The Life of Mohammad Part 9

These remarks broke the charm, and the crowd, veering round, showed its hostility by shouting insults. The Prophet saw that there was no hope for him in that town for the moment, and rose up to depart.

So as to make it impossible for him to renew his attempt, his contradictors stirred up the lowest dregs of the populace against him.

Slaves and vagabonds, arrayed in a double row, awaited him on each side of the road he was bound to take. They found amus.e.m.e.nt in stoning his bare legs. When exhausted by his sufferings, he sat down in the middle of the road, trying to shield his bleeding feet, his tormentors lifted him up by the arms and continued their barbarous fun. In vain, devoted Zayd tried to protect him by getting in front of him; the faithful henchman was struck down by a stone that cut his face.

Staggering, falling, rising and dragging themselves along in the midst of sneering jibes, Mohammad and his companion at last reached a garden wall, behind which they took refuge, and dropped extenuated in the shade of a tree covered with vine branches, leaves and grapes.

'O Allah!' cried the Prophet, 'To Thee I complain of my puny strength and the failure of my zeal with regard to these men. O Thou! most Compa.s.sionate and Merciful, Thou art the Lord of the weak and Thou art my Lord! I have none but Thee on whom to lean! But if Thou be not angry with me because I am powerless to ensure love and respect for Thy Word, I care nothing for all the ordeals I undergo!'

The villanous mob did not dare to trespa.s.s in the garden in order to follow up their victims. The owners of the property, charitable folks, indignant at the scene they had just witnessed, ordered Adas, their gardener, to gather bunches of grapes and carry a basketful to their momentary guests.

When the inflammation of their limbs, covered with bruises, had subsided by reason of repose in the beneficial shade; and their thirst being quenched by the honeyed juice of the celebrated grapes of Taif, the Prophet and his companion set out again on the road to Makkah.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _The Departure._ 2 views]

Foreseeing the welcome in store for him, Mohammad could not do otherwise than claim the a.s.sistance of some influential citizen.

Halting at the cave of Mount Hira, he sent Zayd to find a protector.

After two rebuffs at the hands of Al Akhnas and Sohail, who excused themselves, Zayd approached Muta'm bin Adiyy who, consenting to take the responsibility on himself, armed his serving-men and posted them in the precincts of the Ka'bah. Brought back by Zayd, Mohammad was then enabled, thanks to the escort of this little army, to make the seven ritual circuits before returning to his dwelling.

[Sidenote: THE NOCTURNAL JOURNEY AND ASCENSION]

"Al-Isra," the Nocturnal Journey, and "Al-Miraj" the Prophet's Ascension, have given rise to innumerable debates between the doctors of Islam. Some think that this miraculous journey was really, physically accomplished; whilst others, relying on the most accredited traditions--among which is that of Ayishah, Abu Bakr's daughter and Mohammad's favourite wife--maintain that Mohammad's soul alone undertook the journey, and that it should only be looked upon as a veracious vision such as frequently came to the Prophet in his sleep.

One night, the twenty-seventh of the month of Rabi'-ul-Awwal, the angel Jibra'il, upon whom devolved the duty of directing the heavenly bodies, was ordered by the Almighty to increase the moon's brilliancy by adding a part of the sun's radiance; and that of the stars by a share of the moon's brightness, so that the firmament that night should be resplendent with light. The Angel was then to descend to where Mohammad was sleeping, and carry him up to Allah through the seven zones of Heaven.

Quoth the Prophet: "I was in a deep sleep when Jibra'il appeared to me, bringing Al-Buraq, the Prophet's usual mount. This animal ressembled none to be found on earth. His size was greater than that of an a.s.s; less than that of a mule. His coat was more dazzlingly white than snow; he had the face of a man, but was dumb. Great wings like those of a bird allowed him to rise in the air and career through s.p.a.ce. His mane, tail, feathers and breast-piece were studded with priceless precious stones that sparkled like myriads of stars.

"I got on his back and, in a twinkling, he carried me from the "Masjidu'l-Haram" to the "Masjidu'l-Aqsa" (_i.e._ the Sacred Makkan Temple to the faraway Temple of Jerusalem). I alighted and fastened his bridle to the ring used by the Prophets. A man appeared in front of me, offering a cup of milk and a cup of wine. I drank the milk and refused the wine. Jibra'il, who had accompanied me without outstripping me or allowing me to outrun him, approved what I had done. 'If thou hadst preferred wine to milk,' he told me, 'thy people would have preferred Error to Truth.'"

After visiting the Temple, the Prophet climbed up the "Sakhrah," the Sacred Rock (on which now stands the marvellous dome of the Mosque of Umar) which bowed down in his honour and also so as to enable him to remount Al-Buraq. Still led by his celestial guide, he continued his journey by ascending through the Heavens.

We need not copy the descriptions of this Ascension, or "Miraj," in every detail. Many writers, particularly the Persians, have given a free rein to their imagination in this connection, whilst others, more serious, such as Ibn-i-Hisham, Ibn-i-Sad and Abul Fida, are content to set forth an extremely simple narrative. We shall only mention Mohammad's meeting with the Prophets known before him: Abraham, Moses and Jesus; then his visit to the Paradise of Believers, where the gardens honoured him by giving out sweet odours and his halt in h.e.l.l, destined to receive Unbelievers, where the flames congealed when he went along.

After having pa.s.sed through the seven zones of the Heavens, it was not long before he heard the scratching of pens writing in the "Book of Fate," and the thanksgivings of the angels glorifying the Almighty.

Finally, he reached the "Sidratu'l-Muntaha," the "Lote-tree of the Extremity." At this spot, Jibra'il left him, saying: "Here is the boundary of Knowledge, where I am forced to halt. As for thee, O Prince of Messengers! O friend of the Master of the Worlds! continue thy glorious Ascension and progress in the Light of thy Lights." And the Chosen One continued to pa.s.s through the veils covering that which is hidden, until he reached the veil of Unity and looked upon that which eyes cannot see, nor minds imagine. The eyes of his body would not have been able to support the brilliancy of this sight which must have brought on blindness. Therefore, Allah opened the eyes of Mohammad's heart, thus permitting him to contemplate the Infinite Splendour.

Allah bade him draw near to His throne, "_at the distance of two bows, or even closer_" (THE QUR'AN, LIII, 9), and after having confirmed the choice He had made in charging Mohammad to be the carrier of Good Tidings to His servants, He fixed the number of prayers--fifty in all--that each Believer should offer up daily to the Creator, in grat.i.tude for His bounty.

When the Chosen One went down, Moses met him again and questioned him.

'O Prophet of Allah! what hath our Master ordered thee with regard to the number of prayers which His disciples should offer up?'--'Fifty prayers during the day and the night.'--'O thou, the best of created beings!' Moses rejoined, 'go back to our Master, and beg Him to lighten this burden, too heavy for the weakness and laziness of mankind.' So Mohammad went back several times into the presence of the Master of the Worlds, until he prevailed upon Him to reduce the number of prayers to five only.

This parable, which serves to decide definitively the number of daily prayers, also demonstrates admirably that an excess of devotion, in the Islamic creed, is considered to be an error. "_Allah desireth to make your burden light to you: for man hath been created weak._" (THE QUR'AN, IV, 32.) Why should the Almighty be in need of the prayers of mankind? "_We ask not of Thee to make provision for thyself--We will provide for Thee._" (THE QUR'AN, XX, 132.)

Allah has sent prayer to His servants as one of His most salutary favours. Five times daily, devotion brings absolute rest to Believers; that is to say, complete interruption of the feelings that stir them, whether an excess of joy leading to ruin in the aberrations of debauchery, or an excess of sadness causing them to perish in the madness of despair. Five times daily, prayer forces them by its accompanying ablutions, to call to mind the cleanliness of the body, at the same time as the purity of the soul.

The day after his vision, the Prophet, beaming with delight, was met by his mortal enemy, Abu Jahal, who addressed him ironically: 'O Mohammad! hast thou not one of those marvellous tales which we are used to hear from thee to tell us this morning?'--'Indeed I have!'

replied the Prophet. 'Between yesternight and this morning I have been to Jerusalem and back.'--'Gather round quickly, O Quraish! Hasten and hearken to the wonderful adventure of the nocturnal journey undertaken by Mohammad!' shouted Abu Jahal.

The crowd soon grew, and the Prophet gave out the narrative we have just set forth. Most of his hearers, belonging to the clan of the idol-worshippers, followed the example of their chieftain and received it with outbursts of the coa.r.s.est merriment. Some clapped their hands; others held their heads in their hands as if to stop their brains from bursting. As for the Believers, one party was undecided whether to put faith in the story or not; and the remainder, unsettled by the att.i.tude of the public, dared not manifest their confidence openly.

Profiting by the confusion, Abu Jahal hastened to speak to Abu Bakr.

'Maybe thou dost not know the last extraordinary adventure of thy Prophet? He pretends to have accomplished in the night the journey from the "Holy Temple" of Makkah to the "Faraway Temple" of Jerusalem--there and back!' Abu Jahal was full of glee, in antic.i.p.ation, at the thought of the vexation and bewilderment which were sure to be seen in the face of his fellow-citizen.

Contrary to Abu Jahal's expectations, however, Abu Bakr replied without uneasiness: 'Whatever Mohammad a.s.serts is true and I believe it. If he maintains that he went up to the seventh Heaven in an hour and came back in the same s.p.a.ce of time, I should still have faith in his declarations.'

Such dependable testimony caused the Faithful to take heart; thus it turned out that Abu Jahal, by trying to instil incredulity in men's minds, only succeeded in strengthening their beliefs. Desirous of catching the Prophet redhanded as a cheat, Abu Jahal interrogated him concerning the Temple of Jerusalem, calling on him for a description thereof. But he was utterly routed when Mohammad, whom his foe thought had never set foot in Jerusalem, except during this nocturnal vision, described the city in all its peculiarities and with great accuracy, endorsed by all among those a.s.sembled who had ever undertaken that journey.

Therefore the Believers, their faith revived, hastened to put on the five "Garments of Purity," which means that they offered up the five prayers brought down to them from Heaven by the Prophet.

[Sidenote: HOW SIX INHABITANTS OF YASRIB WERE CONVERTED (_A.D. 620_)]

Towards the end of the year, Usman ibn Affan and his wife Ruqaiyah returned from Abyssinia, accompanied by a few emigrants, among whom, one of them, called Sukran, died on arrival. The Prophet married his widow, Sauda, daughter of Zoma, thus rewarding the zeal of one of the first female converts to Islam, who had so valiantly undergone the ordeals of persecution and exile.

Wishing, in the same way, to show his appreciation of the unchanging devotion of Abu Bakr, the Veracious, and to bind him still closer by a matrimonial alliance, the Prophet, at the same epoch, espoused his daughter Ayishah, although she had barely reached the age of ten. But, in her case, the marriage was not consummated until many years later, at Al-Madinah, after the Hegira.

Despite Abu Bakr's energetic affirmations; despite the strengthening of the Believers' zeal by the rule of the five prayers, the story of the Nocturnal Ascension was far from being advantageous to the cause of Islam. The narrative, on the contrary, furnished its enemies with an opportunity of petty triumph, enabling them to pile up fresh mockery and inst.i.tute greater persecution.

The case would have seemed hopeless to any other but Mohammad. He knew not what it meant to be discouraged, feeling certain that the Almighty would never abandon His Apostle to whom He had revealed the following verses: "_Say: I betake me for refuge to the Lord of Men, * The King of Men, * Allah of Men * Against the mischief of the stealthily withdrawing whisperer (Satan) * Who hides himself at the Name of Allah, * Who whispereth in man's breast against Jinn and men._" (THE QUR'AN, CXIV, 16.)

Postponing for the time being the conversion of the Makkans, the Prophet turned his attention towards Arab strangers in the town, attracted in great crowds by the ceremonies of the pilgrimage to the Ka'bah and the ritual circuits. During the fair that was held at that time, he went untiringly from group to group. But, just as indefatigable, close behind, was his uncle, Abu Lahab, who, as soon as he saw the Prophet in the centre of a ring of men, would call out loudly to them: 'Hearken not to that man! His sole thought is to tear the cult of Lat and Uzza from out of your hearts; and trick ye all with the insane doctrines that he pretends it is his Mission to preach.'

These words aroused the Arabs' suspicions, and they turned away from Mohammad with remarks after this fashion: 'Thy fellow-citizens know thee better than we, so begin by convincing them!' Or else: 'If Allah should cause thee to triumph, thy glory will not profit us, but only thy party. Therefore, it is not to our advantage to ally ourselves to thee.'

These rebuffs had no effect on the Prophet. No sooner did any noteworthy person arrive in Makkah than Mohammad sought his presence at once.

One day, on the hill of Aqabah, he went up to a group of six men, fresh arrivals, and with his usual politeness, he addressed them thus: 'What are you, O my good Lords?'--'We are of the Khazraj tribe.'--'Masters over the Jews settled in Yasrib, methinks?'--'We are indeed their masters.'--'Will ye not sit down here awhile, so that I may speak with you?'--'Willingly.'

They sat by his side, and he tried to gather them into the fold of Islam by reciting verses of the Qur'an. Charmed by his eloquence and the novelty of his words, the Khazraj men listened attentively and paused to reflect.

The Jews, inhabiting their land and bent beneath their yoke, were folks well versed in the knowledge of Holy Writ. Thus it was that whenever disagreement arose between them and their masters, these children of Israel were wont to murmur: 'We await the coming of a Prophet. When his hour arrives, we shall all follow him and thanks to his a.s.sistance, we shall triumph over you and become your masters in our turn.' Whilst Mohammad spoke unto the tribesmen, they exchanged glances and came to this conclusion: 'Evidently this is the Prophet whose advent is threatened by the Jews. We must not let them forestall us with him.'

So they replied to his appeal, saying: 'Our land is made desolate by perpetual war waged between us and our Arab brothers, the Aus tribe.

We will go to them, and call their attention to thy cause and thy religion. If through thee, Allah should reconcile and unite us, there will not be in all Arabia a man more powerful than thee!'

[Sidenote: THE TWO OATHS OF THE AQABAH (_A.D. 621_)]

The new converts kept their word and spread Mohammad's doctrines in their region. The following year, twelve Mussulmans from Yasrib, ten being of the Khazraj and two belonging to the Aus, arrived in Makkah for the Mausam rejoicings. They met the Prophet on the Aqabah and took an oath of fidelity towards him. With a view to completing their religious education and making fresh converts, Mohammad delegated Musab ibn Umr, one of his most learned disciples, who went away with them.

In Yasrib, the Islamic creed did not meet with the difficulties that hampered its progress in Makkah, where it was harmful to the interests of the exploiters of the idols. Musab's task turned out to be particularly easy, and the "Permanent Miracle" of the Surahs of the Qur'an, recited by him, produced its effect with lightning-like rapidity. Resembling a beneficial rainstorm which might have broke, in a few minutes, over every part of a country suffering from drought, restoring life and fertility, Islam had diffused its wholesome dew over every district of the town, calming dissensions and causing the virtues necessary for its triumph to take root and flourish in the citizens' hearts.

Soon there was not a single family among the Aus or the Khazraj which did not count several Believers among its members. Musab, who had good reasons to be proud of the result of his mission, returned to Makkah to report progress to Mohammad. When the date of the pilgrimage came due, seventy-five Mussulmans, two being women, joined the caravan of their fellow-citizens who were still idolaters. The converts, full of zeal, arranged to meet the Prophet on the Aqabah, during the night preceding the second day of Tashriq, in order to offer a safe place of refuge in their city, for him and his disciples.

Ka'b ibn Malik, one of the pilgrims, has said: "We made up our minds to keep our movements secret from our idolatrous fellow-citizens, among whom we slept until one third of the night was pa.s.sed. We then went out, one after another, stealthily, making our way, slowly and silently, towards a pa.s.s on the slopes of the Aqabah, where we all met together to await the Prophet. He soon arrived, accompanied by his uncle Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib.

"He had not yet abjured the religion of his ancestors, but he had great affection for his nephew from whom he wished to ward off all misfortune, following the example of his brother, Abu Talib. Having been informed of the plans of the people of Yasrib, Abbas wanted to see for himself what amount of confidence Mohammad could have in their proposals. Abbas was the first to address the meeting and spoke as follows: 'O a.s.sembly of the Khazraj and the Aus! my brother's son, as ye know, holds high rank among us, and although we do not share his convictions, we have hitherto protected him against his fellow-citizens. In our "qawm" he finds honour and safety.

Nevertheless, at the present hour, he turns towards you, and desires to settle in your midst. Reflect! if ye decide to remain faithful to your promises and shield him from all dangers whatsoever, it will be well. But should ye fear to be forced one day to throw him over, and give him into the hands of his enemies, it would be better, now at once, to confess that your purpose is not steadfast by withdrawing your proposals and leaving him with his own party.'

"Without the slightest hesitation, we answered Abbas: 'Thou hast heard what we proposed. Thou canst rely on us absolutely!' Then we turned to Mohammad: 'Speak, O Prophet! What dost thou want of us, for thy Lord and for thyself?'

"After having recited a few Surahs and recapitulated the fundamental principles of Islam, the Prophet added: 'Swear that ye will fight to defend me and my disciples, as ye would fight to defend your wives and children.'