Salam (Peace) - Part 3

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('Salam' - Peace; often used by Muslims as a greeting. [Muhammad Prophet For Our

Time Glossary pg. 218].)

 

 

Salam - Part 3

 

(p.175) But in March 628, the month of the hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, Muhammad

made a startling announcement that proved to be an extraordinary demonstration

of his prophetic genius. [15] It seems that he had no clearly defined plan at

the outset, but only a dimly perceived insight. He told the Muslims that he had

a strange, numinous dream: he had seen himself standing in the Haram of Mecca,

with the shaven head of the pilgrim, wearing the traditional hajji costume and

holding the key to the Kabah, filled with a serene assurance of victory. The

next morning, he announced that he intended to make the hajj and invited his

companions to accompany him. It is easy to imagine the fear, wonder, and

uncertain joy that filled the Muslims when they heard this startling invitation.

Muhammad made it clear that this would not be a military expedition. (p.176)

Pilgrims were forbidden to carry weapons during the hajj and he had no intention

of violating the Meccan sanctuary where all fighting was forbidden. (p.176)

'Umar objected. The Muslims would go like lambs to the slaughter! It was

essential that they were able to defend themselves! But Muhammad was adamant. " I

will not carry arms, " he said firmly. " I am setting out with no other end than

to make the pilgrimage. " The pilgrims would wear no armour, but simply the

traditional white robes of the hajji; at the beginning of the journey, they

could carry a small hunting knife to kill game, but they would have to lay these

aside once they had made their formal consecration. They would have to march

unarmed into enemy territory.

 

None of the Bedouin who had joined Muhammad's confederacy was prepared to take

the risk, but about a thousand Emigrants and Helpers volunteered. Even Ibn Ubayy

and some of the Hypocrites decided to go; two women Helpers, who had been

present at the Pledge of 'Aqabah, were allowed to join the party, and Umm

Salamah accompanied Muhammad.

 

The Muslims set off with the camels that they would sacrifice at the climax of

the hajj. At the first stop, Muhammad consecrated one of these camels in the

traditional way, making special marks on it, hanging the ritual garments around

its neck, and turning it in the direction of Mecca. He then uttered the pilgrim

cry: " Here I am, O God, at your service! " The news of this audacious expedition

spread quickly from one tribe to another, and the Bedouin followed their

progress intently as the hajjis made the long journey south. Muhammad knew that

he was placing the Quraysh in an extremely difficult position. (p.177) Every

Arab had the right to make the hajj and if the Quraysh, the guardians of the

Haram, forbade a thousand pilgrims who were punctiliously observing the rites to

enter the sanctuary, they would be guilty of a gross dereliction of duty. But it

would also be intolerably humiliating for the Quraysh if Muhammad 'did' enter

the city, and it soon became clear that the Qurayshan leadership was determined

to stop Muhammad at any price. In an emergency meeting of the Assembly, Khalid

ibn al-Walid was dispatched with two hundred cavalry to attack the defenseless

pilgrims.

 

When he heard this grave news, Muhammad was filled with anguish for his tribe.

The Quraysh were so blinded by the sterile hatred of warfare that they were

prepared to violate the sacred principles on which their entire way of life

depended. What was the point of such intransigence? " Alas Quraysh! " he cried,

" War has devoured them! What harm would they have suffered if they had left me

and the rest of the Arabs to go our own ways? " The expedition was going to be

quite different from what he had imagined. Because of his dream, Muhammad had

probably expected to be admitted to Mecca, and have the opportunity to explain

the principles of Islam to the Quraysh in the peaceful conditions imposed by the

hajj. But he could not turn back now. " By Allah, " he resolved, " I will not cease

to strive for the mission with which God has entrusted me until he makes it

victorious or I perish. " [16] His first task was to get the pilgrims safely into

the sanctuary. The Muslims found a guide from the friendly Bedouin tribe of

Aslam, who led the party by a circuitous, rugged path into the area where all

violence was forbidden. As soon as he entered the sacred zone, Muhammad reminded

the pilgrims that they were engaged in a strictly religious activity. (p.178)

They must not allow themselves to be carried away by the excitement of

homecoming; there must be no facile triumph; and they must put their sins behind

them. Now they should make their way to the nearby well of Hudaybiyyah, getting

their camels to kick up the sand so that Khalid and his men would know exactly

where they were.

 

When they reached Hudaybiyyah, Muhammad's camel Qaswa' fell to her knees and

refused to budge. The pilgrims yelled at her, trying to make her get up, but

Muhammad reminded them of the elephant who had knelt before the Kabah during the

Abyssinian invasion all those years ago--a divine " sign " that had persuaded the

enemy army to turn back without a fight. Something similar was happening today.

" The One who restrained the elephant from entering Mecca is keeping Qaswa'

back, " he explained, and yet again he reminded the pilgrims that they were

coming in a spirit of reconciliation: " Whatever condition the Quraysh make in

which they ask me to show kindness to kindred, I shall agree to. " [17] Muhammad

had never planned to overthrow the Quraysh but had simply wanted to reform the

social system, which, he was convinced, would bring the city to ruin. The

Quraysh thought that their pilgrimage amounted to a declaration of war but, like

Qaswa', Muhammad was determined to prostrate himself humbly before the holiness

of Mecca. The war had achieved nothing of lasting value and both sides had

committed atrocities. This was to be a peaceful offensive, not an invasion.

 

Muhammad (Prophet For Our Time)

Chapter 5, 'Salam', p. 175-178

Karen Armstrong

Harper Perennial - London, New York, Toronto and Sydney

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

ISBN-10 0-00-723248-9

 

Notes:

 

[15] Lings, 'Muhammad', 247-55; Andrae, 'Muhammad', 219-27; Watt, 'Muhammad at

Medina', 46-59, 234-35; Mohammad A. Bamyeh, 'The Social Origins of Islam, Mind,

Economy, Discourse' (Minneapolis, 1999), 222-27.

 

[16] Ibn Ishaq, 'Sirat Rasul Allah', 748, in Guillaume, 'Life of Muhammad'.

 

[17] Ibid., 741.