The Life of Muhammad by Ibn Ishaq

Chapter 8. The Conquest of Mecca and the First Attacks on Christian Syria

Jafar returns from Abyssinia

A number of the apostle’s companions who had migrated to Abyssinia had already returned, but a number had stayed in Abyssinia. So after the signing of the Treaty of Hudaybiya, the apostle sent Amr b. Umayya al-Damri to the Negus to fetch them back in two boats, along with the widows of those who had died in Abyssinia. These sixteen companions, led by Jafar b. Abu Talib, the apostle’s beloved cousin, were then able to join the apostle at Khaybar.

Muhammad makes ‘the fulfilled pilgrimage’ to Mecca

After the Conquest of Khaybar, Muhammad stayed in Medina over winter, sending out more raiding parties and expeditions. Then in February 629CE, in Dhul-Qa’da – the month in which the Quraysh had prevented him from pilgrimage the previous year – he went out with the same companions to make the ‘fulfilled pilgrimage’, and when the Quraysh were informed of it, they left the city to the Muslims for three days.

On the third day, the Quraysh said, ‘Your time has now expired, so you must depart.’ Muhammad invited them to the wedding feast he was holding to celebrate his marriage to Maymuna d. al-Harith, a sister-in-law of al-Abbas, but they replied angrily, ‘Get out! We don’t want your food!’

So the apostle left Mecca, and ordered that Maymuna should be brought to him in Sarif. He consummated his marriage to her there before returning to Medina. [Maymuna was to be the eleventh and last of Muhammad’s formal wives.]

Muhammad sends an army to Syria

A Muslim envoy, sent by Muhammad to the Christian ruler of Basra in Syria inviting him and his people to Islam, had been killed by a local Ghassanid chieftain in Muta, a small settlement in Syria, just across the border from Arabia.

So, in September, Muhammad sent a force of 3000 Muslims in a reprisal attack to Syria, with Zayd b. Haritha, his former adopted son, in command, saying that if Zayd was killed, Jafar, his cousin, was to take command, and if he was killed, then Abdullah b. Rawaha.

The Muslim army marched to Ma’an in Syria where they heard a rumour that Heraclius, Emperor of the Byzantine Eastern Roman Empire, had come down to Ma’ab with 100,000 Greeks joined by 100,000 men of other Christian Arab tribes.

When the Muslims heard this, they spent two nights at Ma’an debating what to do. They had already decided to write to Muhammad to tell him of the enemy’s numbers, when Abdullah incited them to battle saying, ‘We came out in search of martyrdom, so no retreating now! Though we lack numbers, strength and multitude, we have the faith of Allah on our side! So, onward to victory or martyrdom: both are glorious!’

The Battle of Muta

And so the Muslim army advanced until they encountered the enemy forces at a village called Masharif. As the enemy drew near, the Muslims retreated to Muta where fierce fighting broke out. Zayd fought bravely bearing the apostle’s banner until he perished under the lances of the enemy.

Then Jafar took up the banner and fought on with it until, in the midst of the battle, he leapt off his horse, hamstrung it and fought to the death also, crying, ‘Oh Paradise our resting-place! How cool its water, sweet its shade! These Byzantines will soon know fright! Oh infidels, your necks I’ll smite!’

When Jafar was killed, Abdullah b. Rawaha seized the banner, albeit reluctantly. Then he snatched up his sword, threw himself into the fray and fought until he too was killed.

The Muslims then rallied to Khalid b. al-Walid who attempted to fend off the enemy whilst avoiding an engagement with them. [Khalid stayed up all night, and by dawn next day, had made the rear guard the front, and the front the rear, and the right flank the left, and the left the right. Not recognizing the flags and positions, and thinking that reinforcements had arrived], the enemy retreated from him until he was able to escape with the men.

When the defeated army approached Medina, Muhammad and the Muslims came out to meet them. Men began casting dust at the troops, crying, ‘You deserters, fleeing from the path of Allah!’

But Muhammad said, ‘They are not deserters, but men who will return to battle, God willing.’

Of those martyrs killed in the disaster, Muhammad said, ‘I saw them being carried up to Paradise on couches of gold.’ He also said, ‘Allah most high has given Jafar everlasting life, and in place of his arms, has given him two wings that he may fly in Paradise.’ Thus Jafar is known as Jafar al-Tayyar [the Flyer].

Muhammad’s conquest of Mecca

Some months after the Battle of Muta, the Beni Bakr, allies of the Quraysh, attacked some of the Khuzaa, allies of the apostle. A number of the Khuzaa came to Muhammad in Medina and told him how the Quraysh had aided the Beni Bakr against them, thus breaking the treaty they had made with the apostle.

When Abu Sufyan came to Muhammad on behalf of the Quraysh to strengthen the treaty with the apostle and to ask for an extension, he was spurned by his daughter Umm Habiba, newly wedded to the apostle after her return from Abyssinia, and then rejected by Abu Bakr, Omar, Ali and Fatima. Refused an audience with the apostle, he was forced to return to Mecca with the news that Muhammad was now their implacable foe.

Then Muhammad ordered his army to prepare for a surprise attack on Mecca, saying, ‘God grant that the Quraysh do not learn of our plans and that we take them by surprise!’

And on 1st January 630CE he set forth with an army of 10,000 Muslims and camped round Mecca. The men were ordered to light camp fires overnight.

Abu Sufyan was brought before Muhammad, who said, ‘Woe upon you, Abu Sufyan, is it not time to acknowledge that I am indeed the apostle of the Lord?’

‘As to that, I still have doubts,’ replied Abu Sufyan.

Al-Abbas said to him, ‘Submit to Islam and say, ‘I testify that there is no God but Allah and that Muhammad is the apostle of God,’ before you lose your head’, so he did.

Then Abu Sufyan was made to stand in the narrow part of the wadi so that he would see the armies of Allah pass by legion after legion until finally the apostle himself passed by with al-Khadra [the Dark Legion] made up of emigrants and Ansar whose eyes alone were visible because of all their armour.

Abu Sufyan hurried to his people and shouted at the top of his voice, ‘O Quraysh, Muhammad has arrived with an irresistible force, but he has said that those who enter my house shall be safe. And those who shut themselves in their houses or take shelter in the Kabah shall also be safe.’

Thereupon the people fled to their homes or to the Kabah.

Several leading warriors of the Quraysh, including Safwan b. Umayya, Suhayl b. Amr and Ikrima b. Abu Jahl, had collected some men together to resist, and when Khalid’s forces arrived, there was a skirmish in which some Muslim horsemen were killed. The Quraysh lost about a dozen men and the rest were put to flight.

Muhammad destroys the idols at the Kabah

When calm was restored to the population, the apostle went to the Kabah and rode round it seven times on his camel, touching the Black Stone with his staff.

After this, he sent for Uthman b. Talha, who brought him the key of the Kabah and when the door was unlocked for him, the apostle went in. Inside, he found a wooden dove which he broke with his own hands and cast aside. Then he stood at the door of the Kabah whilst the men of the mosque gathered round him.

On the day of the conquest, the Kabah contained 360 idols which Iblis [Satan] had strengthened with lead. The apostle stood by each of them with a staff in his hand, crying, ‘The Truth has come and Falsehood has passed away! Verily Falsehood is bound to pass away!’ (Sura 17.81)

Then he pointed at each of the idols with his staff and they fell over, one after the other. After he had prayed the noon prayer, he commanded that all the idols around the Kabah should be gathered up and broken and burned.

Submission of the Quraysh

The people of Mecca then went to the apostle at the hill of al-Safa to pay homage to him and swear to obey Allah and His apostle to the best of their ability. The men went first, and then the apostle dealt with the women, among them Hind d. Utba who was in disguise and wearing a veil for she feared that Muhammad would have her punished for what she had done, particularly with regard to his uncle Hamza. [Her submission was so rude and sarcastic that] after her, the apostle told Omar to accept the pledge of the women whilst he prayed for Allah’s mercy on them.

Then the apostle held audience at the Kabah. Ali approached asking for his family to be granted custodianship of the temple in addition to the right of supplying water to the pilgrims. However, the apostle sent for Uthman b. Talha, [who had already secretly become a Muslim at the same time as Khalid b. al-Walid] and said,’ I hereby restore the key of the Kabah to you, for today is a day of goodwill.’

Muhammad’s death list

Muhammad had the names of several apostates and mockers on a death list, including the apostate, Abdullah b. Sa’d. [Abdullah had fled from Medina, saying scornfully that ‘the apostle did not know what he was saying, so he, Abdullah, had written what he liked and Muhammad had approved it.’ He was only saved from death by the intercession of his foster-brother, Uthman b. Affan.]

The name of Abdullah b. Khatal was on the death list as one of those who were to be killed even if found hiding in the sacred area by the Kabah. The death list also included two singing-girls of Abdullah’s who had sung satirical songs about Muhammad. [One of the girls escaped, but it is said that the killings on the day of the conquest raised such a lament in Mecca that Abu Sufyan came to the apostle, and pleaded, ‘Let your people live.’ Only then did the apostle say, ‘The Quraysh will not be executed from this day on.’]

To the rest of the people, who paid homage to him, and submitted to Islam, Muhammad said, ‘O Quraysh, Allah has freed you from the arrogance of idolatry and the religion of your ancestors. Go your way. You are now free.’

Thus Muhammad freed them, even though they were his conquests and he had complete power over their lives.

The Battle of Hunayn

Then Muhammad marched forth from Mecca with 2,000 Meccans, and the 10,000 companions who had accompanied him in the conquest of Mecca, to attack the Hawazin tribes who were gathering under their leader Malik b. Auf al-Nasri. [On learning of Muhammad’s departure from Medina, they had assumed that he was about to attack them first and so they were already preparing to defend themselves.]

As the Muslims came down a wide, sloping valley, the enemy forces charged out from the ravines and attacked them as one man. The Muslims broke and fled. Muhammad shouted, ‘Where are you going? Return to me! I am the Lord’s apostle!’

But to no avail. Only a few close companions and men of his family stayed with him. Then Muhammad ordered al-Abbas to call the men of Medina back until at last a hundred had gathered round him and they went forward and fought fiercely until, with the help of ‘invisible hosts of angels’ (Sura 9.25), the Hawazin were put to flight.

Malik fled to al-Taif, while others made for Nakhla. Muhammad ordered that all the prisoners and their possessions should be taken to al-Jirana and kept there under guard while he went on to attack al-Taif.

Muhammad besieges al-Taif

When the fugitives reached al-Taif, they shut the city gates and prepared for war. Muhammad laid siege to them, but some of his men were killed by arrows, forcing him to pitch his camp further away. When a number of Muslims went up under a testudo [formation of shields] in an attempt to breach the wall, the men of al-Taif cast down balls of heated iron and the attackers were forced to come out from under the burning shields and were shot with arrows, and some of them were killed.

After twenty days, Muhammad gave orders to abandon the siege, and the Muslim army moved off, returning to al-Jirana to make division of the spoils of the Hawazin.

Muhammad divides the spoils of the Hawazin

At al-Jirana, the apostle held 6,000 women and children, and innumerable sheep and camels. He forced the men of Hawazin to choose between their wives and children, or their property, and they all chose to have their families returned to them. From the spoils Muhammad gave gifts to the Meccan chiefs of the army, to whom he gave a hundred camels each, to win them over, and through them their people. [Those pacified in this way with the use of the zakat [poor tax] were known as ‘al-muallafa qulubuhum’ – those whose hearts are to be won over. Camels, particularly female camels, were so prized that 100 camels represented a fortune to each man who received them.]

This led to much anger and jealousy among Muhammad’s long-standing followers, the Ansar, until he addressed them, and rebuked them angrily, saying, ‘Whilst other men take away flocks and herds, you take back with you to Medina the greatest gift of all: the apostle of Allah himself!’

The people then wept as they said, ‘We are content to have the apostle of Allah as our allotted portion [of the spoils].’

Muhammad also sent to Malik in al-Taif to tell him that if he became a Muslim, his family and property would be restored, and that he too would receive a hundred camels. From then on, Malik became an exemplary Muslim, harrying the people of al-Taif and raiding their cattle until they were in dire straits.

Muhammad then left al-Jirana to make the Lesser Pilgrimage and returned to Medina in March, from where he sent out many more expeditions and raids, as well as many envoys to other lands demanding their submission to Allah and His prophet.

Muhammad leads his last raid - on Tabuk in Syria

In August 630, Muhammad ordered his men to prepare to raid the Byzantines at Tabuk. Normally, he kept the destination of an attack secret, and announced that that he was making for a place other than he actually intended, but this time he said openly that he was making for Syria to enable the men to prepare for what would be a long and arduous journey, in the hot season, against a powerful enemy.

But the disaffected, who were averse to fighting and doubted the truth of Allah and His apostle, said to one another, ‘Let us not go to war in this fierce heat.’

So Allah sent down concerning them: ‘Say to them: the heat of Hell-fire is fiercer, did they but understand! Let them therefore laugh a little now, for they will weep much in the hereafter!’ (Sura 9.81-82)

Muhammad set forth with a massive army of 30,000 men. [The journey was so difficult and the men experienced such thirst and suffering that the expedition became known as Jaysh al-Usrah [the Brigade of Distress.]

The submission of the Christian governor of Ayla

When Muhammad and his army reached Tabuk, Yuhanna b. Ru’ba, the Christian governor of Ayla, [who had been summoned to Islam in a letter,] agreed to pay him jizyah [protection money demanded by Muhammad on Jews and Christians in return for being allowed to practise their own religion] and the Jewish people of Jarba and Adhrub agreed likewise.

The apostle wrote a document for John of Ayla giving his people a guarantee of protection for their ships and their caravans by land and sea: ‘They and theirs shall have the protection of Allah and His Prophet. Should anyone break this treaty, their wealth shall not save them but become the prize of those who take it’.

The apostle sends Khalid to capture the Christian king of Duma

Then the apostle ordered Khalid b. al-Walid to capture Ukaydir b. Abdul-Malik, the Christian king of Duma, [an oasis on the trade route between Damascus and Medina].

Khalid and his cavalry attacked Duma by night, ambushed a hunting party outside the city, killed Ukaydir’s brother Hassan and captured Ukaydir. [The shackled Ukaydir promised Khalid a massive ransom of 1000 camels, 800 slave, 400 suits of armour and 400 spears, and then ordered the opening of the fortress gates on condition that his people would not be harmed and that he and his other brother, Mudad would be conducted safely to the apostle.]

Khalid brought Ukaydir before the apostle who spared his life and made a peace treaty with him on condition that his people also paid the jizyah. Then the apostle released Ukaydir and allowed him to return to his home. Tabuk was to be the apostle’s last military expedition. He stayed in Tabuk some ten nights, not more. Then he returned to Medina.

Punishment of the Muslims who stayed behind from Tabuk

After his return to Medina, the apostle punished most severely three Muslims who had stayed behind from Tabuk. He forbade anyone to speak to them. People shunned them and humiliated them. The men endured this treatment for fifty nights until the apostle at the dawn prayer announced that Allah had pardoned them and sent to inform them of the good news. The Sura of Repentance came down: ‘Allah took pity on them and was compassionate. And to the three who had been left behind. So despondent were they that the earth, for all its vastness, and their own souls, seemed to close in upon them. They knew that there was no refuge from Allah except in Him. He pardoned them that they might repent.’ (Sura 9.118)

The hypocrites are condemned to Hellfire

As for the others, the disaffected and the hypocrites, led by Abdullah b. Ubayy, who had lied and invented excuses to stay behind from the expedition to Tabuk, the Sura of Repentance came down describing their fate:

‘Believers, what ails you when you are told to go forth in the cause of Allah, so that you linger slothfully in the land? If you do not go forth, Allah will mete out to you grievous punishment, and will replace you with other folk. (Sura 9.38- 39)

‘Do they not know that whoever defies Allah and His apostle shall abide for ever in the fire of Hell?’ (Sura 9.63)

The submission of the people of al-Taif

After Muhammad’s return from Tabuk, a deputation of the Thafiq from al-Taif came to Medina. Having decided that they could not fight the Arabs all around them who had accepted Islam, they came to make their own submission providing they could get a treaty to guarantee the safety of their folk, lands and animals. They also asked for their idol Al-Lat to remain in place for three years. This request was refused by the apostle, and Abu Sufyan and al-Mughira were despatched with them to al-Taif to destroy the idol.

Muhammad declares war on idolators

[In 631CE], Muhammad sent Abu Bakr to lead the pilgrimage to Mecca. He then sent Ali after him to announce an end to all truces and agreements with unbelievers, ‘a proclamation from Allah and His apostle on the day of the Greater Pilgrimage that Allah and His apostle are henceforth free from any obligation to unbelievers.’ Muhammad then ordered that any polytheists who had not converted to Islam by the end of four months should be killed: ‘When these four sacred months are passed, kill the idolators wherever you find them. Seize them, besiege them, and ambush them everywhere. If they repent and perform prayer and pay the zakat (poor tax), then they are your brothers in religion.’

Muhammad also gave orders that, in future, unbelievers were not to be allowed to visit the Kabah: ‘Allah also said, ‘Verily, the idolators are unclean, so let them not approach the Sacred Mosque after the end of this year.’

Muhammad declares war on Jews and Christians

Then Allah mentioned the People of the Book [the Jews and Christians] with their evil and their lies against Him, saying: ‘Wage war on the People of the Book who believe in neither Allah nor the Last Day, and who do not forbid what Allah and His apostle have forbidden, and who do not follow the Religion of Truth, until they pay the jizyah, by hand, in absolute submission.’ (Sura 9.29)

‘They have taken as Lords beside Allah their rabbis and their priests, and Christ the son of Mary, when they were commanded to serve only one God. There is no God but Allah. Exalted be He far above those they deify besides Him!’ (Sura 9.31)