The Life of Muhammad

by M. Husayn Haykal

  As for reckoning after death, resurrection, and the Day of Judgment-paradise for the virtuous and hell for the unjust-all this completely escaped them despite the fact that they had heard of it in connection with the religion of the Jews and of the Christians. Nonetheless, they never heard of it described with such emphatic, frightening, indeed horrifying, terms and seriousness such as Muhammad’s revelation had brought to them. What they had heard of before Muhammad never succeeded in pressing home to them the recognition that their continued life of pleasure, pursuit of wealth, exploitation of the weak, robbery of the orphan, neglect of the poor, and excess in usury, would surely incur eternal punishment. They had no idea of impending suffering in the depth of hell, and when they heard of it described in these terms, it was natural for them to be seized with panic. How strongly they must have felt when they realized, though they did not openly admit it, that the other world with its reward and punishment is truly there, waiting for them only one step beyond this life which was soon to end in death!

  Quraysh and Paradise

  As for God’s promise to the virtuous of a paradise as large as heaven and earth, where there is neither evil word nor deed but only peace and blessedness, the Quraysh were quite suspicious. They doubted paradise all the more because of their attachment to this world and their anxiousness to enjoy its blessings right here and now. They were too impatient to wait for the Day of Judgment though they did not believe in any such day at all.

  The Struggle of Good and Evil

  One may indeed wonder how the Arabs locked their minds against any idea of the other world and its reckoning when the struggle of good and evil in this world has been raging eternally without letup or peace. Thousands of years before Muhammad, the ancient Egyptians provided their dead with their needs for the other world. In the coffins, they enclosed The Book of the Dead, which was full of psalms, invocations, and other prayers, and in their graves they painted pictures of judgment and scenes of repentance and punishment. The Indians, too, conceived of the other world in terms of Nirvana and transmigration of souls. A soul, they held, may suffer for thousands and millions of years before it is guided to the truth, purified, and rehabilitated to the good life at the end of which is Nirvana. Likewise, the Zoroastrians of Persia recognized the struggle of good and evil, and their gods were gods of light and darkness. So, too, did the Mosaic and the Christian religions, both of which describe a life of eternity dependent upon God’s pleasure or wrath. Did the Arabs not know any of all this, though they were a people of trade in continual contact through their voyages with all the adherents of these religions? How could the case be otherwise? Why did they not have similar notions of their own when, as people of the desert, they were closer to infinity and eternity, to a conception of the spiritual existence induced by the heat of noon and the darkness of night, to good and evil spirits, which they had already conceived of as residing within the statues which interceded for them with God? Undoubtedly, they must have had an idea of the existence of the other world, but since they were a people of trade, they were more realistic and hence appreciative of that which they could see and touch. They were one and all bon vivants and, hence, all the more determined to deny punishment or reward in the hereafter. They thought that what man needs in this world is precisely the consequence of his deed whether good or evil. Further consequences of his deeds in the other world were therefore superfluous. That is why most of the revelations of Muhammad which warned, threatened, and made promises concerning the other world were revealed in Makkah at the beginning of Muhammad’s commission. This revelation answered the need for saving those among whom Muhammad was sent. It was natural that Muhammad draw their attention as strongly as he could to their error and misguidance and that he call them to rise above idol worship to the worship of the One Almighty God.

  For the Sake of Salvation

  In the course of bringing spiritual salvation to his people and to all mankind, Muhammad and his followers suffered great harm. They were subjected to many travails of body and spirit, to emigration, to alienation from peers and relatives, and they bore these sacrifices with gallantry and patience. It was as if the more his people harmed Muhammad, the stronger became his love for them and the greater his desire and care to bring about their salvation. Resurrection and the day of judgment were the supreme ideas to which they were to give their attention if they were to be saved from their idolatry and evil deeds. Consequently, in the first years of Muhammad’s prophethood, revelation constantly repeated divine threats and warnings that the Makkans might open their eyes and recognize the veracity of resurrection and the Day of Judgment. It was this constant assault by revelation which, in final analysis, had inflamed the terrible war between Muhammad and Makkah whose rage did not subside until God had given victory to Islam, His religion, over the religions of man.

  Chapter 8

  From the Violation of the Boycott to al Isra’

  Calling the Tribes to lslam during the Holy Months

  The pact into which the clans of Quraysh had entered for boycotting Muhammad and blockading the Muslims continued to be observed for three consecutive years. During this time Muhammad and his family and companions fortified themselves against attack in one of the hills within Makkah. In their isolation, however, they suffered all kinds of privations; often they could not find enough food to satisfy their hunger. It was not possible either for Muhammad or the Muslims to mix with other people or to talk to them except during the holy months, when the Arabs would come to Makkah on pilgrimage and all hostilities would cease. In those months, no killing, persecution, aggression or vengence was permitted. Muhammad used to approach the Arabs and call them unto the religion of God and warn them of His imminent punishment as well as announce to them the blessings of paradise. The pilgrims knew what Muhammad had suffered in the cause of his mission, and this stirred their sympathy and compassion for him as well as their sensitivity to his call. Indeed, this boycott imposed by Quraysh, and Muhammad’s patient bearing of it for the sake of his cause, won for him and his cause many hearts. Not all men were as hard of feeling as Abu Jahl and Abu Lahab.

  Blockade of the Muslims

  The long duration of the blockade and, consequently, the great sufferings inflicted upon the Muslims by the Quraysh, caused a number of Makkans to realize the hardness and injustice to which their very brethren, in-laws, and cousins, had been subjected. Were it not for the few who compassionately furnished the Muslims food, the latter would have surely starved. Hisham ibn ‘Amr was the most compassionate to the Muslims in their tragedy. He used to load his camel with food and other supplies, take it during the night and pass by the entrance to the quarter where the Muslims were isolated. He would detach the reins of the camel and let it go free, whipping it on the sides so that the camel would enter into the quarter and be seized by the Muslims. The more Muhammad and his companions suffered, the more disturbed a number of Qurayshis became. Unable to withhold his compassion, Hisham ibn ‘Amr went to Zuhayr ibn Abu Umayyah, whose mother was ‘Atikah, daughter of ‘Abd al Muttalib. He said, “O Zuhayr, how could you eat and wear new clothes and marry and enjoy life when your uncles are locked up and isolated, unable to buy or purchase anything, to give or to take anyone in marriage? By God I swear that if the Muslims were the uncles of Abu al Hakam ibn Hisham and you had asked him to boycott them as he asked you to boycott the Muslims, he would have never fulfilled your request.” Together the two men agreed to revoke the pact of the boycott and sought to convince others to do likewise, although secretly. Al Mut’am ibn ‘Adiyy, Abu al Bakhtari ibn Hisham, and Zam’ah ibn al Aswad agreed to denounce the pact of boycott and to work together for its repudiation.

  One day after circumambulating the Ka’bah seven times, Zuhayr ibn Abu Umayyah addressed the Makkans : “O People of Makkah, would you that we eat food and enjoy ourselves while the Banu Hashim are dying one after another unable to buy or acquire anything? By God, I shall not sit still until this unjust pact of the boycott is revoked.�
�� Upon hearing this, Abu Jahl immediately rose and said to Zuhayr, “You are a liar. The pact is sacred and inviolable.” At this, Zam’ah, Abu al Bakhtari, al Mut’am, as well as Hisham ibn ‘Amr, rose from their places to argue against Abu Jahl and to confirm Zuhayr in his request. At this show of strength, Abu Jahl realized that a previous agreement must have been reached between these men and that direct opposition to them might not prove advantageous. He therefore withdrew. Al Mut’am rose to tear up the pact hanging on the wall of the Ka’bah only to find that insects had already devoured most of it except the opening words “In the name of God.” At this, Muhammad and his companions were permitted to come out of their isolation and circulate in Makkah, to buy and to sell as usual, although the antagonism and hostility remained as they were, and each party continued to look forward to a day when it could overcome the other.

  Infallibility of Muhammad in Conveying the Revelation

  Some biographers claimed that the unbelievers who brought about the revocation of the boycott pact went to Muhammad and asked him to make some gesture of reconciliation toward the Quraysh in order to strengthen them in their attempts and to put a stop to further harm. They asked him to agree to give their gods a place, at least to grant them occasional recognition with the fingers of his hand as the Makkans were accustomed to do. The same biographers claim that Muhammad inclined toward doing some of this in gratitude for the good deeds just done to him. They even allege that he said to himself: “What blame is there if I do such a thing? God knows that I am innocent!” Other biographers report that the same men who helped revoke the pact of boycott went one evening to Muhammad, talked to him all night, and praised him so much and endeared themselves to him, calling him “Our Master, Our Master,” until he was moved to answer some of their demands. The first version was reported by Said ibn Jubayr; and the second by Qatadah. In both versions, it is reported that God protected Muhammad against their subversion and revealed to him the following verse: “They have almost succeeded in inducing you, under promise of their friendship, to attribute to Us, against Our command, that which We did not reveal to you. Had We not confirmed you in your faith, you might have been tempted and hence fallen under the inescapable punishment.”[Qur’an, 17:73-75]

  It should be remembered that these verses were claimed to have been revealed in connection with the forged story of the goddesses which we have investigated earlier; the present reporters attribute it to the story of the revocation of the boycott pact. The same verses have also been claimed by ibn ‘Abbas, as reported by ‘Ata’, to have been revealed in connection with another story. That is the story of the delegation of Thaqif who came to Muhammad to ask him to declare their valley holy just as Makkah had declared her trees and birds and animals holy. It is claimed that the Prophet-may God’s peace be upon him hesitated until these verses were revealed. Whatever the historical circumstances which occasioned the revelation of these verses, the verses themselves bespeak the greatness of Muhammad as well as his candidness. The same aspects of Muhammad’s personality are equally in evidence in the verses we have reported from Surah 80. Indeed, they are supported by the history of Muhammad’s life as a whole. Muhammad had repeatedly told the people that he was only a man, that as a man God had revealed to him certain messages for their guidance, and that without God’s special protection in this regard he was as fallible as anyone. Muhammad did in fact err when he frowned in the face of ibn Umm Maktum and sent him away. He almost erred as reported above in the verses from the surah “ al Isra’ ” as well as in the foregoing verses which tell of his inclination away from that which had been revealed to him and of the people’s invitation to Muhammad to invent a revelation. But revelation did, in fact, come to Muhammad and condemned what he did in connection with the blind beggar, his near succumbing to Quraysh’s temptation. Muhammad, however, reported all these revelations to the Quraysh people with equal truthfulness and candidness. Neither self-esteem nor pride nor any other human feeling prevented him from conveying the revelation, whether it was for or against him. The truth and the truth alone was the essence of his message. He declared the truth even if it were against himself. We are accustomed to expect the great man to bear resolutely and patiently whatever harm he might be exposed to on account of his conviction, but we hardly ever expect the great man to acknowledge that he almost succumbed to his temptations. Such temptations are usually not talked about, and most great men are contented to reckon with themselves strongly only in secret. He was therefore greater than the great, for his soul enabled him to rise to the height where it would acknowledge the truth even regarding its own struggle and proclaim it to the public. Such greatness that is greater than the great belongs exclusively to the prophets. It demands of the prophet the very utmost in truthfulness and candidness in the conveyance of the message of truth that comes from God alone.

  Death of Abu Talib and Khadijah

  After the repudiation of the boycott pact, Muhammad and his companions emerged from their quarters. Muhammad immediately resumed his call to the Quraysh and to the tribes that used to come to Makkah during the holy months. Despite the spreading of his fame among the Arab tribes and the number of his followers, neither he nor they were quite yet safe from injury, and nothing he could do would have guaranteed such safety. A few months later two tragedies were to add to his troubles. First, the death of Abu Talib, his protector, and then that of Khadijah, his wife. Abu Talib died at about the age of eighty. When Quraysh knew of his approaching end, they feared that the conflict with the Muslims would reach a new height now that their leadership would pass into the less temperate hands of Hamzah and ‘Umar, well known for their hardness and determined hostility. The leaders of Quraysh went up to Abu Talib and addressed him as he lay on his deathbed

  “O Abu Talib, we hold for you great respect and we appreciate your counsel and wisdom. Now that you are about to leave us, and, knowing the conflict that has arisen between us and your nephew, do please call him and ask him to give us assurance as we are wont to give you for him, that he will leave us alone and we will leave him alone, that he will leave us to practice our religion and we shall leave him to practice his.” Muhammad and his companions came to the meeting in his uncle’s house. After he was told about their purpose he said

  “Yes, indeed! All I want from you is this one word of assurance which, if given, will bring you mastery of all Arabia as well as Persia, namely . . .” “Speak out,” interrupted Abu Jahl, “by your father we shall give it to you! Not one word but ten.” Muhammad continued: “Namely, that you witness with me that there is no God but God and repudiate all that you worship besides Him.” Some of them said to Muhammad: “Do you want to make all the gods one?” Turning to one another, the men of Quraysh said: “By God, this man is not going to give you any word of assurance such as you require.” The leaders of Quraysh left Abu Talib’s house without satisfaction, and Abu Talib died a few days later, the situation between him and the Quraysh being more hostile than ever before.

  Later on, Khadijah, who supported Muhammad with her love and goodness, her purity, gentleness and strong faith, passed away. At her death, Muhammad lost an angel of mercy who reassured and reconciled him whenever he felt crushed under the burdens of his cause. Henceforth, Muhammad was forever to miss the believing eyes of Khadijah and her reassuring smile, just as he had lost in Abu Talib his protection and refuge from his enemies. How deeply these tragedies must have cut into Muhammad’s heart! Surely they were strong enough to shake the most determined soul, to bring doubt and despair to the most resolute, and to leave behind the greatest degree of emptiness and despondence.

  Increase of Quraysh’s Hostility

  Soon thereafter, the Quraysh were to increase their attacks against Muhammad. An example of the least of such injuries was the covering of Muhammad’s head with soil thrown at him by one of the plebeians of Quraysh. Muhammad withdrew to his home where his daughter, Fatimah, moved to tears by the sight of her father, washed his head for him. It is c
ertainly painful to us to hear our children cry, and more so to hear our daughters cry. Indeed, every tear dropped from a daughter’s eye is a ball of fire fallen upon our hearts, causing us to cry in pain. The daughter’s sob and painful murmur fall heavily upon the father’s heart, and Fatimah’s cries must have choked a compassionate father such as Muhammad. However, what was he to do to reassure a person who had just lost her mother and who is now appalled by the insults heaped upon her father? Nothing but to orient himself all the more to God, and to proclaim his conviction that God would give him final victory. He said to his daughter: “Do not cry, O Fatimah ! Your father has God for protector.” Often Muhammad would be heard saying: “By God. Quraysh never harmed me so much as after the death of Abu Talib.”

  Muhammad’s Excursion to Ta’if (628 C.E.)

  The Quraysh doubled and redoubled their injuries to Muhummad and his followers until Muhammad could bear it no longer. Alone, and without telling anyone, he undertook a trip to the city of Ta’if where he solicited the support of the tribe of Thaqif after calling them to Islam. When they refused, he asked them not to spread the news of their refusal to his enemies that they might not rejoice at his failure. The tribe of Thaqif, however, not only repudiated Muhammad’s call but sent their servants to insult him and throw him out of their city. He ran away from them and took shelter near a wall which belonged to ‘Utbah and Shaybah, sons of Rabi’ah. There, he sat under a vine pondering his defeat, within sight of the sons of Rabi’ah. He raised his hands to heaven and prayed with noticeable pain