Guillaume--Life of Muhammad.pdf - Radical Truth

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The LIfe of Muhammad The LIfe of J11uha1f1111ad 297
sleeping I saw a man advancing on a horse \vith a camel, and then he
you to occupy, so that we can neither advance nor withdraw from it,
halted and said: "Slain arc 'lltba and Shayba and Abu'l-l,lakam and or is it a matter of opinion and military tactics?' \\hcll he replied that
Umayya" (and he went on to enumerate the men \\'ho were killed at Badr,
it was the latter he pointed out that it was not the place to stop but that
all nobles of Quraysh). Then I saw him stab his camel in the chest and
they should go on to the water nearest to the enemy and halt there, stop
send it loose into the camp, and every single tent was bespattered with its up the wells beyond it, and construct a cistern so that they would haye
blood.' \OVhen the story reached Abu Jahl he said, 'Here's ao«:ther prophet plenty of \vater; then they could fight their enemy iy!lO would- haye nothing
from B. al-~'Iunalib! He'll kno\", tomorrow if we mt.:ct them who is going
to drink. The apostle' agreed that this i,"aS an excellent plan and it \\'as
to be killed!'
immediately carried out; the ivells wcre stoppt.:d; a cistern was built and
\Vhen Abu Sufyan sa\v that he had saved his caravan he sent word to filled \vith \vater from which his men replenished their drinking-vessels.
Quraysh, 'Since you came out to save your caravan, your men, and your
'Abdullah b. Abl~l Bakr told me that he "·as informed that Sa'd b. .\1u'adh
property, and God has delivered them, go back.' Abu Jahl said, 'By God, said: '0 prophet of God, let us make a booth cr. of palm-branches) for
we \vill not go back until we have been to Badr'-Dadr ,vas the site of one you to occupy ano have your riding camels stanoing by; then we will meet
of the Arab fairs ,vhere they used to hold a market every year. '\Ve will the enemy and if God gives us the victory that is \vhat we desire; if the
spend three days there, slaughter camels and feast and drink ,vine, and worst occurs you can mount your camels and join our people \vho arc left
the girls shall play for us. The Arahs will hear that we have come and behind, for they are just as deeply attached to you as we are. Had they
gathered together, and will respect us in future. So come on!'
AI-Akhnas b. Shariq b. 'Amr b. Wahb al-Tha'lafI, an ally of B. Zuhra
who ,vere in al-Ju}}fa, addressed the latter, saying, 'God has saved you
and your property and delivered your companion lVIakhrama h. Naufal;
and as you only came out to protect him and his property, lay any
charge of cowardice on me and go back. There is no point in going to war
without profit as this man would have us,' meaning Ahll Jahl. So they
returned and not a single Zuhrite was present at Badr. They obeyed him
as he \vas a man of authority. Every clan of Quraysh was represented
except B. 'Adiy b. Ka'b: not one of them took part, so with the return of
D. Zuhra with al-Akhnas these two tribes \vere not represented at all.
There was some discussion between Tiilib b. j\.bll 'Talib, who was with the
army, and some of Quraysh. The latter said, '\Vc know, 0 B. Hashim,
that if you have come out with us your heart is with l\luhammad.' So
'Pilib and some others returni:d to l\lecca. Talib said:
() God, if Talib goes forth to \yar unwillingly
\Vith one of these squadrons,
Let him be the plundered not the plunderer,
The vanquished not the victor (301).
Quraysh \vent on until they halted on the farther side of the wadi
behind al-'Aqan'lal. The bed of the wadi-Yalyal-was between Badr and
al-'Aqanqal, the hill behind which lay Quraysh, while tbe \vells at Badr
were on the side of the wadi bed nearest to l\ledina. God sent a rain which
turned the soft sand of the \vadi into a compact surface \vhich did not
hinder the apostle's movements, but gravely restricted the movements of
Quraysh. The apostle \",ent forth to hasten his men to the \vater and \vhen
he got to the nearest water of Badr he halted.
I was told that men of B. Salama said that al-I)ubab b. al-Mundhir h.
aI-Jamul; said to the apostle: 'Is this a place which God has ordered
thought that you would he fighting they would not have staved hehind.
God will protect you by them; they 'will give you good coun;el and fight
with you,' The apostle thanked him ,md blessed him. Then a booth was
constructed for the apostle and he remained there.
Quraysh, having marched forth at daybreak, now carne on. \\'hen the
apostle sa\\' them descending from the hill 'Aqanqal into the valley, he
cried, '0 God, here come the Quraysh in their vanity and pride, contending
with Thee and calling Thy apostle a liar. 0 God, grant the help which
Thou didst promise me. Destroy them this morning!' Before uttering
these \-voreis he had seen among the enemy 'Utba b. Rahi'a, mounted on a
red camel of his, and said, 'If tliere is an)' good in anyone of them, it will
be \vith the man on the red camel: if they obey him, they \yill take the right
way.' KhuLlf b. Aim::-t' b. RaJ)ac.la, Of hi~ father Airlla' h. Rahada al­
Ghifari, had sent to Quraysh, as they passed hy, a son of his wi~h "some
camels for slaughter, which he g:,l"ve them as a gift, saying, 'If you want us
to support you with arms and men, we will do so;' but thi:v sent to him the
follo\ving message by the mouth of his 80n-')-'ou have- done all that a
kinsman ought. If \ve are fighting only men, we are surely equal to them;
and if we arc fighting God, as ::VIuhammad alleges, none is able to withstand
Him.' And when Quraysh encamped, some of them, among whom
was Bakim b. I:Iizam, went to the cistern ofthe apostle to drink. 'Let them
be!' he said; and every man that drank of it on that day \yas killed, e'\ccpt
Uakim, I who afterwards became a good :\Iuslim a:1(1 IIsed to sa V, \Y!wn Ill'
was earnest in his oath, ')Jay, by Him who saved me on the da~' of Badr.'
My father, Isl).aq b. Yasar, and other learned men told me on"the authority
of some elders of the l\nsar that when the ent:Jnv had settled in their
camp they sent 'Umayr b. \"1"ahb al-Juma~i to esti,"nJ.tc the number of
Muhammad's followers. He rode on horsehack round the camp and on his
return said, ''I'hree hundred men, a little more or less; but wait till 1 Sec
1 T. adds: 'He escaped on a hurst: of his calkd al-\Vajih.' So also aI-Altho