CHAPTER II
Mohammed.—Mohammed—the Praised—as his name implies, was born in Mecca in the year 570 of the Christian era.[26] The foundation of this city lies in the dim past. It was held by many tribes before it came into the possession of the Koreish, the noblest of them all. Its famous temple, now the holy shrine of the Kaaba, gave it pre-eminence over all the cities of Arabia, and made it the commercial and religious capital of the peninsula. At the time of the Prophet’s birth, the government of Mecca was vested in a Decemvirate, of which his grandfather was the chief. Mohammed’s father died before his birth; his mother when he was only six years old.
The doubly orphaned child, bereft of all that parental tenderness which forms the blessing of early childhood remained in his grandfather’s charge for three years, when the death of the venerable patriarch threw him on the care of his uncle—Abû Tâlib. Mohammed spent his youth as a member of Abû Tâlib’s family.
His Love of Solitude and Communion with God.—Fond of solitude, he spent many an hour in the desert in communion with the mighty living Soul of the Universe. Deeply versed in the language of nature, ‘the signs of God’ around him, and the folklore and traditions of the people amongst whom he lived, education in the conventional sense of the term he had none. And the proud title of the ‘Unlearned Prophet’ was ever his.
Thus the orphan son of Âmina, the sweet lady with the sweet name, which to this day evokes a pathetic remembrance in the heart of every Moslem, grew from infancy to youth, and from youth to manhood with many thoughts in his mind, brooding over the moral desolation that surrounded him,—for his people were sunk in the grossest idolatry, wedded to outrageous practices, given over to female infanticide. The religion and ways of their Jewish and Christian neighbours were equally debased, barbarous, and inhuman. In early manhood he made two journeys to Syria, where was opened before him a page which naturally revolted a sensitive mind. He found Christian sects rending each other to pieces; he saw the effect of incessant wars and strifes on the people, their utter misery and degradation. And he returned filled with pity and disgust.
Marriage with Khadîja.—In his twenty-fifth year he married Khadîja, a widow of noble birth and much wealth, fifteen years his senior in age. His marriage lifted him above the ordinary cares of this world. But it did more. It gave him not only a loved wife, but a devoted friend who brought him solace when he needed it most on his return torn and distressed from his solitary meditations; who gave him comfort when hunted by his enemies, who ever stood by his side in the darkest hours of his ministry.
Wins the Title of al-Amîn or the Trusty.—For fifteen years he thus lived leading a life which won him the love and respect of his towns-folk, who, in their admiration for his character, bestowed on him the title of al-Amîn—the Trusty. He spent most of his time in solitude, in meditation, and musing. When ‘the Call’ came he was frightened. Returning to his wife he told her the story of his vision, of his agony at the thought that he was losing his mind. Her belief that he was to be the destined Messenger of God to his people was balm to his heart; and brought back the faith, the hope, the trust in God’s merciful Providence and love for mankind. One night, when lying wrapt in thought, the Voice of God spoke to his soul in unmistakable notes.
Henceforth his life is a record of unceasing struggle to reclaim the Koreish and the surrounding people from idolatry and the practices of heathenism, to teach them their duty to God and man. The first to accept his mission were his beloved wife, his cousin Ali, the son of Abû Tâlib, his uncle, the brave and chivalrous Hamza, the faithful Abû Bakr, and several other men and women who knew him intimately and loved and revered him. Most of them were people of position, wealth, and intelligence; others were simple, honest folk in the lower walks of life.[27] They were followed by Omar, at one time a staunch opponent, but after his conversion a pillar of strength to the new Faith.
Beginning of Persecution.—Mohammed’s preachings evoked a furious outburst of persecution against him and his followers, but he did not falter in his purpose or flinch from the task God had imposed on him. When the sufferings of his disciples became unbearable, he advised them to seek refuge in the kingdom of the Negus, of whose tolerance and hospitality he had heard reports. Some immediately availed themselves of the advice and betook themselves to Abyssinia. But Koreishite hostility pursued them even here. When the Meccan envoys arrived to demand the delivery of the refugees, that they might be put to death for abjuration of their old religion, the Negus sent for the exiles and asked them whether the charge was true. The reply of the brother of Ali, who was spokesman, is memorable in the history of Islâm. ‘O king, we were plunged in the depth of ignorance and barbarism; we adored idols, we lived in unchastity; we ate dead bodies and we spoke abominations; we disregarded every feeling of humanity and the duties of hospitality and neighbourhood; we knew no law but that of the strong, when God raised among us a man of whose birth, truthfulness, honesty, and purity we were aware; and he called us to the Unity of God, and taught us not to associate anything with Him; he forbade us the worship of idols; and enjoined us to speak the truth, to be faithful to our trusts, to be merciful and to regard the rights of neighbours; he forbade us to speak evil of women, or to eat the substance of orphans; he ordered us to fly from vices and to abstain from evil; to offer prayers, to render alms, to observe the fast. We have believed in him; we accept his teachings and his injunctions to worship God and not to associate anything with Him. For this reason our people have risen against us, have persecuted us in order to make us forego the worship of God and to return to the worship of idols of wood and stone and other abominations. They have tortured us and injured us, until finding no safety among them we have come to thy country.’
Whilst his disciples were seeking shelter in distant lands, Mohammed remained steadfast at his post. Undeterred by the cruelties to which he was subjected, he preached unceasingly amongst the Meccans and the outsiders who came to the city on business or pilgrimage. He adjured them ‘by the noon-day brightness, by the night when she spreadeth her veil, by the day when it appeareth in glory,’ by all the manifestations of nature as the evidences of God, to abandon their evil ways and abominations. He told them of ‘the day of reckoning when the deeds done by man in this world shall be weighed before the Eternal Judge, when the children who had been buried alive shall be asked for what crime they had been put to death, and when Heaven and Earth shall be folded up and none be near but God.’[28] The Koreish came several times to tempt him from his duty. They offered him wealth, even to make him their king, to induce him to desist from attacking their ancient deities and their old institutions. His refusal to listen to their messages made them still more furious.
Is Driven out of Tâyef.—Finding the Koreish obdurate, he proceeded to the neighbouring city of Tâyef, hoping to find the people there more willing to give heed to his preachings. He found them even more bigoted than the Meccans; they pelted him with stones and drove him from their midst. Wounded and bleeding, Mohammed returned to pursue his mission in his native city. His persistence led the Koreish to plan his murder. In the meantime came an invitation to him from the rival city of Yathreb to the north, some of whose inhabitants had already accepted Islâm. And there he and his followers betook themselves for safety.
The Hegira.—On the 16th of July 622 A.C. the Prophet, accompanied by Abû Bakr, left Mecca; and after three days wandering attended with many dangers from the pursuing Koreish, enraged at his escape, they reached Yathreb. This is the Hijrat, the exile of the Prophet.
Before this happened, the devoted and loving Khadîja had died. She had borne him several children: the sons all died in infancy. Three daughters survived. The youngest, Fâtima (az-zahra—the Beautiful), ‘Our Lady,’ married Ali, and from her are descended the nobility of Islâm, the ‘Syeds’ and ‘Sherifs.’[29]
Mohammed at Medîna.—At Yathreb the Teacher was received with wonderful enthusiasm; the city changed its name and was henceforth the City of the Prophet—Medînat-un-Nabi, or shortly Medîna. Special homes were allotted to the exiles—the Muhâjirîn; whilst the Medinites received the noble designation of Helpers—the Ansâr. A new brotherhood was created which united the Exiles and the Helpers by a tie stronger than the tie of blood—as many a later page in the history of Islâm proves.
Mohammed’s Charter.—Mohammed was now not merely a prophet, a preacher of glad tidings, but the unanimously elected chief magistrate of a prosperous city. His first act was to issue a charter defining the duties of the citizens, and the obligations of the allied Jews who lived in the neighbourhood, forbidding intestine warfare and bloodshed which had hitherto torn Yathreb to pieces, and requiring all disputes to be referred to the decision of the Prophet.[30]
Beginning of the Commonwealth of Islâm.—This was the beginning of the Commonwealth of Islâm. A humble, unpretentious place of worship was erected where Mohammed preached to enthusiastic throngs on charity, brotherhood, and the duty man owed to God and his fellow creatures.
In conjunction with other tribes the Meccans made several attempts to capture Medîna. They even seduced the neighbouring Jews to assist in the design. The attacks were repulsed, and the safety of Medîna and the progress of the new Gospel were permanently assured. The refractory and treacherous Jewish clans were ordered to quit the Medinite territories; one which had nearly brought destruction on the Moslems was more severely dealt with. Expeditions were now sent out to repress the raids of hostile tribes, and to punish crimes against unoffending people. They were enjoined ‘in no case to use deceit or perfidy, or to kill a woman or a child.’ They were told, ‘in avenging the injuries inflicted upon us, molest not the harmless inmates of domestic seclusion, spare the weakness of the female sex, injure not the infant at the breast or those who are ill in bed. Abstain from demolishing the dwellings of the unresisting inhabitants; destroy not the means of their subsistence, nor their fruit trees, and touch not the palm.’
Charter to the Christians.—In the ninth year of the Hegira, the Prophet granted to the Christians a charter which forms one of the noblest monuments of enlightened tolerance: ‘To the Christians of Najrân and the neighbouring territories the security of God and the pledge of His Prophet are extended for their lives, their religion, and their property—to the present as well as the absent and others besides; there shall be no interference with [the practice of] their faith or their observances; nor any change in their rights or privileges; no bishop shall be removed from his bishopric; nor any monk from his monastery, nor any priest from his priesthood, and they shall continue to enjoy everything great and small as heretofore; no image or cross shall be destroyed; they shall not oppress or be oppressed; they shall not practise the rights of blood vengeance as in the Days of Ignorance;[31] no tithes shall be levied from them, nor shall they be required to furnish provision for the troops.’
Truce with the Meccans.—After great difficulty, a truce of ten years was concluded with the Meccans. The Exiles seized the occasion to perform the time-honoured pilgrimage to the Kaaba. To avoid coming in contact with the hated Faithful, the heathen Koreish retired to the hills, whence they watched the large concourse that came with the Prophet to visit the Holy Shrine. The simple dignity and benevolence of Mohammed, the quietness and purity of behaviour of his followers perceptibly affected the Koreish; and before he left Mecca many came and accepted the Faith. The same old pledge which had been exacted from the early converts was taken from them. ‘They would not associate anything with God; they would not commit larceny, adultery, or infanticide; they would not utter falsehood, nor speak evil.’
Embassies to Heraclius and the Chosroes.—On his return from the pilgrimage, Mohammed sent envoys to Heraclius the Emperor of the Greeks, and to the Chosroes of Persia to invite them to Islâm. Heraclius returned a polite reply; whilst the proud Persian tore the missive to pieces and drove the messenger from his presence with contumely. ‘Thus will the empire of the Khusrû [the Chosroes] be torn asunder,’ remarked the Prophet on hearing of the incident. The fate of Persia is engraved on the pages of history.[32]
Hardly a year was over before the Meccans broke the truce by murdering a number of tribesmen allied to the Medinites. The reign of iniquity had lasted long enough, and the time had arrived when the paganism of Mecca should come to an end.
Conquest of Mecca.—In 630 A.C. the Prophet marched with ten thousand men on the city from which he and his followers had been so cruelly driven only nine years before. The proud Koreish were thoroughly demoralised at the rapid approach of the Moslems and offered slight resistance. The people who had pursued Mohammed with unrelenting hatred, had subjected him and his followers to a fierce persecution, and had all this time endeavoured by every means to compass their destruction, were now at his mercy. But in the moment of the Faith’s triumph every injury was forgotten, and the Koreish were treated with a kindness and generosity which have but few parallels in history. Not a house was robbed, not a citizen molested. The idols of the nation were, however, relentlessly struck down. Weeping the heathens stood round, fully hoping that the sacrilegious Moslems would be overwhelmed with some dire calamity. But as one idol after another fell to pieces and no help came from outside to stop the hands of the iconoclasts, they felt the force of the words at which they were used to scoff: ‘Truth has come and falsehood vanisheth, for verily it is evanescent.’ And they adopted Islâm in a body.
Year of Deputations.—The ninth year of the Hegira is famous in the annals of Islâm for the number of deputations that arrived at Medîna from all quarters to accept the Faith. They were received with consideration and treated with hospitality. A written treaty guaranteeing the privileges of the tribes was always granted to the deputies, who went back to their homes accompanied by a disciple to teach the newly converted people the duties of Islâm. To the missionaries whom he sent to the provinces, Mohammed always gave the following admonition. ‘Deal gently with the people, and be not harsh, cheer them, and contemn them not. And ye will meet with many people of the Book[33] who will question thee, ‘What is the key to Heaven?’ Reply to them, ‘The key to Heaven is to testify to the truth of God, and to do good work.’
The Final Pilgrimage.—In the year 632 A.C., Mohammed, accompanied by over one hundred thousand of his followers, made a final pilgrimage to the Kaaba.
The Sermon on the Mount.—On this occasion standing on the Mount of Arafât he delivered to the vast multitude his famous sermon, only part of which has been preserved:—
‘Ye people! listen to my words, for I know not whether another year will be vouchsafed to me after this year to find myself amongst you. Your lives and property are sacred and inviolable amongst one another until ye appear before the Lord, as this day and this month is sacred for all; and remember ye shall have to appear before your Lord, who shall demand from you an account of all your actions. Ye people, ye have rights over your wives, and your wives have rights over you ... treat your wives with kindness ... verily ye have taken them on the security of God, and made them lawful unto you by the words of God.
‘And your bondsmen and bondswomen. See that ye feed them with such food as ye eat yourselves, and clothe them with the stuff ye wear; and if they commit a fault which ye are not inclined to forgive, then part from them, for they are the servants of the Lord, and are not to be harshly treated.
‘Ye people! listen to my words, and understand the same. Know that all Moslems are brothers unto one another. Ye are one brotherhood. Nothing which belongs to another is lawful unto his brother, unless freely given out of good will. Guard yourselves from committing injustice.
‘Let him that is present tell it unto him that is absent. Haply he that shall be told may remember better than he who hath heard it.’
The Last Days of the Prophet.—On his return to Medîna he settled the organisation of the provinces and the tribal communities. Whilst delegates were despatched to every quarter to teach the people the principles and duties of the Faith, to put an end to blood-feud, infanticide, and the practices of heathenism.
The stress and strain of twenty-five years’ incessant labour was now telling on a constitution which was by no means robust. Ever since he had come to Medîna he had been engaged in an unceasing struggle with paganism, a struggle in which was involved the very existence of the little community over whom he was called to preside—a struggle from which, says the Moslem, divine help alone enabled him to emerge with safety. At the end, when success had crowned his ministry, and he saw the hosts of Arabia flocking to the fold of God, it left him exhausted; he felt that his work was finished and the end was near. Had it not been told him, ‘When thou seest men enter in hosts the religion of God, then utter thou the praise of thy Lord and implore His pardon, for He loveth to turn in mercy to those who seek Him.’[34] The poison given to him some years before by a Jewess was also undermining the system. But up to the last he maintained his usual calmness and serenity of mind; and officiated at the public prayers until within three days of his death. The last time he appeared at the public service amidst the tears and sobs of the people, he recommended to all the observance of religious duties, and the practice of peace and good-will. He implored Heaven’s mercy for all those present, and all who had fallen in the persecution of their enemies, and concluded with the following words of the Koran, ‘The dwelling of the other life we will give unto them who do not seek to exalt themselves on earth or to do wrong; for the happy issue shall attend the pious.’
The exertion, however, was too much for the feeble frame, and on his return to his apartments he lay down fainting on his bed, never to rise again.
Death of the Prophet, 632 A.C.—On Monday the 8th of June 632 A.C., whilst praying in whispers, the spirit of the Prophet took flight to ‘the blessed companionship on high,’ the last words which fell from his lips.
Thus disappeared from the scene one of the greatest, if not in very truth the greatest, of God’s servants, who have lived and worked for the good of mankind. He found the bulk of his own people sunk in the grossest fetishism, decimated by tribal feuds, addicted to infanticide and the worst forms of pagan practices. Here and there individuals had broken away from the old cults, but were still groping in darkness in search of the road to truth and salvation, unsatisfied spirits to whom neither Judaism nor Christianity brought any solution to the enigmas of life.
In less than a decade he not only stamped out the pagan ways and habits which held the heart of Arabia, but infused into his folk a new life, imparted to them a new conception of duty, of moral responsibilities of which they had been wholly devoid before. The beneficence of his work was not confined to his own countrymen. His words revived the religious spirit of surrounding nations, whose moral abasement was equally deplorable.
Mohammed’s Character.—Mohammed’s character has been described by many hands in the West, mostly hostile. The picture is naturally not always friendly. People do not easily put aside prejudices born of centuries of political and religious antagonism. It may, therefore, be of some interest to know the estimate of the Arabian Teacher formed by his immediate followers and disciples, many of whom were unquestionably men of great intelligence and moral vigour, who readily sacrificed for his Teachings, at a time when he was only a humble and persecuted preacher, wealth, position, and influence, and who, by their character and environment, were not likely to be influenced by light or common worldly motives.
His singular elevation of mind, his extreme delicacy and refinement of feeling, his purity and truth, form the constant theme of the traditions. Courteous to the great, affable to the humble, indulgent to his inferiors, he won the love and admiration of all with whom he came in contact.
The humble preacher had risen to be the arbiter of the destinies of a nation, but the same humility of spirit, the same nobility of soul, austerity of conduct and stern devotion to duty, which had won him from his compatriots the designation of al-Amîn, ever formed the distinguishing traits of his character. Whilst the virtual ruler of Arabia, the equal of Chosroes and the Cæsars, ‘he visited the sick, followed any bier he met, accepted the invitation of the lowliest, mended his own clothes, milked his goats, and waited upon himself.’
‘He never first withdrew his hand out of another’s clasp and turned not before the other had turned. His hand was the most generous, his breast the most courageous, his tongue the most truthful; those who saw him were filled with reverence, those who came near him loved him. Modesty and kindness, patience, self-denial, and generosity pervaded his conduct and riveted the affections of all round him. With the bereaved and afflicted he sympathised tenderly ... he would stop in the streets listening to the sorrows of the humblest. He would go to the houses of the lowliest to console the stricken and comfort the heartbroken.’[35]
‘There is something so tender and womanly and withal so heroic about the man,’ says Mr. Stanley Lane-Poole, ‘that one is in peril of finding the judgment unconsciously blinded by the feeling of reverence and well nigh love that such a nature inspires. He who, standing alone, braved for years the hatred of his people, is the same who was never the first to withdraw his hand from another’s clasp; the beloved of children, who never passed a group of little ones without a smile from his wonderful eyes and a kind word for them, sounding all the kinder in that sweet-toned voice. The frank friendship, the noble generosity, the dauntless courage and hope of the man, all tend to melt criticism in admiration.’
‘He was an enthusiast, in that noblest sense when enthusiasm becomes the salt of the earth, the one thing that keeps men from rotting whilst they live.... He was an enthusiast when enthusiasm was the one thing needed to set the world aflame, and his enthusiasm was noble for a noble cause. He was one of those happy few who have attained the supreme joy of making one great truth their very life-spring. He was the messenger of the One God; and never to his life’s end did he forget who he was, or the message which was the marrow of his being. He brought his tidings to his people with a grand dignity sprung from the consciousness of his high office, together with the most sweet humility, whose roots lay in the knowledge of his own weakness.’