Salam (Peace) - Part 11

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Salam (Peace) - Part 11

 

(p.204) Muhammad's work was almost done. After his return home, the opposition

in Ibn Ubayy's camp continued. There was yet another plot to assassinate

Muhammad, who tried to woo his enemies by dispatching more lucrative expeditions

to the north. In October 631, he became aware that a mosque in Medina had become

a center of disaffection, so he was forced to destroy it. The following morning

he held an inquiry into the conduct of the people who had been plotting against

him; they hastily apologized. Most offered plausible excuses and were pardoned,

though three were formally shunned by the ummah for nearly two months. This

seems to have finished the Muslim opposition. Not long after this capitulation,

Ibn Ubayy died, and Muhammad stood beside the grave of his old adversary as a

mark of respect. He had finally managed to create a viable, united society in

Medina, and more and more of the Bedouin were prepared to accept his political

supremacy, even though they were not committed to his religious vision. (p.205)

In ten short years since the hijrah [migration to Medina], Muhammad had

irrevocably changed the political and spiritual landscape of Arabia.

 

However, he was visibly failing, and by the beginning of 632, increasingly

conscious that he was approaching the end of his life. He was immensely

distressed when his baby son Ibrahim died, and he wept bitterly, though he was

certain that he would soon be with him in Paradise. But when the traditional

month for the hajj approached, he announced that he would lead the pilgrimage

and set out at the end of February with all his wives and a huge crowd of

hajjis, arriving outside Mecca in early March. He led the Muslims through the

rituals that were so dear to the hearts of the Arabs, giving them a new

significance. Instead of being reunited with their tribal deities, the Muslims

were to gather round the " house " --the Kabah--built by their ancestors Abraham

and Ishmael. When they ran seven times between Safa and Marwah, Muhammad

instructed the pilgrims to remember the distress of Hagar, Ishmael's mother,

when, after Abraham had abandoned them in the wilderness, she had run

frantically to and fro in search of water for her baby. God had saved them by

causing the spring of Zamzam to well up from the depths of the earth. Next the

pilgrims recalled their unity with the rest of humanity, when they made a

standing vigil on the slopes of Mount 'Arafat, where, it was said, God had made

a covenant with Adam, the father of the entire human race. At Mina, they threw

stones at the three pillars as a reminder of the constant struggle (jihad) with

temptation that a godly life required. (p.206) Finally, they sacrificed a sheep,

in memory of the sheep Abraham sacrificed after he had offered his own son to

God.

 

Today the mosque of Namira stands near Mount 'Arafat on the spot where Muhammad

preached his farewell sermon to the Muslim community. He reminded them to deal

justly with one another, to treat women kindly, and to abandon the blood feuds

and vendettas inspired by the spirit of jahiliyyah. Muslim must never fight

against Muslim. " Know that every Muslim is a Muslim's brother, and that the

Muslims are brethren. It is only lawful to take from a brother what he gives you

willingly, so wrong not yourselves, " Muhammad concluded, " O God, have I not told

you? " There was pathos in this last appeal. Muhammad knew that despite is

repeated admonitions, not all Muslims fully understood his vision. Standing

before them for what he knew would probably be the last time, he may have

wondered whether all his efforts had been in vain. " O people, " he cried

suddenly, " have I faithfully delivered my message to you? " There was a powerful

murmur of assent from the assembled crowd: " O God, yes! " ('Allahumma na'm!') In

a touchingly human plea for reassurance, Muhammad asked the same question

again--and again; and each time the words " Allahumma na'm " rumbled through the

valley like thunder. Muhammad raised his forefinger to the heavens, and said: " O

Allah, bear witness. " [46]

 

When he returned to Medina, Muhammad began to experience incapacitating

headaches and fainting attacks, but he never retired permanently to bed. He

would often wrap a cloth around his aching temples and go to the mosque to lead

the prayers or to address the people. (p.207) One morning, he seemed to pray for

an especially long time in honor of the Muslims who had died at Uhud and added:

" God has given one of his servants the choice between this world and that which

is with God, and he has chosen the latter. " The only person who seems to have

understood this reference to his imminent death was Abu Bakr, who began to weep

bitterly. " Gently, gently, Abu Bakr, " Muhammad said tenderly. [47]

 

Muhammad (Prophet For Our Time)

Chapter 5, 'Salam', p. 204-207

Karen Armstrong

Harper Perennial - London, New York, Toronto and Sydney

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

ISBN-10 0-00-723248-9

 

Notes:

 

[46] Ibn Ishaq, 'Sirat Rasul Allah', 969, in Guillaume, 'Life of Muhammad'.

 

[47] Ibid., 1006.