devoted the best part of his prayer, imploring Allah's blessings in
their favour. He wound up as follows: 'Allah hath offered one of His
servants the choice between the riches of this earth and those that
are to be found at His side.' At these words, divining that the
Prophet was alluding to himself and the state of his health, Abu Bakr
burst into tears, and exclaimed: 'Ah! why cannot we offer our lives as
a ransom for thine?'--'O Believers!' replied Mohammad, 'it hath come
to my ears that ye fear your Prophet may die; but before me hath any
Prophet been immortal as he accomplished his Mission? How can I dwell
eternally among you? Every soul is doomed to die. I must return to
Allah and ye likewise will return to Him.'
Quoth Ayishah: "After this effort, when the Prophet came back to my
room, he fainted away again. When the call of the Muazzin was heard,
he rose up and asked for water wherewith to perform his ablutions,
meaning to lead the prayers. He swooned three times.
"As the Faithful awaited his coming in the Mosque, he sent Bilal to
fetch Abu Bakr, so that he could perform the duties of Imam instead of
the Prophet. The crowd, guessing the reason of this change, broke out
into fits of sobbing....
"The Prophet was frequently seized with delirium. One Thursday, whilst
all his companions gathered round his bed, he said to them: 'Bring
hither to me ink and parchment; I would place on record a book for you
which shall prevent your going astray for evermore.'--'Allah's
Messenger is burdened by pain,' said Umar; 'have we not the Qur'an?
Allah's Book sufficeth for us.'
"Several of his companions, accustomed never to argue about anything
said by the Prophet and remembering that he was illiterate, thought
that in this supreme moment a miracle was about to be accomplished.
Therefore they wanted to give him what he asked for. They were opposed
by his partisans sharing Umar's opinion, and a quarrel began, the
Prophet recovering his senses by the noise. He told them
reproachfully: 'It is not seemly to quarrel thus at a Prophet's
bedside. Go away!'
"To soothe his unbearable pain, he dipped his hands in a pitcher of
cold water and passed his wet palms over his face, as if to wipe it:
'O Allah!' he cried, 'help me to support the terrors of the death
struggle!'
"He had Fatimah, his beloved daughter, fetched to him twice and spoke
to her secretly, whispering in her ear. The first time, Fatimah's face
was bathed in tears; the second time, her features were lit up by a
smile. We asked her the reason of her changed expression, and she told
us: 'The first time, my father warned me that he must soon succumb to
his illness, and I could not repress my tears. The second time, he
informed me that of all his family, I should be the first to rejoin
him, and so great was my joy that I could not stop myself from
smiling.'"
On the Monday, the twelfth day of Rabi'u'l-Awwal, Abu Bakr was saying
prayers in the presence of the Faithful, when Ayishah's door, giving
into the Mosque, was thrown open. Supported by Ali and Al-Fadl, the
Prophet appeared. His turban was twisted tightly round his head, and
his benumbed feet dragged along the ground. On seeing him, the
Faithful were comforted by a ray of hope and a wave of emotion stirred
them all. Without turning round, Abu Bakr guessed that only the
arrival of the Prophet could have given rise to such a manifestation
while prayers were being said, and he moved away to join the ranks of
the worshippers and let his place be taken by Mohammad. But he made
Bakr go back; pulling him by his garment, as he said: 'Continue to
lead the prayers.'
He then sat down on Abu Bakr's right hand, under the pulpit, and his
face beamed with happiness, at the sight of the piety of the
congregation. When prayers had been said, he spoke to the Believers
for the last time; and in tones firm enough to be heard outside the
Mosque, he preached a sermon predicting terrible ordeals and charging
them with the strictest observance of the principles of the Qur'an,
for such would be the only way leading to Salvation. Leaning against
one of the palm-tree trunk pillars, he chatted familiarly with some of
his companions, and then went back to his room.
Quoth Ayishah: "After this last effort, the Prophet was again
overtaken by greater pain than ever, and covered his face with a black
garment, which he threw off again, as it stifled him....
"Just then, Abdu'r Rahman, son of Abu Bakr, came in, holding in his
hand a small twig of green "araq," with which he was picking his
teeth. The Prophet stared at the little stick and I made out that he
would have liked it. So I took it out of Abdu'r Rahman's hand. Cutting
off the end of the toothpick, I shook it, cleaned it and gave it to
Allah's messenger who immediately made use of it, picking his teeth
more carefully than ever before. When he had finished, he let the
little stick drop from between his faltering fingers. He raised his
eyes to heaven, repeating three times: 'O Allah! with the
Compassionate on High....!' And I felt his head, resting between my
chin and shoulder, grow heavy on my arm.
"I guessed that the Prophet had chosen the eternal dwelling and that
his noble soul had just been taken by the Angel of Death. I placed my
head on the pillow and uttered a great cry of distress.... His wives
came running in; and all together, we went down on our knees, and tore
our faces with our nails."
On hearing these lamentations, the Believers filled the Mosque. They
were dazed, like sheep straying on a dark, wintry night; but not one
of the Faithful would admit that the Prophet was dead. The
disappearance of the man who led them in every way seemed an
impossibility.
'How can he be dead?' they cried. 'Did we not count upon him to be our
witness on the Day of Resurrection? He is not dead; he hath been
carried up to Heaven, even as was Isa (Jesus).' And through the door
they cried: 'Beware lest ye bury him!'
This met with Umar's approval: 'No, verily, the Prophet is not dead!
He hath gone to visit the Lord, even as Moses did, when after an
absence of forty days, he reappeared to his people. In like fashion,
Mohammad will be restored to us. Those who say he is dead are traitors
to the cause of Islam. Let their hands and feet be cut off!'
At that juncture, Abu Bakr, who had been fetched from the As-Sunuh
quarter where he lived, arrived on horseback, galloping as fast as
possible. He alighted and, making his way through the crowd in
consternation, he went into the Mosque without speaking to a soul, and
from there, passed into the room of his daughter Ayishah in order to
see Allah's Messenger. A piece of striped stuff was thrown over the
body; Abu Bakr uncovered the Prophet's face, kissed him, wept and then
broke down under the weight of his great grief.... 'O Thou for whose
ransom I would have offered both father and mother,' he cried, 'thy
career is well accomplished!'
Tearing himself away from his sorrowful contemplation, he covered up
Mohammad's face again and went out, going straight up to Umar who was
haranguing the people. 'Sit down, O Umar!' he said. Umar refused to
obey him. In the meantime, the majority of the Faithful left him by
himself, and gathered round Abu Bakr who told them: 'O Believers, if
ye adore Mohammad, know that Mohammad is dead; but if ye adore Allah,
know that Allah is alive, for Allah cannot die! Ye must have forgotten
these verses of the Qur'an: "_Mohammad is no more than an Apostle;
other Apostles have already passed away before him; if then he die, or
be slain, will ye turn upon your heels? Thou truly art mortal, O
(Mohammad), and they truly are mortals._" (THE QUR'AN, III, 138, and
XXXIX, 31.)
Quoth Umar: "By Allah! scarcely did I hear Abu Bakr recite these
verses than I felt my legs give way under me. I was near falling down,
for then I began to understand that the Prophet was really dead!"
[Sidenote: ABU BAKR ELECTED]
Before thinking about the funeral, it was urgent to guard against the
pressing danger threatening Islam, totally broken up by the loss of
its inspired guide.
The man who had succeeded in bringing together in religious fraternity
families and tribes at loggerheads for centuries, having disappeared,
what would become of this brotherhood? The immediate nomination of a
Caliph, or lieutenant appointed to continue the Prophet's task, could
alone prevent irretrievable disaggregation. This urgent necessity
stirred the tribes tumultuously; a tragical conflict between Ansars
and Mohadjirun was imminent, each party claiming to have the Caliph
chosen from among its adherents. Happily, Umar's energy and spirit of
decision easily averted the crisis. Having succeeded in gaining a few
moments' silence, he called upon the Believers to take notice that
during the last days of his life, Mohammad had designated Abu Bakr,
his companion during the Hegira, to take his place as "Imam," and
doubtless the Prophet would have chosen him for Caliph.
This opinion carried the day. When the sun rose again, all the
Believers, forgetting their disputes, came and took the oath of
fidelity to Abu Bakr.
[Sidenote: THE PROPHET'S BURIAL]
This important question being settled, the Faithful were free to
arrange the Prophet's funeral and give way to the despair that racked
their souls.
At first, they were embarrassed, not daring to strip off his garments
so as to wash the body according to the usual rites. Respect forbid
them to look on his nakedness, as if it were sacrilegious to do so.
After long discussions, irresistible sleep weighed down their
eyelids; their chins rested on their breasts, when suddenly, a voice
proceeding from the chamber of death was heard. They awoke at its
sound and it replied to what was passing in their minds: 'Wash the
Prophet without undressing him.' That was the solution they sought,
and without further delay, they acted on the suggestion. With striped
stuff of the Yaman, Abbas erected a kind of tent in the room, so as to
keep the crowd away from the body. By the aid of seven skinsful of
water drawn from the well of Al-Ghars, at Quba, preferred by Mohammad
to any other, Ali, Usama, Abbas and his sons, and Shukran, the freed
slave, proceeded with the ritual washing. Abbas, assisted by his sons,
Al-Fadl and Qutham, turned the venerated body over. Usama and Shukran
sprinkled it with water and Ali wiped it without removing the shirt.
The first washing was done with plain water, the next with an infusion
of lotus-flowers; and the third, and last, with camphorated water.
Abbas and Ali then perfumed every part of the body that comes in
contact with the earth during the ceremony of prostration: forehead,
nose, hands, knees and feet.
'How sweet is thy smell, O Prophet!' exclaimed Ali; and all marvelled
at not finding on Mohammad's frame any of those horrible traces of
decomposition following the separation of the soul from the body, with
the exception of a slight bluish tinge appearing on the nails.
Instead of a shroud, the Prophet was wrapped in the garments he wore
at the moment of death: his shirt, which after the ablutions was wrung
out and allowed to drip; and a double robe woven at Najran. It was
then that Ali and Abbas, having replaced Mohammad on his bed, allowed
the crowd to enter.
The room was at once filled with as many Believers as it would hold,
and after they had said: 'Peace be with thee, O Prophet, and also the
Mercy and Blessing of Allah!' they got ready to pray without an "Imam"
to lead them, for the real "Imam" was present, although his soul had
been called back to the side of the Almighty.
Abu Bakr and Umar were in the front rank of the worshippers, and they
concluded the prayer by these words: "_O Allah! we bear witness that
he hath accomplished the Mission Thou didst entrust to him. O Allah!
grant peace to those among us who follow faithfully the orders Thou
hast revealed to him and hasten to reunite us with him. Amin!_" And
all the people, stirred to the innermost depths of their being,
repeated: "_Amin! Amin!_"
Fresh difficulties now arose, concerning the place of burial; some
wanting the grave to be dug in the Mosque; others, at Al-Baqi, among
the tombs of the Prophet's family. A few mentioned Makkah, his
birthplace. Abu Bakr silenced them, affirming that he had heard
Mohammad say: 'Allah only taketh the soul of a Prophet on the spot
where it is fitting that he should be buried.'
The bed was accordingly moved away and the grave dug in the ground
underneath it. This task was alloted to Talha, the gravedigger of
Al-Madinah. He strengthened the sides of the grave by means of nine
unburnt bricks, and carpeted the bottom with the red blanket that
served the Prophet as a rug for his camel when travelling, and which
was not to be used by anyone now that he was dead. Ali, Al-Fadl,
Qutham, and Shakran lowered the body into its last resting-place....
Al Mughira ibn Shu'ba affirms that he was the last man to have the
happiness of contemplating the face of the Chosen One before it was
covered with earth. "I let my finger-ring drop into the grave,' he
says, 'so that when I regained it, I should be the last to address a
farewell salute to the Prophet."
The sad ceremony was concluded in the middle of the night between
Tuesday and Wednesday. On the morrow, at dawn, when in his call to
prayer, Bilal, the "Muazzin," proclaimed: 'There is no God but Allah,
and Mohammad is the Prophet of Allah!' he could only shout the name of
Mohammad through his sobs. The whole town replied to him, as by an
echo, in a long moan of despair which rose to heaven, from every door
and window of the houses....
Ever since that day, the twelfth of the month of Rabi'u'l-Awwal, Year
XII of the Hegira, (June 8th, A.D. 632), this extraordinary man, who
was, to say the least, the equal of the greatest of all Prophets;
monarch, general theologian, legislator and philosopher, and whose
religion counts at the present time three hundred millions of
disciples, rests in this spot where his noble soul was carried aloft.
A sumptuous Mosque, erected over the room where he died, has taken the
place of the humble temple of raw bricks and palm-trunks that he built
up with his own hand. A visit to his tomb is not one of the pillars of
Islamic pratical religion, but nevertheless there are few pilgrims
who, after the severe trials endured during their journey to Makkah,
hesitate to undertake the twelve days' caravan travel, so distressing
and dangerous, between Mohammad's birthplace and Al-Madinah, in order
to salute the Prophet's grave piously and enthusiastically....
Even the learned men of Europe are beginning to forget secular
prejudices and do justice to the founder of Islam. 'If a man's value
is to be estimated by the grandeur of his works,' declares Dr. G. Le
Bon, 'we can say that Mohammad was one of the greatest men known in
history.'
[Illustration (Calligraphy) _Mohammad is no more than an apostle;
other apostles have already passed away before him; if then he die, or
be slain, will ye turn upon your heels?_]
[Illustration: _Imam leading the Prayers._]
[Illustration: (Calligraphy) _O my supreme Master, lavish thy
Blessings and thy Favours for ever and ever on Thy Friend (Mohammad),
the best of all created beings._]
THE PROPHET'S PORTRAIT
According to his son-in-law, Ali, the Prophet was of middle height and
sturdy build. His head was large, his complexion healthy; with smooth
cheeks, a thick beard, and wavy hair. When he was vexed, a vein
swelled out on his forehead, from the top of his aquiline nose between
his eyebrows which were well arched and meeting.
His big eyes, framed by long lashes, were of a deep black, lit up at
times by a few red gleams, and his glance was extraordinarily keen.
His mouth was large, well suited to eloquence. His teeth, as white as
hailstones, were slightly separated in front. The palms of his hands,
of which the fingers were long and slender, were broad and soft to the
touch like fine silk.
The Seal of Prophecy--which the monk Bahira discovered--was just below
the nape of the neck, between Mohammad's shoulder-blades. It resembled
the scar left by the bite of a leech, and was of a reddish hue,
surrounded by a few hairs.
The Prophet's gait was slow, solemn and majestic. In all
circumstances, he never lost his presence of mind and was
quick-witted. When he turned round, the whole of his body moved,
unlike frivolous folks twisting their necks and rolling their heads
about. If he held out an object to show it, he made use of the whole
of his hand and not two or three fingers. When surprised, he glorified
Allah, turning the palms of his hands to heaven, nodding his head and
biting his lips.
When he made an affirmation, he struck his widely-open left hand with
his right thumb to lay stress on his declaration. If angry, his face
flushed; he stroked his beard and passed his hand over his face,
taking a deep breath and exclaiming: 'I leave it to Allah, the best
proxy!'
He was a man of few words; but each had many different meanings, some
plain and others hidden. As for the charm of his elocution, it was
supernatural, going straight to the heart. None could resist it. The
Prophet's merriment never went beyond a smile, but if he was overcome
by an excess of gaiety, he covered his mouth with his hand.
His disposition was even, without self-sufficiency or obstinacy.
Whenever any of his companions called him, he replied immediately:
'Here I am!' He liked to play with their children and would press them
to his noble breast. He used to make the sons of his uncle Abbas stand
in a row and, promising to reward the child who got first to him, they
would all run into his arms and jump on his knees.
He interested himself in the doings of all, whether slaves or nobles,
and followed the funeral of the most humble Believer. He flew one day
into a most violent passion because, through negligence, he had not
been apprised of the death of a poor negro who swept out the Mosque.
He insisted on being told where the grave was situated and went to
pray over it.
When an applicant tried to get close to the Prophet's ear so as not to
be overheard, he would bend his head until the man had finished
speaking. When a visitor took the hand of Mohammad, he was never the
first to withdraw it, but waited until the other chose to relax his
grasp. The Prophet often said: 'To be a good Mussulman, we must wish
for others that which we wish for ourselves.'
Never did he let his blessed hand fall on a woman, nor on one of his
slaves. Quoth Anas, who was seven years in his service: "'He never
scolded me; he never even asked me: 'Hast done this?' or: 'Why didst
thou not do that'" Abu Dharr heard the Prophet declare: 'These
servants are your brothers, placed under your authority by Allah.
Whoso is master over his brother must give him the same food as he
eateth and the same apparel as he weareth.'
An Arab who bore arms at the battle of Hunain, tells the following
story: "My feet were shod with heavy sandals and in the thick of the
fight, I accidentally trod on the Prophet's foot. He struck me with
the whip he held in his hand and cried out: 'By Allah! thou hast hurt
me!' And all night long, I reproached myself for having inflicted pain
on Allah's Messenger. Next day, early in the morning, he sent for me.
I went into his presence. I was trembling with fright. 'Thou art the
man,' said he, 'who crushed my foot yesterday under thy thick sole and
whom I lashed with my whip? Well then, here are eighty lambs. I give
them to thee. Take them away.' And ever since that incident, the
Prophet's patience got the best of his anger."
Of a loving disposition, he suffered at having been deprived at an
early age of maternal affection, which led him always to busy himself
about the way mothers and children got on together. His ideas in this
connection were summed up in this sentence: 'A son gains Paradise at
his mother's feet.' While saying prayers, if he heard a child cry, he
would hasten to conclude, so as to allow the mother to go and console
her offspring, for he knew how mothers suffer when they hear their
children cry.
His marvellous insight into mortals' souls and the depths of all
things, causing him to be the most prodigious psychologist ever known,
did not prevent him from consulting his companions for the least
thing. Ayishah tells us: 'I never knew anybody ask for advice and
listen to different opinions so carefully as the Prophet.'
If feelings of kindly dignity prevented Mohammad from resorting to
vulgar mockery or making use of cutting remarks, his mood was
nevertheless playful. He was fond of joking, which is not reproved by
Allah, if the sally contains a grain of truth. One day, for amusement,
he told Safiyah, his aunt on his father's side, that 'old women were
not allowed to enter Paradise.' The noble dame, well advanced in
years, burst into tears. So he went on: 'But all women will be
resuscitated with the aspect of females thirty-three years of age,
just as if they had all been born on the same day.'
The three things he loved best in this world were prayer, perfumes,
and women.
He was so fond of praying that his feet used to swell in consequence
of standing for too long a time whilst at his devotions; but he
considered that the right to pray so often was one of the prerogatives
of his position as a Prophet. Still he would not admit that his
example should be followed. This he proved when upraiding Abdullah ibn
Amir: 'Have I heard aright when they tell me thou dost pass the night
in prayer, upstanding; and then fast next day? If thou shouldst keep
on at this, thou wilt endanger thy sight and wear out thy body. Thy
duty, that thou owest to thyself and thy people, is to fast and break
thy fast; to rise in the night and also to sleep.'
Next to prayer, Mohammad preferred women, for which his detractors
have blamed him severely. He was certainly an ardent lover; a male, in
every respect, morally and physically, but endowed with that chastity
which fits in well with healthy voluptuousness. Following his example,
even nowadays, the Arabs are remarkable for their extreme decency,
although devoid of all affectation and having nothing in common with
the hypocritical mock-modesty of Puritans.
Mohammad had twenty-three wives, but he only had intercourse with
twelve of them; his other marriages taking place for political
reasons. All the tribes were eager to be allied to him through one of
their daughters and he was beseiged by matrimonial offers. One of
these women, Azza, sister to Dihya al-Kalbi, died of joy when she
heard that the Prophet accepted her as spouse.
His love of women caused him to be brimful of kindness to them,
and he sought to better their lot whenever he could. To begin
with, he abolished the monstrous custom of burying girls alive,
"Wa'du'l-Binat," of which we have already spoken. He then regulated
polygamy, limiting the number of legitimate helpmates to four, which
did not prevent him from urging the Faithful to give heed to this
verse of the Qur'an: "_If ye fear that ye shall not act equitably,
then marry but one woman only._" (IV, 3.)
Then, after declaring that: 'among all things which are licit, divorce
is the most displeasing to Allah,' he allowed a wife to ask for
release if the husband neglected the duties of marriage.
Finally, thanks to his ruling, a virgin could no longer be taken in
marriage against her will; the dower, formerly given by the husband to
the father of the affianced maiden, was ordered to be handed over to
her. Such is the wise custom of the dower which the enemies of Islam
call the purchase of a wife. Doubtless, they know nothing about the
terrible retort of Moslems when they notice that in certain Western
countries the dowry is paid to the bridegroom by the bride's father!
Over and above the dower, the Mussulman husband has to defray
household expenses without touching his wife's fortune to which he has
no right.
The Prophet also ordained that a wife is always entitled to some part
of an inheritance. If it is only half a share, that is because the
compensation found by the spouse in the dowry and the household upkeep
is taken into account.