the Prophet's existence exercised more decisive influence over the
world-wide success of his cause. Had he remained in Makkah, granting
even his final triumph, Islam would have remained there with him. The
Arabs of all Arabia, fearing the power with which Islam endowed the
Quraish alone, would have formed a coalition to prevent it spreading
out of the Sacred City. Whereas, after having begun, despite all
malice, to plant the roots of his religion firmly in his native town,
it was easy for the Prophet to return there when he had won over the
rest of the Arabs to his cause.
This proves how impenetrable are the designs of Providence, and how
frequently the misfortunes with which God afflicts us, burdening us
with suffering, determine the cause of our successes. If the Prophet
had not been persecuted and banished by his own people, he would never
have been able to fulfil his universal mission, and the world would
never have been enlightened by Islam.
The Prophet sojourned at Quba Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. All
rejoined him there. His faithful henchman, after having restituted all
the deposits confided to his care to their rightful owners, arrived at
Quba, his feet badly lacerated, having tramped night and day. Mohammad
embraced him warmly, bandaged his wounds with his blessed hands, and
made him rest by his side in Kulsum's dwelling.
Mohammad also busied himself with laying the first brick of a
Mosque--the first place of public prayer in Islam--and left to Ammar
ibn Yasar the care of finishing it. This Mosque was called "At Taqwa,"
_i.e._ the Mosque of "The Fear of God." Reference is made to it in
these verses: "_There is indeed a Mosque founded from its first day
upon the fear of God; More right is it that thou take thy stand
therein; therein are men who aspire to keep themselves pure and Allah
loveth those who purify themselves._" (THE QUR'AN, IX, 109.)
[Sidenote: ARRIVAL OF THE PROPHET AT YASRIB]
Despite the persistence of the Banu Amir who wished him to remain in
their hamlet, the Prophet departed on Friday, at daybreak, riding the
she-camel he had bought of Abu Bakr, and which became celebrated under
the name of "al-Qaswa," _i.e._ "She that hath split ears and
nostrils." A great throng of horsemen and people on foot followed him,
and his companions fought for the honour of holding his bridle.
The hour of prayer arrived when he was passing through the territory
of the Banu Salim ibn Auf. He alighted and recited, for the first
time, the Friday prayer, leading a numerous band of Believers in pious
array behind him. At the termination of the prayer, he turned towards
the Faithful to preach them a sermon. Then he once more bestrode his
she-camel, and escorted by a crowd animated by the most ardent
enthusiasm, made a triomphal entry into Yasrib.
On every terrace-roof, the "Zawat-ul-Khidar," those who are generally
hidden inside houses--women and young girls--were grouped together,
ressembling, in their bright-hued draperies, pretty birds of
vividly-tinted plumage, perched on the edges of cliffs. With melodious
voices, quavering by reason of emotion, they sang in chorus:
"The full moon hath risen above our heads--Emerging from the
Sanniyat-ul-Wida (the Farewell Mountain Pass)!--Numerous are the
thanksgivings we must offer up to Allah,--With the purest fervour of
our supplications!--O thou, His Messenger among us,--The orders thou
dost bring us shall be piously executed!"
In every district through which the Prophet passed, that of the Banu
Baid, Banu Saida, Banu Haris, Banu Adyy, etc., a deputation of leading
men caught his camel by the bridle and stopped it, to be able to say:
'Remain with us, O Prophet! Here wilt thou find riches, power and
safety.' But he replied: 'Let my she-camel go, for she hath received
orders from on High.' And smiling kindly, he added: 'The blessing of
Allah be upon you!'
He let the reins hang loose on the neck of the animal he was riding,
and she, stretching her long neck far above the escort of Believers,
turned her head first to the right and then to the left, as if
searching, with her great black eyes shaded by lengthy lashes, for the
halting-place assigned to her by Providence. After a thousand windings
and turnings, she stopped in the middle of a wide expanse of waste
ground, and knelt down; but as the Prophet did not alight, she rose
and took a few more strides, hesitatingly. Finally, and decisively,
she went back to the spot where she had stopped at first, and knelt
down again. She stretched the entire length of her neck on the ground
and uttered low grunts.
So then Mohammad alighted, saying: 'Allah causeth me to set foot on
the ground in a blessed spot. Here will be the finest place in which
to dwell.' This piece of property was a "marbad," _i.e._ a barn-floor,
where dates were laid out to dry. It was situated in the district of
the Banu Nijar, not far from the house of Abu Ayyub Ansari who offered
hospitality to the Prophet, and took his saddle and saddle-bags to his
dwelling. Whilst the Apostle, momentarily freed from the veneration of
the populace, was settling under that friendly roof, young people and
slaves dispersed in all directions, singing: 'Mohammad hath come! The
Prophet of Allah hath come to our town!'
Ever since that day, eternally memorable, the city of Yasrib was
called, "Madinatu'n-Nabi," the City of the Prophet; and by
abbreviation, "Al-Madinah." (Medinah).
[Sidenote: HOW THE MOSQUE OF AL-MADINAH WAS BUILT]
At Al-Madinah, Mohammad's first care was to erect a Mosque.
He sought for the owners of the ground where his she-camel had knelt,
and they turned out to be two orphans, named Sahil and Sohail, whose
guardian was Muaz ibn Afra. The Prophet asked them how much they
wanted for their piece of property. 'Allah's reward is the only price
we ask,' was their reply. Mohammad, however, refused the gift. The
purchase-money, fixed at ten dinars, was advanced by Abu Bakr, who had
transferred all his wealth from Makkah to Al-Madinah.
Acting under the Prophet's orders, the Believers lost no time in
getting to work. They cleared up the "Marbad," where there were
ruined walls, a palm-tree and a few neglected tombs. They levelled the
ground and, as soon as the foundations were dug, Mohammad lifted a big
stone to place in the cavity, and his noble breast became covered in
dust. Seeing this, his companions tried to prevent him from doing
manual labour; but he said to Abu Bakr: 'Say no more, but follow my
example. Put a stone next to mine.' He then commanded Umar to place
another at the side of the one set down by Abu Bakr; and each of the
leading Moslems contributed in succession his stone to the structure.
When the stone foundations reached up to a third of the eventual
height of the walls, the Believers began to knead clay with water,
making unbaked bricks, with which they intended to finish the
building. The Prophet, as before, continued to encourage his followers
by his example, and he carried bricks in his mantle. Seeing one of the
workers with a double load on his back, Mohammad wiped his disciple's
hair and neck, soiled with clay, and said: 'The reward of the labourer
awaits him in heaven, but thou wilt find a double reward.'
All the Believers toiled in high spirits, and to quicken their task by
working in measure, the masons sang in chorus, and the verses of their
chants related to their exalted hopes. When the walls were seven
cubits high, the Faithful covered the building with a flat roof, made
of palm-tree trunks, thatched with lathes and palm-leaves. On this,
they spread a layer of beaten earth, thick enough to prevent rain
filtering through. The ceiling was supported inside by columns of
date-tree trunks, and the floor was sprinkled with gravel.
The building was one hundred cubits in length; its breadth being a
little less. It could be entered by three doors; of which the
principal was called "Bab-ur-Rahma," or "Door of Mercy." The "Mimbar,"
or pulpit, was fashioned out of a simple palm-tree trunk on which the
Prophet mounted when he preached his sermons.
It can thus be seen that this first Mosque, identical with those of
the poorest villages of the Sahara, was far from resembling the
marvellous edifices which were to be constructed a little later for
the Islamic religion.
At the same time as the Mosque was being finished, Mohammad had caused
two little hovels to be built with clods of earth--"Hujrah"--leaning
against the walls of the temple. The Prophet proposed to live there
with his family and he sent Zayd, his adopted son, to Makkah to fetch
them. When the houses were finished, he left the dwelling of Abu Ayyub
and settled down with his people who lost no time in arriving.
As for the Muhajirun, they had all been generously and hospitably
welcomed by the Ansars, proud and joyful to receive beneath their
roof-trees those of the strangers who fell to them by lot.
Mohammad was especially moved by the cordial welcome extended to his
fellow-countrymen by his new disciples. But, with his great insight
concerning the souls of mortals, he resolved to tighten the bonds of
such touching friendship. So that it should be proof against all
insinuations dictated by the rivalry, inevitable in the future,
between the Muhajirun who had forsaken their country, families and
wealth to follow him; and the Ansars who had offered the safe shelter
and material assistance to which his triumph was due. Would not each
party have some little reason to claim for it alone first rank in the
Prophet's affection and the annals of Islam?
In order to avoid such dangerous contingencies and create real family
ties for the exiles, Mohammad profited by the cloudless exaltation
uniting Muhajirun and Ansars just then, to issue a decree of perfect
brotherhood between them. He ordained that they should pair off in
couples consisting of a man of the Mohajirun and an Ansar. 'Fraternise
in Allah!' he told them. 'Ye are brothers!' Henceforward, every
Mussulman of Al-Madinah had for brother a Mussulman of Makkah.
It would be sheer madness to try and find words to express the degree
of devotion attained by this brotherhood of religion, stronger than
ties of blood, for it was supernatural. All these men's hearts, united
in the love of Allah, were now nothing more than a single heart,
palpitating in different breasts. Each man loved his brother better
than himself, and during the first years of the Hegira, when one died,
the other inherited his property, to the exclusion of his natural
heirs.
Among the fraternal unions thus constituted, we may note those of Abu
Bakr with Kharijah ibn Zayd; Ummar with Usman ibn Malik; Abu Ubaidah
with Sad ibn Muaz; and Usman ibn Affan with Aus ibn Najar. The prophet
had been the first to choose Ali for his brother, thus sealing the
bond of fraternity that he had signed when beginning his mission. But
as Ali belonged to the Muhajirun, the Ansars might have been vexed
because the Apostle did not choose a brother in their ranks. That was
why, at the death of one of their Najibs, Asad ibn Zararah, Mohammad
took his place as Najib, pretexting that he was one of them, because
his uncle on his mother's side had formerly dwelt in their city.
In this way, thanks to his sense of psychology and diplomatic skill,
Mohammad achieved a wonderful result: the wars between the Kajraz and
the Aus which, for centuries past, had deluged Yasrib with blood,
ceased as by magic, soon after his arrival. He metamorphosed the
inhabitants of Al-Madinah into the brothers of the Makkan emigrants,
formerly their rivals.
[Sidenote: THE QUIBLAH OF MAKKAH]
In the beginning, the Prophet allowed the Believers full liberty to
turn in any direction they pleased when saying their prayers, for:
"_The East and the West is Allah's; therefore, whichever way ye turn,
there is the face of Allah. Truly Allah is Omnipresent, Omniscient._"
(THE QUR'AN, II, 109).
While terminating the building of the first Mosque, the Prophet
divined that prayerful impulsiveness diverted in one direction would
be more thrilling, because of the feeling of union in the same ideals
that was bound to result. By means of a cube of masonry, composed of
stone and clay placed against the wall of the building looking south,
he primitively established the Qiblah, or direction of prayer, towards
the Temple of Jerusalem.
But he was ordered by a verse to change the direction towards Makkah:
"_We have formerly seen thee turning thy face towards every part of
the Heaven; but We will assuredly have thee turn to a Qiblah which
shall please thee. Turn then thy face towards the Sacred Mosque, and
wherever ye be, turn your faces in that direction._" (THE QUR'AN, II,
139).
And ever since that day, the Qiblah remains definitively fixed for all
the Mussulmans of the world, in the direction of the Temple of Makkah.
[Sidenote: INSTITUTION OF THE AZAN, OR CALL OF THE MU'AZZIN]
Prayer in common is incontestably the most profitable; the fervour of
each Believer communicating with the soul of his neighbour. "It is
worth twenty-seven times more than isolated prayer," says the Prophet.
It was therefore necessary to summon all Believers together every day,
at the same hours fixed for the five prayers.
How was the exact time of meeting to be determined? Scattered over the
different districts of the city, some came too early; others too late.
A consultation of the leading Moslems took place. Some were for the
use of a beacon, to be lit on a commanding eminence; others suggested
the blowing of a horn; and the rest proposed bell-ringing. But all
these methods were rejected, because they were borrowed, from
Persians, Jews or Christians.
[Illustration: _The Mu'azzin's Call._]
Meanwhile, Abdullah ibn Zayd arrived, and he told of a dream he had
had the night before. A man attired all in green passed close to me,
carrying a hand-bell. I stopped him and begged him to sell me his
bell. 'What dost thou want it for?'--'To summon Believers to
prayer.'--'A much better way,' he replied, 'would be to proclaim the
profession of faith of Islam with all the strength of thy lungs.'
The Prophet, alive to the fact that the resonance of the human voice
is more capable of communicating emotion than the most perfect metal
instrument of music, declared at once: 'In thy dream was truth. Go and
find Bilal. His voice is powerful and harmonious. I charge thee to
order him to mount to the roof of the Mosque and summon the Believers
to prayers.' So Bilal, the freed negro, told to call all the Believers
together, of all ranks and races, uttered from the terrace of the
Mosque the cry of the Islamic soul: "_Allah is great! There is no God
but Allah, and Mohammad is the Prophet of Allah! Come to prayer! Come
to Salvation!_"
Like exquisite perfume wafted from a priceless flask, these words in
the melodious voice of Bilal and issuing from his strong lungs,
resounded through the city. Echoing in all dwellings, they caused
every citizen to inhale with delight the refreshing scent of prayer.
Ever since, in every Mosque all the world over, it is the duty of a
crier, called a "muazzin," to give this summons to prayer five times
daily which he does from the top of a slender minaret erected for that
purpose.
[Sidenote: THE FAST OF RAMADHAN]
After having decided that the human voice should be used for the call
to prayer, Mohammad, when first he dwelt in Al-Madinah, continued to
set forth the formal obligations of the Islamic religion.
He was in the habit of fasting three days every month when he received
this Revelation: "_As to the month Ramadhan, in which the Qur'an was
sent down to be man's guidance ... as soon as anyone of you observeth
the moon, let him set about the fast..... You are allowed on the night
of the fast to approach your wives: they are your garment and ye are
their garment ... Eat and drink until ye can discern a white thread
from a black thread by the daybreak: afterwards fast strictly till
night, and go not in unto them, but pass the time in the Mosques._"
(THE QUR'AN, II, 181, 183).
By these verses was the fast of the month of Ramadhan established, and
numerous were the advantages accruing therefrom: man, full of
self-love, runs after everything bringing material gratification, and
flees from all that falls to the lot of the poor and the weak. To rid
him of this fatal propensity, nothing is more salutary than the pangs
of hunger and thirst. The Faithful, their bodies no longer burdened by
their aliments, foregathered all day long, and the nourishment that
prayer provided for their souls, was more impatiently expected than
the nourishment of their stomachs.
In the torrid climate of Al-Madinah, nevertheless, their thirst,
unquenched during never-ending summer days, became real torture. With
dry throats, gasping, many among them were on the point of breaking
down when they looked upon the limpid water of the "saqiya" and heard
its tempting trickling. The example of their brethren, more resigned,
soon made them pluck up fresh courage. The bonds of religious
fraternity were tightened still more by this ordeal, and, having
assisted each other to vanquish such terrible adversaries as hunger
and thirst, Believers were ready to stand firm against the fiercest
enemies among mortals.
During thirty days, without murmuring and with ever-increasing
exaltation, the Ansars and the Mohadjirun went through the first fast
of Ramadhan. At last the crescent of the new month was about to
appear; every terrace-roof and all the hills were crowded with the
Faithful, all trying to get the first glimpse. The sun's golden disc
was scarcely submerged in the blue waves of the desert's horizon when
every eye scrutinised anxiously the depths of the sky of emerald-like
limpidity. Suddenly, in the lower part of the shaded canopy of heaven,
the thin silver bow appeared. A long-drawn sigh escaped from every
breast, as if each had been pierced by invisible arrows, shot from
this bow.
But the Faithful had heaved no sigh of deliverance. On the contrary,
the sigh was caused by regret at having so soon concluded the fasting
ordeal, in easy payment of the debt of gratitude owing to the
Benefactor. During this pious trial, each soul was fortified and each
body strengthened. In order to pass through the frightful deserts that
encircled them, before going forth to conquer the world, the Believers
were training themselves to get accustomed, as if it were a mere
pastime, to endure the tortures of hunger and thirst that they were
bound to undergo, later on, in the depths of these very wildernesses.
When, after such self-imposed deprivation, they were able to
appreciate the real value of the benefit of food, the Prophet imposed
upon them the "Sadaqat-ul-Fitr," the Alms of the Breaking of the Fast,
forcing the Faithful rich to give a share of their victuals to the
Faithful poor.
[Sidenote: PROPERTY BESTOWED IN ALMS, AND THE PROHIBITION OF FERMENTED
LIQUOURS]
Mohammad judged that the obligation of feeding the poor once a year,
the day after the fast, was insufficient. He completed his ruling by
instituting the "Zakat-ul-Mal," the bestowal of property in alms,
intended to safeguard the existence of pauper Mussulmans without
overburdening rich folks.
This kind of almsgiving, being one of the five foundations of pratical
religion, is due upon all property and revenue whatsoever: gold,
silver, flocks, fruits, grain; and varies from a third to a tenth of
such resources. It should be bestowed with the greatest tact and
humility:
"_O ye who believe! make not your alms void by reproach and injury,
like him who spendeth his substance to be seen of men. The likeness of
such an one is that of a rock with a thin soil upon it, on which a
heavy rain falleth, but leaveth it hard * And the likeness of those
who expend their substance from a desire to please Allah, and through
their own steadfastness, is as a garden on a hill, on which the heavy
rain falleth, and yieldeth its fruits twofold; and even if a heavy
rain fall not on it, yet there is a dew ... * If ye give your alms
openly, it is well; and if ye conceal them and give them to the poor,
this too will be of advantage to you ... * Those who know them not,
think them rich because of their modesty. By this their token thou
shall know them--they ask not of men with importunity: and whatever
good thing ye expend in alms, Allah verily taketh knowledge of it. *
Ye shall by no means attain to goodness till ye expend that which ye
love as alms. * But alms are only to be given to the poor and the
needy, and those who collect them, and to those whose hearts are won
to Islam, and for ransoming, and for debtors, and for the cause of
Allah, and the wayfarer. This is an ordinance from Allah._" (THE
QUR'AN, II, 266, 267, 275. III, 86. IX, 60.) By the foregoing verses,
was instituted the impost of the "Zakat-ul-Mal;" literally: "The
Purification," because it serves, as it were, to "purify" wealth and
excuse it.
The Prophet foresaw the universal ravages of alcoholism, as deadly in
its effects as the worship of idols, and he forbade the use of
fermented liquors. He had first received this Revelation: "_They will
ask thee concerning vinous liquors ... Say: In them is great sin, and
advantage also, to men; but their sin is greater than their
advantage._" (THE QUR'AN, II, 216.)
Many among the Faithful gave up these beverages, whilst others could
not bring it over their hearts to do so. A second Revelation brought
this caution: "_Come not to prayer when drunken, bid wait till ye can
understand what ye utter._" (THE QUR'AN, IV, 46.)
Ali caused this announcement. Having drunk to excess just at the hour
of prayer, he recited: 'O ye Unbelievers ... we worship what ye
worship. Ye have no religion and I have no religion,' instead of
saying: "_O ye Unbelievers * I worship not what ye worship! * To you
your religion; and to me my religion._" (THE QUR'AN, CIX, 1, 2, 6.)
Formal prohibition was finally decreed in these imperative verses: "_O
Believers! Wine and games of chance, and statues and the divining
arrows, are only an abomination of Satan's work! Avoid them, that ye
may prosper. * Only would Satan sow hatred and strife among you, by
wine and games of chance, and turn you aside from the remembrance of
Allah, and from prayer: will ye not, therefore, desist from them? Obey
Allah and obey the Apostle!_" (THE QUR'AN, V, 92, 93.)
[Sidenote: AYISHAH IN THE HOUSE OF THE PROPHET]
Ayishah, so kind, witty, and learned, was only the Prophet's wife in
name. About this time, she became a member of his household.
Quoth Ayishah: "One day, surrounded by my companions, I was playing on
a swing. Umm-i-Rumman, my mother, called me.
"I ran to her without knowing what she wanted of me. She took my hand,
and made me stop on the threshold until I had got my breath. She then
washed my face and forehead and led me into the house. Many women of
the Ansars were there and they said to me: 'Happiness do we wish thee,
and blessings, and the best of luck!'
"My mother left me to the care of these women. They decked me out and
had scarcely finished when Allah's Apostle suddenly came in...."
[Sidenote: HOSTILITY OF THE JEWS AND THE MUNAFIQIN]
In the beginning, a certain number of Jews--and among them, the
learned Mukhariq and Abdullah ibn Salam, were so moved by the advances
and arguments of the Prophet that they came and were converted by him.
As for the others, their vanity was greatly flattered by the fact that
the Temple of Solomon, their ancestor, had been chosen for the Qiblah,
or direction in which Moslems were to pray. Their pride, therefore,
led them to conclude that their Temple was immensely superior to that
of Makkah, and consequently that the Jewish race dominated the Arabs.
When, following the orders of Allah, the Qiblah was changed from
Jerusalem to the Ka'bah, they were deeply mortified. Besides, they
soon found out how prejudicial to their interests was the coming of
Mohammad to Al-Madinah. Thanks to his efforts, fraternity reigned
among the Arab factions, whose feuds had hitherto been a source of
profit. The Prophet, whose advent was foreshadowed in their books and
on whom they founded great hopes, was born at last. They saw him in
their midst, but he did not belong to their race; he sprung from that
of Ishmael. Mohammad brought with him the pure light of Islam which
they sought to extinguish by every means in their power.