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 massacred 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 circumvent 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 passed 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 pass....
"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 passed 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 Cæsar, 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 God 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 gods, 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.
"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 pass 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 passed 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 Assembly 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.'
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 pass 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 assigned to them. As for Khalid, just as he passed 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, massacred 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!'
Illustration: Bird's-eye View of Makkah, the Most Sacred City, as seen from the Jabal Abi-Qubais.Bird's-eye View of Makkah, the Most Sacred City, as seen from the Jabal Abi-Qubais.
Bird's-eye View of Makkah, the Most Sacred City, as seen from the Jabal Abi-Qubais.
Illustration: Bird's-eye View of Makkah, the Most Sacred City, as seen from the Jabal Abi-Qubais.Bird's-eye View of Makkah, the Most Sacred City, as seen from the Jabal Abi-Qubais.
Bird's-eye View of Makkah, the Most Sacred City, as seen from the Jabal Abi-Qubais.
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 passed 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 God but Allah! He hath no associates! He hath kept his word and succoured His Servant and dispersed His enemies!' Mohammad turned to the Makkans: 'O Assembly 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 gratitude 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 noble 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.
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 superstition surrounding the false gods 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 coarse 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 grass.'—'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 title of Mohadjer by emigration, because Islam was as firmly establised in Makkah as in Al-Madinah.
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.
His ten thousand soldiers were joined by more than two thousand Makkans, lately converted, and impatient to prove their devotion and fervour. The effect produced by the army of the Believers was so imposing that a voice in the group of the Banu Bakr, it is said, cried out: 'Truly we need not fear defeat with such a big army!'
This exclamation of pride displeased the Prophet greatly, for vanity weakens endeavour and causes forgetfulness of the fact that victory is granted by Allah. Mohammad blamed the boastful cry in the most severe terms.
On the bank of a "wadi," the troops saw a big green tree, growing by itself, which the idolaters worshipped and looked upon with superstitious awe. Beneath its shade, they sacrificed victims and, on its branches, they hung their weapons, imagining they would become invincible by this verdant contact. Several soldiers, their minds not yet sufficiently purified from the stain of fetich observances, longed to possess likewise a tree, "Dhat Anwat,"—"Carrier of Weapons"—and sent in a demand to the Apostle which made him very indignant.
'Your demand,' he replied, 'is just as abominable as that of the Banu-Isra'il, when saved by a miracle from Pharaoh's hosts and the waves of the sea, they asked Moses for an idol in human shape. Ye are a stupid "qawm" accustomed to adopt without reflecting the vilest custome of your neighbours!'
Quoth Jabir ibn Abdullah: "Shortly before daybreak, we reached the "wadi" of Hunain, at the entrance of an extremely narrow and deep defile. All of a sudden, while we were still in the black shadows of the lofty crags, the first rays of the sun, on the other side of of the pass, lit up a sight that made our hearts leap impatiently.
"Under the careless guard of a few sentinels, our enemies' tents were pitched in the plain. Between them, women and children passed to and fro. Round the encampment, countless flocks of sheep and herds of camels were about to depart to pasture-land. Without waiting for the Prophet's orders, overwrought by the hope of plunder, we rush into the pass, so narrow that we were pressed together, shoulder to shoulder. No sooner was the entire army in the defile, when a lengthy, whistling murmur was heard in the air and, like great swarms of locusts, clouds of arrows darkened the sky. The darts were showered on us, aimed from two ridges, overlooking the pass.... We had fallen into an ambush organised by cunning Durayd.
"In consequence of the sting of the arrows from which there was no escape, for not one was lost in the soil, all finding a target as they pierced with a hissing noise the flesh of men, horses and camels, mad terror overcame us. Indescribable panic was also caused by our foes, lying in wait, concealed at the egress of the pass and who, with savage shouts, charged into our ranks. Tugging at the bridles of our camels, we turned round, the poor beasts grunting gloomily and shaking their long necks bristling with arrows. In the inextricable confusion of their stampede and fright, they tripped each other up and rolled over on the ground with their riders, who were at once trampled on by fleeing comrades....
"Whilst the archers continued to distress us with their darts, we discovered that the entry into the pass was barricaded by another detachment of our enemies who had allowed us to ride through and now awaited our return. At their head was a soldier of the Hawazin, bestriding a gigantic red camel and he was signalling with a spear to which he had fixed a black flag. When a Believer passed within reach, he lowered his lance to run him through, and perchance he missed, he signalled with his flag lifted again to those following him, and they pursued the Mussulman and put him to death."
The defeat seemed irretrievable. Already many of the Prophet's old enemies, their hearts still brimming with, rancour, began to gloat over the critical situation of the Mussulmans. 'Their flight will not cease until they reach the sea coast!' cried Abu Sufyan, who busied himself with consulting his divining arrows which he carried concealed in his quiver. 'Mohammad's sorcery is powerless this day!' exclaimed Kalada ibn Hanbal in his turn. But his brother Safwan, although not yet converted, silenced him with these words: 'May a gag close thy mouth!'
In the midst of general confusion, the Prophet alone was cool and collected. He posted himself on a low hill, to the right of the valley. 'I am the Prophet of Allah and no impostor!' he declared, and urging his mule forward, went to throw himself in the thick of the fight. Abu Bakr rushed in front of the animal and, seizing the bridle, held it back. To try and rally his troops, Mohammad ordered Abbas to shout: 'O Ansars and Mohadjirun, my companions! O ye who took their oath over there!' (at Al-Hudaibiyah). When, from the top of a rock, his stentorian voice carried the Prophet's cry to the fugitives, they were covered with great confusion. Regaining their self-control, they replied: 'We are here at thy service!'
But what was to be done to stem such a torrent of fleeing men and beasts, crowded together between the two vertical sides of the ravine? The Faithful did their best to lash the camels, twisting their necks by pulling the bridle contrariwise. With great strides, the frightened animals kept on in their flight.... It was then that the warriors of Allah slung their shields round their necks and jumped out of the saddle, leaving their camels to go on alone. Unsheathing their swords, the soldiers turned back to begin fighting again.
The Prophet, standing up in his stirrups, saw with joy that the situation was changed, and when his gaze fell upon the countless warriors rushing into the brazier of the battle, he cried out: 'The furnace is alight!'
Ali, accompanied by an Ansar, resolved to put a stop to the exploits of the Bedouin of the Hawazin, proudly waving his spear adorned with the black flag. With one blow of his scimitar, Ali hamstrung the camel, and at the same moment, the Ansar brought down the Infidel by slicing his leg from the knee to the heel, putting an end to his misery as soon as he was flattened out on the ground.
Mad terror seized the idolaters when thinking they had crushed the Mussulmans, they resumed the offensive. It was now the Infidels' turn to give way.... Mohammad ordered his mule to lie down. The animal bent its knees until its belly rested on the ground. Then taking up a handful of dust, the Prophet, as he had done at Badr, threw it towards his enemies whose flight became a mad rout. It seemed as if they had been blinded by this dust and that their soldiers were dispersed exactly the same as these impalpable atoms....
"Now hath Allah helped you in many battle-fields, and, on the day of Hunain, when ye prided yourselves on your numbers; but it availed you nothing; and the earth, with all its breadth, became too strait for you: then turned ye your backs in flight. * Then did Allah send down a spirit of tranquillity upon His Apostle, and upon the Faithful; and He sent down hosts which ye saw not and punished the Infidels." (The Qur'an, ix, 25, 26.)
Harried by the sword during their retreat, Malik and the remains of his army managed to find safety in the fortified town of Taif.
Less lucky, Durayd, the Infidels' second leader, was unable to escape his fate. Ninety years of age and blind, he was unable to direct his camel when abandoned by his panic-stricken fellow-countrymen, and he fell into the hands of a mere lad, Rabi'a ibn Rafia. When he saw the litter in which reclined this celebrated warrior, paralysed by the infirmities of great age, the youth thought he had captured a woman. He made the camel kneel, parted the hangings and was petrified at only finding an old man. Vexed and disappointed, he dealt Durayd a sabre-cut, but the aged fighter did not even seem to know that he had been struck. 'What sort of weapon hath thy mother placed in thy hands, O little vagabond?' he asked in accents of supreme scorn. 'Take my sabre, hanging from my camel's saddle. Lift the blade aloft and hit between the vertebrae of the back and those of the head. That was how I used to strike men down.'
Abashed at his first failure, Rabi'a followed this piece of advice and the famous warrior rolled dead in the dust.
Urged on by the spur of victory, the Prophet pursued the fugitives to the foot of the ramparts of Taif and tried to take the town. After a useless siege of twenty days, he preferred to give up all ideas of an attack in favour of other means, slower but more sure, and instead of invoking the wrath of the Divinity against the inhabitants, he said: 'O Allah! enlighten the people of Taif and inspire them with a desire to come to Thy Apostle of their own free will!'
Despite the disappointment of his troops, he retook the road to Makkah, camping at Al-Ji'rana where all the prisoners were collected, as well as all the booty to be divided.
When the Prophet arrived, a female captive, Ash-Shayma, of the Banu Sad, which was a fraction of the Hawazin, was struggling to escape from the brutality of the soldiery. On perceiving Mohammad, she cried out: 'O Prophet of Allah, I am thy foster-sister!'—'Prove it!'—'See the scar on my shoulder where thou didst bite me when I carried thee, a baby boy, on my back.'
The Prophet recognised the cicatrice. Much moved, he shed tears, spread his mantle on the ground, and asked Ash-Shayma to sit down on it. 'According to thy wish,' he said, 'thou wilt find generous friendship by my side; or thou canst return to thy tribe with all the gifts I'll lavish on thee.'—'Send me back to my people in the desert, O Prophet! Such is my sole desire.' Mohammad set her free, after having loaded her with presents.
A deputation of the Hawazin was presented to the Prophet, and Abu Sorada, an old man belonging to the division of the Banu Sa's, spoke in their name: 'O Prophet! among thy prisoners are thine aunts, sisters of the wet-nurses who suckled thee. As for the male captives, they were the companions of thy childhood—almost of thy race! In the great misfortune which crusheth us, we implore thee in the name of Allah! If, for the same reasons, we were forced to implore Al-Harith ibn Abi Chammar, or Nu'man ibnu'l Mundhir, they would surely take pity on us! Now thou art the best of nurslings!'—'Which do ye prefer: your families or your property?' asked Mohammad, scarcely able to hide his tender feelings.—' O Prophet! give our wives and children back to us. We love them quite otherwise to our property.'—'I restore to you all male and female captives belonging to the Banui Muttalib,' declared Mohammad loudly.—'But those who are ours belong to the Apostle of Allah!' cried the Mohadjirun and the Ansars immediately. Thus all the prisoners, numbering about six thousand, were given up to the delegates of the Hawazin.
The family of Malik ibn Awf formed an exception to this ruling. Mohammad, however, charged those he had just liberated to make him the following proposal: 'If Malik cometh to me and becometh a convert to Islam, I will give him back his property. Nay, more—I will make him a present of a hundred camels.'
Malik accepted. He left Taif secretly, and when converted, gave such tokens of sincerity, that the Prophet appointed him as commander over all the Mussulmans of the country. It was the best way to curb the resistance of the inhabitants of Taif.
And so it turned out indeed, for this able leader, proud of the investiture, at the head of troops stirred by faith, continued to war against the Saquifs. By pitilessly raiding their flocks and caravans, blocking them by hunger behind the ramparts of their city, he soon compelled them to come in their turn and implore the Prophet's mercy, when they were converted to Islam. The booty was considerable, consisting of about twenty-four thousand camels and forty thousand sheep. After the emotions of the affair of the prisoners, Mohammad resolved to postpone the division of the plunder until another day, and he mounted his she-camel. But his soldiers were so impatient to share the spoils that they followed and importuned him. By accident, they pushed his animal against a thorny shrub, and its branches tore the mantle of Allah's Chosen One. 'Now, you men, give me back my mantle!' he told them, and yielding to their entreaties, he returned to see the booty shared among them.
He tried, above all, to ingratiate himself definitively with the nobles of the city, by favouring them in all ways; and afterwards, they were called "Al-mu'allafa qulubuhum," "those whose hearts have been won over." Abu Sufyan and Mu'awiya his son; Hakim ibn Hizam, An-Nadr ibn Al-Harith, Suhayl, Ikrimah Uyayna, Al-Ajra, and Safwan, all received fifty camels each. This difference of treatment gave rise to protestations. Ibn Mirdas manifested his dissatisfaction in a piece of poetry: 'My share of the booty and that of Al-Ubayd have been distributed to Oyama and Al-Ajra. And yet their fathers, Al-Hasan and Al-Habis, never took precedence of my father in any assembly whatsoever!'
The Prophet sent for him and asked: 'Hast thou composed these rhymes: "My share of the booty and that of Al-Ubayd have been distributed to Al-Ajra and Oyama?" changing the order of the two last names mentioned; without noticing that he had thus broken the metre. In the Qur'an, Allah says: "We have not taught him (Mohammad) poetry." (xxxvi, 59.)
Abu Bakr pointed this out to him. 'No matter,' he replied. 'The meaning remaineth the same.' And he gave orders to "cut the poet's tongue" by granting him all he claimed.
An Arab of the Tamim tribe, Dhu'l Khuwaysira, dared to say to Allah's Messenger: 'Thou wert unjust in thy division.' Umar started up. 'I'll cut the throat of that insolent churl!' he shouted.—'Nay! let him go his own road,' was Mohammad's simple reply.
The Prophet was obliged to resort to most skilful political measures in order to spare all kinds of feelings during the division of these riches; and to prevent dangerous jealousy arising among his disciples. All the spoils, nevertheless, were nearly all allotted and he seemed to have forgotten his devoted Ansars who, naturally, expected to rank among the first to be rewarded. With ever-increasing surprise, they saw no share offered to them and the rich bounty flowing into the hands of the Quraish and the Bedouins.
At last there was no more left to give away and the Ansars exchanged bitter remarks: 'By Allah, the Prophet thinketh only of his own people. Now that, thanks to us, he hath returned victorious to his birthplace, we are forgotten and neglected.'
Sa'd ibn Ubada, having heard these complaints, went and told Mohammad, who said: 'Good! Call the Ansars together!'
When they were mustered, the Prophet came before them. 'O Assembly of the Ansars!' he said; 'I have been told about your talk and the sadness of your souls. Did I not seek you out when ye had been led astray? Hath not Allah led you all into the right path? Ye were unfortunate: hath not Allah made you happy? Each man was his brother's enemy: hath not Allah reconciled your hearts?'—'Truly!' they answered unanimously. 'Allah and His Apostle are the most compassionate and generous!'—'And on your part,' he added, 'did ye not welcome me with compassion and generosity when I was a homeless wanderer? Have ye not the right to say to me: "Thou wert branded as an impostor and we put faith in thee; thou wert east down and we helped thee to be victorious; thou wert poverty-stricken and we made thee rich?"'—'Nay, nay!' protested every man of the Assembly. 'We are indebted to thee for everything and thou dost owe us nothing!'—'In that case,' he went on, 'O Ansar comrades! how could you let the least feeling of affection arise in your hearts concerning the fleeting riches of this world, with which I have endowed certain persons in order to strengthen their vacillating faith, whilst I knew that you were unshaken. Know ye not that these people will return to their homesteads with camels and sheep only, whilst ye will take the Prophet of Allah back with you to your dwellings?... By Him who holdeth Mohammad's soul in His hands, I swear that if the Arab tribes retired into one valley and the Ansars into another, I would follow into the valley of the Ansars. For me, the Ansars are as a shirt on the skin; and for me, the other tribes are as the mantle outside everything. O Allah, show mercy to the Ansars; to the sons of the Ansars; and to the children of their children!'
These words, which the Prophet was unable to utter without betraying intense emotion, mollified the entire Assembly. Tears of gratitude flowed from the eyes of the Ansars so abundantly that their beards were wetted. All cried out, sobs causing them to falter: 'Aye, verily, we accept our share of the booty, for the most beautiful portion is ours!'
Calligraphy: Now hath Allah helped you in many battle-fields, and, on the day of Hunain, when ye prided yourselves on your numbers; but it availed you nothing.Now hath Allah helped you in many battle-fields, and, on the day of Hunain, when ye prided yourselves on your numbers; but it availed you nothing.
Now hath Allah helped you in many battle-fields, and, on the day of Hunain, when ye prided yourselves on your numbers; but it availed you nothing.