Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 13.djvu/731

MOHAMMED. 653 MOHAMMED. numerous Jews liviiij; tlieic the v(irds "Revela- tion.' 'Prophecy.' Uoii's Word,' '.Messiah' — to tlie ileeeans mere sounds without meaninfr. In Vatli- rih the new faith took a stron<; liold. The next pil- grimage brought twelve, and the third m<ue than seventy, adherents of the new faith from that eity ; and with these Mohammed entered into a close allianee. He now conceived the plan of seeking refuge in the friendly city, and in the year li2'2 (about twelve years after entering upon his work), after, encouraging about l.JO of his ad- herents to migrate to Yathrib. lie lied thither, ac- companied by Abu Bekr. The fugitives reached their destination not without danger, and were enthusiastically received. Thenceforth Yathrib was known as iladinat al-yahi (City of the Prophet), or JJedina. The flight (the Hejira) is one of the great events of Islam and the starting- point of the Mohammedan calendar. See Hejira. The Hejira was also a turning-point in the career of Mohammed. Previously he !iad been despised as a madman or ini])ost<n'; uow he be- came judge, lawgiver, and ruler of Medina, and of two powerful Arabian tribes. His first care was to organize his forms of worship: his next to proselytize tlie numerous .Jews who inlialiited the city, to whom, besides having received their prin- cipal dogmas into his religion, he made many important concessions in the outer observances of Islam, and concluded alliances with many of their tribes: but the .Jews resisted conversion. They ridiculed his pretensions, and by their con- stant taunts made him their liitter adversary up to the hour of his death. The most im|)ortant act in the first year of the Hejira was his iiermis- sion to go to war with the enemies of Islam in the name of God, a kind of manifesto chiefly directed against the Jleccans. Xot being able at first to fight his enemies in the open field, he en- deavored to weaken their power by attacking the caravans of the Koreish on their way to Syria. He interfered materially with their trade, con- cluded alliances with the adjoining Bedouin tribes, and at last the signal for open warfare was given. A battle between .314 Moslems and about COO Meccans was fought at Bedr. in the second year of the Hejira: the former gained the victory, and made many prisoners. . great num- ber of adventurers soon flocked to ^lohammed's colors, and he made successful expeilitions against the Koreish and the .Tewish tribes, chiefly the Bani Kainuka, whose fortified castle he took after a long siege. He sustained heavy losses, and was himself wounded in the battle near Ohod, but his power increased so rapidly that in the sixth year of the Hejira lie was able to proclaim a public pilgrimage to Mecca. Although the ileccans did not allow this to he carried out, he gained the still greater advantage that they concluded a formal peace with him, and thus recognized him as an equal power and belliger- ent. He now sent missionaries all over Arabia and beyond the frontiers without hindrance: and in the following year celebrated the pilgrimage for three days undisturbed at 'Mecca. Soon after- wards he narrowly escaped death from poisoning at the hands of a Jewess, one of whose relatives had been killed while fighting against him. His missionaries went to Khosru II.. of Persia, to the Byzantine Kmperor Heraclius. to the King of l>yssinia. and to the Oovernor of Egypt, and the iliiefs of several .raliic tribes received the new gospel ; but the King of Persia, and Amru, the Ghassanidc, rejected his proposals, and Amru had the messenger executed. This was the cause of the lir.st war between the Christians and the Moslems, in which the latter were beaten with great loss by Amru. The Jleccans took the occa- sion to commit depredations upon certain allies of Mohanuned, with the result that the Prophet nuirehed upon the city, captured it without a blow, an<l was recognized as ruler and prophet. This comjilctcd the triumph of the new faith in Arabia. Jloliammed now undertook to destroy all traces of idolatry in ilecca, and to establish the laws and ceremonies of his true faith: but he soon learned of a new attack by a considerable force of Arab tribes, gathered near Taif (030). Again he was victorious, and his influence and reputation cor- respondingly expanded. Deputations came to do homage to him in the name of the various tribes, either as the messenger of God or at least as the Prince of Arabia, and the year 9 of the Hejira was therefore called the Y'ear of the Deputations. He made extensive pre])arations for a war against the Eastern Empire, but was not able to assemble forces enough to carry out his plan. Toward the end of the tenth year of the Hejira he under- took, at the head of at least 40,00o' Jloslems, his last solenm pilgrimage to Mecca, and there (on Mount Arafat) instructed them in the important laws and ordinances, chiefly of the pilgrimage; and the ceremonies observed by him on that occa- sion were fixed for all time. (See Ha.j.j.) He exhorted his believers to righteousness and piety, reconmiended them to jirotect the weak, the poor, and women, and to abstain from usury. Soon after his return from Mecca he became ill and began to decline rapidly. He took part in public prayers as long as he could. At last, realizing the near approach of death, he preached to the people, reconnnending Abu Bekr and Usama. the son of Zaid. for the leadership of the army. He asked whether he had wronged any one, read passages from the Koran, and exhorted the peo- ple to peace among themselves, and to strict obedience to the tenets of the faith. A few days' afterwards he died in the arms of Ayesha. his favorite wife, on the I2th of the third month, in the year 11 of the Hejira (June 8, 032). His death caused intense excitement, and Omar tried to persuade the jjeople that he was still alive. But Abu Bekr said to the assembled multitude: "Whoever amon'g you has served Mohanuned. let him know that Mohanuned is dead ; hvit he who has served the God of Mohanuned. let him con- tinue in His service, for He is still alive, and never dies." He had made no provision for a suc- cessor, and the quarrel over the leadership, which not long after divfded the Moslem world into two warring sects, began before 'Mohanuned's body w'as buried. Abu Bekr finally received the hom- age of the principal Moslems at Medina. Mo- hammed was buried in the night in the house of .yesha. where he had died, and which afterwards became part of the adjoining mosque. Midiammed was not an idealist, and his religion was adapted to his age and surround- ings. It has been said that he gave the peo])le as nnich religion as he thought they could take care, of. judging by his knowledce of them and of his own tendencies. He was at times deceitful, cun- ning, even revengeftil and cowardly, and much addicted to sensuality. B>it he is praised for his amiability, his faithfulness toward friends, his tenderness toward his family, his frequent