Hijrah - Part 1

[Guest guest]

('Hijrah' - migration, especially the Muslims' migrations to Medina. [Muhammad

Prophet For Our Time Glossary pg. 216].)

 

 

Hijrah - Part 1

 

(p.89) Everybody in Mecca was immediately aware of Muhammad's new vulnerability.

Abu Lahab did not repudiate Muhammad: a chief was expected to give all his

clansmen a measure of protection and to fail in this duty at the very start of

his office would have been a sign of weakness. But it was obvious that he

extended his patronage very grudgingly. Muhammad's neighbors played disgusting

tricks with a sheep's uterus, thwacking him with it while he was at prayer, and

once even dropping it into the family cooking pot. One day, a young Qurayshi

threw filth all over Muhammad while he was walking in the city. When his

daughter Fatimah saw him in this state, she burst into tears. " Don't cry, my

little girl, " Muhammad reassured her tenderly, while she tried to clean him up.

" God will protect your father. " But to himself, he added grimly: " Quraysh never

treated me thus while Abu Talib was alive. " [1]

 

His weakness probably affected the position of some of the more vulnerable

Muslims. (p.90) Abu Bakr, for example, had been almost ruined by the boycott. He

lived in the district of the Jumah clan, and its chief, the corpulent Ummayah

ibn Khalaf who used to expose Bilal to the sun, now felt free to do the same to

Abu Bakr, tying him to his young cousin and leaving them, parched and sick, in

this humiliating position in the sweltering heat. Taym, their clan, was too weak

to protect them, so, realizing that he had no future in Mecca, Abu Bakr set off

to join the Muslim emigrant community in Abyssinia. But on the road, he met Ibn

Dughunnah, one of the Bedouin allies of the Quraysh, who was horrified to hear

what had happened. He insisted on returning to Mecca, and formally took Abu Bakr

under his own protection. Since the Qurayshan establishment was anxious to

cultivate Ibn Dughunnah, they agreed to this arrangement, but asked him to make

sure that Abu Bakr did not pray or recite the Qur'an in public. He was so

popular and charismatic, they explained, that he would lure the young men away

from the official religion. So Abu Bakr worshipped alone, making a little

'masjid', a place for prostration, in front of his house.

 

[Glossary for above paragraph]:

 

Abu Bakr---A close and trusted friend of Muhammad; one of the first converts to

Islam; the father of 'A'isha, the beloved wife of the Prophet. (Glossary,

p.222).

 

Bilal---An Abyssinian slave who converted to Islam; he became the first

'muezzin' to call the Muslims to prayer. (Glossary, p.224).

 

Ibn Dughunnah---A Bedouin chieftain confederated to the Quraysh; he became the

protector of Abu Bakr. (Glossary, p.225).

 

Jumah---A Meccan clan of Quraysh. (Glossary, p. 225).

 

masjid---A place for prostration; later, mosque. (Glossary, p.218).

 

Mecca---The commercial city ruled by the Quraysh; the birthplace of Muhammad.

(Glossary, p.220).

 

Ummayah ibn Khalaf---Chief of the Meccan clan of Jumah; an inveterate opponent

of Muhammad. (Glossary, p.227).

 

 

But the situation was clearly unsatisfactory. Muhammad tried to find a new

protector for himself in the pleasant, fertile oasis of Ta'if, but it was a

hopeless venture, which revealed the measure of his desperation, because the

tribe of Thaqif had been greatly offended by Muhammad's repudiation of their

goddess Al-lat. Muhammad visited three of the leaders of Thaqif, asking them to

accept his religion and extend their protection to him, but they were so enraged

by his effrontery that they had their slaves chase him through the streets.

(p.91) He was only able to escape by diving into the garden of 'Utbah ibn

Rabi'ah, one of the chief Meccan kafirun, who had a summer home in Ta'if. 'Utbah

and his brother Shaybah saw Muhammad's humiliating flight, but did not wish to

hand a fellow-tribesman over to the Thaqif. So instead of reporting Muhammad,

they sent a slave to him with a platter of grapes.

 

Crouching ignominiously behind a tree, Muhammad was close to despair. It was

customary for Arabs to " take refuge " with a god or a jinni in times of crisis,

so now Muhammad took refuge with Allah.

 

Oh God, to Thee I complain of my weakness, my little resource and lowliness

before men. O Most Merciful, Thou art lord of the weak and Thou art my lord. To

whom wilt Thou confide me? To one afar, who will misuse me? Or an enemy to whom

Thou hast given power over me? If Thou art not angry with me, I care not. Thy

favor is more wide for me. I take refuge in the light of Thy countenance by

which the darkness is illumined, and the things of this world and the next are

rightly ordered, lest Thy anger descend upon me or Thy wrath light upon me. It

is for Thee to be satisfied until Thou art well-pleased. There is no power and

no might save in Thee. [2]

 

It is unusual for Ibn Ishaq to give such an intimate account of Muhammad's state

of mind. It indicates a moment of spiritual truth. In this act of islam,

Muhammad realized more fully than ever before that he had no security and no

true protector but Allah.

 

(p.92) God seemed to answer his prayer, because no sooner had he finished

speaking, than 'Addas, 'Utbah's slave boy, arrived with the grapes. He was a

Christian, and Muhammad was delighted to learn that he came from Nineveh, the

city of the prophet Jonah. He told 'Addas that Jonah was his brother, because he

was a prophet, too. 'Addas was so overwhelmed that, to the disgust of 'Utbah,

who was watching the encounter, he kissed Muhammad's head, hands, and feet.

After this unexpected encounter with one of the People of the Book, Muhammad

felt less isolated. It reminded him that, even though the Arabs had rejected

him, there was a multitude of worshippers in the great world outside Arabia who

would understand his mission. He felt cheered as he began his homeward journey,

and stopped to pray in the small oasis of Nakhlah, where he was overheard by a

group of " unseen beings " (jinn). The word jinn did not always refer to the

whimsical sprites of Arabia; it could also be used for " strangers, " people who

had hitherto been unseen. The Qur'an indicates that the travellers, who lurked

out of sight in Nakhlah, listening to Muhammad's recitation, may have been Jews.

They were so overcome by the beauty and felicity of the Arabic scripture that

when they returned home, they told their people that they had heard " a

revelation bestowed from on high, after [that of] Moses, " which confirmed the

truth of the Torah and would guide human beings to the right path. [3]

 

Muhammad (Prophet For Our Time)

Chapter 3, 'Hijrah', p. 89-92

Karen Armstrong

Harper Perennial - London, New York, Toronto and Sydney

ISBN-13 978-0-00-723248-2

ISBN-10 0-00-723248-9

 

Notes:

 

[1] Muhammad ibn Ishaq, 'Sirat Rasul Allah', 278, in A. Guillaume, trans. and

ed., 'The Life of Muhammad' (London, 1955), 169-70.

 

[2] Ibid., 280, in Guillaume, 'Life of Muhammad', 193.

 

[3] Qur'an 46:29-32, 72:1, in Muhammad Asad, trans. and ed., 'The Message of the

Qur'an' (Gibraltar, 1980). This is Asad's explanation of this incident, given in

the textual notes that accompany this passage, which he admits is tentative.