Makkah Surrenders Without Bloodshed The grand army of Islam had reached close to Makkah. However, the Prophet desired that he should conquer the city without any resistance or bloodshed and the enemy should surrender without any conditions. Out of the factors, besides camouflage and surprise, which helped much in achieving this object, one was that Abbas, the uncle of the Prophet, went to Makkah as a gesture of goodwill to Quraysh and brought Abu Sufyan to the Islamic camp and the chiefs of Quraysh could not take a final decision in the absence of Abu Sufyan. When Abu Sufyan submitted himself to the unmatched greatness of the Prophet of Islam and expressed his faith in him, the Prophet decided to take the maximum advantage from his presence to intimidate the idolaters. He, therefore, asked Abbas to detain him in the narrow pass of the valley so that the units of the newly-formed army of Islam might march past him with all their equipment, and he should observe the military strength of Islam and then on return to Makkah, he might inform Quraysh about the strength of the army of Islam and keep them from resistance. Some of the units of the army of Islam were as mentioned below: 1. A strong regiment of one thousand soldiers of the tribe of Bani Salim under the command of Khalid bin Walid which held two standards. One of these standards was being carried by Abbas bin Mirdas and the other by Miqdad. 2. Two battalions of five hundred warriors under the command of Zubayr Awwam who had a black standard in his hand. The majority of the soldiers of these two battalions consisted of the Muhajirs. 3. A strong battalion of three thousand soldiers of the tribe of Bani Ghifar under the command of Abuzar Ghifari, who was carrying the standard. 4. A strong battalion of four hundred soldiers of the tribe of Bani Salim under the command of Yazid, son of Khusayb, who was carrying the standard. 5. Two battalions consisting of five hundred men belonging to the tribe of Bani Kab under the command of Busr bin Sufyan, who was also carrying the standard. 6. A one thousand persons strong regiment of Bani Muzaynah which bore three standards. These standards were in the hands of Noman bin Maqran, Bilal bin Harith and Abdullah Amr. 7. A regiment consisting of eight hundred persons belonging to Bani Juhaynah, with four standards which were being carried by Mabad bin Khalid, Suwayd bin Sakhra, Rafe bin Makith and Abdullah Badr. 8. Two groups consisting of two hundred persons from the tribes of Banu Kananah, Banu Layth and Hamzah under the command of Abu Waqid Laythi, who was carrying the standard. 9. A battalion consisting of three hundred persons belonging to the tribe of Bani Ashja, which carried two standards. One of these standards was being carried by Maqal bin Sanan and the other by Naim bin Masud. When these units passed by Abu Sufyan, he immediately enquired about their particulars from Abbas and the latter gave him the reply. The thing which added to the grandeur of this organized army was that when the commanders of the units came before Abbas and Abu Sufyan they pronounced Takbir (Allahu Akbar) thrice with a loud voice and thereafter the soldiers also pronounced it thrice with loud voices by way of the greatest Islamic rite. This Takbir resounded in the valleys of Makkah in such a manner that the friends were greatly impressed with the discipline of Islam and the enemies were filled with extreme fear and terror. Abu Sufyan was waiting impatiently to see the unit in which the Prophet had taken his place. Hence, every time a unit passed by him he asked Abbas whether Muhammad was present in it. Abbas continued to reply in the negative till their attention was attracted by a great force consisting of about five thousand soldiers in which two thousand warriors were wearing coats of mail and the company commanders were carrying many standards at specified distances. The name of this unit was Katiba-i Khazra i.e. the Green Army. Its soldiers were armed to the teeth. Their entire bodies were covered with arms and nothing except their bright eyes could be seen. Swift Arabian horses and red-haired camels could be seen in this unit in abundance. The Prophet could be seen in the middle of this unit riding his particular camel. Distinguished personalities had encircled him and he was conversing with them. The grandeur of this unit overawed Abu Sufyan. He involuntarily said to Abbas: No force can resist this army. O Abbas! The kingdom of your nephew has flourished to a great extent. Abbas replied reproachfully: The source of the strength of my nephew is the Prophethood bestowed upon him by Allah, and it has nothing to do with outward and material power. Abu Sufyan Proceeds To Makkah Abbas had so far performed his role admirably well and had impressed Abu Sufyan with the military strength of the Prophet. At this moment the Prophet considered it expedient to set Abu Sufyan free so that he might go to Makkah before the arrival of the units of the army of Islam, inform the people of the unusual strength of the Muslims and also tell the Makkans about the means of their safety, because merely frightening the people without showing them the path to safety could not enable the Prophet to achieve his object. Abu Sufyan arrived in the city. The people who had spent the night in great anxiety and fear and had not been able to take any decision in his absence, encircled him. With a distressed face and a trembling body, and while he was pointing towards Madina, he said: Units of the army of Islam, whom it is not possible for anyone to resist, have besieged the city and will be entering it within a short time. Their leader, Muhammad, has given me a promise that the life and property of everyone who takes refuge in the mosque or in the precincts of the Kabah, or lays down his arms on the ground and confines himself to his house as a mark of neutrality, or enters my house or that of Hakim Hizam, will be respected and will remain secured. With this message Abu Sufyan weakened the morale of the people so much that even if some persons had been thinking of offering resistance, they abandoned the idea. Thus all the preliminaries, which had been settled the previous night, owing to the steps taken by Abbas, proved fruitful and the conquest of Makkah and that too without any resistance on the part of Quraysh, seemed imminent. The terrified people took refuge in various places and, as a result of the wise plan of the Prophet, the sworn enemy of Islam rendered a great service to the Muslim army. In the meantime Abu Sufyans wife, Hind, incited the people to resist, and abused her husband. Nothing could, however, be done now and all the cries and appeals were useless. However, some extremists like Safwan bin Umayyah, Ikrimah bin Abu Jahl and Suhayl bin Amr (the champion and special representative of Quraysh for the conclusion of the Peace Pact of Hudaybiyah) swore that they would prevent the army of Islam from entering the city. Some persons were deceived by their words and they with swords in their hands, blocked the path of the first unit of the army of Islam. Military Forces Of Islam Enter The City Before the forces of Islam reached the main roads of the city of Makkah, the Prophet summoned all the commanders of the army and said to them: It is my earnest desire that Makkah should be conquered without any bloodshed. Killing of non-combatant persons should, therefore, be avoided. However, ten persons namely Ikrimah bin Abu Jahl, Habbar bin Aswad, Abdullah bin Sad Abi Sarah, Miqyas Subabah Laythi, Huwairath bin Nuqayd, Abdullah Hilal and four women who have been guilty of murder or other offences or have sparked off the war should be killed for their offences immediately, whenever they are captured.14 This order was notified to all the soldiers through their commanders. Notwithstanding the fact that the mental attitude of the people of Makkah towards the Prophet was very clear, he did not ignore military precautions at the time of entry into Makkah. His plan was as follows: All the units forming one line reached Zi Tuwa (an elevated point from where the houses of Makkah as well as the Kabah and the Masjidul Haram can be seen), while the Prophet was encircled by a regiment consisting of five thousand soldiers. When the Prophets eyes fell on the houses of Makkah, tears of joy gathered in his eyes and as a mark of thanksgiving for the victory which he had gained without any resistance on the part of Quraysh, he, while riding the camel, bent himself so much that his beard touched the saddle fixed on the back of the camel. As a precautionary measure, he divided the army and sent a part of it from the upper side and another part from the lower side of Makkah. He did not content himself with only this and also sent units by all the routes which led to the city. All the units entered the city without any fighting and the gates of the city were opened for them, except the unit which was commanded by Khalid bin Walid. At the instigation of Ikrimah, Safwan and Suhayl, a group of persons resorted to fighting and displayed resistance by shooting arrows and using swords. However, when twenty-eight of them were killed, the instigators went into hiding and the others fled.15 Once again Abu Sufyan unknowingly rendered assistance to Islam in this incident. He was still very much over-awed and knew that resistance was only harmful. To prevent bloodshed he shouted and addressed the people thus: O Quraysh! Dont endanger your lives, because fighting against the organized army of Muhammad is useless. Lay down your arms and sit in your houses or take refuge in the mosque and the precincts of the Kabah, for in that case your lives will be safe. The words of Abu Sufyan had the desired effect and some persons confined themselves to their houses whereas others took refuge in the mosque. The Prophet saw the flashes of the swords of the unit of Khalid from a point named Azakhir and, being aware of the cause of conflict, said: Allahs Will is above everything. The camel of the Prophet entered the city with great dignity and grandeur from the highest point of Makkah (Azakhir). He alighted in Jahoon by the side of the grave of his dear uncle, Abu Talib, and a special tent was pitched for him. Although the people insisted that he might stay in the house of someone, but he declined. Breaking The Idols And Washing The Kabah The city of Makkah, which had been the centre of idol worship for a very long time, surrendered before the army of Islam and all the points of the city came under the control of the Muslim soldiery. The Prophet took rest for some time in the tent. Thereafter he mounted a camel and proceeded to the Masjidul Haram for pilgrimage and tawaf (circumambulation) of the Kabah. He had put on military dress, was wearing a helmet on his head and the Muhajirs and the Ansar encircling him reflected his greatness. The reins of the camel of the Prophet were being held by Muhammad bin Maslamah, and the Muslims and some of the idolaters had lined up on his route. Some of them were astonished and over-awed whereas others were expressing their joy. For some good purposes the Prophet did not alight from his camel and arrived in Masjidul Haram mounted on it and halted opposite the Black Stone. Instead of kissing the Black Stone he pointed towards it with a special stick which he was carrying in his hand and uttered Takbir. Imitating the Prophet, his companions, who were gathered round their illustrious leader uttered Takbir with a loud voice. The voice of Takbir reached the ears of the idolaters of Makkah, who had taken refuge in their houses or at elevated places. A strange tumult prevailed in the mosque and the hue and cry of the people prevented the Prophet from performing tawaf peacefully. The Prophet made a sign to the people to remain quiet. Perfect silence prevailed immediately and all those within and outside the mosque began looking at the Prophet. He began performing tawaf and during the first round of tawaf, turned towards the three big idols named Hubal, Isaf and Nailah which had been installed above the gate of the Kabah. He knocked them down with a stick or a spear which he was carrying in his hand and recited this verse: Say: Truth has come and falsehood has been banished and falsehood is certainly doomed to banishment. (Surah Isra, 17:81) As ordered by the Prophet, Hubal was broken to pieces before the very eyes of the idolaters. When this big idol, which had ruled over the minds of the people of the Peninsula for a very long time, was toppled down, Zubayr said to Abu Sufyan jestingly, Hubal, the big idol, has been broken. Abu Sufyan said to Zubayr with great displeasure, Desist from saying so. If Hubal had been able to do something we would not have met this fate. He had realized that their destiny was not in the hand of this idol. The Prophet completed his tawaf and sat for some time in a corner of the mosque. In those days Uthman bin Talhah was the custodian of the keys of the Kabah and this office of his was hereditary. The Prophet asked Bilal to go to Uthmans house and bring the key of the Kabah from him. Bilal conveyed the Prophets message to the custodian. However, his mother prohibited him from surrendering the key and said, Custodianship of the Kabah is our hereditary honour and we should not lose this honour. Uthman caught the hand of his mother and took her into a closet and said, If we dont give the key voluntarily, you should rest assured that they will take it from us forcibly.16 The custodian unlocked the Kabah and the Prophet entered the Kabah. Usamah bin Zayd and Bilal and the custodian himself followed him in. As ordered by the Prophet the gate of the Kabah was closed and Khalid bin Walid stood outside it to restrain the people from swarming towards the gate. The inner walls of the Kabah were full of pictures and the figures of the Prophets. As ordered by the Prophet, the walls were washed with the water of the well of Zam Zam and the pictures were rubbed off. The Prophet ordered the gate of the Kabah to be opened. Then, placed both of his hands on the wooden frame of the gate and the people could see his sacred and luminous face, he addressed them thus: Praised be Allah, Who has fulfilled His promise and helped His servant and routed the enemies. The Almighty Allah had promised the Prophet through revelation that He would make him return to his birth-place: (Muhammad) Allah who has commanded you to follow the guidance of the Quran will certainly return you victoriously to your place of birth. (Surah al-Qasas, 28:85). By saying, Allah has fulfilled His promise the Prophet made a mention of the correctness of that Divine promise and once again demonstrated his truthfulness. Complete silence prevailed over the precincts of the mosque and outside it. The people, holding their breath, were thinking different things. At this hour the people of Makkah were reminded of the cruelty, oppression and injustice which they had perpetrated and various other thoughts came to their minds. The people, who had risen a number of times to fight bloody battles against the Prophet, had wounded and killed his friends and companions, and had decided to conduct a night attack on his house and to cut him to pieces, were now in his control and he could take any sort of revenge on them. These people, while mentioning the big crimes committed by them, were saying to one another: He will certainly put us to the sword or will kill some of us and detain others and will make our women and children prisoners. They were absorbed in different satanic thoughts when suddenly the Prophet broke the silence and said, What are you saying and what are you thinking about me? The astonished and frightened people, keeping in mind the past favours of the Prophet, said with broken voice: We are not thinking of anything about you except kindness and good. ess. We consider you to be our honourable brother and the son of our honourable brother. When the Prophet, who was inherently kind and forgiving, heard these emotional sentences from them, he said in reply: I too say to you the same thing, which my brother Yusuf said to his unkind brothers i.e., Have no fear this day! May Allah forgive you, and He is the Most Merciful of the merciful.17 The thing which made the people of Makkah hopeful, besides these words, was the adverse reaction of the Prophet to the words of one of his own officers, who was reciting the following slogans at the time of his arrival in Makkah. Today is the day of battle. Today your lives and property are treated to be lawful (for Muslims). The Prophet was annoyed by these unusual slogans and, in order to punish the officer concerned, gave directions that the standard might be taken away from him and he might be dismissed from the office of Commander. Ali was appointed to take away the standard from him and according to another version that officers own son was appointed as commander in his place and he took away the standard from his father. This officer was Sad bin Ubadah, the chief of the Khazraj tribe. Demonstration of this kindness (for the Makkans) before the very eyes of the people of Makkah made the defeated people somewhat hopeful that general amnesty might be granted. And then the safety of those who took refuge in the Kabah or in the house of Abu Sufyan or confined themselves within their houses and shut the doors thereof had already been guaranteed through Abu Sufyan. The Prophet Grants General Amnesty While granting general amnesty the Prophet addressed the people of Makkah thus: You have been my very unreasonable countrymen. You refuted my prophethood and turned me out of my house. And when I took refuge in a far-off place, you rose to fight against me. However, inspite of all these crimes of yours, I forgive all of you and make you free and declare that you may go after the pursuits of your life. Bilal Pronounces Azan (Call To Prayers) The time for noon prayers arrived. Bilal, the official muazzin of Islam, went on the roof of the Kabah and announced, with loud voice, the Oneness of Allah and the Prophethood of Muhammad, making it reach the ears of those present in the general gathering. The obstinate idolaters were saying all sorts of things. One of them said: Such and such person was lucky, because he died earlier and didnt hear azan. In the meantime Abu Sufyan said: I wont say anything in the matter, because the information department of Muhammad is so skilful that I am afraid that these very particles of sand in the mosque may inform about our conversation. This obstinate old man, who did not sincerely believe in Islam till the end of his life, considered Divine knowledge and procurement of realities from Divine revelation to be at par with the spying and espionage of the tyrants of the world and mixed them up with each other. However, the fact is that Divine knowledge is received by a Prophet through an angel and the information received bythe politicians is something quite different from this and is collected through persons appointed for the purpose. The Prophet offered the noon prayers. Then he called Uthman bin Talhah and, returning the key of the Kabah to him, said: This position belongs to you and will remain safe in your family! And nothing else could me expected from the Prophet of Islam - the Prophet, who takes orders from Allah and conveys the people: Allah commands you to return the things entrusted to you to the rightful owners. (Surah al-Nisa, 4:58) he should certainly precede others in returning such a big trust. He does not trample upon the rights of the people means of military strength. Hence he announces in open terms: Custodianship of the key of the Kabah is the admitted right of the son of Talhah and nobody shares this right with him. Hence, he cancelled all the offices related to the Kabah, except those which were useful to the people (e.g. custodianship of the key, covering of the Kabah with a mantle and supplying water to pilgrims of the Kabah). The Prophet Exhorts His Kinsmen In order that the near relatives of the Prophet should know that their relationship with him had not only not removed the burden from their shoulders but had made their responsibility heavier, he exhorted that they would not be allowed, because of their relationship with him, to violate the laws of Islam or to take any undue advantage of their kinship with the head of the State. In the speech which he made in a gathering consisting of the members of the families of Bani Hashim and Bani Abdul Muttalib, he condemned every discrimination and laid stress upon the necessity of justice and equality between all classes, and said: O Children of Hashim and Muttalib! I have been sent to you by Allah as His Messenger and the ties of love and kindness between you and myself are also unbreakable. You shouldnt, however, think that only relationship with me will ensure your salvation on the Day of Judgement. All of you should understand that my friend from amongst you and others is he who is pious and virtuous, and my connection with those, who come before Allah with a heavy burden of sins is cut off. I shant be able to do anything for you on the Day of Judgement. (On that day) I and you will be responsible for our respective actions.18 Historical Sermon Of The Prophet In The Masjidul Haram There was a large and magnificent gathering at Masjidul Haram, around the Kabah. The Muslims, the idolaters, the friends and the enemies, were sitting side by side with one another and the grandeur of Islam and the greatness of the Prophet presented a grand spectacle in the mosque. Tranquillity prevailed over Makkah and the time had now come when the Prophet should show the real features of his invitation to the people, and should complete the mission, which he had commenced twenty years ago, but had not been able to finalize it owing to the slackness of the idolaters. The Prophet himself was an inhabitant of the same environments and knew fully well the ailments of the Arab society and their remedy. He knew the reason for the decline of the people of Makkah. Hence, he decided to look into the social ailments of the Arab society and to remedy them fully. We reproduce here some of the directions of the Prophet of Islam. Each of them is intended to remedy a particular ailment. The question of self-glorification on account of ones family, household or tribe was one of the deep-rooted ailments of the Arab society and the greatest pride for a person was that he should belong to a branch of a well-known tribe like Quraysh. The Prophet condemned this imaginary basis of superiority. He said, O people! Allah has abolished from amongst you, under the tenets of Islam, the bases of pride of the Age of Ignorance and self-glorification on account of lineage. All are the descendants of Prophet Adam and Adam was created with clay. The best person amongst you is he who refrains from sin and disobedience. In order to make the people understand that the criterion of superiority is only piety, he, in one of his sermons, divided all human beings into two groups, and declared only pious persons to be entitled to honour and superiority. By means of this division and classification, he nullified all imaginary standards of rank and position and said: Before Allah, people consist of only two groups; one of those groups is that of the pious people, who are honourable before Allah, and the second group is that of the transgressors and the sinners, who are abject and humble before Him. Superiority On Account Of Being An Arab The Prophet knew that the Arabs considered being of Arabian descent to be a great honour for themselves; they were proud of being of Arabian lineage. This spirit was like a contagious disease in them. To remedy this ailment and to do away with the conception of this superiority he turned to the people and said: O people! Being an Arab is not the criterion of your personality or a part of your being, but only a mode of expression. The genealogical pride is not of any use to a person who does not carry out his duties properly, and it does not make amends for deficiency in his performances. Is it possible to find a more eloquent and a more expressive statement than this? The real proclaimer of freedom did not content himself with the foregoing sentences but to confirm the equality of the men and the communities added: All persons have been equal in the past and are also equal at present like the teeth of a comb and an Arab does not enjoy any superiority over a non-Arab, nor is a red-coloured person superior to a black one. The criterion of superiority is piety. By this statement he removed all sorts of improper distinctions and unlimited restrictions amongst the nations of the world and performed in those earlier times the duty, which the present Declaration of Human Rights or the Charter of Human Freedom and Equality have not been able to perform inspite of all the hue and cry about them. The Hundred Years Wars And Old Grudges Owing to internal wars and continued bloodshed the people of Arabia had become a revengeful nation and they were constantly at war with one another. After assuming complete control over the Peninsula, the Prophet took up this social problem, and it was necessary that he should remedy this ailment to ensure the safety of the Islamic State. He found the remedy of this ailment in asking the people to ignore the entire bloodshed which had taken place during the Period of Ignorance, and to treat all such dossiers as sealed. In this manner he prevented bloodshed which disturbed peace and order, and made the people forget transgression, plundering and murder, which could result in claims of blood-money or in confrontation. To achieve this end he declared: I reject all claims relating to life and property and all imaginary honours of the past, and declare them to be baseless. Islamic Brotherhood A part of what the Prophet said on that day related to the unity of the Muslims and the rights which a Muslim has on his brother Muslim. His aim in mentioning these advantages was that by maintaining such ties of friendship and unity, as well by honouring the rights enjoyed by the Muslims over one another, the non-Muslims might be inclined towards Islam and might join the ranks of the Muslims. Here is the text of his remarks: A Muslim is the brother of another Muslim and all the Muslims are brothers of one another and constitute one hand as against the non-Muslims. The blood of every one of them is equal to that of others and even the smallest among them can make a promise on behalf of others.19 The Criminals Are Arrested There is no doubt about the fact that the Prophet was a great model of kindness and forgiveness, and in spite of the strong sentiments of the extremist group he granted general amnesty. However, there were a few persons, who had been guilty of serious offences and crimes, and it was not appropriate that in spite of all their felonies they should move freely amongst the Muslims, because it was quite possible that taking undue advantage of the forgiveness, granted to them, they might have plotted against Islam. Some of them were killed at the hands of Muslims in the streets or in Masjidul Haram and two such persons took refuge in the house of Umme Hani, the sister of Ali. Ali, fully armed, besieged her house. On coming face to face with an unidentified officer, she introduced herself immediately and said: In the capacity of a Muslim woman, I have given asylum to two persons and the asylum provided by a Muslim woman is respected like that provided by a Muslim man. At this moment, in order to make himself known to her, Ali pulled off his helmet from his head. The sister saw the brother whom the vicissitudes of time had separated from her for so many years. Her eyes were immediately filled with tears and she put her arms round Alis neck. Thereafter both of them went before the Prophet and he too treated the asylum provided by Umme Hani to be respectable. Abdullah bin Sad bin Abi Sarah, who embraced Islam but became apostate later, was one of the ten persons who were to be killed. He too escaped death on the intercession of Uthman.
Posted on: Sat, 12 Jul 2014 18:34:27 +0000