Guillaume--Life of Muhammad.pdf - Radical Truth

753
508 The Lzfe of Muhammad
Then Abu Ba$ir went off until he halted at al-'I$ in the region of Dhu'l­
Marwa by the sea-shore on the road which Quraysh were accustomed to
take to Syria. The Muslims who were confined in Mecca heard what the
apostle had said of Abu Ba~ir so they went out to join him in al- 'r~. About
s~v~nty men attached themselves to him, and they so harried Quraysh,
kIllIng everyone they could get hold of and cutting to pieces every caravan
that passed them, that Quraysh wrote to the apostle begging him by the
ties of kinship to take these men in, for they had no use for them; so the
apostle took them in and they came to him in Medina (755).
When Suhayl heard that Abu Ba$ir had killed his 'Amiri guard he leant
his back against the Ka'ba and swore that he would not remove it until this
man's bloodwit was paid. Abu Sufyan b. I:Iarb said, 'By God, this is sheer
folly. It will not be paid.' Three times he said it.
Mauhab b. Riyal.> Abu Unays, an ally of B. Zuhra, said (756):
A brief word from Suhayl reached me
And woke me from my sleep.
If you wish to reproach me
Then reproach me, for you are not far from me.
\Vould you threaten me when 'Abdu Manaf is round me
With Makhzum? Alas, wbom are you attacking?
If you put me to the test you will not find me
A weak support in grave misfortunes.
I can rival in birth the best of my people.
When the weak are iii-treated I protect them.
They defend the heights of Mecca without doubt
As far as the valleys and the wadi sides
With every blood mare and fiery borse
Grown tbin from long fighting.
Ma'add know they have in al-Khayf'
A pavilion of glory exalted high.
'Abdullah b. al-Ziba.'ra answered him:
Mauhab has become like a poor donkey
Braying in a viiiage as he passes through it.
A man like you cannot attack Suhayl.
Vain is your effort. Whom are you attacking?
Shut up, you son of a blacksmith.
And stop talking nonsense in the land.
Don't mention the blame of Abu Yazid.
There's a great difference between oceans and puddles.
I
A place in Mini.
The Life of l\!/uhammad
THE WOMEN WHO EMIGRATED AFTER THE ARMISTICE 754
Umm Kulthum d. 'Ugba b. Abu Mu'an migrated to the apostle during
this period. Her two brothers 'Umara and al-Walid sons of 'Uqba came
and asked the apostle to return her to them in accordance with the agreement
between him and Quraysh at I:Iudaybiya, but he would not. God
forbade it.
Al-Zuhri from 'Urwa b. al-Zubayr told me: I came in to him as he was
writing a letter to Ibn Abu Hunayda, the friend of al-Walid b. Abdu'l­
Malik who had written to ask him about the word of God: '0 you who
believe, when believing women come to you as emigrants test them. God
knows best about their faith. If you know that they are believers do not
send them back to the unbelievers. They are not lawful to them nor vice
versa. And give them (the unbelievers) what they have spent on them. It
is no sin for you to marry them when you have given them their dues, and
hold not to the ties of unbelieving women'l (757). Ask for what you have
spent and let them ask for what they have spent. That is the judgement of
Allah who judges between you. God is a knower, wise.'
'Urwa b. al-Zubayr' wrote to him: The apostle made peace with Quraysh
on the day of al-I:Iudaybiya on condition that he should return to them
those who came without the permission of their guardians. But when
women migrated to the apostle and to Islam God refused to allow them to
be returned to the polytheists if they had been tested by the test of Islam,
and they knew that they came only out of desire for Islam, and He ordered
that their dowries should be returned to Quraysh if their women were
withheld from them if they returned to the Muslims the dowries of the
women they had withheld from them. 'That is the judgement of God which
He judges between you, and Allah is knowing, wise.' So the apostle withheld
the women and returned the men, and he asked what God ordered 755
him to ask of the dowries of the women who were withheld from them,
and that they sbould return what was due if the other side did the same.
Had it not been for this judgement of God's the apostle would have returned
the women as he returned the men. And had it not been for the
armistice and covenant between them on the day of al-I:Iudaybiya he would
have kept the women and not returned the dowries, for that is what he used
to do with the Muslim women who came to him before the covenant.
I asked al-Zuhri about this passage: 'And if any of your wives have gone
to the unbelievers and you have your turn of triumph, then give those
whose wives have gone the like of what they spent, and fear Allah in \vhom
you believe.' He said, If one of you loses his family to the unbelievers and
a woman does not come to you you may take for her the like of what they
I
Sura 60. IO.
2. He was the principalauthority on apostolic tradition. His father was a cousin of the
prophet, his mother Asma' was a daughter of Abu Bakr, and his brother was a candidate for
the caliphate, and he was closely associated with 'A'isha, who was his aunt. He was born in
A.H. 23 aod died in 94.