IN MADINAH - Prophet of Mercy

HOW MADINAH RECEIVED THE MESSENGER OF GOD

THE NEWS ABOUT the Apostle's departure from Makkah spread fast. The Anṣār, eagerly expecting his arrival, went out after morning prayers to the outskirts of the city and awaited him until there was no more shade and the sun became unbearable. Then, with the hot season upon them, they returned to their homes, sad and disappointed.

At last, one day, the Apostle arrived. The Anṣār had already returned to their houses, but a Jew who happened to see him cried aloud, announcing his arrival. Everybody rushed out to greet the Apostle, whom they found sitting beneath a tree with Abū Bakr, who was of a like age. Many of them had never seen the Apostle and did not know which of the two was the Prophet. They crowded round both, but now, Abū Bakr realized their difficulty. He rose, stood behind the Apostle, shielding him with a piece of cloth from the sun, and thus dispelled the doubts of the people. [1]

More or less five hundred Anṣār rushed ahead to pay their respects to the Apostle of God; they requested him to enter the city, saying, "Ride on! The two of you are safe, and we shall obey you!"

The Apostle went on, accompanied by his companion and the welcoming crowd. The inhabitants of Madinah stood in front of their doors, the women lined up on the roofs, asking one another about the Prophet. Anas says that he has never come across such a happy event as that day. [2]

The people thronged in the way and in their doors and windows and on the roofs of the houses. The slaves and youths cried excitedly, "Allāhu Akbar, The Prophet of God has come! Allāhu Akbar, The Prophet of God has come! [3]

Barā ibn ‘Āzib was a youth then. He says, "Never did I see the people of Madinah show joy so great as the joy on the arrival of the Apostle of God. Even the slave-girls cried: The Apostle of God has arrived!" [4]

The faithful greeted the arrival of the Apostle with the joyful cries of Allāhu Akbar. No other welcome wore that festive glance to gladden their hearts.

Madinah appeared jubilant and was celebrating. The maidens of the Aws and Khazraj felt elated and sang in chorus. [5]

On the hillside where caravans are bid goodbye,

The full moon rises this day.

All the while God is praised.

We had better give our thanks.

Blessed one, O you, sent to us,

You have brought binding commands. [6]

Anas ibn Mālik had not come of age when the Apostle came to Madinah. He was present on the occasion, and he says, “I never saw a day more graceful and radiant than the day when the Apostle came to us.” [7]

THE MOSQUE OR QUBA [8]

The Apostle stayed for four days in Qubā³, where he laid the foundation of a mosque. He left Qubā³ on Friday. The time for Friday prayers found him among the clan of Banū Sālim ibn ‘Awf, where he performed the prayer in their mosque. This was the first Friday prayer offered by the Apostle of God in Madinah.²

IN THE HOUSE OF ABŪ AYYŪB ANṢĀRĪ

As the Apostle rode through the streets of the city, people approached him in groups, requesting that he stay with them. They said, “Live with us and enjoy our wealth, honor, and protection.” Sometimes they took hold of his camel’s halter, but he said to one and all: “Let her go her way. She is guided by Allāh.” This happened more than once.

While the Apostle was going through the locality of Banū ’n-Najjār, the slave-girls of the clan recited these verses to greet him:

Daughters of Banū ’n-Najjār we are,

What fortune! Muhammad is our neighbor! [9]

On reaching the house of Banū Mālik ibn an-Najjār, the Apostle’s camel knelt by herself at the place where now stands the gate of the Prophet’s mosque. The place was then used for drying the dates and belonged to two orphan boys who were related to the Apostle on his mother’s side.

The Apostle alighted from his camel. Abū Ayyūb Khālid ibn Zayd, who belonged to the clan of an-Najjār, hastily unloaded the camel and took the luggage to his house. Thus, the Prophet stayed with Abū Ayyūb, who paid him the greatest respect and did everything possible to entertain the honored guest. Abū Ayyūb was loath even to live in the upper storey. He asked the Apostle to occupy the upper portion and came down with his family to live on the ground floor. The Apostle, however, said to him, “O Abū Ayyūb, it would be more convenient for me as well as those who come to see me if I stay in the lower portion.”

Abū Ayyūb al-Anṣārī was not a man of means, but he was overjoyed by having the Apostle as his guest. He was beside himself with happiness at the great honor bestowed on him by God. The loving regard he paid to the Apostle was an indication of his genuine gratitude to God and the Apostle. “We used to prepare the evening meal for the Apostle of God,” says Abū Ayyūb, “and send it to him. We would take only what was left over. I and Umm Ayyūb took it from the side the Apostle had taken in order to partake in the blessing. The Apostle was on the ground floor, while we occupied the upper portion. Once we broke a jar of water. I and Umm Ayyūb mopped up the water with the only robe we had in fear that it would drop on the Apostle, causing him inconvenience.” [10]

CONSTRUCTION OF THE PROPHET’S MOSQUE AND QUARTERS

The Apostle sent for the two boys who owned the date store and asked them to name the price of the yard. They answered, “No, but we shall make you a gift of it, O Apostle of God!” The Apostle, however, refused their offer, said its price to them, and built a mosque there. [11]

The Apostle set himself to carrying the unburnt bricks for the construction of the building along with other Muslims. He is reported to have recited as he worked.

O God! The true reward is the reward of the Hereafter. Have mercy, O God, on the Anṣār and Muhājirīn. [12]

Overjoyed to see the Messenger of God invoking blessings on them, the Muslims, too, sang and thanked God.

The Prophet lived in the house of Abū Ayyūb al-Anṣārī for seven months. [13] In the meantime, the construction of the mosque and apartments for the Apostle’s family was completed, and he moved to live in his house. Muslims of Makkah continued to emigrate to Madinah, with the exception of those who were forcibly detained or had fallen victim to persecution. On the other hand, not one house of Anṣār was left in which the people had not sworn allegiance to God and His apostle. [14]

The Apostle’s arrival in the city heralded a new era, and it was only natural that the city should discard its old name, Yathrib [15] (connoting baseness, lowness, or something reprehensible) [16] for a better one assigned to it by its messenger. [17]

BONDS OF BROTHERHOOD BETWEEN THE ANṢĀR AND MUHĀJIRŪN (EMIGRANTS)

The Apostle established bonds of brotherhood between the Muhājirīn and the Anṣār, placing them under an obligation to mutual welfare, benevolence, and assistance. Each Anṣārī took a Muhājir as his brother, going so far as to give his Muhājir brother half of whatever he possessed by way of dwellings, assets, land, and groves. Such was the enthusiasm of the Anṣār to share everything with their brothers in faith that they divided everything into two parts to draw lots for allocating their shares. More often than not, they tried to give the Muhājirūn the fairer portion of their property.

An Anṣārī would say to his emigrant brother, “Behold, I shall divide my possessions into two halves. And I have two wives. See whichever of the two pleases you more, and tell me her name. I shall divorce her and you wed her.” The Muhājir would answer, “God bless your family and your possessions. Just tell me, where is the market?”

The Anṣār were magnanimous and self-denying, and the Muhājirīn patient, self-reliant. [18] Indeed, this bond of brotherhood between the Anṣār and Muhājirīn is the foundation and exemplar of the unique global Muslim brotherhood. The Apostle’s message was the introduction of the revival of a nation, to be set free into a new world based on a sound ‘aqīdah (belief) and upright goals, a nation delivered from a wretched world into a place of new bonds of faith, of spiritual brotherhood and a common striving; a vanguard reviving new life into the world and humanity itself. This is the reason God refers to this handful of humanity and its small city:

“And if you do not become allies of one another, there will be oppression on the earth and a great mischief and corruption.” [19]

COVENANT BETWEEN THE MUSLIMS AND THE JEWS

Shortly thereafter, the Apostle had a document written which bound the Muhājirīn and the Anṣār to a friendly agreement. The covenant [20] made the Jews a party to the agreement, which guaranteed them the freedom of their faith as well as the title of their property, and set forth their rights and obligations. [21]

THE CALL TO PRAYER

After the Apostle had settled down and Islam was planted deep in the soil of Madīnah, the mode of calling the faithful to prayer engaged the attention of the Prophet. He disliked the customs of the Jews and Christians like kindling fire or the use of bell and horn to summon the people. At first, the Muslims would come by themselves for prayer at the appointed time without any announcement or call. While different proposals were being considered, God guided the Muslims to the method of giving the call to prayer. A number of Companions had a vision of the call in their dreams that the Apostle approved of and prescribed as the official form for summoning the Muslims for prayers. Bilāl ibn Rabāḥ al-Ḥabashī was charged by the Apostle to give the call to prayer, and thus he came to be known as the mu’adhdhin of the Prophet and the leader of all those who would call the faithful to prayer to the end of time.

HYPOCRISY REARS ITS HEAD IN MADĪNAH

There was no room for insincerity and double-dealing in Makkah. [22] Islam was helpless, harried, and harassed there. None had the power to turn the tide in Makkah, nor was there any worldly advantage in accepting Islam. Giving one’s faith to Islam meant that one was prepared to defy all of Makkah and to risk one’s life. Only those venturesome in spirit, possessing the courage of convictions, would dare play with the fire of hostility raging in the hearts of Islam’s enemies. Only a man of mettle chances his life and property, future and prosperity. In Makkah, there were not two powers equally poised; the heathens were strong and tyrannical, and the Muslims weak and oppressed. This was the situation in Makkah, which has been expressed cogently in the eloquence of the Qur’ān.

And remember, when you were few and reckoned feeble in the land, and were in fear lest men should extirpate you.[23]

When Islam found a new haven in Madīnah and the Apostle and his Companions were blessed with peace and stability, Islam began to prosper. It brought into existence a new society, a new brotherhood of men united by the consciousness of a common outlook on life and common aspirations as expressed by the Islamic principles. The dazzling spectacle of an idealistic commonwealth meant a complete break with the past. The change was so radical as to induce the faint-hearted to sail under false colours. This was quite logical or rather based on the natural instincts of those who could not go hand-in-hand with the world-shattering movement. Also, Pharisaism shows its face only where two contending powers or principles are pitted against each other. For the irresolute and the spineless are always wavering, swinging from one extreme to another. They are always in two minds, never able to take a final decision. Often, they hang together with one of the two contenders, profess loyalty to it, and try to go along with it, but their self-solicitude and egotistical inducements do not permit them to throw in their lot with it. The fear that the other party might recover its strength someday never escapes them, nor can they break the habits that tie them to their old ways, not even for the call of God’s Apostle. This is a delicate state of inconstancy or infirmity of purpose portrayed vividly in the Qur’ān:

And among men is he who worships Allah as upon an edge so that if good befalls him, he is content therewith, but if a trial befalls him, he falls away utterly. He loses both the world and the Hereafter. That is the sheer loss. [24]

The distinctive trait of this group is delineated in another verse, which says:

Swaying between this (and that), (belonging) neither to these nor to those. [25]

The leader of the hypocrites, drawn from the ranks of the Aws and the Khazraj as well as the Jews of Madīnah, was ‘Abdullāh ibn Ubayy ibn Salūl. Exhausted by the battle of Bu‘āth between the Aws and the Khazraj about five years before the arrival of the Apostle of God in Madīnah, both these tribes had agreed to recognize ‘Abdullāh ibn Ubayy as their leader. By the time Islam came to gain adherents in Madīnah, preparations were being made to formally crown him as the king of the city. When he saw that the people were being won over by Islam, speedily and in large numbers, he became so annoyed that his resentment ever continued to prey on his mind.

Ibn Hishām writes: “When the Apostle came to Madīnah, the leader there was ‘Abdullāh ibn Ubayy ibn Salūl al-‘Awfī, none of his own people contested his authority and the Aws and the Khazraj had never rallied behind one man before or after him until Islam came . . . ‘Abdullāh ibn Ubayy’s people had made a sort of jeweled diadem to crown him with and make him their king when God sent His Apostle to them. So when his people forsook him in favor of Islam, he was filled with enmity, realizing that the Apostle had deprived him of his kingship. However, when he saw that his people were determined to go over to Islam, he went too, but unwillingly, retaining his enmity and dissimulating.” [26]

All those who had a suppressed desire concealed in their hearts or were eager for a name or power or authority felt cut to the heart at the success of a religion that welded the Muhājirūn and the Anṣār as two bodies with one soul and inspired them with the love for the Prophet, a love more intense even than that felt for one’s own father, son or wife. Hate and ill will against the Apostle filled their hearts, and they started hatching plots against the Muslims. This was how a coalition of the two-faced malcontents came into existence within the Islamic society. For they masqueraded as a part and parcel of the Muslim community, but were in reality no better than the snake in the grass, the Muslims had to be even more wary of them than the declared enemies of God.

This is why the Qur’ān repeatedly exposes their false-heartedness and warns against their concealed designs. Their surreptitious intrigues continued to undermine the stability of the Islamic society, and hence the works on the life of the Prophet cannot do otherwise than describe their activities.

BEGINNING OF JEWISH ANIMOSITY

After maintaining an attitude of indifference and neutrality at the start, the Jews gradually began to display hatred and rancor against Islam. In the beginning, they steered a middle course between the Muslims and the pagans and the Arab tribes of Makkah and Madīnah, or were rather inclined towards the Muslims. The Jews of Madīnah had, in the beginning, felt closer to the Muslims owing to the striking resemblance between such fundamental teachings of Islam as prophecy and prophethood, belief in the Hereafter, Unity of Godhead, etc., and their own faith, notwithstanding the differences in details as well as the fact that undue veneration of certain prophets and adoption of pagan customs through their age-long association with the heathens had clouded their pristine faith in monotheism.[27]

It was thus reasonably expected that if they did not side with the Muslims, they would at least remain non-partisan. At any rate, Islam testified to the divine origin of their scriptures and called upon Muslims to have faith in all the Hebrew prophets. This was a fundamental dogma of faith in Islam, thus expressed by the Qur’ān:

Each believes in Allah and His angels and His scriptures and His messengers. We make no distinction between any of His messengers.[28]

Would that the Jews had understood the conciliatory tenor of Islam. Had it been so, the history of Islam, or rather the world’s history, would have been entirely different. Then Islam would not have faced the impediments it had to encounter in the dissemination of its message, especially in its initial stages, resulting from the strife between the early Muslims, armed only with the strength of their faith, and the powerful and influential, educated and wealthy Jews of the time. The attitude of the Jews could be attributed to two causes. One of these was their tendency for obstinacy, while the other lay in their errant beliefs, as described in the Qur’ān and illustrated with references to their past doings. For instance, the constant wrangling with their own prophets, opposition to their teachings and even putting them to death, refusing to take the right path, bearing ill will and malice to those who commended the path of virtue, speaking slightly of God, excessive longing for wealth, driving hard usurious bargains despite its interdiction, grabbing the property of others, making interpolations in the Torah to suit their convenience, the insatiate thirst for worldly life and what it stands for and the national and racial jingoism which had become their characteristic hallmarks.

Had there been a political leader in the place of the Apostle of God, he would have tactfully met the Jews halfway, especially in view of their importance in the tangle that was Madinan politics. Even if it were not possible to placate the Jews, a national leader would have at least avoided setting them at odds against him by concealing his ultimate objective. But, as a messenger of God, the Prophet was obliged to preach the message sent by God, proclaim the truth, interdict what was forbidden and countenance no vestiges of evil and pecancy. He had been saddled with the responsibility to deliver the message of God to the whole world, to all races and nations, including the Jews and Christians, and to invite them to accept Islam regardless of the cost or consequences it involved. This was really the path taken by all the prophets of old, in clear contradistinction to the ways of politicians and national leaders.

But, this grated against Medina’s Jews, leading them to become hostile to Islam and the Muslims. They gave up their earlier policy of steering the middle course and decided to oppose Islam in every way possible, openly as well as through intrigues. Israel Wellphenson, quoted here, has been frank and straightforward in his analysis of the reasons for ill will between Jews and Muslims.

If the teachings of the Prophet had been restricted only to the denunciation of idolatry and the Jews had not been called upon to acknowledge his prophethood, there would have been no conflict between the Jews and the Muslims. The Jews might have then commended and acclaimed the Prophet’s doctrine of monotheism and backed him or even supported him with men and material until he had succeeded in destroying the idols and effacing the polytheistic creed rampant in Arabia. But this depended on the condition that he left the Jews and their religion well enough alone, and did not demand the acceptance of the new prophethood. For the bent of Jewish temperament cannot take kindly to anything that tries to seduce it from its faith, they can never acknowledge any prophet save one belonging to Bani Isra’il. [29]

The Jews were further shocked and agitated when some of their learned rabbis, like ‘Abdullah ibn Salam, whom they held in esteem, embraced Islam. The Jews could never conceive that a man of his standing and erudition would accept the new faith. However, this only served to make the Jews still more annoyed and envious of Islam. [30]

The animosity of the Jews against Islam did not rest at defiance against Islam; rather, they went beyond the pale by openly preferring the pagans over Muslims, even though the Muslims shared their faith in monotheism. It would be logical as well as reasonable to expect that if the Jews were called upon to pronounce a verdict on the Prophet’s faith vis-à-vis the idolatrous creed of the Quraysh, they would speak well of Islam and the soundness of its belief in one God against the multiplicity of deities taken for granted by the pagans of Makkah. But their animus against Islam had so maddened them that they were willing even to deny that patent truth. Once, when some of the rabbis went to Makkah, the Quraysh asked them whether their idolatrous religion or that of the Prophet was better. The answer these rabbis gave was: “Your religion is better than his and you are more rightly-guided than they.” [31] The comment of Dr. Israel Wellphenson on the reply given by the Jews is worth repeating here.

But, surely, the thing for which they deserved to be reproached and which would be painful to all those who believe in the Unity of God, whether they be Jews or Muslims, was the conversation between the Jews and pagan Quraysh wherein they had given preference to the religion of the Quraysh over what had been brought by the Prophet of Islam. [32]

The same writer further goes on to say:

Deception, mendacity and similar means for entrapping the enemy have been sanctioned by the nations for achieving a military objective in times of warfare, yet, the Jews ought not to have committed the grievous mistake of declaring roundly that adoration of idols was preferable to the Islamic faith in the Unity of God, not even if they feared to miss the mark by doing so. For Bani Isra’il had, in the name of their forefathers, held aloft the banner of God’s Unity for ages amidst the heathen nations of old, had all along braved innumerable trials and tribulations, and gone through fire and blood for its sake. It was their bounden duty to sacrifice their lives and whatever they held dear to humble the idolaters and polytheists. [33]

In fact, the matter was sufficiently serious to warrant a reference in the Qur’ān:

Have you not seen those unto whom a portion of the Scripture has been given, how they believe in idols and false deities, and how they say of those (idolaters) who disbelieve: These are more rightly guided than those who believe? [34]

CHANGE OF THE QIBLAH

The Apostle, as well as the Muslims, had been facing towards Jerusalem while worshipping, or, as they phrased it, took Jerusalem as their qiblah. [35] The practice was followed for one year and four months after emigration to Madinah. The Apostle desired that the Ka’bah be made the qiblah for prayers, as did the other Arab converts to Islam, since they had been holding the sanctuary in Makkah in a reverential regard since time immemorial. To them, the house of worship built by Ibrahim and Isma’il was the holy of the holies, incomparable in sanctity to any other sanctum or shrine. They were put to a severe test by being asked to face Jerusalem instead of the Ka’bah, and they stood this trial by dutifully obeying the divine command. Such was their devotion to the Apostle that they always replied: “We hear, and we obey,” [36] and “We believe therein: the whole is from our Lord,” [37] whether they found anything to their liking or not. Thus, after the faith of the earliest Muslims had been brought to the test and they had stood it successfully, the qiblah for the prayer was changed to the Ka’bah. Says God in the Qur’ān:

Thus, we have appointed you a middle nation, that you may be witnesses against mankind and that the messenger may be a witness against you. We appointed the qiblah, which you formerly observed, only that We might know him who follows the messenger, from him who turns on his heels. In truth, it was a hard (test) save for those whom Allah guided. [38]

The Muslims promptly changed their direction in prayer in compliance with the divine command towards the Ka’bah, which was henceforth selected as the qiblah for all the believers, living in any part of the world, for all times to come.

JEWS GIVE OFFENCE TO MUSLIMS

It preyed upon the minds of the Jews that Islam had gained a footing in Madinah and was making rapid strides day after day. They were intelligent enough to realize that if the popularity of Islam continued unabated for some time longer, they would lose their allies as well as influence, and this would limit their ability to stand up against their potential enemies. They decided to put up a front against the Muslims. They launched a campaign to slight, vilify, and ridicule the Muslims, who, however, were not permitted to return the “compliments” paid to them: they were commanded to be long-suffering and forbearing.
“Withhold your hands, establish worship” [39] was the code of behavior enjoined upon them so that they might learn to disdain the world and its pleasures, become self-denying, be prepared to make sacrifices for a higher cause, and have the experience of obeying the commands of God.

PERMISSION TO FIGHT

Gradually, the Muslims were invested with power and became strong enough to take up arms against their enemies. They were then allowed to resist aggression and to fight against the mischief-loving people. But it was only permission rather than an obligation to clash with the enemies. [40]

Sanction is given unto those who fight because they have been wronged, and Allah is indeed able to give them victory. [41]

EXPEDITION OF ABWÃ' AND 'ABDULLĀH IBN JAHSH

In pursuance of God's command, the Apostle started sending raiding parties to fall suddenly on the hostile tribes. These raids were not meant to launch out against the enemy but simply to frighten the tribes inimical to Islam with a show of force.

We shall mention here one of the earliest raids, led by Abdullah ibn Jahsh, for it gave occasion to a revelation sent down by God, which shows that Islam does not countenance the least excess or highhandedness even by its own followers. Islam is always fair and impartial in rendering its verdict on every matter, without regard to persons or parties.

The Apostle sent 'Abdullah ibn Jahsh on an expedition with eight emigrants during the month of Rajab, 2 AH. He gave him a letter with the instruction that he was not to read it until he had journeyed for two days, and then act according to the directions contained in it, but not to force his Companions to follow his orders.

Abdullah ibn Jahsh read the letter after traveling for two days. The instruction contained in it was, “When you have read this letter, proceed to the oasis of Nakhlah between Makkah and Tā’if. Pitch your tents there to find out the movements of Quraysh and send the information to us”. Having gone through the letter, ‘Abdullah ibn Jahsh said, “We hear, and we obey,” and then he said to his companions: “The Apostle of God has ordered me to lie in wait at the oasis on the road between Makkah and Tā’if and watch the movements of Quraysh so as to bring him news of them, but he has also asked me not to compel anyone of you to follow me. If anyone wishes martyrdom, he may come with me, and whoever wishes may go back, for I have to abide by the instructions of the Apostle.” Then he went ahead, and so did all of his comrades, not one of them falling out.

The party moved on to the oasis, where they camped. After a short while, a caravan of Quraysh passed by them. Amr ibn al-Hadrami was also with the caravan. When Quraysh saw the party camping so near them, they became frightened. However, when they saw Ukashah, whose head was shaved, their suspicions were allayed, for they took the party to be pilgrims. They said, “We have nothing to fear from them; they are pilgrims.” [42] That was the last day of Rajab. [43] The raiding party, on the other hand, took counsel among themselves and decided that if they left Quraysh alone that night, they would get into the sacred area and obstruct their entry there. But if they fought them, they would be fighting during the sacred month. At first, they felt hesitant as well as dismayed, but ultimately made up their mind to kill as many of Quraysh as possible and plunder as much of their goods as feasible. Wāqid ibn Abdillah at-Tamimi shot the first arrow, killing Amr ibn al-Hadrami, while his companions captured two men of Quraysh. Abdullah ibn Jahsh and his companions returned to Madinah with the captives.

When Abdullah ibn Jahsh and his companions came back to the Apostle, he said, “I did not ask you to fight in the sacred month, nor to seize the caravan and take captives.” The Apostle also refused to accept the spoils brought by the party.

The campaigners were worried and fearfully apprehensive of being doomed. Other Muslims also reproached them. On the other hand, Quraysh laid the charge, saying, “Lo! Muhammad has allowed war and bloodshed in the sacred months!” It was on this occasion that God sent down the revelation to the Apostle:

They question you (O Muhammad) with regard to warfare in the sacred month. Say: Warfare therein is a great (transgression), but to turn (men) from the way of Allah, and to disbelieve in Him and in the inviolable place of worship, and to expel the people thence, is a greater (sin) with Allah; for persecution is worse than killing. [44]

God has given a fair deal to His friends as well as foes,” writes Ibn al-Qayyim in Zād al-Ma’ād, “for He has not commended the sin of fighting in the sacred month, committed by His pious and devout servants.

God has held it to be a serious act of transgression but He also reminds that the idolaters have been guilty of even greater sins through their acts of persecution in the sacred city of Makkah, and thus they deserve still more condemnation and punishment. Since, however, the believing servants of God had been guilty of indiscretion or they had made a mistake, God has lent them a hope that they might be forgiven on account of their faith in the Unity of God, submission to Him, migration with the Apostle, and their strivings in His way.” [45]

The expedition of Abwā’, also known as that of Buwāt, was the first drive that the Apostle led in person, but there was no fighting. Thereafter, several raiding parties were sent out by the Apostle.

FAST MADE OBLIGATORY

When the Muslims adopted prayer as a mark and symbol of their faith, and it had a profound hold on their minds as the light of their lives, the readiness to follow divine commands entered their hearts and souls. It was then, in the second year of the hijrah, that God commanded them to observe the fasts as well. [46]

O you who believe! Fasting is prescribed for you, even as it was prescribed for those before you, that you may ward off (evil). [47]

In another verse, it is said:

The month of Ramadan in which was revealed the Qur’ān, counsel for mankind and clear proofs of the guidance, and the Criterion (of right and wrong). And whosoever of you is present, let him fast the month. [48]

***

[1] 1 Ibn Hishām, vol. 1, p. 492.

[2] Ibn Kathīr, vol. II, p. 269. Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal on the authority of Anas ibn Mālik.

[3] Bukhārī: "The Migration of the Prophet", on the authority of Abū Bakr.

[4] Ibid

[5] Ibn Kathīr, vol. II, p. 269. On the authority of ‘Ā’ishah.

[6] Ibn al-Qayyim has raised the issue about these verses wherein he says that the hillside, "Thaniyyāt al-Wadā‘", mentioned in these verses is not on the (north-south) road leading from Makkah to Madinah, but on the road one takes for Syria from Madinah. He, therefore, holds the view that these verses were recited on the occasion of the Apostle's triumphant return from Tabūk. Bukhārī also mentions the place in question in connection with the expedition of Tabūk. On the other hand, almost all biographers, including the earliest ones, relate that the verses were recited on the Prophet's first arrival in Madinah. The writer inquired about it from the inhabitants of Madinah, who told him that one coming from Makkah can also take the road leading towards Syria. It is just possible that in view of the conditions in which the Prophet had to emigrate to Madinah, he might have preferred the other route. It is also to be noted that Thaniyyat al-Wadā‘ was not the name given to a single spot in Madinah. On the way to Makkah, there is a similar elevation which slopes down to the Wādī ‘Aqīq, surrounded by low plains on all sides. It was a pleasure resort in Madinah in olden times, where people would gather in the evening during the summer season. It is also probable that the verses allude to this place, for, at this place also, the caravans going to Makkah were given a send-off (Āthār al-Madinah al-Munawwarah, 3ʳᵈ edition, p. 160). The verses in question furnish intrinsic evidence that they were sung at a time when the Prophet first came to Madinah. The vigor and spirit of the verses, particularly the last one, clearly indicate that these were recited when the people of Madinah first found the Prophet among them. Even if the verses were recited on the return of the Prophet from the expedition of Tabūk, as some of the authentic traditions relate, it merely means that the verses were recited again on that occasion, since a popular song like this is very often repeated on joyous occasions.

[7] Sunan ad-Dārimī, On the authority of Anas

[8] Ibn Hishām, vol. I p. 494.

[9] Related by al-Bayhaqī on the authority of Anas, Ibn Kathīr, vol. II, p.274

[10] Ibn Isḥāq on the authority of Abū Ayyūb al-Anṣārī, Ibn Kathīr, vol. II, p. 277.

[11] Bukhārī: “Arrival of the Prophet and his Companions in Madinah.”

[12] Ibn Kathīr, vol. II, p. 251.

[13] Ibn Kathīr vol.II, p.279. The narration is also found with al-Wāqidī on the authority of Abū Sa‘īd as well as Ibn Ḥajar in al-Fatḥ. Ibn Isḥāq relates, ‘The Messenger of God first resided in Madinah at the commencement of Rabī‘ al-Awwal, and right up to the month of Ṣafar the following year, his masjid and quarters were being built. Thus, he made his residence with Abū Ayyūb for more than ten months.

[14] Ibn Hishām. Vol.. I, pp. 499–500.

[15] See Qur’an 33:13 for reference to Madinah, also known by its ancient name.

[16] Lisān al-‘Arab.

[17] Musnad, Imām Aḥmad, vol.I, p. 221

[18] Bukhārī, see the conversation between ‘Abd ar-Raḥmān ibn ‘Awf and Sa‘d ibn Rabī‘ in the section dealing with the “Brotherhood established by the Prophet between the Muhājirūn and Anṣār.”

[19] Qur’ān 8: 73.

[20] The political wisdom of the oldest written constitution in the world has been discussed extensively, see: Ibn Hishām, vol.I, pp.501–504; Kitāb al-Amwāl, Abī ‘Ubayd; Al-Bidāyah, vol. III, pp.224–226; and Majmū‘ al-Wathā’iq as-Siyāsiya, Muḥammad Hamīdullāh.

[21] Ibn Hishām, vol. I p. 501.

[22] Most exegetes of the Qur’an agree that the verses that mention hypocrisy and hypocrites were revealed in Madinah. A verse of the Qur’ān in chapter “Repentance” (9:101) refers explicitly to the hypocrites among the inhabitants of Madīnah.

[23] Qur’ān 8:26.

[24] Qur’ān 22:11.

[25] Qur’ān 4:143.

[26] Ibn Hishām, vol. I pp. 277–8 (Trans. A Guillaume).

[27] See the chapter “The age of Ignorance.”

[28] Qur’ān 2:285.

[29] Tārikh al-Yahūd fi Bilad al-‘Arab fi ’l-Jāhiliyyah wa Sadr al-Islam, p. 123.

[30] The number of Jews who accepted Islam and had the honor of enjoying the Apostle’s company was 39. Some of them belong to the category of eminent Companions, as can be seen from their biographical details. Contained in the books on the lives of the Companions, such as Al-Iṣābah, Al-Istifāb, Uzd al-Ghābah, etc. Also see Ahl-e-Kitāb Ṣahābah wa Tābi’ān by Mujib Ullāh Nadwi, from which the number of Jewish converts to Islam, quoted above, has been taken.

[31] Ibn Hishām, vol. II, p. 214. It was on this occasion that God sent down verse 451 of the Qur’ān.

[32] Tārikh al-Yahūd fī Bilad al-‘Arab fī ’l-Jāhiliyyah wa Sadr al-Islam, p. 142.

[33] Tārikh al-Yahūd fī Bilad al-‘Arab fī ’l-Jāhiliyyah wa Sadr al-Islam, p. 142.

[34] Qur’ān 4:51.

[35] Lit., anything opposite. The direction in which all Muslims must pray, whether in their private or in their public devotions, is towards the Ka’bah.

[36] Qur’ān 24:51.

[37] Qur’ān 3:7.

[38] Qur’ān 2:143.

[39] Qur’ān 4:77.

[40] See Zād al-Mañad, vol. I, p. 314.

[41] Qur’ān 22:39.

[42] Arabs preferred to perform ‘umrah during the month of Rajab.

[43] Rajab was the first of the four months held to be sacred, in which it was not lawful to fight. The remaining three months were Dhu’l-Qa’da, Dhu’l-Hijjah, and Muharram. Arabs observed this custom during the pre-Islamic and in the initial period of Islamic era, and this also finds a mention in the Qur’ān (9:36). But the consensus of the scholars is that the interdiction in this regard has been abrogated by later revelations which say, “Slay the idolaters wherever you find them” (9:5) and “Wage war on all the idolaters, they are waging war on all of you” (9:36). Sa’id ibn al-Musayyib was asked if the Muslims were permitted to fight the disbelievers during the sacred months. He replied, “Yes. This was so during the wars waged by the earlier Muslims for there is not one instance in the history when the battles were suspended during the month of Rajab or for three months of Dhu’l-Qa’dah. Dhu’l-Hijjah and Muharram, or when Muslim forces left the battlefield for their cantonments during these months.”

[44] Qur’ān 2:237. Ibn Hishām, vol. I, pp. 60-2.

[45] Zād al-Ma’ād, vol. I, p. 341.

[46] Ibn Hishām, vol. I pp. 591-606. Also see the chapter dealing with “Fasts” in the Four Pillars of Islam by the author.

[47] Qur’ān 2:183.

[48] Qur’ān 2:185.