Guillaume--Life of Muhammad.pdf - Radical Truth

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372 The Life of Muhammad
stay in Medina, do not go Qut to them. We have never gone out to fight an
enemy but we have met disaster, and none has come in against us without
being defeated, so leave them where they are. !ftheystay, they stay in an evil
predicament, and if they come in, the men will fight them and the women
and children will throw stones on them from the walls, and if they retreat
they will retreat low-spirited as they came.' Those who wanted to fight
Quraysh kept urging the apostle until he went into his house and put on
his armour. That was on the Friday when he had finished prayers. On
that day one of the An~ar, Malik b. 'Amr one of the B. ai-Najjar died, and
the apostle prayed over him, and then went out to fight. Meanwhile the
people had repented of their design, saying they thought they had persuaded
the apostle against his will, which they had no right to do, so that when he
went out to them they admitted that and said that if he wished to remain
inside the city they would not oppose him. The apostle said, 'It is not
fitting that a prophet who has put on his armour should lay it aside until
559 he has fought,' so he marched out with a thousand of his companions (583),
until when they reached al-Shau! between Medina and UJ.1ud, 'Abdullah b.
Ubayy withdrew with a third of the men, saying, 'He has obeyed them and
disobeyed me. We do not know why we should lose our lives here, 0
men.' So he returned with the waverers and doubters who followed him}
and 'Abdullah b. 'Amr b. I:!aram, brother of the B. Salama, followed them,
saying, 'a people, I adjure you by God not to abandon your people and
your prophet when the enemy is at hand.' They replied, 'If we knew that
you would fight we would not abandon you, but we do not think that there
will be a battle.' So when they \vithstood him and persisted in withdrawing,
he said, 'May God curse you, you enemies of God, for God will make His
prophet independent of you.' Someone, not Ziyad,r from I\1uhammad b.
Is1).aq from al-Zuhrl, said that on that day the An~ar said, '0 apostle, should
we not ask help from our allies, the Jews?' He said, 'We have no need of
them.' Ziyad said Muhammad b. IsJ.1aq told me that the apostle went his
way until he passed through the izarra of the B. I:!aritha and a horse
swished its tail and it caught the pommel of a sword so that it came out of
its sheath (584). The apostle, who liked auguries, though he did not
observe the flight of birds, said to the owner of the sword, 'Sheath your
sword, for I can see that swords will be drawn today.'
Then the apostle asked his companions whether anyone could take them
near the Quraysh by a road which would not pass by them. Abu Khaythama,
brother of B. I:!aritha b. al-I:!arith, undertook to do so, and he took
him through the izarra of B. I:!aritha and their property until he came out
in the territory of Mirba' b. Qay?[ who was a blind man, a disaffected
person. When he perceived the approach of the apostle and his men he
got up and threw dust in their faces saying, 'You may be the apostle of
560 God, but I \\'on't let you through my garden!' I was told that he took a
handful of dust and said, 'By God, Muhammad, if I could be sure that I
I
Ziyad b. 'Abdullah al-Bakka'i.
The Life of Muhammad
should not hit someone else I would throw it in your face' Th 3~3
~~7~~: 7~~1:~dki~~~:~t:nb~I~~e:r~I~~~.~ai~;,~~.~:y~Ilib~~~;:~~~;h~:
hIt h U
-Ash~alh rushed at hun before the apostle had forb'idden thIS and
1m on t e ead WIth hIS bow so that he split it open
The apostle went on untIl he came down the gorge of Uhud h h' h
ground of the wadI towards the mountain. He put his c~m Ion tde 19
towards Uhud and said 'L t f ,es an army
Now Quraysh had let th~ir c:m~l~ne ~ h YoU fight untIl we give the word.'
which were in al Shan orses loose to pasture In some crops
W - . amg a, a part of Qanat belongmg to th M r
hen the apostle had forbidden them to fi ht f h A _e. us ImS.
the crops of the B Q I b gone 0 t e n$ar saId} 'Are
The apostle d . h~y a to e grazed on WIthout our striking a blow?'
rew up IS troops for battle abo t H .
archers 'Abdullah b J b b h ' ' u 7°0 men. e put over the
tinguished that da b u ayr rot er of B. 'Amr b. 'Auf who Was dishe
said 'Kee th y Y hIS whIte garments. There were 50 archers and
come' fP e hcavalry away from us \vith your arrows and let the~ not
on us rom t e rear whether the b ttl
us' and keep your I h a e goes III our favour or against
The apostle then ~;~e so: at we cannot be got at from )our direction.'
Mus'ab b 'u p b n two coats of mall and delIvered the standard to
. . mayr, rother of B. 'Abdu'I-Dar (5 8 5).
The Quraysh mustered their troo s ab
'
which they had led alon 'h pout 3,000 men WIth 200 horses 561
commanded by KhalId ~ w;:wt~:';. ~helr cavalry on the left flank was
Jah!. . a a I ,an on the nght by 'Ikrima b. Abu
[M. The apostle wore two coats ofmail on the day of L'hud d h k
up a s\\tord and brandIshed '] 'v T e too 1\1.65
right ~'I S It sayrng \ ho wIll take thIS sword WIth ItS
Abu D ,_om~me_nk got up to take It but he WIthheld It from them untIl
uJana Ima b. Kharasha brother of B S-' d
[M. 'Umar got up t t k' : , . . a 1 a, got up to take it.
prophet turned awa~ t e It, ~aymg} I WIll take it WIth its right,' but the
the same words. T~enr~~~~~ :nbd ~r~ndIsh_ed it a second time using
rejected and the two of th y. -hAwwam got up and he too was
&
' em were muc mortified Th Ab - D .
c.] He asked 'Wh t" . h . en u UJana,
'Th ',a IS ItS fIg t} 0 Apostle of God?' He ans\\ered
thata~{:~~i:~~:;;'~~t~h~t:~i~~ih with it ~n~il it ~nds.' When he said
a brave but conceited man in battI: ~~v; It'h 1m. a;' Abu DUja~a \vas
turban of his, people knew that he was a \\ enever e put on thIS red
sword from the apostle's ha ld [h b bout to fight. \\ hen he took the
1 e egan to walk to the fight saymg: M. 65
I'm the man who took the sword
When 'Use it right' was the prophet's word
For the sake of God, of all the Lord .
Who doth to all their food afford.]
And he began to strut up and down between the lines.
t
i.e. use it as it ought and deserves to be used.