Hijrah (Migration) - Part 9

[Guest guest]

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

Prophet For Our Time Glossary pg. 216].)

 

 

Hijrah (Migration) - Part 9

 

(p.114) When the hue and cry had died down, Muhammad and Abu Bakr climbed out of

the cave, taking care not to disturb the rock dove, and mounted the two camels

that Abu Bakr had prepared for their journey. Abu Bakr wanted to give the better

camel to Muhammad, but he insisted on paying for her. This was his personal

hijrah, his sacrifice to Allah, and it was important to make the whole event

entirely his own. Muhammad called the camel mare Qaswa', and she remained his

favorite mount for the rest of his life. It was a dangerous trip, because while

he was on the road, Muhammad did not enjoy anybody's protection, so their guide

took them by a circuitous route, and they zigzagged back and forth to throw any

pursuers off the scent.

 

In the meantime, the Muslims were anxiously awaiting their arrival in Medina.

Several of the Emigrants from Mecca were living in Quba', the southernmost point

of the oasis, and every day after morning prayers they used to climb the

volcanic rocks and scan the barren terrain outside the settlement. On the

morning of September 4, 622, one of the Jews spotted a cloud of dust on the

horizon and called out to the Ansar [Medinese Muslim Helpers]: " Sons of Qaylah!

He is come! He is come! " At once men, women, and children surged out to meet the

travellers and found them resting under a palm tree.

 

(p.115) Muhammad and Abu Bakr [trusted friend/father of 'A'isha] stayed in Quba'

for three days, but the Muslims in the " city " (as the most densely part of the

oasis was called) were impatient to see him, so he set off to meet them and

decide where he was going to live. Along the way, several people begged him to

alight and make his home with them, but Muhammad courteously refused because he

was anxious to remain independent of the warring groups within Medina. Instead,

he gave Qaswa' [his camel] her head, and asked God to guide her. Eventually, she

fell to her knees outside a 'mirbad', a place for drying dates, which belonged

to one of the Ansar. Muhammad got down, allowed his luggage to be carried into

the nearest house and then began to negotiate with the owner for the sale of the

land. Once the price was agreed upon, all the Muslims got to work to build the

Prophet's residence, which would also serve as a place for prayer. This was hard

for the Emigrants, because the Quraysh were not used to manual labor, and the

stylish 'Uthman found the work particularly grueling.

 

The first Muslim building was not imposing but it became the model for all

future mosques. It was primarily a masjid, " a place of prostration, " an open

space roomy enough for the entire community to perform the salat [ritual worship

performed five times a day] together, and it expressed the austerity of the

early Islamic ideal. The roof was supported by tree trunks, and there was no

elaborate pulpit; Muhammad stood on a simple stool to address the congregation.

Muhammad and his wives lived in little huts round the edge of the big courtyard

in front of the mosque. This was a place for public and political meetings; the

poor of Medina were also invited to congregate there for alms, food and care.

 

(p.116) This humble building in Medina expressed the ideal of tawhid [ " making

one " , the unity of God, realized in the integration of the human person] [36].

Muhammad wanted to show that the sexual, the sacred, and the domestic

could--and, indeed, must--be integrated. Similarly politics, welfare, and the

ordering of social life must be brought into the ambit of holiness. In housing

his wives within a stone's throw of the mosque, Muhammad was tacitly proclaiming

that there must be no distinction between public and private life, and no

discrimination between the sexes. Holiness in Islam was inclusive rather than

exclusive. If they wished, Jews and Christians could worship in the mosque,

because they too were part of God's family.

 

The building was completed in April, 623, about seven months after the hijrah.

In the northern wall, a stone marked the qiblah, the direction of prayer,

orienting the people towards Jerusalem. At first there was no official summons

to salat, but this was obviously unsatisfactory, as everybody came at different

times. Muhammad thought of using a ram's horn, like the Jews, or a wooden

clapper, like the local Christians, but one of the Emigrants had an important

dream. A man, clad in a green cloak, had told him that somebody with a loud,

resonant voice should announce the service, crying 'Allahu Akhbar' ( " God is

greater " ) as a reminder of a Muslim's first priority. Muhammad liked the idea

and Bilal, the former Abyssinian slave with the big voice, was an obvious

choice. Every morning he climbed to the top of the tallest house in the vicinity

of the mosque, and sat on the rooftop waiting for dawn. Then he would stretch

out his arms, and before beginning the call, would pray: " O God, I praise Thee

and ask Thy help for Quraysh that they may accept Thy religion. " [37] The

Muslims may have changed their qiblah to Jerusalem, but they had not forgotten

Mecca. When Muhammad learned that many of the Emigrants were deeply homesick, he

prayed: " Lord, make us love this town as much as you made us love Mecca, and

even more so. " [38]

 

Muhammad (Prophet For Our Time)

Chapter 3, 'Hijrah', p. 114-117

Karen Armstrong

Harper Perennial - London, New York, Toronto and Sydney

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

ISBN-10 0-00-723248-9

 

Notes:

 

[36] Clinton Bennet, " Islam, " in Jean Holm with John Bowker, eds, 'Sacred Place'

(London, 1994), 88-89; Fatima Mernissi, 'Women and Islam: An Historical and

Theological Enquiry', trans. Mary Jo Lakeland (Oxford, 1991), 106-108.

 

[37] Ibn Ishaq, 'Sirat Rasul Allah', 247, in Guillaume, 'Life of Muhammad', 236.

 

[38] Ibid., 414, in Guillaume, 'Life of Muhammad'.