SINCE Ali b. Abi Talib recited the opening of Surah Bara'ah to those who had gone on the Hajj, made up of Muslims and polytheists, at the time Abu Bakr led the pilgrim caravan, and since he announced to them, on the command of Muhammad, when they were gathered at Mina, that the disbeliever would not enter Paradise, that after this year no polytheist might make the Hajj, that none might any longer circle the Ka'bah naked, and that whoever was bound by a treaty with the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) would have it hold until its term ran out — since that moment the polytheists of the Arabian peninsula were all convinced that there was no longer any place for them to go on living in paganism. And if they persisted in it still, let them remember the declaration of war from Allah and His Messenger. This would apply to the people of the southern part of the peninsula, that is, Yemen and Hadhramaut; for as to the Hijaz and its surroundings up to the north, they had already embraced Islam and taken shelter under the banner of this new religion. That southern part was in truth still divided between the followers of paganism and the followers of Christianity. But those pagans in the end accepted it too, as we have already seen. In crowd upon crowd they entered Islam, they sent delegations to Medina, and the Prophet received them most graciously, which made them gladder still to accept Islam. Most of them returned to their own territories, and this made them love this new religion all the more.
As for the People of the Book, made up of Jews and Christians, the verses Ali had recited from Surah At-Tawbah run as follows:
"Fight those who do not believe in Allah and the Last Day, and do not hold forbidden what Allah and His Messenger have forbidden, and do not follow the religion of truth — those who have been given the Book — until they pay the jizya with willing submission, in a state of humility." up to the word of the Lord:
"O believers! Many of the priests and monks devour people's wealth by false means and turn people away from the path of Allah. And those who hoard gold and silver and do not spend it in the path of Allah — give them news of a painful punishment. On the Day when it is all heated in the fire of Hell, and with it their foreheads, their flanks, and their backs are branded. 'This is your wealth which you hoarded for yourselves. So taste now the consequence of what you hoarded.'" (Qur'an, 9: 34 - 35)
Faced with the verses of Surah At-Tawbah as the closing revelation in the Qur'an, many historians have asked themselves: was the command of Muhammad (peace be upon him) concerning the People of the Book different from his command in the days when he first brought his teaching? Some Orientalists then took the view that these verses meant to place the People of the Book and the polytheists in almost the same position; and that Muhammad, having succeeded in defeating paganism throughout the peninsula, after seeking the help of the Jews and Christians by declaring in the first years of his mission that he came bearing the religion of Isa, Musa, Ibrahim, and the other messengers who came before, had directed his aim at the Jews, who had faced him with enmity from the start. They kept to that stance until at last they were expelled from the peninsula. Meanwhile he wished to win the hearts of the Christians, and there came down verses strengthening the faith of the good among them, so that this word of the Lord arrived:
"You will surely find that the fiercest of people in enmity towards the believers are the Jews and the polytheists, and you will surely find that the closest of them in friendship towards the believers are those who say, 'We are Christians.' That is because among them are priests and monks, and they are not arrogant." (Qur'an, 5: 82)
Now, they say, he directed his aim at the Christians, just as it had earlier been directed at the Jews. The Christians were classed among those who do not believe in the Lord and in the Last Day. He did this after the Christians had given shelter to his followers among the Muslims when they went to Abyssinia under the protection of its just king, and after Muhammad had written to the people of Najran and to other Christians guaranteeing their religion and all the religious rites they performed. Those Orientalists then took the view that it was this contradiction in Muhammad's policy that later made the enmity between Muslims and Christians drag on and on, and that it was this too that made any drawing together of the followers of Jesus and the followers of Muhammad not so easy, if it was not to be called impossible.
Taking this argument at surface level may at times persuade a person that there is something to it, or may even persuade a person to believe it. But if one is willing to follow the course of history and to examine it in the light of the circumstances and the occasions on which those verses came down, one need have no doubt at all about the unity of the stance of Islam and the stance of Muhammad towards the religions of the Book from the beginning of that mission to its end. The Messiah, son of Maryam, is the servant of Allah to whom He gave a book, whom He made a prophet, whom He made blessed wherever he might be; He commanded him to perform the prayer and to give the zakat for as long as he lived. That is what the Qur'an sent down from the beginning of the mission to its end. Allah is only One. Allah is Eternal and Absolute. He does not beget and is not begotten, and there is nothing whatever like Him. That is the spirit and the foundation of Islam from its first step, and that too is the spirit of Islam for as long as this world goes on.
The Christians of Najran once came to the Prophet wishing to debate with him about the Lord and about the prophethood of Isa in relation to the Lord, long before this Surah At-Tawbah came down. They asked Muhammad:
"The mother of Isa is Maryam; then who is his father?" To that came the word of Allah:
"His case is like that of Adam; He created him from dust, then said to him, 'Be,' and he was. The truth comes only from your Lord. Do not be among the doubters. Whoever argues with you about him after the knowledge that has come to you, say: 'Come, let us call our sons and your sons, our women and your women, ourselves and yourselves; then let us pray that the curse of the Lord be upon those who lie.' This is the true account: there is no god but Allah. And Allah is indeed the Almighty, the All-Wise. If they still turn away, then the Lord knows those who work corruption. Say: 'O People of the Book! Come to a word common between us and you: that we shall worship none but Allah, that we shall associate nothing whatever with Him, and that none of us shall take others as lords besides Allah.' But if they still turn away, say: 'Bear witness that we are Muslims.'" (Qur'an, 3: 59 - 64)
The discourse in this surah, the Surah of the Family of 'Imran, in an extraordinary style, is addressed to the People of the Book, rebuking them for turning the believers away from the path of Allah and for rejecting the verses that came from the Lord, when those verses are the very ones brought by Isa, by Musa, by Ibrahim, before those words were altered and before they were interpreted according to the desires of the self and fitted to worldly life with its deceiving pleasures. There are many other surahs whose words are addressed as they are in that Surah of the Family of 'Imran. In Surah Al-Ma'idah (5) the Lord says:
"They have indeed committed blasphemy (against the Lord), those who say that Allah is one of three in a trinity. There is no god but the One God. If they do not stop (blaspheming against the Lord), a most painful punishment will surely befall those of them who have demeaned (the Lord). Will they not repent to the Lord and ask forgiveness? Allah is Most Forgiving and Merciful. The Messiah, son of Maryam, was in truth no more than a messenger, and his mother was a woman sincere and truthful; both of them ate food. See how We make the verses clear to them, then see how they are turned away?" (Qur'an,5:73 - 75)
Then in that same Surah Al-Ma'idah the Lord says:
"And remember when Allah said: 'O Isa, son of Maryam! Was it you who said to the people: Take me and my mother as two gods besides Allah?' He answered: 'Glory be to You, I would never say what is not mine by right. Had I said it, You would already have known it. You know what is in my heart, but I do not know what is within Yourself.'" (Qur'an, 5: 116)
up to the verses that follow, as we have already quoted in the introduction to this book. It is one of the verses in this Surah Al-Ma'idah that the writers of Christian history have made an issue of and taken as their ground for the claim that Muhammad's stance towards them developed in step with his political fortunes, namely where the Lord says:
"You will surely find that the fiercest of people in enmity towards the believers are the Jews and the polytheists; and you will surely find that the closest of them in friendship towards the believers are those who say, 'We are Christians.' That is because among them are priests and monks, and they are not arrogant." (Qur'an, 5: 82)
By contrast, the verses in Surah Bara'ah (9), which also speak of the People of the Book, say nothing whatever about their belief concerning the Messiah, son of Maryam. Those verses speak of their conduct in associating partners with the Lord, of devouring people's wealth unlawfully, and of hoarding gold and silver. According to Islam the People of the Book had departed from the course of the religion of Isa; they made lawful what the Lord had forbidden and did the deeds of those who do not believe in the Lord and the Last Day. Yet even so — setting all that aside — their faith in the Lord was already a bridge for them not to be treated as the equals of the pagans. For those who still insisted on making the Lord one of three in a trinity and on making lawful what the Lord had forbidden, it was enough to pay the jizya obediently and submissively.
The proclamation Ali delivered when Abu Bakr led the pilgrim caravan marked the high point of the entry of the people of the southern peninsula into Islam in crowd upon crowd. Those delegations had come to Medina one after another, as we have already mentioned — among them delegations of polytheists and of the People of the Book. The Prophet showed every honour to each delegation that came, and those chieftains were sent back to their own territories in the most honourable way. This we have already mentioned in an earlier part. Ash'ath b. Qais, leading eighty men of Kinda, came riding to the Prophet in the mosque, with their hair dressed, their eyes lined with kohl, wearing fine robes and sashes of silk. you As soon as seeing
them, the Prophet said: "Why do you wear this silk about your necks?" the Prophet said again.
They then took off that silk.
"Messenger of Allah," Ash'ath said afterwards, "we are of the Family of Akil'l-Murar, and you too are of the line of Akil'l-Murar.
Hearing that, the Prophet smiled. He remembered 'Abbas ibn 'Abd'l-Muttalib and Rabi'a ibn'l-Harith
Together with Ash'ath there also came Wa'il b. Hujr al-Kindi, a chieftain of the coastal district of Hadhramaut. He then embraced Islam. The Prophet confirmed him in his territory and asked him to collect the 'ushr from the people and hand it over to the tax collectors the Messenger had appointed. In this matter the Prophet assigned Mu'awiya b. Abi Sufyan to accompany Wa'il to his country. But Wa'il would not share a mount with him, nor would he give him any footwear. To bear the heat of the season, it was enough that he let him walk in the shade of his camel. Although this went against the teaching of Islam, which teaches equality among the Muslims and that all Muslims are brothers, Mu'awiya accepted it all the same, so as to safeguard the Islam of Wa'il and his people.
After Islam had spread through the region of Yemen, the Prophet sent Mu'adh (b. Jabal) to that district to instruct the people and to deepen their knowledge of Islamic law, with this charge: "Make it easy and do not make it hard. Give glad tidings and do not frighten. You will meet a group of the People of the Book who will ask you: 'What is the key to Paradise?' Then answer: 'A testimony that there is no god but Allah, who has no partner.'"
So Mu'adh set out, accompanied by several of the earliest Muslims, whose task was to see to the 'ushr, to give instruction, and to carry out the law in accordance with the command of the Lord and the Messenger.
With the spread of Islam throughout the whole region of the peninsula — from east to west, from north to south — that whole world had become one under one banner, the banner of Muhammad the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), and within one religion, Islam, and their hearts too had only one direction, the worship of Allah the One who has no partner.
Not twenty years before, those tribes had been at enmity with one another, attacking one another in war at every opportunity. But with their joining together under this banner of Islam, they had been cleansed of every stain of paganism, and they lived at peace under the law of the Lord Almighty. In this way enmity among those people was no more. War and hostility no longer had any place. There was no longer anyone who would draw a sword, except to defend his homeland and to defend the religion of Allah against the attack of others.
Yet there remained a group of the Christians of Najran who still held to their religion, unlike most of their own community, namely Banu Harith, who had embraced Islam before them. To these the Prophet sent Khalid ibn'l-Walid to invite them to embrace Islam so as to be spared his assault. But as soon as they were called they were willing to embrace Islam. Khalid then sent a delegation from among themselves to Medina to meet the Prophet, who received them warmly and most cordially. Besides this there was another group among the people of Yemen who were still most unwilling to submit under the banner of Islam, since Islam was born in the Hijaz, whereas it was usually Yemen that invaded the Hijaz. The Hijaz, by contrast, had never before attacked Yemen.
To these the Prophet sent Ali b. Abi Talib with the task of inviting them into Islam. At first they too were exceedingly haughty.
They met Ali's invitation by attacking him. But Ali — young as he was and with only three hundred men — was able to scatter them. The attackers, driven back, regrouped their ranks again. But Ali at once surrounded them, so that panic broke out in their ranks. There was no other way; they had to surrender. In this way they then embraced Islam and became good Muslims. All the instruction given by Mu'adh and his companions they listened to well. This delegation of theirs was the last delegation the Prophet received in Medina before he returned to the mercy of Allah.
While Ali was preparing to return to Mecca, the Prophet too was preparing to perform the Hajj, and he asked the people to prepare as well. Month followed month, and the month of Dhul-Qa'dah was almost past. The Prophet had not yet performed the greater Hajj, although before that he had twice performed the Umrah, the lesser pilgrimage.
In the Hajj there are rites in which the Prophet (peace be upon him) is the model for the Muslim community. As soon as people knew for certain that the Prophet had resolved to go on the Hajj and was inviting them to come along, that invitation spread to every corner of the peninsula. Thousands upon thousands came to Medina from every quarter: from the towns and from the interior, from the mountains and from the desert, from every corner of the broad Arab land, which now shone with the light of the Lord and the light of that noble Prophet. Around the city of Medina tents had been pitched for a hundred thousand people or more, who had come in answer to the call of the Prophet, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him). They came as brothers to know one another, bound together by affection, by sincerity of heart, and by Islamic brotherhood, they who in the years before had been enemies to one another. Those thousands upon thousands were now going about the city, each with a smile on his lips, with a face bright and glowing. Their gathering pictured a truth that had won through, a divine light that had spread far and wide, which made them all stand firm together like a solid building.
On the 25th of Dhul-Qa'dah in the tenth year of the Hijrah the Prophet set out, taking all his wives, each in her litter. He set out followed by so vast a multitude — some historians give the number as 90,000 and others as 114,000. They set out carried by faith, their hearts full of joy, full of sincerity, towards the sacred House of Allah. They meant to fulfil the obligation of the greater Hajj.
When they reached Dhu'l-Hulaifa they halted and stayed there for one night. The next day, when the Prophet had put on the garments of ihram, the other Muslims put on the garments of ihram too. Each of them wore a wrapping cloth, one below and one above. They all walked in the same dress, a dress of the utmost simplicity. In this way they enacted an equality in the clearest of senses.
With his whole heart Muhammad turned to the Lord, pronouncing the talbiyah, which the Muslims behind him took up in turn: "Labbaika Allahumma labbaika, labbaika la syarika laka labbaika. Alhamdu lillah wan-ni'matu wa'sy-syukru laka labbaika. Labbaika la syarika laka labbaika." ("Here I am at Your service, O Allah, here I am at Your service. Here I am at Your service. You have no partner. Here I am at Your service. Praise, favour, and thanks belong to You. Here I am at Your service, here I am at Your service, You have no partner. Here I am at Your service.")
The valleys and the desert plains echoed one another in answer to this call, all of them crying out with full faith. Thousands, indeed tens of thousands of that caravan made their way along the road between the City of the Messenger and the City of the Sacred Mosque. He halted at every mosque, fulfilling the obligation while calling out the talbiyah, as a sign of obedience and of thanks for the favour of Allah. With full patience he awaited the coming of the hour of the greater Hajj. With a longing heart, with a heart beating full of love for the House of Allah. The sandy plains of the whole peninsula, the mountains, the valleys, and the fresh green fields were startled to hear it, with its echo answering back and forth; a thing never known before this unlettered Prophet, this Messenger and Servant of Allah, came to bless it.
When the party reached Sarif — a place on the road between Mecca and Medina — Muhammad said to his companions:
Whoever among you has not brought a sacrificial animal and wishes to make this (ihram) an Umrah, let him do so; but let not the one who has brought a sacrificial animal.
When the pilgrims reached Mecca on the fourth day of Dhul-Hijjah, the Prophet went straight to the Ka'bah, followed by the other Muslims. He then touched the Black Stone and kissed it, then circled the Ka'bah seven times, and for the first three he went at a quick pace as he had done at the 'umrat'l-qadha'. After performing the prayer at the Station of Ibrahim he returned and once more kissed the Black Stone. Then he went out of the mosque towards a hill at Safa, and performed the sa'i between Safa and Marwah. Muhammad then called out that whoever had not brought sacrificial livestock to be slaughtered should not remain in the garments of ihram. There were some who still hesitated. At this hesitation the Prophet grew very angry and said
"What I have commanded, do it."
Still displeased, the Prophet entered his tent, so that Aisha asked:
Why so angry?" "How should I not be angry, when I command a thing and it is not carried out.
When one of the Companions came to him he was still in a state of anger.
"Messenger of Allah," he said, "whoever has made you angry will enter the Fire.
At that the Messenger answered:
"Do you not know that I commanded them a thing and they still hesitated? When I face my duty, I never draw back! I did not bring this sacrificial livestock here before I had bought it. After that I would have left ihram as they do," so Muslim reports.
When the Muslims learned that the Messenger of Allah had grown angry, thousands of them at once left their garments of ihram with the deepest regret. The wives of the Prophet too, and Fatimah his daughter, like the others, left their garments of ihram. Those who remained in ihram were only those who had brought sacrificial livestock.
While the Muslims were performing the Hajj, Ali too returned from his expedition to Yemen. He had already put on the garments of ihram in readiness for the Hajj, having learnt that the Messenger of Allah was leading the pilgrim caravan. When he met Fatimah and saw that she had left the cloth of ihram, he asked her about it. Fatimah explained that the Prophet had commanded them to leave that ihram at the time of the Umrah. He then went at once to the Prophet, to report the outcome of his journey to Yemen. When the report was done the Prophet said:
Go and circle the Ka'bah, then leave your ihram as your companions have done." "Messenger of Allah," said Ali, "I have already pronounced the ihlal as you pronounced it.
Go back and leave your ihram as your companions have done," said the Prophet again. "Messenger of Allah," said Ali, "when I put on the ihram, I said this: O Allah, I pronounce the ihlal as it is pronounced by Your Prophet, Your servant, and Your Messenger Muhammad.
The Prophet asked whether he had a sacrificial animal. When Ali answered that he had not, Muhammad shared out with Ali the sacrificial animals he had brought. In this way Ali remained in ihram and performed the rites of the greater Hajj to the end.
On the eighth day of Dhul-Hijjah, the Day of Tarwiyah, Muhammad went to Mina. Throughout that day, while fulfilling the obligation of the prayer, he stayed in his tent. So too that night, until the dawn broke on the day of the Hajj. When the Fajr prayer was done, riding his camel al-Qaswa', as the sun began to rise, he made his way towards the mount of 'Arafat. The stream of people followed behind him. When he had climbed that mount, surrounded by thousands of Muslims following his journey — some pronouncing the talbiyah, some the takbir, while he listened to them and let each be as he was.
At Namirah, a village to the east of 'Arafat, a tent had also been pitched for the Prophet at his request. When the sun had passed its height, he called for his camel al-Qaswa, and set out again as far as the floor of the valley in the district of 'Urana. It was there that he called the people, while still upon his camel, in a loud voice; and even so it was repeated by Rabi'a b. Umayya b. Khalaf. After giving thanks and praise to Allah, pausing at every clause, he said, "O all you people!5 give heed to these words of mine! I do not know whether, after this year, in circumstances such as these, I shall ever meet you all again.
"Brothers! Truly your blood and your property are sacred to you, as this day and this month are sacred, until the time comes for you all to stand before the Lord. And you will surely stand before the Lord; on that day you will be called to account for all your deeds. Yes, I have conveyed this!
"Whoever has been entrusted with a trust, let him render that trust to the one entitled to receive it. "All usury is abolished. But you are entitled to have your capital back. Do not wrong others, and do not be wronged yourselves. Allah has decreed that there shall be no more usury and that the usury of 'Abbas b. 'Abd'l-Muttalib is all abolished.
"All claims for blood from the days of ignorance are abolished, and the first claim for blood that I abolish is the blood of Ibn Rabi'a bin'l-Harith b. 'Abd'l-Muttalib!
"After that, brothers. Today the craving of Satan to be worshipped in this land is broken for ever. But if you follow him even in what you think a small matter, which is to demean all your deeds, he will surely be pleased. Therefore guard this religion of yours well.
"Brothers. To postpone the coming into force of the prohibition of the sacred months is to add to disbelief. By it those disbelievers went astray. In one year they violate it and in another they hold it sacred, to fit the number the Lord has made sacred. Then they make lawful what Allah has forbidden and forbid what He has made lawful.
"Time has turned since Allah created these heavens and this earth. The number of the months with the Lord is twelve months, four of them sacred months, three consecutive and the month of Rajab which falls between Jumada al-Akhirah and Sha'ban.
"After that, brothers. Just as you have a right over your wives, so your wives have the same right over you. Your right over them is that they do not admit anyone you dislike to set foot upon your floor, and that they do not openly commit an indecency. If they should do any of that, the Lord permits you to part from their bed and to strike them with a blow that does not injure. If they no longer do it, then it is your duty to provide them with maintenance and clothing in a proper manner. Deal well with your wives; they are companions who help you, they possess nothing for themselves. You have taken them as a trust from the Lord, and their honour has been made lawful to you in the name of the Lord.
"Give heed to these words of mine, brothers. I have conveyed this. There is a matter I plainly leave in your hands, which, if you hold to it firmly, you will never go astray — the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah.
"O all you people! Listen to these words of mine and give heed! You will understand that every Muslim is a brother to every other Muslim, and that all Muslims are brothers. But no one is permitted (to take anything) from his brother, unless it is given to him willingly. Do not wrong yourselves.
"O Allah! Have I conveyed it?"
While the Prophet was speaking, Rabi'a repeated it clause by clause, calling upon that great crowd to keep it with full awareness. The Prophet also charged him to question them, for instance: the Messenger of Allah asked "what day is this?" They answered: The Day of the Greater Hajj! The Prophet asked again: "Tell them that your blood and your property are made sacred by the Lord, as this day is sacred, until the time comes for you all to meet the Lord."
When he came to the close of his words he said again:
O So Then Allah! from Have I every quarter conveyed it?!
at once the whole gathering answered: "Yes"
When the Prophet had finished delivering his address he came down from al-Qaswa', his camel. He remained in that same place until the time of the noon and afternoon prayers. Then he mounted his camel again and made for Shakharat. It was then that the Prophet (peace be upon him) recited to them this word of the Lord:
"This day I have perfected your religion for you, completed My favour upon you, and chosen Islam, which I am pleased with, as your religion." (Qur'an, 5: 3)
When Abu Bakr heard that verse he wept; he felt that the mission of the Prophet was complete and that the hour was near when the Prophet would go to meet the Lord.
After leaving Arafat that night the Prophet spent the night at Muzdalifah. Early in the morning he rose and went down to Mash'ar'l-Haram. Then he went to Mina, and on that journey he threw the pebbles. When he reached his tent he sacrificed sixty-three camels, one camel for each year of his life, and the rest of the hundred sacrificial camels the Prophet had brought when he set out from Medina were sacrificed by Ali. Then the Prophet had his hair shaved and completed his Hajj.
With the completion of this Hajj, some have named it the 'Farewell Hajj', others call it the 'Hajj of Conveying', and still others say the 'Hajj of Islam.' All those names are indeed true. It is called the 'Farewell Hajj' because it was the last time Muhammad saw Mecca and the Ka'bah. It is the 'Hajj of Islam' because the Lord had perfected this religion for mankind and completed His favour as well. The 'Hajj of Conveying' means that the Prophet had conveyed to mankind what the Lord had commanded him. Muhammad was no more than a warner and a bearer of glad tidings to the believers.
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