I
The time rapidly approached when the Prophet was to renounce the
multitudinous burdens and joys of his earthly existence, and depart
to that supernal haven which he had so frequently and so eloquently
depicted. For Allah, who had not gazed upon his faithful servant
since the episode of the midnight journey, yearned to clasp him
forever to his breast; and Mohammed believed that Khadija, the Virgin
Mary, Potiphar’s wife, and Kulthum, sister of Moses, longingly
anticipated his arrival; so too, though for very different reasons,
did Gabriel, who desired a respite from his enervating trips between
Paradise and Medina. But a few months more were yet to be granted
Mohammed--months that were to exemplify the same indomitable energy,
the same assiduous zealotry, that he had manifested for the last
twenty years.
Mecca was now irrevocably sealed to Islam; but that very fact caused
fearful apprehension among those Bedouin peoples who were yet
idolistic and untamed. The powerful Hawazin and Beni Thakif tribes,
who occupied an extensive territory southeast of Mecca, decided
that they had a fair chance to crush the arrogant dominion of this
would-be conqueror of all Arabia while he was yet rejoicing in his
easy conquest of the holy city; and to that end they assembled about
six thousand men. Mohammed, on learning of their plans, determined to
nip this insurrection in the bud, and quickly departed at the head
of twelve thousand seasoned troops; so imposingly spectacular was
this great force that Abu Bekr could not restrain his admiration.
“We shall not this day be worsted by reason of the smallness of
our numbers!” he gleefully shouted, and the Prophet smiled in
agreement. Then, seated on a white mule, he followed in the rear
of the soldiers.
As the Moslem troops were defiling through a narrow pass in the
valley of Honein, the ambushed foe suddenly charged upon them
with such impetuosity that they first hesitated, then recoiled
and fled in utter panic. “Whither away?” shouted Mohammed, while
the broken columns sped by him. “The Prophet of the Lord is here!
Return! return!” But his lungs were unequal to the emergency, so
he bade Al-Abbas try the strength of his voice; and his uncle used
his stentorian oratory to such good effect that it rose above the
clamorous turmoil of retreat. A number of the penitent fighters
came shamefacedly back, and, shouting out, “Ya Labbeik! Here we
are, ready at thy call!” stopped the flight of the rest and turned
to face the pursuing Bedouins. Mohammed, gazing at the bloody
spectacle from the safety of an adjacent hill, was so overpowered
with warlike ardor that he screamed: “Now is the furnace heated; I
am the Prophet that lieth not; the seed of Abd al-Muttalib!” Then,
hurling a fistful of gravel at the foe, he continued: “Ruin seize
them! I swear they are discomfited. By the Lord of the Kaba, they
yield! God hath cast fear into their hearts.” The hard-won victory
was indeed so complete that thousands of prisoners, forty thousand
sheep and goats, and four thousand ounces of silver were seized as
spoil. And the Prophet, repenting of his self-confidence before the
battle, indited a Sura which stated that the preliminary defeat
had been caused by over-confidence in numbers, and that success
had come only because God “sent down Hosts which ye saw not, and
thereby punished the Unbelievers.”
Yet he realized that, in order to clinch the victory, it would
be imperative to capture the Bedouin stronghold at At-Taif. In
assaulting that place he trusted, in addition to the heavenly hosts,
to the most modern Byzantine inventions of warfare--the testudo
and the catapult. But they both proved to be ineffective, for the
simple reason that the besieged garrison destroyed the wooden
testudo by hurling molten metal upon it, thus making it impossible
to use the catapult at all. As the weary weeks dragged on, Mohammed
endeavored to expedite the surrender of the fort by destroying the
vineyards around At-Taif and offering freedom to any slaves who
would desert the stronghold; but even these traditional devices
proved to be useless, and, warned by a dream that the heavenly will
was not in favor of continuing the siege, he decided to accept the
counsels of his assistants, who were also getting very tired of the
business. The Prophet then withdrew to the place where the booty
won at Honein had been stored.
Now it happened that the worldly wise members of the Hawazin,
having had plenty of time to reflect upon the matter, had decided
that by embracing Islam they might get off with a lesser punishment
than would otherwise be the case. Mohammed, of course, was much
pleased to welcome them to the faith; but when they suggested that,
inasmuch as they were now loyal Moslems, both their property and
their prisoners should be returned to them, he was wholly unable
to concur. Instead, he gave them this choice: “Whether of the two,
your families or your property, is the dearer to you?” Impaled on
the horns of this dilemma, they were forced to admit that their
relatives were more precious, and the prisoners were accordingly
set free. The Prophet was so much pleased by the possibilities of
this barter and trade in the name of Islam that he offered one
hundred camels to Malik, chief of the Hawazin, if he too would
embrace the Moslem cause; and Malik, being a wise and prudent man,
speedily accepted the terms. But some of the other people, fearing
that they were to lose the loot as well as the prisoners, rushed
up to Mohammed and, shouting aloud, “Distribute to us the spoil,
the camels and the flocks!” treated him so roughly that his mantle
was ripped from him, whereupon he sought to save himself by backing
against a tree. “Return to me my mantle, O Man!” he cried, “return
the mantle; for I swear by the Lord that if the sheep and the camels
were as many as the trees of the forest in number, I would divide
them all amongst you.” Since they still continued to press him, he
held up a hair and exclaimed: “Even to a hair like this, I would
keep back nought but the fifth; and even that,” he hastily decided
to add, “I will divide amongst you.”
Thus the mob was quieted and the Prophet soon made good his word;
in fact, so generous was he in dealing presents out among his new
auxiliaries that he sometimes gave a double gift to those who
insisted that they deserved it. Spectacles such as these could not
fail to anger many of his veteran associates who had received
nothing at all; never before had they met with such cavalier
treatment as this. When one of them made the direct charge that
Mohammed was unfair, he was met with the irate reply: “Out upon
thee! If justice and equity be not with me, where will ye find
them?” The Prophet furthermore stated that, so far as the elder
Moslems were concerned, faith was its own reward--a saying which
the Medinese, who had waxed fat and rich on the plunder of so many
conquests, found very hard to swallow. They continued to show their
displeasure so long that Mohammed finally called them together
and spoke honeyed words. “Ye men of Medina, it hath been reported
to me that ye are disconcerted, because I have given unto these
Chiefs largesses, and have given nothing unto you. Now speak unto
me. Did I not come unto you whilst ye were wandering, and the
Lord gave you the right direction? needy, and He enriched you;
at enmity among yourselves, and He hath filled your hearts with
love and unity?” As murmurs of assent began to rise, he continued:
“Why are ye disturbed in mind because of the things of this life
wherewith I have sought to incline these men unto the faith in
which ye are already stablished? Are ye not satisfied that others
should have the flocks and herds, while ye carry back with you the
Prophet of the Lord? Nay, I will never leave you. If all mankind
went one way, and the men of Medina another way, verily I would
go the way of the men of Medina. The Lord be favorable unto them,
and bless them, and their sons and their sons’ sons for ever!”
Then, weeping until the tears streamed down their manly beards,
his confederates shouted in unison, “Yea, we are well satisfied,
O Prophet, with our lot!” However, lest any doubt might remain in
the minds of any, Allah Himself speedily revealed that alms--for
both taxes and war-plunder were thus ingenuously disguised--were
intended, among other persons, “for them whose hearts are to be
gained over.... It is an ordinance from God; and God is knowing
and wise.” Thus, by timely revelations, the faith of Islam was
steadily increased; the most devout Moslems, indeed, regarded the
inexorable duty of paying onerous financial tributes to Allah as an
inestimable privilege; though it is true that a few hard-hearted
wretches publicly proclaimed that each successive addition to the
Koran furnished them new cause for amusement.