furiously that they gave ground, fell back upon their rear, and threw it
into disorder. The archers seeing this, and expecting a complete
victory, left their posts, contrary to the express orders that had been
given them, and came forward from fear of losing their share of the
plunder. In the mean time Kaled, advancing with his cavalry, fell
furiously upon the rear of the Mussulmans, crying aloud at the same time
that Mahomet was slain. This cry, and the finding themselves attacked on
all sides, threw the Mussulmans into such consternation that the
idolaters made great havoc among them, and were able to press on so near
the apostle as to beat him down with a shower of stones and arrows. He
was wounded in the lip, and two arrow-heads stuck in his face. Abu
Obeidah pulled out first one and then the other; at each operation one
of the apostle's teeth came out. As Sonan Abu Said wiped the blood from
off his face, the apostle exclaimed, "He that touches my blood, and
handles it tenderly, shall not have his blood spilt in the fire" (of
hell). In this action, it is said, Telhah, while he was putting a
breast-plate upon Mahomet, received a wound upon his hand, which maimed
it forever. Omar and Abu-Bekr were also wounded. When the Mussulmans saw
Mahomet fall, they concluded he was killed and took to flight; and even
Othman was hurried along by the press of those that fled. In a little
time, however, finding Mahomet was alive, a great number of his men
returned to the field; and, after a very obstinate fight, brought him
off, and carried him to a neighboring village. The Mussulmans had
seventy men killed, the idolaters lost only twenty-two.
The Koreishites had no other fruit of their victory but the
gratification of a poor spirit of revenge. Henda, and the women who had
fled with her upon the first disorder of the idolaters, now returned,
and committed great barbarities upon the dead bodies of the apostle's
friends. They cut off their ears and noses, and made bracelets and
necklaces of them; Henda pulled Hamza's liver out of his body, and
chewed and swallowed some of it. Abu Sofian, having cut pieces off the
cheeks of Hamza, put them upon the end of his spear, and cried out
aloud, "The success of war is uncertain; after the battle of Beder comes
the battle of Ohud; now, Hobal,[55] thy religion is victorious!"
Notwithstanding this boasting, he decamped the same day. Jannabi
ascribes his retreat to a panic; however that may have been, Abu Sofian
sent to propose a truce for a year, which was agreed to.
When the enemy were retreated toward Mecca, Mahomet went to the field
of battle to look for the body of Hamza. Finding it shamefully mangled,
in the manner already related, he ordered it to be wrapped in a black
cloak, and then prayed over it, repeating seven times, "Allah acbar,"
etc. ("God is great," etc.). In the same manner he prayed over every one
of the martyrs, naming Hamza again with every one of them; so that Hamza
had the prayers said over him seventy-two times. But, as if this were
not enough, he declared that Gabriel had told him he had been received
into the seventh heaven, and welcomed with this eulogium, "Hamza, the
lion of God, and the lion of his prophet."
The Mussulmans were much chagrined at this defeat. Some expressed a
doubt of the prophet being as high in the divine favor as he pretended,
since he had suffered such an overthrow by infidels. Others murmured at
the loss of their friends and relations. To pacify them he used various
arguments, telling them the sins of some had been the cause of disgrace
to all; that they had been disobedient to orders, in quitting their post
for the sake of plunder; that the devil put it into the minds of those
who turned back; their flight, however, was forgiven, because God is
merciful; that their defeat was intended to try them, and to show them
who were believers and who not; that the event of war is uncertain; that
the enemy had suffered as well as they; that other prophets before him
had been defeated in battle; that death is unavoidable. And here
Mahomet's doctrine of fate was of as great service to him as it was
afterward to his successors, tending as it did to make his people
fearless and desperate in fight. For he taught them that the time of
every man's death is so unalterably fixed that he cannot die before the
appointed hour; and, when that is come, no caution whatever can prolong
his life one moment;[56] so that they who were slain in battle would
certainly have died at the same time, if they had been at home in their
houses; but, as they now died fighting for the faith, they had thereby
gained a crown of martyrdom, and entered immediately into paradise,
where they were in perfect bliss with their Lord.
In the beginning of the next year the prophet had a revelation,
commanding him to prohibit wine and games of chance. Some say the
prohibition was owing to a quarrel occasioned by these things among his
followers.[57]
In the fifth year of the Hegira, Mahomet, informed by his spies of a
design against Medina, surrounded it with a ditch, which was no sooner
finished than the Meccans, with several tribes of Arabs, sat down before
it, to the number of ten thousand men. The appearance of so great a
force threw the Mussulmans into a consternation. Some were ready to
revolt; and one of them exclaimed aloud, "Yesterday the prophet promised
us the wealth of Khusrau (Cosroes) and Cæsar, and now he is forced to
hide himself behind a nasty ditch." In the mean time Mahomet, skilfully
concealing his real concern, and setting as good a face upon the matter
as he could, marched out with three thousand Mussulmans, and formed his
army at a little distance behind the intrenchment. The two armies
continued facing each other for twenty days, without any action, except
a discharge of arrows on both sides. At length some champions of the
Koreishites, Amru son of Abdud, Acrema son of Abu Jehel, and Nawfal son
of Abdallah, coming to the ditch leaped over it; and, wheeling about
between the ditch and the Moslem army, challenged them to fight. Ali
readily accepted the challenge, and came forward against his uncle Amru,
who said to him, "Nephew, what a pleasure am I now going to have in
killing you." Ali replied, "No; it is I that am to have a much greater
pleasure in killing you." Amru immediately alighted, and, having
hamstrung his horse, advanced toward Ali, who had also dismounted and
was ready to receive him. They immediately engaged, and, in turning
about to flank each other, raised such a dust that they could not be
distinguished, only the strokes of their swords might be heard. At last,
the dust being laid, Ali was seen with his knee upon the breast of his
adversary, cutting his throat. Upon this, the other two champions went
back as fast as they came. Nawfal, however, in leaping the ditch, got a
fall, and being overwhelmed with a shower of stones, cried out, "I had
rather die by the sword than thus." Ali hearing him, leaped into the
ditch and despatched him. He then pursued after Acrema, and having
wounded him with a spear, drove him and his companions back to the army.
Here they related what had happened; which put the rest in such fear
that they were ready to retreat; and when some of their tents had been
overthrown by a storm, and discord had arisen among the allies, the
Koreishites, finding themselves forsaken by their auxiliaries, returned
to Mecca. Mahomet made a miracle of this retreat; and published upon it
this verse of the _Koran_, "God sent a storm and legions of angels,
which you did not see."
Upon the prophet's return into the town, while he was laying by his
armor and washing himself, Gabriel came and asked him, "Have you laid by
your arms? we have not laid by ours; go and attack them," pointing to
the Koraidites, a Jewish tribe confederated against him. Whereupon
Mahomet went immediately, and besieged them so closely in their castles
that after twenty-five days they surrendered at discretion. He referred
the settlement of the conditions to Saad, son of Moad; who being wounded
by an arrow at the ditch, had wished he might only live to be revenged.
Accordingly, he decreed that all the men, in number between six and
seven hundred, should be put to the sword, the women and children sold
for slaves, and their goods given to the soldiers for a prey. Mahomet
extolled the justice of this sentence, as a divine direction sent down
from the seventh heaven, and had it punctually executed. Saad, dying of
his wound presently after, Mahomet performed his funeral obsequies, and
made a harangue in praise of him.
One Salam, a Jew, having been very strenuous in stirring up the people
against the prophet, some zealous Casregites desired leave to go and
assassinate him. Permission being readily granted, away they went to the
Jew's house, and being let in by his wife, upon their pretending they
were come to buy provisions, they murdered him in his bed, and made
their escape.
Toward the end of this year Mahomet, going into the house of Zaid, did
not find him at home, but happened to espy his wife Zainab so much in
dishabille as to discover beauties enough to touch a heart so amorous as
his was. He could not conceal the impression made upon him, but cried
out, "Praised be God, who turneth men's hearts as he pleases!" Zainab
heard him, and told it to her husband when he came home. Zaid, who had
been greatly obliged to Mahomet, was very desirous to gratify him, and
offered to divorce his wife. Mahomet pretended to dissuade him from it,
but Zaid easily perceiving how little he was in earnest, actually
divorced her. Mahomet thereupon took her to wife, and celebrated the
nuptials with extraordinary magnificence, keeping open house upon the
occasion. Notwithstanding, this step gave great offence to many who
could not bring themselves to brook that a prophet should marry his
son's wife; for he had before adopted Zaid for his son. To salve the
affair, therefore, he had recourse to his usual expedient: Gabriel
brought him a revelation from heaven, in which God commands him to take
the wife of his adopted son, on purpose that forever after believers
might have no scruple in marrying the divorced wives or widows of their
adopted sons; which the Arabs had before looked upon as unlawful. The
apostle is even reproved for fearing men in this affair, whereas he
ought to fear God. (_Koran_, chapter xxxiii.)
In the sixth year he subdued several tribes of the Arabs. Among the
captives was a woman of great beauty, named Juweira, whom Mahomet took
to wife and, by way of dowry, released all her kindred that were taken
prisoners.
When Mahomet went upon any expedition, it was generally determined by
lots which of his wives should go with him; at this time it fell to
Ayesha's lot to accompany him. Upon their return to Medina, Ayesha was
accused of intriguing with one of the officers of the army, and was in
great disgrace for about a month. The prophet was exceedingly chagrined
to have his best-beloved wife accused of adultery; but his fondness for
her prevailed over his resentment, and she was restored to his favor,
upon her own protestation of her innocence. This, however, did not quite
satisfy the world, nor, indeed, was the prophet's mind perfectly at ease
on the subject, until Gabriel brought him a revelation, wherein Ayesha
is declared innocent of the crime laid to her charge; while those who
accuse believers of any crime, without proof, are severely reproved, and
a command given, that whosoever accuses chaste women, and cannot produce
four eye-witnesses in support of the charge, shall receive eighty
stripes. (_Koran_, chapter xxiv.) In obedience to this command, all
those who had raised this report upon Ayesha were publicly scourged,
except Abdallah, son of Abu Solul, who was too considerable a man to be
so dealt with, notwithstanding he had been particularly industrious in
spreading the scandal.[58]
Mahomet, being now increased in power, marched his army against Mecca,
and a battle being fought on the march, wherein neither side gaining the
advantage, a truce was agreed upon for ten years, on the following
conditions: All within Mecca, who were disposed, were to be at liberty
to join Mahomet; and those who had a mind to leave him and return to
Mecca, were to be equally free to do so; but, for the future, if any
Meccans deserted to him, they should be sent back upon demand; and that
Mahomet or any of the Mussulmans might come to Mecca, provided they came
unarmed, and tarried not above three days at a time.
Mahomet was now so well confirmed in his power that he took upon himself
the authority of a king, and was, by the chief men of his army,
inaugurated under a tree near Medina; and having, by the truce obtained
for his followers, free access to Mecca, he ordained they should
henceforward make their pilgrimages thither.[59] Among the Arabs it had
been an ancient usage to visit the Kaaba once a year, to worship there
the heathen deities. Mahomet, therefore, thought it expedient to comply
with a custom with which they were pleased, and which, besides, was so
beneficial to his native place, by bringing a great concourse of
pilgrims to it, that when he afterward came to be master of Mecca, he
enforced the pilgrimage with most of the old ceremonies belonging to it,
only taking away the idols and abolishing this worship. Though he now
took upon himself the sovereign command and the insignia of royalty, he
still retained the sacred character of chief pontiff of his religion,
and transmitted both these powers to his caliphs or successors, who, for
some time, not only ordered all matters of religion, but used,
especially upon public occasions, to officiate in praying and preaching
in their mosques. In process of time this came to be all the authority
the caliphs had left, for, about the year of the Hegira 325, the
governors of provinces seized the regal authority and made themselves
kings of their several governments. They continued, indeed, to pay a
show of deference to the caliph, who usually resided at Bagdad, whom,
however, they occasionally deposed. At this present time most Mahometan
princes have a person in their respective dominions who bears this
sacred character, and is called the _mufti_ in Turkey, and in Persia the
_sadre_. He is often appealed to as the interpreter of the law; but, as
a tool of state, usually gives such judgment as he knows will be most
acceptable to his prince.
Mahomet used at first, when preaching in his mosque at Medina, to lean
upon a post of a palm-tree driven into the ground; but being now
invested with greater dignity, by the advice of one of his wives he had
a pulpit built, which had two steps up to it and a seat within. When
Othman was caliph he hung it with tapestry, and Moawiyah raised it six
steps higher, that he might be heard when he sat down, as he was forced
to do, being very fat and heavy; whereas his predecessors all used to
stand.
Mahomet had now a dream that he held in his hand the key of the Kaaba,
and that he and his men made the circuits round it and performed all the
ceremonies of the pilgrimage. Having told his dream next morning, he and
his followers were all in high spirits upon it, taking it for an omen
that they should shortly be masters of Mecca. Accordingly, great
preparations were made for an expedition to this city. The prophet gave
it out that his only intent was to make the pilgrimage. He provided
seventy camels for the sacrifice, which were conducted by seven hundred
men, ten to each camel; as, however, he apprehended opposition from the
Koreishites, he took with him his best troops, to the number of fourteen
hundred men, besides an incredible number of wandering Arabs from all
parts. The Koreishites, alarmed at the march of the Mussulmans, got
together a considerable force and encamped about six miles from Mecca.
Mahomet continued his march, but finding, by his spies, the enemy had
posted their men so as to stop the passes in his feints and
counter-marches, came to a place where his camel fell upon her knees.
The people said she was restive, but the prophet took it for a divine
intimation that he should not proceed any farther in his intended
expedition, but wait with resignation till the appointed time. He
therefore turned back, and encamped without the sacred territory, at
Hodaibia. The Koreishites sent three several messengers, the two last
men of consequence, to demand what was his intention in coming thither.
He answered that it was purely out of a devout wish to visit the sacred
house, and not with any hostile design. Mahomet also sent one of his own
men to give them the same assurance; but the Koreishites cut the legs of
his camel, and would also have killed the man had not the Ahabishites
interposed and helped him to escape. Upon this he wished Omar to go upon
the same errand; but he excused himself, as not being upon good terms
with the Koreishites. At last Othman was sent; who delivered his
message, and was coming away, when they told him he might, if he wished,
make his circuits round the Kaaba. But upon his replying he would not do
so until the apostle of God had first performed his vow to make the holy
circuits, they were so greatly provoked that they laid him in irons. In
the Mussulman army it was reported that he was killed, at which Mahomet
was much afflicted and said aloud, "We will not stir from hence till we
have given battle to the enemy." Thereupon the whole army took an oath
of obedience and fealty to the prophet, who, on his part, by the
ceremony of clapping his hands one against the other, took an oath to
stand by them as long as there was one of them left.
The Koreishites sent a party of eighty men toward the camp of the
Mussulmans to beat up their quarters. Being discovered, by the
sentinels, they were surrounded, taken prisoners, and brought before
Mahomet; who, thinking it proper at that time to be generous, released
them. In return, Sohail son of Amru was sent to him with proposals of
peace, which he agreed to accept.
Mahomet, pretending he had a divine promise of a great booty, returned
to Medina and, having concluded a peace for ten years with the
Koreishites, was the better enabled to attack the Jews, his
irreconcilable enemies. Accordingly, he went to Khaibar, a strong town
about six days' journey northeast of Medina, and took that and several
other strong places, whereto the Jews had retired, and carried a vast
deal of treasure; this all fell into the hands of the Mussulmans. Being
entertained at Khaibar, a young Jewess, to try, as she afterward said,
whether he were a prophet or not, poisoned a shoulder of mutton, a joint
Mahomet was particularly fond of. One of those who partook of it at the
table, named Basher, died upon the spot; but Mahomet, finding it taste
disagreeable, spat it out, saying, "This mutton tells me it is
poisoned." The miracle-mongers improve this story, by making the
shoulder of mutton speak to him; but if it did, it spoke too late, for
he had already swallowed some of it; and of the effects of that morsel
he complained in his last illness, of which he died three years after.
In this year, Jannabi mentions Mahomet's being bewitched by the Jews.
Having made a waxen image of him, they hid it in a well, together with a
comb and a tuft of hair tied in eleven knots. The prophet fell into a
very wasting condition, till he had a dream that informed him where
these implements of witchcraft were, and accordingly had them taken
away. In order to untie the knots Gabriel read to him the two last
chapters of the _Koran_, consisting of eleven verses; each verse untied
a knot, and, when all were untied, he recovered.[60]
This year Mahomet had a seal made with this inscription, "Mahomet, the
apostle of God." This was to seal his letters, which he now took upon
him to write to divers princes, inviting them to Islamism. His first
letter to this effect was sent to Badham, viceroy of Yemen, to be
forwarded to Khusrau, king of Persia. Khusrau tore the letter, and
ordered Badham to restore the prophet to his right mind or send him his
head. Khusrau was presently after murdered by his son Siroes; Badham
with his people turned Mussulmans, and Mahomet continued him in his
government.
He also sent a letter of the same purport to the Roman emperor
Heraclius. Heraclius received the letter respectfully, and made some
valuable presents to the messenger. He sent another to Makawkas, viceroy
of Egypt, who returned in answer he would consider of the proposals, and
sent, among other presents, two young maidens. One of these, named Mary,
of fifteen years of age, Mahomet debauched. This greatly offended two of
his wives, Hafsa and Ayesha, and to pacify them he promised, upon oath,
to do so no more. But he was soon taken again by them transgressing in
the same way. And now, that he might not stand in awe of his wives any
longer, down comes a revelation which is recorded in the sixty-sixth
chapter of the _Koran_, releasing the prophet from his oath, and
allowing him to have concubines, if he wished.[61] And the two wives of
Mahomet, who, upon the quarrel about Mary, had gone home to their
fathers, being threatened in the same chapter with a divorce, were glad
to send their fathers to him to make their peace with him, and obtain
his permission for their return. They were fain to come and submit to
live with him upon his own terms.
[Illustration: Mahomet, preaching the unity of God, enters Mecca at the
head of his victorious followers
Painting by A. Mueller.]
Mahomet sent letters at the same time to the king of Ethiopia, who had
before professed Islamism, and now in his answer repeated his profession
of it. He wrote to two other Arabian princes, who sent him disagreeable
answers, which provoked him to curse them. He sent also to Al Mondar,
king of Bahrain, who came into his religion, and afterward routed the
Persians and made a great slaughter of them. And now all the Arabians of
Bahrain had become converts to his religion.
Among the captives taken at Khaibar was Safia, betrothed to the son of
Kenana, the king of the Jews. Mahomet took the former to wife, and put
Kenana to the torture to make him discover his treasure. In the action
at Khaibar, it is said, Ali, having his buckler struck out of his hand,
took one of the gates off its hinges, and used it for a buckler till the
place was taken. The narrator of this story asserts that he and seven
men tried to stir the gate, and were not able.
One of the articles of the peace being, that any Mussulman might be
permitted to perform his pilgrimage at Mecca, the prophet went to that
city to complete the visitation of the holy places, which he could not
do as he intended when at Hodaiba. Hearing, upon this occasion, the
Meccans talking of his being weakened by the long marches he had made,
to show the contrary, in going round the Kaaba seven times, he went the
first three rounds in a brisk trot, shaking his shoulders the while, but
performed the four last circuits in a common walking pace. This is the
reason why Mussulmans always perform seven circuits round the Kaaba in a
similar manner.
In the eighth year of the Hegira, Kaled son of Al Walid, Amru son of Al
As, and Othman son of Telha, who presided over the Kaaba, became
Mussulmans; this was a considerable addition to Mahomet's power and
interest. The same year Mahomet, having sent a letter to the governor of
Bostra in Syria, as he had to others, and his messenger being slain
there, sent Zaid, son of Hareth, with three thousand men to Muta in
Syria, against the Roman army, which, with their allies, made a body of
nearly one hundred thousand men. Zaid being slain, the command fell to
Jaafar, and, upon his death, to Abdallah son of Rawahas, who was also
killed.[62] Thereupon the Mussulmans unanimously chose Kaled for their
leader, who defeated the enemy, and returned to Medina with a
considerable booty, on which account Mahomet gave him the title of the
"Sword of God."
The same year the Koreishites assisted some of their allies against the
Kozaites, who were in alliance with Mahomet. This the latter resented as
an infraction of the peace. Abu Sofian was sent to try to make up
matters, but Mahomet would not vouchsafe to receive his explanation. But
having made his preparation to fall upon them before they could be
prepared to receive him, he advanced upon Mecca with about ten thousand
men. Abu Sofian having come out of the town in the evening to
reconnoitre, he fell in with Al Abbas, who, out of friendship to his
countrymen, had ridden from the army with the hope of meeting some
straggling Meccans whom he might send back with the news of Mahomet's
approach, and advise the Meccans to surrender. Al Abbas, recognizing Abu
Sofian's voice, called to him, and advised him to get up behind him, and
go with him, and in all haste make his submission to Mahomet. This he
did, and, to save his life, professed Islamism, and was afterward as
zealous in propagating as he had hitherto been in opposing it.