II

A serious reverse suffered by the army of Islam postponed the

inevitable surrender of Mecca for a year. One of Mohammed’s

emissaries, sent with a message urging a certain Syrian leader to

join Islam, had been murdered by another Syrian chieftain; and the

Prophet, presumably ignorant that an attack on Syria was equivalent

to a declaration of war against the Roman Empire itself, immediately

sent a force of three thousand Moslems to avenge the crime. As

the soldiers departed, he invoked this blessing on their errand:

“The Lord shield you from every evil, and bring you back in peace,

laden with spoil!” He then privately gave Zeid the permission to

make treaties in his own name, instead of in the name of Mohammed

himself, in order that the covenants might the more readily be

broken.

But once again Allah proved to be either absent-minded or very

inconsiderate. As the Moslem soldiers neared the Dead Sea, they were

amazed to learn that an enormous army, skilled in Roman methods

of battle, was waiting to crush them. Conflicting counsels were

offered; many wished to instruct the Prophet of this ill news and

await his subsequent advice; but Abdallah ibn Rawaha roused the

wilting courage of his fellows with these ringing words: “What have

we marched thus far but for this? Is it in our numbers, or in the

help of the Lord, that we put our trust? Victory or the martyr’s

crown, one or other, is secure. _Then forward!_” His maniacal frenzy

was imparted to his companions, who, meeting the powerful Roman

phalanx at Muta close to the Red Sea, madly threw themselves upon

the foe. Mohammed’s life-long friend Zeid, who had most unwillingly

relinquished Zeinab in favor of the Prophet, bravely bore the white

Moslem banner until he willingly relinquished his life for Islam.

Jafar, another Moslem hero, then seized the inspiring piece of cloth

and, shouting out: “Paradise! O Paradise! how fair a resting-place!

Cold is the water there, and sweet the shade,” was shortly able to

test the truth of his pæan. Abdallah ibn Rawaha then fell in turn,

bearing the flag to the ground with him; at this moment Khalid

demonstrated the genuineness of his recent conversion by rallying

the terrorized Moslems and immediately speeding toward Medina with

the fragments of the army.

The Medinese, deeply dismayed at the rout, found some relief by

hurling dust and jeering taunts at the truants; but Mohammed put a

stop to their meanness in this fashion: “Nay, these are not runaways;

they are men who will yet again return to battle, if the Lord will.”

Struck to the heart by the loss of so many tried companions, he

first went to Jafar’s house, where, clasping the dead man’s children

in his arms, he sobbed bitterly; departing thence to the home of

Zeid, he broke down completely when Zeid’s little daughter threw

herself tearfully into his arms. “Why thus, O Prophet?” asked one

person, who inconveniently recalled Mohammed’s many injunctions

that Moslems should not display their sorrow at the times of death.

“This is not forbidden grief,” was the response, “it is but the

fond yearning in the heart of friend for friend.” Yet next morning,

as he worshiped in the Mosque, he smiled and remarked: “That which

ye saw in me yesterday was because of sorrow for the slaughter of

my Companions, until I saw them in Paradise, seated as brethren,

opposite one another, upon couches. And in some I perceived marks,

as it were wounds of the sword. And I saw Jafar as an angel with

two wings, covered with blood--his limbs stained therewith.”

Though smiles wreathed his face, a mordant desire for vengeance

gnawed at his heart. What a tragedy that the Syrian tribes, who of

late had been deeply impressed by the conquest of Kheibar, should

have learnt that Islam, after all, was not invulnerable! Amr, the

recent Meccan turncoat, was accordingly placed in command of a

Moslem expedition to Syria, where his strong right arm succeeded

in restoring the Prophet’s weakened prestige; yet the setback at

Muta still rankled in the minds of the Medinese, and Mohammed

was probably keen enough to realize that the situation could be

remedied only by the achievement of some extraordinary, astounding,

unparalleled coup. No longer would he insist that defeats were moral

victories; no longer would he indite Suras that placed the burden

of defeat squarely upon Allah’s broad shoulders; no longer would

he seek advice from Abu Bekr or his other intimate counselors in

martial concerns. Mecca, Mecca! _There_ lay the answer to all the

questions that vexed his dreams. All that was needed to justify the

taking the holy city was some specious pretext. So, at any rate,

certain historians argue and they may well be right; yet Mohammed

was driven by such intricate and inexplorable motives that one does

well to hesitate before placing his finger on this or that spot in

his journey and saying, “Such and such an idea impelled him to act

thus at this particular point.” It is conceivable, for example,

that, by a mental process not wholly unfamiliar to moderns, he may

have been influenced in his subsequent action by the belief--natural

enough, surely, for an Arab!--that Mecca was Allah’s own country.

In any event, a reason for attacking Mecca was soon found. The

Khozaa, a tribe in the neighborhood of the sacred city, had chosen

under the provisions of the treaty between Islam and Mecca to

join the Moslem cause; another adjacent clan, the Beni Bekr, that

contrariwise had gone over to the Koreish, had proceeded, with the

assistance of some disguised Koreishites, to attack the Khozaa

who of course hurried to Mohammed for redress. Here, at last, was

the long deferred opportunity. The spokesmen of Khozaa had barely

finished the tale of their wrongs when the happy Prophet, who was

only half clothed, bounded to his feet and made this fervent promise:

“If I help you not in like wise as if the wrong were mine own, then

let me never more be helped by the Lord! See ye not yonder cloud?

As the rain now poureth from it, even so shall help descend upon

you speedily from above.” When the Koreish heard of this affair,

their perturbation was so great that they dispatched Abu Sufyan to

see if it were possible to obtain a renewal and extension of the

treaty; but Abu, the diplomat, turned out to be no more successful

than Abu, the general. Upon arriving at Medina, he went straight to

his daughter, Um Habiba, wife of the Prophet; but, as he started

to seat himself on her carpet, she drew it away from him. “My

daughter!” he remonstrated, “whether is it that thou thinkest the

carpet is too good for me, or that I am too good for the carpet?”

“Nay, but it is the carpet of the Prophet, and I choose not that

thou, an impure idolator, shouldst sit upon the Prophet’s carpet,”

she coldly answered. “Truly, my daughter, thou art changed for the

worse since thou leftest me,” Abu sighed; then, stepping out of

doors in front of the Mosque, he loudly cried: “Hearken unto me,

ye people! Peace and protection I guarantee for all.” Mohammed, who

was standing near by, thereupon interrupted to remark, “It is thou

that sayest this, not we, O Abu Sufyan!” At this point Abu decided

that it was time for him to return home.

Mohammed rapidly and secretly laid his plans. He requested many

allied tribes to join with him, meanwhile withholding his ulterior

intentions from them; and not until the very moment of the departure

did he enlighten the Medinese--at which time he also warned them, by

this prayer, to keep the secret from the Koreish: “O Lord! Let not

any spy carry tidings to Koreish; blind their eyes and take their

sight away until I come suddenly upon them and seize them unawares!”

On January 1, 630, the largest Moslem army ever collected thus

far--with the additions of the desert allies, it numbered close to

ten thousand--set out for Mecca. Al-Abbas, the shifty time-server,

who had assisted his nephew-Prophet in his escape from Mecca ten

years earlier only to be compelled to pay a large ransom for himself

after Bedr, now decided once and for all that it would be highly

advisable to espouse the Moslem cause; so he slipped out of Mecca

on the sly and, approaching the Prophet, was much gratified upon

being welcomed with outstretched arms.

Mecca, however, was destined to be saved from violent assault,

though the precise reason for this happy conclusion is not known.

Concerning the event that follows, it is not clear whether Abu

Sufyan acted for himself alone, or at the bidding of his Koreishite

companions. One night, as ten thousand Moslem campfires illuminated

the heavens from the hills that encircled Mecca, Abu Sufyan came

gliding toward the tent of Mohammed, where he was commanded to

remain away until morning. Returning at that time, he was thus

accosted by the Prophet: “Out upon thee, Abu Sufyan! hast thou not

yet discovered that there is no God but the Lord alone?” “Noble and

generous Sire! Had there been any God beside, verily he had been

of some avail to me,” whined Abu. “And dost thou not acknowledge

that I am the Prophet of the Lord?” catechized Mohammed. “Noble

Sire! As to this thing, there is yet in my heart some hesitancy,”

replied the trembling but truthful fellow, who probably found it

difficult to look upon his own son-in-law as the direct agent of

God. At this moment Al-Abbas boldly intruded with these well-chosen

words: “Woe is thee! it is no time for hesitancy, this. Believe

and testify forthwith the creed of Islam, or else thy neck shall

be in danger!” Then Abu diplomatically capitulated, and vehemently

proclaimed that he did indeed believe there was no God but the

Lord alone and that Mohammed was His Prophet; and Mohammed, who

had scored what was probably the greatest individual triumph of

his career, joyfully exclaimed: “Haste thee to Mecca! haste thee

to the city; no one that taketh refuge in the house of Abu Sufyan

shall be harmed this day. And hearken! speak unto the people, that

whosoever closeth the door of his house, the inmates thereof shall

be in safety.” Then, closely escorted by Al-Abbas, Abu went forth,

pausing a moment, as his amazed eyes swept the innumerable warriors

around him, to remark, “Truly this kingdom of thy nephew’s is a

mighty kingdom.” “Nay, Abu Sufyan!” chided Al-Abbas, “he is more

than a king--he is a mighty Prophet!” “Yes, thou sayest truly; now

let me go,” replied Abu as he edged away. Arriving home, he promptly

repeated the Prophet’s message; and never before, in all her long

and distinguished history, had Mecca witnessed such a scurrying of

feet and banging--or draping--of doors as followed.

When the Moslem and allied hosts came victoriously parading through

the deserted streets, only one conflict occurred. The impetuous

Khalid, whose force was greeted by a flight of arrows from a small

band of bitter-enders, was so delighted at his unexpected good

fortune that he followed up the assault until twenty-eight of the

foolhardy fugitives had been slain. The Prophet, standing on an

eminence, was surveying with sparkling eyes the fair scene stretched

out before him when he chanced to see this sporadic fray. “What! did

I not strictly command that there should be no fighting?” he shouted

in his anger; but when Khalid’s just grievance was made clear, he

calmed down and commented, “That which the Lord decreeth is the

best.” Then, descending into the city on Al-Kaswa’s back, he once

more touched the Black Stone politely with his staff and urged the

patient camel seven times around the Kaba. Pointing at the idols

which surrounded its walls, he ordered that they should at once be

overthrown--indeed, tradition affirms that, as he aimed his staff

at each image, it immediately tumbled down on its face--and shouted

out one passage that he happened to remember from the Koran: “Truth

hath come, and falsehood gone; for falsehood verily vanisheth away.”

He next entered the holy edifice, devoutly prostrated himself, and

then stood watching with delighted eyes the labors of Omar, who, by

means of a cloth wetted in Zemzem, rubbed out the pictures of such

idols as had been painted on the walls. Then Mohammed gave back

the key of the temple to its hereditary guardian, and, turning to

Al-Abbas, thus addressed him: “And thou Al-Abbas, I confirm thee in

the giving drink from out of the well Zemzem to the pilgrims; it

is no mean office this that I give now unto thee”; and nevermore

did the already opulent double-dealer entertain the least doubt

as to the justice of his nephew’s cause. Bilal, commanded by the

Prophet, immediately ascended the Kaba and sounded the call to

prayer; the subservient multitude knelt and worshiped, though a

few among them could not refrain from expressing, in very subdued

tones, their disgust at being obliged to obey a negro slave. The

Prophet next issued this proclamation: “Whoever believeth in God,

and in the day of Judgment, let him not leave in his house any

image whatever that he doth not break in pieces.” Now, since the

Arabians in general cherished the belief that a capable god should

be able to defend himself, the easy demolition of the deities in

the Kaba had convinced the Meccans that their gods--even Al-Ozza

and Hubal--were as useless as so many dolls. And so, while the

destruction of the helpless icons was enthusiastically carried out

in every Meccan home--while Abu Sufyan’s wife, Hind, smashed her

favorite god as energetically as she had once ripped Hamza’s vitals

out, and further insulted the deity by the charge that it had vilely

cheated her all her life--Mohammed, fatigued and dusty, retired to

a corner of his tent and, as his daughter, Fatima, shielded him

with a screen, gave himself a thorough bath.

It is more than probable that the Koreish were immensely relieved

and pleased with the quiet and almost bloodless subjugation of

their city. In truth, although some of them became sycophants who

cringed and fawned in order to win Mohammed’s good will, the majority

doubtless took pride in the fact that their prodigal son, whose

magnetic name was beginning to cause apprehension even beyond the

borders of Arabia, had returned to demand his fatted calf. Their

slumbers need never more be broken by nightmares of his precipitate

assault upon them; further, the tiresome burden of ruling, or

trying to rule, for the welfare of Mecca was now transferred to

his gracious and omnipotent hand. As a religious but non-political

capital, moreover, Mecca would be secure from whatever might betide

in the shifting destinies of time. And they were right. Mohammed

had won so easily, he had reached such an unapproachable eminence,

that he could afford--it matters little whether from scrupulous

policy or wholly unselfish generosity--to be magnanimous. If he

directed the death of four ingrate Meccans, he proclaimed a general

amnesty for all the rest; if he cast out idolatry, he substituted

a religious ritualism which coalesced the leading dogmas of the

various Meccan sects; and if he temporarily ruined Meccan commerce

by his famously unscientific monkeying with the calculation of

time--inasmuch as the pilgrimage months no longer always coincided

with the period when caravan trade flourished--he bountifully

blessed her with a permanent revenue that, after thirteen hundred

years, still continues to pour into her coffers. For, as Islam

has continued to prosper, all devout Moslems have at one time or

another journeyed from every quarter of the globe to visit that

“Navel of the Islamic faith” which seems to them to be the earthly

replica of that indescribably glorious Paradise which awaits the

faithful; and myriads of curious, and even irreverent, sightseers

have perennially flocked thither to enjoy the endless diversion

afforded by one of the greatest religious entertainments on the

globe.

[Illustration: X]