Life-of-Muhammad

164Life of Muhammad saThe Ka‘ba was again devoted to the worship of the Oneand Only God. The idols were broken. One of these wasHubal. When the Prophet sa smote it with his staff, and itfell down in fragments, Zubair ra looked at Abu Sufyan raand with a half-suppressed smile reminded him ofUhud. "Do you remember the day when Muslimswounded and exhausted stood by and you woundedthem further by shouting, 'Glory to Hubal, Glory toHubal'? Was it Hubal who gave you victory on that day?If it was Hubal, you can see the end it has come totoday."Abu Sufyan ra was impressed, and admitted it wasquite true that if there had been a God other than theGod of Muhammad sa , they might have been spared thedisgrace and defeat they had met with that day.The Prophet sa then ordered the wiping out of thepictures which had been drawn on the walls of theKa‘ba. Having ordered this the Prophet sa said two rak‘atsof prayer as thanks-giving to God. He then withdrew tothe open court and said another two rak‘ats of prayer.The duty of wiping out the pictures had been entrustedto ‘Umar ra . He had all the pictures obliterated exceptthat of Abraham as . When the Prophet sa returned toinspect and found this picture intact, he asked ‘Umar rawhy he had spared this one. Did he not remember thetestimony of the Qur’an that Abraham as was neither Jewnor Christian, but a single-minded and obedientMuslim? (3: 68).It was an insult to the memory of Abraham as , a greatexponent of the Oneness of God to have his picture onthe walls of the Ka‘ba. It was as though Abraham as couldbe worshipped equally with God.It was a memorable day, a day full of the Signs ofGod.Promises made by God to the Prophet sa , at a timewhen their fulfilment seemed impossible, had beenfulfilled at last. The Prophet sa was the centre of devotionand faith. In and through his person, God hadmanifested Himself, and shown His face, as it were,