The Life of Mohammad, the Prophet of AllahDinet, Etienne
Religion
The Life of Mohammad, the Prophet of Allah
Dinet, Etienne
Muhammad, Prophet, -632
Blinded by pride, the man of the Banu Amar cast all distrust from his
mind. He allowed the edge of the steel to be examined by Abu Basir
who, suddenly pulling it out of the conceited wretch's hands,
brandished it over the Infidel's head and with a single blow,
stretched him dead at his feet. Seeing this, the slave, overcome by
terror, fled to Al-Madinah where he implored Mohammad's protection. At
the same moment, Abu Basir arrived, bestriding his victim's she-camel
which he had captured. He made the animal kneel before the Mosque and,
with the sabre in his grasp, he went and addressed the Prophet,
saying: 'Thou canst not be blamed for what hath occurred, for thou
didst remain true to thy word in giving me into the hands of my
enemies. But Allah hath delivered me from their persecution! Here are
the spoils. A fifth part is due to thee, Take it!'--'I can touch no
plunder coming from that foe without being false to my oath. Away with
thy booty; and now, go whither it pleaseth thee.' When Abu Basir was
gone, after taking leave of him, the Prophet added: 'Woe to his
people! That man is a brand of war! Would that he were accompanied by
a few comrades as determined as he!'
Abu Basir went to Al-Aish, near the seashore, on the road to Syria
trodden by the Quraish caravans. Once there, he was met by Abu Jindal
and seventy other Mussulmans who, having heard that the Prophet could
not be held responsible for those who freed themselves without his
assistance, had made good their escape from the idolaters. These
refugees were quite as determined as Abu Basir. They elected to remain
in that part of the country because it was very woody and well suited
to the irregular warfare of partisans in ambush. They captured all the
convoys venturing in those regions and their success and the
enticement of booty caused them to be joined by many Arabs of the
Ghifar, Aslams, and Buhaunah tribes, etc., who became converts to
Islam and formed a "jihsh" of more then three hundred highwaymen.
It was then that the Believers began to fathom the reasons for the
Prophet's placidness when he accepted the paragraph, seemingly so
unfavourable, concerning the restitution of fugitives. Hungered by the
stoppage of all revictualling caravans, the Quraish finished by
sending written entreaties, begging him to suppress the very clause
which at first pleased them so much. They informed Mohammad that all
Mussulmans who should get out of Makkah to join him, could remain
under his protection; and he was begged to recall Abu Basir and his
fellow-raiders. So it turned out that when Mohammad gave the Quraish
satisfaction, he had the advantage of doing a generous act at the same
time as he increased his fighting strength to a most appreciable
extent.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account