In the sixth year of the Hijrah several military expeditions were made. Amongst others, to the Banū Quraiz̤ah and the Banū Laḥyān. On his return from the last expedition Muḥammad stopped for a few moments to visit the grave of his mother, and desired to pray for her soul. But a verse from the Qurʾān, alleged to have been revealed on this occasion, forbade his praying for the forgiveness of one who died an infidel. [Sūrah ix. 114, 115]:—
“It is not for the Prophet or the Faithful to pray for the forgiveness of those, even though they be of kin, who associate other beings with God, after it hath been made clear to them that they are to be the inmates of Hell. For neither did Abraham ask forgiveness for his father, but in pursuance of a promise which he had promised to him: but when it was shown him that he was an enemy to God, he declared himself clear of him. Yet Abraham was pitiful, kind.”
Muḥammad marched in person against the Banū ʾl-Muṣt̤aliq, and completely surprised and routed them. One thousand camels, five thousand sheep, and a great many women and children, became the spoil of the Muslims. One of the female captives, named Juwairīyah, fell to the lot of S̤ābit ibn Qais, who, as a meritorious act, offered to release her and give her her liberty, for a certain sum. On applying to Muḥammad to help her with the money to pay the ransom, he readily agreed to do so, and when she was freed he married her. Thereupon, the Muslims recognised the Banū ʾl-Muṣt̤aliq as allies. Juwairīyah survived Muḥammad forty-five years.
At the last stage, returning from the campaign against the Banū ʾl-Muṣt̤aliq, ʿĀyishah’s tent and litter were by inadvertence carried away, while she was for a moment absent, and on her return she found herself in the dark alone. Expecting the mistake to be discovered, she sat down to await the issue, when, after some delay, one of the followers came up, and finding her in this plight, bade her mount his camel, and so conducted her to al-Madīnah. The citizens drew sinister conclusions from the circumstance, and Muḥammad himself became estranged from ʿĀyishah, and she retired to her father’s home. Several weeks elapsed, when, at length, the Prophet was supernaturally informed of her innocence ([Sūrah xxiv].). The law was then promulgated which requires four eye-witnesses to establish the charge of adultery, in default of which the imputation is to be punished as a slander, with eighty lashes. [[QAZF].] ʿĀyishah was taken back to her home, and her accusers were beaten.
It was during the year A.H. 6, that Muḥammad conceived the idea of addressing foreign sovereigns and princes, and of inviting them to embrace Islām. His letter to the Emperor Heraclius has been handed down by Ibn ʿAbbās (Mishkāt, book xvii. ch. civ.), and is as follows:—
“In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful, Muḥammad, who is the servant of God, and His Apostle, to Hiraql, the Qaiṣar of Rūm. Peace be on whoever has gone on the straight road. After this I say, Verily, I call you to Islām. Embrace Islām, and God will reward you twofold. If you turn away from the offer of Islām, then on you be the sins of your people. O people of the Book (i.e. Christians), come towards a creed which is fit both for us and for you. It is this, to worship none but God, and not to associate anything with God, and not to call others God. Therefore, O ye people of the Book, if ye refuse, beware! We are Muslims, and our religion is Islām.
(Seal.)
“Muhammad, the Apostle of God.”
The letter was sent to the Governor of Buṣrā that he might convey it to Cæsar, but we have no record of a reply having been received.
He also wrote to Kasra-Parwiz, King of Persia, but Kasra tore the letter in pieces. On hearing the fate of his letter, Muḥammad said, “Even so shall his kingdom be shattered to pieces.” His third embassy was to Najāshī, the King of Abyssinia, who received the message with honour. The fourth was to Jarīḥ ibn Matta, the Muqauqis, or Governor, of Egypt. Jarīḥ sent a polite reply, and begged the Prophet’s acceptance of two beautiful Coptic slave girls. One of these, Shirīn, the Prophet gave to Ḥassān the poet, but he reserved the other, Māriyah, for himself. In due time, Māriyah presented the Prophet with a son, who was named Ibrāhīm, the birth of which made the mother a free woman, and placed her in the honourable position of the wife. But the Prophet’s extreme fondness for the recent addition to his already extensive ḥarīm was resented by his numerous wives. ʿĀyishah and Ḥafṣah were especially enraged, for the Prophet was in the habit of visiting Māriyah on the day due to one of these ladies. Ḥafṣah, who, being the daughter of ʿUmar, was a person of great political importance, took up the matter, and in order to pacify her the Prophet swore solemnly that he would never visit Māriyah again, and enjoined Ḥafṣah to keep the secret from the rest of his wives. She, however, revealed it in confidence to ʿĀyishah! Muḥammad was annoyed at finding his confidence betrayed, and separated himself for a whole month from his wives, and spent his time in Māriyah’s apartment. The situation was a difficult one, not merely on account of the complications caused in his own domestic circle, but because ʿUmar, the father of Ḥafṣah, was a most important political personage in those days. The only way out of the difficulty was to produce a third direct revelation from heaven, which appeared in the Sūratu ʾt-Taḥrīm, or the “Chapter of Prohibition” (lxvi.), of the Qurʾān, and reads as follows:—