THE TRIUMPHAL ENTRY
"When the help of God and the Victory arrive,
And thou seest men entering the religion of God by troops,
Then utter the praise of thy Lord, implore His pardon, for He
loveth to turn in mercy."--_The Kuran._
After the swordless triumph of Dzul Cada, 629, Mahomet rested in Medina
for about nine months, while he sent out his leaders of expeditions into
all parts of the peninsula wherever a rising was threatened, or where he
saw the prospect of a conversion by force of arms. The Beni Suleim, whose
more powerful allies, the Ghatafan, had given Mahomet much trouble in the
past, were still recusant. Mahomet sent an expedition to essay their
conversion early in the year, but the Suleim persisted in their enmity
and received the Muslim envoys with a shower of arrows. They retired
hastily, being insufficiently equipped to risk an attack, and came back
to Medina. The Prophet, unabashed, now sent a detachment against the Beni
Leith. The encampment was surprised, their camels plundered, their
chattels seized, while they themselves were forced to flee in haste to
the fastnesses of the desert. The Beni Murra, conquerors of Mahomet's
expeditionary force at Fadak, received now at his hands their delayed but
inevitable punishment. The Prophet found himself strong enough, and
without any compunction he inflicted the severest chastisement upon them,
more especially as an example to the neighbouring tribes of the
retribution in store for all who dared to revolt against his newly-won
but still precarious power.
Soon after an expedition of fifteen men was sent to Dzat Allah upon the
borders of Syria. The men journeyed confidently to their far-off goal,
but instead of finding, as they expected, a few chiefs at the head of
ill-organised armies, they found arrayed against them an overwhelming
force, well led and disciplined. They called upon them to embrace Islam
with the fine courage of certain failure. The Bedouin hordes scoffed at
the exhortation, and forthwith slew the whole company except one, who
managed to escape to Medina with the tale. The catastrophe was a signal
for a massed attack upon Mahomet's power from the whole of the border
district, led by the feudatories of Heraclius, who were bent upon
exterminating the upstart.
Hastily the Muslim army was mobilised, given into the leadership of Zeid,
who with Jafar and Abdallah was commissioned to resist the infidels to
the last and to continue their attack upon the foe until they were either
slain or victorious. The army marched to Muta in September, 629, and
while on the way heard with alarm of the massing of the foe, whose
numbers daunted even their savage bravery.
At Muta a council of war was called at which Zeid and Abdallah were the
principal speakers. After the peril of their position had been discussed
and the reasons for retreat given, Abdallah rose from among his fellows,
determined to rally their spirits. He pressed for an immediate advance,
urging the invincibility of Allah, the power of their Prophet, and the
glory of their cause. It was impossible for those warrior spirits not to
respond to his enthusiasm, and the order was given. The Muslim marched to
Beleea by the Dead Sea, but finding themselves in no good strategic
position and hearing still further news as to the immensity of their
opposition, they retired to Muta, where at the head of a narrow ravine
they offered battle to the Roman auxiliaries, who far outweighed them in
numbers and efficiency.
The Roman phalanx bore down upon them, and Zeid at the head of his troops
urged them to resist with all their strength. He was cut down in the van
as he led the opposing rush, and instantly Jafar, leaping from his horse,
maimed it, as a symbol that he would fight to the death, and rushed
forward on foot. The fight grew furious, and as the Muslim army saw
itself slowly pressed back by the enemy its leader fell, covered with
wounds. Abdallah seized the standard and tried to rally the Faithful,
whose slow retreat was now breaking into a headlong flight. At his cry
there was a brief rally, until in his turn he was cut down by the
advancing foe. A citizen sprang to the standard and kept it aloft while
he strove to stem the tide, but in vain. The Muslim ranks were broken and
dispirited. They fell back quickly, and only the military genius of
Khalid, in command of the rear, was able to save them from annihilation.
He succeeded in covering their retreat by his swift and skilful moving,
and enabled the remnant to return to Medina in safety.
Mahomet's grief at the loss of Jafar and Zeid was great. Jafar had only
lately returned from Abyssinia, and was just at the beginning of his
military career. He was the brother of Ali, and the martial spirit that
had raised that warrior to eminence was only just now given opportunity
to manifest itself. His loss was rightly felt by Mahomet to be a blow to
the military as well as the intellectual prowess of Islam.
The Syrian feudatories, however, were not permitted to enjoy their
triumph in peace. In October, 629, Amru, Mahomet's recent convert, was
sent to chastise the offenders and exact tribute from them. He found the
task was greater than he had imagined, and sent hurriedly to Medina for
reinforcements. Abu Obeida was in command of the new army, and when he
came up with Amru there was an angry discussion as to who should be
leader. Abu Obeida had the precedent of experience and the asset of
having been longer in Mahomet's service than Amru, but he was a mild man,
fearful, and a laggard in dispute. Amru's impetuous determination
overruled him, and he yielded to the compulsion of his more energetic
rival, fearing to provoke disaster by prolonging the quarrel. The hostile
Syrian tribes were rapidly dispersed with the increased forces at Amru's
command, and he returned triumphant to Medina.
As a recompense for his yielding of the leadership to Amru, Abu Obeida
was entrusted by Mahomet with the task of reducing the tribe of Joheina
to submission. The expedition was wholly successful; the Joheina accepted
the Prophet's yoke without opposition, and their lead was followed later
in the year by the Beni Abs Murra and the Beni Dzobian, and finally the
Beni Suleim, whose enmity in conjunction with the Beni Ghatafan had done
much to prolong the siege of Medina.
The Prophet was exultant. The year's successes had surpassed his
expectations, and the maturing of his deep-laid plans for the reduction
of Mecca by pressure without bloodshed satisfied his ambitious and
dominating soul. He was now master of Hedaz, overlord of Yemen and the
Bedouin tribes of the interior as far as the dim Syrian border.
But with all his newly-found sovereignty there was one stronghold which
he could neither conquer nor even impress. On the crowning achievement of
subduing Mecca all his hopes were set, and there were no means that he
did not employ to increase his power so that its continued resistance
might ultimately become impossible. He strengthened his hold over the
rest of Arabia; he won from Mecca as many allies as he could; he
continually impressed upon both his followers and the surrounding tribes
that the city was his natural home, the true abiding-place of his faith.
Now, having prepared the way, he ventured to ensure the safety thereof by
diplomacy and a skilful use of the demonstration of force. He was strong
enough to compel an encounter with the Kureisch which should prove
decisive.
In the attack upon the Khozaa, allies of the Prophet, the Beni Bekr, who
gave their allegiance to the Kureisch, supplied Mahomet with the
necessary _casus belli_. He declared upon the evidence of his friends
that the Kureisch had helped the Beni Bekr in disguise and announced the
swift enforcement of his vengeance. In alarm the Kureisch sent Abu Sofian
to Medina to make their depositions as to the rights of the case and to
beg for clemency. But their emissary met with no success. Mahomet felt
himself powerful enough to flout him, and accordingly Abu Sofian was sent
back to his native city discomfited.
There follows a tradition which has become obscured with the passing of
time, and whose import we can only dimly investigate. Abu Sofian was
returning somewhat uneasily to Mecca when he encountered the chief of the
Khozaa, the outraged tribe. An interview of some length is reported, and
it is supposed that the chief represented to the Meccan citizen the
hopelessness of his resistance and the advantages in belonging to the
party that was rapidly bringing all Arabia under its sway. Abu Sofian
listened, and it may be that the chief's words induced him to consider
seriously the possibility of ranging himself beneath the banner of the
Prophet.
Meanwhile Mahomet had summoned all the matchless energy of which he was
capable, and set on foot preparations for the overwhelming of Mecca.
Every Believer was called to arms; equipment, horses, camels, stores were
gathered in vast concourse upon the outskirts of Medina, awaiting only
the command of the Prophet to go up against the scornful city whose
humiliation was at hand. The order to march was given on January 1, 630,
and soon the whole army was bearing down upon Mecca with that rapidity
which continually characterised the Prophet's actions, and which was more
than ever necessary now in face of the difficult task to be performed. In
a week the Prophet, with Zeinab and Dram Salma as his companions, at the
head of 10,000 men, the largest army ever seen in Medina, arrived within
a stage of his goal. He encamped at Mar Azzahran and there rested his
army from the long desert march, the toilsome and difficult route
connecting the two long-sundered cities that had given feature to the
origin and growth of Islam. While he was there he received what was
perhaps the most important asset since the conversion of Khalid. Abbas,
his uncle, still timorous and vacillating, but now impelled into a firmer
courage by the powerful agency of Mahomet's recent triumphs, quitted
Mecca with his following and joined his nephew, professing the creed of
Islam, and enjoining it also upon those who accompanied him.
The conversion did not come as a surprise to Mahomet. He had been
watching carefully by means of his spies the trend of events in Mecca,
and he knew that the allegiance of Abbas was his whenever he should
collect sufficient force to demonstrate his superiority. Abbas loved the
winning cause. When Mahomet was obscure and persecuted he had befriended
him as far as personal protection, but his was not the nature to venture
upon a hazardous enterprise such as the Prophet's attempt to found a new
religious community in another city. Now, however, that the undertaking
had proved so completely victorious that it threatened to make of Mecca
the weaker side, Abbas, with the solemnity which falls upon such people
when self-interest points the same way as previous inclination, threw in
his lot with Islam.
The Muslim rested that night at Mar Azzahran, kindling their camp-fires
upon the crest of a hill whose summit could be seen from the holy city.
The glare flamed red against the purple night sky, and by its ominous
glow Abu Sofian ventured beyond the city's boundaries to reconnoitre.
Before he could penetrate as far as the Muslim encampment he was met by
Abbas, who took him straightway to Mahomet. When the morning came the
Prophet sent for his rival and greeted him with contempt:
"Woe unto thee, Abu Sofian; seest thou not that there are no gods but
God?"
But he answered with professions of his regard for Mahomet.
"Woe unto thee, Abu Sofian; believest thou not that I am the Prophet of
God?"
"Thou art well appraised by us, and I see thy great goodness among the
companions. As for what thou hast said I know not the wherefore of it."
Then Abbas, standing by Mahomet, besought him:
"Woe unto thee, Abu Sofian; become one of the Faithful and believe there
is no god but God and that Mahomet is his Prophet before we sever thy
head from the body!"
Under such strong compulsion, says tradition, Abu Sofian was converted
and sent back to Mecca with promises of clemency. It is almost impossible
not to believe that collusion between Abbas and Abu Sofian existed before
this interview. Abbas had given the lead, for his prescience had divined
the uselessness of resistance, and he foresaw greater glory as the
upholder of Islam, the triumphing cause, than as the vain opposer of what
he firmly believed to be an all-conquering power. Abu Sofian took
somewhat longer to convince, and never really gave up his dream of
resistance until he met Abbas on the fateful night and was shown the
vastness of the Medinan army, their good organisation and their boundless
enthusiasm. Thereat his hopes of victory became dust, and he bowed to the
inevitable in the same manner as Abbas had done before him, though from
different motives, one being actuated by the desire for favour and fame,
the other only anxious to save his city from the horrors of a prolonged
and ultimately unsuccessful siege.
Thereafter the army marched upon Mecca, and Mahomet completed his plans
for a peaceful entry. Zobeir, one of his most trusted commanders, was to
enter from the north, Khalid and the Bedouins from the southern or lower
suburb, where possible resistance might be met, as it was the most
populous and turbulent quarter. Abu Obeida, followed by Mahomet, took the
nearest road, skirting Jebel Hind. It was an anxious time as the force
divided and made its appointed way so as to come upon the city from three
sides. Mahomet watched his armies from the rear in a kind of paralysis of
thought, which overtakes men of action who have provided for every
contingency and now can do nothing but wait. Khalid alone encountered
opposition, but his skill and the force behind him soon drove the Meccans
back within their narrow streets, and there separated them into small
companies, robbing them of all concerted action, and rendering them an
easy prey to his oncoming soldiery. Mahomet drew breath once more, and
seeing all was well and that the other entries had been peacefully
effected, directed his tent to be pitched to the north of the city.
It was, in fact, a bloodless revolution. Mahomet, the outcast, the
despised, was now lord of the whole splendid city that stretched before
his eyes. He had seen what few men are vouchsafed, the material
fulfilment of his year-long dreams, and knew it was by his own tireless
energy and overmastering faith that they had been wrought upon the soil
of his native land.
His first act was to worship at the Kaaba, but before completing the
whole ancestral rites he destroyed the idols that polluted the sanctuary.
Then he commanded Bilal to summon the Faithful to prayer from the summit
of the Kaaba, and when the concourse of Believers crowded to the
precincts of that sacred place he knew that this occupation of Mecca
would be written among the triumphant deeds of the world.
His victory was not stained by any relentless vengeance. Strength is
always the harbinger of mercy. Only four people were put to death,
according to tradition, two women-singers who had continued their
insulting poems even after his occupation of the city, and two renegades
from Islam. About ten or twelve were proscribed, but of these several
were afterwards pardoned. Even Hind, the savage slayer of Hamza,
submitted, and received her pardon at Mahomet's hands. An order was
promulgated forbidding bloodshed, and the orderly settlement of Believers
among the Meccan population embarked upon. Only one commander violated
the peace. Khalid, sent to convert the Jadzima just outside the city,
found them recalcitrant and took ruthless vengeance. He slew them most
barbarously, and returned to Mecca expecting rewards. But Mahomet knew
well the value of mercy, and he was not by nature vindictive towards the
weak and inoffensive. He could punish without remorse those who opposed
him and were his equals in strength, but towards inferior tribes he had
the compassion of the strong. He could not censure Khalid as he was too
valuable a general, but he was really grieved at the barbarity practised
against the Jadzima. He effectually prevented any further cruelties, and
on that very account rendered his authority secure and his rulership free
from attempts to throw off its yoke within the vicinity of his newly-won
power.
The populace was far too weak to resist the Muslim incursion. Its
leaders, Abu Sofian and Abbas with their followings, had surrendered to
the hostile faith; for the inhabitants there was nothing now between
submission and death. The Believers were merciful, and they had nought to
fear from their violence. They embraced the new faith in self-defence,
and received the rulership of the Prophet very much as they had received
the government of all the other chieftains before him.
One command, however, was to be rigidly obeyed, the command inseparable
from the dominion of Islam. Idolatry was to be exterminated, the accursed
idols torn down and annihilated. Parties of Muslim were sent out to the
neighbouring districts to break these desecrators of Islam. The famous
Al-Ozza and Manat, whose power Mahomet for a brief space had formerly
acknowledged, were swept into forgetfulness at Nakhla, every image was
destroyed that pictured the abominations, and the temples were cleansed
of pollution.
Out of his spirit-fervour Mahomet's triumph had been achieved. In the dim
beginnings of his faith, when nothing but its conception of the
indivisible godhead had been accomplished, he had brought to its altars
only the quenchless fire of his inspiration. He had not dreamed at first
of political supremacy, only the rapture of belief and the imperious
desire to convert had made his foundation of a city and then an
overlordship inevitable. But circumstances having forced a temporal
dominance upon him, he became concerned for the ultimate triumph of his
earthly power. Thereupon his dreams took upon themselves the colouring of
external ambitions. Conversion might only be achieved by conquest,
therefore his first thoughts turned to its attainment. And as soon as he
looked upon Arabia with the eyes of a potential despot he saw Mecca the
centre of his ceremonial, his parent city, hostile and unsubdued.
Certainly from the time of the Kureisch failure to capture Medina he had
set his deliberate aims towards its humiliation. With diplomacy, with
caution, by cruelty, cajolements, threatenings, and slaughter he had made
his position sufficiently stable to attack her. Now she lay at his feet,
acknowledging him her master--Mecca, the headstone of Arabia, the
inviolate city whose traditions spoke of her kinship with the heroes and
prophets of an earlier world.
Henceforward the command of Arabia was but a question of time. With Mecca
subdued his anxiety for the fate of his creed was at an end. As far as
the mastery of the surrounding country was concerned, all that was needed
was vigilance and promptitude. These two qualities he possessed in
fullest measure, and he had efficient soldiery, informed with a devoted
enthusiasm, to supplement his diplomacy. He was still to encounter
resistance, even defeat, but none that could endanger the final success
of his cause within Arabia. Full of exaltation he settled the affairs of
his now subject city, altered its usages to conform to his own, and
conciliated its members by clemency and goodwill.
The conquest of Mecca marks a new period in the history of Islam, a
period which places it perpetually among the ruling factors of the East,
and removes it for ever from the condition of a diffident minor state
struggling with equally powerful neighbours. Islam is now the master
power in Arabia, mightier than the Kureisch, than the Bedouin tribes or
any idolaters, soon to fare beyond the confines of its peninsula to
impose its rigid code and resistless enthusiasm upon the peoples dwelling
both to the east and west of its narrow cradle.