VOL 6.4

Armiya and Barkhiya went away taking Ma'add with them, and

when the warfare had died down they took him back to Mecca.

Ma'add then found that his brothers and uncles who were descended

from 'Adnan had joined the peoples of the Yemen and

had intermarried with them; the Yemenites were sympathetic to

them because they were descendants of Jurhum. They quote the

following verses in proof of the above story:

We left our brothers, al-Dith and 'Akk

on their way to Samran, and they departed quickly.

They were of the Banu 'Adnan,

but they lost this descent irrevocably among themselves.

' Adnan 18

Ma'add was the son of 'Adnan. 'Adnan had two paternal half

brothers, one called Nabt and the other 'Amr. The genealogists

do not differ concerning the descent of our Prophet Muhammad

as far as Ma'add b. 'Adnan, which is as I have expounded it.

Yunus b. 'Abd al-Ala— Ibn Wahb — Ibn Lahl'ah— Abu al-Aswad

and others: The lineage of the Messenger of God is as follows;

Muhammad b. 'Abdallah b. 'Abd al-Muttalib b. Hashim b. 'Abd

Manaf b. Qusayy b. Kilab b. Murrah b. KaT) b. Lu'ayy b. Ghalib b.

Fihr b. Malik b. al-Nadr b.Kinanah b. Khuzaymah b. Mudrikah b.

Ilyas b. Mudar b. Nizar b. Ma'add b. 'Adnan b. Udad; they differ

concerning what comes after that.

48. According to the standard genealogical system, 'Adnan is the ancestor of all

the so-called northern Arabs. In the list of his sons above, 'Ayy of the text has been

corrected to 'Akk.

38 Muhammad at Mecca

' Adrian's Descent from Ishmael, Abraham, and Adam 49

Al-Zubayr b. Bakkar— Yahya b. al-Miqdad al-Zam'I— his paternal

uncle Musa b. Ya'qub b. 'Abdallah b. Wahb b. Zam'ah— his maternal

aunt Umm Salamah, the wife of the Prophet: I heard the

Messenger of God say, "Ma'add b. 'Adnan b. Udad b. Zand b. Yara

b. A'raq al-Thara." Umm Salamah: Zand is al-Hamaysa', Yara is

Nabt and A'raq al-Thara is Ishmael, son of Abraham.

Al-Harith— Muhammad b. Sa'd— Hisham b. Muhammad—

Muhammad b. 'Abd al-Rahman al - 'Ajlani— Musa b. Ya'qub al-

Zam'i — his paternal aunt — her grandmother Bint al-Miqdad b. al-

Aswad al-Bahrani: The Messenger of God said, "Ma'add b. 'Adnan

b. Udad b. Yara b. A'raq al-Thara ." 50

Ibn Humayd — Salamah b. al-Fadl — Ibn Ishaq: 'Adnan, as some

genealogists assert, was the son of Udad b. Muqawwam b. Nahur

[hi 4] b. Tayrah b. Ya'rub b. Yashjub b. Nabit b. Isma'il (Ishmael) b.

Ibrahim (Abraham), while others say: 'Adnan b. Udad b. Aytahab

b. Ayyub b. Qaydhar b. Isma'il (Ishmael) b. Ibrahim (Abraham),

Qusayy b. Kilab traces his descent back to Qaydhar in his poetry.

Yet other genealogists say: 'Adnan b. Mayda' b. Mani' b. Udad b.

KaT? b. Yashjub b. Ya'rub b. al-Hamaysa' b. Qaydhar b. Isma'il (Ishmael)

b. Ibrahim (Abraham). These differences arise because it is

an old science, taken from the people of the first Book (the Old

Testament).

Al-Harith — Muhammad b. Sa'd— Hisham (al-Kalbi): Someone

told me on the authority of my father, Muhammad b. al-Sa'ib al-

Kalbi, although I did not hear this from him myself, that he traced

the descent as follows; Ma'add b. 'Adnan b. Udad b. al-Hamaysa'

b. Salaman b. 'Aws b. Buz b. Qamwal b. Ubayy b. al-'Awwam b.

49. It is obvious to modern scholars that the lists of names between 'Adnan

and Adam have somehow or other been derived from those in the Bible.

Most early Muslim scholars, however, were unwilling to admit to a Biblical

source, and they often mentioned only their immediate source (as did Ibn

Ishaq in the standard text). In the material given by Tabari we find both

acknowledgement of the Biblical source and an attempt to provide an Arab source.

50. Ibn Sa'd, Tabaqat, 1:28.6-9; l ater passages are from 1:28.20-29.19. There is

no certainty about the vocalization of many of the names in the following lists.

We have usually followed those given in the Leiden edition, which are partly

based on the Hebrew parallels. It is also to be remembered that in some cases the

names may be derived from a Syriac translation of the Hebrew. We have not called

special attention to the Biblical parallels. In some names the diacritical points,

and, therefore, the consonants, are uncertain.

Lineage of the Messenger of God

39

Nashid b. Haza b. Bildas b. Yidlaf b. Tabakh b. Jaham b. Tahash b.

Makha b. 'Ayfa b. 'Abqar b. Ubayd b. al-Da'a b. Hamdan b. Sanbar [1115]

b. Yathribi b. Yahzan b. Yalhan b. Ar'awa b. 'Ayfa b. Dayshan b.

Isar b. Aqnad b. Ayham b. Muqsir b. Nahath b. Rizah b. Shamma

b. Mizza b. 'Aws b. 'Arram b. Qaydhar b. Ismail (Ishmael) b.

Ibrahim (Abraham).

Al-Harith — Muhammad b. Sa'd — Hisham b. Muhammad (al-

Kalbi): There was a man from Tadmur whose patronymic (kunyah )

was Abu Ya'qub. He was one of the children of Israel who

had become a Muslim, who had read in their books and become

deeply learned. He said that Barukh b. Nariyya, 51 a scribe from Urmiya,

had established the lineage of Ma'add b. 'Adnan with him

and had set it down in his writings. It was well known among the

learned men of the People of the Book and set down in their books.

It was close to the names given above, and perhaps the difference

between them was owing to the language, since these names had

been transliterated from the Hebrew.

Al-Harith — Muhammad b. Sa'd: Hisham (al-Kalbl) recited to me

the following line of verse, which was related to him by his father:

I belong to no tribe which brought me up

but that in which the descendants of Qaydhar and

al-Nablt took root.

By al-Nablt, he meant Nabt b. Ismail (Ishmael).

Al-Zubayr b. Bakkar — Umar b. Abl Bakr al-Mu'ammall —

Zakariyya' b. Isa — Ibn Shihab: Ma'add b. 'Adnan b. Udad b. al-

Hamaysa' b. Ashub b. Nabt b. Qaydhar b. Ismail (Ishmael).

Others relate: Ma'add b. 'Adnan b. Udad b. Umayn b. Shajab

b. Tha'labah b. 'Atr b. Yarbah b. Muhallam b. al-'Awwam b.

Muhtamil b. Ra'imah b. al-'Ayqan b. 'Allah b. al-Shahdud b. al- [1117]

Zarib b. 'Abqar b. Ibrahim (Abraham) b. Ismail b. Yazan b. A'wa)

b. al-Mut'im b. al-Tamh b. al-Qasur b. 'Anud b. Da'da' b. Mahmud

b. al-Za'id b. Nadwan b. Atamah b. Daws b. Hisn b. al-Nizal b. al-

Qumayr b. al-Mushajjir b. Mu'damir b. Sayfl b. Nabt b. Qaydhar

b. Ismail (Ishmael) b. Ibrahim (Abraham), the Friend of the Compassionate.

Still others: Ma'add b. 'Adnan b. Udad b. Zayd b. Yaqdir b.

51. Baruch son of Neraiah was the secretary of Jeremiah.

40 Muhammad at Mecca

Yaqdum b. Hamaysa' b. Nabt b. Qaydhar b. Isma'Il (Ishmael) b.

Ibrahim (Abraham).

Others: Ma'add b. 'Adnan b. Udad b. al-Hamaysa' b. Nabt b.

Salman, who is Salaman, b. Hamal b. Nabt b. Qaydhar b. Isma'Il

(Ishmael) b. Ibrahim (Abraham).

Others: Ma add b. 'Adnan b. Udad b. al-Muqawwam b. Nahur

b. Mishrah b. Yashjub b. Malik b. Ayman b. al-Nablt b. Qaydhar

[1118] b. Isma'Il (Ishmael) b. Ibrahim (Abraham).

Others: Ma'add b. 'Adnan b. Udd b. Udad b. al-Hamaysa' b.

Ashub b. Sa'd b. Yarbah b. Nadir b. Humayl b. Munahhim b. Lafath

b. al-Sabuh b. Kinanah b. al-'Awwam b. Nabt b. Qaydar b. Isma'Il

(Ishmael).

A certain genealogist told me that he had found that some Arab

scholars had memorized forty ancestors of Ma'add as far as Isma'Il

(Ishmael) in Arabic, quoting Arabic verses as evidence for this, and

that he had collated the names they gave with what the People

of the Book say and had found that the number agreed but that

the actual names differed. He dictated these names to me and I

wrote them down. They are as follows; Ma'add b. 'Adnan b. Udad

b. Hamaysa' (Hamaysa' is Salman, who is Umayn) b. Hamayta'

(who is Hamayda', who is al-Shajab) b. Salaman (who is Munjir

Nablt, so called, he claimed, because he fed the Arabs on milk

and flour anjara, as the people lived well in his time. He quoted

as evidence for this, the verse of Qa'nab b. 'Attab al-Riyahl:

[1119] Tayy calls upon me, but Tayy is distant,

and reminds me of the baludh 52 of the times of Nablt.)

Nablt b. 'Aws (he is Tha'labah, to whom the Tha'labls' descent

is traced back) b. Bura (who is Buz, who is 'Atr al-'Ata'ir, the first

person to institute the custom of the ' atirah 53 for the Arabs) b.

Shuha (who is Sa'd Rajab, the first person to institute the custom

of the rajabiyyah for the Arabs) b. Ya'mana (who is Qamwal, who

is Yarbah al-Nasib, who lived in the time of Sulayman b. Dawud

52. A sweetmeat, possibly a kind of blancmange, prepared from starch or flour,

water, and honey, more usually faludh or faludhaj in Arabic. The word is originally

Persian, paluda.

53. A sacrificial lamb; the rajabiyyah mentioned below was a sheep or goat

sacrificed by the Arabs in the month of Rajab in the Jahiliyyah. The practice was

forbidden in Islamic times. See Lane, p. 1034.

Lineage of the Messenger of God

4i

the prophet) b. Kasdana (who is Muhallam Dhu al-'Ayn) b. Hazana

(who is al-'Awwam) b. Bildasa (who is al-Muhtamil) b. Badlana

(who is Yidlaf, who is Ra'imah) b. Tahba (who is Tahab who is al-

'Ayqan) b. Jahma (who is Jaham, who is 'Allah) b. Mahsha (who is

Tahash. who is al-Shahdudj b. Ma'jala (who is Makha, who is al-

Zarib Khatim al-Nar b. 'Aqara (who is 'Afa, who is 'Abqar, the father

of the Jinn, to whom the garden of Abqar is ascribed) b. 'Aqara

(who is 'Aqir, who is Ibrahim Jami' al-Shaml. He was called Jami'

al-Shaml (settler of affairs) because every fearful person felt safe

in his reign; he returned every outcast, and he attempted to make

peace between all men) b. Banda'a (who is al-Da'a, who is Ismail

Dhu al-Matabikh (master of the kitchens), who was so called because

during his reign he established a house for guests in every

town of the Arabs) b. Abdal (who is Ubayd, who is Yazan al-

Ta"an, the first man to fight with lances, which are ascribed to

him) b. Hamada (who is Hamdan, who is Ismail Dhu al-A'waj; al-

A'waj was his horse, and the A'waji breed of horses is ascribed to

him) b. Bashmani (who is Yashbin, who is al-Mut'im fi al-Mahl)

b. BathranI (who is Bathram, who is al-Tamh) b. Bahrani (who is

Yahzan, who is al-Qasur) b. Yalhani (who is Yalhan, who is al-

'Anud) b. Ra'wani (who is Ra'wa, who is al-Da'da f ) b. 'Aqara (who [n 21]

is 'Aqir) b. Dasan, (who is al-Za'id) b. 'Asar (who is 'Asir, who is

al-Naydawan Dhu al-Andiyah; in his reign the sons of al-Qadhur

(who is al-Qadur) were dispersed and the kingship departed from

the descendants of al-Nabit b. al-Qadur and passed to the sons of

Jawan b. al-Qadur, and then returned to them again) b. Qanadi

(who is Qanar, who is Ayyamah) b. Thamar (who is BahamI, who

is Daws al-ltq. Daws who, he asserts, was the most beautiful of

mankind in his time. There is an Arab proverb, a'taq min Daws,

which has two significations, either referring to his beauty (ItqJ

or to his antiquity (also f itq), that is, either "more beautiful than

Daws" or "more ancient than Daws." In his reign furhum b. Falij

and Qatura were exterminated. This is because they acted wrongfully

in the sacred precincts (Haram), and Daws killed them. Tiny

ants followed in the tracks of those of them who survived, penetrated

into their ears, and destroyed them.) b. Muqsir (who is

Maqasiri, who is Hisn ; he is also called Nahath, who is al-Nizal)

b. Zarih (who is Qumayr) b. Sammi who is Samma, who is al-

Mujashshir, who was, he asserted, the most just king to succeed

42

Muhammad at Mecca

to power and the best in managing his affairs; speaking of him,

Umayyah b. Abi al-Salt 54 said to Heraclius, the King of the Greeks:

[1122) Be like al-Mujashshir, of whom his subjects said

"al-Mujashshir was the most faithful of us in

fulfilling what he undertook.")

b. Marza— or, some say, Marhar— b. Sanfa (who is al-Samr, who

is al-Safi, the most generous king to be seen on the face of the

earth; of him Umayyah b. Abi al-Salt said:

al-Safi b. Nabit, when he was king,

was loftier and more generous than Heraclius and Caesar.)

b. Ja'tham (who is 'Uram, who is al-Nabit, who is Qaydhar; the

interpretation of Qaydhar, he said, is "ruler", for he was the first

of the descendants of Isma'il to be king) b. Isma'il (Ishmael), who

was faithful to his promise, b. Ibrahim (Abraham), the Friend of

the Compassionate, b. Tarih (who is Azar) b. Nahur b. Saru' b.

Arghawa b. Baligh (the interpretation of Baligh is "the divider" as

in Syriac; this is because it was he who divided the lands between

the descendants of Adam, and he is Falij) b. 'Abar b. Shalikh b. Arfakhshad

b. Sam (Shem) b. Nuh (Noah) b. Lamk b. Mattushalakh

b. Akhnukh (he is the prophet Idris) 55 b. Yard (he is Yarid, in whose

time idols were made) b. Mahla'il b. Qaynan b. Anush b. Shithth

(who is Hibatallah) b. Adam. Shithth (Seth) was the successor of

his father after Habll (Abel) was killed; his father said, "A gift of

God (Hibatallah) in exchange for Habil," and his name was derived from this.

We have mentioned earlier in this work in a concise and

abridged form a part of what we have been able to discover of the

accounts of Isma'il (Ishmael) b. Ibrahim (Abraham) and his ancestors,

male and female, back to Adam, and of the events of every

age during this period of time, and we shall not repeat them here.

Hisham b. Muhammad: The Arabs used to say, "The flea has -

54. For Umayyah b, Abi al-Salt, a poet from al-Ta'if, roughly contemporary with

Muhammad, see El 1 , s.v. and GAL S, Lssf. Heraclius is the well-known Byzantine

emperor.

55. A prophet mentioned in the Qur'an as "raised to high station" by God

(19:56!. ; see 21:85). He is usually identified with the Biblical Enoch (Akhnukh) who

"walked with God, and he was not, for God took Him" (Genesis 5:24). For other

identifications see El 2 , s.v. Idris.

Lineage of the Messenger of God

43

bitten since our father Anush was born, and sin has been forbidden

since our father Shithth was born." The Syriac name for Shithth

is Shith.

The Account of the

Messenger of God and His Life

*

The Messenger of God Is

Recognized by the Monk Bahira

Ibn Humayd — Salamah — Muhammad b. Ishaq — 'Abdallah b. Abi

Bakr. 56 'Abd al-Muttalib died eight years after the Year of the Elephant.

'Abd al-Muttalib had entrusted the Messenger of God to

the care of his paternal uncle Abu Talib, because Abu Talib and

'Abdallah, the father of the Messenger of God, had had the same

mother. Abu Talib assumed responsibility for the Messenger of

God after the death of his grandfather and kept him with him.

Once Abu Talib was going on a trading expedition to Syria with a

party of Quraysh, but when he had made his preparations and was

ready to set out, the Messenger of God, as they allege, could not

bear to be separated from him. Abu Talib took pity on him and

[1124I said, "By God, I will take him with me, and we shall never part

from one another, " or words to that effect; and took him with him.

The caravan halted at Busra 57 in Syria, where there was a learned

Christian monk named Bahira in his cell. There had always been

a monk in that cell, and their knowledge was passed on, it is al-

leged, by means of a book which was handed down from generation

to generation. When the caravan halted at Bahira's cell this

year, he prepared a copious meal for them, because while he was

56. Ibn Hisham, Shah, 1 15-17; Tabari omits some details given by Ibn Ishaq. For

Bahira see El 2 , s.v. Bahira.

57. Bostra.

The Account of the Messenger of God and His Life 45

in his cell he had seen the Messenger of God shaded by a cloud

which marked him out from among the company. Then they had

come near, and, when they halted in the shade of a tree close to

him, he observed the cloud covering the tree and bending down

its branches over the Messenger of God until he was in the shade

beneath it. When Bahira saw this, he descended from his cell and

sent the caravan a message inviting them all. When he saw the

Messenger of God, he observed him very intently, noting features

of his person whose description he had found in his book. After

the company had finished the meal and dispersed, he asked the

Messenger of God about certain matters which had taken place

both when he was awake and when he was asleep. The Messenger

of God told him, and he found that these things corresponded to

the description which he had found in his book. Finally he looked

at Muhammad's back, and saw the seal of prophethood between

his shoulders.

After this Bahira asked Muhammad's uncle, Abu Talib, "What

relation is this boy to you?" "My son," he replied. "He is not your

son," said Bahira. "This boy's father cannot be living." "He is my

brother's son," said Abu Talib. "What happened to his father?" he

asked. "He died while the boy's mother was pregnant with him, "

he replied. "You have spoken the truth," said Bahira. "Take him

back to your country, and be on your guard against the Jews, for,

by God, if they see him and recognize what I have recognized in

him, they will seek to do him harm. Great things lie ahead of him, [1125]

so take him back quickly to his country." His uncle then took him

quickly back to Mecca.

Hisham b. Muhammad: Abu Talib took the Messenger of God

to Busra in Syria when he was nine years old.

Al- 'Abbas b. Muhammad — Abu Nuh — Yunus b. Abl Ishaq —

Abu Bakr b. Abl Musa — Abu Musa: Abu Talib set off for Syria accompanied

by the Messenger of God and a number of shaykhs of

Quraysh. When they were above the monk's cell they went down

and unloaded their camels. The monk came out to meet them,

even though when they had passed by him previously he had not

done so nor paid any attention to them. As they were encamped

among their baggage he went among them, finally coming up and-

taking hold of the hand of the Messenger of God. Then he said,

"This is the Chief of the Worlds; this is the Messenger of the Lord

46

Muhammad at Mecca

of the Worlds: this person has been sent by God as a mercy to

the Worlds." The shaykhs of the Quraysh said to him, "What is it

that you know?" He replied, "I know that when you appeared at

the top of the pass there was not a tree or a stone which did not

prostrate itself in worship,- and they only prostrate themselves to

a prophet. I also recognize him by the seal of prophethood which

is below the cartilage of his shoulders and which is like an apple."

Then he returned and prepared a meal for them. When he brought

it to them, the Messenger of God was tending the camels, so he

said, "Send for him." He came with a cloud above him, and Bahira

said, "Look at him! There is a cloud above him which is shading

him." When he approached the company he found that they had

already occupied the shade of the tree; but when he sat down, the

shade of the tree moved to cover him. Then Bahira said, "Look at

the shade of the tree! It has moved to cover him."

[1126] While he was standing by them beseeching them not to take the

Messenger of God to the land of the Byzantines, since if these saw

him they would recognize him by his description and would kill

him, he turned around and suddenly beheld seven men advancing

from the land of the Byzantines. He went up to meet them and said,

"What brings you here?" They replied, "We have come because

this prophet is appearing in this month. Men have been sent to

every road, and we have been chosen as the best of men and sent to

your road." "Have you left anyone behind you who is better than

you?" he asked. "No," they said, "We have been chosen as the

best of men for your road." He asked them, "Do you believe that

something which God wishes to bring about can be prevented by

any man?" "No," they said, and they followed him and remained

with him. Then he went up to the members of the caravan and said

to them, "I ask you in God's name, which of you is his guardian?"

"Abu Talib," they said. He did not cease to beseech Abu Talib

until he sent the Messenger of God back. Abu Bakr sent Bilal to

accompany him, and the monk supplied him with provisions of

cakes and oil.

The Messenger of God Is Protected by God

from Participating in Pagan Practices

Ibn Humayd — Salamah — Muhammad b. Ishaq — Muhammad b.

The Account of the Messenger of God and His Life 47

'Abdallah b. Qays b. Makhramah — al-Hasan b. Muhammad b. 'All

b. Abi Talib — his father, Muhammad b. 'Ah — his grandfather, 'All

b. Abi Talib: I heard the Messenger of God saying, "I was only

tempted to take part in heathen practices on two occasions, and

both times God prevented me from doing what I wanted. After

that I was never tempted to evil, right up to the time when God

honored me by making me his Messenger. One night I said to a lad

from the Quraysh who was guarding flocks with me in the high

ground of Mecca, ' Would you watch my flock for me so that I can

go into Mecca and spend an evening there like other young men?'

He agreed, so I set off with this object in mind. When I came to

the first settlement in Mecca I heard the sound of tambourines and

pipes, and I asked what was happening. They said that a wedding [1127]

was taking place, so I sat down to watch them. But God prevented

me from hearing, and I went to sleep and did not wake up until

1 felt the touch of the sun. Then I went back to my companion,

who asked me what I had done. 'I did not do anything/ I replied,

and then told him what had happened. Another night I made the

same request, and he agreed, so I set out. When I reached Mecca I

heard the same sound which I had heard on that earlier night, and

I sat down to watch. Once again God prevented me from hearing

and, by God, I only woke up when I felt the touch of the sun. I

went back to my companion and told him what had happened.

After that I was not tempted to evil, right up to the time when

God honoured me by making me his Messenger."

The Prophet's Marriage to Khadijah 58

Hisham b. Muhammad: The Messenger of God married Khadijah

when he was twenty-five years old. At that time, Khadijah was

forty years of age.

Ibn Humayd — Salamah — Ibn Ishaq: Khadijah bt. Khuwaylid b.

Asad b. 'Abd al-'Uzza b. Qusayy was a wealthy and respected merchant.

She used to employ men to engage in trade with her -

58. Ibn Hisham, Sirah, 119-2I) Ibn Sa'd, Tabaqat, 1:35.5-10. It is not clear how

it was possible for Khadijah to trade on her own account, but the sources speak

of at least one other Meccan woman who did so. Khadijah had previously been

twice married, and the husbands were presumably now dead, so this may have had

something to do with her special position.

4 8

Muhammad at Mecca

property and gave them a share in the profits, for Quraysh were a trading

people. When she heard of the Messenger of God's truthfulness,

reliability, and nobility of character, she sent for him and

proposed to him that he should go to Syria and engage in trade

with her property; she would give him more than she gave other

men who traded for her and also a slave of hers called Maysarah.

The Messenger of God accepted, and set out to trade with her prop-

erty accompanied by her slave Maysarah. When he reached Syria

he halted in the shade of a tree near a monk's cell. The monk

[1128] went up to Maysarah and said, "Who is this man who has halted

beneath this tree?" Maysarah replied, "He is a man of Quraysh,

one of the people of the sacred precinct (Haram)." "No one has

ever halted beneath this tree but a prophet," said the monk.

The Messenger of God sold the goods which he had brought

with him, bought what he wanted to buy, and then set off back to

Mecca accompanied by Maysarah. They assert that whenever the

noonday heat grew intense Maysarah saw two angels shading him

from the sun as he rode his camel. When he arrived in Mecca, he

brought Khadijah her property, which she sold for twice the price

or nearly so. Then Maysarah informed her of what the monk had

said and how he himself had seen the two angels shading him.

Khadijah was a resolute, intelligent and noble woman, and in addition

to this God wished to ennoble her, so when Maysarah told

her these things she sent for the Messenger of God and, it is reported,

said to him, "Cousin, your kinship to me, 59 your stand-

ing among your people, your reliability, your good character and

your truthfulness make you a desirable match." Then she offered

herself to him in marriage. Khadijah was then the most distinguished

of the women of Quraysh in lineage, the most highly

honored, and the wealthiest, and all the men of her tribe would

have been eager to accept this proposal had it been made to them.

When she made this offer to the Messenger of God he told his uncles

bout it, and Hamzah b. 'Abd al-Muttalib went with him to

Khuwaylid b. Asad and asked for (his daughter) Khadijah's hand on

Muhammad's behalf. Khuwaylid married Khadijah to the Messenger

of God, and she bore all his children except for Ibrahim. They

were Zaynab, Ruqayyah, Umm Kulthum, Fatimah, al-Qasim —

59. They were not closely related, but both were descendants of Qusayy.

The Account of the Messenger of God and His Life 49

from whom he received his kunyah of Abu al-Qasim — al-Tahir,

and al-Tayyib. 60 Al-Qasim, al-Tahir, and al-Tayyib died during the

Jahiliyyah, while all of his daughters lived until Islam, became [1129]

Muslims, and emigrated with him to al-Madinah.

Al-Harith — Muhammad b. Sa'd — Muhammad b. Umar —

Ma'mar and others— Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri: a similar report was

given by other local scholars: 61 Khadijah hired only the Messenger

of God and another man from Quraysh to go to the market of

Hubashah in Tihamah. It was her father Khuwaylid who married

her to Muhammad, and the person who acted as an intermediary

was a half-breed freedwoman from Mecca.

Al-Harith — Muhammad b. Sa'd — al-Waqidl: All of this is an

error.

Al-Waqidi: They also say that Khadijah sent a message to the

Messenger of God inviting him to take her, meaning that they

should marry. She was a highly respected woman, and the whole

of Quraysh would have been eager to marry her and would have

spent much money to that end had they aspired to it. She called

her father to her house, plied him with wine until he was drunk,

slaughtered a cow, anointed him with perfume and clothed him

in a striped robe; then she sent for the Messenger of God and his

uncles and, when they came in, her father married him to her.

When her father recovered from his intoxication, he said, "What

is this meat, this perfume, and this garment?" She replied, "You

have married me to Muhammad b. 'Abdallah." "I have not done

so," he said. "Would I do this, when the greatest men of Mecca

have asked for you and 1 have not agreed?"

Al-Waqidi: This is also an error. In our opinion the trustworthy

version is what is preserved in the account of Muhammad b. 'Abdallah

b. Muslim— his father— Muhammad b. Jubayr b. Mut 'inl-

and in the account of Ibn Abi al-Zinad— Hisham b. Urwah— his

father — 'A'ishah; and in the account of Ibn Abi Hablbah — Daud b.

al-Husayn — Ikrimah — Ibn 'Abbas: Her uncle 'Amr b. Asad married

her to the Messenger of God. Her father died before the Sac- [1130]

60. Al-Tahir is also said to have been called 'Abdallah. Some critics have suggested that al-Tayyib is also an epithet applied to 'Abdallah. None of the sources

see anything unusual (or miraculous) in Khadijah having had seven children after

the age of forty.

61. Literally, "the same was said by others than he of the people of the town,"

perhaps al-Madinah or Damascus.

50

Muhammad at Mecca

rilegious War ( al-fijaz ). 61

Abu Ja'far (al-Tabari): Khadijah's house at that time was the

house which is still known today and called Khadijah's House. It

is related that Mu'awiyah 63 bought it and turned it into a mosque

in which people could pray. He rebuilt it in the form in which it

exists today without alteration. The stone which is at the door

of the house to the left as you go in is the stone beneath which

the Messenger of God used to sit to shelter himself when people

threw stones at him from the houses of Abu Lahab 64 and 'Adi b.

Hamra' al-Thaqafi, behind the house of Ibn 'Alqamah. The stone

measures a cubit {dhira') and a span ( shibr ) one way, and a cubit

the other way.

62. This was a war in which Quraysh supported by Kinanah fought against the

tribe of Qays 'Aylan during the sacred month. It is said to have occurred when

Muhammad was twenty, that is, in A.D. 590; and he did not marry Khadijah until

five years later. See El 2 , s.v. Fidjar.

63. Umayyad caliph who reigned from A.D. 661 to 680. Abu Lahab (below) was

the uncle of Muhammad who succeeded Abu Talib as chief of Hashim and turned

against Muhammad.

64. Ibn Hisham, Shah, 122-26.

Events of the Life of the Messenger of God

*

The Rebuilding of the Ka'bah 65

Abu Ja'far (al-Tabari): We have mentioned previously the circumtances

of the Prophet's marriage to Khadijah, the various conflicting

reports about it, and the date of its occurence. Ten years after

the marriage of the Messenger of God to Khadijah, Quraysh demolished

the Ka'bah and then rebuilt it. According to Ibn Ishaq,

this was in the Messenger of God's thirty-fifth year.

Ibn Humayad — Salamah — Ibn Ishaq: The reason for their demolition

of the Ka'bah was that at this time it consisted of loose

stones rising to somewhat above a man's height, and they wished

to make it higher and roof it over, since some men, Qurashites

and others, had stolen the treasure of the Ka'bah, which was kept

in a well in its interior.

History of the Ka'bah

Hisham b. Muhammad — his father: The story of the two gazelles

of the Ka'bah is as follows. The Ka'bah had been destroyed when

the people of Noah were drowned, and God commanded his friend

Abraham and Abraham's son Ishmael to rebuild it on its original [1131]

foundations. This they did, as is stated in the Qur'an: 66 And when

Abraham and Ishmael were raising the foundations of the House

65. Ibn Hisham, Siiah, |vol y.122-26. There is nothing in the Qur'an to connect

Noah with the Ka'bah, so this must be a deduction by later Muslim scholars from

the statement that the whole world was destroyed by the flood in the time of Noah.

52

Muhammad at Mecca

(Abraham prayed) : Our Lord! Accept from us (this duty). Only You

are the Hearer, the Knower.

It had not had any custodians since its destruction in the time

of Noah. Then God commanded Abraham to settle his son by the

Ka'bah, wishing thereby to show a mark of esteem to one whom

he later ennobled by means of his Prophet Muhammad. Abraham,

the Friend of the Compassionate, and his son Ishmael were cus-

todians of the Ka'bah after the time of Noah. At that time, Mecca

was uninhabited, and the surrounding country was inhabited by

the Jurhum and 'Amaliqah. 67 Ishmael married a woman of the Jurhum.

On this subject, 'Amr b. al-Harith b. Mudad said:

We allied ourselves by marriage to a man with the

noblest of fathers;

his sons are of us, and we are his brothers-in-law.

After Abraham, Ishmael became the custodian of the Ka'bah,

and after him, Nabt and his furhumi mother. When Nabt died,

since Ishmael's sons were not numerous, Jurhum seized the custodianship.

'Amr b. al-Harith b. Mudad said:

We were the custodians of the Ka'bah after Nabit;

we circumambulated it and good was manifest.

The first of the Jurhum to be custodian of the Ka'bah was

Mudad, followed by his descendants, generation after generation.

Eventually the Jurhum acted wrongfully in Mecca, held lawful

that which was forbidden, misappropriated the wealth which had

been presented to the Ka'bah, and oppressed those who came to

Mecca. Their behavior became so unrestrained that when one of

them could not find a place in which to fornicate he would go into

the Ka'bah and do it there. It is asserted that Isaf fornicated with

Na'ilah in the interior of the Ka'bah and that they were transformed

into two stones. During the Jahiliyyah, any person who

[1132] acted wrongfully or oppresively in Mecca, or any king who held

lawful what was forbidden there, perished on the spot. Mecca was

called al-Nassah, and was also called Bakkah, because it used to

break (tabukk) the necks of evildoers and tyrants when they acted

67. These are the Amalekites of the Bible, but in the traditional history of

pre-Islamic Arabia there is much non-Biblical material about them. See El 2 , s.v.

'Amalik.

Events of the Life of the Messenger of God

53

wrongfully there.

The Jurhum did not desist from their wickedness. When the

Banu 'Amr b. 'Amir dispersed from the Yemen , 68 the Banu

Harithah b. 'Amr split off (inkhaza'a) from them, settled in

Tihamah, and became known as Khuza'ah . 69 Khuza'ah consists

of the Banu 'Amr b. Rabi'ah b. Harithah together with the clans of

Aslam, Malik, and Milkan, sons of Afsa b. Harithah. God sent a

bleeding of the nose and a plague of ants 70 against the Jurhum and

destroyed them, while Khuza'ah joined together to expel those of

them who survived. The chief of Khuza'ah at that time was 'Amr

b. Rabi'ah b. Harithah, whose mother was Fuhayrah bt. 'Amir b.

al-Harith b. Mudad. A battle took place, and when 'Amir b. al-

Harith 71 felt that he would be defeated, he brought out the two

gazelles of the Ka'bah and the stone of the rukn, 71 seeking forgiveness,

and recited:

O God, Jurhum are your servants,-

our enemies are newcomers, while we are your

hereditary servants,

Through whom your dwelling has flourished of old.

However his repentance was not accepted (by the opponents), so

he flung the two gazelles of the Ka'bah and the stone of the rukn

into Zamzam, buried them and left with the remnants of the Jurhum

for part of the territory of Juhaynah. There a sudden torrent

overtook them and swept them away. On this subject Umayyah

b. Abi al-Salt said:

68. The reference is to 'Amr Muzayqiya', who led the migration of several tribes

from the Yemen at the time of the breaking of the dam of Ma'rib; he had sons called

Harithah and Afsa.

69. The name Khuza'ah is here explained as indicating that they have split off

( inkhaza'a ) from the main tribe. The following sentence suggests that Khuza'ah

was at first a group of small related clans rather than being all descendants of a

single ancestor.

70. The ants are mentioned on p. 1 1 21.

71 . There is some doubt about whether the name should be 'Amir or 'Amr. 'Amir

b. al-Harith was the father of Fuhayrah, just mentioned.

72. The phrase hajai al-rukn is unusual. Each of the comers or angles of the

Ka'bah is called a rukn, but the English word "cornerstone" has misleading associations. It is possible that the stone here is the sacred Black Stone, which is now

built into one rukn of the Ka'bah and kissed or touched by pilgrims. Near the Black

Stone is another stone, "the lucky stone" | al-hajar al-as'ad), which is touched but

not kissed, and this might be what is meant here.

54

Muhammad at Mecca

Jurhum blackened Tihamah with the dung of their cattle

for a while,

and then Idam was awash with them all.

[1133] The custodianship was taken over by 'Amr b. Rabiah, or, according

to the descendants of Qusayy, by "Amr b. al-Harith al-

Ghubshani. He it is who says:

We became custodians of the Ka*bah after Jurhum

that we might keep it prosperous, free from every

wrongdoer and unbeliever.

He also said:

A valley whose birds and wild animals may not be

touched.

We are its custodians and we do not discharge our

duties dishonestly.

and:

It is as though there had never been a close friend

between al-Hajun and al-Safa

and no companion had engaged in evening conversation

in Mecca.

Nay! We were its people, but we were destroyed

by the vicissitudes of time and stumbling fate. 73

and:

Travel, men, for it would be negligence on your part

for you not to be travelling one day.

We were men like you, but fate changed our condition,

and you shall be as we were.

Urge on your mounts and slacken your reins

before you die, and perform your duties.

What he means is, "Strive for the hereafter and abandon the

concerns of this world."

73. These two lines are quoted by Ibn Ishaq (Ibn Hisham, Sirah, 73) as part of a

longer poem which he attributes to 'Amr b. al-Harith b. Mudad al-furhuml. It is

virtually impossible to clear up the confusion of names here. Al-Hajun is a mountain above Mecca, and al-Safa is the point near the Ka'bah from which the pilgrims

begin to run to al-Marwah.

Events of the Life of the Messenger of God

55

The Kabbah was taken over by the Khuza'ah, except that there (1134)

were three functions which were in the hands of tribes of (the

group called) Mudar. The first of these was the ijazah, the giving

of permission to the pilgrims to leave 'Arafah. This was in the

hands of al-Ghawth b. Murr, who was (of the clan of) Sufah. When

it was time for the permission to be given the Arabs would say,

"Give permission, Sufah." The second function was the ifadah,

the permission for the pilgrims to disperse to Mina on the morning

of the sacrifice. This was in the hands of the Banu Zayd b. 'Adwan ;

the last of them to hold this position was Abu Sayyarah TJmay-

lah b. al-A'zal b. Khalid b. Sa'd b. al-Harith b. Wabish b. Zayd.

The third function was the nasi’, the delaying or postponement

of the sacred month (by intercalation). 74 The right to decide this

was in the hands of al-Qalammas, who was Hudhayfah b. Fuqaym

b. 'Adi, of the Banu Malik b. Kinanah. After him, it passed to his

descendants, down to the last of them, Abu Thumamah, who was

Junadah b. 'Awf b. Umayyah b. Qala' b. Hudhayfah. When Islam

came, the sacred months had returned to their original times, and

God established them firmly and abolished the nasi’.

When Ma'add became numerous, they scattered, as Muhalhil

says:

Our abode was in Tihamah for a time,

and the descendants of Ma'add dwelt there.

As for Quraysh, they did not leave Mecca.

When 'Abd al-Muttalib dug (the well of) Zamzam, he found the

two gazelles of the KaT>ah which Jurhum had buried in it and

brought them out. We have already mentioned the story of 'Abd

al-Muttalib and the two gazelles in the appropriate place earlier

74. The Arabs observed lunar months, but, in order to keep their lunar year in

line with the solar year, they occasionally intercalated an extra month; this is what

is known as the nasi’, the delaying or postponing of the sacred months. There is no

mention of any fixed system of intercalation, and so it may have been carried out in

haphazard fashion, and perhaps even in ways which were of personal advantage to

those making the decision. This is presumably why it was forbidden by the Qur'an

(9:36f.). Muhammad is said to have made these verses public at the Pilgrimage of

Farewell (March 632). This committed the Muslims to a lunar year of 354 days,

and thus caused difficulties for those engaged in agriculture who followed the solar

calendar. It is difficult to give a reasonable sense to the phrase "had returned to

their original times."

56

in this book. 75

Muhammad s.a.w  at Mecca

The Rebuilding of the Ka’bah (Continued)

Returning to the narrative of Ibn Ishaq: 76 The person in whose

house the treasure of the Kabbah was found was Duwayk, a mawla

of the Banu Mulayh b. 'Amr of Khuza'ah, and they cut off his hand

publicly. Among those who were suspected in this matter were al-

Harith b. 'Amir b. Nawfal, Abu Ihab b. 'Aziz b. Qays b. Suwayd

al-Tamimi, who was a half brother of al-Harith b. 'Amir b. Nawfal

b. 'Abd Manaf on his mother's side, and Abu Lahab b. 'Abd

al-Muttalib. These are the people who, Quraysh allege, left the

treasure with Duwayk, the mawla of the Banu Mulayh, after they

had stolen it. When Quraysh accused them of the crime, they informed

against Duwayk and his hand was cut off. It is said that

they left the stolen treasure with him. They also relate that when

Quraysh were certain that al-Harith b. 'Amir b. Nawfal b. 'Abd

Manaf had it, they took him to a female Arab soothsayer, who,

using her occult skill, pronounced in rhyming prose that he should

not enter Mecca for ten years because of his violation of the sanctity

of the Ka'bah. They allege that they expelled him from Mecca

and that he remained on its outskirts for ten years.

A ship belonging to a Greek merchant had been driven ashore

by rough seas at Jeddah and had been broken to pieces. They took

its timbers and prepared them for use in roofing over the Ka'bah.

There was a Copt in Mecca who was a carpenter, and thus they

had both the materials for restoring it and a craftsman ready and

at hand. There was a snake which used to come out of the well

in the Ka'bah into which votive objects were thrown, and which

would lie on top of the Ka'bah wall every day. People were afraid

of it because whenever anyone went near it it would draw itself

up, make a rustling noise, and open its mouth. One day, as it was

[1136) lying on top of the Ka'bah as usual, God sent against it a bird which

seized it and carried it off. On seeing this, the Quraysh said, “We

may hope that God is pleased with what we intend to do. We have

a companion who is a craftsman and we have timber, while God

75. Above, p.1088.

76. Ibn Hisham, Sirah, 122-26. Ibn Hisham omits the passage about Duwayk

apart from the first sentence.

Events of the Life of the Messenger of God

57

has dealt with the snake for us."

This was fifteen years after the Sacrilegious War, when the Messenger

of God was thirty-five years old. When they took the decision

to demolish and rebuild the Kabbah, Abu Wahb b. 'Amr

b. 'A'idh b. Imran b. Makhzum rose and took a stone from it

which leapt from his hand and returned to its place. Then he said,

"Men of Quraysh, do not spend on its rebuilding any ill-gotten

gains, nor money earned by prostitution, usury, or by wronging

any man." Some people wrongly ascribe this saying to al-Walid b.

al-Mughlrah.

Ibn Humayd — Salamah — Muhammad b. Ishaq — 'Abdallah b.

Abi Najih al-Makki— ‘Abdallah b. Safwan b. Umayyah b. Khalaf:

He saw a son of Ja'dah b. Hubayrah b. Abi Wahb b. ‘Amr b. 'A'idh

b. Imran b. Makhzum circumambulating the Ka'bah and asked

about him. They said, "This is a son of Ja'dah b. Hubayrah." Then

'Abdallah b. Safwan said, "This man's grandfather— meaning Abu

Wahb — is he who, when Quraysh agreed to demolish the Ka'bah,

lifted a stone from it which leapt from his hand and returned to

its place. Then he said, 'Men of Quraysh, do not spend on its re-

building any ill-gotten gains, nor money earned from prostitution,

usury, or by wronging any man.' " Abu Wahb was a maternal uncle

of the Messenger of God, and was a noble.

Ibn Humayd — Salamah — Muhammad b. Ishaq: Quraysh divided

the work on the Ka'bah between them. The side containing

the door went to the Banu 'Abd Manaf and Zuhrah; the section

between the Black Stone and the southern corner went to the

Makhzum, Taym, and the clans of Quraysh who were attached to

them; the back of the Ka'bah went to the Banu Jumah and Banu

Sahm; and the side facing the Hijr and the Hatim went to the Banu

'Abd al-Dar b. Qusayy, the Banu Asad b. 'Abd al-TJzza b. Qusayy,

and the Banu 'Adi b. KaT). Then, however, they were afraid to demolish

it, so al-Walid b. Mughirah said, "I will make a start on

the demolition for you." He took up his pickaxe and stood by the

Ka'bah, saying, "O God, let the Ka'bah not fear. O God, we intend

nothing but good." Then he demolished part of it near the

two corners 77 They waited to see what would happen to him that

77, Since al-Walid b. Mughirah belonged to Makhzum, these were presumably

the two corners of the side assigned to them, that is, what lay between the eastern

comer (with the Black Stone| and the southern comer.

5 »

Muhammad at Mecca

night, and they said, "Let us watch; if something happens to him

we shall not demolish any more of it and shall restore it as it was,

and if nothing happens to him we shall know that God is pleased

with what we have done, and we shall demolish it." The next

morning al-Walid went early to his work and continued to demolish,

and the others then did so also. At last they came to the foun-

dations, reaching green stones like teeth, interlocked with one another.

Ibn Humayd — Salamah — Muhammad b. Ishaq — certain narrators

of traditions (Hadiths): A man of Quraysh who was among

these demolishing it thrust a crowbar between two stones to prise

one of them up. When the stone moved, the whole of Mecca

shook, and then (they knew that) they had reached the foundations.

The clans then gathered stones to rebuild the Kabbah. Each clan

gathered them separately and built separately, and when the building

reached the place where the Black Stone was to be put they

began to dispute about it, since every clan wished to lift the Stone

to its place to the exclusion of the other clans. They started to

split up into factions, to form alliances, and to make agreements

among themselves in preparation for battle. The Banu f Abd al-Dar

brought a bowl full of blood and made a compact with the Banu

'Adi b. Kali to support one another to the death. They thrust their

hands into this bowl of blood, and were called "the bloodlickers"

(la’aqat al-dam) on account of this. The Quraysh remained in this

state for four or five days, and then they gathered in the mosque

to consult together and to reach an equitable agreement.

Some narrators assert that Abu Umayyah b. al-Mughirah, who

at that time was the oldest member of Quraysh, said, "Men of

Quraysh, make the first man who comes in at the door of this

mosque the arbiter of your differences so that he may judge on

the matter. " The first man to come in was the Messenger of God,

and when they saw him they said, "This is the trustworthy one

( al-amin } with whom we are satisfied. This is Muhammad." He

came up to them, and they told him about the matter, and he said,

"Bring me a cloak." They brought him one, and he took the Black

Stone and placed it on it with his own hands. Then he said, "Let

each clan take one side of the cloak, and then lift it up all to-

gether." They did so, and when they had brought it to its place he

Events of the Life of the Messenger of God

59

put it in position with his own hands. Then they built on top of

it. Before the revelation first came to him, Quraysh used to call

the Messenger of God "the trustworthy one."

The Beginning of the Prophetic Mission

9

Abu Ja'far (al-Tabari): Quraysh's rebuilding of the KaTwh was fifteen

years after the Sacrilegious War. There were twenty years

between the Year of the Elephant and the Year of the Sacrilegious

War. The early authorities differ as to the age of the Messenger of

God when he became a prophet. Some say that it was five years

after the Quraysh rebuilt the KaTsah, when his fortieth birthday

had passed. 78

Those who say this:

Muhammad b. Khalaf al-'Asqalanl — Adam — Hammad b. Salamah —

Abu Jamrah al-Duba'i — Ibn 'Abbas: The Messenger of God

commenced his mission at the age of forty.

'Amr b. 'All and Ibn al-Muthanna — Yahya b. Muhammad b.

Qays — Rabi'ah b. Abi 'Abd al-Rahman— Anas b. Malik: The Messenger

of God commenced his mission at the end of his fortieth

year.

Al- 'Abbas b. al-Wal!d — his father — al-Awza'I — Rabi'ah b. Abi

'Abd al-Rahman — Anas b. Malik: The Messenger of God commenced

his mission at the beginning of his fortieth year.

Ibn 'Abd al-Rahim al-Barqi — 'Amr b. Abi Salamah — al-Awza'I —

Rabi'ah b. Abi 'Abd al-Rahman — Anas b. Malik: The Messen-

ger of God commenced his mission at the beginning of his

fortieth year.

Abu Shurahbil al-HimsI — Abu al-Yaman— Isma'Il b. 'Ayyash —

Yahya b. Sa'Id — Rabi'ah b. Abi 'Abd al-Rahman — Anas b. Malik:

78. This places the beginning of his prophethood about the year A.D. 610.

The Beginning of the Prophetic Mission 61

The Messenger of God received the revelation when he was

aged forty.

Ibn al-Muthanna — al-Hajjaj b. al-Minhal — Hammad — 'Amr b.

Dinar — TJrwah b. al-Zubayr: The Messenger of God commenced

his mission when he was aged forty.

Ibn al-Muthanna — al-Hajjaj — Hammad — 'Amr — Yahya b. Ja'dah:

The Messenger of God said to Fatimah, "(Gabriel) has reviewed

the Qur'an with me once a year, but this year he has reviewed

it with me twice, and I fancy that my time has come. You are

the nearest to me of my kin. Whenever a prophet has been sent,

his mission has lasted for a period of half his predecessor's lifetime.

Jesus was sent for a period of forty years, and I was sent for

twenty." 79

TJbayd b. Muhammad al-Warraq — Rawh b. TJbadah — Hisham

— ikrimah — Ibn 'Abbas: The Messenger of God commenced his

mission at the age of forty, and remained in Mecca for thirteen

80

years.

Abu Kurayb — Abu Usamah and Muhammad b. Maymun

al-Za'faranl — Hisham b. Hassan — Ikrimah — Ibn 'Abbas: The [1141]

Messenger of God commenced his mission and received the

revelation when he was aged forty, and remained in Mecca for

thirteen years.

Others say that he became a prophet when he was aged forty-

three. 81

Those who say this:

Ahmad b. Thabit al-RazI — Ahmad — Yahya b. Sa'id — Hisham —

'Ikrimah — Ibn 'Abbas: The Prophet received the revelation when

he was aged forty-three.

Ibn Humayd — Jarir — Yahya b. Said — Said b. al-Musayyab: The

Messenger of God received the revelation when he was aged fortythree.

Ibn al-Muthanna — 'Abd al-Wahhab — Yahya b. Said — Said, that

is, Ibn al-Musayyab: The Messenger of God received the revelation

when he was aged forty-three.

79. This fits in better with the view that he became a prophet when he was

forty-three.

80. Thirteen years would be from A.D. 610 to 622 inclusive.

81. This makes his prophethood begin about the year a.d. 613.

62

Muhammad at Mecca

The Day and the Month on Which the Messenger

of God Became a Prophet,

and the Accounts Concerning This

Abu Ja'far (al-Tabari): The sound account is the one related by

Ibn al-Muthanna — Muhammad b. Ja'far — ShuTjah — Ghaylan b.

Jarir — 'Abdallah b. MaTiad al-Zimmani — Abu Qatadah al-Ansari:

The Messenger of God was questioned about his Monday fast. He

replied, "This is the day on which I was born and the day on which

I commenced by mission." Another version has it: "on which I received

the revelation."

Ahmad b. Mansur — al-Hasan b. Musa al-Ashyab — Abu Hilal—

Ghaylan b. Jarir al-Ma wall — 'Abdallah b. MaTjad al-Zimmani —

(i 142] Abu Qatadah — 'Umar: He said to the Prophet, "O Prophet of God,

(what is the reason for) your Monday fast?" He replied, "This is the

day on which I was born and the day on which the prophethood

descended upon me."

Ibrahim b. Sa'id — Musa b. Da'ud — Ibn Lahi'ah — Khalid b. Abl

Imran — Hanash al-San'ani — Ibn 'Abbas: The Prophet was born on

a Monday and became a prophet on a Monday.

First Revelation of the Qur'an

Abu Ja'far (al-Tabari): There is no dispute among the scholars on

the above point. There is however a dispute as to which Monday

this was. Some say that the Qur'an was revealed to the Messenger

of God on the eighteenth of Ramadan.

Those who say this:

Ibn Humayd — Salamah— Muhammad b. Ishaq— al-Hasan b.

Dinar — Ayyub — Abu Qilabah 'Abd Allah b. Zayd al-Jarmi: According

to the information which had reached him, the Qur'an

was revealed to the Messenger of God on the eighteenth of

Ramadan.

Others say that it was revealed on the twenty-fourth of

Ramadan.

Those who say this:

Ibn Humayd — Salamah — Muhammad b. Ishaq— one who is

above suspicion — Sa'id b. Abi 'Arubah — Qatadah b. Di'amah al-

The Beginning of the Prophetic Mission 63

Sadusi— Abu al-Jald: The furqan 82 was revealed on the twenty-

fourth of Ramadan.

Others say that it was revealed on the seventeenth of Ramadan.

They quote as evidence for this the words of God: 83 “And that [1143]

which we revealed to Our slave on the day of the furqan, on

the day when the two armies met. 84 This refers to the meeting

(in battle) of the Messenger of God with the polytheists at Badr,

which took place on the morning of the seventeenth of

Ramadan.

Signs of the Approach of Prophethood

Abu Ja'far (al-Tabari): Before Gabriel appeared to him to confer

on him his mission as Messenger of God, it is said that he used

to see signs and evidences indicating that God wished to ennoble

him and to single him out for his favor. One of these is the

account which I have previously given 85 of the two angels who

came to him, opened up his breast, and removed the hatred and

the impurity which were in it. This was when he was with his

foster-mother, Hallmah. Another is that it is said that whenever

he passed along a road and passed by a tree or a stone, it would

greet him.

Al-Harith b. Muhammad — Muhammad b. Sa'd— Muhammad b.

TJmar — 'All b. Muhammad b. Ubaydallah b. 'Abdallah b. Umar

b. al-Khattab— Mansur b. 'Abd al-Rahman— his mother Barrah bt.

Abi Tajrah: When God willed that Muhammad should be ennobled

and should enter upon prophethood, it came about that whenever

he went out to attend his business 86 he would go a great distance,

out of sight of houses, and into the ravines and wadi-beds,-

and then every stone and tree he passed would say, "Peace be upon

82. Here means the Qur'an, but the word has several other meanings; *see El 2 ,

s.v. Furkan. This paragraph from Ibn Ishaq is omitted by Ibn Hisham.

83. 8:41.

84. This verse refers to the battle of Badr, and furqan might then be understood

as the Muslims' "deliverance" from the pagan Meccans; but that also seems to be

connected somehow with a revelation of Muhammad.

85. Though Tabari says "I have previously given," he appears to be referring to

what comes subsequently on pp. H54f.

86. This seems to be the plain meaning of al-hajah; but "went out about his busi-

ness" is also possible. The paragraph corresponds to Ibn Sa'd, Tabaqat, 1:102.17-23.

64

Muhammad at Mecca

you, Messenger of God." He would turn to the right and the left

and turn round, but could not see anyone.

Predictions of the Appearance of the Prophet

Abu Ja'far (al-Tabari): The various religious communities used to

speak of his forthcoming mission, and the scholars of every community

used to tell their people of it.

Al-Harith — Muhammad b. Sa'd — Muhammad b. 'Umar — 'Ali b.

Isa al-Hakami— his father— 'Amir b. Rabi'ah: I heard Zayd b. 'Amr

b. Nufayl 87 saying, "I expect a prophet from the descendants of

Ishmael, in particular from the descendants of 'Abd al-Muttalib.

I do not think that I shall live to see him, but I believe in him,

proclaim the truth of his message, and testify that he is a prophet.

If you live long enough to see him, give him my greetings. I shall

inform you of his description, so that he will not be hidden from

you." I said, "Tell me, then," and he said, "He is a man who is

neither short nor tall, whose hair is neither abundant nor sparse,

whose eyes are always red, and who has the seal of prophethood

between his shoulders. His name is Ahmad, 88 and this town is his

birthplace and the place in which he will commence his mission.

Then his people will drive him out and hate the message which he

brings, and he will emigrate to Yathrib and triumph. Beware lest

you fail to recognize him. I have travelled around every land in

search of the faith of Abraham. Every person whom I ask, whether

few, Christian, or Magian, says, This faith lies where you have

come from/ and they describe him as I have described him to you.

They say that no prophet remains but he." 89 'Amir said, "When I

87. One of the four men mentioned by Ibn Ishaq (143-49) as a hanif or searcher

for a pure monotheism; see Watt, Muhammad at Mecca, 162-64. Ibn Sa'd, Tabaqat,

1:105.23-106.8.

88. Ahmad is commonly regarded as a variant form of Muhammad, following the

standard interpretation of Qur'an 61:6, where Jesus says to the Israelites that he

brings "good tidings of a messenger who comes after me, whose name is Ahmad."

(Ahmad is, of course from the same root as Muhammad, namely h-m-d.) There

are strong grounds, however, for thinking that for the first century or so of Islam

the word ahmadu was understood as an adjective meaning "more praiseworthy"

and not as a proper name; see Watt, "His Name is Ahmad," Muslim World, xliii

(I953):iio-I7.

89. This refers to the standard Muslim interpretation of the phrase "seal of the

prophets" applied to Muhammad in Qur'an 33:40, namely, that he is the last

prophet after whom there will be no other.

The Beginning of the Prophetic Mission 65

became a Muslim, I told the Messenger of God what Zayd b. 'Amr

had said, and I gave him his greetings. He returned his greetings

and said, 'May God have mercy on his soul. I saw him in Paradise

dressed in flowing robes.' "

Ibn Humayd — Salamah— ; Ibn Ishaq — one who is above suspicion

— 'Abdallah b. Ka*b the mawla of 'Uthman: ’Umar b. al-Khattab was

sitting with others in the Messenger of God's mosque one day

when a beduin came up and entered the mosque looking for umar

(b. al-Khattab ra). When TJmar looked at him he said, "This man is

still a polytheist, although at one point he abandoned polytheism.

He was a soothsayer in the Jahiliyyah." The man greeted him and

then sat down. TJmar said to him, "Have you become a Muslim? " [1 1 45]

"Yes," he replied. "Were you a soothsayer in the Jahiliyyah?"

asked TJmar. "Praise be to God," the man answered. "You have

received me with words which I do not suppose that you have

uttered to one of your subjects since you became Caliph." "God

forgive me!" said 'Umar. 90 "During the Jahiliyyah we used to do

worse things than you. We used to worship idols and embrace

graven images until God honored us with Islam." "Yes, by God,

O Commander of the Faithful," answered the man. "I used to be

a soothsayer in the Jahiliyyah." "Tell me," said TJmar, "what is

the most amazing saying which your familiar spirit brought you? "

"He came to me a month or a year before Islam," said the man,

"and said to me:

Have you considered the Jinn 91 and their hopelessness

and their despair of their religion,

and their clinging to young female camels and their

saddle cloths?"

90. The point of this story appears to be that the Caliph Umar made a hasty

judgement about this man's continuing polytheism, and then had to withdraw it.

This account from Ibn Ishaq is not in the standard text.

91. The jinn (plural; singular jinni, formerly transliterated as "genie") are a third

class of intelligent beings along with angels and humans. They are imperceptible

to the senses, but may make appearances under different forms. They are capable

of having a religion and believing in God; and the Qur'an (72:1-19; 46:29-32) speaks

of Muhammad preaching to them and of some being converted. In the present

passage their "despair of their religion" may be intended as a sort of premonition

of the coming of Islam; the reason for the reference to camels is unknown. The jinn

play a large part in folklore. See El 2 , s.v. Djinn, first part.