The Life of Mohammad Part 17

Khalid, the valiant, fa.r.s.eeing warrior commanding the Quraish left wing and who, till then, recognised that it was impossible to turn the position, perceived the fault of the archers. At the head of his cavalry, he charged Ibn Jubayr, surrounded by a handful of men remaining faithful to him, and after they were crushed beneath the hoofs of the horses, Khalid took the Mussulmans in the rear while they were engrossed with the thoughts of plunder.

At the same time, a woman of the idolaters, Amr bint Alqamah, lifted the standard abandoned by the Makkans who, ashamed at their own cowardice when they saw what this courageous woman had done, went back and fought again. In triumphant tones, dominating all clamour and clash of arms, the voice of Qumiah, slayer of Musab, rang out: 'Verily, Mohammad hath just been killed!'

The current of the combat deviated. The day, that had begun so favourably, became a day of calamity. Attacked in the rear, maddened by the fatal news, the Mussulmans gave way, and a number fled to Al-Madinah. Even Usman, in despair, allowed himself to be led away.

A great many of the most n.o.ble combatants fell martyrs in the fight, and Allah's enemies rained showers of arrows and stones on a small group of the Faithful surrounding the Prophet. One stone, thrown by the son of Abu Waqas, struck Mohammad, splitting his lip, breaking a front tooth, on the right. Another projectile smashed the rings of his helmet, driving them into his cheek.

Abu Ubaidah, by biting the rings forced into the flesh, managed to drag them out. Little he recked when he broke a tooth on each; and he sucked in ecstasy the blood flowing from the wounds of Allah's Chosen One. Moved by such fierce devotion, Mohammad said to him: 'He who hath sucked my blood hath naught to fear from the flames of h.e.l.l; but how can those men prosper who have shed the blood of their Prophet?'

Meanwhile, the situation became more and more critical. During the thick of the fight, Mohammad was knocked down, and thrown into a deep hole that he had not noticed behind him. Ali and Talha helped him out at once.

Then Ali, together with Abu Bakr and Umar, both wounded, hurled themselves on the a.s.sailants whose forces increased unceasingly, threatening to encircle the Believers. There were moments when the Prophet had no one with him except Abu Dujana, s.h.i.+elding him with his body riddled by arrows, and Abu Talha who protected Mohammad by means of a leather buckler.

Abu Talha was an archer so strong that he broke three bows by bending them. He said to Mohammad who rose up to see the result of the fighting and give directions: 'O thou for whom I would give father and mother in ransom, lie down, I beg of thee. Thou might be struck by an arrow. Let my breast protect thy breast.' At that moment, a foeman's dart, that he dashed aside, mutilated his hand. No longer able to use his bow, he unsheathed his sabre, but was so greatly exhausted by fatigue that, overcome by sleep, he closed his eyes and his weapon fell from his grasp.

Umm-i-Amr, a heroine of the Ansars, a goat-skin on her back, flew along the ranks of the Believers, pouring water in their mouths to refresh them. She seized a sword and fought with manly vigour near Mohammad, until she fell, badly wounded.

Ali Abu Aakr and Umar had been separated from the Prophet in the ebb and flow of the fight; and the shouts of the Infidels announcing his death deprived them of all courage. The three Believers were like soulless bodies and they did not even think of defending themselves.

Seeing them in this state, Anas ibn n.a.z.ir shamed them: 'What aileth you that ye are so downcast?'--'The Prophet is dead.'--'Well then what have ye to do with life, now he is gone? Die as he died.' Setting the example, he dashed forward, and fell covered with so many wounds that only his sister was able to recognise his dead body, and that by a peculiarity of his fingers.

This was a rallying signal. Abashed by their own despondency, Ali, Abu Bakr and Umar, followed by a few of the Faithful, copying Umar, rushed to a part of the battlefield where the enemy ma.s.ses were furiously attacking a few men still standing.

Suddenly, among these heroes resisting with superhuman energy, Kab ibn Malik recognised the Prophet in person whose eyes sparkled under his helmet. 'O Mussulmans! O brothers!' shouted Kab, in stentorian accents. 'Good news! Look at the Prophet of Allah! He is safe and sound!'

This cry awakened fresh courage in the heart of every man. On all sides, the Mussulmans rushed recklessly to the spot whence the glad cry proceeded. After having disengaged the Prophet, they were afire with irresistible ardour and cut a b.l.o.o.d.y path through the overthrown enemy's ranks as far as the ravine of Ainin, which they never ought to have abandoned. The effort of the idolaters to storm this impregnable position was unavailing. Ubi ibn Khalaf cried out in his fury: 'O Mohammad! where art thou? Shouldst thou be still alive, I swear thou shalt not escape me!'

The Prophet would not allow his partisans to tear Ubi limb from limb as they wished to do, but dragging a spear from the grasp of Al Haris, Mohammad drove its steel into Ubi's throat. He dropped forward on his horse's neck and, after vainly trying to save himself by clutching at the mane, fell heavily to the ground. The idolaters, exhausted, gave up the idea of avenging his death. The fight was finished....

Finding a little water in the hollow of a rock, Ali filled his s.h.i.+eld and offered it to the Prophet. But he turned against the smell of this water and refused to drink it. So Ali then used it to wash the wounds of Allah's Chosen One, but in vain, his blood continuing to flow so freely as to give rise to great uneasiness. Fatimah, who in a state of great anxiety, had arrived at the scene of battle with a few of her companions, caused some fragments of a rush-mat to be set on fire and covered her father's wounds with the ashes. This dressing put a stop to the hemorrhage.

The Prophet recited the midday prayer, but remained seated, in consequence of extreme fatigue and the suffering brought on by his wounds. Behind him, also seated for the same reason, all the combatants prayed with him, and gave thanks to the Almighty for having saved them despite their disobedience.

The death-roll numbered three score and ten, equalling the count of the idolatrous prisoners of Badr. Many of the Believers considered that this coincidence formed a punishment for having accepted a ransom in their greed for worldly profit.

The bodies of the martyrs of Uhud were in a parlous state. Athirst for vengeance, the women of the Quraish had thrown away their tabors in order to hurl themselves on the corpses and mutilate them odiously.

Hind, their mistress, was the most ferocious of them all. Taking out her earrings, pulling off necklaces, bracelets and ankle-rings, she handed them all to Al-Uhayha, the slayer of Hamzah; and, in place of her gewgaws, adorned herself with necklaces and bangles fas.h.i.+oned with noses and ears sliced from the heads of her foes. Like a filthy hyena, she squatted on Hamzah's remains. With ensanguined finger-nails, she tore his body open and dragged out the liver with fury, making her teeth meet in it. She then climbed to the top of a lofty rock and turning towards the soldiers of Islam, howled with all the strength of her lungs:

"We have paid you back for the day of Badr!--I was tortured by the remembrance of my father--Of my son, and of my uncle, murdered by you!--My soul is now at rest and my vengeance is glutted.--My "uhayha"

(grief) hath been softened by thee--O Uhayha! O conqueror of Hamzah!

I'll sing thy praises--Until my bones crumble into dust in my grave!"

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Setting out for Al Jihad, or Holy War._ 2 views]

Abu Sufyan, searching every nook and corner of the field of battle in the hope of finding Mohammad's lifeless body, stopped short in front of Hamzah's corpse at the same time as Jalis, chief of the Arab Confederates. Abu Sufyan amused himself by striking the corners of the dead man's mouth with the point of a spear. 'Take a good taste of the bitterness of rebellion,' he said.

Seeing this, Jalis, although an idolater, was greatly shocked. 'O Banu Kinana!' cried he to his partisans, 'admire the behaviour of the Lord of the Quraish towards his cousin now that he is lifeless!' Abu Sufyan, alive to the fact that his conduct was vile, drew Jalis on one side and supplicated him. 'Keep all this a secret, O Jalis, for I am ashamed of what I did just now in thy presence.'

He then drew near to a spot within hail of the Faithful, entrenched on the slopes of the Uhud, and called out to them: 'Is Mohammad with you?' There being no answer, he joyfully concluded that the Prophet was dead. Before going away, he bawled as loudly as he could: 'a.s.suredly, war is a game of chance. This day avengeth the day of Badr; Hubal, our G.o.d, is victorious. He is the All-Highest!'

At this blasphemy, the Prophet ordered Umar to reply. He cried out: 'Allah is the Most High; the Most Majestic!' Recognising Umar's voice, Abu Sufyan asked him: 'O Umar! I conjure thee, inform me if we have killed Mohammad.'--'No, by my faith! He is even now listening to thee.' Abu Sufyan, disappointed, rejoined: 'Evidently, I am bound to believe thee in preference to Ibn Qamiah who boasts of having killed him. But I swear to meet you next year at Badr.'--'That is understood!' replied Umar. 'We pledge our word to meet thee there.'

The Prophet despatched Ali to track the Infidels. 'Take heed how they carry themselves,' Mohammad impressed upon his scout. 'See if they ride their camels and lead their horses by the bridle. That will certainly denote that they give up all hope of battle and are going to Makkah. If, on the contrary, they mount their steeds and drive their camels before them, it is a sure sign that they are bound for Al-Madinah with the intention of cutting us off. In that case, there is but one thing to be done: to hurl ourselves upon them without loss of time, so as to attack them and hack our way through.'

A few minutes later, Ali returned. He had seen the Quraish alight from their horses, bestride their camels and set out in the direction of Makkah.

Rea.s.sured as to the enemy's intentions, the Believers busied themselves with the burial of the martyrs. First of all, the Prophet sought to find the body of his uncle Hamzah. Mohammad discovered it in a hollow of the Wadi, the belly ripped open; and with ears and nose cut off. 'Were it not that I feared to grieve Safiyah (Hamzah's sister), and to set an example which perhaps would become law, I would leave these remains unburied, until they should disappear in the entrails of jackals and vultures; thus keeping alive the hope of revenge. If the Almighty should ever deliver into our hands the wretches who have thus treated thee, I swear to exercise most terrible reprisals.'

The Prophet then received this Revelation: "_If ye make reprisals, then make them to the same extent that ye were injured: but if ye can endure patiently, best will it surely be for the patiently enduring._"

(THE QUR'AN, XVI, 127.) Thus warned, Mohammad relinquished his ideas of retaliation, and earnestly urged the Faithful to abstain from mutilating their enemies.

The news of the disaster having reached Al-Madinah, all the women, and Safiyah among them, came in crowds to attend to the wounded and mourn for the dead. The Prophet charged Safiyah's son, Zubayr ibn Awam, to send his mother away, to prevent her seeing her brother's corpse, so atrociously disfigured. 'I have been told that my brother was mutilated for the cause of Islam,' she replied, 'and I shall be resigned no matter how horrible the sight, please Allah!' She went straightway to where Hamzah was lying and after having prayed over him with fervent firmness, she departed.

Funerals then began. After having led that of his uncle Hamzah, the Prophet, so as not to fatigue the Believers who were already exhausted, had the dead bodies buried two by two, or three by three, in the same grave, and without being washed according to custom. 'For I bear witness for these martyrs,' he declared. 'Those who have been struck down on Allah's Road will be resuscitated on the Day of Resurrection when their wounds will appear fresh and b.l.o.o.d.y; smelling sweetly of musk.' When it came to his ears that several families had carried their dead to Al-Madinah to bury them there, he upbraided them and ordained: 'Henceforward, ye shall bury your dead where they fall.'

The battle of Uhud did not result fatally for Islam as might reasonably have been feared. There were grievous losses; but several advantages accrued from the fight. The defeat was due to having disregarded the Prophet's first idea, and to disobeying his orders on the field. In future, the Believers submitted entirely to him; they were resolved to carry out his commands to the letter even in case he should be killed, according to the verse alluding to the momentary despondency of Ali, Abu Bakr, and Umar: "_Mohammad is no more than an Apostle; other Apostles have already pa.s.sed away before him; if then he die, or be slain, will ye turn upon your heels?_" (THE QUR'AN, III, 138.)

Moreover, defeats, when faith is fervent, serve only to sharpen energy: "_And how many a Prophet hath combated an enemy on whose side were many myriads? Yet were they not daunted at what befell them on the path of Allah, nor were they weakened, nor did they basely submit!

And Allah loveth those who endure with steadfastness._" (THE QUR'AN, III, 140.)

Clemency henceforward was not to be shown to the idolaters: the savage mutilation of the seventy martyrs proved that compa.s.sion was inadmissible.

A distinction was also clearly established between the true Believers and the "Hypocrites," such as Abdullah ibn Salul and his partisans.

The Prophet knew what they were, but the majority of his disciples were ignorant of these double-faced men's perfidy, as demonstrated by their cowardly desertion in the hour of danger. Concerning the Uhud, quoth Mohammad: "That mountain loveth us and we return its affection!

O Allah! Abraham declared the territory of Makkah to be sacred. I declare the territory of Al-Madinah, situated between the two Harrah, to be sacred also."

[Sidenote: THE MARRIAGE OF MOHAMMAD AND ZAINAB]

Zayd, the enfranchised slave and adopted son of the Prophet, had taken Zainab bint Jahsh to wife, but the marriage had not been concluded easily. Zainab was of n.o.ble birth. Ali, sent to make the matrimonial demand, found it rejected by her and her brothers. The union was only brought about when the Prophet came forward in person, and Zainab continued to behave most haughtily towards the freed man now her husband.

Having gone one day to Zayd's dwelling to speak to him, Mohammad was received by Zainab who, hidden behind a curtain, said: 'Zayd hath gone out; but come in and wait awhile.' The Prophet refused, and was about to depart, when a gust of air having lifted the hanging, he involuntarily caught sight of Zainab. She made a great impression on him; so much so that as he turned to go, he could not help exclaiming: 'Glory to Him who inclineth all hearts!'

This cry filled Zainab with boundless pride. When poor Zayd returned, he was received with more scornful haughtiness than ever, and she hastened to let him know the effect produced upon Allah's Apostle by her radiant beauty. Zayd began to feel that life with his spouse, already hard to please, would soon be unbearable. He made up his mind to see Mohammad; and then he told him: 'Maybe Zainab pleaseth thee? If so, I'll get rid of her.'--'Go back to thy wife and keep her to thyself,' replied the Prophet.

But Zayd had had enough of her. Ever since the sight of Zainab had forced a cry of admiration from the Prophet, her husband did not dare to approach her and considered that he would have no peace until after he had divorced her. So he went back to Mohammad. 'O Prophet!' said he, 'the way Zainab talketh to me is worse than ever. I wish to repudiate her.'--'Fear Allah,' replied Mohammad, 'and keep thy wife to thyself.'--'But I'm no longer master in my own house!'--'If that is so, put her away from thee.'

As soon as she was repudiated, Zainab had but a single thought: to become the wife of the Prophet; and she never ceased intriguing to gain her ends. At last a Revelation came down to Mohammad: "_And when Zayd had settled the necessary matter of her divorce, We married her to thee._" (THE QUR'AN, x.x.xIII, 37.) So he resolved to be wedded to Zainab.

The Jews and the "Hypocrites" declared this was scandalous. 'Mohammad marries his son's wife!' was their cry, and they worked with a will to make capital out of the incident and bring him into disrepute. The following verses, however, stopped every true Believer from listening to the discreditable group: "_Name your adopted sons after their fathers: this will be more right before Allah. But if ye know not who their fathers are, still let them be your brethren in the faith, and your comrades * Mohammad is not the father of any man among you._"

(THE QUR'AN, x.x.xIII, 5, 40.)

The adoption of Zayd, dating from before the birth of Islam, and which might have proved a serious stumbling-block in the political career of its chief, was thus annulled, and the freed man, called Zayd ibn Mohammad, now went by his real name: Zayd ibn al-Haris. But the affection that Mohammad had for Zayd and his son Usamah, was strengthened by this solution which put an end to all feelings of restraint.

Such is the adventure of Zainab, which all the historians who are enemies of Islam have pa.s.sionately exploited in order to sully the Prophet's memory. We shall not discuss the subject, because, in our opinion, the details of the life of a man like Mohammad cannot be isolated from the whole of his work and judged separately. In common with all the Prophets, without exception, Mohammad doubtless had what some call "moments of weakness;" but they have nothing to do with his inspiration. Moreover, the historians of Mohammad enjoy the unusual honour of having felt such great respect for his memory, that they refused to discuss his conduct.

When the historians of other Prophets cut out of their lives all that they consider may belittle them in the eyes of posterity, the writers set themselves up, in reality, as critics of their heroes' acts. In the foregoing narrative, which has served as a pretext for so many pamphlets, we find the most incontestable proof of the sincerity of the Arab Prophet's biographers. Following their example, and as a token of our impartiality, we thought it our duty to relate this episode, although of secondary interest, and greatly inferior to other events for which we have not found s.p.a.ce in this work.

[Sidenote: THE GHAZWAH, OR EXPEDITION OF ZAT-IR-RIQUA (_Year IV of the Hegira, A.D. 626_)]

Having heard that the Banu Muharib and the Banu Saliba of the Najd were preparing an expedition against him, the Prophet decided to be beforehand with them, and set out to meet his foes. In his haste, he had only been able to get together a small number of camels; one for six men who took it in turns to ride. The Believers were compelled to bind up their cruelly wounded feet, from which the nails were torn by the sharp stones of the Hammadas, with "ruqqah": fragments of their apparel. Hence the name of Zat-ir-Riga bestowed on this expedition.