The Sealed Nectar (53 page)

Verily, Allâh is All- Knowing, All- Aware."
[Al- Qur'an 49:13]

He further added:

"O you people of Quraish! What do you think of the treatment that I am
about to accord to you?"

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They replied:

"O noble brother and son of noble brother! We expect nothing but goodness
from you."

Upon this he said:

"I speak to you in the same words as Yusuf (the Prophet Joseph) spoke
unto his brothers: He said: "No reproach on you this day,"
[Al- Qur'an 12:92]

go your way, for you are freed ones."

As for the door- keeping of Al- Ka‘bah and supplying of water to pilgrims, the Prophet

[pbuh] ordered that these jobs remain in the hand of ‘Uthman bin Talhah and that the key will stay with him and his descendants for ever.

When time for prayer approached, Bilal ascended Al- Ka‘bah and called for prayer.

Abu Sufyan bin Harb, ‘Itab bin Usaid and Al- Harith bin Hisham were meanwhile sitting in the yard. ‘Itab bin Usaid commented on the new situation (Bilal ascending Al- Ka‘bah and calling for prayer) saying that Allâh honoured Usaid (his father) having not heard such words. The Prophet [pbuh] approached and assisted by Divine Revelation told them that he had learnt about what they had spoken of. Al- Harith and ‘Itab, taken by incredible surprise, immediately professed Islam and bore witness to the Messengership of Muhammad [pbuh] adding that "We swear by Allâh that none had been with us to inform you."

On that very day, the Prophet [pbuh] entered ‘Umm Hani’s house where he washed and offered prayers of victory. ‘Umm Hani had sheltered two Makkan relatives of hers in her house in which act she was granted support by the Prophet [pbuh].

Shedding blood of nine arch- criminals was declared lawful even under the curtains of Al- Ka‘bah. Nevertheless, only four of them were killed while the others were pardoned for different reasons. As for those who were killed, mention could be made of ‘Abdul ‘Uzza bin Khatal who had become a Muslim and then deputed to collect alms- tax in the company of a Helper. They had also a slave with them. ‘Abdullah, in a fit of rage, killed the Helper’s slave on account of a mere trifling dispute, and joined the pagan Arabs as an apostate. He was never repentant at this heinous crime but rather employed two women singers and incited them to sing satirically about the Prophet [pbuh].

The other man who was put to death was Miqyas bin Sababa. He was a Muslim. A Helper accidently killed his brother Hisham. The Prophet [pbuh] had arranged the payment of blood money to him, which he had accepted. His revengeful nature, however, was never appeased, so he killed the Helper and went to Makkah as an apostate.

Similarly, Huwairith and one woman singer went to death.

On the other hand, every attempt was made to grant pardon to the people. ‘Ikrimah bin Abu Jahl, who had attacked Khalid’s detachment at the time of the entry into Makkah, was forgiven. To Wahshi, the murderer of Hamzah, the Prophet’s uncle, and to Hind, who had chewed his liver, was also extended his generous clemency. The 254

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same generous treatment was accorded to Habar who had attacked the Prophet’s daughter with a spear, while on her way from Makkah to Madinah, so grievously that she ultimately died of the fatal injuries.

In the same context of magnanimity peculiar to Muhammad [pbuh], two chiefs of Quraish were pardoned once they had embraced Islam. They were Safwan bin Omaiyah and Fudalah bin ‘Umair. The latter had attempted to assassinate the Prophet [pbuh] while circumambulating in the Holy Sanctuary. The Prophet’s matchless tolerance and broad- mindedness instigated by his mission as ‘A mercy to all people’, converted a terrible hypocrite into a faithful devout believer.

On the second day of the great conquest, the Prophet [pbuh] stood up and addressed the people in matters relating to the holy status of Makkah. After entertaining Allâh’s praise, he proclaimed that Makkah was a holy land and would remain so till the Day of Judgement. No bloodshed was allowed therein. Should anyone take the liberty of fighting within Makkah on grounds derived from the events that characterized the conquest, he should remember that it had been a licence granted temporarily to the Prophet, and virtually does not go for others. Ibn

‘Abbas [R] narrated: The Prophet [pbuh] said: "Allâh has made Makkah, a sanctuary, so it was a sanctuary before me and will continue to be a sanctuary after me. It was made legal for me (i.e. I was allowed to fight in it) for a few hours of a day. It is not allowed to uproot its shrubs or to cut its trees, or to chase (or disturb) its game, or to pick up its fallen things except by a person who would announce that (what has found) publicly." Al- ‘Abbas said: "O Allâh’s Messenger! Except the lemon grass (for it is used) by our goldsmiths and for our homes." The Prophet [pbuh] then said:

"Except the lemon grass."

In this context, out of the spirit of revenge, the tribesmen of Khuza‘ah killed a man from Laith Tribe. Here the Prophet was indignant and ordered Khuza‘ah to stop those pre- Islamic practices. He, moreover, gave the family of anyone killed the right to consider either of two options, blood- money or just retribution (the killer is killed).

After having delivered his address, the Prophet [pbuh] rode to a small hill, Safa, not far from Al- Ka‘bah. Turning his face towards the Sacred House, amidst a vast admiring and devotional multitude, he raised his hand in fervent prayer to Allâh. The citizens of Madinah who had gathered round him entertained fear, as Allâh had given him victory over his native city, he might choose to stay here. He insisted on explanation of their fear and so they spoke openly. He immediately dispelled their fears and assured them that he had lived with them and would die with them.

Immediately after the great conquest, the Makkans came to realize that the only way to success lay in the avenue of Islam. They complied with the new realities and gathered to pledge fealty to the Prophet [pbuh]. The men came first pledging full obedience in all areas they can afford. Then came the women to follow the men’s example. The Prophet [pbuh] with ‘Umar bin Al- Khattab receiving the pledge of fealty and communicating to them for him. Hind bint ‘Utbah, Abu Sufyan’s wife, came in the trail of women disguised lest the Prophet [pbuh] should recognize and account for her, having chewed the liver of Hamzah, his uncle. The Prophet [pbuh]

accepted their allegiance on condition that they associate none with Allâh, to which they immediately agreed. He added that they should not practise theft. Here Hind complained that her husband, Abu Sufyan, was tight- fisted. Her husband interrupted granting all his worldly possessions to her. The Prophet [pbuh] laughed and 255

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recognized the woman. She implored him to extend his pardon to her and efface all her previous sins. Some other conditions were appended including the prohibition of adultery, infanticide or forging falsehood. To all these orders, Hind replied positively swearing that she would not have come to take an oath of allegiance if she had had the least seed of disobedience to him. On returning home, she broke her idol admitting her delusion as regards stone- gods.

The Messenger of Allâh [pbuh] stayed in Makkah for 19 days. During that period he used to define the way to Islam, guide people to the orthodox path. He ordered Abu Usaid Al- Khuza‘i to restore the pillars of the Holy Sanctuary, sent missions to all quarters inviting them to adopt Islam and break down the graven images still lying in the vicinity of Makkah, and he did have all of them scrapped, inculcating in the believers’ ears his words:

"Whoever believes in Allâh and the Hereafter is supposed to scrap out the
idols that should happen to be in his house."

Shortly after the great conquest, the Prophet [pbuh] began to despatch platoons and errands aiming at eliminating the last symbols reminiscent of pre- Islamic practices.

He sent Khalid bin Al- Waleed in Ramadan 8 A.H. to a spot called Nakhlah where there was a goddess called Al- ‘Uzza venerated by Quraish and Kinanah tribes. It had custodians from Bani Shaiban. Khalid, at the head of thirty horsemen arrived at the spot and exterminated it. On his return, the Prophet [pbuh] asked him if he had seen anything there, to which Khalid gave a negative answer. Here, he was told that it had not been destroyed and he had to go there again and fulfill the task. He went back again and there he saw a black woman, naked with torn hair. Khalid struck her with his sword into two parts. He returned and narrated the story to the Prophet

[pbuh], who then confirmed the fulfillment of the task.

Later, in the same month, ‘Amr bin Al- ‘As was sent on an errand to destroy another idol, venerated by Hudhail, called Suwa‘. It used to stand at a distance of three kilometres from Makkah. On a question posed by the door- keeper, ‘Amr said he had been ordered by the Prophet [pbuh] to knock down the idol. The man warned ‘Amr that he would not be able to do it. ‘Amr was surprised to see someone still in the wrong, approached the idol and destroyed it, then he broke the casket beside it but found nothing. The man immediately embraced Islam.

Sa‘d bin Zaid Al- Ashhali was also sent in the same month and on the same mission to Al- Mashallal to destroy an idol, Manat, venerated by both Al- Aws and Al- Khazraj tribes. Here also a black woman, naked with messy hair appeared wailing and beating on her chest. Sa‘d immediately killed her, destroyed the idol and broke the casket and returned at the conclusion of his errand.

Khalid bin Al- Waleed at the head of 350 horsemen of Helpers, Emigrants and Bani Saleem was despatched once again in the same year 8 A.H. to the habitation of Bani Khuzaimah bedouins to invite them to the fold of Islam. He was instructed to carry out his mission with peace and goodwill. There, the people were not articulate enough to communicate their intentions, so Khalid ordered his men to kill them and take the others as captives. He even had in mind to kill the captives but some of the Companions were opposed to his plan. News of bloodshed reached the Prophet

[pbuh]. He was deeply grieved and raised his hands towards the heaven, uttering 256

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these words: "O Allâh! I am innocent of what Khalid has done," twice. [Sahih Al-Bukhari 1/450, 2/622] He immediately sent ‘Ali to make every possible reparation to the tribes who had been wronged. After a careful inquiry, ‘Ali paid the blood- money to all those who suffered loss. The remaining portion was also distributed amongst the members of the tribe in order to alleviate their suffering. Khalid, due to his irrational behaviour, had a row with ‘Abdur Rahman bin ‘Awf. Hearing this, the Prophet [pbuh] got angry, and ordered Khalid to stop that altercation adding that his Companions (meaning ‘Abdur Rahman bin ‘Awf) were too high in rank to be involved in such arguments.

That is the story of the conquest of Makkah and the decisive battle that exterminated paganism once and for all. The other tribes in the Arabian Peninsula were waiting and closely watching the final outcome of the bitter struggle between the Muslims and idolaters, already convinced that the Holy Sanctuary would not fall but in the hands of the righteous party. It had been a conviction deeply established in their minds ever since the elephant army of Abraha Al- Ashram advanced from Yemen intending to destroy the Sacred House 50 years before.

Al- Hudaibiyah Peace Treaty was the natural prelude to this great victory in which people believed deeply and over which people talked a lot. The Muslims in Makkah, who had feared to declare their Faith in public, began to appear and work ardently for this new approach of life. People began to convert into Islam in hosts, and the Muslim army that numbered 3000 only in the previous
Ghazwah
, now came to reach 10,000 in number. In fact, this decisive change provided people with the keen insight to perceive things and the world around them as a whole in a different perceptive.

The Muslims were then to steer the whole political and religious affairs of all Arabia.

They had monopolised both the religious supremacy and temporal power.

The whole post- Hudaibiyah phase had been well- fledged in favour of the new Islamic movement. Streams of the desert Arabians began to pour in paying full homage to the Messenger of Allâh [pbuh], embracing the new faith and then carrying it to different quarters for propagation.

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The Third Stage

The third and last stage of the life of the Messenger [pbuh] embodies the fruitful results of his call to Islam, which were the consequences of long- timed holy fights in the way of Allâh (
Jihad
), troubles, toil, disturbances, trials and a lot of bloody conflicts and battles, which lasted for over twenty years.

The conquest of Makkah was considered the most serious profit achieved by Muslims during those years. For it affected the course of events and consequently altered the Arabs’ whole life. It was a decisive distinction between preconquest and post-conquest periods. For Quraish, at that time, was in the eyes of Arabs the defenders and helpers of Arabs. Other Arabs are only their ancillaries. The submission of Quraish is, therefore, estimated to be a final elimination of paganism in the Arabian Peninsula.

This stage can be divided into two main phases:

The phase of:

1. holy wars and fighting.

2. the tribes and people’s race to embrace Islam.

Being so close and rather inseparable, the two phases of this stage intervene in such a way that a happening of one phase occurs during the progress of the other.

However, we have preferred — for expository purposes — to deal with these two phases distinctively. The fighting phase was given the priority in order, due to the fact that it is more intimate and fit than the other.

Hunain Ghazwah

The conquest of Makkah which came forth as a consequence of a swift blow astounded both the Arabs and other tribes who realized that they were doomed and had to submit to the new situation as a
fait
accompli
. Some of the fierce, powerful proud tribes did not submit and favoured resistance. Ahead of these were the septs of Hawazin and Thaqif. Nasr, Jashm and Sa‘d bin Bakr and people of Bani Hilal — all of whom of Qais ‘Ailan. They thought that they were too mighty to admit or surrender to such a victory. So they met Malik bin ‘Awf An- Nasri and made up their mind to proceed fighting against the Muslims.