MOHAMMED’S PILGRIMAGE TO MECCA (629 A.D.)
[629 A.D.]
Even before this war Mohammed had made a pilgrimage to Mecca with a considerable following, to try whether under shelter of the sacred month he could approach the Kaaba, acting under the just conviction that it would be of great advantage to the spread of his doctrines if he could associate himself with the ancient sanctuary of his people. This time indeed he failed to attain his object; the gates of Mecca remained closed to the Mohammedans; nevertheless by the Peace of Hodaibiya he won a ten years’ truce from the Koreish and the concession that he and his believers should perform their prayers in the Kaaba for three days annually. The zealous Omar was indignant at this agreement. “Art thou not the messenger of the Lord? Are the Meccans not infidels and we believers? Wherefore should we permit our faith to endure such an insult?”
But Mohammed preferred the lesser advantage to the uncertain issue of an armed conflict, convinced that greater successes would soon follow from small beginnings. He was not mistaken. In consequence of this treaty and shortly after the fall of Khaibar, he undertook (March, 629) a pilgrimage to Mecca, together with a party of his faithful followers, and great was the joy of the exiles when for the first time they again trod their native soil. Mohammed, mounted on his camel, accomplished the usual seven circuits of the Kaaba and the pacing to and fro between the hills Safa and Merwa and the rest followed him.
On this occasion Mohammed was united to Maimuna, a widow of fifty-one years. As his former marriages since the death of Khadija were decided by his sensuality and fondness for women and had at times been so scandalous that, as in the case of Zainab, the divorced wife of his adopted son Zaid, the indignation of the faithful at a hitherto unheard of and forbidden alliance had to be quieted by a new command in the Koran concerning relationship; so on the contrary this last marriage was like his first, an act of wisdom, policy, and practical consideration. By this marriage Maimuna’s kinsmen, Khalid and Amru, two distinguished warriors, were won over to the cause of Islam—a victory of greater importance than many a victorious battle.
An Arab Warrior
The converts soon had an opportunity of increasing on a wider battle-field the warlike renown which they had acquired in petty quarrels. Mohammed had already turned his eyes to the frontiers of Arabia. Encouraged by the growing numbers and enthusiasm of his devotees, he believed that the time was not far off when Islam would acquire the dominion of the world. The Jews had been compelled to pay dearly for refusing to recognise him as their messiah; but, since they lived scattered and held in contempt amongst other nations he could well dispense with their homage if he succeeded in bringing the two most powerful religious associations of the time, namely the Christians and the fire-worshippers of Iran, to acknowledge his prophetic mission. With this object he addressed documents to various foreign rulers, calling on them to worship the one true God who had revealed himself through Mohammed. Amongst the Christians especially he might have expected a great welcome, since he not only owned Jesus to be a prophet but also recognised the latter’s mother as a spotless virgin. In one of the finest passages of the Koran it is related how Mary, after the angel of God had informed her that she should bear a “pure son,” had brought a child into the world under a palm tree; how this child had spoken even in the cradle and revealed himself as the “servant of God,” destined to exercise every virtue of life and bring peace to men. According to the Moslems, the ordinances of Mohammed’s religion found a favourable reception amongst Christian princes. The king of Abyssinia, who had always shown himself favourable to the adherents of the new prophet, and the Christian general at Yemen are said to have gone over to Islam; the prefect of Egypt requested time for consideration, but sent costly gifts, among them two fair Coptic slaves for the voluptuous prophet. The messengers of Mohammed invited the princes and nations of the earth to join in the recognition of Islam, and one of them was even received by the emperor Heraclius in a gracious and friendly manner. On the other hand Chosroes II, then at the height of his power, tore the documents unread and at the same time the ruler of Bosrah slew an Arabian envoy who had endeavoured to win new converts for Islam. Against the former, Mohammed launched a prophecy of evil, against the latter sent an army under his former slave Zaid, whom on account of his faithfulness and submission he had taken in the place of a son.
At Muta in Syria the Arabian hosts under the sacred standard had their first encounter with the Græco-Roman legions. Zaid fell like a warrior in the foremost ranks; in his place the brave and handsome Jafar, Ali’s brother, seized Mohammed’s banner. Soon after he lost his right hand; then he waved the standard in his left, and when this too was severed from his body he held the sacred ensign in his bleeding arms till he received the deathstroke. Abdallah ben Rawaha, the poet, now took the standard from the dying hero, crying, “Forward! Either victory or paradise is ours!” And when he too sank under the enemy’s lances Khalid, the new convert of Mecca, grasped the banner and guided the battle to a finish. It was not a decisive victory; but Khalid had given such brilliant proofs of valour that in the nocturnal council of war held in the camp he was chosen commander-in-chief and henceforth bore the famous surname of “Sword of God.” Mournfully, though laden with glory and spoil, the warrior host returned to Medina with the cherished corpses. Mohammed extolled the lot of the fallen martyrs, but with Zaid’s young daughter he mourned in secret for the beloved dead. “These are friendship’s tears at the loss of a friend,” he said in excuse when someone coming in expressed his astonishment that he should weep for him who had secured paradise by his death.
SUBJECTION OF MECCA (630 A.D.)
[630 A.D.]
All therefore that Mohammed could hope was that his teaching might obtain general recognition throughout Arabia, if he could once get the sacred city of Mecca into his power. When he first led his armed host of pilgrims into its neighbourhood he had assured his companions that God had lent him the victory. Yet they had been compelled to withdraw, after concluding an inglorious peace without marching round the Kaaba. Nor was the chagrin of the believers relieved in the next year by their having to approach the sanctuary during three days as suppliants; the disgrace could only be wiped out by a brilliant victory. The Koreish themselves played into Mohammed’s hands. They violated the treaty of peace by taking part in a hostile attack on a tribe which had made a defensive alliance with Mohammed. Then when they heard that an expedition for reprisals was being prepared at Medina they were alarmed and sent Abu Sufyan, the proud chief of the race, to the angry prophet, to excuse what had passed and implore his forgiveness.