22- Conquest of
Mecca
The apostle reached Marr al‑Zahran with an army
of ten thousand; the Bedouin tribes ‑ the Sulaym and the Muzayna
‑each contributed a thousand men, and many of them Believers. Not an
Emigrant nor a Helper remained in
Medina
. The Quraysh knew nothing of the apostle's approach, although Abu Sufyan
and Budayl constantly sent out in search of news. But the apostle's uncle,
al‑Abbas, came out from
Mecca
and joined the apostle.
When the apostle of Allah was encamped at Marr
al‑Zahran his uncle
al‑Abbas said to himself, ' "It will be the end of the Quraysh
if the apostle enters
Mecca
by force without their having come to implore mercy from him." So I
mounted the white mule of the apostle and rode out, thinking,
"Perhaps I may meet some wood‑gatherer who will tell the
Meccans where the apostle is encamped, so that they may come out to him
and ask for mercy before he has to take the town by force." After I
had gone some way, I heard two voices and they were the voices of Abu
Sufyan and Budayl. Abu Sufyan said, "I have never seen as many fires
as there are this night, nor so great an army!" and Budayl replied,
"These are the Khuzaa, aroused by war." But Abu Sufyan
interrupted, "The Khuzaa are too mean and few for these to be their
fires and troops." .
'Then I appeared and greeted him and he asked,
"What is afoot?" I said, "Woe betide thee, Abu Sufyan! That
is the apostle of Allah with his people! All is over with the Quraysh!
" He asked, "What is to be done?" and I told him, "If
he conquers you, he will strike off your head. Mount behind me on this
mule and I will take you to the apostle to ask for mercy." So he
mounted behind me, but his companion returned to
Mecca
.
'I rode back and whenever I passed near a fire of the
Muslims, they said, "This is the uncle of the apostle" and let
me pass. Then I passed the fire of Umar and, seeing Abu Sufyan, he exclaimed,
"This is the enemy of Allah! Praise be to Allah who has delivered him
into our hands." Then he ran to the apostle, but I spurred the mule
and overtook him, and hastened in to the apostle with Umar following. Umar
cried, "Allow me to strike off the head of Abu Sufyan!" but I
said "No. I have granted him protection." Then we argued the
case and the apostle told me to guard Abu Sufyan and bring him to the
apostle in the morning.
'At dawn we went to the apostle, who said to Abu
Sufyan, "Is it not yet clear to thee that there is no other god save
Allah!" He replied, "Had there been another god he should have
proved himself by now and aided me!" The apostle continued, "Is
it not yet clear to thee that I am the apostle of Allah?" Abu Sufyan
replied, "I still have doubts in my mind as to that." Then I
said to him, "Woe betide thee! Make profession of Islam and say, ‘I
testify that there is no God but Allah and that Muhammad is the apostle of
Allah,' before he strikes off thy head!" So Abu Sufyan testified to
the truth, and made profession of Islam. I said to the apostle, "Abu
Sufyan is a man who likes to have something to boast of. Grant him some
favour," and the apostle granted that any man entering the house of
Abu Sufyan would be secure, so also would any man who locked himself in
his own house, and so also would any man who entered the mosque.
'Then I took Abu Sufyan to a hollow of the mountain
to watch the apostle and his army pass by. And all the auxiliary tribes
passed first. At last the apostle appeared with the dark legion.' It was
called 'dark', because of all the armour it wore; only the eyes of the men
were visible. 'Abu Sufyan exclaimed, "None could resist men such as
these! 0 Abbas, the power of your nephew has become great!" I
replied, "It is the power of his prophecy! " Then I told him,
"Hasten back to your people!" '
As soon as Abu Sufyan reached
Mecca
he cried aloud to the people, 'Muhammad comes and cannot be resisted; but
whoever enters the house of Abu Sufyan will be safe’ They replied,
'Curses be upon you. Your house cannot shelter all!' so he told them, 'And
whoever shuts himself up in his own house will be safe, and whoever enters
the mosque will be safe’ Then the people dispersed to their houses and
to the mosque.
When the apostle of Allah arrived at Dhu Tuwa he rose
in his stirrups and humbly bowed his head to Allah as he observed the
empty streets which betokened victory.
Starting from Dhu Tuwa, the apostle divided his
troops, giving al‑Zubayr command of the left wing, and giving the
Helpers to Sad b. Ubada. But one of the Emigrants heard Sad chanting,
'This is a day of slaughter; today the sanctuary will be profaned.' So the
apostle sent Ali after him with orders to take the banner from Sad and
lead the Helpers himself. Khalid was appointed over the right flank, which
consisted of the Arab tribes, and Abu Ubayda commanded the Emigrants, who
were followed by the apostle himself He entered the upper part of
Mecca
and had his tent pitched there.
Safwan b. Ummaya, Suhayl b. Amr, and Ikrirna the son
of Abu Jahl, however, had gathered some men together to fight at al‑Khandama.
They were attacked by Khalid's column of tribesmen, two of whom strayed
from the main body and were slain; but twelve or thirteen of the idolaters
were killed, and the others put to flight. The apostle had instructed his
commanders not to fight against any man except those who attacked. There
were, however, some enemies of Allah whom he ordered to be slain even if
they were hidden in the curtains of the Kaba itself. One of these was
Abdullah b. Sad; the apostle of Allah ordered him to be killed because,
after having made a profession of Islam and assisted the apostle in
writing the revelations, he had relapsed into idolatry, returned to his
home, and taken refuge with his milk‑brother. This brother concealed
him, but at last brought him to the apostle of Allah, after
Mecca
had settled down peaceably. He pleaded for him, and it is recorded that
the apostle of Allah remained silent for a long while; then he said,
'Yes.' After the man had departed, the apostle turned to his companions
and said, 'I remained silent, expecting that one of you would rise and
strike off his head.' Then a man of the Helpers asked, 'Why didst thou not
give me a sign, o apostle of Allah?' and he replied, 'A prophet does not
kill by a sign.’
Another ordered to be slain was a man who, after
becoming a Muslim and being sent by the apostle of Allah with one of the
Helpers to collect the poor‑tax, had killed his freedman, who was a
Muslim. Whilst on a journey he had halted at a caravanserai and had
ordered his freedman to slaughter a kid and prepare a meal from it, but
the freedman had fallen asleep. When his master awoke and found that
nothing was prepared he fell upon him and killed him; then he relapsed
into idolatry, and kept two singing‑women, both of whom sang songs
insulting the apostle of Allah, who ordered them to be killed with their
master.
Another who had insulted two daughters of the apostle
was also killed, and some who had persecuted the apostle himself were put
to death. But some were given pardon. The daughtor of Abu Talib, the uncle
and one‑time guardian of the apostle of Allah, told how 'Two men of
the tribe of my father‑in‑law fled to me, then my brother came
and said "By Allah, I shall kill them." I locked my house upon
them and went to the apostle of Allah, who was in the upper part of
Mecca
. I found him washing himself from a kneading trough still containing
vestiges of dough, whilst his daughter Fatima was shielding him with his
robe. After he had finished he put on his garments and recited his morning
prayers. Then he turned to me, saying "Welcome! What has brought thee
here?" I told him about the two men and about my brother's wish to
kill them, and he replied, "We protect whom thou protectest, and we
grant safety to whom thou grantest safety
He shall not kill these two men." '
When peace reigned once more the apostle went to the
Kaba and rode seven times round it on his camel, touching the sacred stone
with a stick which he held in his hand. After this, he called Uthman b.
Talha and took from him the key of the Kaba. This was opened to him, and
he entered. There he found a pigeon made of aloe‑wood, and he broke
this idol with his own hand and threw it outside. The other idols stood
fixed with lead, and the prophet made a sign with his stick in the
direction of the idols, saying, 'Truth has arrived and falsehood has gone,
because falsehood was perishable.' Nor did he point to the front of any
idol, but it fell down on its back; nor did he point to its back, but it
fell down on its face. Not one idol remained standing. The apostle
remained at the door of the Kaba and the people from the mosque surrounded
him.
Then the apostle said, 'There is no God but Allah
alone. He has kept His promise, and aided His servant. He alone has put
the confederates to flight. Every prerogative now lies with me save two
‑ the guardianship of the Kaba, and the office of providing water
for pilgrims.
'Killing, when heavy injury was all that was
intended, must be made good by a fine of one hundred camels, among which
there must be forty pregnant ones.
'People of the Quraysh! Allah has freed you from the
arrogance of idolatry. All men are from Adam, and Adam is from earth! . .
How do you expect I shall deal with you?' They said,
Well. Thou art our noble brother’, and he replied,
‘You may go free.’ The apostle of Allah then entered the Kaba with
Bilal, and ordered him to give the call to prayers.
On the day of the conquest a man entered
Mecca
who had murdered one of the allies of the Khuzaa. He was recognized and
menaced by the Khuzaa. 'Then came Khirash, warding off the swords of the
Khuzaa and shouting "Keep away!" We imagined his intention was
that the people should leave the man alone, but when we moved away he
himself attacked and speared him through the belly; and I can still see
him with his entrails spilling out and his eyes becoming fixed. The man
gasped, "You have done wrong, you Khuzaa", and then died.'
The apostle of Allah said, 'There has been enough
slaughter.' He said further, 'Allah established
Mecca
as a sanctuary on the day He created the heavens and the earth; therefore
it is a sanctuary till the day of the resurrection. No man who believes
in Allah and in the resurrection may shed blood in it or fell a tree in
it. It was not permitted to anyone who came before me, nor will it be
permitted to anyone after me. It has been permitted to me only during this
hour, because of the wrath of Allah towards the inhabitants of
Mecca
; now again it is a sanctuary as before. Let those of you who are present
tell this to those who are absent. If any man says to you, "Verily
the apostle of Allah has killed in
Mecca
", say "Allah has made it right for His Apostle but not for
you." 0, ye Khuzaa! Stay your hands from killing. You have committed
a murder for which I shall pay the blood ransom; but if after my stay here
anyone is killed, the relative of the murdered man will have the choice
between the blood of the murderer or a ransom.'
Then the apostle paid the ransom due for the [blood
of the] man whom the Khuzaa had slain. The amount of the ransom was one
hundred camels.
The apostle sent out expeditions to the surrounding
territory to invite the people to Allah, but not to kill. Khalid, however,
used violence on one expedition, against the Jadhima, and killed some of
them. The apostle remained in
Mecca
for twenty‑five days after the conquest.
[ Back ] [ Next ]
|