The Life of Muhammad

by M. Husayn Haykal

  As the Jews of Khaybar pleaded for peace while the Muslims blockaded al Watih and al Sulalim at Khaybar, the Prophet sent a message to the Jews of Fadak asking them to surrender their properties and wealth or accept his terms. The people of Fadak were so panic-stricken at the news of Khaybar that they agreed to give up half their wealth without fighting. The wealth of Khaybar was to be distributed among the members of the Muslim armed forces according to rule because they had fought to secure it. The wealth of Fadak, on the other hand, fell to Muhammad, [Not personally, but as chief of state. -Tr.] as no Muslims and no fighting were involved in its acquisition.

  The Prophet prepared to return to Madinah by way of Wadi al Qura where the Jews of that area prepared to fight the Muslims. Some fighting did indeed take place, but the Jews realized the futility of their resistance and pleaded for peace as Khaybar and Fadak had done before. As for the Jews of Tayma’, they accepted to pay the jizyah without fighting. Thus, all the Jews of the Peninsula submitted to the authority of the Prophet and their political influence was brought to an end. The northern flank of Muslim power, namely the whole area north of Madinah, was now as secure as the south had become through the Treaty of al Hudaybiyah. With the collapse of Jewish political power, Muslim hatred of the Jews mellowed, and this was especially true of the Ansar of Madinah who even closed their eyes when a number of Jews returned to Madinah to resume their normal trades and professions. Indeed, the Prophet himself sympathized with such Jewish returnees and joined with them in mourning ‘Abdullah ibn Ubayy by presenting condolences to his son. Moreover, the Prophet took especial care to instruct Mu’a,dh ibn Jabal not to sway the Jews from their religion but to allow them to practice it as they had done before. He did not impose any jizyah on the Jews of al Bahrayn despite the conservatism of the latter and their attachment to the faith of their forefathers. The Prophet also reconciled the Jews of Banu Ghaziyah and Banu ‘Arid and offered them his covenant and protection provided they agree to pay jizyah. On the whole, the Jews of the Peninsula lost their political power and fell under that of the Muslims. So much had their prestige deteriorated, however, that they soon found themselves having to emigrate from a land which once felt their influence. According to some versions, this Jewish emigration took place during the lifetime of the Prophet; according to others, shortly after his death.

  Jewish acquiescence in their fate under the dominion of Islam did not take place at one and the same time or immediately after their military defeat, for they were exceedingly resentful and full of hatred for their Muslim fellows. Zaynab, daughter of al Harith, and wife of Sallam ibn Mishkam, cooked a goat and presented it to Muhammad after the peace treaty with Khaybar and Jewish-Muslim relations returned to normal. Muhammad sat down at the table with his companions to eat of this Jewish prepared food. Taking the first mouthful, he realized that the taste was strange. Bishr ibn al Bar&’ likewise had the same realization and could hardly swallow the first mouthful. As he threw his away, the Prophet said: “I have a premonition that this dish is poisoned.” He then called Zaynab and questioned her, and she confessed. In defense of herself, she said to the Prophet: “You know what has befallen my people at your hand, and you can appreciate my resentment and hatred. In pondering the whole event, I arrived at the conclusion that if you, the source of all the evil, were a king like other kings, then to put an end to your life would bring peace to me and my people. If, on the other hand, you are a true prophet, then surely you would find out that the food was poisoned and you would not eat.” The one mouthful which Bishr ate was fatal to him. The chroniclers disagree regarding the fate of Zaynab. Most of them agree that the Prophet appreciated her defense, forgave her, and sympathized with her loss of father and husband. Others relate that she was killed in revenge for the life of Bishr.

  Muhammad’s Marriage to Safiyyah

  This treacherous deed of Zaynab adversely affected the attitudes of the Muslims. It destroyed whatever confidence they still had in the Jews. Indeed, it confirmed their presentiment that there could be no peace with the Jews as long as they were not finally destroyed. Safiyyah, daughter of Huyayy ibn Akhtab of Banu al Nadir, was one of the captives the Muslims had seized inside the fortresses of Khaybar. Her husband, Kinanah ibn al Rabi‘, was known by the Muslims to have been the guardian of all the wealth of Banu al Nadir. When the Prophet had asked Kinanah about his treasure, the latter solemnly declared that he did not know where it was hidden. Muhammad threatened him that in case the treasure was found hidden in his place he would be put to death. Kinanah agreed. One day when Kinanah was seen moving about an uninhabited house in the outskirts, his movement was reported to the Prophet. After the Prophet ordered the inside of the house be dug out, part of the treasure was revealed. Kinanah was killed as a result. When a companion learned of Safiyyah’s captivity, he approached the Prophet with the suggestion that, since she was the lady of Banu Qurayzah and Banu al Nadir, she was fit to become the wife of the Prophet alone. The Prophet granted her her freedom and then married her, following the example of the great conquerors who married the daughters and wives of the kings whom they had conquered, partly in order to alleviate their tragedy and partly to preserve their dignity. Abu Ayyub Khalid al Ansari, however, feared that Safiyyah’s tragic loss of father, husband, and people might incite her to avenge herself against the Prophet. He therefore spent the night near Muhammad’s tent where the wedding had taken place, with sword drawn. When the morning came and the Prophet saw him in that state, he asked him for an explanation. Abu Ayyub answered that he feared for the Prophet that this woman, who until very recently had been a non-Muslim, might attack him. The truth, however, was otherwise. Safiyyah remained loyal to Muhammad throughout his life. In his last illness, when the Prophet was surrounded by his wives, Safiyyah came forward and said: “O Prophet of God, I surely wish that that from which you suffer might be in me rather than in you.” Muhammad’s wives winked at one another and the Prophet, observing their reaction, said: “Go on and wink at one another! By God, I know that Safiyyah is truthful and loyal.” Safiyyah, who survived Muhammad, lived until the time of the caliphate of Mu’awiyah. She was buried at al Baqi‘.

  Delegation to Heraclius

  Whatever happened to the messengers whom Muhammad sent to Heraclius, Chosroes, the Negus, and other kings and men of power surrounding Arabia? Did they go forth before the Campaign of Khaybar, or did they participate in that Campaign until Muslim victory had been achieved and traveled thereafter? Historians differ so widely in this respect that it is very difficult to reach a conclusion. We are inclined to think that they did not all go forth at the same time, that some of them began their travel before the campaign of Khaybar and others thereafter. More than one chronicler has asserted that Dihyah ibn Khalifah al Kalbi participated in the operations at Khaybar. Yet it was he who was commissioned by the Prophet to go to Heraclius. The Prophet’s messenger met Heraclius at the time of the latter’s victorious return from the war with Persia and his recapture of the cross which had been taken by the Persians when they occupied Jerusalem. The vow which Herachus had made, namely, to perform a pilgrimage to Jerusalem on foot and return the cross to its original place, could now be fulfilled. It was on this pilgrimage of Heraclius, specifically when the imperial procession had reached the city of Hims [The old city of Emessa in Syria.] that the message of Muhammad was received. Whether Muhammad’s letter was handed to the Emperor by one of the latter’s employees after Dihyah surrendered it to the Byzantine governor of Bosra, or whether the group of Muslims headed by Dihyah was granted a court audience at which Dihyah submitted the Prophet’s letter in person, is not known for certain. At any rate, it is known that the Prophet’s letter did reach Heraclius, and that the Emperor was not irritated by it. Instead of sending an army to conquer Arabia, Heraclius did in fact send a gentle letter in reply to Muhammad’s message. It was this gentle response to Muhammad’s message that a number of historians mistook as meaning that Heraclius had joined the ranks of Islam.

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bsp; At the same time, al Harith of Ghassan sent to Heraclius a message to the effect that he had just received a letter from Muhammad, a message which Heraclius thought was similar to what he himself had received from the same source calling him to Islam. Al Harith applied for permission to send an expeditionary force against this new “pretender.” Heraclius saw otherwise and instructed al Harith to come to Jerusalem and attend with him the ceremonies at which the cross would be reinstated. Heraclius was apparently more interested in the pomp and circumstance of those ceremonies than in the call of a new religion. He could not imagine that only a few years would pass before Jerusalem, as well as the whole of al Sham, would fall under Islamic dominion; that the Islamic capital would move to Damascus; that the struggle between the Islamic state and the Byzantine Empire would not subside until the Muslims had conquered Constantinople in 1453 and converted its great church [That is, Hagia Sophia. -Tr.] into a mosque in which the name of that Prophet would be inscribed in honor; and that that same church would remain a mosque for many centuries until the Muslim Turks would change it into a museum of Byzantine art in modern times. Such was to be the influence of this Prophet whose message Heraclius did not think sufficiently worthy to deserve attention.

  Delegation to Chosroes

  As soon as the message of Muhammad was read out to Chosroes, the Emperor of Persia, he went into a rage, destroyed the letter, and dictated an order to his satrap in Yaman commanding him to send forth to the capital the head of his Prophet-pretender in al Hijaz. Perhaps he was moved to such a decision out of a need for self-assertion following his defeat by Heraclius. When the Prophet heard of Chosroes’s response, he cursed him as well as his empire. Bazan, the satrap of Yaman, sent his messengers in search of Muhammad, in compliance with the command of his emperor. In the meanwhile, however, Chosroes passed away, and his son, Cyrus, ascended the throne. Knowing the news of the accession, the Prophet informed the messengers of Bazan and asked them to carry his call to Islam to Bazan rather than carry out Bazan’s instructions. The people of Yaman had learned of the defeat of Persia and realized that Persian dominion was on the decline and would soon pass away. They had heard, also, of the victories Muhammad had scored over Quraysh and of his total destruction of Jewish power and dominion. When BAzan’s messengers returned and told their master of Muhammad’s response, he immediately converted to Islam and accepted Muhammad’s appointment as governor of Yaman. But what would Muhammad require of Bazan, as long as enemy Makkah separated the two? Since he did not have much to fear, but rather everything to gain because Persian dominion was on the wane, and because the new power rising on the horizon of the Peninsula could, in fact, demand of him no price in return, Bazan preferred to enter into friendly relations with Muhammad. Possibly, Bazan did not quite appreciate the fact that his joining the ranks of Islam gave the latter a very viable point d’appui in the south corner of the Peninsula, as events were to show two years later.

  Delegation to the Archbishop of Egypt

  The Coptic Archbishop of Egypt answered in a radically different way from his superior Herachus, or from Chosroes. He informed Muhammad of his belief that a Prophet was indeed to appear in the world, but in al Sham. He accorded to Muhammad’s messenger a good reception and sent with him a gift to the Prophet consisting of two slave girls, a white mule, a donkey, some money, and a variety of Egyptian products. The two slave girls were Mariyyah, whom Muhammad took in marriage and who gave birth to Ibrahim, and Sirin, who was given in marriage to Hassan ibn Thabit. The mule was given by the Prophet the name of Duldul, for its unique whiteness of skin which the Arabian Peninsula had never seen before. The donkey was called ‘Ufayr or Ya’fur. The Archbishop explained that he did not convert to Islam because of his fear of discharge by his superior, and that were he not a man of authority and power, he would have been rightly guided to the true faith.

  Delegation to Abyssinia

  It was natural that the answer of the Negus of Abyssinia was favorable, for his country had always been on good terms with the Muslims. Indeed, some historians assert that the Negus was converted to Islam-a claim which the Orientalists suspect very strongly. The Prophet sent to the Negus a second letter asking him to send back the Muslims who had been living in Abyssinia under his protection. The Negus provided these Muslims with two ships that carried them to the shore of Arabia. They were led by Ja’far ibn Abu Talib, and the group included Umm Habibah, Ramlah, daughter of Abu Sufyan and wife of ‘Abdullah ibn Jahsh who went to Abyssinia as a Muslim, converted to Christianity and died there a Christian. Following her return from Abyssinia, the same Umm Habibah became one of the wives of the Prophet, a “Mother of the Believers.” Some historians asserted that the Prophet married her in order to forge a blood relation with the house of Abu Sufyan and to confirm thereby the Treaty of al Hudaybiyah. Other historians saw in the marriage of Umm Habibah to Muhammad an attempt on the part of the latter to punish and annoy Abu Sufyan who was still a pagan.

  Explanation to the Kings’ Replies

  Finally, as for the princes of Arab tribes and regions, it should be recorded that the Amir of Yaman and ‘Uman sent the Prophet a very antagonistic answer. The Amir of al Bahrayn sent a favorable reply and became a Muslim. The Amir of al Yamamah declared his preparation to enter into Islam if his chair and office could be secured. The Prophet cursed him for laying down conditions to his conversion, and the historians assert that the man lived but one year after the event.

  The reader might well pause to consider the preponderant friendliness and appreciation which most of the kings and princes showed in response to Muhammad’s call. None of Muhammad’s messengers was killed or imprisoned. Every one of them returned to Madinah with the response with which he had been entrusted. Some of these messages were coarse and harsh, but most of them were gentle and sweet. Two questions naturally arise: Why did all these kings receive the new religion without seeking to destroy the man who called them to it, and why did they not unite to destroy him? The answer to these questions lies in the fact that the world of those days was, like the world of today, one in which matter had come to dominate everything, affluence and luxury had become the summum bonum, and nations fought and destroyed one another for the sake of power and in satisfaction of the ambitions of its king and ruling circles, or in order to increase their affluence and luxury. In such a world, faith deteriorates to mere ritual, and men perform these rituals without believing any of the truths which the rituals were meant to express. In such kingdoms, the masses seldom care but to belong to such regimes as will provide them with panem et, circencis, with wealth and luxury. Under such circumstances, a religion is adhered to only in proportion to the material advantage its practice promises. When such advantage is not in sight, the masses of people quickly lose their attachment, and their power of resistance to another religion evaporates. That is why as soon as these masses heard the voice of the new religion with its strength and simplicity, its call to equality before the one God, the only Being worthy of worship and prayer, and the only One capable of giving true good to man, they began to thirst after the new faith and the spiritual satisfactions it provides. Verily, a ray of God’s blessing dissipates the fury of all the kings of the earth combined! The fear of His wrath shakes the human soul to its very depths even though the kings of the earth might have smothered that soul in blessings and favors. The hope of God’s forgiveness moves every man deprived of grace to repent, to believe and to do good works. When the people heard that the author of this new call was capable of vanquishing the enemies who persecuted him and who inflicted upon him and his followers all sorts of injustice and suffering, it was not surprising that they stretched out their necks and lent their ears to see him and hear him. For them to witness Muhammad’s victory over all the material forces assembled against him and to see his power grow despite his original weakness, poverty, and deprivation, for them to see this Prophet achieve that which no one else had ever dreamt of achieving-be it in his own town or throughout the Arabian Pen
insula-all this was enough to incite them to examine this faith and to want to belong to it. Were it not for their fear of the immediate consequences, most of them would not have kept themselves separated from the truth. Hence, the majority of the sovereigns answered with a consideration and sympathy which reinforced the Muslims’ faith and conviction.

  Muslim Return from Abyssinia

  Muhammad returned from Khaybar, and Ja’far and the Muslims returned from Abyssinia. The messengers of Muhammad returned from those lands whither Muhammad had sent them. All of them met again and were reunited in Madinah. Inspiring each of them was the longing to go to Makkah in the following year and to do so in security, with shaven heads or short hair, and to perform their pilgrimage without fear. Muhammad was so pleased to be reunited with Ja’far that he said he could not tell which was the greater: victory over Khaybar or reunion with Ja’far. It was in this period that, according to a certain report, a Jew called Labid charmed Muhammad and put him under a spell. The report is self-contradictory and highly questionable. The claim that Muhammad did anything at any time without consciousness or under a spell is a sheer fabrication and hence devoid of truth.