sleepless night, but Allah (Glory be to Him!) guided him on the Road
to Salvation. Early in the morning, he went to Mohammad and professed
the religion of Islam with all his heart. From that day onwards, when
came the hour of prayer, Ali followed Mohammad to the ravine to pray
with him, unbeknown to the boy's father and uncles.
But one day, when they were both praying at the place called,
"Nakhlat-al-Mahal," Abu Talib caught them unawares and questioned the
Prophet, saying: 'O son of my brother, what is this religion of which
thou dost follow the rites in thy prayers?'--'It is the religion of
Allah, of his Angels and His Prophets--the religion of our ancestor
Ibrahim. Allah hath sent me to preach it to all men; and thou, the
most worthy and the nearest of my relatives, I invite thee to tread
the Road to Salvation.'--'I cannot give up the religion and the
tradition of my fathers,' Abu Talib declared; 'and yet I hold thee to
be so sincere that I believe in the truth of what thou sayest.
Continue, however, to fufill thy Mission without anxiety, for no harm
shall come to thee so long as I live.' Turning towards his son, he
added: 'Thou mayest hearken to Mohammad, and follow him as obediently
as thou canst, for he will never guide thy footsteps except in the
path of righteousness.'
Zayd ibn Harith, a captive, freed and adopted by Mohammad, and who had
so much affection for his liberator that he refused to go away with
his father when he came to pay the ransom, soon followed All's example
and became a convert to Islam. Next followed one of the most noted men
of Makkah, Abdul-Ka'bah, son of Abu Quhafah, whom we shall call
henceforward Abu Bakr, being the name he assumed later and caused to
become celebrated.
He happened one day to be at the house of Hakim ibn Hazam, when a
slave of the household came and spoke to his master as follow:
'Khadijah, thy aunt, maintaineth that her husband is a Prophet sent by
the Most High, like Moses!' Hearing this, Abu Bakr, who had great
faith in Mohammad's sincerity, and had heard some of Waraqah's
predictions, jumped up hurriedly, much moved; and sought out the
Prophet to interrogate him. No sooner had Abu Bakr hearkened to
Mohammad's utterances giving details of the Revelation, than he was
overtaken by enthusiasm and cried out: 'By my father and my mother and
by all the friends of truth, I believe what thou hast told me and I
bear witness that there is no God but Allah and that thou art His
Prophet!' Hearing his speech, Khadijah, draped in a crimson veil, came
out of a near-by room and said to Abu Bakr: 'Praised be Allah who hath
guided thee, O son of Abu Quhafah!'
This conversion was a source of great joy for the Prophet. Abu Bakr
held high rank in the city. He was very rich; remarkably well
favoured, with fine features and aristocratic bearing; conversant with
the sciences of genealogy and the meanings of dreams. Truthful in his
speech; affable in neighbourly intercourse, he had been chosen by his
fellow-citizens for the extremely delicate post of the umpire whose
duty it was to judge cases of homicide and fix the amount of the
"Qisas," or money compensation for wilful murder.
A fervent Believer, Abu Bakr's entire efforts were now devoted to
leading his friends and the people of his party to the Prophet, so
that he might invite them to Islam. Abu Bakr's activities were
successful; the confidence he inspired induced his partisans to
hearken with favour to Mohammad's discourse. The enunciation of this
religion, so simple and withal so great; in such conformity with the
inward longings of the soul of mortals, led them gradually to look
with horror upon the state of gross idolatry in which they had
hitherto wallowed. Besides, this religion was that of Abraham, their
ancestor, and as his creed was still dormant in their hearts, despite
themselves, it was easy for them to acknowledge it. Last of all, the
superhuman accents of the man who preached this new belief and his
radiant, expressive looks, stirred their whole being and they hastened
to be converted by him.
About fifteen of the leading men of the Quraish tribe came to the
Prophet in the same way and became ennobled by Islam. We may mention
Usman ibn Affan, Abd ar Ralman ibn Auf, Sad ibn Abi Waqqs, Zubayr ibn
al-Auwam, Talha Ubaydullah, Ubayda ibn Harith, Jafar ibn Abdul
Muttalib, and many others.
At the same time as these conversions, so important by reason of the
proselytes ranking highly, we must not forget one more humble, but
most touching: that of Mohammad's nurse. As soon as the call of her
foster-son came to her ears, good Halimah, who had always believed
that the boy she had reared would make his mark in life, hastened with
Haris, her husband, to be counted among the Faithful. Every person,
too, belonging to Mohammad's household, had become a convert from the
onset, and among them, his daughters, still very young; without
forgetting a negress, Umm al Ayman. This little group of Believers now
led a life filled with ever-changing emotion. What could be more
charming than their secret meetings when they prayed and adored Allah
in perfect union? But they had to take unheard-of precautions so as
not to awaken the hostile suspicions of idolaters. Even in his own
house, the Prophet was forced to beware of his neighbours, and when he
proclaimed the "Takbir," he spoke into a pitcher buried in the ground,
so as to deaden the sound of his voice. In these circumstances, only
clandestine propaganda was possible, and during the first three years,
the progress of Islam was excessively slow and timid.
On the other hand, Revelation had suddenly stopped; and Mohammad, no
longer feeling himself upheld by the inspiration of the Almighty,
began to doubt and despair.
He was wandering to and fro, anxious and alone, in a wild valley, when
he heard a celestial voice causing him to look up. In the vivid
brightness of great light, he recognised the Angel that had appeared
to him at Hira. He could not support the brilliancy of this formidable
apparition and, blinded, rushed to his dwelling where he had himself
wrapped up in his mantle, so as to calm the tremor of his frame and
shade his dazzled eyes. It was then that Allah sent down the following
verses: "_O thou enwrapped in thy mantle! * Arise and warn! * Warn thy
relatives of nearer kin * And lower Thy wing over the Faithful who
follow Thee. * And if they disobey thee, then say: 'I verily am clear
of your doings' * And put thy trust in the Mighty, the Merciful_."
(THE QUR'AN, LXXIV, 1, 2. XXVI, 214-220).
The Prophet rose up, his eyes sparkling with sublime energy. Until
that day, he had never dared to proclaim his Mission publicly, for he
foresaw the hatred it would foment among his idolatrous
fellow-citizens. But having been ordered by his Supreme Master to
preach the doctrines of Islam, which was Mohammad's most earnest wish,
he threw off the restraint that crushed him, and resolved to have
recourse to strong measures. He ordered Ali to prepare a meal composed
of a leg of lamb, hot corn and a jar of milk. He then invited his
relatives to partake of it.
Not one refused, and there came forty persons all told; among them his
uncles on his father's side: Abu Talib, Hamzah, Abbas and Abu Lahab.
When the guests had eaten their fill, much to their great surprise,
for this modest repast could have been easily swallowed up by any one
man among them, Mohammad made as if to address the meeting. But Abu
Lahab, having some suspicions respecting his nephew's ideas which did
not meet with his approval, took the words out of his mouth. 'What
kind of spell does our host seek to cast over us?' he cried. In
superstitious fear of being bewitched, the proof of such a dire fate
being furnished by the fact that their hunger had been appeased by a
most meagre banquet, the guests scattered away in great haste.
Affronted by their lack of courtesy, the Prophet said to Ali: 'Didst
thou give heed to my uncle when he cared not how impolitely he behaved
in preventing me from speaking? But no matter! Get another meal ready
for to-morrow, and go round and invite all the same people.'
Next day, in the presence of the guests once more gathered together,
Mohammad hastened to make himself heard and succeeded in so doing. 'No
one living hath ever brought to the Arabs what I bring,' he declared;
'that is to say, glorious good fortune in this world and supreme
felicity in the next. Allah the Most High hath commanded me to summon
all men to Him. Who among ye wisheth to share my work and help me to
accomplish my mission? Such a man shall be my proxy and my
lieutenant--nay, my brother!'
At this unexpected declaration, all the people present stared at each
other in stupefaction; and knowing not what to reply, their features
betrayed naught else but fierce enmity and showed what their answer
would have been. Faithful Ali, expecting an outburst of joy, at such
great, good news, coupled with ardent competition in hopes of the
honour of becoming Mohammad's henchman, forgot that his youth demanded
his silence in the midst of such a gathering of noble folks; and
standing up erect, carried away by his enthusiasm, he cried out: 'O
Prophet of Allah! I will be thy lieutenant!'
Instead of smiling at the pretensions of the lad, the Prophet patted
Ali's neck affectionately while proclaiming: 'Here is my proxy and my
lieutenant! Here standeth my brother! Listen to him and obey!'
By this time the stupefaction of the guests was boundless, but they
suppressed their rage and received the declaration with great bursts
of merriment. Abu Lahab turned to Abu Talib and shouted ironically:
'Hast heard thy nephew's speech? He ordereth thee to listen to his son
and obey him!'
With the exception of Abu Talib, saddened by this scandalous scene,
all went away, jeering sarcastily and exasperated.
It is certain that this utter defeat grieved the Prophet, without
discouraging him in the least, for, from that day, the Revelation gave
him support, instruction and guidance unceasingly.
[Sidenote: THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE HOUR]
And Mohammad began to preach. He was hurried along by the Revelations
which came to him quickly, one after the other, all terrible; and
announcing "The Frightful Blow," being the End of the World and the
Day of Judgment.
"_The Blow! what is the Blow? * And what shall teach thee what the
Blow is? * The Day when men shall be like scattered moths, * And the
mountains shall be like flock of carded wool._" (THE QUR'AN, CI, 1,
4.)
Mohammad thought this disaster, destined to punish mankind for its
perversity, was imminent. So he increased his reproofs among his
fellow-men, in order to deliver them from the sway of their passions
and guide them into the Path of Salvation before the Blow fell. But
they answered him, saying: "_The Hour will not come upon us!_" (THE
QUR'AN, XXXIV, 3.)
Obeying the orders of Allah, he reiterated his adjurations: "_Verily,
the Hour will surely arrive: there no doubt with regard to it. * O
Men, fear your Lord! Verily, the earthquake of the Hour will be a
tremendous thing! * When the Earth is shaken with its shaking, * And
when the Earth hath cast forth her burdens of buried dead, * And man
shall say: What aileth her? * On that day shall she tell out her
tidings, * Because thy Lord hath inspired her. * On that day shall men
come forward in bands to behold their works, * And whosoever shall
have wrought an atom's weight of good shall behold it, * And whosoever
shall have wrought an atom's weight of evil shall behold it._" (THE
QUR'AN, XL, 61. XXII, 1. XCIX, 1-6.)
As a result of these gruesome prophecies, given out with accents of
firm conviction, unbelievers felt a shudder of anguish convulsing
their being; but as they saw nothing take place as time went on, not
even precursory signs, they soon regained their equanimity and fell
back again into their erring ways.
The Prophet could not tell for what time the hour was fixed: _The
knowledge of it is only with my Lord._ (THE QUR'AN, VII, 186.) But
Mohammad knew punishment was inevitable in this world or the next, and
he was in despair at having to think that his infidel fellow-men would
meet with a fate even sadder than that of the peoples of Thamud and
Ad.
[Sidenote: THE FIRST HOSTILITIES]
Following the Prophet's first sermons, the Faithful sought no longer
to hide their belief; but, to avoid useless disputes, they held
clandestine meetings in a desert ravine where they said their prayers.
A group of idolaters dogged their footsteps and having succeeded in
discovering their retreat, lavished foul epithets on them. The
Believers, unable to put up with the insults offered to their
religion, grew furious and a fight took place, during which Sad ibn
Abi Waqqs picked up the jawbone of a camel's skeleton in the sand and
dashed it violently in the face of one of the Associates, causing the
vital fluid to flow. These were the first drops of blood shed in the
struggle now beginning between Islam and idolatry.
Wishing to prevent a renewal of these incidents, the Prophet resolved
to retreat to pray in peace with his disciples in the house of Arqam,
situated on the Sufah hill. Nevertheless, fury increased among the
idol-worshippers. So long as Mohammad had gone no further than to
summon them to salvation, even blaming them and threatening them with
the punishment of divine wrath, his adversaries merely shrugged their
shoulders and laughed at him; but when he retaliated by turning their
wooden or stone images into ridicule, pointing out that they were
dumb, deaf, blind and powerless, the rage of the idolaters was
unbounded. Not only did he sting them to the quick through attacking
their beliefs, but he did them great harm commercially, for in the
hands of leading citizens, the idols were a source of considerable
revenue, and constituted efficacious means of domination over the
superstitious common people.
Alone, among the men of his party who had refused to embrace the
Islamic faith, his uncle, Abu Talib, still gave him proofs of
affection, thus greatly scandalising the other members of the Quraish
tribe, who sent him a deputation of the most influential among them:
Utbah ibn Rabiyah, Abu Sufyan ibn Harib, Abu Jahal and several
chieftains of equal note.
'O Abu Talib!' said these delegates, 'your brother's son insulteth our
gods and our beliefs. He mocketh at the religion and traditions of our
forefathers. Shall we not rid ourselves of him? Or wilt thou not
remain neutral and thus let us be free to act towards him as we think
fit? For we know that thou dost not share his convictions any more
than we do.' Abu Talib dismissed them with a polite and conciliatory
reply.
Mohammad, as may well be surmised, continued his sermons with
unfailing ardour. The enmity of the Quraish tribesmen assumed a more
serious aspect; their representatives returning to see Abu Talib, to
make the following declaration: 'We have the greatest respect for
thine age, nobility and rank, but we asked thee to rid us of thy
brother's son and thou didst not do so. Now, we can no longer put up
with the affronts with which he overwhelmeth our beliefs and
traditions, so deprive him of thy protection and leave us free to
treat him as we choose. In case of refusal on thy part, we must reckon
thee as being against us in the war we declare on him, and which will
last until one of the two parties are exterminated!' They then
departed, leaving Abu Talib in despair at being cut off from his
partisans and, on the other hand, firmly resolving never to throw over
his nephew.
In that state of mind, he sent for Mohammad. 'O son of my brother!'
quoth he; 'our fellow-citizens of the Quraish have returned and made
solemn declarations to me. Reflect; take compassion on me; have pity
for thyself, and do not put upon me a burden too heavy to bear.
'O my uncle!' replied the Prophet; 'if in order to make me renounce my
Mission, they placed the Sun on my left and the Moon on my right, I
swear that, by Allah, I would not yield before I fulfilled my task
triumphantly or perished in the attempt!'
Thinking that Abu Talib had spoken as he did as a hint that he would
have to cast him adrift, by reason of his inability to protect him,
his nephew burst into tears and went away. Abu Talib, much moved,
called him back at once and said to him affectionately: 'Go, O son of
my brother! Go forth and preach as thou wilt. By God, I'll never turn
away from thee!'
Finding that no threats succeeded in estranging uncle and nephew, the
delegates went back to Abu Talib for the third time, taking with them
Ammarah ibn Walid, and then the deputation made the following
proposal:
'O Abu Talib! here is Ammarah ibn Walid, one of the most accomplished
and handsome young men among all the youths of Makkah. We bring him to
thee. Adopt him for thy son. He belongeth to thee. In exchange, hand
over to us thy brother's son thou didst adopt, so that we put him to
death, for he hath stirred up strife in our tribe.'--'By God!' replied
Abu Talib, 'what's this fine bargain ye now put forward? You would
fain give me your son, so that I feed and clothe him; and I should
have to let you take mine to be killed by you! That could not be! No,
by God!--never!'
With rage in their hearts, the delegate's left him. The Mausam--the
time for the pilgrimage--drawing nigh, the Quraish idolaters held
a meeting at the dwelling of Walid ibn Moghayrah so as to consult
together with regard to the way in which they ought to behave to
the Prophet. Walid was spokesman, and he said: 'O assembly of
Quraish men! the Mausam will soon bring innumerable pilgrims to
Makkah. Of a surety, they have heard about Mohammad, and they
will question you concerning him. How will ye answer? Ye must be
all of one mind, so as not to contradict each other, which would
nullify the effect of your utterances.'--'It is for thee to advise us,
O Walid!'--'It is for you to speak first. I will listen and discuss
your opinions.'--'Well then! we shall say that Mohammad is a
diviner.'--'No! We know the diviners! He hath none of their mutterings
or rhyming emphasis.'--'We'll say that he is possessed.'--'No! We have
seen men possessed; and unlike them, he is not subject to fits of
suffocation and convulsions.'--'We'll say he is a poet.'--'No! He is
no poet. We know all the styles of versification as used by the poets,
and his speech does not resemble that of any one of them.'--'We'll say
he is a sorcerer.'--'No! for we have fallen across sorcerers, and he
performeth none of their magical operations. Of a truth, his success
is due to the charm and beauty of his discourse.'
Arraigned before the tribunal of their own conscience, the citizens
assembled were forced to acknowledge the rigorous truth of this last
remark. All of them, more or less, had felt the words springing from
the ecstatic soul of Allah's Apostle go home to them. All of them had
ofttimes been about to give way to the fascination caused by his
accents, ringing with the inspiration of superhuman faith. The Quraish
men were only restrained by the importance of their material interests
and the violence of their earthly passions, thus seriously threatened
by his pure doctrine.
Nevertheless, they were bound to come to a decision at once, so as to
prevent, at all costs, the Arabs belonging to distant tribes from
undergoing the same ordeal. Therefore, they agreed to say that
Mohammad possessed potent spells by which he stirred up strife in
families, estranging a brother from his brother, a son from his
father, and a husband from a wife.
[Illustration: _Moslem praying on the Terrace-roof of her dwelling._]
When the pilgrims began to pour in, Walid and his accomplices were on
the watch, posted on all the roads leading to Makkah. Not a single
Arab passed along these highways without being warned against Mohammad
by the conspirators in ambush. But although a few pilgrims were
alarmed at these warnings and feared the spells that they were
informed were threatening them, the majority felt their curiosity
increasing with regard to this extraordinary man, whose utterances
gave rise to such great apprehension among the lords of the city. Thus
it came to pass that when the travellers returned to their tribes,
they told what they had seen; so that it plainly resulted that the
campaign, organised against Mohammad by his enemies, only achieved the
purpose of spreading his renown all over Arabia.
In order to add fresh fuel to the fire of their rage, increasing as
the Prophet's reputation became established--a result partly due to
their involuntary efforts--the idol-worshippers sought every
opportunity to heap insults on him. Being all together, one day, in
the precincts of the Temple, they worked each other up. 'No! never
have we endured from anybody what this man hath made us endure,' they
cried out in chorus. At that very moment, Mohammad came on the scene
and began to perform the ritual circuits round the Ka'bah. They rushed
at him, all at one bound. 'Art thou the man who dareth to insult the
gods of our fathers?' they shouted. 'Aye, I am that man!' he replied,
undisturbed.
One of the enraged citizens caught hold of the collar of his mantle,
and twisting it roughly, tried to strangle him. Abu Bakr, who chanced
to be standing near, interfered. 'How now? Would ye kill a man who
proclaimeth that Allah is his God?' he said sadly, and freed the
Prophet, not without suffering ill-treatment himself, for a portion of
his beard was plucked out by Mohammad's assailant.
The danger he had risked in these circumstances did not prevent the
Prophet from returning to the Ka'bah to perform his devotions, without
letting the furious glances of his assembled adversaries trouble him.
Acting under the orders of Abu Jahal, a man fetched some sheeps'
entrails from the slaughter-house. He chose those of an animal that
had been killed several days before, and while the Prophet was
prostrate as he prayed, the rascal covered the nape of his neck and
his shoulders with the offal. All those present were seized with such
outrageous fits of mirth that they fell seated on the ground, rolling
one against the other. As for Allah's Elect, he seemed not even to
have noticed the affront offered to him, and continued to pray. It was
his daughter Fatimah who, arriving a few moments later, threw the
filth far from her father, and railed at the wretches who had
belittled themselves by the infliction of such a repulsive insult.
On a par with Abu Jahal, ranking with those who are branded eternally
in history's pages on account of their atrocious treatment of the
Prophet, was one of his uncles, a son of Abu Muttalib, surnamed Abu
Lahab, "The Man Vowed to Hell-fire." Mohammad was preaching one day on
the hill of Safa, in the midst of a crowd of inhabitants of that
region, when Abu Lahab interrupted him rudely. 'Mayst thou be
annihilated!' he bawled; 'thou who hast called us together to listen
to such nonsense!' To this insult the following surah of the Qur'an
(CXI) replies: "_Let the hands of Abu Lahab perish, and let himself
perish! * His wealth and his gains shall avail him not. * Burned shall
he be at the fiery flame, * And his wife laden with the fire-wood, *
On her neck a rope of twisted palm-fibre._"
This Surah, quickly becoming renowned, increased Abu Lahab's
resentment and probably had even more effect on that of his wife, Umm
Jemil, who found herself attacked therein in a way that was as
annoying as it was deserved. To be nicknamed "carrier of fire-wood"
was past endurance; but had she not, on one occasion, strewn the path
of Mohammad with thorny branches; had not her tongue lit up the fires
of hatred with the faggots of calumny that she hawked about
everywhere? The odious couple resorted shamelessly to the vilest acts,
daily throwing heaps of filth on the terrace of Mohammad's house or in
front of his door, for he was their neighbour.
Worked up or terrorised by these fanatics, most of the dwellers in
Makkah repulsed the Prophet or avoided him. Children and wastrels
pursued him with their jibes in the street. He was perfectly
indifferent to such provocations. What was it all to him? Nothing more
than a passing breeze. He never even seemed to notice the persons who
acted thus; he only looked at those he hoped to convert.
[Sidenote: THE INCIDENT OF THE BLIND MAN]