CHAPTER 4

THE PROPHET SETS THE PATTERN

Prophecy about the Prophet

[A Jew from Syria had migrated to Medina some years before Muhammad proclaimed his prophethood in 610 CE.]

Later when he knew that he was about to die he said, ‘O Jews, what do you think made me leave a land of bread and wine to come to a land of hardship and hunger?’ When we [the Jews] said that we could not think why, he said that he had come to this country expecting to see the emergence of a prophet whose time was at hand. This was the town where he would migrate and he was hoping that he would be sent so that he could follow him. ‘His time has come,’ he said, ‘and don’t let anyone get to him before you, O Jews; for he will be sent to shed blood and to take captive the women and children of those who oppose him. Let not that keep you back from him.’¹

First Blood shed in Islam (Between 610 and 613 CE)

[To start with Muhammad had organised a secret society in Mecca. His followers used to congregate for prayers in unfrequented spots outside the city.]

When the apostle’s companions prayed they went to the glens so that their people could not see them praying, and while Sa’d b. AbU WaqqAS was with a number of the prophet’s companions in one of the glens of Mecca, a band of polytheists came upon them while they were praying and rudely interrupted them. They blamed them for what they were doing until they came to blows, and it was on that occasion that Sa’d smote a polytheist with the jawbone of a camel and wounded him. This was the first blood to be shed in Islam.²

The Prophet promises Slaughter (Between 613 and 614 CE)

[Muhammad proclaimed his prophethood publicly only when he had acquired a following large enough to make him feel confident that his voice would carry weight.]

People began to accept Islam, both men and women, in large numbers until the fame of it was spread throughout Mecca, and it began to be talked about. Then Allah commanded His apostle to declare the truth of what he had received and to make known His commands to men and to call them to Him. Three years elapsed from the time that the apostle concealed his state until Allah commanded him to publish his religion, according to information which has reached me. Then Allah said, ‘Proclaim what you have been ordered and turn aside from the polytheists.’³

YahyA b. ‘Urwa b. al-Zubayr on the authority of his father from ‘Abdullah b. ‘Amr b. al-‘AS told me that the latter was asked what was the worst way in which Quraysh showed their enmity to the apostle. He replied: ‘I was with them one day when the notables had gathered in the Hijr and the apostle was mentioned. They said that they had never known anything like the trouble they had endured from this fellow; he had declared their mode of life foolish, insulted their forefathers, reviled their religion, divided the community, and cursed their gods. What they had borne was past all bearing, or words to that effect.’⁴

While they were thus discussing him the apostle came towards them and kissed the black stone, then he passed them as he walked round the temple. As he passed they said some injurious things about him. This I could see from his expression. He went on and as he passed them the second time they attacked him similarly. This I could see from his expression. Then he passed the third time, and they did the same. He stopped and said, ‘Will you listen to me O Quraysh? By him who holds my life in His hand I bring you slaughter.’ This word so struck the people that not one of them but stood silent and still; even one who had hitherto been most violent spoke to him in the kindest way possible, saying, ‘Depart, O AbU’l-QAsim, for by God you are not violent.’ So the apostle went away, and on the morrow they assembled in the Hijr, I being there too, and they asked one another if they remembered what had taken place between them and the apostle so that when he openly said something unpleasant they let him alone. While they were talking thus the apostle appeared, and they leaped upon him as one man and encircled him, saying, ‘Are you the one who said so-and-so against our gods and our religion?’ The apostle said, ‘Yes, I am the one who said that.’ And I saw one of them seize his robe. Then AbU Bakr interposed himself weeping and saying. ‘Would you kill a man for saying Allah is my Lord?’ Then they left him. That is the worst that anyone ever saw Quraysh do to him.’⁵

Muhammad’s Faction acquires Strength (Between 614 and 616 CE)

[Hamza, one of Muhammad’s uncles, was a well-known warrior of Mecca. He heard that AbU Jahl, a leading citizen, had spoken harshly to his nephew.]

Hamza was filled with rage, for Allah purposed to honour him so he went out at a run and did not stop to greet anyone, meaning to punish AbU Jahl when he met him. When he got to the mosque he saw him sitting among the people, and went up to him until he stood over him, when he lifted up his bow and struck him a violent blow with it, saying, ‘Will you insult him when I follow his religion, and say what he says? Hit me back if you can!’ Some of B. MakhzUm got up to go to AbU Jahl’s help, but he said, ‘Let AbU UmAra alone for, by God, I insulted his nephew deeply.’ Hamza’s Islam was complete, and he followed the apostle’s commands. When he became a Muslim the Quraysh recognized that the apostle had become strong, and had found a protector in Hamza, and so they abandoned some of their ways of harassing him.⁶

When ‘Umar became a Muslim, he being a strong, stubborn man whose proteges none dare attack, the prophet’s companions were so fortified by him and Hamza that they got the upper hand of Quraysh. ‘Abdullah b. Mas’Ud used to say, ‘We could not pray at the Ka’ba until ‘Umar became a Muslim, and then he fought the Quraysh until he could pray there and we prayed with him.’ ‘Umar became a Muslim after the prophet’s companions had migrated to Abyssinia.⁷

Abyssinian invasion invited (615 CE)

[Meanwhile, Muhammad had sent some of his followers to Abyssinia where Negus, the Christian emperor, was informed that what Muhammad was preaching in Mecca was the same as Christianity. The Negus was also reminded of earlier Abyssinian invasions of Arabia, and invited to intervene again in favour of Muhammad and his Muslims.]

When the apostle saw the affliction of his companions and that though he escaped it because of his standing with Allah and his uncle AbU TAlib, he could not protect them, he said to them: ‘If you were to go to Abyssinia (it would be better for you), for the king will not tolerate injustice and it is a friendly country, until such time as Allah shall relieve you from your distress.’ Thereupon his companions went to Abyssinia, being afraid of apostasy and fleeing to Allah with their religion. This was the first hijra in Islam.⁸

[But Abyssinian intervention failed to materialize because the Negus got involved in domestic trouble].

The Satanic Verses (615 CE)

When Quraysh perceived that the apostle’s companions had settled in a land in peace and safety, and that the Negus has protected those who sought refuge with him, and that ‘Umar had become a Muslim and that both he and Hamza were on the side of the apostle and his companions, and that Islam had begun to spread among the tribes, they came together and decided among themselves to write a document in which they should put a boycott on B. HAshim and B. Muttalib that they should not marry their women nor give women to them to marry; and that they should neither buy from them nor sell to them, and when they agreed on that they wrote it in a deed. Then they solemnly agreed on the points and hung the deed up in the middle of the Ka’ba to remind them of their obligations.⁹

When the apostle saw that his people turned their backs on him and he was pained by their estrangement from what he brought them from Allah he longed that there should come to him from Allah a message that would reconcile his people to him. Because of his love for his people and his anxiety over them it would delight him if the obstacle that made his task so difficult could be removed; so that he meditated on the project and longed for it and it was dear to him. Then Allah sent down ‘By the star when it sets your comrade errs not and is not deceived, he speaks not from his own desire,’ and when he reached His words ‘Have you thought of al-LAt and al-‘UzzA and ManAt the third, the others’, Satan, when he was meditating upon it, and desiring to bring it (sc. reconciliation) to his people, put upon his tongue ‘these are the exalted GhAnIq whose intercession is approved.’ When Quraysh heard that, they were delighted and greatly pleased at the way in which he spoke of their gods and they listened to him.¹⁰

[Muhammad’s followers were annoyed with him for alienating them from their own people and then seeking reconciliation to save himself and his own clan from trouble. So Muhammad had to beat a hasty retreat and repudiate the latest revelation from Allah. Salman Rushdie has dramatised in his novel, The Satanic Verses, the tension which arose between Muhammad and his Muslims.]

Then Gabriel came to the apostle and said, ‘What have you done, Muhammad? You have read to these people something 1 did not bring you from Allah and you have said what He did not say to you. The apostle was bitterly grieved and was greatly in fear of Allah. So Allah sent down (a revelation), for He was merciful to him, comforting him and making light of the affair and telling him that every prophet and apostle before him desired as he desired and wanted what he wanted and Satan interjected something into his desires as he had on his tongue. So Allah annulled what Satan had suggested and Allah established His verses i.e. you are just like the prophets and apostles. Then Allah sent down: ‘We have not sent a prophet or apostle before you but when he longed Satan cast suggestions into his longing. But Allah will annul what Satan has suggested. Then Allah will establish his verses, Allah being knowing and wise.’ Thus Allah relieved his prophet’s grief, and made him feel safe from his fears and annulled what Satan had suggested in the words used above about their gods by his revelation.¹¹

[This episode revealed the quality of Allah’s revelations. Muhammad received one kind of revelations when he felt weak and wanted to compromise with the Meccans, and another kind of revelations when his followers raised a storm against the concession he had made in favour of the Meccan Goddesses.]

Uncompromising Aggression (620 CE)

[The Meccans had made many attempts to persuade Muhammad against insulting their religion and their forefathers. They made another attempt at compromise when AbU TAlib, Muhammad’s uncle and protector, fell ill and was reported as dying.]

AbU SufyAn with sundry other notables went to AbU TAlib and said: ‘You know your rank with us and now that you are at the point of death we are deeply concerned on your account. You know the trouble that exists between us and your nephew, so call him and let us make an agreement that he will leave us alone and we will leave him alone; let him have his religion and we will have ours.’ When he came AbU TAlib said, ‘Nephew, these notables have come to you that they may give you something and to take something from you.’ ‘Yes,’ he answered, ‘you may grant me one word by which you can rule the Arabs and subject the Persians to you.’ ‘Yea,’ said AbU Jahl, ‘and ten words.’ He said: ‘You must say There is no God but Allah and you must repudiate what you worship beside him.’ They clapped their hands and said, ‘Do you want to make all the gods into one God, Muhammad? That would be an extraordinary thing.’ Then they said one to another, ‘This fellow is not going to give you anything you want, so go and continue with the religion of your fathers until God judge between us.’ So saying they departed… Then AbU TAlib died.¹²

Attempt to raise TA’if against Mecca (620 CE)

In consequence of the growing hostility of Quraysh after AbU TAlib’s death the apostle went to TA’if to seek help from ThaqIf and their defence against his tribe. Also he hoped that they would receive the message which Allah had given him. He went alone.¹³

When the apostle arrived at al-TA’if he made for a number of ThaqIf who were at that time leaders and chiefs, namely three brothers… One of them had a Quraysh wife of the B. JumaH. The apostle sat with them and invited them to accept Islam and asked them to help him against his opponents at home. One of them swore that he would tear up the covering of the Ka’ba if God had sent him. The other said, ‘Could not God have found someone better than you to send?’ The third said, ‘By God, don’t let me ever speak to you. If you are an apostle from God as you say you are, you are far too important for me to reply to, and if you are lying against God it is not right that I should speak to you!’ So the apostle got up and went, despairing of getting any good out of ThaqIf. He said to them, ‘Seeing that you have acted as you have, keep the matter secret,’ for he was loath that his people should hear about it, so that they would be still further emboldened against him.¹⁴

Muhammad conspires with Medina (620 to 622 CE)

The apostle offered himself to the tribes of Arabs at the fairs whenever opportunity came, summoning them to Allah and telling them that he was a prophet who had been sent. He used to ask them to believe in him and protect him until Allah should make clear to them the message with which he had charged his prophet.¹⁵

When Allah wished to display His religion openly and to glorify His prophet and to fulfil His promise to him, the time came when he met a number of the Helpers at one of the fairs; and while he was offering himself to the Arab tribes as was his wont he met at al-‘Aqaba a number of the Khazraj whom Allah intended to benefit.¹⁶

When the apostle met them he learned by inquiry that they were of the Khazraj and allies of the Jews. He invited them to sit with him and expounded to them Islam and recited the QurAn to them. Now Allah had prepared the way for Islam in that they lived side by side with the Jews who were people of the scriptures and knowledge, while they themselves were polytheists and idolaters. They had often raided them in their district and whenever bad feeling arose the Jews used to say to them, ‘A Prophet will be sent soon. His day is at hand. We shall follow him and kill you by his aid.’ So when they heard the apostle’s message they said one to another: ‘This is the very prophet of whom the Jews warned us. Don’t let them get to him before us!’ Thereupon they accepted his teaching and became Muslims, saying, ‘We have left our people, for no tribe is so divided by hatred and rancour as they. Perhaps Allah will unite them through you. So let us go to them and invite them to this religion of yours; and if Allah unites them in it, then no man will be mightier than you.’ Thus saying they returned to Medina as believers.¹⁷

In the following year twelve Helpers attended the fair and met at al-‘Aqaba - this was the first ‘Aqaba - where they gave the apostle the ‘pledge of women’. This was before the duty of making war was laid upon them.¹⁸

When Allah gave permission to his apostle to fight, the second ‘Aqaba contained conditions involving war which were not in the first act of fealty. Now they bound themselves to war against all and sundry for Allah and his apostle, while he promised them for faithful service thus the reward of paradise.

‘UbAda b. al-WalId b. ‘UbAda b. al-SAmit from his father from his grandfather’ UbAda b. al- SAmit who was one of the Leaders told me, ‘We pledged ourselves to war in complete obedience to the apostle in weal and woe, in ease and hardship and evil circumstances; that we would not wrong anyone; that we would speak the truth at all times; and that in Allah’s service we would fear the censure of none.’ ‘UbAda was one of the twelve who gave his word at the first ‘Aqaba.¹⁹

Formation of the Ummah (623 CE)

[Following the second ‘Aqaba, Muhammad migrated to Medina and laid foundation of his blood-thirsty brotherhood.]

The apostle wrote a document concerning the emigrants and the helpers in which he made a friendly agreement with the Jews and established them in their religion and their property, and stated the reciprocal obligations, as follows: In the name of Allah the Compassionate, the Merciful. This is a document from Muhammad the prophet [governing the relations] between the believers and Muslims of Quraysh and Yathrib, and those who followed them and joined them and laboured with them. They are one community (umma) to the exclusion of all men. The Quraysh emigrants according to their present custom shall pay the bloodwit within their number and shall redeem their prisoners with the kindness and justice common among believers.²⁰

A believer shall not take as an ally the freedman of another Muslim against him. The Allah-fearing believers shall be against the rebellious or him who seeks to spread injustice, or sin or enmity, or corruption between believers; the hand of every man shall be against him even if he be a son of one of them. A believer shall not slay a believer for the sake of an unbeliever, nor shall he aid an unbeliever against a believer. Allah’s protection is one, the least of them may give protection to a stranger on their behalf. Believers are friends one to the other to the exclusion of outsiders. To the Jew who follows us belong help and equality. He shall not be wronged nor shall his enemies be aided. The peace of the believers is indivisible. No separate peace shall be made when believers are fighting in the way of Allah.

It shall not be lawful to a believer who holds by what is in this document and believes in Allah and the last day to help an evildoer or to shelter him. The curse of Allah and His anger on the day of resurrection will be upon him if he does, and neither repentance nor ransom will be received from him. Whenever you differ about a matter it must be referred to Allah and to Muhammad.²¹

Muhammad turns against the Jews (623 CE)

About this time the Jewish rabbis showed hostility to the apostle in envy, hatred, and malice, because Allah had chosen His apostle from the Arabs. They were joined by men from al-Aus and al-Khazraj who had obstinately clung to their heathen religion. They were hypocrites, clinging to the polytheism of their fathers denying the resurrection; yet when Islam appeared and their people flocked to it they were compelled to pretend to accept it to save their lives. But in secret they were hypocrites whose inclination was towards the Jews because they considered the apostle a liar and strove against Islam.

It was the Jewish rabbis who used to annoy the apostle with questions and introduce confusion, so as to confound the truth with falsity. The Quran used to come down in reference to these questions of theirs.²²

The first hundred verses of the sUra of the Cow came down in reference to these Jewish rabbis and the hypocrites of Aus and Khazraj, according to what I have been told, and Allah knows best.²³

There were two parties: The B. QaynuqA’ and their adherents, allies of Khazraj; and al-NaDIr and Qurayza and their adherents allies of Aus. When there was war between Aus and Khazraj the B. QaynuqA’ went out with Khazraj, and al-NaDIr and Qurayza with Aus, each side helping his allies against his own brethren so that they shed each other’s blood, while the Torah was in their hands by which they knew what was allowed and what was forbidden them. Aus and Khazraj were polytheists worshipping idols knowing nothing about paradise and hell, the waking and the resurrection, the scriptures, the permitted and the forbidden.²⁴

The apostle summoned the Jewish scripture folk to Islam and made it attractive to them and warned them of Allah’s punishment and vengeance. RAfi’ b. KhArija and MAlik b. ‘Auf said to him that they would follow the religion of their fathers, for they were more learned and better men than they. So Allah sent down concerning their words: ‘And when it is said to them, Follow what Allah has sent down, they say: Nay, but we will follow what we found our fathers doing. What! even if their fathers understood nothing and were not rightly guided?’²⁵

Some Muslims remained friends with the Jews because of the tie of mutual protection and alliance which had subsisted between them, so Allah sent down concerning them and forbidding them to take them as intimate friends: ‘O you who believe, do not choose those outside your community as intimate friends. They will spare no pains to corrupt you longing for your ruin. From their mouths hatred has already shown itself and what their breasts conceal is greater. We have made the signs plain to you if you will understand.’²⁶

AbU Bakr went into a Jewish school and found a good many men gathered round a certain FinhAs, one of their learned rabbis, and another rabbi called Ashya’. AbU Bakr called on the former to fear Allah and become a Muslim because he knew that Muhammad was the apostle of Allah who had brought the truth from Him and that they would find it written in the Torah and the Gospel. FinHAS replied: ‘We are not poor compared to Allah but He is poor compared to us. We do not humble ourselves to Him as He humbles Himself to us; we are independent of Him while He needs us.’

AbU Bakr was enraged and hit FinHAS hard in the face, saying, ‘Were it not for the treaty between us I would cut off your head, you enemy of Allah!’ FinHAS immediately went to the apostle and said, ‘Look, Muhammad, at what your companion has done.’ The apostle asked AbU Bakr what had impelled him to do such a thing and he answered: ‘The enemy of Allah spoke blasphemy. He alleged that Allah was poor and that they were rich and I was so angry that I hit his face.’ FinHAS contradicted this and denied that he had said it, so Allah sent down refuting him and confirming what AbU Bakr had said: ‘Allah has heard the speech of those who say: ‘Allah is poor and we are rich.’ We shall write what they say and their killing the prophets wrongfully and we shall say, Taste the punishment of burning.’²⁷

A Cruel Custom revived by Muhammad (622 CE)

Jewish rabbis had gathered in their school when the apostle came to Medina. A married man had committed adultery with a married woman and they said: ‘Send them to Muhammad and ask him what the law about them is and leave the penalty to him. If he prescribes tajbIh (which is scourging with a rope of palm fibre smeared with pitch, the blackening of their faces, mounting on two donkeys with their faces to the animal’s tail) then follow him, for he is a king and believe in him. If he prescribes stoning for them, he is a prophet so beware lest he deprive you of what you hold.’ They brought the pair to Muhammad and explained the position.²⁸

When the apostle gave judgement about them he asked for a Torah. A rabbi sat there reading it having put his hand over the verse of stoning. ‘Abullah b. SalAm struck the rabbi’s hand, saying, ‘This, O prophet of Allah, is the verse of stoning which he refuses to read to you.’ The apostle said, ‘Woe to you Jews! What has induced you to abandon the judgement of Allah which you hold in your hands?’ They answered: ‘The sentence used to be carried out until a man of royal birth and noble origin committed adultery and the king refused to allow him to be stoned. Later another man committed adultery and the king wanted him to be stoned but they said No, not until you stone so-and-so. And when they said that to him they agreed to arrange the matter by tajbIh and they did away with all mention of stoning.’ The apostle said: ‘I am the first to revive the order of Allah and His book and to practise it.’ They were duly stoned and ‘Abdullah b.’Umar said, ‘I was among those that stoned them.’

The apostle ordered them to be stoned, and they were stoned at the door of his mosque. And when the Jew felt the first stone he crouched over the woman to protect her from the stones until both of them were killed. This is what Allah did for the apostle in exacting the penalty for adultery from the pair.²⁹

According to a tradition from ‘Umar, the second caliph, Muhammad not only participated in stoning the Jewish couple but also received a revelation which is not found in the Quran as we have it at present. According to a hadis from ‘A’isha, the page on which the revelation was written was lying on her bed when it was eaten by a goat.

‘Umar sat in the pulpit, and when the muezzins were silent he praised Allah as was fitting and said: ‘I am about to say to you today something which Allah has willed that I should say and I do not know whether perhaps it is my last utterance. He who understands and heeds it let him take it with him whithersoever he goes; and as for him who fears that he will not heed it, he may not deny that I said it. Allah sent Muhammad and sent down the scripture to him. Part of what he sent down was the passage on stoning; we read it, we were taught it, and we heeded it. The apostle stoned (adulterers) and we stoned them after him. I fear that in time to come men will say that they find no mention of stoning in Allah’s book and thereby go astray by neglecting an ordinance which Allah has sent down. Verily stoning in the book of Allah is a penalty laid on married men and women who commit adultery, if proof stands or pregnancy is clear or confession is made. Then we read in what we read from Allah’s book: ‘Do not desire to have ancestors other than your own for it is infidelity so to do.’‘³⁰

Allah sanctions War against Unbelievers (622 CE)

When Quraysh became insolent towards Allah and rejected His gracious purpose, accused His prophet of lying, and ill treated and exiled those who served Him and proclaimed His unity, believed in His prophet, and held fast to His religion, He gave permission to His apostle to fight and to protect himself against those who wronged them and treated them badly.³¹

The first verse which was sent down on this subject from what I have heard from ‘Urwa b. al-Zubayr and other learned persons was: ‘Permission is given to those who fight because they have been wronged. Allah is well able to help them, - those who have been driven out of their houses without right only because they said Allah is our Lord. Had not Allah used some men to keep back others, cloisters and churches and oratories and mosques wherein the name of Allah is constantly mentioned would have been destroyed. Assuredly Allah will help those who help Him. Allah is Almighty. Those who if we make them strong in the land will establish prayer, pay the poor-tax, enjoin kindness, and forbid iniquity. To Allah belongs the end of matters.’ Then Allah sent down to him: ‘Fight them so that there be no more seduction,’ i.e. until no believer is seduced from his religion. ‘And the religion is Allah’s’, i.e. Until Allah alone is worshipped.³²

When Allah had given permission to fight and this clan of the Ansar had pledged their support to him in Islam and to help him and his followers, and the Muslims who had taken refuge with them, the apostle commanded his companions, the emigrants of his people and those Muslims who were with him in Mecca, to emigrate to Medina and to link up with their brethren the AnSAr. ‘Allah will make for you brethren and houses in which you may be safe.’ So they went out in companies, and the apostle stayed in Mecca waiting for Allah’s permission to leave Mecca and migrate to Medina.³³

Wars led by Muhammad in Person (623 to 631 CE)

Then the apostle prepared for war in pursuance of Allah’s command to fight his enemies and to fight those polytheists who were near at hand whom Allah commanded him to fight. This was thirteen years after his call.³⁴

The apostle took part personally in twenty-seven (T. six) raids:

WaddAn which was the raid of al-AbwA’.
BuwAT in the direction of RaDwA.
‘Ushayra in the valley of Yanbu’.
The first fight at Badr in pursuit of Kurz b. JAbir.
The great battle of Badr in which Allah slew the chiefs of
Quraysh (T. and their nobles and captured many).
BanU Sulaym until he reached al-Kudr.
Al-SawIq in pursuit of AbU SufyAn b. Harb (T. until he reached Qarqara al-
Kudr).
GhatafAn (T. towards Najd), which is the raid of DhU Amarr.
BaHrAn, a mine in the HijAz (T. above al-Furu’)
UHud
HamrA’u’l-Asad.
BanU NaDIr
DhAtu’l-RiqA’ of Nakhl.
The last battle of Badr.
DUmatu’l-Jandal.
Al-Khandaq.
BanU Qurayza.
BanU LiHyAn of Hudhayl.
DhU Qarad.
BanU’l-MuSTaliq of KhuzA’a.
Al-Hudaybiya not intending to fight where the polytheists opposed his passage.
Khaybar.
Then he went on the accomplished pilgrimage.
The occupation of Mecca.
Hunayn,
Al-TA’if
TabUk.

He actually fought in nine engagements: Badr; Uhud; al-Khandaq; Qurayza; al-Mustaliq; Khaybar; the occupation; Hunayn; and al-TA’if.³⁵

Expeditions and Raiding Parties sent by Muhammad (622 to 632 CE)

These were thirty-eight (T. thirty-five) in number (T. between the time of his coming to Medina and his death).

‘Ubayda b. al-HArith was sent to the lower part (T. to the tribes) of Thaniyatu’l-Mara (T. which is in the Hijaz); Hamza b. ‘Abdu’l-Muttalib to the coast in the direction of al-‘IS. (Some people date Hamza’s raid before that of Ubayda); Sa’d b. AbU WaqqAS to al-KharrAr (T. in the Hijaz); ‘Abdullah b. JaHsh to Nakhla; Zayd b. HAritha to al-Qarda (T. a well in Najd); Muhammad b. Maslama’s attack on Ka’b b. al-Ashraf; Marthad b. AbU Marthad al-GhanawI to al-RajI’; al-Mundhir b. ‘Amr to Bi’r Ma’Una: AbU ‘Ubayda b. al-JarrAH to DhU’l-QaSSa on the Iraq road; ‘Umar b. al-KhaTTAb to Turba in the B. ‘Amir country ; ‘AlI b. AbU TAlib to the Yaman; GhAlib b. ‘Abdullah al-KalbI, the Kalb of Layth, to al-KadId where he smote B. al-MulawwaH.³⁶

‘Ali to B. ‘Abdullah b. Sa’d of Fadak; AbU’l-‘AujA’ al-SulamI to B. Sulaym country where he and all his companions were killed; ‘UkkAsha b. MiHSan to al-Ghamra; AbU Salama b. ‘Abdu’l-Asad to QaTan, a well of B. Asad in the direction of Najd. Mas’Ud b. ‘Urwa was killed there; Muhammad b. Maslama, brother of b. HAritha, to al-QuraTA’ of HawAzin; BashIr b. Sa’d to B. Murra in Fadak; BashIr b. Sa’d in the direction of Khaybar; Zayd b. HAritha to al-JamUm in B. Sulaym country; Zayd also to JudhAm in Khushayn country. So says Ibn HishAm, but al-ShAfi’i from ‘Amr b. HabIb from Ibn IsHAq say ‘in HismA country’.³⁷

Violation of the Sacred Month (623 CE)

The apostle sent ‘Abdullah b. Jahsh b. Ri’Ab al-AsadI in Rajab on his return from the first Badr. He sent with him eight emigrants, without any of the AnsAr. He wrote for him a letter, and ordered him not to look at it until he had journeyed for two days, and to do what he was ordered to do, but not to put pressure on any of his companions.³⁸

When ‘Abdullah had travelled for two days he opened the letter and looked into it and this is what it said: ‘When you have read this letter of mine proceed until you reach Nakhla between Mecca and Al-Ta’if Lie in wait for Quraysh and find out for us what they are doing.’… A caravan of Quraysh carrying dry raisins and leather and other merchandise of Quraysh passed by them, ‘Amr b. al-HaDramI, ‘UthmAn b. Abdullah b. al-MughIra and his brother Naufal the MakhzUmites, and al-Hakam b. KaysAn, freedman of HishAm b. al-MughIra being among them. When the caravan saw them they were afraid of them because they had camped near them. ‘UkkAsha, who had shaved his head, looked down on them, and when they saw him they felt safe and said, ‘They are pilgrims, you have nothing to fear from them.’ The raiders took council among themselves, for this was the last day of Rajab, and they said, ‘If you leave them alone tonight they will get into the sacred area and will be safe from you; and if you kill them, you will kill them in the sacred month,’ so they were hesitant and feared to attack them. Then they encouraged each other, and decided to kill as many as they could of them and take what they had. WAqid shot ‘Amr b. al-HaDramI with an arrow and killed him and ‘UthmAn and al-Hakam surrendered. Naufal escaped and eluded them. ‘Abdullah and his companions took the caravan and the two prisoners and came to Medina with them.³⁹

When they came to the apostle, he said, ‘I did not order you to fight in the sacred month,’ and he held the caravan and the two prisoners in suspense and refused to take anything from them. When the apostle said that, the men were in despair and thought that they were doomed. Their Muslim brethren reproached them for what they had done, and the Quraysh said ‘Muhammad and his companions have violated the sacred month, shed blood therein, taken booty, and captured men.’ The Muslims in Mecca who opposed them said that they had done it in Sha’bAn. The Jews turned this raid into an omen against the apostle. ‘Amr b. al-HadramI whom WaqId had killed they said meant ‘amarati‘l-Harb (war has come to life), al-HaDramI meant hadarati’l-Harb (war is present), and WaqId meant waqadati’l-Harb (war is kindled); but Allah turned this against them, not for them, and when there was much talk about it, Allah sent down to his apostle: ‘They will ask you about the sacred month, and war in it. Say, war therein is a serious matter, but keeping people from the way of Allah and disbelieving in Him and in the sacred mosque and driving out His people there from is more serious with Allah.’⁴⁰

When ‘Abdullah and his companions were relieved of their anxiety when the Quran came down, they were anxious for reward, and said, ‘Can we hope that it will count as a raid for which we shall be given the reward of combatants?’ So Allah sent down concerning them: ‘Those who believe and have emigrated and fought in the way of Allah, these may hope for Allah’s mercy, for Allah is forgiving, merciful.’ That is, Allah gave them the greatest hopes therein.⁴¹

Allah sanctions Booty and Terrorism (624 CE)

When [Battle of] Badr was over, Allah sent down the whole SUra AnfAl (eighth sUra) about it. With regard to their quarrelling about the spoils there came down: ‘They will ask you about the spoils, say, the spoils belong to Allah and the apostle, so fear Allah and be at peace with one another, and obey Allah and His apostle if you are believers.’⁴²

Then He taught them how to divide the spoil and His judgement about it when He made it lawful to them and said: ‘And know that what you take as booty a fifth belongs to Allah and the apostle.’⁴³

Then Allah reproached him about the prisoners and the taking of booty, no other prophet before him having taken booty from his enemy. Muhammad AbU Ja’far b. ‘Al? b. al-Husayn told me that the apostle said: ‘I was helped by fear; the earth was made a place to pray, and clean; I was given all-embracing words; booty was made lawful to me as to no prophet before me; and I was given the power to intercede; five privileges accorded to no prophet before me.’⁴⁴

Allah said, ‘It is not for any prophet; i.e. before thee, ‘to take prisoners’ from his enemies until he has made slaughter in the earth,’ i.e. slaughtered his enemies until he drives them from the land. ‘You desire the lure of this world,’ i.e. its goods, the ransom of the captives. ‘But Allah desires the next world,’ i.e. their killing them to manifest the religion which He wishes to manifest and by which the next world may be attained. ‘Had there not previously been a book from Allah there would have come upon you for what you took,’ i.e. prisoners and booty, ‘an awful punishment,’ i.e. had it not previously gone forth from Me that I would punish only after a prohibition - and He had not prohibited them - I would have punished you for what you did. Then He made it lawful to him and to them as a mercy from Him and a gift from the Compassionate, the Merciful. He said, ‘So enjoy what you have captured as lawful and good, and fear Allah. Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.’⁴⁵

Captives killed after the Battle of Badr (624 CE)

Then the apostle began his return journey to Medina with the unbelieving prisoners, among whom were ‘Uqba b. AbU Mu’ayT and al-NaDr b. al-HArith. The apostle carried with him the booty that had been taken from the polytheists and put ‘Abdullah b. Ka’b in charge of it.

When the apostle was in al-SafrA, al-Nadr was killed by ‘AlI, as a learned Meccan told me. When he was in ‘Irqu’l-Zabya ‘Uqba was killed.

When the apostle ordered him to be killed ‘Uqba said, ‘But who will look after my children, O Muhammad?’ ‘Hell’, he said, and ‘ASim b. ThAbit b. AbU’l-AqlaH al-AnSArI killed him.⁴⁶

Assassination of AbU ‘Afak (CE 624)

AbU ‘Afak was one of B. ‘Amr b. ‘Auf of the B. ‘Ubayda clan. He showed his disaffection when the apostle killed al-HArith b. Suwayd b. SAmit. [Suwayd’s fault was that he had killed his father’s murderer who happened to be a favourite of Muhammad.]

The apostle said, ‘Who will deal with this rascal for me?’ whereupon SAlim b. ‘Umayr, brother of B. ‘Amr b. ‘Auf one of the sweepers’, went forth and killed him.⁴⁷

Assassination of ‘AsmA’ D. MarwAn (624 CE)

She was of B. Umayya b. Zayd. When AbU ‘Afak had been killed she displayed disaffection. ‘Abdullah b. al-HArith b. al-FuDayl from his father said that she was married to a man of B. Khatma called YazId b. Zayd. Blaming Islam and its followers she said:

I despise B. MAlik and al-NabIt
And ‘Auf and B. al-Khazraj.
You obey a stranger who is none of yours,
One not of MurAd or MadhHij.
Do you expect good from him after the killing of your chiefs
Like a hungry man waiting for a cook’s broth?⁴⁸

When the apostle heard what she had said he said, ‘Who will rid me of MarwAn’s daughter?’ ‘Umayr b. ‘AdIy al-KhaTmI who was with him heard him, and that very night he went to her house and killed her. In the morning he came to the apostle and told him what he had done and he said, ‘You have helped Allah and His apostle, O ‘Umayr!’ When ‘Umayr asked if he would have to bear any evil consequences the apostle said, ‘Two goats won’t butt their heads about her.’ So ‘Umayr went back to his people.

Now there was a great commotion among B. Khatma that day about the affair of Bint MarwAn. She had five sons, and when ‘Umayr went to them from the apostle he said, ‘I have killed Bint MarwAn, O sons of Khatma. Withstand me if you can; don’t keep me waiting.’ That was the first day that Islam became powerful among B. Khatma; before that those who were Muslims concealed the fact. The first of them to accept Islam was ‘Umayr b. ‘AdIy who was called ‘the Reader’, and ‘Abdullah b. Aus and Khuzayma b. ThAbit. The day after Bint MarwAn was killed the men of B. KhaTma became Muslims because they saw the power of Islam.⁴⁹

BanU QaynuqA’ expelled from Medina (624 CE)

Meanwhile there was the affair of the B. QaynuqA’. The apostle assembled them in their market and addressed them as follows: ‘O Jews, beware lest Allah bring upon you the vengeance that He brought upon Quraysh and become Muslims. You know that I am a prophet who has been sent - you will find that in your scriptures and Allah’s covenant with you.’ They replied, ‘O Muhammad, you seem to think that we are your people. Do not deceive yourself because you encountered a people with no knowledge of war and got the better of them; for by Elohim if we fight you, you will find that we are real men!’

A freedman of the family of Zayd b. ThAbit from Sa’Id b. Jubayr or from ‘Ikrima from Ibn ‘AbbAs told me that the latter said the following verses came down about them:

‘Say to those who disbelieve: you will be vanquished and gathered to Hell, an evil resting place. You have already had a sign in the two forces which met’, i.e. the apostle’s companions at Badr and the Quraysh. ‘One force fought in the way of Allah; the other, disbelievers, thought they saw double their own force with their very eyes. Allah strengthens with His help whom He will. Verily in that is an example for the discerning.’

The apostle besieged them until they surrendered unconditionally. ‘Abdullah b. Ubayy b. SalUl went to him when Allah had put them in his power and said, ‘O Muhammad, deal kindly with my clients’ (now they were allies of Khazraj), but the apostle put him off. He repeated the words, and the apostle turned away from him, whereupon he thrust his hand into the collar of the apostle’s robe; the apostle was so angry that his face became almost black. He said, ‘Confound you, let me go.’ He answered, ‘No, by Allah, I will not let you go until you deal kindly with my clients. Four hundred men without mail and three hundred mailed protected me from all mine enemies; would you cut them down in one morning? By Allah, I am a man who fears that circumstances may change.’ The apostle said, ‘You can have them.’⁵⁰

[This Jewish tribe was expelled from Medina.]

Assassination of Ka’b B. al-Ashraf (624 CE)

After the Quraysh defeat at Badr the apostle had sent Zayd b. HAritha to the lower quarter and ‘Abdullah b. RawAHa to the upper ,quarter to tell the Muslims of Medina of Allah’s victory and of the polytheists who had been killed.⁵¹

Ka’b b. al-Ashraf who was one of the Tyyi’ of the subsection B. NabhAn whose mother was from the B. al-NadIr when he heard the news said, ‘Is this true? Did Muhammad actually kill these whom these two men mention? (i.e. Zayd and ‘Abdullah b. RawAha). These are the nobles of the Arabs and kingly men; by Elohim, if Muhammad has slain these people ‘twere better to be dead than alive.’

When the enemy of Allah became certain that the news was true he left the town and went to Mecca to stay with al-MuTTalib b. AbU WadA’a b. Dubayra al-Sahmi who was married to ‘Atika d. Abu’l-‘ls b. Umayya b. ‘Abdu Shams b. ‘Abdu ManAf. She took him in and entertained him hospitably. He began to inveigh against the apostle and to recite verses in which he bewailed the Quraysh who were thrown into the pit after having been slain at Badr.⁵²

[Then Ka’b came back to Medina and recited more verses.] The apostle said, ‘Who will rid me of Ibnu’l-Ashraf?’ Muhammad b. Maslama, brother of the B. ‘Abdul’l-Ashhal, said, ‘I will deal with him for you, O apostle of Allah, I will kill him.’ He said, ‘Do so if you can.’ So Muhammad b. Maslama returned and waited for three days without food or drink, apart from what was absolutely necessary. When the apostle was told of this he summoned him and asked him why he had given up eating and drinking. He replied that he had given him an undertaking and he did not know whether he could fulfil it. The apostle said, ‘All that is incumbent upon you is that you should try.’ He said, ‘O apostle of Allah, we shall have to tell lies.’ He answered, ‘Say what you like, for you are free in the matter.’ Thereupon he and SilkAn b. SalAma b. Waqsh who was AbU NA’ila one of the B. ‘Abdul’l-Ashhal, foster-brother of Ka’b, and ‘AbbAd b. Bishr b. Waqsh, and al-HArith b. Aus b. Mu’Adh of the B. ‘Abdul’l-Ashhal and AbU ‘Abs b. Jabr of the B. HAritha conspired together and sent SilkAn to the enemy of Allah, Ka’b b. Ashraf, before they came to him. He talked to him some time and they recited poetry one to the other, for SilkAn was fond of poetry. Then he said, ‘O Ibn Ashraf, I have come to you about a matter which I want to tell you of and wish you to keep secret.’ ‘Very well,’ he replied. He went on, ‘The coming of this man [Muhammad] is a great trial to us. It has provoked the hostility of the Arabs, and they are all in league against us. The roads have become impassable so that our families are in want and privation, and we and our families are in great distress.’ Ka’b answered, ‘By Elohim, I kept telling you, O Ibn SalAma, that the things I warned you of would happen.’ SilkAn said to him, ‘I want you to sell us food and we will give you a pledge of security and you deal generously in the matter… I have friends who share my opinion and I want to bring them to you so that you may sell to them and act generously, and we will give you enough weapons for a good pledge.’ SilkAn’s object was that he should not take alarm at the sight of weapons when they brought them. Ka’b answered, ‘Weapons are a good pledge.’ Thereupon SilkAn returned to his companions, told them what had happened, and ordered them to take their arms. Then they went away and assembled with him and met the apostle.⁵³

The apostle walked with them as far as Baqi’u’l-Gharqad. Then he sent them off, saying, ‘Go in Allah’s name; O Allah help them.’ So saying, he returned to his house. Now it was a moonlight night and they journeyed on until they came to his castle, and AbU NA’ila called out to him. He had only recently married, and he jumped up in the bedsheet, and his wife took hold of the end of it and said, ‘You are at war, and those who are at war do not go out at this hour.’ He replied, ‘It is AbU NA’ila. Had he found me sleeping he would not have woken me.’ She answered, ‘By Elohim, I can feel evil in his voice.’ Ka’b answered, ‘Even if the call were for a stab a brave man must answer it.’ So he went down and talked to them for some time, while they conversed with him. Then AbU NA’ila said, ‘Would you like to walk with us to Shi’b al-‘AjUz, so that we can talk for the rest of the night?’ ‘If you like,’ he answered, so they went off walking together; and after a time AbU NA’ila ran his hand through his hair. Then he smelt his hand, and said, ‘I have never smelt a scent finer than this.’ They walked on farther and he did the same so that Ka’b suspected no evil. Then after a space he did it for the third time, and cried, ‘Smite the enemy of Allah!’ So they smote him, and their swords clashed over him with no effect. Muhammad b. Maslama said, ‘I remembered my dagger when I saw that our swords were useless, and I seized it. Meanwhile the enemy of Allah had made such a noise that every fort around us was showing a light. I thrust it into the lower part of his body, then I bore down upon it until I reached his genitals, and the enemy of Allah fell to the ground. Al-HArith had been hurt, being wounded either in his head or in his foot, one of our swords having struck him. … We carried him and brought him to the apostle at the end of the night. We saluted him as he stood praying, and he came out to us, and we told him that we had killed Allah’s enemy. He spat upon our comrade’s wounds, and both he and we returned to our families. Our attack upon Allah’s enemy cast terror among the Jews, and there was no Jew in Medina who did not fear for his life.’⁵⁴

General Order for killing the Jews (624 CE)

The apostle said, ‘Kill any Jew that falls into your power.’ Thereupon MuHayyiSa b. Mas’Ud leapt upon Ibn Sunayna, a Jewish merchant with whom they had social and business relations, and killed him. HuwayyiSa was not a Muslim at the time though he was the elder brother. When MuHayyiSa killed him HuwayyiSa began to beat him, saying, ‘You enemy of God, did you kill him when much of the fat on your belly comes from his wealth?’ MuHayyiSa answered, ‘Had the one who ordered me to kill him ordered me to kill you I would have cut your head off,’ The other asked, ‘By God, if Muhammad had ordered you to kill me would you have killed me?’ He said, ‘Yes, by Allah, had he ordered me to cut off your head I would have done so.’ He exclaimed, ‘By God, a religion which can bring you to this is marvellous!’ and he became a Muslim.⁵⁵

A Blind Man killed on the way to Uhud (625 CE)

Then the apostle asked his companions whether anyone could take them near the Quraysh by a road which would not pass by them. AbU Khaythama, brother of B. HAritha b. al-HArith, undertook to do so, and he took him through the Harra of B. HAritha and their property until he came out in the territory of Mirba’ b. QayzI who was a blind man, a disaffected person. When he perceived the approach of the apostle and his men he got up and threw dust in their faces saying, ‘You may be the apostle of Allah, but I won’t let you through my garden!’ I was told that he took a handful of dust and said, ‘By God, Muhammad, if I could be sure that I should not hit someone else I would throw it in your face.’ The people rushed on him to kill him, and the apostle said, ‘Do not kill him, for this blind man is blind of heart, blind of sight.’ Sa’d b. Zayd, brother of B. ‘Abdu’l-Ashhal, rushed at him before the apostle had forbidden this and hit him on the head with his bow so that he split it open.⁵⁶

Assassination of KhAlid B. SufyAn (625 CE)

‘Abdullah b. Unays said: The apostle called me and said that he had heard that Ibn SufyAn b. NubayH al-HudhalI was collecting a force to attack him, and that he was in Nakhla or ‘Urana and that I was to go and kill him. I asked him to describe him so that I might know him, and he said, ‘If you see him he will remind you of Satan. A sure sign is that when you see him you will feel a shudder.’ I went out girding on my sword until I came on him with a number of women in a howdah seeking a halting-place for them. It was the time for afternoon prayer, and when I saw him I felt a shuddering as the apostle had said. I advanced towards him fearing that something would prevent my praying, so I prayed as I walked towards him bowing my head. When I came to him he asked who I was and I answered, ‘An Arab who has heard of you and your gathering a force against this fellow [Muhammad] and has come to you.’ He said, ‘Yes, I am doing so.’ I walked a short distance with him and when my chance came I struck him with my sword and killed him, and went off leaving his women bending over him. When I came to the apostle he saw me and said, ‘The aim is accomplished.’ I said. ‘I have killed him, O Apostle,’ and he said, ‘You are right.’⁵⁷

BanU Al-NadIr Jews expelled from Medina (625 CE)

According to what YazId b. RUmAn told me the apostle went to B. al-NadIr to ask for their help in paying the bloodwit for the two men of B. ‘Amir whom ‘Amr b. Umayya al-DamrI had killed after he had given them a promise of security. There was a mutual alliance between B. al-NaDIr and B. ‘Amir. When the apostle came to them about the bloodwit they said that of course they would contribute in the way he wished; but they took counsel with one another apart, saying, ‘You will never get such a chance again. Who will go to the top of the house and drop a rock on him (T. so as to kill him) and rid us of him?’ The apostle was sitting by the wall of one of their houses at the time. ‘Amr b. JiHAsh b. Ka’b volunteered to do this and went up to throw down a rock. As the apostle was with a number of his companions among whom were AbU Bakr, ‘Umar, and ‘AlI, news came to him from heaven about what these people intended, so he got up (T and said to his companions, ‘Don’t go away until I come to you’) and he went back to Medina. When his companions had waited long for the prophet, they got up to search for him and met a man coming from Medina and asked him about him. He said that he had seen him entering Medina, and they went off, and when they found him he told them of the treachery which the Jews meditated against him. The apostle ordered them to prepare for war and to march against them. Then he went off with the men until he came upon them.

The Jews took refuge in their forts and the apostle ordered that the palm-trees should be cut down and burnt, and they called out to him, ‘Muhammad, you have prohibited wanton destruction and blamed those guilty of it. Why then are you cutting down and burning our palm-trees?’

Now there was a number of B. ‘Auf b. al-Khazraj among whom were ‘Abdullah b. Ubayy b. SalUl and WadI’a and MAlik b. AbU Qauqal and Suwayd and DA’is who had sent to B. al-NaDIr saying, ‘Stand firm and protect yourselves, for we will not betray you. If you are attacked we will fight with you and if you are turned out, we will go with you.’ Accordingly they waited for the help they had promised, but they did nothing and Allah cast terror into their hearts. They asked the apostle to deport them and to spare their lives on condition that they could retain all their property which they could carry on camels, except their armour, and he agreed. So they loaded their camels with what they could carry. Men were destroying their houses down to the lintel of the door which they put upon the back of their camels and went off with it. Some went to Khaybar and others went to Syria.⁵⁸

They left their property to the apostle and it became his personal property which he could dispose of as he wished. He divided it among the first emigrants to the exclusion of the AnSAr, except that Sahl b. Hunayf and AbU DujAna SimAk B. Kharasha complained of poverty and so he gave them some. Only two of B. al-NaDIr became Muslims: YAmIn B. ‘Umayr AbU Ka’b b. ‘Amr b. JiHAh and AbU Sa’d b. Wahb who became Muslims in order to retain their property.

Concerning B. al-NaDIr the SUra of Exile came down in which is recorded how Allah wreaked His vengeance on them and gave His apostle power over them and how He dealt with them. Allah said: ‘He it is who turned out those who disbelieved of the scripture people from their homes to the first exile. You did not think that they would go out and they thought that their forts would protect them from Allah. But Allah came upon them from a direction they had not reckoned and He cast terror into their hearts so that they destroyed their houses with their own hands and the hands of the believers.’ That refers to their destroying their houses to extract the lintels of the doors when they carried them away. ‘So consider this, you who have understanding. Had not Allah prescribed deportation against them,’ which was vengeance from Allah, ‘He would have punished them in this world,’ i.e. with the sword, ‘and in the next world there would be the punishment of hell’ as well. ‘The palm-trees which you cut down or left standing upon their roots.’ LIna means other than the best kind of dates. ‘It was by Allah’s permission,’ i.e. they were cut down by Allah’s order; it was not destruction but was vengeance from Allah, ‘and to humble evildoers’. ‘The spoil which Allah gave the apostle from them,’ i.e. from B. al-NaDIr. ‘You did not urge on your cavalry or riding camels for the sake of it, but Allah gives His apostle power over whom He wills and Allah is Almighty,’ i.e. it was peculiar to him, ‘The spoil which Allah gave the apostle from the people of the towns belongs to Allah and his apostle.’⁵⁹

Raid on BanU al-MuSTaliq (626 CE)

The apostle received news that B. al-Mustaliq were gathering together against him, their leader being al-HArith b. AbU DirAr, the father of Juwayriya d. al-HArith (afterwards) wife of the apostle. When the apostle heard about them he went out and met them at a watering place of theirs called al-MuraysI’ in the direction of Qudayd towards the shore. There was a fight and Allah put the B. al-MuSTaliq to flight and killed some of them and gave the apostle their wives, children, and property as booty.⁶⁰

‘A’isha [who had accompanied the apostle on this expedition] said: When the apostle distributed the captives of B. al-MuSTaliq, Juwayriya fell to the lot of ThAbit b. Qays b. al-ShammAs, or to a cousin of his, and she gave him a deed for her redemption. She was a most beautiful woman. She captivated every man who saw her. She came to the apostle to ask his help in the matter. As soon as I saw her at the door of my room I took a dislike to her, for I knew that he would see as I saw her. She went in and told him who she was - d. of-HArith b. AbU DirAr, the chief of his people. ‘You can see the state to which I have been brought. I have fallen to the lot of ThAbit or his cousin and have given him a deed for my ransom and have come to ask your help in the matter.’ He said, ‘Would you like something better than that? I will discharge your debt and marry you,’ and she accepted him.⁶¹

Islam inspires Patricide (626 CE)

While the apostle was by this water [after the raid on BanU MuSTaliq] a party came down to it. ‘Umar had a hired servant from B. GhifAr called JahjAh b. Mas’Ud who was leading his horse. This JahjAh and SinAn b. Wabar al-JuhanI, an ally of B. ‘Auf b. al-Khazraj, thrust one another away from the water and fell to fighting. The JuhanI called out ‘Men of al-AnSAr!’ and JahjAh called out ‘Men of the MuhAjirUn!’. ‘Abdullah b. Ubayy b. SalUl was enraged. With him was a number of his people including Zayd b. Arqam, a young boy. He said, ‘Have they actually done this? They dispute our priority, they outnumber us in our own country, and nothing so fits us and the vagabonds of Quraysh as the ancient saying ‘Feed a dog and it will devour you’. By Allah when we return to Medina the stronger will drive out the weaker.’ Then he went to his people who were there and said: ‘This is what you have done to yourselves. You have let them occupy your country, and you have divided your property among them. Had you but kept your property from them they would have gone elsewhere.’ Zayd b. Arqam heard this and went and told the apostle when he had disposed of his enemies. ‘Umar, who was with him, said, ‘Tell ‘AbbAd b. Bishr to go and kill him.’ The apostle answered, ‘But what if men should say Muhammad kills his own companions? No, but give orders to set off.’⁶²

[The son of ‘Abdullah b. Ubayy] came to the apostle, saying, ‘I have heard that you want to kill ‘Abdullah b. Ubayy for what you have heard about him. If you must do it, then order me to do it and I will bring you his head, for al-Khazraj know that they have no man more dutiful to his father than I, and I am afraid that if you order someone else to kill him my soul will not permit me to see his slayer walking among men and I shall kill him, thus killing a believer for an unbeliever, and so I should go to hell.⁶³

Signals for waging Wars of Conquest (627 CE)

SalmAn al-FArisI said: I was working with a pick in the trench [during the Battle of the Trench] where a rock gave me much trouble. The apostle who was near at hand saw me hacking and saw how difficult the place was. He dropped down into the trench and took the pick from my hand and gave such a blow that lightning showed beneath the pick. This happened a second and a third time. I said: ‘O you, dearer than father or mother, what is the meaning of this light beneath your pick as you strike?’ He said: ‘Did you really see that, SalmAn? The first means that Allah has opened up to me the Yaman; the second Syria and the west; and the third the east.’ One whom I do not suspect told me that AbU Hurayra used to say when these countries were conquered in the time of ‘Umar and ‘UthmAn and after, ‘Conquer where you will, by Allah, you have not conquered and to the resurrection day you will not conquer a city whose keys Allah had not given beforehand to Muhammad.’⁶⁴

Massacre of BanU Qurayza Jews (627 CE)

[After the Battle of the Trench] at the time of the noon prayers Gabriel came to the apostle wearing an embroidered turban and riding on a mule with a saddle covered with a piece of brocade. He asked the apostle if he had abandoned fighting, and when he said that he had he said that the angels had not yet laid aside their arms and that he had just come from pursuing the enemy. ‘Allah commands you, Muhammad, to go to B. Qurayza. I am about to go to them to shake their stronghold.’

The apostle ordered it to be announced that none should perform the afternoon prayer until after he reached B. Qurayza. The apostle sent ‘AlI forward with his banner and the men hastened to it. ‘AlI advanced until when he came near the forts he heard insulting language used of the apostle. He returned to meet the apostle on the road and told him that it was not necessary for him to come near those rascals. The apostle said, ‘Why? I think you must have heard them speaking ill of me,’ and when ‘Ali said that was so he added, ‘If they saw me they would not talk in that fashion.’ When the apostle approached their forts he said, ‘You brothers of monkeys, has Allah disgraced you and brought His vengeance upon you?’ They replied, ‘O AbU’l-QAsim, you are not a barbarous person.’

The apostle besieged them for twenty-five nights until they were sore pressed and Allah cast terror into their hearts.⁶⁵

Then they sent to the apostle saying, ‘Send us AbU LubAba b. ‘Abdu’l-Mundhir, brother of B. ‘Amr b. ‘Auf (for they were allies of al-Aus), that we may consult him.’ So the apostle sent him to them, and when they saw him they got up to meet him. The women and children went up to him weeping in his face, and he felt sorry for them. They said, ‘Oh AbA LubAba, do you think that we should submit to Muhammad’s judgement?’ He said, ‘Yes,’ and pointed with his hand to his throat, signifying slaughter. [But they did not get the message].⁶⁶

In the morning they submitted to the apostle’s judgement and al-Aus leapt up and said, ‘O Apostle, they are our allies, not allies of Khazraj, and you know how you recently treated the allies of our brethren.’ Now the apostle had besieged B. QaynuqA’ who were allies of al-Khazraj and when they submitted to his judgement ‘Abdullah b. Ubayy b. SalUl had asked him for them and he gave them to him; so when al-Aus spoke thus the apostle said: ‘Will you be satisfied, O Aus, if one of your own number pronounces judgement on them?’ When they agreed he said that Sa’d b. Mu’Adh was the man.⁶⁷

When Sa’d reached the apostle and the Muslims the apostle told them to get up to greet their leader. The muhAjirs of Quraysh thought that the apostle meant the AnSAr, while the latter thought that he meant everyone, so they got up and said ‘O AbU ‘Amr, the apostle has entrusted to you the affair of your allies that you may give judgement concerning them.’ Sa’d asked, ‘Do you covenant by Allah that you accept the judgement I pronounce on them?’ They said Yes, and he said, ‘And is it incumbent on the one who is here?’ (looking) in the direction of the apostle not mentioning him out of respect, and the apostle answered Yes. Sa’d said, ‘Then I give judgement that the men should be killed, the property divided, and the women and children taken as captives.’⁶⁸

Then they surrendered, and the apostle confined them in Medina in the quarter of d. al-HArith, a woman of B. al-NajjAr. Then the apostle went out to the market of Medina (which is still its market today) and dug trenches in it. T_hen he sent for them and struck off their heads in those trenches as they were brought out to him in batches_. Among them was the enemy of Allah Huyayy b. Akhtab and Ka’b b. Asad their chief. _ There were 600 or 700 in all, though some put the figure as high as 800 or 900_. As they were being taken out in batches to the apostle they asked Ka’b what he thought would be done with them. He replied, ‘Will you never understand? Don’t you see that the summoner never stops and those who are taken away do not return? By Elohim it is death!’ This went on until the apostle made an end of them.⁶⁹

‘A’isha [who was watching the gory scene] said: ‘Only one of their women was killed. She was actually with me and was talking with me and laughing immoderately as the apostle was killing her men in the market when suddenly an unseen voice called her name. ‘Good heavens,’ I cried, ‘what is the matter?’ ‘I am to be killed,’ she replied. ‘What for?’ I asked. ‘Because of something I did,’ she answered. She was taken away and beheaded.⁷⁰

The apostle had ordered that every adult of theirs should be killed.⁷¹

Then the apostle divided the property, wives, and children of B. Qurayza among the Muslims, and he made known on that day the shares of horse and men, and took out the fifth. A horseman got three shares, two for the horse and one for his rider. A man without a horse got one share. On the day of B. Qurayza there were thirty-six horses. It was the first booty on which lots were cast and the fifth was taken. According to its precedent and what the apostle did the divisions were made, and it remained the custom for raids.

Then the apostle sent Sa’d b. Zayd al-AnSAri brother of b. ‘Abdu’l Ashhal with some of the captive women of B. Qurayza to Najd and he sold them for horses and weapons.

The apostle had chosen one of their women for himself, RayHAna d. ‘Amr b. KhunAfa, one of the women of B. ‘Amr b. Qurayza, and she remained with him until she died, in his power. The apostle had proposed to marry her and put the veil on her, but she said: ‘Nay, leave me in your power, for that will be easier for me and for you.’ So he left her. She had shown repugnance towards Islam when she was captured and clung to Judaism. So the apostle put her aside and felt some displeasure. While he was with his companions he heard the sound of sandals behind him and said, ‘This is Tha’laba b. Sa’ya coming to give me the good news of RayhAna’s acceptance of Islam’ and he came up to announce the fact. This gave him pleasure.

Allah sent down concerning the trench and B. Qurayza the account which is found in the SUra of the Confederates.⁷²

[Regarding BanU Qurayza, Allah said], ‘And Allah turned back those who disbelieved in His wrath’ i.e. Quraysh and GatafAn  ‘And He brought down those of the Scripture people who helped them,’ i.e. B. Qurayza, ‘from their strongholds’ the forts and castles in which they were. ‘And he cast terror into their hearts; some you slew and some you captured,’ i.e. he killed the men and captured the women and children. ‘And caused you to inherit their land and their dwellings, and their property, and a land you had not trod,’ i.e. Khaybar. ‘For Allah can do all things.’⁷³

Raid on BanU al-Mulawwah (627 CE)

We went on until we came to (T the valley of) al-KadId at sunset. We were in the wadi and my companions sent me on to scout for them. So I left them and went on until I came to a hill overlooking the enemy’s camp.

We gave them time until they quietened down and went to sleep (T. until their cattle returned in the evening and they milked them and lay down quietly, and a third of the night passed) and towards dawn we attacked them and killed some and drove off the cattle. They cried out to one another for aid, and a multitude that we could not resist came at us and we went on with the cattle and passed Ibn al-BarSA and his companion and carried them along with us. The enemy were hard on our heels and only the Wadi Qudayd was between us, when Allah sent a flood in the wadi from whence He pleased, for there were no clouds that we could see and no rain. It brought such water that none could resist it and none could pass over. And there they stood looking at us as we drove off their cattle. Not one of them could cross to us as we hurried off with them until we got away; they could not pursue us, and we brought them to the apostle.

A man of Aslam on the authority of another of them told me that the war-cry of the apostle’s companions that night was Slay! Slay!⁷⁴

Raid on BanU TamIm (627 CE)

The apostle sent him to raid them, and he killed some and captured others. ‘A’isha said to the apostle that she must free a slave of the sons of Isma’Il, and he said, ‘The captives of B. al-‘Anbar are coming now. We will give you one whom you can set free.’ When they were brought to the apostle a deputation from B. TamIm rode with them until they reached the apostle. They spoke to the apostle on their behalf and he liberated some and accepted ransom for others.⁷⁵

Raid on al-GhAba (627 CE)

We set forth taking our arrows and swords until we arrived near the settlement in the evening as the sun was setting. I hid at one end and ordered my companions to hide at the other end of the camp and told them that when they heard me cry ‘Allah akbar’ as I ran to the camp they were to do the same and run with me. There we were waiting to take the enemy by surprise or to get something from them until much of the night had passed. Now they had a shepherd who had gone out with the animals and was so late in returning that they became alarmed on his behalf. Their chief this RifA’a b. Qays got up and took his sword and hung it round his neck, saying that he would go on the track of the shepherd, for some harm must have befallen him; whereupon some of his company begged him not to go alone for they would protect him, but he insisted on going alone. As he went he passed by me, and when he came in range I shot him in the heart with an arrow, and he died without uttering a word. I leapt upon him and cut off his head and ran in the direction of the camp shouting ‘Allah akbar’ and my two companions did likewise, and by Allah, shouting out to one another they all fled at once with their wives and children and such of their property as they could lay hands on easily. We drove off a large number of camels and sheep and brought them to the apostle and I took RifA’a’s head to the apostle, who gave me thirteen of the camels to help me with the woman’s dowry, and I consummated my marriage.⁷⁶

Raid on the BajIlIs (627 CE)

In the raid of MuHArib and B. Tha’laba the apostle had captured a slave called YasAr, and he put him in charge of his milch-camels to shepherd them in the neighbourhood of al-JammA’. Some men of Qays of Kubba of BajIla came to the apostle suffering from an epidemic and enlarged spleens, and the apostle told them that if they went to the milch-camels and drank their milk and urine they would recover, so off they went. When they recovered their health and their bellies contracted to their normal size they fell upon the apostle’s shepherd YasAr and killed him and stuck thorns in his eyes and drove away his camels. The apostle sent Kurz b. JAbir in pursuit and he overtook them and brought them to the apostle as he returned from the raid of DhU Qarad. He cut off their hands and feet and gouged out their eyes.⁷⁷

Raid on BanU JudhAm (627 CE)

The apostle sent Zayd b. HAritha against them and that was what provoked the raid of Zayd on JudhAm  Zayd’s force came up from the direction of al-AulAj and attacked… They rounded up the cattle and men they found and killed al-Hunayd and his son and two men of B. al-AHnaf and one of B. al-KhaSIb.⁷⁸

Raid on DUmtu’l-Jandal (627 CE)

Then he ordered ‘Abdu’l-RaHmAn b. ‘Auf to make his preparations for the expedition. In the morning he wore a black turban of cotton. The apostle told him to approach and unwound it and then rewound it leaving four fingers or so loose behind him, saying, ‘Turban yourself thus, Ibn ‘Auf, for thus it is better and neater.’ Then he ordered BilAl to give him the standard and he did so. Then he gave praise to Allah and prayed for himself. He then said, ‘Take it, Ibn ‘Auf; fight everyone in the way of Allah and kill those who disbelieve in Allah. Do not be deceitful with the spoil; do not be treacherous, nor mutilate, nor kill children. This is Allah’s ordinance and the practice of his prophet among you.’⁷⁹

Raid on BanU FazAra (627 CE)

Zayd also raided WAdi’l-QurA, where he met B. FazAra and some of his companions were killed; he himself was carried wounded from the field. Ward b. ‘Amr b. MadAsh, one of B’. ‘Sa’d b. Hudhayl, was killed by one of B. Badr. When Zayd came he swore that he would use no ablution until he raided B. FazAra; and when he recovered from his wounds the apostle sent him against them with a force. He fought (T. he met) them in WAdi’l-QurA and killed some of them… Umm Qirfa FATima d. RabI’a b. Badr was taken prisoner She was a very old woman, wife of MAlik. Her daughter and ‘Abdullah b. Mas’ada were also taken. Zayd ordered Qays b. al-MusaHHar to kill Umm Qirfa and he killed her cruelly (T. by putting a rope to her two legs and to two camels and driving them until they rent her in two). Then they brought Umm Qirfa’s daughter and Mas’ada’s son to the apostle. The daughter of Umm Qirfa belonged to Salama b. ‘Amr b. al-Akwa’ who had taken her. She held a position of honour among her people, and the Arabs used to say, ‘Had you been more powerful than Umm Qirfa you could have done no more.’ Salama asked the apostle to let him have her and he gave her to him and he presented her to his uncle Hazn b. AbU Wahb and she bare him ‘Abdu’l-RaHmAn b. Hazn.⁸⁰

Assassination of SallAm ibn Abu’l-HUqayq (627 CE)

When the fight at the trench and the affair of the B. Qurayza were over, the matter of SallAm b. AbU’l-Huqayq known as AbU RAfi’ came up in connexion with those who had collected the mixed tribes together against the apostle. Now Aus had killed Ka’b b. al-Ashraf before Uhud because of his enmity towards the apostle and because he instigated men against him, so Khazraj asked and obtained the apostle’s permission to kill SallAm who was in Khaybar.

One of the things which Allah did for His apostle was that these two tribes of the AnSAr, Aus and Khazraj, competed the one with the other like two stallions: if Aus did anything to the apostle’s advantage Khazraj would say, ‘They shall not have this superiority over us in the apostle’s eyes and in Islam’ and they would not rest until they could do something similar. If Khazraj did anything Aus would say the same.

When Aus had killed Ka’b for his enmity towards the apostle, Khazraj used these words and asked themselves what man was as hostile to the apostle as Ka’b? And then they remembered SallAm who was in Khaybar and asked and obtained the apostle’s permission to kill him.⁸¹

Five men of B. Salima of Khazraj went to him… As they left, the apostle appointed ‘Abdullah b. ‘AtIk as their leader, and he forbade them to kill women or children. When they got to Khaybar they went to SallAm’s house by night, having locked every door in the settlement on the inhabitants. Now he was in an upper chamber of his to which a (T. Roman) ladder led up. They mounted this until they came to the door and asked to be allowed to come in. His wife came out and asked who they were and they told her that they were Arabs in search of supplies. She told them that their man was here and that they could come in. ‘When we entered and we bolted the door of the room on her and ourselves fearing lest something should come between us and him. His wife shrieked and warned him of us, so we ran at him with our swords as he was on his bed. The only thing that guided us in the darkness of the night was his whiteness like an Egyptian blanket. When his wife shrieked one of our number would lift his sword against her; then he would remember the apostle’s ban on killing women and withdraw his hand; but for that we would have made an end of her that night. When we had smitten him with our swords ‘Abdullah b. Unays bore down with his sword into his belly until it went right through him, as he was saying QaTni, qaTnI, i.e. It’s enough.’⁸²

Then he came to them and told them the news, and they picked up their companion and took him to the apostle and told him that they had killed Allah’s enemy. They disputed before him as to who had killed him, each of them laying claim to the deed. The apostle demanded to see their swords and when he looked at them he said, ‘It is the sword of ‘Abdullah b. Unays that killed him; I can see traces of food on it.’⁸³

Killing of Jews by Treachery (628 CE)

‘Abdullah b. RawAha raided Khaybar twice; on one occasion he killed al-Yusayr b. RizAm. Now al-Yusayr (T. the Jew) was in Khaybar collecting GhatafAn to attack the apostle. The latter sent ‘Abdullah b. RawAha with a number of his companions, among whom were ‘Abdullah b. Unays, an ally of B. Salima. When they came to him [al-Yusayr] they spoke to him (T. and made him promises) and treated him well, saying that if he would come to the apostle he would give him an appointment and honour him. They kept on at him until he went with them with a number of Jews. ‘Abdullah b. Unays mounted him on his beast (T. and he rode behind him) until when he was in al-Qarqara, about six miles from Khaybar, al-Yusayr changed his mind about going to the apostle. ‘Abdullah perceived his intention as he was preparing to draw his sword, so he rushed at him and struck him with his sword cutting of his leg. Al-Yusayr hit him with a stick of shauHaT wood which he had in his hand and wounded his head (T. and Allah killed Yusayr). All the apostle’s companions fell upon their Jewish companions and killed them except one man who escaped on his feet (T. his beast). When ‘Abdullah b. Unays came to the apostle he spat on his wound and it did not suppurate or cause him pain.⁸⁴

Neighbouring Rulers invited to Islam (628 CE)

The apostle went out to his companions and said: ‘Allah has sent me as a mercy to all men, so take a message from me, Allah have mercy on you…’

Then the apostle divided his companions and sent SalIt b. ‘Amr b. ‘Abdu Shams b. ‘Abdu Wudd, brother of B. ‘Amir b. Lu’ayy, to Haudha b. ‘AlI ruler of al-YamAma; al-‘AlA’ b. al-HaDramI to al-Mundhir b. SAwA, brother of B. ‘Abdu’l-Qays’ ruler of al-Bahrayn; ‘Amr b. al-AS to Jayfar b. JulandA and ‘AbbAd his brother the AsdIs, rulers of ‘UmAn; HAtib b. AbU Balta’a to the Muqauqis ruler of Alexandria. He handed over to him the apostle’s letter and the Muqauqis gave to the apostle four slave girls, one of whom was Mary mother of IbrAhIm the apostle’s son; Dihya b. KhalIfa al-KalbI- al-KhazrajI he sent to Caesar, who was Heraclius king of Rome.⁸⁵

Conquest of Khaybar (628 CE)

When the apostle marched from Medina to Khaybar he went by way of ‘ISr, and a mosque was built for him there; then by way of al-SaHbA’. Then he went forward with the army until he halted in a wadi called al-RajI’, halting between the men of Khaybar and GhaTafAn so as to prevent the latter reinforcing Khaybar, for they were on their side against the apostle.

When GhatafAn heard about the apostle’s attack on Khaybar they gathered together and marched out to help the Jews against him; but after a day’s journey, hearing a rumour about their property and families, they thought that they had been attacked during their absence, so they went back on their tracks and left the way to Khaybar open to the apostle.

The apostle seized the property piece by piece and conquered the forts one by one as he came to them. The first to fall was the fort of NA’im; there MahmUd b. Maslama was killed by a millstone which was thrown on him from it; then al-QamUS the fort of B. AbU’l-Huqayq. The apostle took captives from them among whom was SafIya d. Huyayy b. AkhTab who had been the wife of KinAna b. al-RabI’ b. AbU’l-Huqayq, and two cousins of hers. The apostle chose SafIya for himself.

DiHya b. KhalIfa al-KalbI had asked the apostle for SafIya, and when he chose her for himself he gave him her two cousins. The women of Khaybar were distributed among the Muslims. The Muslims ate the meat of the domestic donkeys and the apostle got up and forbade the people to do a number of things which he enumerated.⁸⁶

KinAna b. al-RabI’, who had the custody of the treasure of B. al-NaDIr was brought to the apostle who asked him about it. He denied that he knew where it was. A Jew came (T. was brought) to the apostle and said that he had seen KinAna going round a certain ruin every morning early. When the apostle said to KinAna, ‘Do you know that if we find you have it I shall kill you?’ he said Yes. The apostle gave orders that the ruin was to be excavated and some of the treasure was found. When he asked him about the rest he refused to produce it, so the apostle gave orders to al-Zubayr b. al-‘AwwAm, ‘Torture him until you extract what he has,’ so he kindled afire with flint and steel on his chest until he was nearly dead. Then the apostle delivered him to Muhammad b. Maslama and he struck off his head.⁸⁷

When the apostle married SafIya in Khaybar or on the way, she having been beautified and combed, and got in a fit state for the apostle by Umm Sulaym d. MilHAn mother of Anas b. MAlik, the apostle passed the night with her in a tent of his. AbU AyyUb, KhAlid b. Zayd brother of B. al-NajjAr passed the night girt with his sword, guarding the apostle and going round the tent until in the morning the apostle saw him there and asked him what he meant by his action. He replied, ‘I was afraid for you with this woman for you have killed her father, her husband, and her people, and till recently she was in unbelief, so I was afraid for you on her account.’ They allege that the apostle said ‘O Allah, preserve AbU AyyUb as he spent the night preserving me.’⁸⁸

When the spoil of Khaybar was divided, al-Shaqq and NatA fell to the Muslims while al-KatIba was divided into five sections: Allah’s fifth; the prophet’s share (T. fifth); the share of kind-red, orphans, the poor (T. and wayfarers); maintenance of the prophet’s wives; and maintenance of the men who acted as intermediaries in the peace negotiations with the men of Fadak. To Muhayyisa, who was one of these men, the apostle gave thirty loads of barley and thirty loads of dates. Khaybar was apportioned among the men of al-Hudaybiya without regard to whether they were present at Khaybar or not.⁸⁹

When the apostle had finished with Khaybar, Allah struck terror to the hearts of the men of Fadak when they heard what the apostle had done to the men of Khaybar. They sent to him an offer of peace on condition that they should keep half of their produce. Their messengers came to him in Khaybar or on the road or after he came to Medina, and he accepted their terms. Thus Fadak became his private property, because it had not been attacked by horse or camel.⁹⁰

The apostle took Khaybar by force after fighting and Khaybar was part of what Allah gave to him as booty. The apostle divided it into five parts and distributed it among the Muslims, and after the fighting the population surrendered on condition that they should migrate. The apostle called them and said that if they wished he would let them have the property on condition that they worked it and the produce was equally divided between both parties and he would leave them there as long as Allah let them stay. They accepted the terms and used to work the property on those conditions. The apostle used to send ‘Abdullah b. RawAHa and he would divide the produce and make a just assessment. When Allah took away His prophet, AbU Bakr continued the arrangement until his death, and so did ‘Umar for the beginning of his amIrate. Then he heard that the apostle had said in his last illness. ‘Two religions shall not remain together in the peninsula of the Arabs‘ and he made inquiries until he got confirmation. Then he sent to the Jews saying, ‘Allah has given permission for you to emigrate’, quoting the apostle’s words. ‘If anyone has an agreement with the apostle let him bring it to me and I will carry it out; he who has no such agreement let him get ready to emigrate.’ Thus ‘Umar expelled those who had no agreement with the apostle.⁹¹

Raid on Mu’ta in Syria (629 CE)

The apostle sent his expedition to Mu’ta in JumAda’l-UlA in the year 8 and put Zayd b. HAritha in command; if Zayd were slain then Ja’far b. AbU TAlib was to take command, and if he were killed then ‘Abdullah b. RawAha. The expedition got ready to the number of 3,000 and prepared to start. When they were about to set off they bade farewell to the apostle’s chiefs and saluted them. When ‘Abdullah b. RawAHa took his leave of the chiefs he wept and when they asked him the reason he said, ‘By Allah, it is not that I love the world and am inordinately attached to you, but I heard the apostle read a verse from Allah’s book in which he mentioned hell and I do not know how I can return after I have been in it?⁹²

The people went forward until when they were on the borders of the BalqA’ the Greek and Arab forces of Heraclius met them in a village called MashArif. When the enemy approached, the Muslims withdrew to a village called Mu’ta. There the forces met and the Muslims made their dispositions, putting over the right wing Qutba b. QatAda of the B. ‘Udhra, and over the left wing an AnSArI called ‘UbAya b. MAlik.

When fighting began Zayd b. HAritha fought holding the apostle’s standard, until he died from loss of blood among the spears of the enemy. Then Ja’far took it and fought with it until when the battle hemmed him in he jumped off his roan and hamstrung her and fought till he was killed. Ja’far was the first man in Islam to hamstring his horse.

When Ja’far was killed ‘Abdullah b. RawAHa took the standard and advanced with it riding his horse. He had to put pressure on himself as he felt reluctant to go forward.⁹³

Then he dismounted and a cousin of his came up with a meat bone, saying, ‘Strengthen yourself with this, for you have met in these battles of yours difficult days.’ He took it and ate a little. Then he heard the sounds of confusion in the force and threw it away, saying, ‘And you are still living?’ He seized his sword and died fighting.⁹⁴

[KhAlid b. al-WalId who had converted to Islam some time earlier and joined this expedition, led the Muslim army in retreat to Medium. Hearing the report] the apostle said: ‘Zayd took the standard and fought with it until he was killed as a martyr; then Ja’far took it and fought until he was killed as a martyr.’ Then he was silent until the faces of the AnSAr fell and they thought that something disastrous had happened to ‘Abdullah b, RawAHa. Then he said: ‘Abdullah took it and fought by it until he was killed as a martyr. I saw in a vision that they were carried up to me in Paradise upon beds of gold. I saw ‘Abdullah’s bed turning away from the beds of the other two, and when I asked why, I was told that they had gone on but he hesitated before he went forward.’⁹⁵

Vindictive Killings after the Conquest of Mecca (630 CE)

The apostle had instructed his commanders when they entered Mecca only to fight those who resisted them, except a small number who were to be killed even if they were found beneath the curtains of the Ka’ba. Among them was ‘Abdullah b. Sa’d, brother of the B. ‘Amir b. Lu’ayy. The reason he ordered him to be killed was that he had been a Muslim and used to write down revelation; then he apostatized and returned to Quraysh and fled to ‘UthmAn b. ‘AffAn whose foster-brother he was. The latter hid him until he brought him to the apostle after the situation in Mecca was tranquil, and asked that he might be granted immunity. They allege that the apostle remained silent for a long time till finally he said yes. When ‘UthmAn had left he said to his companions who were sitting around him, ‘I kept silent so that one of you might get up and strike off his head!’ One of the AnSAr said, ‘Then why didn’t you give me a sign, O apostle of Allah?’ He answered that a prophet does not kill by pointing.⁹⁶

Another was ‘Abdullah b. Khatal of B. Taym b. GhAlib. He had become a Muslim and the apostle sent him to collect the poor tax in company with one of the AnSAr. He had with him a freed slave who served him. (He was a Muslim.) When they halted he ordered the latter to kill a goat for him and prepare some food, and went to sleep. When he woke up the man had done nothing, so he attacked and killed him and apostatized. He had two singing-girls FartanA and her friend who used to sing satirical songs about the apostle, so he ordered that they should be killed with him.⁹⁷

Another was al-Huwayrith b. Nuqaydh b. Wahb b. ‘Abd b. QuSayy, one of those who used to insult him in Mecca.

Another was Miqyas b. HubAba because he had killed an AnSArI who had killed his brother accidentally, and returned to Quraysh as a polytheist. And SAra freed slave of one of the B. ‘Abdu’l-Muttalib; and ‘Ikrima b. AbU Jahl. SAra had insulted him in Mecca.

‘Abdullah b. Khatal was killed by Sa’Id b. Hurayth al-MakhzUmI and AbU Barza al-AslamI acting together. Miqyas was killed by Numayla b. ‘Abdullah, one of his own people.

As for Ibn KhaTal’s two singing-girls, one was killed and the other ran away until the apostle, asked for immunity, gave it her. Similarly SAra, who lived until in the time of ‘Umar a mounted soldier trod her down in the valley of Mecca and killed her. Al-Huwayrith was killed by ‘AlI.⁹⁸

The Battle of Hunayn (630 CE)

When HawAzin heard how Allah had given the apostle possession of Mecca, MAlik b. ‘Auf al-NaSrI collected them together. There assembled to him also all ThaqIf and all Nasr and Jusham; and Sa’d b. Bakr, and a few men from B. HilAl.⁹⁹

When the prophet heard about them he sent ‘Abdullah b. AbU Hadrad al-AslamI to them and ordered him to go among them and stay with them until he learned all about them, and then bring him back the news. ‘Abdullah went and stayed with them until he learned that they had decided to fight the apostle and the dispositions of HawAzin, and then came back to tell the apostle.¹⁰⁰

Then the apostle marched with 2,000 Meccans and 10,000 of his companions who had gone out with him when he conquered Mecca, 12,000 in all.¹⁰¹

[AbU QatAda, who fought in the battle in the valley of Hunayn], said: On the day of Hunayn I saw two men fighting, a Muslim and a polytheist. A friend of the latter was making to help him against the Muslim, so I went up to him and struck off his hand, and he throttled me with the other; and by Allah he did not let me go until I smelt the reek of blood. He had all but killed me and had not loss of blood weakened him he would have done so. But he fell and I struck and killed him, and was too occupied with the fighting to pay any more attention to him. One of the Meccans passed by and stripped him, and when the fighting was over and we had finished with the enemy the apostle said that anyone who had killed a foe could have his spoil. I told the apostle that I had killed a man who was worth stripping and had been too occupied with fighting at the time and that I did not know who had spoiled him. One of the Meccans admitted that I had spoken the truth and that the spoil was in his possession. ‘So pay him to his satisfaction on my behalf from his spoil.’ AbU Bakr said, ‘No, by Allah, he shall not ‘give him satisfaction’ from it. Are you going to make one of Allah’s lions who fought for His religion go shares with you in his prey? Return the spoil of the man he killed to him!’ The apostle confirmed AbU Bakr’s words, so I took the spoil from him and sold it and bought with the money a small palm-grove. It is the first property I ever held. One I do not suspect told me: AbU TalHa alone took the spoil of twenty men.¹⁰²

RabI’a b. Rufay’ b. UhbAn b. Tha’laba b. Rab?’a b. YarbU’ b. SammAl b. ‘Auf b. Imru’ul-Qays who was called after his mother Ibn Dughunna more often overtook Durayd b. al-Simma and took hold of his camel’s halter, thinking that he was a woman because he was in his howdah. And lo, it was a man; he made the camel kneel and it was a very old man - Durayd b. al-Simma. The young man did not know him and Durayd asked him what he wanted and what was his name. He told him and said that he wanted to kill him, and struck him with his sword to no effect. Durayd said, ‘What a poor weapon your mother has given you! Take this sword of mine that is behind the saddle in the howdah and strike me with that above the spine and below the head, for that is the way I used to strike men. Then when you come to your mother tell her that you have killed Durayd b. al-Simma, for many’s the day I have protected your women.’ The B. Sulaym allege that RabI’a said, ‘When I smote him he fell and exposed himself, and lo his crotch and the inside of his thighs were like paper from riding horses bareback. When RabI’a returned to his mother he told her that he had killed him and she said, ‘By Allah, he set free three mothers and grandmothers of yours.’¹⁰³

Devastation at TA’if (630 CE)

[The apostle] went on until he halted near al-TA’if and pitched his camp there. Some of his companions were killed by arrows there because the camp had come too close to the wall of al-TA’if and the arrows were reaching them. The Muslims could not get through their wall for they had fastened the gate. When these men were killed by arrows he (T. withdrew and) pitched his camp near where his mosque stands today. He besieged them for some twenty days.

The apostle besieged them and fought them bitterly and the two sides exchanged arrows, until when the day of storming came at the wall of al-TA’if a number of his companions went under a testudo and advanced up to the wall to breach it. ThaqIf let loose on them scraps of hot iron so they came out from under it and Thaq-lf shot them with arrows and killed some of them. The apostle ordered that the vineyards of ThaqIf should be cut down and the men fell upon them cutting them down.¹⁰⁴

Then Khuwayla d. HakIm b. Umayya b. HAritha b. al-AuqaS al-SulamIya, wife of ‘UthmAn b. Maz’Un, asked the apostle to give her the jewellery of BAdiya d. GhaylAn b. Salama, or the jewellery of al-FAri’a d. ‘AqIl if Allah gave him victory over al-TA’if, for they were the best bejewelled women of ThaqIf. I have been told that the apostle said to her, ‘And if ThaqIf is not permitted to me, O Khuwayla?’ She left him and went and told ‘Umar, who came and asked the apostle if he had really said that. On hearing that he had, he asked if he should give the order to break camp, and receiving his permission he did so.

When the army moved off Sa’Id b. ‘Ubayd b. AsId b. AbU ‘Amr b. ‘AllAj called out, ‘The tribe is holding out.’ ‘Uyayna b. HiSn said, Yes, nobly and gloriously.’ One of the Muslims said to him, ‘Allah smite you, ‘Uyayna! Do you praise the polytheists for holding out against the apostle when you have come to help him?’ ‘I did not come to fight ThaqIf with you,’ he answered, ‘but I wanted Muhammad to get possession of al-TA’if so that I might get a girl from ThaqIf whom I might tread (T. make pregnant) so that she might bear me a son, for ThaqIf are a people who produce intelligent children.’¹⁰⁵

Lust for Loot and Bribes (630 CE)

Then a deputation from HawAzin came to him in al-Ji’rAna where he held 6,000 women and children, and sheep and camels innumerable which had been captured from them in the Battle of Hunayn. The deputation from HawAzin came to the apostle after they had accepted Islam, saying that the disaster which had befallen them was well known and asking him to have pity on them for Allah’s sake. One of the HawAzin of the clan B. Sa’d b. Bakr (T. it was they who had provided the fostermother for the apostle) called Zuhayr AbU Surad said: ‘O Apostle of Allah, in the enclosures are your paternal and maternal aunts and the women who suckled you who used to look after you.’¹⁰⁶

The apostle said, ‘Which are dearest to you? Your sons and your wives or your cattle?’ They replied, ‘Do you give us the choice between our cattle and our honour? Nay, give us back our wives and our sons, for that is what we most desire.’ He said, ‘So far as concerns what I and the B. ‘Abdu’l-MuTTalib have they are yours. When I have prayed the noon prayer with the men then get up and say, ‘We ask the apostle’s intercession with the Muslims, and the Muslims’ intercession with the apostle for our sons and our wives.’ I will then give them to you and make application on your behalf.’ When the apostle had ended the noon prayers they did as he had ordered them and he said what he had promised to say. Then the MuhAjirs said that what was theirs was the apostle’s, and the AnSAr said the same.¹⁰⁷

The apostle gave ‘AlI a girl called Rayta d. HilAl b. HayyAn b. ‘Umayra b. HilAl b. NASira b. QuSayya b. NaSr b. Sa’d b. Bakr; and he gave ‘UthmAn a girl called Zaynab d. HayyAn; and he gave ‘Umar a girl whom ‘Umar gave to his son ‘Abdullah.

[‘Abdullah b. ‘Umar related]: I sent her to my aunts of B. Jumah to prepare and get her ready for me until I had circumambulated the temple and could come to them, wanting to take her when I returned. When I had finished I came out of the mosque and lo the men were running about, and when I asked why they told me that the apostle had returned their wives and children to them, so I told them that their woman was with B. Jumah and they could go and take her, and they did so.¹⁰⁸

When the apostle had returned the captives of Hunayn to their people he rode away and the men followed him, saying, ‘O apostle, divide our spoil of camels and herds among us’ until they forced him back against a tree and his mantle was tom from him and he cried, ‘Give me back my mantle, men, for by Allah if you had (T. I had) as many sheep as the trees of TihAma I would distribute them among you; you have not found me niggardly or cowardly or false.’

The apostle gave gifts to those whose hearts were to be won over, notably the chiefs of the army, to win them and through them their people.¹⁰⁹

When the apostle had distributed these gifts among Quraysh and the Bedouin tribes, and the AnSAr got nothing, this tribe of AnsAr took the matter to heart and talked a great deal about it, until one of them said, ‘By Allah, the apostle has met his own people.’ Sa’d b. ‘UbAda went to the apostle and told him what had happened. He asked, ‘Where do you stand in this matter, Sa’d?’ He said, ‘I stand with my people.’ ‘Then gather your people in this enclosure,’ he said. He did so, and when some of the MuhAjirs came, he let them come, while others he sent back. When he had got them altogether he went and told the apostle, and he came to them, and after praising and thanking Allah he addressed them thus: ‘O men of AnSAr, what is this I hear of you? Do you think ill of me in your hearts? Did I not come to you when you were erring and Allah guided you; poor and Allah made you rich; enemies and Allah softened your hearts?’ They answered; ‘Yes indeed, Allah and His apostle are most kind and generous.’ He continued: ‘Why don’t you answer me, O AnSAr?’ They said, ‘How shall we answer you? Kindness and generosity belong to. Allah and His apostle.’ He said, ‘Had you so wished you could have said - and you would have spoken the truth and have been believed - You came to us discredited and we believed you; deserted and we helped you; a fugitive and we took you in; poor and we comforted you. Are you disturbed in mind because of the good things of this life by which I win over a people that they may become Muslims while I entrust you to your Islam? Are you not satisfied that men should take away flocks and herds while you take back with you the apostle of Allah? By Him in whose hand is the soul of Muhammad, but for the migration I should be one of the AnSAr myself. If all men went one way and the AnSAr another I should take the way of the AnSAr. Allah have mercy on the AnSAr, their sons and their sons’ sons.’ The people wept until the tears ran down their beards as they said: ‘We are satisfied with the apostle of Allah as our lot and portion’. Then the apostle went off and they dispersed.¹¹⁰

Raid on BanU Tayyi’ (631 CE)

[‘AdIy, the son of HAtim Tayyi’, a great hero of pre-Islamic Arabia, had migrated to Syria when he saw Muhammad triumphant. He, related]: In my absence the apostle’s cavalry came and among the captives they took was HAtim’s daughter, and she was brought to the apostle among the captives of Tayyi’. The apostle had heard of my flight to Syria. HAtim’s daughter was put in the enclosure by the door of the mosque in which the captives were imprisoned and the apostle passed by her. She got up to meet him, for she was a courteous woman, and said, ‘O apostle of Allah, my father is dead and the man who should act for me has gone. If you spare me God will spare you.’ He asked her who her man was and when she told him it was ‘AdIy b. HAtim he exclaimed, ‘The man who runs away from Allah and His apostle.¹¹¹

Raid on TabUk (631 CE)

The apostle ordered his companions to prepare to raid the Byzantines at a time when men were hard pressed; the heat was oppressive and there was a drought; fruit was ripe (T. and shade was eagerly sought) and the men wanted to stay in the shade with their fruit and disliked travelling at that season. Now the apostle nearly always referred allusively to the destination of a raid and announced that he was making for a place other than that which he actually intended. This was the sole exception, for he said plainly that he was making for the Byzantines because the journey was long, the season difficult, and the enemy in great strength, so that the men could make suitable preparations. He ordered them to get ready and told them that he was making for the Byzantines.¹¹²

The apostle heard that the hypocrites were assembling in the house of Suwaylim the Jew (his house was by JAsUm) keeping men back from the apostle in the raid on TabUk. So the prophet sent TalHa b. ‘Ubaydullah with a number of his friends to them with orders to bum Suwaylim’s house down on them. TalHa did so, and al-DaHHak b. KhalIfa threw himself from the top of the house and broke his leg, and his friends rushed out and escaped.¹¹³

When the apostle reached TabUk YuHanna b. Ru’ba governor of Ayla came and made a treaty with him and paid him the poll tax. The people of JarbA’ and Adhruh also came and paid the poll tax. The apostle wrote for them a document which they still have.

Then the apostle summoned KhAlid b. al-WalId and sent him to Ukaydir at DUma. Ukaydir b. ‘Abdu’l-Malik was a man of Kinda who was ruler of DUma; he was a Christian. The apostle told KhAlid that he would find him hunting wild cows. KhAlid went off until he came within sight of his fort. It was a summer night with a bright moon and Ukaydir was on the roof with his wife. The cows were rubbing their horns against the gate of the fort all the night. His wife asked him if he had ever known anything of the kind in the past, and urged him to go after them. He called for his horse, and when it was saddled he rode off with a number of his family, among them a brother called HassAn. As they were riding the apostle’s cavalry fell in with them and seized him and killed his brother. Ukaydir was wearing a gown of brocade covered with gold. KhAlid stripped him of this and sent it to the apostle before be brought him to him.¹¹⁴

Then KhAlid brought Ukaydir to the apostle who spared his life and made peace with him on condition that he paid the poll tax. Then he released him and he returned to his town.¹¹⁵

Allah sanctions Breach of Pledge (631 CE)

The apostle  sent AbU Bakr in command of the Hajj in the year 9 to enable the Muslims to perform their Hajj while the polytheists were at their pilgrimage stations. AbU Bar and the Muslims duly departed.¹¹⁶

A discharge came down permitting the breaking of the agreement between the apostle and the polytheists that none should be kept back from the temple when he came to it, and that none need fear during the sacred month. That was a general agreement between him and the polytheists; meanwhile there were particular agreements between the apostle and the Arab tribes for specified terms. And there came down about it and about the disaffected who held back from him in the raid on TabUk, and about what they said (revelations) in which Allah uncovered the secret thoughts of people who were dissembling. We know the names of some of them, of others we do not. Allah said: ‘A discharge from Allah and His apostle towards those polytheists with whom you made a treaty’, i.e. those polytheists with whom you made a general agreement. ‘So travel through the land for four months and know that you cannot escape Allah and that Allah will put the unbelievers to shame. And a proclamation from Allah and His apostle to men on the day of the greater pilgrimage that Allah and His apostle are free from obligation to the polytheists,’ i.e. after this pilgrimage. ‘So if you repent it will be better for you; and if you turn back know that you cannot escape Allah. Inform those who disbelieve, about a painful punishment except those polytheists with whom you have made a treaty,’ i.e. the special treaty for a specified term, ‘since they have not come short in anything in regard to you and have not helped anyone against you. So fulfil your treaty with them to their allotted time. Allah loves the pious. And when the sacred months are passed,’ Allah means the four which he fixed as their time, ‘then kill the polytheists wherever you find them, and seize them and besiege them and lie in wait for them in every ambush. But if they repent and perform prayer and pay the poor-tax, then let them go their way. Allah is forgiving, merciful.’¹¹⁷

Then Allah said: ‘The polytheists are nothing but unclean, so let them not approach the sacred mosque after this year of theirs, and if you fear poverty’ that was because the people said ‘the markets will be cut off from us, trade will be destroyed, and we shall lose the good things we used to enjoy,’ and Allah said, ‘If you fear poverty Allah will enrich you from His bounty,’ i.e. in some other way, ‘if He will. He is knowing, wise. Fight those who do not believe in Allah and the last day and forbid not that which Allah and His apostle have forbidden and follow not the religion of truth from among those who have been given the scripture until they pay the poll tax out of hand being humbled,’ i.e. as a compensation for what you fear to lose by the closing of the markets. Allah gave them compensation for what He cut off from them in their former polytheism by what He gave them by way of poll tax from the people of scripture.¹¹⁸

Invasion of Palestine Planned (632 CE)

The apostle sent UsAma to Syria and commanded him to take the cavalry into the borders of the BalqA’ and al-DArUm in the land of Palestine. So the men got ready and all the first emigrants went with UsAma.

While matters were thus the apostle began to suffer from the illness by which Allah took him to what honour and compassion He intended for him shortly before the end of Safar or in the beginning of Rabi’u’l-awwal. It began, so I have been told, when he went to Baqi’u’l-Gharqad in the middle of the night and prayed for the dead. Then he returned to his family and in the morning his sufferings began.¹¹⁹

The apostle found the people tardy in joining the expedition of UsAma b. Zayd while he was suffering, so he went out with his head bound up until he sat in the pulpit. Now people, had criticized the leadership of UsAma, saying, ‘He has put a young man in command of the best of the emigrants and the helpers.’ After praising Allah as is His due he said, ‘O men, dispatch UsAma’s force, for though you criticize his leadership as you criticized the leadership of his father before him he is just as worthy of the command as his father was.’ Then he came down and the people hurried on with their preparations. The apostle’s pain became severe and UsAma and his army went out as far as al-Jurf, about a stage from Medina, and encamped there and men gathered to him. When the apostle became seriously ill UsAma and his men stayed there to see what Allah would decide about the apostle.¹²⁰

Last Will (632 CE)

The apostle wore a black cloak when he suffered severe pain. Sometimes he would put it over his face, at others he would take it off, saying the while, ‘Allah slay a people who choose the graves of the prophets as mosques,’ warning his community against such a practice.

On the same authority I was told that the last injunction the apostle gave was in his words ‘Let not two religions be left in the Arabian peninsula.’

‘A’isha used to say, ‘When the apostle died the Arabs apostatized and Christianity and Judaism raised their heads and disaffection appeared. The Muslims became as sheep exposed to rain on a winter’s night through the loss of their prophet until Allah united them under AbU Bakr.’¹²¹

Islam sustained by the Sword (632 CE)

When the apostle was dead most of the Meccans meditated withdrawing from Islam and made up their minds to do so. ‘AttAb b. Asid¹²² went in such fear of them that he hid himself. Then Suhayl b. ‘Amr arose and after giving thanks to Allah mentioned the death of the apostle and said, ‘That will increase Islam in force. If anyone troubles us we will cut off his head.’ Thereupon the people abandoned their intention and ‘AttAb reappeared once more. This is the stand which the apostle meant when he said to ‘Umar: ‘It may well be that he will the a stand for which you cannot blame him.’¹²³

Conclusion

Machiavelli who had studied the history of prophets has observed in his magnum opus that ‘all well-armed prophets have conquered and the unarmed failed’.¹²⁴

In fact, prophets other than Muhammad had arisen in Arabia itself, before, alongside and after Muhammad. But all of them had failed because they did not raise armies and assemble arsenals. Muhammad succeeded because he equipped his mission with a mailed fist. It may be noted that while he had only 301 ill-equipped warriors with him in the Battle of Badr (622 CE), he had 10,000 well-equipped men when he marched into Mecca eight years later (630 CE) and 30,000 when he planned an invasion of Palestine on the eve of his death (632 CE).

The term ‘jihAd‘ may have acquired a mystic meaning for Muslims who believe in Muhammad’s ‘revelations’, and the divinity of Allah. But for the historian who studies recorded facts and uses normal human reason to reach conclusions, ‘jihad‘ is no more than physical aggression preceded by ideological aggression.

Footnotes:

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1. SIrat RasUl AllAh of Ibn IsHAq translated by A. Guillaume, OUP, Karachi, Eighth Impression, 1987, p. 94. Emphasis added. ↩

2. Ibid., p. 118. Emphasis added. ↩

3. Ibid., p. 117. Quran, 15.94. Read ‘Allah’ wherever the translator has written ‘God’. Allah of the Quran is not God but the old gangster, Yahweh, of the Bible. Allah is an ancient Arab name for God, and means God only when some Pagan Arab utters this name. ↩

4. Ibid., pp. 130-31. Emphasis added. ↩

5. Ibid., p. 131. Emphasis added. Stories that Muhammad was molested by the Meccans in all sorts of ways are latter-day inventions for justifying his violence. ↩

6. Ibid., p. 132. Emphasis added. AbU Jahl (father of foolishness) was the name which Muhammad had bestowed on AbU HakIm (father of wisdom), his foremost opponent in Mecca. ↩

7. Ibid., p. 155. ↩

8. Ibid., p. 146. ↩

9. Ibid., p. 159. ↩

10. Ibid., pp. 165-66. ↩

11. Ibid., p. 166. Emphasis added. See Quran, 53.1-27. The words ‘these are exalted GharAnIq whose intervention is approved’ were substituted by others in verses 21-23 when the Quran was finally compiled, and the incident was suppressed by latter-day Muslim historians and orthodox commentators on the Quran. For Allah’s volts face in this episode, see Quran, 22.52. ↩

12. Ibid., p. 191-92. Muhammad’s obstinacy was confirmed by Allah in a revelation that followed soon after the Meccan chiefs went away. Allah also threatened punishment to the unbelievers (Quran, 38.4-15). ↩

13. Ibid., p. 192. ↩

14. Ibid., pp. 192-93. Emphasis added. ↩

15. Ibid., p. 194 ↩

16. Ibid., p. 197. The term ‘Helpers’ (AnsAr) has been used here in anticipation. It became current only after Muhammad migrated to Medina and was used for his Medinan followers as distinguished from the Meccans who became known as Emigrants (MuhAjirUn ↩

17. Ibid., pp. 197-98. Emphasis added ↩

18. Ibid., p. 198. For ‘pledge of women’ see Quran, 60.12. It means that the Medinans who came to the first ‘Aqaba were not yet prepared to wage war for Islam ↩

19. Ibid., 208. Emphasis added ↩

20. Ibid., pp. 231-32. Yathrib was the real name of the city which came to be known as Medina after Muhammad started living (madInat) there ↩

21. Ibid., p. 232. ↩

22. Ibid., p. 239. Emphasis added. ↩

23. Ibid., p. 247. See Quran, 2.1-100. The Prophet was always ready to produce revelations in his own and his followers’ favour ↩

24. Ibid., p. 253. ↩

25. Ibid., p.259. ↩

26. Ibid., pp. 262-63. Quran, 3.118. ↩

27. Ibid., p. 263. Emphasis added. Quran, 3.181. ↩

28. Ibid., p. 266. ↩

29. Ibid., p. 267. ↩

30. Ibid., p. 684. Emphasis added. ↩

31. Ibid., p. 212. ↩

32. Ibid., pp. 212-13. Quran, 22.39-41 and 2.193. See also 2.216-18, 4.76-77, 8.38-41 and 9.5-6, 29. ↩

33. Ibid., p. 213. ↩

34. Ibid., p.280. ↩

35. Ibid., pp. 659-60. T stands for the famous historian JarIr al-TabarI, 839-922 CE. His biography of the Prophet, SIrat an-NabI, is considered orthodox. Tabari does not count al-Hudaybia as war; according to him it was pilgrimage. ↩

36. Ibid., p. 660. ↩

37. Ibid., pp. 661-62. ↩

38. Ibid., pp. 286-87. ↩

39. Ibid., p. 287. ↩

40. Ibid., pp. 287-88. Quran, 2.217. ↩

41. Ibid., p. 288. Quran, 9.20. ↩

42. Ibid., p. 321. Quran, 8.1. ↩

43. Ibid., p. 324. Quran, 8.41. ↩

44. Ibid., p. 326. ↩

45. Ibid., pp. 326-27. Quran 8.67-69 ↩

46. Ibid., p. 308. ↩

47. Ibid., p. 675. ↩

48. Ibid., pp. 675-76. ↩

49. Ibid., p. 676. Emphasis added. Muhammad had demonstrated the effectiveness of terror. ↩

50. Ibid., p. 363. See Quran, 3.12-13. ↩

51. Ibid., P. 364. ↩

52. Ibid., p. 365. ↩

53. Ibid., p. 367. ↩

54. Ibid., p. 368. ↩

55. Ibid., p. 369. ↩

56. Ibid., pp. 372-73. ↩

57. Ibid., p. 666. ↩

58. Ibid., p. 437. The story that the Jews had conspired to murder Muhammad is obviously an afterthought. Muhammad was bent upon destroying the Jews since long before this event and the Jews were too terrorized a lot to conspire against him. ↩

59. Ibid., p. 438. Quran, 59.2-7. ↩

60. Ibid., p.490. Emphasis added. ↩

61. Ibid., p. 493. ↩

62. Ibid., P. 490-91. ↩

63. Ibid., P. 492. ↩

64. Ibid., p. 452. Emphasis added. This, of course, is wisdom by hindsight. But the believers regard it as the Sunnah of the Prophet, and wage wars against mankind. ↩

65. Ibid., p. 461. ↩

66. Ibid., p. 462. ↩

67. Ibid., P. 463. ↩

68. Ibid., pp. 463-64. Emphasis added. ↩

69. Ibid., p. 464. Emphasis added. ↩

70. Ibid., p.464-65. Emphasis added. ↩

71. Ibid., p. 465. Emphasis added. ↩

72. Ibid., p. 466. Emphasis added. Quran, sUra 33. ↩

73. Ibid., P. 468. Quran, 33.26-27. ↩

74. Ibid., p. 661. Emphasis added. ↩

75. Ibid., p. 667. ↩

76. Ibid., pp. 671-72. ↩

77. Ibid., pp. 677-78. Emphasis added. ↩

78. Ibid., p. 662. ↩

79. Ibid., p. 672. Emphasis added. Mutilation of captives and killing of children was disallowed because they were part of the plunder and were to work or be sold as slaves. ↩

80. Ibid., pp. 664-65. Emphasis added. Islam was brutalizing the Arabs very fast. ↩

81. Ibid., p. 482. ↩

82. Ibid., pp. 482-83. Killing of women was not allowed because they, too, were prized as plunder. But the ban was not observed in the case of old women as we have seen above - the cruel murder of Umm Qirfa. ↩

83. Ibid., p. 483. Emphasis added. ‘Food’ here means ‘blood’. ↩

84. Ibid., pp. 665-66. ↩

85. Ibid., p. 653. ↩

86. Ibid., p. 511. Emphasis added. ↩

87. Ibid., p. 515. Emphasis added. ↩

88. Ibid., pp. 516-17. Emphasis added. ↩

89. Ibid., p. 521. ↩

90. Ibid., p. 523. ↩

91. Ibid., pp. 524-25. Emphasis added. ↩

92. Ibid., p. 532. Quran, 19.71. Fear of bell became no less an incentive for Muslim desperados dun the lure of paradise. ↩

93. Ibid., pp. 534. Emphasis added. In the history of Islam, hamstringing of horses became an established exhibitionist practice for Muslim desperados as the armies of Islam invaded other people’s lands. ↩

94. Ibid., p. 534-35. ↩

95. Ibid., p. 535. Emphasis added. In due course, every Muslim desperado killed in aggressive wars was hailed as a martyr. The Prophet saw them with himself in paradise while he was still alive and on earth! ↩

96. Ibid., p. 550. The reason for ‘Abdullah’s apostasy was that he found the Prophet incorporating in ‘revelations’ words suggested by him whenever he saw the Prophet fumbling. Sometimes he wrote whole sentences which the Prophet accepted as dictated by Allah. He became convinced that the Prophet’s wahy was a fake. ↩

97. Ibid., pp. 550-51. ↩

98. Ibid., p. 551. Apostasy and criticism of the Prophet had been pronounced as offences punishable with death as soon Muhammad floated his cult in secret. They have remained the ‘law’ of Islam ever since. ↩

99. Ibid., p. 566. ↩

100. Ibid., p. 567. ↩

101. Ibid., p. 567-68. ↩

102. Ibid., p. 571. Living on plunder and its proceeds became in due course the most honourable way of life in Islam, particularly for the sups who always prayed for the victory of Muslim arms. ↩

103. Ibid., p. 574. Durayd represents the character inculcated by Arab Paganism, RabI’a the transformation brought about by Islam. ↩

104. Ibid., p. 589. Destroying gardens etc. of an enemy was prohibited by Arab Paganism. It was a practice introduced by Muhammad. ↩

105. Ibid., p. 590. Khuwayla and ‘Uyayna represent the sort of characters attracted by Islam. ↩

106. Ibid., p. 592. ↩

107. Ibid., pp. 592-93. ↩

108. Ibid., p. 593. Following the precedent set by the Prophet in the case of SafIya, the heroes of Islam were always in a hurry to drag captured women to their beds. ↩

109. Ibid., p. 594. Luring people into the fold of Islam by means of bribes has been a settled practice since the days of the Prophet. ↩

110. Ibid., p. 596-97. Emphasis added. ↩

111. Ibid., p. 638. ↩

112. Ibid., p. 602. ↩

113. Ibid., p. 782. ↩

114. Ibid., p. 607. ↩

115. Ibid., p. 608. ↩

116. Ibid., p. 617. ↩

117. Ibid., pp. 617-18. Quran, 9.1-5. ↩

118. Ibid., P. 620. Quran, 9.28-29. ↩

119. Ibid., P. 678. ↩

120. Ibid., pp. 679-80. ↩

121. Ibid., p. 689. This was the Prophet’s saying which ‘Umar, the second Caliph, invoked for expelling all Jews and Christians from Arabia. ↩

122. He was governor of Mecca when the Prophet died. ↩

123. Ibid., pp. 794-95 ↩

124. The Prince, OUP, 1934, Jaico reprint, Bombay, 1957, p. 32. ↩