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MUHAMMAD
& ISLAM: Stories not told before.
By
Mohammad Asghar
PART
- 5
We have reached, in our narrative, the fifth year of
Muhammad's mission. From time to time, he did face the pagans' opposition to
his preaching, but they had never succeeded in shutting him off completely. In
spite of enjoying an almost unrestricted freedom to engage himself in his
proselytizing activities, Muhammad, it seems, had not been able to secure more
than sixty to seventy converts over such a long period of time.
At this stage, we want to digress from our narrative, and visualize what
stressful days Muhammad must have been passing, after being in his mission for
five devastating years, in the religiously charged atmosphere of Mecca.
As we have mentioned earlier in this presentation, it was Khudeija, who, along
with her cousin, had commissioned Muhammad to found in Mecca a religion that
was intended to establish the unity of a single God. He had undertaken the
mission not only for his wife's sake, but also for his own reasons, which we
have stated earlier, being assured that she was going to put her entire wealth
at his disposal so that he could use it for achieving their common goal.
For five years, Muhammad lived on his wife's wealth. He also used it to feed
most of the new Muslims, many among whom were slaves and the downtrodden. A
good part of her wealth also had to be used as bribes for those pagans who
were inclined towards Islam, but refrained from converting to it. In short, he
used his wife's bequeathed wealth for all the purposes he considered necessary
for achieving what he had set out to achieve five years ago.
But when his resources were almost exhausted, with him taking no part in trade
activities for a long time to recoup his wife's expanded wealth, he began to
feel the crunch that invariably follows such a situation. He, therefore, began
to search for the ways through which he could reduce the pressure on his
depleting coffer.
To understand what Muhammad might have been thinking to ease pressure over his
ever-decreasing resource, we need to consider certain conditions that were
prevailing in the Arabian society at that period of time. We have mentioned
that Muhammad had initially launched his movement to force the pagans to
worship a lone Allah. It was followed by his attack on the rich merchants of
Mecca because of the reason that they prided in their wealth and refused to
share their privileges with the poor, orphan and the needy. Though the latter
issue had won him some support from the common folks, yet he could not have
neglected the crippling effect that it had produced in the lives of the people
he sought to help. It was in the background of this situation that Muhammad
had, at one stage, come up with a reconciliatory plan, aimed at appeasing his
opponents. Not fully realizing the implication of his plan, he announced that
he accepted the divinity of the "Lord of the House," whom the pagans
worshipped in the form of a statue they had installed in the Ka'aba. He
followed this concession by permitting his followers to worship the idols of
al-Lat, al-Uzza and al-Manat together with the pagans. They were exuberant,
thinking that their days of polemics and hardship were over. But their
happiness did not last long, and they realized it very soon. To the Muslims,
the last concession is known as "Gharaniq." According to one Muslim
writer, it had taken place in Mecca in late 5th or early 6th year of his
preaching (Dr. Majid Ali Khan, The Holy Verses, pp.32-37).
He had adopted the reconciliatory policies to ease the difficulties of the
poorer section of the Meccan population so that he could continue to have
their support. He, however, withdraw the concession, claiming it to have been
a Satanic act, when he realized that by authorizing the pagans to worship
their idols, he had retracted his stand on the issue of absolute monotheism,
thus jeopardized his claim of prophethood as well. To extract himself from the
alleged faux pas, he put the blame on the Satan, who, he said, had put the
words of the declaration in his mouth, despite him having had obtained full
protection from God in order to protect himself from the devil's influence.
The reversal of his later policy did not bode well with the pagans, and they
were infuriated. Considering Muhammad's retraction as an act of betrayal, they
decided to oppose his religion more vigorously. Had Muhammad not had his uncle
Abu Talib's protection, they might even have caused him bodily harm.
The fiasco and the atmosphere of distrust created by the abrogation of his
compromising announcements notwithstanding, we must praise Muhammad's sense of
pragmatism, which he always exhibited in all difficult times. To a great
extent, this quality of his was responsible for making him, in the long run, a
successful person.
Encouraged by his pragmatic thoughts, he decided to send a delegation of neo-
Muslims to Abyssinia in 615 A.D., probably, with the following objectives in
his mind:
In the last five years, his achievements, if any, were dismal. In the same
period, he saw the pagan opposition to his cause growing. He also saw his
resources depleting, with no recourse being available to him to replenish
them. Although Abu Talib's protection had shielded him from his opponents, but
he saw many of his followers, who had no social status or protection,
undergoing physical torture at the hands of their masters, or employers.
Moreover, he, too, had failed to provide gainful employment to those who had
forsaken their jobs, and became his disciples.
Consequently, he sensed a suppressed disaffection taking hold of his
followers. He, therefore, needed to divert their attention to a different
direction. He also needed to take steps not only to invigorate his followers'
faith in his leadership, but also to contain his opponents' hostility to his
cause.
With the stated objectives in mind, Muhammad began to explore possibilities in
right earnest. While carrying on with his exploration, he came to know much
about Abyssinia. He learned that a Christian ruled it, and that he was
tolerant of other religions. He also learned that the Negus harbored an
ambition on Mecca, and that he was not in favor of the Persians spreading
their net of influence over the citadel of pagan worship.
In the final analysis, Abyssinia appeared to Muhammad to be a perfect country
of choice to which he decided to turn for help. Accordingly, he prepared and
dispatched a delegation of his followers to Abyssinia. It consisted of eleven
members, including Ruqayyah, his daughter. Uthman, her husband, was appointed
its leader.
We assume that Muhammad had charged the leader of the delegation to achieve
the following objectives:
1. Muhammad was aware that the Abyssinians were eager to regain their lost
dominion of Arabia; and also that to help their Byzantium allies who had just
suffered a serious defeat at the hands of the Persians, they were willing to
listen to any ideas that were likely to divert their enemy's attention.
Capitalizing on the Abyssinians' focus, the delegation was to convince the
Negus to attack Mecca and to take over its administration. Other members of
the delegation had instructions to narrate, in Negus' court, horrible stories
of how their pagan masters were not only torturing them, but also how they
were starving them to death. Being convinced, should the Negus take over
Mecca, he was to choose Muhammad to become its ruler. His ascension to power
would have helped him in achieving all his objectives easily, and in a shorter
period of time.
2. Should the Negus refuse to do what Muhammad wished him to do, the leader
and his wife were to return to Mecca, leaving behind the rest of his
delegation members in Abyssinia. The "refugees" were expected to
find jobs among the people who were tolerant towards the people of other
religions. This latter scheme had a two-fold purpose: Their staying back in
Abyssinia not only would have made them beyond the reach of their masters'
torture, it would also have freed Muhammad from the responsibility, which
required him to meet the demands of their livelihood.
3. Those of his followers, who had mercantile background, were to explore the
likelihood of developing aggressive business connections with the Abyssinian
people, which, if materialized, would have greatly undermined the monopolistic
position of the pagan niggards.
4. The continuous presence of Muhammad's disciples in Abyssinia would have
created a base there for Muhammad himself. Should he ever had felt unsafe in
Mecca, he could easily have gone over to Abyssinia and live safely among his
disciples. From here, he could plot and try to take over Mecca at an opportune
time in future.
The Meccans suspected what Muhammad wanted to achieve by sending a group of
his people to Abyssinia. As its result, the Meccans had his mission followed
by a mission of their own. It was charged with the responsibility of
countering the Muslim allegations against them and to have them expelled by
the Negus.
After hearing both the parties, Negus declined the Muslim request of invading
Mecca, but allowed them to live in his country. The pagans were happy with his
decision.
Contrary to what we have stated above, most Muslim writers maintain that the
Muslims had migrated to Abyssinia only to escape from the persecution of their
enemies. This, though, is partly true, but not the whole truth. In support of
our hypothesis, we submit the following:
At the time we are talking about here, there was no police or law enforcing
agencies in the whole of the Arabian Peninsula. But the lack of these
agencies, however, did not mean that the nomads and the sedentary Arabs had no
rules to govern certain aspects of their lives. In fact, they did have rules,
which regulated their conducts.
The Arabs had, over a long period of time, developed a system of protection,
which a particular tribe or clan gave to its members. Without having
protection, it was impossible for anyone to survive in the harsh environments
of the desert. This particular system of protection had made it dangerous for
a man to lay his hands on a member of another tribe or clan. If any member of
a clan attacked a protected member of another clan, the victim's clan exacted
vengeance or a blood-wit from the clan of the offending person. This system
worked well for the Arabs and it helped them keep incidences of death through
violence under control. It was this clan protection, which his uncle Abu Talib
made use of, to protect Muhammad from the pagans' physical assault. When his
uncle died, Muhammad had to obtain the protection of Mutim Ibn Adi, the chief
of the Nofal clan of Quraish. Without his protection, Muhammad could not
have survived in Mecca.
Uthman Ibn Affan, who headed the Muslim delegation to Abyssinia, had, and
enjoyed, the full protection of his clan. It was on account of this fact that
he was never manhandled or assaulted by his enemies. Moreover, it is claimed
that he had an independent source of income that supported his as well as his
family members' lives. When he faced no threat to his life, and had a secured
means of livelihood at his disposal, what had made him and his wife to migrate
to Abyssinia must not be a very difficult matter for us to understand. And our
understanding is: Muhammad had chosen Uthman and his wife to represent him
before the Negus of Abyssinia, and to try to achieve those tasks, which we
have mentioned in the foregoing paragraphs of this presentation.
In Mecca, meanwhile, Muhammad continued the propagation of his faith and kept
on trying to win converts to his faith. The pagans took all peaceful steps to
deter him from propagating his anti-pagan faith, but they failed to achieve
their objective.
Frustrated, they passed a decree banishing him, and all who embraced his
faith. Sensing the ferocity of the impending storm, Muhammad took refuge in
the house of a disciple named Orkham. His house was situated on the hill of
Safa. This hill was renowned in Arabian tradition as being the place at which
Adam and his wife (Quranic reference to Eve who is not mentioned in it by a
name) lived together, having previously been reunited at the plains of Arafat
after their long solitary wandering all about the earth, following their
expulsion from Paradise. It was, likewise, connected in tradition with the
story of Hagar, Abraham's concubine, and her son Ishmael.
Muhammad remained in his sanctuary for a month, continuing his revelations and
drawing to him converts from various parts of Arabia. Eventually, the
Quraishites caught hold of his whereabouts. He had an uncle by the name of
Amru Ibn Hashim. The Quraishites had given him the name of Abu 'Ihoem, or
Father of Wisdom, on account of his sagacity. The Muslims had changed it to
Abu Jahl, Father of Folly, due to his opposition to his nephew, and Islam. The
later appellation has remained stuck till these days to his name, who is
seldom mentioned by zealous Muslims without the ejaculation, "May he be
accursed of Allah!" This uncle sought him out, heaved insults in
vituperative language, and even tried reportedly to maltreat him physically.
His outrage was reported to Hamza, another uncle of Muhammad, as he was
returning from his hunting trip. He was at that time not a Muslim, but was
pledge-bound to protect his nephew.
Marching, with his bow in his hand, to the place where Abu Jahl was vaunting
his recent triumph to some of the Quraishites, Hamza dealt him a blow that
inflicted a grievous wound on his head. After some altercation that followed
the attack, Hamza declared that he had right then become a Muslim and took the
oath of adhesion to Muhammad instantaneously, thus greatly boosting the morale
of his nephew.
Abu Jahl's prestige and esteem injured, he vowed to avenge the perpetrator. He
had a nephew by the name of Omar Ibn al Khattab. He was twenty-six years of
age, having a gigantic stature, a prodigious strength, and a great courage. He
was reportedly so tall that even when seated, he dwarfed those who remained
standing. Reputed to have been a heavy drinker, he was also known to beat his
wife habitually. Instigated by his uncle Abu Jahl, this fierce man pledged to
penetrate Muhammad's hideout and to inflict upon on him or on Hamza the injury
that the latter had inflicted upon Abu Jahl.
On his way to Orkham's house, in which Hamza along with Muhammad was lodged,
he met a Quraishite, to whom he disclosed his design. The Quraishite was a
secret convert to Islam and sought to turn him away from his violent errand.
He told him to check if anyone from his own family was guilty of heresy,
before he went and harmed Muhammad or his uncle. Taken aback, he wanted to
know who among his family members had renounced his ancestral religion. The
informant gave Omar the names of his sister Amina and her husband Said.
Omar changed his course and hastened to his sister's dwelling. Entering it
abruptly, it is said, he found his sister and her husband reading the Quran.
Said attempted to conceal it, but his confusion convinced Omar of the truth of
the accusation and heightened his fury. In his rage, he struck Said to the
ground, placed his foot upon his chest, and would have plunged his sword into
it had not his sister interposed. In his anger, he gave her a blow, which had
her face bathed in blood. "Enemy of Allah!" sobbed Amina;
"dost thou strike me thus for believing in the only true Allah? In spite
of thee and thy violence, I will preserve the true faith. "Yes," she
added with fervor, "there is no allah but Allah, and Muhammad is His
Prophet; and now, Omar, finish thy work!"
Repenting his violence, Omar paused and took his foot away from the chest of
Said. "Show me the writing," said he. When the parchment containing
the twentieth Sura or chapter of the Quran was given to him, he read it, and
it sank into his heart. Moved greatly, especially by the parts, which dealt
with resurrection and the judgment, he decided to embrace the religion of
Islam without any delay.
Omar rushed to Orkham's house and, seeing Muhammad, expressed his desire to
become a Muslim. Muhammad greeted him warmly and conducted him in the Muslim
profession of faith; i.e. the invocation of Kalima Tayyaba, recitation of
which completes one's induction into the faith of Islam.
Omar was not content until his conversion was publicly announced. At his
request, Muhammad accompanied him instantly to the Ka'aba, to perform openly
the rites of Islam. Omar walked on the left hand and Hamza on the right to
protect him from injury or insult. It is said that about forty disciples
accompanied the procession.
The story about Amina and Said having the Quran written on a parchment, and
reading from it, is a concoction. In fact, during the time Muhammad was
preaching Islam, the Arabs did not know that it existed even in Egypt, where
the Egyptians were known to have extensively used it for preserving their
writings.
Muslims got the encouragement to fabricate the parchment's story from verse
6:7 of the Quran. In it, Muhammad hypothesized that even if he had the Quran
written on a parchment, which the pagans could see and touch, even then they
would not only have denied its divine nature, they would also have rejected it
as being "nothing but the obvious magic."
Unable to substantiate the content of the verse, one of the Muslim scholars
has tried to explain it by claiming, " Qirtas, in the Apostle's life,
could only mean "parchment," which was commonly used as writing
materials in Western Asia from the 2nd century B.C. The word was derived from
the Greek, Charles (Cf. Latin, "Charla"). Paper, as we know it, made
from rags, was used by the Arabs after the conquest of Samarqand in 751 A. D.
The Chinese had used it by the 2nd century B.C. The Arabs introduced it into
Europe; it was used in Greece in the 11th and 12th century, and in Spain
through Sicily in the 12th century. The Papyrus, made from an Egyptian reed,
was used in Egypt as early as 2,500 B.C. It gave place to paper in Egypt in
the 10th century (Abdullah Yusuf Ali, op.cit. vol.1, p. 290).
Because we hold the scholar's erudition in high esteem, we expected that
instead of giving us the paper's history, he would tell us how the Arabs came
to have parchment when they did not have reed, and also, why did they write
down the revelations on skin, leaves and bones etc., when they, according to
him, had access to this writing material?
The truth, perhaps, lies somewhere else. We suspect that Muhammad had seen the
use of parchment in Syria during his business trips to that country, and
impressed with its usage, he mentioned it to the pagans as a passing remark.
Or, perhaps, the narrator added the word 'parchment' to the verse at the time
the Quran was being compiled during Abu Bakr's regime.
Damascus in Syria was a modern city, and its populace highly literate, when
Abu Bakr conquered it in 634 A. D. The Syrians were believed to have been
among the first who invented the Arabic alphabets. The narrator of the verse
must have visited Damascus and seen the use of parchment there. While
narrating to the ascribe what Muhammad was supposed to have told his disciples
about the pagan's attitude towards his revelations, he must have added the
word "parchment" to the verse without realizing the fact that at the
time Muhammad had made the statement, parchment was not in use among the
pagans of Mecca.
Hamza and Omar's conversion to the new faith proved to be a milestone in the
early history of Islam; for now Muhammad had the physical and moral support of
two of the Quraishites' bravest and most powerful people. This also had
enabled him to go about his preaching more confidently than ever before.
Omar's conversion to Islam is said to have caused so much of exasperation
among the Quraish that Abu Talib, Muhammad's uncle, was forced to conclude
that the pagans might make an attempt on his nephew's life, either by
deception or through open violence. Therefore, the old man urged him and some
of his disciples to withdraw to a house, belonging to him, in the neighborhood
of the city.
The protection thus given to Muhammad and his followers by Abu Talib, the head
of the Hashimites, and by others of his line although differing from him in
faith, drew on them the wrath of the rival branch of the Quraishites. This
produced a schism that enmeshed the entire tribe. Abu Sofian, the head of the
rival branch, availed himself of Muhammad's heresies to throw discredit, not
merely upon such of his kindred as had embraced his faith, but upon the whole
line of Hashim which - - though dissenting from his doctrines - - had
protected him through mere clannish feelings. Abu Sofian did not oppose
Muhammad and his uncle Abu Talib only out of personal hatred or religious
scruples, but also because of a family feud that related to the guardianship
of the Ka'aba.
Part
6
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