MUḤAMMAD (محمد‎). Lit. “The Praised One.” Sometimes spelt Mohammed, Mohomed, or Mahomet.

Muḥammad, the founder of the religion generally known as Muḥammadanism, but called by its own adherents Islām [ISLAM], was the posthumous son of ʿAbdu ʾllāh, by his wife Āminah. ʿAbdu ʾllāh belonged to the family of Hāshim, which was the noblest tribe of the Quraish section of the Arabian race, and said to be directly descended from Ishmael. The father of ʿAbdu ʾllāh and the grandfather of Muḥammad, was ʿAbdu ʾl-Mut̤t̤alib, who held the high office of custodian of the Kaʿbah. [KAʿBAH.] The same year which saw the destruction of the Abyssinian invader, and formed an epoch in the history of Arabia, known as the Era of the Elephant, on account of the vast array of elephants the invaders brought with them, witnessed the birth of Muḥammad. Muḥammad is said to have been born about fifty-nine days after the attack of Abrahah, or on the 12th day of the month Rabīʿu ʾl-Awwal of the first year of the Era of the Elephant, which M. Caussin de Perceval believes to have been the fortieth year of the reign of Chosroes the Great (Kasra Anushirwan), and calculates the date to have been August 20th, A.D. 570 (see vol. i. pp. 282, 283). According to Sprenger, it was April 20th, A.D. 571. (Das Leben und die Lehre des Mohammad, vol. i. p. 138.)

Muḥammad was born at Makkah. And immediately upon his birth, his mother, Āminah, sent a special messenger to inform ʿAbdu ʾl-Mut̤t̤alib of the news. The messenger reached the chief as he sat within the sacred enclosure of the Kaʿbah, in the midst of his sons and principal men, and he arose with joy and went to the house of Āminah. He then took the child in his arms, and went to the Kaʿbah, and gave thanks to God. The Quraish tribe begged the grandfather to name the child after some member of the family, but ʿAbdu ʾl-Mut̤t̤alib said, “I desire that the God who has created the child on earth may be glorified in heaven,” and he called him Muḥammad, “the praised one.”

Al-Ḥāfiz̤, on the authority of Mak͟hzūm (quoted by Abū ʾl-Fidāʾ, p. 59), says that on the night that Muḥammad was born, the palace of Chosroes was shaken, and fourteen of its turrets fell; the fires of the Persians were extinguished, which had not been extinguished before for a thousand years; and the lake Sāwah sank.

It was not the custom of the better class of women amongst the Arabians to nurse their children, and consequently the infant, soon after his birth, was made over to S̤uwaibah, a slave-girl of his uncle Abū Lahab. S̤uwaibah had a son, whose name was Masrūḥ, whom she nursed at the same time, and she had also nursed Ḥamzāh, Muḥammad’s uncle, and Abū Salimah; so that these three men were his foster-brothers. S̤uwaibah only suckled Muḥammad for a few days, when the child was made over to Ḥalīmah, a woman of the tribe of the Banū Saʿd. Ḥalīmah was the daughter of ʿAbdu ʾllāh Abū Zuʾaib, the son of al-Ḥāris̤, and she took Muḥammad to her desert home, amongst the Banū Saʿd, where he remained for a period of two years. The foster-brother suckled by Ḥalīmah was ʿAbdu ʾllāh, and his foster-sisters Anīsah and Ḥarāmah.

The following story connected with Muḥammad’s stay with Ḥalīmah is related by Abū ʾl-Fidāʾ (p. 64). When some time passed, Muḥammad and his foster-brother went out to a distance from the house, when Ḥalīmah’s son came to his mother and said, “Two men clothed in white raiments have taken hold of the Quraish boy, and have thrown him down and have ripped open his belly.” So Ḥalīmah and her husband went to the place where the child was, but found him standing on his feet. And they said, “What has happened to thee child?” And he answered and said, “Two men came to me, and threw me down and ripped up my belly.” Then Ḥalīmah’s husband said to her, “I greatly fear that this boy has got the epilepsy.” So they took him to his mother Āminah. And Ḥalīmah said to Āminah, “I am afraid he is possessed of a devil.” But Āminah said, “What in the world can Satan have to do with my son that he should be his enemy?”

This circumstance has been regarded as the miracle when Gabriel came and took out the heart of the child and washed it from the stains of original sin. And some commentators say the first verse of the XCIVth Sūrah of the Qurʾān alludes to it: “Have we not opened thy breast?”

Muḥammad ever retained a most grateful recollection of the kindness he had received from the Banū Saʿd, and, in after years, he used to say, “Verily I am the most perfect Arab amongst you. My descent is from the Quraish, and my speech is the tongue of the Banū Saʿd.”

In his sixth year, Muḥammad was taken by his mother to al-Madīnah, but on the return journey she fell sick, and died at a place called al-Abwāʾ, where her body was buried. In subsequent years, Muḥammad visited his mother’s tomb at al-Abwāʾ, and wept over it, saying, “This is the grave of my mother; the Lord hath permitted me to visit it, and I sought leave to pray for her salvation, but it was not granted. So I called my mother to remembrance, and the tender memory of her overcame me, and I wept.”

The little orphan was then carried on to Makkah by Umm Aiman, who, although young in years, became his faithful nurse and companion. The charge of Muḥammad was now undertaken by ʿAbdu ʾl-Mut̤t̤alib, but the old chief died two years afterwards, and the child was committed to the care of his paternal uncle, Abū T̤ālib. When Muḥammad was twelve years old, he was taken by his uncle on a mercantile journey to Syria, and proceeded as far as Buṣrā. The expedition lasted for some months. According to the Muslim historian, Abū ʾl-Fidāʾ, it was at Buṣrā that Muḥammad met the Christian monk Buḥairaʾ, who is related to have said to Abū T̤ālib, “Return with this youth, and guard him from the hatred of the Jews; for great dignity awaits this your brother’s son.” It was on this journey that Muḥammad was brought in contact with the profession of Christianity in Syria, and had an opportunity of obtaining some information as to the national and social customs of Christians. He must have also passed through many Jewish settlements. It is, therefore, highly probable that it was on the occasion of this journey that Muḥammad’s mind became first impressed with the absolute necessity of reforming, not only the gross idolatry of Makkah, but the degrading social habits of the Arabian people.

After this journey, the youth of Muḥammad seems to have been passed uneventfully, but all authorities agree in ascribing to him a correctness of manner, and a purity of morals, which were at that time rare amongst the people of Makkah. The fair character and honourable bearing of the unobtrusive youth won the approbation of the citizens of Makkah, and by common consent he received the title of al-Amīn, “The Faithful.”

Between the years A.D. 580–590, the sacrilegious war broke out between the Quraish and the Banū Hawāzin, which lasted for nearly ten years. In two of the contests, Muḥammad, though only a lad, accompanied his uncles in their local wars. They were called “sacrilegious” because they were carried on during the sacred months, when fighting was forbidden.

The youth of Muḥammad passed away without any other incidents of interest. At this period he was employed, like other lads, in tending the sheep and goats of Makkah upon the neighbouring hills and valleys. He used afterwards to allude to his shepherd life, and say it comported with his prophetic office, even as it did with that of Moses and David: “Verily there hath been no prophet who hath not performed the work of a shepherd.”

When Muḥammad had reached his twenty-fifth year, on the recommendation of his uncle, Abū T̤ālib, he entered the service of K͟hadījah, a rich widow of Makkah. She was of the Quraish tribe, the daughter of K͟huwailid ibn Asad. With Maisarah, her servant, Muḥammad was placed in charge of the widow’s merchandise, and he again travelled the same route which he had traversed thirteen years before with his uncle. His journey again extended as far as Buṣrā, a city about sixty miles to the east of the river Jordan. He visited Aleppo and Damascus, and was doubtless brought in frequent contact with both Jews and Christians, and had another opportunity of obtaining that superficial acquaintance with the Jewish and Christian faiths, which enabled him in after years to embody so much of the teaching of the Bible in the verses of the Qurʾān. “The mutual animosity of Jew towards Christian,” says Mr. Stobart, “though they professed to worship the true God, though they appealed to the old Testament, and both equally revered the name of Abraham, and professed to abhor that idolatry in which he had been bred, may have led Muḥammad to think that possibly more divine truth lay hid in both these systems of belief, though covered and concealed by human inventions, and may have suggested to him the possibility of forming out of these conflicting elements one single simple catholic creed, and of thus uniting mankind in the worship and love of the great Father of all.” (Stobart’s Islām, p. 56.)

Muḥammad having proved himself faithful in the commercial interests of his mistress, was soon rewarded with her hand in marriage. When Muḥammad married her she was a widow of forty years of age, and had been already twice married, and had borne to her former husbands, two sons and a daughter. The house of Muḥammad and K͟hadījah was a bright and happy one, and their marriage fortunate and fruitful. Two sons and four daughters were its issue. Their eldest son was al-Qāsim, who died at the age of two years, whence Muḥammad was sometimes called Abū ʾl-Qāsim, or the father of al-Qāsim. The other son, ʿAbdu ʾllāh, surnamed at̤-T̤āhir and at̤-T̤aiyib, died in infancy. The four daughters were Zainab, Ruqaiyah, Umm Quls̤ūm, and Fāt̤imah. [FATIMAH.]

During her lifetime, K͟hadījah was Muḥammad’s only wife, and he always looked back to this period of his life with fond remembrance. When the world called him an impostor and a cheat, K͟hadījah was the first to acknowledge him to be the “Apostle of God.” Indeed, so much did he dwell upon the mutual love of K͟hadījah and himself, that the envious ʿĀyishah declared herself more jealous of this rival, who was dead, than of all the living rivals who contested with her the affection of the Prophet.

As yet Muḥammad was almost a stranger to the outside world, but he now obtained some reputation among his fellow men, by taking a prominent part in the resuscitation of an old league, called the Federation of the Fuẓūl [HILFU ʾL-FUZUL], formed in ancient times for the repression of acts of lawlessness within the walls of Makkah. A new compact was formed between four or five of the chief families of Makkah for the protection of the weak and oppressed, and Muḥammad was one of the most prominent movers in this federation, the revival of which resulted mainly from his efforts.

In his thirty-fifth year, he settled by his decision a grave difficulty, which had sprung up during the reconstruction of the Kaʿbah, regarding the placing of the sacred stone, and which almost threatened to plunge the whole of Arabia into another of their oft-recurring wars.

The Kaʿbah was too low in the building, and the Quraish wished to raise it higher, and so they demolished it. When it was rebuilt as far as the position of the Black Stone, the question arose, who should be the honoured instrument of raising the sacred relic into its place, for each tribe claimed the honour. Then the oldest citizen arose and said, “My advice is that the man who first entereth by the gate of the Banū Shaibah, shall be selected umpire in this difficult question, or shall himself place the stone.” The proposal was agreed upon, and the first man who entered the gate was he who was known as al-Amīn, “The Faithful,” Muḥammad, the son of ʿAbdu ʾllāh. Muḥammad decided upon an expedient, which served to satisfy the contending parties. The stone was placed on a cloth, and each tribe shared in the honour of raising it, by taking hold of the cloth. The stone being thus deposited in its proper place, the Quraish built on without interruption, and the great idol Hubal was placed in the centre of the sacred edifice, and around were ranged the various other idols of the Arabian people. “This circumstance,” says Sir William Muir, “strikingly illustrates the absence of any paramount authority at Mecca at this time. A curious story is related of an attempt made about this period to gain the rule of Mecca. The aspirant was Othmân, first cousin of Khadîja’s father. He was dissatisfied, as the legend goes, with the idolatrous system of Mecca, and travelled to the court of the Roman Emperor, where he was honourably entertained, and admitted to Christian baptism. He returned to Mecca, and on the strength of an imperial grant, real or pretended, laid claim to the government of the city. But his claim was rejected, and he fled to Syria, where he found a refuge with the Ghassânide prince. But emissaries from Mecca, by the aid of gifts, counteracted his authority with the prince, and at last procured his death.”—Muir’s Life of Mahomet, new ed. p. 31.

Shortly after the rebuilding of the Kaʿbah, Muḥammad adopted ʿAlī, the son of his friend and former guardian, Abū T̤ālib. ʿAlī was at this time only six years old. About this period he admitted to his closest intimacy another person, unconnected with him by family ties, but of more equal age. This was Zaid, a slave-boy belonging to K͟hadījah, who, to gratify her husband, made him a present of the slave. Zaid was the son of Ḥāris̤ah, of the Banū ʿUẕrah, a tribe which occupied the region of South Syria, and had been taken captive and sold to K͟hadījah’s grandfather as a slave. When Ḥāris̤ah heard that Muḥammad possessed Zaid, he came to Makkah and offered a large payment for his release. Muḥammad summoned Zaid, and gave him the option to go or stay. Zaid elected to stay, and Muḥammad, delighted with his faithfulness, gave him his liberty, and adopted him as his son. The freed man was henceforth known as Zaid ibn Muḥammad.

“Muḥammad was now approaching his fortieth year, and increased contemplation and reflection engaged his mind. The idolatry and moral debasement of his people pressed heavily upon him, and the dim and imperfect shadows of Judaism and Christianity excited doubts without satisfying them; and his mind was perplexed with uncertainty as to what was the true religion.” (Muir’s Life of Mahomet, new ed. p. 35.)

It is probable that it was at this time Muḥammad composed those Sūrahs of the Qurʾān which express the anxious yearning of an inquirer rather than the more positive teaching of an Apostle, and we would assign to this period the following verses of the Qurʾān, which, according to Muḥammadan commentators, are admitted to be of a very early date. (See Jalālu ʾd-dīn’s Itqān.)

Sūratu ʾl-ʿAṣr (ciii.):—

“I swear by the declining day!

“Verily, man’s lot is cast amid destruction,

“Save those who believe and do the things which be right, and enjoin truth and enjoin each other to be patient.”

Sūratu ʾl-ʿĀdiyāt (c.):—

“By the snorting chargers!

“And those that dash off sparks of fire!

“And those that scour to the attack at morn!

“And stir therein the dust aloft;

“And cleave therein their midway through a host!

“Truly, man is to his Lord ungrateful,

“And of this he is himself a witness;

“And truly, he is vehement in the love of this world’s good.

“Ah! knoweth he not, that when that which is in the graves shall be laid bare,

“And that which is in men’s breasts shall be brought forth,

“Verily their Lord shall on that day be informed concerning them?”

Sūratu ʾl-Fātiḥah (i.):—

“Praise be to God, Lord of all the worlds,

“The compassionate, the merciful!

“King of the day of reckoning!

“Thee only do we worship, and to Thee do we cry for help.

“Guide Thou us on the straight path,

“The path of those to whom Thou hast been gracious;—with whom thou art not angry, and who go not astray.”

The latter Sūrah is the Fātiḥah, or initial prayer, &c., often recited in public worship, and it appears to contain, if not the very words, at all events the gist of the daily prayer of an anxious and inquiring soul.

These Sūrahs were most probably followed by others of a similar character, being poetical effusions rather than express enunciations of any definite teaching. For example, Sūrahs ci., xcv., civ., xcii., xci., cvi.

Muḥammad seems to have employed himself in such meditations as find expression in these Sūrahs, some years before he assumed the office of a divine teacher, for it was but slowly and by degrees that he was led on to believe that he was really called of God, to preach a reformation both to his own people and to all mankind.

Bewildered by his own speculations amidst uncertain flickerings of spiritual light, Muḥammad spent some time in retirement, and in the agonies of distress repeatedly meditated suicide. Perplexed with the mysterious destiny of man and the failure of repeated revelations, he would fall into ecstatic reveries, and it was during one of these seasons of retirement, in the cave of Ḥirāʾ, that he believed an angel appeared to him in a dream, and that the first revelation came. According to the traditions collected by al-Buk͟hārī and Muslim (see Arabic edition, as Matthew’s translation in the Mishkāt is defective in several very important particulars), the first communication was made to Muḥammad in a dream.

ʿĀyishah relates: “The first revelations which the Prophet of God received were in true dreams. He never dreamed but it came to pass as regularly as the dawn of day. After this the Prophet went into retirement, and he used to seclude himself in a cave in Mount Ḥirāʾ, and worship there day and night. He would, whenever he wished, return to his family at Makkah, and then go back again, taking with him the necessaries of life. Thus he continued to return to K͟hadījah from time to time, until one day the revelation came down to him, and the angel (Malak) came to him and said, ‘Read’ (iqraʾ); but the Prophet said, ‘I am not a reader.’ And the Prophet related that the angel took hold of him, and squeezed him as much as he could bear, and then said again, ‘Read’; and the Prophet said, ‘I am not a reader.’ Then the angel took hold of him a second time, and squeezed him as much as he could bear, and then let him go, and said, ‘Read’; then the Prophet said, ‘I am not a reader.’ Then the angel again seized the Prophet, and squeezed him, and said:—

‘Read thou, in the name of thy Lord who created;—

‘Created man out of clots of blood:—

‘Read thou! For thy Lord is the most Beneficent,

‘Who hath taught the use of the pen;—

‘Hath taught man that which he knoweth not.’

(See Qurʾān, Sūratu ʾl-ʿAlaq (xcvi.), the first five verses.)

“Then the Prophet repeated the words with a trembling heart. And he returned (i.e. from Ḥirāʾ to Makkah) to K͟hadījah, and said, ‘Wrap me up, wrap me up.’ And they wrapped him up in a garment until his fear was dispelled; and he told K͟hadījah what had occurred, and he said to K͟hadījah, ‘I was afraid I should die.’ Then K͟hadījah said, ‘No, it will not be so, I swear by God. He will never make thee melancholy or sad. For you are kind to your relatives, you speak the truth, you are faithful in trust, you bear the afflictions of the people, you spend in good works what you gain in trade, you are hospitable, and you assist your fellow men.’ After this K͟hadījah took the Prophet to Waraqah, who was the son of her uncle, and said to him, ‘O son of my uncle, hear what your brother’s son says to you.’ Then Waraqah said to the Prophet, ‘O son of my uncle, what do you see?’ Then the Prophet told Waraqah what he had seen; and Waraqah said, ‘This is the Nāmūs [NAMUS] which God sent to Moses. O would to God I were young in this time! and would to God I were living at the time of your people turning you out!’ The Prophet said, ‘Will my people turn me out?’ And Waraqah said, ‘Yes. No man has ever come as you have come, and not been held in enmity; but if I should live to that day, I will give you great help.’ Waraqah soon died, and after that the revelation ceased (i.e. for a time).”

The first vision was followed by a considerable period, during which no further revelation was given, and during which Muḥammad suffered much mental depression. [FITRAH.]

“During this period,” al-Buk͟hārī says, “the Prophet was very sorrowful, so much so that he wished to throw himself from the top of a hill to destroy himself.”

But after a lapse of time, as he was wrapped up in his garments and lay stretched upon his carpet, the angel is said to have again addressed him, in the chapter which begins (Sūrah lxxiv.):—

Muḥammad then believed himself to be a commissioned Apostle, the messenger and the prophet of God, sent to reclaim a fallen people to the knowledge and service of their God. His revelations were God’s Book, and his sayings the utterances of inspiration.

The first convert to Islām was his faithful wife K͟hadījah, the two next, ʿAlī and Zaid, his adopted children, and afterwards his old trusted friend, Abū Bakr, “the True.” Then followed ʿUs̤mān, who was a grandson of ʿAbdu ʾl-Mut̤t̤alib; T̤alḥah, the renowned warrior of after days; and ʿAbdu ʾr-Raḥmān, a merchant of some consequence. The new converts soon numbered some fifty souls, either members of the Prophet’s family or his dearest friends.

An important change now occurred in the relations of Muḥammad with the citizens of Makkah. Their hostility was aroused, and the Muslims were subjected to some persecution and indignity. It was not, however, until some three years of his ministration had elapsed that any general opposition was organized. Hostility once excited soon showed itself in acts of violence. Saʿīd, a youthful convert, was attacked whilst leading a party of Muslims in prayer. He defended himself, and struck one of his opponents with a camel goad. It was, says Sir William Muir, “the first blood spilt in the cause of Islām.”

In the fourth year of his mission, Muḥammad took possession of the house of Arqam (a recent convert), and there held meetings for those who wished to know the teaching of the Prophet more perfectly.

The house of Arqam was in front of the Kaʿbah, and was therefore in a convenient position. So famous did it become as the birth-place of believers, that it was afterwards styled the “House of Islām.”

As the number of believers increased, so did the enmity of the persecutor, and in order to escape the danger of perversion, Muḥammad recommended such of his followers who were without protection to seek an asylum in a foreign land. Eleven men, accompanied by their families, set out for the port of Shueiba, where, finding two vessels about to sail, they embarked in haste, and were conveyed to Abyssinia.

Here they met with a kind reception from the Negus, or king, and their period of exile was passed in peace and comfort. This is termed the first hijrah, or “flight,” to Abyssinia, as distinguished from the later and more extensive emigration to the same land. In three months the refugees returned to Makkah.

About this time a strange episode occurred, in which Muḥammad sought a compromise with his people, by admitting their gods into his system as intercessors with the Supreme Being. While the Quraish sat beneath the Kaʿbah, he recited the following Sūrah as an inspired message (liii.):—

The idolaters were reconciled, and bowed before the God of Muḥammad. But his heart smote him, and not long after the obnoxious lines (those in italics) were said to be recalled by Gabriel, as suggested by the Evil One, and there was substituted the uncompromising denunciation of idolatry, from which he never after swerved:—

“What! shall there be male progeny unto you, and females unto him?

“That indeed were an unjust partition.

“They are naught but names which ye and your fathers have invented.”

In the sixth year of his mission, the cause of Muḥammad was strengthened by the accession of two powerful citizens, Ḥamzah and ʿUmar. Ḥamzah was the uncle and also the foster-brother of the Prophet, a man of distinguished bravery, whose heroism earned for him the title of the “Lion of God.” ʿUmar was a bold impulsive spirit, the very man needed to give strength to a cause, one who in a remarkable manner left the impress of his character upon the religious system he embraced. He succeeded Abū Bakr in the K͟halīfate, and left the stamp of his fierce warlike spirit upon Islām. [UMAR.]

Alarmed at the bold part which Muḥammad and his followers were now able to assume, the Quraish formed a hostile confederacy, by which all intercourse with the Muslims and their supporters was suspended. The severity of the ban at last overreached its object, for the sympathies of the people were enlisted by their privation in favour of Muḥammad and his followers. The interdict was cancelled and the Hāshimites restored to freedom.

In the beginning of the tenth year of his mission, and in the fiftieth of his life, Muḥammad lost his faithful and devoted wife K͟hadījah. For twenty-five years she had been his counsellor and support, and his grief at her death at first was inconsolable. She was sixty-five years old when she died. Abū T̤ālib, the Prophet’s uncle and guardian, died a few weeks afterwards. His conversion to Islām is a matter of uncertainty. Within two months of the death of K͟hadījah (who was his only wife during her lifetime), the Prophet married Saudah, the widow of one of the Abyssinian emigrants, and also betrothed himself to ʿĀyishah, the daughter of his friend Abū Bakr, then but a girl of seven years.

Abū T̤ālib had hardly been buried a fortnight when Muḥammad, followed only by his faithful attendants, set out on an adventurous mission to at̤-T̤āʾif, a place sixty miles to the east of Makkah, and the nearest city of importance. He went first to the three principal men of the city, and explained the object of his mission, and invited them to the honour of supporting him in sustaining the new faith. But he failed in producing conviction. Muḥammad remained at at̤-T̤āʾif ten days, but with no success. The mob, stirred up to hasten the departure of the unwelcome visitor, hooted at him in the streets, and pelted him with stones, and at last compelled him to flee out of the city. They chased him fully two miles across the sandy plain, until wearied and mortified, he took refuge for the night in a neighbouring garden, where he spent some time in earnest prayer. (Muir, 2nd ed., p. 114.)

Reinvigorated by the rest, he set forth on the return journey to Makkah.

Repulsed from at̤-T̤āʾif, and utterly hopeless at home, the fortunes of Muḥammad seemed dark, but hope dawned at last from an unexpected quarter. At the yearly pilgrimage, a little group of worshippers from al-Madīnah was attracted and won over at Minā by the preaching of Islām, joined his mission, and the following year they met Muḥammad and took the oath of allegiance which is known as the first Pledge of ʿAqabah. This little party consisted of twelve men, ten were of the K͟hazraj and two of the Aus tribe. They plighted their faith to Muḥammad as follows:—“We will not worship any but one God, we will not steal, neither will we commit adultery, nor will we kill our children; we will not slander in anywise; and we will obey the Prophet in everything that is just.”

At al-Madīnah the claims of the new Prophet found a ready response. A teacher was deputed from Makkah to al-Madīnah, and the new faith spread with marvellous rapidity.

The hopes of Muḥammad were now fixed on al-Madīnah, visions of his journey northwards doubtless flitted before his imagination and the musing of the day, reappeared in his midnight slumbers.

He dreamed that he was swiftly carried by Gabriel on a winged steed past al-Madīnah to the Temple of Jerusalem, where he was welcomed by the former Prophets all assembled in solemn conclave. From Jerusalem he seemed to mount upwards, and to ascend from one heaven to another, until he found himself in the awful presence of his Maker, who dismissed him with the order that he should command his followers to pray five times a day. [MIʿRAJ, BURAQ.]

When the time of pilgrimage again arrived, Muḥammad found himself surrounded by an enthusiastic band of seventy disciples from al-Madīnah, who in a secret defile at Minā plighted their faith, the second Pledge of ʿAqabah, whereby they promised to receive and defend the Faith at the risk of their own lives. After this Muḥammad determined to quit Makkah, and the command was given, “Depart unto al-Madīnah, for the Lord hath verily given you brethren in that city, and a house in which ye may find refuge.” And so, abandoning house and home, the Muslims set out secretly in little parties for al-Madīnah, where the numbers soon reached to about one hundred and fifty, counting women and children. Muḥammad, with Abū Bakr and ʿAlī, with their families, were left almost alone in Makkah. The Quraish held a council, and determined to slay Muḥammad; but being warned of their designs, he escaped to Mount S̤aur, near Makkah, where he hid himself three days in a cave, and after three more days he reached al-Madīnah.

The day of his flight, or hijrah, marks the Muḥammadan era, or Hegira. The date of the flight was the 4th of Rabīʿu ʾl-Awwal, and by the calculations of M. Caussin de Perceval, the 20th of June, A.D. 622. [HIJRAH.]

The flight to al-Madīnah changes the scene, and with it the character of the portions of the Qurʾān revealed there. He who at Makkah is the admonisher and persuader, at al-Madīnah is the legislator and the warrior, and the verses of the Qurʾān assume a more didactic tone. Poetry makes way for prose, and he openly assumes the office of a public warner and prophet.

The idolaters of Makkah disappear and their place is taken by the hypocrites [MUNAFIQUN] of al-Madīnah. Here at al-Madīnah there was no opposition to Muḥammad and his doctrines; but, nevertheless, an undercurrent of disaffection prevailed. The head of the party was ʿAbdu ʾllāh ibn Ubaiy, who, but for the new turn in the fortunes of the city was on the point of being its chief. These disaffected citizens, the munāfiqūn, or “hypocrites,” as they are called, continued to be the objects of bitter denunciation in the Qurʾān till near the close of the Prophet’s career. But before the success of Islām they too vanish from the scene.

The first year of Muḥammad’s residence at al-Madīnah was chiefly occupied in building the great mosque [MASJIDU ʾN-NABI], and in providing houses for himself and his followers. In a short time he became the recognised chief of the city. The mosque and the houses were finished within seven months of Muḥammad’s arrival. About the middle of the winter he left the house of Abū Aiyūb, with whom he had been staying, and installed Saudah in her new residence. Shortly afterwards he celebrated his nuptials with ʿĀyishah, who, though she had been three years affianced, was but a girl of ten years.

Thus, at the age of fifty-three, a new phase commenced in the life of Muḥammad. Hitherto limiting himself to a single wife, he had shunned the indulgence, but he now surrounds himself with the cares and discord of polygamy. The unity of his family was now broken, never again to be restored. Thenceforward his love was to be claimed, his attentions shared by a plurality of wives, and his days spent between their houses, for Muḥammad had no separate apartments of his own.

Those Muslims who had left Makkah with the Prophet and settled in al-Madīnah, were now known as the Refugees [MUHAJIRUN] whilst those who embraced the faith at al-Madīnah, were designated the Assistants or Allies [ANSAR]. Both these names in time became titles of distinguished honour.

In the second year of the Ḥijrah, Muḥammad commenced hostilities against the Quraish, and the first pitched battle took place at Badr. With an army of 305 followers, of whom two-thirds were citizens of al-Madīnah, Muḥammad routed a force three times the number. The following graphic description of the battle of Badr is given by Sir William Muir. (New ed. p. 230.)

“The valley of Badr consists of a plain, with steep hills to the north and east; on the south is a low rocky range; and on the west rise a succession of sandy hillocks. A rivulet, rising in the inland mountains, runs through the valley, producing along its course numerous springs, which here and there were dug into cisterns for the accommodation of travellers. At the nearest of these springs, the army of Mahomet halted. Habâl, a citizen of Medîna, advised him to proceed onwards. ‘Let us go,’ he said, ‘to the farthest spring, on the side of the enemy. I know a never-failing fountain of sweet water there; let us make that our reservoir, and destroy the other wells.’ The advice was good. It was at once adopted, and the command of the water thus secured.

“The night was drawing on. So they hastily constructed near the well a hut of palm branches, in which Mahomet and Abu Bakr slept. Sâd ibn Muâdz (Saʿd ibn Muʿāẕ) kept watch by the entrance with his drawn sword. It rained during the night, but more heavily towards the camp of the Coreish. The Moslim army, wearied with its long march, enjoyed sound and refreshing sleep. The dreams of Mahomet turned upon his enemies, and they were pictured to his imagination as a weak and contemptible force.

“In the morning he drew up his little army, and, pointing with an arrow which he held in his hand, arranged the ranks. The previous day he had placed the chief banner, that of the Refugees, in the hands of Musâl, who nobly proved his right to the distinction. The Khazrajite ensign was committed to Hobâb; that of the Bani Aus, to Sâd ibn Muâdz.

“Meanwhile, dissension again broke out in the camp of the Coreish, on the policy of fighting against their kinsmen. Shaiba and Otba (ʿUtbah), two chiefs of rank, influenced, it is said, by their slave Addâs (the same who comforted the Prophet on his flight from Tâyif), strongly urged that the attack should be abandoned. Just then, Omeir, a diviner by arrows, having ridden hastily round the valley, returned to report the result of his reconnaissance. ‘Ye Coreish,’ he said, after telling them his estimate of the enemy’s number, ‘calamities approach you, fraught with destruction. Inevitable death rideth upon the camels of Yathreb (Yas̤rib). It is a people that hath neither defence nor refuge but in their swords. They are dumb as the grave; their tongues they put forth with the serpent’s deadly aim. Not a man of them shall we kill, but in his stead one of ourselves also will be slain; and when there shall have been slaughtered amongst us a number equal unto them, of what avail will life be to us after that?’ These words began to produce a pacific effect, when Abu Jahl, as before, loudly opposed the proposals for peace. Turning to Amir the Hadhramite, he bade him call to mind the blood of his brother slain at Nakhla. The flame was rekindled. Amir threw off his clothes, cast dust upon his body, and began frantically to cry aloud his brother’s name. The deceased had been a confederate of the family of Shaiba and Otba (ʿUtbah). Their pride and honour were affected. They saw that thoughts of peace must now be scattered to the winds; and they resolved signally to vindicate themselves from the imputation of cowardice cast on them by Abu Jahl. The army was drawn up in line. The three standards for the centre and wings were borne, according to ancient privilege, by members of the house of Abd al Dar. They moved forward but slowly over the intervening sand-hills, which the rain had made heavy and fatiguing. The same cause, acting with less intensity, had rendered the ground in front of Mahomet lighter and more firm to walk upon. The Coreish laboured under another disadvantage; they had the rising sun before them, while the army of Medîna faced the west.

“Mahomet had barely arrayed his line of battle, when the advanced column of the enemy was discerned over the rising sands in front. Their greatly superior numbers were concealed by the fall of the ground behind, and this imparted confidence to the Moslems. But Mahomet was fully alive to the critical position. The fate of Islam hung upon the issue of the approaching battle. Followed by Abu Bakr, he hastened for a moment into the little hut, and raising his hands, poured forth these earnest petitions, ‘O Lord, I beseech Thee, forget not Thy promise of assistance and of victory. O Lord! if this little band be vanquished, idolatry will prevail, and the pure worship of thee cease from off the earth!’ ‘The Lord,’ said Abu Bakr, comforting him, ‘will surely come to thine aid, and will lighten thy countenance with the joy of victory.’

“The time for action had arrived. Mahomet again came forth. The enemy was already close; but the army of Medîna remained still. Mahomet had no cavalry to cover an advance, and before superior numbers he must keep close his ranks. Accordingly the Prophet had strictly forbidden his followers to stir till he should give the order for advance; only they were to check any flank movement of the Coreish by the discharge of arrows. The cistern was guarded as their palladium. Certain desperate warriors of the Coreish swore that they would drink water from it, destroy it, or perish in the attempt. Scarcely one returned from the rash enterprise. With signal gallantry, Aswad advanced close to the brink, when a blow from Hamza’s sword fell upon his leg, and nearly severed it from his body. Still defending himself, he crawled inwards and made good his vow; for he drank of the water, and with his remaining leg demolished part of the cistern before the sword of Hamza put an end to his life.

“Already, after the fashion of Arabian warfare, single combats had been fought at various points, when the two brothers Shaiba and Otba, and Walîd the son of Otba, still smarting from the words of Abu Jahl, advanced into the space between the armies, and defied three champions from the army of Mahomet to meet them singly. Three citizens of Medîna stepped forward; but Mahomet, unwilling either that the glory or the burden of the opening conflict should rest with his allies, called them back; and, turning to his kinsmen said: ‘Ye sons of Hâshim! arise and fight, according to your right.’ Then Obeida (ʿUbaidah), Hamza, and Ali, the uncle and cousins of the Prophet, went forth. Hamza wore an ostrich feather in his breast, and a white plume distinguished the helmet of Ali. But their features were hid by their armour. Otba, therefore, not knowing who his opponents might be, cried aloud, ‘Speak, that we may recognise you! If ye be equals, we shall fight with you.’ Hamza answered, ‘I am the son of Abd al Muttalib—Hamza, the Lion of God, and the Lion of His Prophet.’ ‘A worthy foe,’ exclaimed Otba; ‘but who are these others with thee?’ Hamza repeated their names. Otba replied, ‘Meet foes, every one!’

“Then Otba called to his son Walîd, ‘Arise and fight.’ So Walîd stepped forth and Ali came out against him. They were the youngest of the six. The combat was short; Walîd fell mortally wounded by the sword of Ali. Eager to avenge his son’s death, Otba hastened forward, and Hamza advanced to meet him. The swords gleamed quick, and again the Coreishite warrior was slain by the Moslim lion. Shaiba alone remained of the three champions of Mecca; and Obeida, the veteran of the Moslems, threescore years and five, now drew near to fight with him. Both being well advanced in years, the conflict was less decisive than before. At last, Shaiba dealt a sword-cut on the leg of Obeida with such force as to sever the tendon, and bring him to the ground. Seeing this, Hamza and Ali both rushed on Shaiba and despatched him. Obeida survived but for a few days, and was buried on the march back at Safra.

“The fate of their champions was ominous for the Coreish, and their spirits sank. The ranks began to close, with the battle-cry on the Moslem side of, ‘Ye conquerors, strike!’ and the fighting became general. But there were still many of those scenes of individual bravery which characterise the irregular warfare of Asiatic armies, and often impart to them a Homeric interest. Prodigies of valour were exhibited on both sides; but the army of the Faithful was borne forward by an enthusiasm which the half-hearted Coreish were unable to withstand.

“What part Mahomet himself took in the battle is not clear. Some traditions represent him moving along the ranks with a drawn sword. It is more likely (according to others) that he contented himself with inciting his followers by the promise of divine assistance, and by holding out the prospect of Paradise to those who fell. The spirit of Omeir, a lad of but sixteen years, was kindled within him as he listened to the Prophet’s words. Tradition delights to tell of the ardour with which the stripling threw away a handful of dates which he was eating. ‘Is it these,’ he exclaimed, ‘that hold me back from Paradise? Verily I will taste no more of them until I meet my Lord!’ With such words, he drew his sword, and, casting himself upon the enemy, soon obtained the fate he coveted.

“It was a stormy wintry day. A piercing blast swept across the valley. ‘That,’ said Mahomet, ‘is Gabriel with a thousand angels flying as a whirlwind at our foe.’ Another, and yet another blast:—it was Michael, and after him, Seraphîl, each with a like angelic troop. The battle raged. The Prophet stooped, and lifting a handful of gravel, cast it towards the Coreish, and cried, ‘Confusion seize their faces!’ The action was well timed. The line of the Coreish began to waver. Their movements were impeded by the heavy sands on which they stood; and, when the ranks gave way, their numbers added but confusion. The Moslems followed eagerly on their retreating steps, slaying or taking captive all that fell within their reach. Retreat soon turned into ignominious flight. The Coreish, in their haste to escape, cast away their armour and abandoned their beasts of burden with the camp and equipage. Forty-nine were killed, and about the same number taken prisoners. Mahomet lost only fourteen, of whom eight were citizens of Medîna, and six Refugees.

“Many of the principal men of the Coreish, and some of Mahomet’s bitterest opponents, were slain. Chief amongst these was Abu Jahl. Muâdz brought him to the ground by a blow which cut his leg in two. Muâdz, in his turn, was attacked by Ikrima (ʿIkrimah), the son of Abu Jahl, and his arm nearly severed from his shoulder. As the mutilated limb hanging by the skin impeded his action, Muâdz put his foot upon it, pulled it off, and went on his way fighting. Such were the heroes of Bedr. Abu Jahl was yet breathing when Abdallah, Mahomet’s servant, ran up, and cutting off his head, carried it to his master. ‘The head of the enemy of God!’ exclaimed Mahomet. ‘God! There is none other God but He!’ ‘There is no other!’ responded Abdallah, as he cast the bloody head at the Prophet’s feet. ‘It is more acceptable to me,’ cried Mahomet, ‘than the choicest camel in all Arabia.’

“But there were others whose death caused no gratification to Mahomet. Abdul Bokhtari had shown him special kindness at the time when he was shut up in the quarter of Abu Tâlib; Mahomet, mindful of this favour, had commanded that he should not be harmed. Abdul Bokhtari had a companion seated on his camel behind him. A warrior, riding up, told him of the quarter given by Mahomet; but added, ‘I cannot spare the man behind thee.’ ‘The women of Mecca,’ Abdul Bokhtari exclaimed, ‘shall never say that I abandoned my comrade through love of life. Do thy work upon us.’ So they were killed, both he and his companion.

“After the battle was over, some of the prisoners were cruelly put to death. The following incident illustrates the savage spirit already characteristic of the faith. Omeya ibn Khalf and his son were unable to escape with the fugitive Coreish, and, seeing Abdal Rahmân pass, implored that he would make them his prisoners. Abdal Rahmân, mindful of an ancient friendship, cast away the plunder he was carrying, and, making both his prisoners, was proceeding with them to the Moslim camp. As the party passed, Bilâl espied his old enemy—for Omeya had used to persecute him—and he screamed aloud, ‘Slay him. This man is the head of the unbelievers. I am lost, I am lost, if he lives!’ From all sides the infuriated soldiers, hearing Bilâl’s appeal, poured in upon the wretched captives; and Abdal Rahmân, finding resistance impossible, bade them save their lives as best they could. Defence was vain; and the two prisoners were immediately cut in pieces.

“When the enemy had disappeared, the army of Medîna was for some time engaged in gathering the spoil. Every man was allowed to retain the plunder of anyone whom he himself had slain. The rest was thrown into a common stock. The booty consisted of one hundred and fifteen camels, fourteen horses, carpets and other articles of fine leather, vestments, and much equipage and armour. A diversity of opinion arose about the distribution. Those who had hotly pursued the enemy and exposed their lives in securing the spoil, claimed the whole, or at the least a superior portion; while such as had remained behind upon the field of battle for the safety of the Prophet and of the camp, urged that they had equally with the others fulfilled the part assigned to them, and that, having been restrained by duty from the pursuit, they were entitled to a full share of the prey. The contention was so sharp, that Mahomet interposed with a message from heaven, and assumed possession of the whole booty. It was God who had given the victory, and to God the spoil belonged: ‘They will ask thee concerning the prey. Say, the prey is God’s and his Prophet’s. Wherefore fear God, and dispose of the matter rightly among yourselves; and be obedient unto God and His Prophet, if ye be true Believers’—and so on in the same strain. Shortly afterwards, the following ordinance, which the Mussulman law of prize recognises to the present day, was given forth: ‘And know that whatsoever thing ye plunder, verily one fifth thereof is for God and for the Prophet, and for him that is of kin (unto the Prophet), and for the orphans, and the poor, and the wayfarer—if ye be they that believe in God, and in that which We sent down to our Servant on the Day of Discrimination, the day on which the two armies met; and God is over all things powerful.’ (See Qurʾān, Sūrah viii.)

“In accordance with the divine command, the booty was gathered together on the field, and placed under a special officer, a citizen of Medîna. The next day it was divided, near Safra, in equal allotments, among the whole army, after the Prophet’s fifth had been set apart. All shared alike, excepting that the horsemen received each two extra portions for their horses. To the lot of every man fell a camel, with its gear; or two camels unaccoutred; or a leathern couch, or some such equivalent. Mahomet obtained the famous camel of Abu Jahl, and a sword known by the name of Dzul Ficâr (Ẕū ʾl-Fiqār). The sword was selected by him beyond his share, according to a custom which allowed him, in virtue of the prophetic dignity, to choose from the booty, before division, whatever thing might please him most.

“The sun was now declining, so they hastily dug a pit on the battle-field, and cast the enemy’s dead into it. Mahomet looked on, as the bodies were brought up and cast in. Abu Bakr, too, stood by, and, examining their features, called aloud their names. ‘Otba! Shaiba! Omeyya! Abu Jahl!’ exclaimed Mahomet, as one by one the corpses were, without ceremony, thrown into the common grave. ‘Have ye now found that which your Lord promised you true? What my Lord promised me, that verily have I found to be true. Woe unto this people! Ye have rejected me, your Prophet! Ye cast me forth, and others gave me refuge; ye fought against me, and others came to my help!’ ‘O Prophet!’ said the bystanders, ‘dost thou speak unto the dead?’ ‘Yea, verily,’ replied Mahomet, ‘for they well know that the promise of their Lord unto them hath fully come to pass.’

“At the moment when the corpse of Otba was tossed into a pit, a look of distress overcast the countenance of his son, Abu Hodzeifa (Abū Ḥuẕaifah). Mahomet turned kindly to him, and said, ‘Perhaps thou art distressed for thy father’s fate?’ ‘Not so, O Prophet of the Lord! I do not doubt the justice of my father’s fate; but I knew well his wise and generous heart, and I had trusted that the Lord would have led him to the faith. But now that I see him slain, and my hope destroyed, it is for that I grieve.’ So the Prophet comforted Abu Hodzeifa, and blessed him, and said, ‘It is well.’

“The army of Medîna, carrying their dead and wounded, retired in the evening to the valley of Otheil, several miles from Bedr; and there Mahomet passed the night. On the morrow the prisoners were brought up before him. As he scrutinised each, his eye fell fiercely on Nadhr, son of Hârish (al-Naẓr ibn al-Ḥāris̤). ‘There was death in that glance,’ whispered Nadhr, trembling, to a bystander. ‘Not so,’ replied the other, ‘it is but thine own imagination.’ The unfortunate prisoner thought otherwise, and besought Musâb to intercede for him. Musâb reminded him that he had denied the faith and persecuted Believers. ‘Ah!’ said Nadhr, ‘had the Coreish made thee a prisoner, they would never have put thee to death!’ ‘Even were it so,’ Musâb scornfully replied, ‘I am not as thou art; Islâm hath rent all bonds asunder.’ Micdâd, the captor, fearing lest the prisoner, and with him the chance of a rich ransom, was about to slip from his hands, cried out, ‘The prisoner is mine!’ But at this moment the command to ‘Strike off his head!’ was interposed by Mahomet, who had been watching what passed. ‘And, O Lord!’ he added, ‘do thou of thy bounty grant unto Micdâd a better prey than this.’ Nadhr was forthwith beheaded by Ali.

“Two days afterwards, about half-way to Medîna, Ocba, another prisoner, was ordered out for execution. He ventured to expostulate and demand why he should be treated more rigorously than the other captives. ‘Because of thy enmity to God and to His Prophet,’ replied Mahomet. ‘And my little girl!’ cried Ocba, in the bitterness of his soul, ‘who will take care of her?’ ‘Hell-fire!’ exclaimed the heartless conqueror, and on the instant his victim was hewn to the ground. ‘Wretch that thou wast!’ continued Mahomet, ‘and persecutor! unbeliever in God, in His Prophet, and in His Book! I give thanks unto the Lord that hath slain thee, and comforted mine eyes thereby.’ ”

Such was the battle of Badr. Insignificant in numbers, but most memorable in the annals of Islām on account of its important results. It was at Badr that “the Prophet” first drew the sword in the assertion of his claim as a commissioned apostle of the Most High God, and the victory is attributed in the Qurʾān to the direct intervention of the Almighty. See Sūrah iii. 11:—

“Ye have already had a sign in the meeting of the two hosts. The one host fought in the cause of God, and the other was infidel. To their own eye-sight, the infidels saw you twice as many as themselves: And God aided with His succour whom He would: And in this truly was a lesson for men endued with discernment.”

Al-Baiẓāwī, the commentator, says 3,000 angels fought for the Muslims on the battle-field of Badr.

Muḥammad was received in triumph at al-Madīnah, but his joy was interrupted by the death of his daughter Ruqaiyah, the divorced wife of ʿUtbah ibn Lahab, but who had been afterwards married to Us̤mān ibn ʿAffān. On his return to al-Madīnah (A.H. 3), Muḥammad found his position much strengthened, and from this time the Qurʾān assumes a rude dictatorial tone. He who at one time only spoke as a searcher after truth, now demands unhesitating obedience from the whole country of Arabia.

The Jews, however, were still unimpressed and were slow to acknowledge Muḥammad, although he claimed to be but the teacher of the creed of Abraham. Muḥammad sought but a plausible excuse for a rupture with the sons of Israel, and an opportunity soon presented itself. A Muslim girl was insulted by a youth of a Jewish tribe, and, taking advantage of the circumstance, the whole tribe was attacked, proscribed, and banished. Their houses and lands were confiscated and divided amongst the Faithful. In the course of the same year, Kaʿb ibn al-Ashraf, a Jew, was assassinated because he annoyed the Muslims with his verses. About this time, Muḥammad married his fourth wife, Ḥafṣah, the daughter of ʿUmar the celebrated K͟halīfah. In the early part of the year, al-Ḥasan, the son of Fāt̤imah and ʿAlī, was born.

The tidings of the defeat at Badr aroused the bitterest feelings of the Quraish. They advanced upon al-Madīnah 3,000 strong. In ten days the Makkan army reached Ẕū ʾl-ḥalfah, four miles south of al-Madīnah, and then moving northwards, they encamped at Uḥud, an isolated mountain three miles north-east of the city. Muḥammad, clad in armour, led out his army of 1,000 men, and halted for the night; and at early dawn advanced on Uḥud. He was soon abandoned by ʿAbdu ʾllāh, the chief of the Hypocrites [MUNAFIQUN] with 300 of his followers.

K͟hālid ibn al-Walīd, a name afterwards famous in Muslim history, commanding the right wing of the Quraish, attacked the Muslims, and raised the cry, “Muḥammad is slain!” The confusion of the Faithful was great, and defied all the efforts of Muḥammad to rally them. The Prophet himself was wounded in the face by two arrows. The Muslims were completely defeated, but the retreat was ably conducted by Abū Bakr, ʿUmar, and ʿUs̤mān, and the victorious Quraish did not attempt a pursuit.

Abū ʾl-Fidāʾ gives the following quaint account of the battle:—

“When the two armies engaged and approached each other, Hind, daughter of ʿUtbāh, the wife of Abū Sufyān, arose with the women that were with her, and they beat upon the tabors as they followed the men to battle. And Hind said, ‘Well done, ye sons of ʿAbdu ʾd-Dār, well done! Strike ye with every weapon ye possess.’ And Ḥamzah, the Prophet’s uncle, fought most valiantly that day; and he slew Artah, the standard-bearer of the unbelievers.”

“And Abū Kamiyah, the Lais̤ite slew Muṣʿab, the standard-bearer of the Muslims, and when Muṣʿab was slain, the Prophet gave the standard of Islām to ʿAlī, the son of Abū T̤ālib. Now, the archers were too eager for the spoil, and they left the position in which Muḥammad had posted them. And K͟hālid, the leader of the unbelievers, came with the cavalry to the rear of the Muslims, and raised a cry that Muḥammad was slain. So the Muslims were overcome by the unbelievers, and the Quraish gained the victory. The number of martyrs in the cause of Islām who fell at Uḥud was seventy. The number of the slain amongst the unbelievers was twenty-two. The enemy even struck Muḥammad. Their stones hit him and he fell. His foreteeth were struck out, and he was wounded in the face. Two nails of the helmet entered the face of Muḥammad. And Abū ʿUbaidah pulled one of the nails out of his face and one tooth dropped out; and he pulled out another nail and another tooth dropped out. And when Abū ʿUbaidah was taking out the teeth, Sunān Abū Saʿīd sucked the blood from Muḥammad’s face and swallowed it. Upon which the Prophet said, ‘Whosoever toucheth my blood, him shall the fire of hell never touch.’

“Then Hind and her companions fell on the Muslims who were slain, and cut off their noses and their ears. And Hind cut a slice from Ḥamzah’s liver and ate it. Then Abū Sufyān, the husband of Hind, stuck his spear into Ḥamzah’s body, and cried with a loud voice, ‘The fortunes of war are uncertain! The day of Uḥud for the day of Badr! Let the idol of Hubal be exalted!’ Then Muḥammad sought for the body of his uncle, and he found it lying on the ground with the belly ripped open and the ears and nose cut off. And the Prophet said, ‘God hath revealed to me concerning the Quraish. Verily, retaliation shall be made on thirty of them for the death of Ḥamzah, and verily Ḥamzah is now in the seventh heaven.’ Then Muḥammad prayed for Ḥamzah, and went to each of the bodies of the slain and prayed for them. Some of the Muslims wanted to carry their dead to al-Madīnah, but the Prophet said, ‘Bury them where they fell.’ ”

There is an allusion to the defeat at Uḥud in the third Sūrah of the Qurʾān: “What befell you when the two armies met by God’s permission. Count not those who are killed in the way of God as dead. They are living with their Lord.”

The fourth year of the Hijrah (A.D. 625) opened with the despatch of 500 Muslims against the tribe of Asd, who were making preparations to invade al-Madīnah. The enemy fled at the appearance of the Muslim troops, and the place was sacked.

During this year there were several expeditions. Amongst others, one against the Jewish tribe Banū Naẓīr, whose homes were spoiled, and the people banished, because they would not accept the mission of the “Apostle of God.” There is an allusion to this event in the second Sūrah of the Qurʾān. A second expedition was also made to Badr, but there was no fighting, although the event is known as the second battle of Badr; for after waiting eight days for an engagement with the Quraish, the Muslims returned in triumph to al-Madīnah.

It was about this time that Muḥammad made two additions to his ḥaram, by marrying Zainab, the widow of ʿUbaidah, who fell at Badr, as his fifth wife, and Ummu Salimah, the widow of Abū Salimah, who fell at the battle of Uḥud, for his sixth; thus exceeding the legal number of four wives, to which he restricted his followers.

Muḥammad being threatened by combined contingents of the Quraish, the Banū G͟hat̤fān and the Jewish tribes of Naẓīr and Quraiz̤ah, who advanced upon al-Madīnah with an army of 12,000 men, he, at the advice of a Persian named Salmān, caused a trench to be dug round the city, and then issued forth to defend it at the head of 3,000 Muslims. Both sides remained inactive for nearly a month, when, at last, the Quraish and their allies broke up the siege. This engagement is known in Muslim history as G͟hazwatu ʾl-K͟handaq, or the “Battle of the Ditch.” Special reference is made to this event in the Qurʾān, Sūrah xxxiii. 9, where the success of the Muslims is attributed to the intervention of God, “who sent a blast and a host that were not seen.”

The next expedition was against the Jewish tribe, the Banū Quraiz̤ah, when Muḥammad led an army of three thousand men with thirty-six horse. The Jews sustained a siege of some twenty-five days, but were at last compelled to capitulate. Their fate was left to the decision of the Prophet’s companion, Saʿd, whose sentence was that the male captives should be slain, the female captives and children sold into slavery, and the spoils divided amongst the army. The Prophet commended the cruel judgment of Saʿd, as a decision according to the judgment of God, given on high from the seven heavens; and about 700 captives were deliberately beheaded, in parties in the presence of Muḥammad. One of the female captives, Rīḥānah, whose husband and male relatives had perished in the massacre, the Prophet reserved for himself. This cruel massacre of the Banū Quraiz̤ah is commended in the XXXIIIrd Sūrah of the Qurʾān, verse 25.

Before the close of this year, Muḥammad married his cousin Zainab. The Prophet had previously given her in marriage to Zaid ibn Ḥāris̤ah, his freed man and adopted son. But upon visiting the house of Zaid, and not finding him at home, the Prophet accidentally cast his eyes on Zainab, and was so smitten with her beauty, that he exclaimed, “Praise belongeth unto God, who turneth the hearts of men even as He will.” Zainab saw that she had made an impression on the Prophet’s heart, and when her husband returned, recounted the circumstances to him. Zaid determined to part with her in favour of his friend and benefactor, and offered to divorce her. But the relations of the Arabs to their adopted children were so strict, that nothing but a revelation from heaven could settle the difficulty. It was to meet this domestic emergency that the Prophet produced the following verses of the Qurʾān, Sūrah xxxiii. 36–38, to sanction his own heart’s desire:—

“And it is not for a believer, man or woman, to have any choice in their affairs, when God and His Apostle have decreed a matter: and whoever disobeyeth God and His Apostle, erreth with palpable error. And, remember, when thou saidst to him unto whom God had shown favour, and to whom thou also hadst shown favour, ‘Keep thy wife to thyself, and fear God;’ and thou didst hide in thy mind what God would bring to light, and thou didst fear man; but more right had it been to fear God. And when Zaid had settled concerning her to divorce her, we married her to thee, that it might not be a crime in the faithful to marry the wives of their adopted sons, when they have settled the affair concerning them. And the behest of God is to be performed. No blame attacheth to the Prophet where God hath given him a permission. Such was the way of God with those prophets who flourished before thee.”

The scandal of the marriage was removed by the pretended revelation, and according to the Traditions, Zainab used to vaunt herself as the one wife of the Prophet’s ḥarīm who had been given in marriage by God Himself. At all events, she exchanged a husband who had a pug nose and was short and ill-favoured for one who was the leading chief of Arabia!

Muḥammad’s numerous marriages (four being the legal number—Sūrah iv. 3) were likely to excite the jealousy and opposition of less favoured Muslims, but an additional chapter of the Qurʾān avoided complications, and allowed the “Prophet of God” greater liberty in this respect! See Sūrah xxxiii. 49: “O Prophet, we have allowed thee thy wives whom thou hast dowered, and the slaves whom thy right hand possesseth … and any believing woman who has given herself up to the Prophet, if the Prophet desireth to wed her; a privilege for thee above the rest of the Faithful.”

About this time certain injunctions were issued for the seclusion of women, and for the regulation of social and domestic intercourse (Sūrah xxv.). These rules were made more stringent in the case of the Prophet’s own wives, who, in the case of incontinence, are threatened with double punishment (Sūrah xxxiii.). The jealousy of the Prophet, who was now getting old, was allayed by the Divine command, that his wives should, in the event of his death, never marry again. The obligation devolving on believers, to consort equally with their several wives, was also relaxed specially in the Prophet’s favour (Sūrah xlviii.).

In the sixth year of the Hijrah several military expeditions were made. Amongst others, to the Banū Quraiz̤ah and the Banū Laḥyān. On his return from the last expedition Muḥammad stopped for a few moments to visit the grave of his mother, and desired to pray for her soul. But a verse from the Qurʾān, alleged to have been revealed on this occasion, forbade his praying for the forgiveness of one who died an infidel. Sūrah ix. 114, 115:—

“It is not for the Prophet or the Faithful to pray for the forgiveness of those, even though they be of kin, who associate other beings with God, after it hath been made clear to them that they are to be the inmates of Hell. For neither did Abraham ask forgiveness for his father, but in pursuance of a promise which he had promised to him: but when it was shown him that he was an enemy to God, he declared himself clear of him. Yet Abraham was pitiful, kind.”

Muḥammad marched in person against the Banū ʾl-Muṣt̤aliq, and completely surprised and routed them. One thousand camels, five thousand sheep, and a great many women and children, became the spoil of the Muslims. One of the female captives, named Juwairīyah, fell to the lot of S̤ābit ibn Qais, who, as a meritorious act, offered to release her and give her her liberty, for a certain sum. On applying to Muḥammad to help her with the money to pay the ransom, he readily agreed to do so, and when she was freed he married her. Thereupon, the Muslims recognised the Banū ʾl-Muṣt̤aliq as allies. Juwairīyah survived Muḥammad forty-five years.