Hijrah (Migration) - Part 7

[Guest guest]

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

Prophet For Our Time Glossary pg. 216].)

 

 

Hijrah (Migration) - Part 7

 

(p.109) The Muslims of Yathrib were also embarking on a dangerous experiment.

Even if a foreigner was adopted by a tribe, he always remained a 'zalim'

( " outsider " ), a word which carried the connotation " base, ignoble, evil. " [29]

Poets described the zalim as a useless, superfluous accretion. Tribal loyalty

was experienced as burning love of kinsfolk and harsh contempt for the alien.

Anybody who put a despised zalim before his own people invited passionate scorn

and revulsion. But now the Aws and Khazraj were about to swear allegiance to the

Qurayshi Muhammad, and promising to give protection and help ('nasr') to a large

group of outsiders who would inevitably put a strain on the limited resources of

the oasis. Henceforth the Muslims of Yathrib would be known as the 'Ansar'. This

is usually translated " the Helpers, " but this gives a somewhat anemic impression

of what was involved. (p.110) Nasr meant that you had to be ready to back up

your aid with force. When they met Muhammad that night in 'Aqabah, the Helpers

had decided to make a second pact with Muhammad, which would be known as the

Pledge of War.

 

Glossary (for above paragraph):

 

zalim--Outsider; a person who is abhorred because he does not belong to the

tribe. (Glossary, p.220).

 

Aws--One of the Arab tribes in Medina. (Glossary, p.223).

 

Khazraj--One of the Arab tribes in Medina. (Glossary, p. 225).

 

Quraysh--Muhammad's tribe, rulers of Mecca; 'Adj.' Qurayshan; Qurayshi; a member

of the tribe. (Glossary, p.226).

 

nasr--Help, including military support. (Glossary, p.218).

 

Ansar--The Helpers. The Medinese Muslims. (Glossary, p.215).

 

 

When the time came, the Ansar [Medinese Muslim Helpers] left their pagan

companions sleeping in their tents and stole " softly like sandgrouse " to

'Aqabah, where they met Muhammad and his uncle 'Abbas, who acted as his

spokesman. 'Abbas had not converted to Islam and he must have been shocked by

Muhammad's decision to leave Mecca, but he wanted to make sure that he would be

safe in Yathrib. Muhammad, he said, was protected by the Hashim in Mecca, but

was ready to forgo this security in order to join the Ansar. If they had the

smallest doubt about his safety, they should give up the entire project

immediately. But the Ansar stood firm. Bara' Ibn Mar'ur, a chief of Khazraj,

took Muhammad by the hand, and swore that Aws and Khazraj would both extend to

Muhammad exactly the same protection as they gave to their own women and

children. But while he was speaking, another Helper interrupted. What if

Muhammad went back to Mecca and abandoned Yathrib to the wrath of the Quraysh?

Muhammad smiled and replied: " I am of you and you are of me. I will war against

them that war against you and be at peace with those at peace with you. " [30]

And so the Ansar made this solemn oath: " We pledged ourselves to war in complete

obedience to the apostle, in weal or woe, in ease and hardship and evil

circumstances; that we would not wrong anyone; that we would speak the truth at

all times; and that in God's service we would fear the censure of none. " [31]

 

Glossary (for the above paragraph):

 

'Aqabah--The gully outside Mecca where Muhammad first met with pilgrims from

Yathrib. (Glossary, p.220).

 

'Abbas ibn 'Abd al-Muttalib--the uncle of Muhammad. (Glossary, p.222).

 

Hashim--The Meccan clan to which Muhammad belonged. (Glossary, p.224).

 

Bara' ibn Mar'ar--A chief of Khazraj; the patron of Muhammad during the Pledge

of War (622). (Glossary, p.224).

 

 

The pact was couched in tribal terminology, and concentrated on mutual defense.

[32] There was as yet no thought of a single, united ummah [community]. Aws,

Khazraj, and Quraysh would still operate separately. Muhammad would not go to

Yathrib as head of state, but simply as the arbitrator (hakam) of disputes

between Aws and Khazraj and as the chief of the Emigrants from Mecca. The Ansar

[Medinese Muslim Helpers] would be ruled by twelve " overseers " from the various

clans. Even though Islam had made great strides in Yathrib--after a single year,

the Muslim community there was almost as large as the beleaguered ummah in

Mecca--the fact remained that even after the hijrah [migration], the Muslims

would remain a tiny minority in the oasis, dwarfed in size by the aloof,

appraising pagans, hanifs, and Jews. [33] The Pledge of War marked a major

expansion of Islam: the new religion had spread to other tribal groups, but it

had not yet transcended the tribal ethos. The hijrah was a risky enterprise, an

irrevocable, frightening step. Nobody knew how it would work out, because

nothing quite like it had ever happened in Arabia before.

 

Muhammad (Prophet For Our Time)

Chapter 3, 'Hijrah', p. 109-111

Karen Armstrong

Harper Perennial - London, New York, Toronto and Sydney

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

ISBN-10 0-00-723248-9

 

Notes:

 

[29] Izutsu, 'Ethico-Religious Concepts', 56.

 

[30] Ibn Ishaq, 'Sirat Rasul Allah', 297, in Guillaume, 'Life of Muhammad'.

 

[31] Ibid., 304-5, in Guillaume, 'Life of Muhammad'.

 

[32] Bamyeh, 'Social Origins of Islam', 216-217.

 

[33] Aslan, 'No god but God', 56-59.