54
The Victory of Islam
When they reached Medina, they found that Rifa'ah
b. Zayd b. al-Tabut, one of the Banu Qaynuqa', a great man among
the Jews and a cave of refuge to the hypocrites, had died on that
day. The sura in which God mentions the hypocrites ("When the
hypocrites come to you. . . . ") was revealed concerning
'Abdallah
b. Ubayy b. Salul and those of like mind. 222 When this sura was
revealed, the Messenger of God took hold of Zayd b. Arqam's ear
and said, "This is he whose ear God has confirmed." 223
According to Abu Kurayb 224 — Yahya b. Adam 225 — Isra’il 226 —
Abu Ishaq 227 — Zayd b. Arqam, who said: I went out with my
paternal uncle on an expedition, and I heard 'Abdallah b. Ubayy b.
Salul saying to his companions: "Do not spend on those who
are
with the Messenger of God. By God, if we return to Medina, the
stronger will drive out the weaker from it." 228 1 mentioned
this to
my uncle, and my uncle mentioned it to the Messenger of God.
The latter sent for me; I spoke to him, and he sent to 'Abdallah
and
his companions, who swore that they had not said it. The Messenger
of God took me to be lying and believed him. I felt grief
such as I never had felt, and I sat in the tent. My uncle asked,
"What did you intend, acting so that the Messenger of God
deemed you to be lying and hated your action?" Then God revealed
[the sura that begins!, "When the hypocrites come to
you."
The Messenger of God sent to me and recited it; then he said,
"God has confirmed your truthfulness, Zayd."
Resumption of the account of Ibn Ishaq: 'Abdallah, the son of
222. Qur’an, Sura 63, entitled al-Mun&fiqun,
"The Hypocrites."
223. I.e., God has confirmed the truth of what he said
he heard. Cf. ed. Leiden,
Glossarium, p. dlxiii.
214. Aba Kurayb Muhammad b. al-'Ala’ b. Kurayb
al-Hamdani al-Kufi died in
248/862. See Ibn Hajar, Tahdhib, IX, 385-86.
225. Aba Zakariyi Yahya b. Adam b. Sulaymdn al-Umawi
al-Ahwal was bom
ca. 140/757 in al-Kufah and died in 203/818. He was a
respected scholar of fiqh,
fyadith, and Qur’an. See Ibn Hajar, Tahdhib, XI, 175-76;
GAS, 1 , 510.
226. Isra’il b. Yanus b. Abi Ishaq al-Sabl'I al-Kufi was
bom in 100/718 and died in
162/778. See al-Khafib, Ta'rikh Baghdad, VII, 20-25; Ibn
Hajar, Tahdhib, I, 261-
63.
227. Abu Ishaq 'Amr b. 'Abdallah al-Hamdani, the
grandfather of Isra’il b.
Yanus, died between 126 and 129/743-47 at the age of
ninety-six. See Ibn IJajar,
Tahdhib, I, 261-63.
228. See note 220, above.
The Events of the Year 6 55
'Abdallah b. Ubayy, got word of what had happened involving his
father.
According to Ibn Humayd — Salamah — Muhammad b. Ishaq —
*A§im b. 'Umar b. Qatadah: 'Abdallah b. ‘Abdallah b. Ubayy b.
Salul came to the Messenger of God and said: "Messenger of
God, I
have been told that you want to kill 'Abdallah b. Ubayy because of
what has been reported to you concerning him. If you are going to
do it, command me to do it and I will bring you his head. By God,
al-Khazraj know that there has never been among them a man
more dutiful to his father than 1. 1 am afraid that you may order
someone else to do it and that he may kill him; and then my soul
will not allow me to look on the slayer of 'Abdallah b. Ubayy
walking among the people: I would kill him, killing a believer to
avenge an unbeliever, and thereby enter the Fire {of Hell)."
The
Messenger of God said, "No, we will be gentle with him and
associate with him on friendly terms as long as he stays with
us."
Thus, after that day whenever he did anything objectionable, it
was his own tribesmen who reproved him, corrected him, censured
him, and threatened him. When word of how they were
behaving reached the Messenger of God, he said to 'Umar b. al-
Khattab: "What do you think, 'Umar? By God, had I killed him
the
day you ordered me to kill him, prominent men would have been
upset, who, if I ordered them today to kill him, would do
so."
'Umar said, "Now by God I know that what the Messenger of God
ordered had more of a blessing in it that what I would have
ordered."
Miqyas b. $ubabah came from Mecca, pretending to have become
a Muslim, and said: "Messenger of God, I have come to you
as a Muslim. I have come to seek blood money 229 for my brother,
who was killed by mistake." The Messenger of God ordered him
to be paid blood money for his brother Hisham b. $ubabah. He
stayed briefly with the Messenger of God; then he attacked his
229. Arabic diyah: a specified amount of money or goods
due in cases of homicide or other injuries to physical health unjustly
committed upon the person of another. The payment for homicide was normally 100
camels, payable to the aggrieved family. The payment terminated all further
vengeance. See EP-, s.v. Diya.
The Victory of Islam
56
brother's slayer, killed him, and left for Mecca as an apostate.
He
said while he was traveling: 230
It has sated my soul that he has spent the night laid to rest in
• the valley,
with blood from his neck veins staining his two garments.
Before I killed him, soul's griefs assailed me and forbade me the
smoothness of beds.
With him I discharged my vengeance; I took my retaliation,
and was the first to return to the idols.
By [killing] him I took vengeance by force, 231 and I made to pay
blood money for him the princes of the Banu al-Najjar and the
lords of Fari'. 232
Miqyas b. $ubabah also said:
I rained down on him a blow that settled accounts: because of it
there was a dripping of the belly's fresh blood that overspread
him and flowed
away.
And I said, as death came over his features,
"You cannot be safe from the Banu Bakr when they are
wronged!"
Many of the Banu al-Mu§taliq were wounded on that day. 'Ali b,
Abi Talib killed two of them: Malik and his son. The Messenger of
God took many captives, and they were divided among all the
Muslims. Juwayriyah bt. al-Harith b. Abi pirar, [who became] the
wife of the Prophet, was one of the captives.
According to Ibn Humayd— Salamah — Muhammad b. Ishaq —
Muhammad b. Ja'far b. al-Zubayr— 'Urwah— the Prophet's wife
'A’ishah, who said: When the Messenger of God divided the captives
of the Banu al-Mu§taliq, Juwayriyah bt. al-Harith fell to the
share of Thabit b. Qays b. al-Shammas (or to a cousin of his), and
230. Ed. Cairo: "He said in a poem," reading
fi shi'r, for ed. Leiden's fl safarihl.
Parallel text of this and the following poem with
variants: W, 1 , 408; IH, III, 293-94 (tr. Guillaume, 492).
231. Thus ed. Leiden [tha'artu bihi qahtan ); al-WSqidi,
Ibn Hisham, and ed.
Cairo read fihtan ("I avenged Fihr with him").
Since Fihr was one of the early
members of Qurayshj the line would then refer to
exacting vengeance for his
brother, a member of Quraysh, from the Banu al-Najjar of
Medina.
232. Fari* was one of the fortresses of Medina; see p.
22, above.
The Events of the Year 6
57
she contracted with him for her freedom. 233 She was a sweet,
beautiful woman who captivated anyone who looked at her. She
came to the Messenger of God seeking his help in the matter of her
contract. By God, as soon as I saw her at the door of my chamber,
I
took a dislike to her, and I knew that he would see in her what I
saw. She went before him and said, "Messenger of God, I am
Juwayriyah, the daughter of al-Harith b. Abi Dirar, the chief of
his
tribesmen. You can see what misfortune has befallen me. I have
fallen to the share of Thabit b. Qays b. al-Shammas (or his
cousin)
and have contracted with him for my freedom. I have come to you
to ask your aid with my contract." He said to her,
"Would you like
something better than that?" She said, "What is it,
Messenger of
God? " He said, "I will pay your contract and marry you.
" She said,
"Yes, Messenger of God," and he said, "I do
so." When the news
got out to the people that the Messenger of God had married
Juwayriyah bt. al-Harith, they said, "Relatives by marriage
of the
Messenger of God!" and they set free those in their
possession.
When he married her, a hundred families of the Banu al-Mu$taliq
were freed. I know of no woman who was a greater blessing to her
people than she.
An Account of the Lie 234
According to Ibn Humayd — Salamah — Muhammad b. Ishaq, who
said: The Messenger of God then set out on his way back from that
journey (according to what my father Ishaq [b. Yasarj transmitted
to me from al-Zuhri — 'Urwah — 'A’ishah). When he was near Me-dina
('A’ishah was along on that journey of his), the authors of the
lie said about her what they said.
133. Arabic katabathu ' aid nafsiha : she made a
contract with him (written or
otherwise) that she would pay a certain sum as the price
of herself and be free on payment of it (cf . Lane, Lexicon , VH, 2 $ 90). The
practice (called mukatabah, "manumission by contract") is recommended
by the Qur’an (24:33) for any slave who wishes it. Cf. Schacht, Introduction to
Islamic Law, 42L, 129L; and El 2 , 1 , 30, s.v. Abd.
234. Parallels: W, II, 426-40; IH, III, 297-307 (tr.
Guillaume, 493-99); al-
Bukhiri, $ahih (ed. Boulaq), V, 52; al-Tabari, Jami'
al-bay8n, XVIII, 68-77. Cf.
Stowasser, Women in the Qur’an, Traditions, and
Interpretation, 94 - 93 ; and
Spellberg, Politics, Gender, and the Islamic Past,
61-99.
The Victory of Islam
58
According to Ibn Humayd — Salamah — Muhammad b. Isfraq —
al-Zuhrl— 'Alqamah b. Waqqa§ al-Laythi, Sa'id b. al-Musayyab, 235
'Urwah b, al-Zubayr, and ‘Ubaydallah b. ‘Abdallah b. 'Utbah 236
(al-
Zuhri said, "Each transmitted to me part of this account,
some
remembering more of it than others, and I have assembled for you
everything they transmitted to me").
According to Ibn Humayd — Salamah — Muhammad b. Isbaq —
Yahya b. 'Abbad b. 'Abdallah b. al-Zubayr— his father— 'A’ishah;
also, [Muhammad b. Ishaq]— 'Abdallah b. Abi Bakr b. Muhammad
b. ‘Amr b. Hazm al- Ansar! — 'Amrah bt. ‘Abd al-Rahman 237 —
‘A’ishah [[Muhammad b. Ishaq] said: "The report of each has
been
assembled in the account of ‘A’ishah's story about herself, when
the authors of the lie said about her what they said. Each contributed
to her account as transmitted from all these people. Some
of them relate what others do not. Each was a reliable informant
concerning her, and each related about her what he had
heard.")
'A’ishah said: Whenever the Messenger of God planned a journey,
he had his wives draw lots among themselves; whichever
one's lot came out, he took her with him. When the raid on the
Banu al-Mus$aliq took place, he had his wives draw lots as he used
to do; my lot came out over theirs, and the Messenger of God took
me along. Women in those days used to eat only enough to stay
alive; they were not bloated with meat so as to become heavy.
While my camel was being saddled, I would sit in my litter; then
the men who were to bind my litter onto my camel would come
and carry me: they would take hold of the bottom of the litter,
lift
it, and place me on the back of the camel. Then they would tie it
with its ropes, take hold of the camel's head, and set out with
it.
135. Abu Muhammad Sa'id b. al-Musayyab b. Hazn al-Makhzumi
was bom in
13/634 and died in 94/713 in Medina. He was a scholar of
genealogy, history,
traditions, and law and was closely connected with the
caliph 'Umar. Al-Zuhri was one of his students. See Ibn Hajar, Tahdhib, IV,
84-88) GAS, 1, 176.
136. 'Ubaydallah b. 'Abdallah b. 'Utbah died in the
9o's/7o8-r8. gee fl> n Hajar,
Tahdhib, VII, 23-24, which quotes al-Tabari's favorable
opinion of him.
237. 'Amrah bt. 'Abd al-Rahman b. Sa'd b. Zurarah
al-An?ariyyah was highly
regarded as a transmitter of material from 'A’ishah. The
caliph 'Umar b. 'Abd
al-'Aziz is said to have asked for a written collection
of her reports from 'A’ishah.
She died in 98/716-17 (or later) at the age of
seventy-seven. See Ibn Hajar, Tahdhib, XII, 438-39.
The Events of the Year 6 59
When the Messenger of God had finished with his journey on
that occasion, he turned back to return. When he was near Medina,
he made camp and, having spent part of the night there,
announced the departure. When the people had mounted, I went
out to attend to a need of mine. 238 On my neck was a necklace of
mine with onyx beads from Zafar. 239 When I was finished, it came
undone from my neck without my noticing. When I returned to
the encampment, I felt for it on my neck and did not find it. The
people had already begun to leave. I retraced my steps to the
place
to which I had gone and looked for the necklace until I found it.
While I was away, the men who used to saddle the camel for me
came and finished saddling it. Assuming that I was in the litter
as
usual, they took hold of the litter, lifted it up, and tied it
onto the
camel, not doubting that I was in it. Then they took hold of the
camel's head and set out. When I came back to camp, not a soul
was there 240 — the people had departed. So I wrapped myself in my
outer garment ( jilbab ) and lay down in the place to which I had
gone. I knew that if they missed me, they would return for me. By
God, while I was lying down, $afwan b. al-Mu'atfal al-Sulaml
passed by me — he had lagged behind away from the camp to attend
to a need of his and had not spent the night with the people in
camp. When he saw my form, he approached and stood near me
and recognized me, for he used to see me before the curtain
(hijab)
was imposed on us. 241 When he saw me, he said, "'Surely we
belong to God, and to Him we return!' 242 — is it she who travels
in
the litter of the Messenger of God?" I was wrapped up in my
garments. "What has caused you to stay behind? — may God have
mercy on you!" he asked, but I did not talk to him. Then he
brought the camel near and said, "Mount — may God have mercy
on you! " — and he kept back from me. I mounted, and he came
and
took hold of the camel's head and set out with me, hastening in
pursuit of the party. By God, we did not overtake them, neither
was I was missed until morning. The people halted and, when
they had settled down, the man came into view leading me. Then
the authors of the lie said about me what they said, and the camp
was disturbed; yet, by God, I knew nothing about it.
238. I.e., to relieve herself.
239. The city of £afar, near San'a’ in Yemen (not to be
confused with £afar on
the coast of Oman), was famous for its onyx. See Yaqut,
Mu' jam al-bulddn, VI, 8 5 - 86 .
240. Literally, "not a caller and not a
responder."
241. See note 96, above.
242. See note 213, above.
6o
The Victory of Islam
Then we came to Medina, and I immediately came down with a
severe complaint. Nothing about the matter reached me, but the
story reached the Messenger of God and my parents. My parents
said not a word to me about it; however, I missed some of the
kindness toward me of the Messenger of God. Whenever I complained
of an illness, he would be merciful to me and treat me
with kindness, but he did not do so at the time of that complaint
of
mine, and I missed it. When he came to see me while my mother
was nursing me, he would say "How is she?" and nothing
more.
Finally, troubled by his apparent coldness toward me, I said,
"Messenger
of God, I wish you would allow me to move to my
mother's, so that she could nurse me." "Do what you
like," he
said. So I moved to my mother's, knowing nothing of what had
happened, and after some twenty days I recovered from my pain.
We were Arab folk. We did not have in our houses these privies
that the foreigners have,* we loathed and disliked such things.
Instead, we would go out into the fields of Medina. The women
would go out every night to attend to their needs. One night I
went
out to attend to my needs along with Umm Mistafr, the daughter
of Abu Ruhm b. al-Muftalib b. 'Abd Manaf (her mother, the maternal
aunt of Abu Bakr, was the daughter of §akhr b. 'Amir b. Ka'b b.
Sa'd b. Taym). By God, as she was walking with me, she tripped
over her garment and said, "May Misfalj stumble and
fall!" I said,
"By the life of God, what a bad thing to say about an
Emigrant who
was present at Badr!" 243 She replied, "Daughter of Abu
Bakr,
hasn't the news reached you?" "What news?" I asked.
She told me
what the authors of the lie had been saying. I asked, "Has
this
really happened?" "Yes," she said, "by God, it
really has happened."
By God, I was unable to do what I had to do. I went back
and kept crying until I thought that the crying would split my
liver. I said to my mother: "May God forgive you. People
spoke the
things they spoke and you heard what you heard, yet you mention
nothing of it to me! " She said: "Dear daughter, take it
lightly. By
God, whenever a beautiful woman married to a man who loves her
has rival wives, they always gossip about her, and people do the
same."
243. See note 91, above.
The Events of the Year 6
61
The Messenger of God stood up among the people to preach
without my knowing about it. He said: "People, why are some
men hurting me regarding my family and saying falsehood about
them ? 244 By God, I know only good about them. People are saying
this about a man about whom, by God, I know only good and who
has never entered any of my apartments except in my company."
The main offense lay with 'Abdallah b. Ubayy b. Salul and some
men of al-Khazraj, along with what Misjah and Hamnah bt. Jahsh
had said. Hamnah's sister, Zaynab bt. Jahsh, was the wife of the
Messenger of God . 245 Hamnah therefore spread her rumors trying
to hurt me for the sake of her sister Zaynab bt. Jahsh, and I
became
distressed by it.
When the Messenger of God had finished his speech, Usayd b.
Hudayr, a member of the Banu 'Abd al-Ashhal , 246 said: "Messenger
of God, if they belong to al-Aws, we will take care of them
for you,- if they belong to our brothers, al-Khazraj, give us your
command. By God, they deserve to have their heads cut off!"
Sa'd b. 'Ubadah stood up — previously he was thought to be a
righteous man — and said: "You lie! By God's life, their
heads shall
not be cut off. By God, you have said these words only because you
already know that they belong to al-Khazraj; had they been your
tribesmen, you would not have said it." Usayd said: "You
lie, by
God's life! But you are a hypocrite arguing for hypocrites."
The
men jumped up at each other, so that violence almost took place
between the tribes of al-Aws and al-Khazraj.
The Messenger of God descended [from the pulpit] and came in
to see me. He called 'Ali b. Abi Talib and Usamah b. Zayd and
asked their advice. Usamah spoke in praise, saying,
"Messenger of
God, they are your family, and we know nothing but good about
them , 247 and this is lying and falsehood." As for 'Ali, he
said:
244. The pronoun "them" is in the feminine
plural, indicating that "my family"
is a polite way of saying "my wives."
245. IH adds: "None of his wives but she could
rival me in status. As for Zaynab
herself, God protected her; but ffamnah bt. Jahsh spread
her rumors. ..."
246. The Banu 'Abd al-Ashhal were a division of al-Aws.
247. As before, "them" (feminine plural)
refers to Muhammad's wives.
6 2
The Victory of Islam
"Messenger of God, women are many, and you can get a replacement.
Ask the slave girl; she will tell you the truth." So the Messenger
of God called Barirah to question her. 'Ali went up to her
and struck her hard, saying, "Speak the truth to the
Messenger of
God." "By God," she said, "I know nothing but
good. The only
fault I ever found in 'A’ishah is that, when I was kneading my
dough and ordered her to watch it, she fell asleep over it, and
the
pet sheep 248 came and ate it."
Then the Messenger of God came into my room. My parents
were with me, along with a woman from the An$ar. I was crying,
and she was crying with me. Having seated himself, he praised and
lauded God and then said; "'A’ishah, as you know, people have
been saying things. Fear God, and if you have committed an evil
deed such as people say, repent to God, for God accepts repentance
from his servants." By God, as soon as he said that, my tears
diminished, so that I felt nothing of them. I waited for my
parents
to reply to the Messenger of God, but they did not speak. I swear
to
[1524] God, I considered myself too lowly and unimportant for God,
who
is mighty and exalted, to reveal a Qur’an 249 about me to be
recited
in mosques and used in worship; but I hoped that the Messenger of
God would see something in a dream whereby God, knowing my
innocence, would refute [the accusations] about me or that he
would be given a message. As for a Qur’an to be revealed about me,
by God, I considered myself too lowly for that.
When I saw that my parents did not speak, I said, "Will you
not
reply to the Messenger of God?" They said to me, "By
God, we do
not know what to reply to him." (I swear to God, I know of no
family that suffered what the family of Abu Bakr suffered during
those days.) When they were unable to speak on my behalf, my
eyes filled with tears and I wept. "By God," I said,
"I will never
repent to God of that which you have spoken of. By God, if I
confess to what people are saying, so that you believe me — and
God knows that I am innocent of it — I shall be saying what did
not
248. Arabic: dajin, an animal (usually a sheep or goat)
that one keeps in one's
house.
249. I.e., a Qur’anic revelation, a single passage of
Qur'an to be recited in liturgi-
cal worship; see Bell and Watt, Introduction to the
Qiu'&n, 135-36-
The Events of the Year 6
63
happen; and if I deny what you are saying, you will not believe
me." Then I tried to recall the name of Jacob, but I could
not
remember it; instead, I said: "As the father of Joseph said,
'Comely
patience! And God it is whose help is to be sought in that which
you describe .'" 250
By God, before the Messenger of God left the place where he was
sitting, there came over him from God what used to come over
him. They covered him with his garment and set a leather cushion
under his head. As for me, when I saw that happen, by God I did
not become very frightened or troubled, for I knew that I was
innocent and that God would not wrong me. As for my parents, by
the One who holds 'A’ishah's soul in His hand, as soon as the
Messenger of God came to, I thought their souls would depart for
fear that confirmation of what people had said would come from
God.
The Messenger of God came to and sat up. [Drops of sweat] were
falling from him like silver beads on a day of hail. He began
wiping
the perspiration from his brow and said: "Rejoice, 'A’ishah!
God
has revealed your innocence." I said, "To God's praise and
your 251
blame! " Then he went out to the people and preached to them.
He
recited to them the Qur’an that God had revealed concerning me.
He gave orders concerning Mistah b. Uthathah, Hassan b. Thabit,
and 3 amnah bt. Jahsh (they were among those who had spoken
evil openly) and they received their prescribed flogging . 252
According to Ibn Humayd — Salamah — Muhammad b. Ishaq —
his father [Isljaq b. Yasar] — some men of the Banu al-Najjar: Umm
Ayyub, the wife of Abu Ayyub Khalid b. Zayd, said to her husband,
250. Qur’an 12:18.
251. The pronoun is plural.
252. Literally: "they were beaten with their
hadd." If add, meaning "hindrance,
impediment, limit, boundary," is used in the plural
in the Qur’an to designate the
restrictive ordinances of God ( hudud Allah). In Islamic
jurisprudence, hadd is a
technical term for the punishment of certain acts that
have been forbidden or
sanctioned by punishments in the Qur’an and have thereby
become crimes against religion. These are unlawful intercourse {zina), false
accusation of unlawful intercourse { qadhf), wine drinking { khamr ), theft (
sariqah ), and highway robbery | qat' al-faiiq ). The punishment for false
accusation of unlawful intercourse was set at eighty lashes by Qur’an 24:4,
which some say was revealed on this occasion (see al- Tabari, fdmi' al-bayan,
XVin, 59-60, ad loc.). See EP, s. w. JJadd, Kadhf; Schacht, Introduction to
Islamic Law, 179.
64
The Victory of Islam
"Abu Ayyub, don't you hear what people are saying about
'A’ishah?" "Yes," he replied, "and it is
falsehood. Would you,
Umm Ayyub, do such a thing?" She said, "No, by God, I
wouldn't
do it." "And ‘A’ishah," he said, "is better
than you, by God!"
When the Qur’an was revealed, God mentioned the authors of
the slander who spoke their evil, saying: "Those who came
with
the slander are a band of you" — and the rest of the verse.
253 This
refers to Hassan b. Thabit and his companions who said what they
said. Then God said, "Why, when you heard it, did the believers,
men and women, not of their own account think good
thoughts?"— and the rest of the verse 254 That is, [why did
they
not speak] as Abu Ayyub and his wife spoke? Then He said:
"When you received it on your tongues"— and the rest of
the
verse. 255
When this was revealed concerning 'A’ishah and those who had
said what they said about her, Abu Bakr, who had been supporting
Misfah because of his close kinship with him and his poverty,
[1526] said, "By God, I will never support Mis$ah with
anything or help
him in any way after what he said about 'A’ishah, making us suffer
as we did," Then God revealed concerning this: "Let not
those of
you who possess bounty and plenty swear off giving kinsmen" —
and the rest of the verse. 256 Abu Bakr therefore said, "By
God, I
want God to forgive me" — and he restored Mis^ah's support
that
he had been paying him, saying, "By God, I will never
withdraw it
from him."
§afwan b. al-Mu'at^al advanced on Hassan b. Thabit with a
sword when he learned what liassan was saying about him. In
addition, hassan had composed poetry with insinuations against
253. Qur’an 24:11: "Those who came with the slander
are a band of you; do not
reckon it evil for you> rather it is good for you.
Every man of them shall have the sin that he has earned charged to him> and
whosoever of them took upon himself the greater part of it, him there awaits a
mighty chastisement."
254. Qur’an 24:12, which continues: "and say, 'This
is a manifest calumny'?"
255. Qur’an 24:15: "When you received it on your
tongues, and were speaking
with your mouths that whereof you had no knowledge, and
reckoned it a light
thing, and with God it was a mighty thing."
256. Qur’an 24:22: "Let not those of you who
possess bounty and plenty swear
off giving kinsmen and the poor and those who emigrate
in the way of God; but let them pardon and forgive. Do you not wish that God
should forgive you? God is All- forgiving, All-compassionate."
The Events of the Year 6 65
Ibn al-Mu'aftal and the Arabs of Mudar 257 who had become Muslims.
He had said: 258
The (wearers of the) jilbab 259 have become strong and
numerous,
and Ibn al-Furayah 260 has become [as alone as] an
[ostrich's] egg in the land 261
Bereft of her son is the mother of the one whose companion I
become 262
or [of anyone who] becomes caught in the claws of a lion.
For my victim, the one whom I take early in the morning,
no blood money shall be paid and no revenge [shall be
taken].
Not even the sea, when the wind blows from the north,
so that it becomes heaped up and spatters the shore with
foam, Is more overwhelming ever than I, when you see me
amaze with [my] rage 263 like a cloud that brings amazing
[amounts of] hail.
§afwan b. al-Mu'aftal therefore advanced on him with a sword,
struck him, and said (according to Ibn Humayd — Salamah —
Muhammad b. Ishaq):
257. I.e., the Emigrants of Quraysh. Muqlar was a large
grouping of North Arabian tribes including Qays 'Aylan, Hudhayl, Khuzaymah,
Asad, Kinanah, Quraysh, ipabbah, and Tamim. See El 1 Suppl., s.v. Rabi'a and
Mu^ar. Hassan b. Thabit belonged to al-Khazraj of Medina.
258. Parallels: AghanI, IV, 11-13 (with narrative of the
circumstances of the
poem's composition, variant readings, and six additional
lines); Diwan, I, 284-86
and II, 212-13 (twelve verses and extensive comment); W,
II, 436; IH, HI, 304-5.
See also W. Arafat, "A Controversial
Incident."
259. See note 219. An alternate reading, preferred by
Arafat in his edition of the
Diwan is khalabis, "a mixed multitude, scum."
260. I.e., Hassan b. Thabit, whose mother was named
al-Furay'ah. Cf. AghanI,
IV, 2.
261. Arabic bayfat al-balad is a common metaphor for
isolation or insignifi-
cance, although it can also mean something precious. See
Arafat, "A Controversial Incident," 197.
262. Ed. Cairo (change of vocalization): "you
become."
263. The interpretation follows the suggestion in the
notes to the Diwin of
Hassan b. Thabit concerning the meaning of fari, yafri.
See Diwin, II, 212-13;
Lane, Lexicon, VI, 2391.
66
The Victory of Islam
Receive the sword's edge from me: I am
a young man who, when I am satirized, am no poet.
According to Ibn Humayd— Salamah— Muhammad b. Ishaq—
Muhammad b. Ibrahim b. al-Harith al-Tayml: 264 Thabit b. Qays b.
al-Shammas (a member of the Banu al-Harith 265 b. al-Khazraj)
assaulted $afwan b. al-Mu’attal because of his having struck
Hassan, and, having tied §afwan's hands to his neck, set out with
him for the territory of the Banu al-Harith b. al-Khazraj.
’Abdallah
b. Rawahah met him. "What is this?" he asked. Thabit
replied:
"Hasn't the striking of Hassan b. Thabit with the sword made
you
indignant? By God, I think it nearly killed him!" ‘Abdallah
b.
Rawahah said to him, "Does the Messenger of God know anything
about what you have done?" He replied, "No, by
God." ’Abdallah
said: "You have acted too boldly. Release the man!" So
Thabit b.
Qays released him. They came to the Messenger of God and told
him what had happened. He called on Hassan and $afwan b. al-
Mu'attal [to speak]. Ibn al-Mu’aftal said, "Messenger of God,
he
insulted me and satirized me, so that rage overcame me and I
struck him." The Messenger of God said to Hassan,
"Hassan, have
you treated my own tribesmen harshly because God has guided
them to Islam?" Then he said, "Hassan, treat well 266
the one who
struck you." "I will, Messenger of God," he
answered.
According to Ibn Humayd— Salamah— Muhammad b. Ishaq—
Muhammad b. Ibrahim b. al-Harith: In compensation for [the
blow], the Messenger of God gave [Hassan] Bayrafra, 267 which today
is the palace of the Banu Hudaylah in Medina. It had been the
property of Abu Talhah b. Sahl, who donated it to the Messenger
of God, who in turn gave it to Hassan for his blow. He also gave
him Sirin, a Coptic slave girl, and she bore him ’Abd al-Rahman b.
Hassan.
'A’ishah used to say: They inquired about §afwan b. al-Mu'attal
and found him to be an impotent man who had no intercourse
with women. He was killed afterward as a martyr [in battle].
264. Muhammad b. Ibrahim b. al-Harith al-Taymi, died ca.
120/738, was the
grandson of an Emigrant. See Ibn Hajar, Tahdhib, IX,
5-7.
265. The tribal name is abbreviated here to Balljarith.
I have normalized it to
Banu al-Hirith throughout, which is the form used later
in the sentence.
2 66. Arabic: afysin yd Hassan. Muhammad is punning on
ldassSn's name, which
comes from the same root as the verb ahsana, "do
good, treat well."
267. Variant |al-W 3 qidi, Aghani f): Bayrahi’-
The Events of the Year 6 67
According to Ibn Humayd — Salamah — Ibn Ishaq — ‘Abd al-
Wahid b. Hamzah: 268 A’ishah's account was given on the Pilgrimage
of Fulfillment. 269
According to Abu Ja‘far [al-Tabari]: The Messenger of God
stayed the months of Ramadan and Shawwal in Medina. He set
out to perform the lesser pilgrimage {' umrah ) in Dhu al-Qa'dah
of
the year 6. 270
The Prophet's Lesser Pilgrimage from Which the
Polytheists Turned Him Back: The Story of al-
Hudaybiyah 271
According to Ibn Humayd — al-Hakam b. Bashir 272 — 'Umar b.
Dharr al-Hamdanl 273 — Mujahid: 274 The Prophet made three
lesser pilgrimages, all of them in [the month of] Dhu al-Qa'dah,
returning from each of them to Medina.
According to Ibn Humayd — Salamah — Ibn Ishaq, who said: The
Prophet set out to make the lesser pilgrimage in Dhu al-Qa'dah,
not intending to make war. He had called on the Arabs and Bedouin
desert dwellers who were around him to help by setting out
268. On the Medinan transmitter 'Abd al-Wahid b. Hamzah
b. 'Abdallah b. al-
Zubayr al-Asadi Abu Hamzah see Ibn Hajar, Tahdhib, VI,
434.
269. Arabic: 'umrat al-qada', the lesser pilgrimage that
Muhammad performed
in 7/629 (called the Pilgrimage of Fulfillment because
it took the place of the
pilgrimage he had been prevented from making). See pp.
133-38, below.
270. Ramadan of a.h. 6 began on 14 January 628, Shawwal
on 13 February, and
Dhu al-Qa'dah on 13 March.
271. Parallels: W, n, 571-633; IH, HI, 308-27 (tr.
Guillaume, 499-510). Al-
Hudaybiyah was a small town with a well one stage from
Mecca and nine stages
from Medina. It was on the edge of the Meccan haram or
sacred territory. See EP-, s.v. al-Hudaybiya.
272. Perhaps the same as the Kufan scholar al-Hakam b.
Bishr b. Su layman al-
Nahdi whom Ibn Hajar lists as one of the sources
consulted by Muhammad b.
Humayd. See Ibn Hajar, Tahdhib , n, 424.
273. 'Umar b. Dharr b. ‘Abdallah b. Zurarah al-Hamdam
was a Kufan who died
ca. 153/770. See Ibn Hajar, Tahdhib , VH, 444-45.
274. Abu al-Hajjij Mujahid b. Jabr al-Makki was bom ca.
21/642 in Mecca and
died in 104/722. He was a student of Ibn al-' Abbas and
author of a commentary on the Qur’an. See Ibn Hajar, Tahdhib , X, 42-44; GAS,
I, 29.
68
The Victory of Islam
with him, for he feared that Quraysh would oppose him with
fighting or turn him away from the [Holy] House 275 — which they
did. Many of the Bedouins were slow in coming to him. The Messenger
of God, the Emigrants and An?ar who were with him, and
the Arabs who joined him set out. He took sacrificial animals with
him and put on pilgrim garb 276 so that people would have no
apprehension about his fighting and would know that he had
come only to visit and venerate the House.
According to Ibn Humayd — Salamah — Muhammad b. Ishaq —
Muhammad b. Muslim al-Zuhri— 'Urwah b. al-Zubayr— al-
Miswar b. Makhramah 277 and Marwan b. al-Hakam , 278 who said:
The Messenger of God set out in the Year of al-Hudaybiyah, intending
to visit the House, not intending to fight. He drove with
him seventy fattened camels. The party numbered seven hundred
men? each fattened camel was for ten men.
However, according to Ibn 'Abd al-A'la 279 (who transmitted his
report to us from Muhammad b. Thawr 280 — Ma'mar 281 — al-
Zuhri— 'Urwah b. al-Zubayr— al-Miswar b. Makhramah); and ac-
cording to Ya'qub 282 (who transmitted his report from Yahya b.
175. Arabic: al-bayt, the Ka'bah.
276. Arabic alirama : "he entered the state of
ihrSm," a state of ritual consecration marked by the wearing of a simple
two-piece garment and abstention from cutting the hair, shedding blood, sexual
relations, and a number of other activities. Sge s.v. Ihram.
277. Al-Miswar b. Makhramah b. Nawfal al-Zuhri was the
nephew of 'Abd al-
Rahman b. *Awf through his mother. Bom in 2/623-24 in
Mecca, he was taken to
Medina in 8/629-30 and died in 64/683-84 in Mecca. He
was a close friend of
'Umar. See Ibn Hajar, Tabdhib, X, 151-52.
278. Marwan b. al-tfakam b. Abi al-'A? b. Umayyah, was
governor of Medina
under Mu'£wiyah and became caliph in 64/684, reigning
nine months. He died in
Ramadan 65/685. See Ibn Hajar, Tabdhib, X, 91-92, EP,
s.v.
279. Muhammad b. 'Abd al-A'la al-$an'ani |cf. p. 74,
below, where the same
isnad occurs in fuller form) died in 245/859 in
al-Ba§rah, where al-Tabari met him. See Ibn Hajar, Tahdhib, IX, 289, Rosenthal,
General Introduction, 20.
280. Muhammad b. Thawr al-San'ini died ca. 190/805. See
Ibn Hajar, Tahdhib,
IX, 87.
281. Abu 'Urwah Ma'mar b. Rashid, bom in 96/714 and died
in 154/770, a pupil
of al-Zuhri, was a historian and traditionist. See Ibn
I^ajar, Tahdhib, X, 243-46,
GAS, I, 290-91.
282. I.e., Ya'qub b. Ibrahim al-Dawraqi (cf. the fuller
version of the same isnad at
p. 74, below) was bom in 166/782 and died in 252/866.
See al-Khatib al-Baghdadi, Ta'rikh Baghdad, XTV, 277-80, Ibn Hajar, Tahdhib,
XI, 381-82.
The Events of the Year 6
69
Sa'Id 283 — ’Abdallah b. Mubarak 284 — Ma'mar — al-Zuhri — ‘Urwah
b. al-Zubayr — al-Miswar b. Makhramah and Marwan b. al-
Hakam, both of whom said): The Messenger of God set out from
al-Hudaybiyah with between thirteen and nineteen hundred 285 of
his companions. (The (same] report then follows.)
According to al-Hasan b. Yahya— Abu 'Amir [al-'Aqadi] —
'Ikrimah b. 'Ammar al-Yam 5 mI — Iyas b. Salamah — his father
[Salamah b. al-Akwa’], who said: We came to al-Hudaybiyah with
the Messenger of God. We were fourteen hundred. 286
According to Yusuf b. Musa al-Qaftan 287 — Hisham b. *Abd al-
Malik and Sa’id b. Shurabbil al-Mi?ri — al-Layth b. Sa'd al-
Misri 288 — Abu al-Zubayr 289 — Jabir, 290 who said: On the day of
al-
Hudaybiyah we were one thousand and four hundred.
According to Mubammad b. Sa'd 291 — his father — his paternal
uncle
283. Yahya b. Sa'id b. Farrukh al-Qaftan, who was bom in
120/737 and died in
198/813, was a pupil of Sufyan al-Thawri. See al-Khatib
al-Baghdadi, Ta'tikh
Baghdad, XIV, i3S-44> Ibn Hajar, Tahdhib, XI, 216-20;
GAS, I, 75.
284. Abu 'Abd al-Rahman 'Abdallah b. al-Mubarak b. Wadih
al-Han?alI al-
Tamiml, who was bom in 118/736 and died in 181/797, was
a traditionist, histo-
rian, and Sufi. See Ibn Hajar, Tahdhib, V, 382-87; EP-,
s.v. Ibn al-Mubarak; GAS, I,
95-
285. Following the text of ed. Leiden | fi bid'a 'ashrata
mi’atan). The reading of
ed. Cairo [fi bid' at a 'ashaza wa-mi’atin, "with
between thirteen and nineteen and one hundred," i.e., with between 113 and
119) seems to be a misprint.
286. For ed. Leiden's axba'a ' ashrata mi’atan (14
hundred), ed. Cairo reads ar-
ba'ata 'ashaza wa-mi’atun (14 and a hundred, i.e., 114}.
287. Yusuf b. Musa b. Rashid b. Billl al-Qatfin Abu
Ya'qub was bom in al-
Kufah, lived in Rayy, then went to Baghdad, where he died
in $afar of 2s 3/867. See Ibn 9a jar, Tahdhib, XI, 423.
288. Al-Layth b. Sa'd b. 'Abd al-Rahman al-Fahmi Abu
al-Harith (bom in Qal-
qashandah, Egypt, in 94/713, and died in 175/791) was
one of the most famous
traditionists and jurists of his time. See Ibn Hajar,
Tahdhib, Vm, 459-6$; EP-, s.v.
al-Layth b. Sa'd; GAS, I, 520.
289. Abu al-Zubayr Muhammad b. Muslim b. Tadrus
al-Asadl, a traditionist,
died in 126/743 or 128. See Ibn Hajar, Tahdhib, IX,
440-43; GAS, I, 86-87.
290. I.e., the companion of the Prophet, Jabir b. 'Abdallah
b. 'Amr al-Khazraji,
one of the Medinans who swore allegiance to Muhammad at
the first Pledge of
'Aqabah. See GAS, I, 85.
291. Abu 'Abdallah Muhammad b. Sa'd b. Man!' al-Ba$ri
al-Zuhri (known as
"Katib al-Waqidl" after his teacher) was bom
in al-Ba$rah in 168/784 and died in
230/845 in Baghdad. He was the author of Kitab
al-fabaqat al-kabir, containing
biographies of the Prophet and of his companions. See
Ibn Hajar, Tahdhib, IX, 182- 83; GAS, I, 300-301.
70
The Victory of Islam
— his father — his father — Ibn 'Abbas, 292 who said: The people
who swore allegiance under the tree were one thousand five
hundred and twenty-five.
According to Ibn al-Muthanna 293 — Abu Dawud 294 — Shu'bah 295 —
'Amr b. Murrah, 296 who said: I heard 'Abdallah b. Abi
Awfa say: "On the Day of the Tree we were one thousand three
hundred. Aslam 297 was an eighth of the Emigrants."
According to Ibn Humayd — Salamah — Muhammad b. Ishaq —
al-A'mash 298 — Abu Sufyan 299 — Jabir b. 'Abdallah al-An§ari, who
said: We, the people of al-Hudaybiyah, were fourteen hundred. 300
According to al-Zuhri: The Messenger of God set out. When he
was at 'Usfan, Bishr b. Sufyan al-Ka'bl met him and said:
"Messenger
of God, Quraysh have heard about your journey and have
gone out with their 'foals and dams/ 301 They have put on leopard
skins and encamped at Dhu Tuwa, 302 swearing by God that you
shall never enter the city in defiance of them. Khalid b. al-
292. 'Abdallah b. 'Abbas (or al- ’Abbas), a cousin of
the Prophet, was bom three
years before the Hijrah. He spent much of his life at
al*Ta‘if as a scholar and
authority on Qur’an interpretation. He died in 68/687
(or in 69 or 70). See GAS, I,
25-28) EP-, s.v. *Abd Allah b. al-' Abbas.
293. Muhammad b. al-Muthanna Abu Musa al-Ba$ri died ca.
252/866. See Ibn
Hajar, Tahdhlb, IX, 425-27.
' 294. Abu DawfldSulaymanb. Dawud b.al-Jarudal-Tayalisi
was bom in 133/750
and died in 203/818 or 204. See Ibn Hajar, Tahdhlb, IV,
182-86) GAS, I, 97-98.
295. Shu'bah b. al-Hajjaj al-Ba$ri died in 160/776. See
Ibn Hajar, Tahdhlb, IV,
233-34.
296. 'Amr b. Murrah b. 'Abdallah al-Muradi al-Kufi died
ca. 118/736. See Ibn
Hajar, Tahdhlb, VIII, 102-3.
297. Aslam was a division of KhuzS'ah with territory to
the west of Medina and
Mecca. On the Emigrant status of members of other
non-Medinan tribes than
Quraysh who adhered to Muhammad, see Watt, Muhammad at
Medina, 86.
298. Sulayman b. Mihran al-Asadi al-A'mash died in
148/765. See al-Dhahabi,
Tadhkirah, 154) Ibn Ilajar, Tahdhlb, XI, 123.
299. For Abu Sufyan b. Sa'id b. al-Mughirah al-Thaqafi,
see Ibn Hajar, Tahdhlb,
XII, 1 12; GAS, I, 63-64, 85.
300. For ed. Leiden's arba'a 'ashrata mi'atan (14
hundred), ed. Cairo reads at-
ba'ata 'ashara wa-mi'atan (14 and a hundred, i.e., 114).
301. Arabic: al-'Udh al-matffil, literally,
"(camels) that have recently foaled and
(camels) that have foals with them." The commentators
take the phrase as figurative for "women and children") see Lane,
Lexicon, V, 2193, s.v. 'd'idh.
302. At place near Mecca, sometimes vocalized Dhu Jawi)
not the same as the
valley where Moses is said to have met God (Qur’an
20:12, 79:16)) see Yaqut,
Mu' jam al-buldan, VI, 64.
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