Hamzah, was pardoned likewise, after becoming a convert to Islam. Habbar who, by a blow of the shaft of his spear, had brought about the death of Zainab, Mohammad's daughter, had fled, fearing deserved punishment; and then, confiding in the infinite clemency of the Prophet, came and gave himself up, after having embraced the Islamic faith in all sincerity. 'Go thy way in peace,'

said Allah's Apostle. 'Thy conversion doth wipe out the past; but never let me see thee more!'

Safwan, the second instigator of the ambush in which Khalid was to have fallen, profited also by the victor's magnanimity; and as he begged for a delay of two month's reflection before abjuring idolatry, the Prophet replied: 'I grant thee four months.'

Ibn Abi Sarh was the only man who had great trouble in softening the just wrath that his defection had kindled in Mohammad's heart. Ibn Abi Sarh was well versed in the arts of calligraphy and horsemanship.

Formerly in the Prophet's employ as secretary, he had shamelessly changed words and altered the sense of the Revelations whilst copying them out, in order to make a mockery of the Word of Allah. When his crime was discovered, he fled to Makkah and reverted to idol-worship.

When the town was taken, he took refuge under the roof of Usman ibn Affan, his foster-brother. After having kept the faithless scribe in hiding for some time, Usman made up his mind to take him to the Prophet and beg for mercy, but in vain. At each supplication, he averted his head. Finally, giving way to fresh and pressing entreaties, Mohammad consented to grant a free pardon, but when the guilty wretch was gone, the Prophet said to his companions: 'If I kept silence just now, it was but to give one of you time to kill him.'--'We were only waiting for one glance of thine eyes to put him to death.'--'A sign by a look of the eye is a treacherous act,' he replied, 'ill befitting one of Allah's Messengers.'

From the foregoing examples, it can be seen how carefully the Prophet tried to win over his fellow-countrymen by gentleness, but nevertheless never deviating from inexorable firmness when anything concerning idolatry was in question. His mercy led to results which could never have been obtained by sanguinary repression.

He conquered all hearts. With the exception of the Hawazin and the Saquifs, all the neighbouring tribes came in at once and made their submission. From that day onwards, no one could earn the t.i.tle of Mohadjer by emigration, because Islam was as firmly establised in Makkah as in Al-Madinah.

[Sidenote: GHAZWAH OR EXPEDITION OF HUNAIN (_6th day of Shawwal, Year VIII of the Hegira, 28th of January, A.D. 630_)]

Relying on the solidity of the ramparts surrounding their town of Taif; hoping to be able to take refuge there in case of defeat, the Hawazin and the Saquifs had refused to bow down to the Prophet. They even got ready to fight him and, under the leadership of two celebrated warriors, Malik ibn Awf and Durayd ibnu's-Simma, they mustered in the valley of Awtas.

Mohammad, being told about their plans, sent Ibn Abi Hadrad as scout.

When he came back with positive information, the Prophet resolved to set out and face his foes.