History of Islam

History of Islam
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Social Changes

Many a time in history, the political setup changes abruptly.  This phenomenon is called political metamorphosis.  The time taken by early Muslims from Immigration to the establishment of Islam as a force in Hejaz was ten years.  This is a very brief period and qualifies for political metamorphosis. But it is too short to produce any measurable social changes.  Societies seldom change at such a fast pace.  Social changes that occurred during the Prophetic times were subtle but definitely far-reaching.

The pre-Islamic greeting was ‘good morning’.  It was quite secular.  The Muslims changed it to salām (سَلام). 1  This simple change signifies that religion started playing a bigger role in society. Other etiquettes of greeting did not change.  For example, a person is reported to have knelt before the Prophet to greet him. 2  Similarly, when Sa’d bin Mu’adh came to see the Prophet to announce his verdict in the case of Qurayzah, the Prophet told those present, “Stand up for your master.” 3  This means that Muslims were not going to turn their back on everything from the past.

Islamic-sounding names

A notable phenomenon at the time of the advent of Islam was the name change.  Many people changed their birth names at the time of acceptance of Islam.  All examples of name changes were from polytheistic-sounding names to Islamic-sounding ones.  Iyad bin Abd Ghanm (‘Iyāḍ bin ‘Abd Ghanm عِياض بِن عَبد غَنم) of the Fihr clan of Quraysh didn’t like the ‘Abd Ghanam’ part of his name and changed it to Iyad bin Ghanm (‘Iyāḍ bin Ghanm عِياض بِن غَنم). 4 Many times, Prophet Muhammad himself suggested a change.  The name of Abdullah bin Abdullah bin Ubayy (‘Abdallah bin ‘Abdallah bin Ubayy عَبداللَّه بِن عَبداللَّه بِن اُبَى) was Hubab (Ḥubāb حُباب) before his conversion.  The Prophet changed him to Abdullah. 5

Classic Arabic

Language is the basis of culture.  One service that Islam did to classic Arabic was its preservation and, later on, propagation.  Islam was preached in Classic Arabic, at the expense of other languages that were still used in Arabia.  Arabic got a monopoly over any literary expression in the land after the advent of Islam.  We scarcely find inscriptions written in classical Arabic during the pre-Islamic period but they are abundant immediately after Islam.

Tribe

As discussed earlier, the pre-Islamic Arab society was tribal.  The tribe was a sovereign political organization.  The tribe was a part of the person’s identity and guaranteed his security.  In return, the tribe demanded his supreme loyalty. 6  By the time of the death of Prophet Muhammad, the Muslim community was still not a collection of individual families knitted together to form a nation.  It was a collection of tribes who were in various forms of alliance or confederacy with Prophet Muhammad (Islamic state). The retention of tribal groups by the nascent Islamic state was perhaps for administrative convenience. 7  Ṣadaqah, the state tax was not imposed on each and every individual.  The whole tribal body had to collect it from its members and hand it over to the collectors of the Prophet.  The tribe still remained a part of a person’s identity. Any stranger who failed to produce his genealogy was suspected of misrepresenting himself during the Prophetic times.  That is why when a person was found roaming near the scouting party of the army that was going to raid Mecca, and the person failed to present his genealogy, they captured him.  He was found to be a spy of Hawazin and was arrested. 8

However, the tribe’s role of guaranteeing security to its members greatly eroded during the Prophetic times. When Amir bin Adbat (‘Āmir bin Aḍbaṭ عامِر بِن ابدَت) was murdered during Islam, his clan did not ask the tribal leaders to avenge him. Rather they asked the Prophet to provide justice. 9

The tribe’s political sovereignty decayed as well. Tribes that had come within the ambit of Islam were no longer mutually warring sovereign entities.  They were expected to work in harmony with each other with a common goal of maintaining peace and order.  A sense of Arab nation had emerged that was different from the sense of being Arab in the pre-Islamic era.  Donner comments, “The new state that Muhammad had created began to transcend the tribal particularisms of Arabian life.  Tribes and tribal loyalties continued to exist, of course, but there had been imposed on them a broader order that bound individuals and groups within the Islamic state to one another in ways that cut across tribal lines – through ideology (common faith and legal authority) and through practical measures (taxation, administration, and military service)”. 10

Nomads

The nomadic and sedentary division of the population of Arabia did not change with the advent of Islam.  We hear that some nomads, like Juhaynah, started living in Medina but such minute adjustments were not enough to modify the demographics of the whole population.  It was the sedentary population of Arabia, whether it was Mecca or Yemen who accepted Islam passionately.  Bedouins remained loosely attached to the new religion.

Code of ethics

Muru’ah, whose literary meaning is ‘manliness’, has been discussed in the previous section. Its core values, courage in war and hospitality in peace, generosity, respect for women, etc. were always upheld and practiced by the Prophet and early Muslims. A set of norms that originated in pre-Islamic Arabia was attested by the Prophet and was going to be part of many Islamic cultures throughout Asia, Europe and Africa for many centuries to come.  And, like pre-Islamic Arabs, the judge of muru’ah remained public opinion.  None of the cultures that adopted muru’ah prescribed any punishment, worldly or godly, for not sticking to it.

Job hierarchy

We know certain jobs were considered superior to other kind of jobs in Pre-Islamic periods.  Nothing much changed here.  Still some people were looked down upon due to nature of job they performed.  Waqidi provides example of social inferiority of certain jobs when he reports a person being called by name of ‘son of women circumcisioner’ during the Prophetic times.11

Sunnah in Islam

Sunnah was a kind of constitution for the Arabs.  Each individual felt proud of following sunnah of some respected sheykh of his tribe. Now sunnah of the Prophet had replaced it. During later years of Prophetic times, Prophet’s sunnah was officially imposed on tribes that affiliated themselves with Islam.12  We do not hear of any controversy about what constituted sunnah of the Prophet by that time.  Muslims postponed such controversies to the coming centuries.

Justice and punishment

The justice system of Hejaz underwent tremendous changes after the advent of Islam.  As discussed in the previous section, the justice system working in the nomadic zone of Arabia was rudimentary.  After Islam, it started resembling the justice system of established states.   When Ali was governing Yemen after Fath Mecca, for example, he was judged in a murder case.  He gave a verdict against the culprit with a right of appeal to a higher court – Prophet Muhammad.  The defence appealed against the verdict but lost the case in Prophet Muhammad’s court.13

A most important change in the justice system during the Prophetic times was the classification of certain crimes as crimes against Allah (state for all practical purposes). Such crimes were called hadd (ḥadd حَدّ) with fixed punishments for them. 14  Probably all crimes were against an individual or against a tribe in pre-Islamic times.  When a crime is committed against state, it is duty of the state to register a case, investigate it, and punish the culprit(s).  This kind of arrangement protects the weakest members of society because they are never able to bring complaints, get a case registered and take investigations to the completion stage if the perpetrator is a socially strong person. Probably, the justice system in Hejaz before Islam mainly operated with oaths and arbitrations. Both the accuser and the accused took oaths to their innocence or otherwise.  Islamic courts insisted upon presenting evidence.  The murderers of Abdullah bin Sahl were acquitted due to a lack of evidence. His family suspected the Jews but the Prophet paid blood wit out of his own pocket as no evidence was presented against the accused. 15

Murder was a major crime that was included in hadd. Talion, which extended to the whole clan of murderers during pre-Islamic times, was reduced to the actual individual who committed the crime. Moreover, the Prophet encouraged the aggrieved party to receive blood wit instead of blood for blood.  Blood wit was pretty fixed during the Prophetic times to be 100 camels.16

Murder was the most frequent crime in Pre-Islamic Arabia and actually, it was the cause of almost all inter-tribal wars.  As we have discussed earlier, the pre-Islamic tribal society worked on the principle of talion, an eye for an eye, tooth for tooth and life for life. Talion was extended to the clan.  It means the act of murder was not against the slain individual but against his whole clan.  Along the same lines, the whole clan of murderers had to pay the price.  If one member of the murderer’s clan was murdered the matter usually was considered settled. But it was just a custom and there was no authority to declare the matter settled.  Sometimes after retaliatory murder, both parties felt satisfied that the matter was settled, which happened in the case of Quraysh. 17  If both parties did not consider the matter settled, it lingered on in the form of retaliations or even war. For example, in Pre-Islamic times Kulayb, a powerful chief of the Taghlib tribe in northeastern Arabia was killed by a member of the Jassas (Jassās جَسَّاس) tribe.  Kulayb’s brother killed a young child from Jassas.  An influential kinsman of Jassas, who happened to hitherto stand aside from the quarrel, made it known publicly that, if the life of a young child was equivalent to that of Kulayb, he would count the matter settled.  The insolent answer was given, however, that the child was equivalent only to Kulayb’s shoe latchet.  Things, then, went from bad to worst and a lot of blood was shed from both sides over a period of many years, known in history as the war of Basus (Basūs بَسُوس). 18 From the very earliest the Muslims strived to tackle this problem in their own way.  Clause fourteen of the constitution Medina that ‘a believer does not kill a believer because of an unbeliever’ infers that pre-Islamic blood feuds were cancelled among Muslims provided the party to whom talion was due becomes Muslim. 19  A similar principle was adopted for those tribes who accepted Islam later on. In his letter to a group of people (jummā’) in the Tihamah Prophet Muhammad promised that, if they become Muslim, any liability for blood would cease.20  The prophet reinforced this rule at the time of Fath Mecca and then later during the Pilgrimage of Farewell.  At the Pilgrimage of Farewell in Arafat, the prophet abolished all blood feuds arising from Jahiliyyah. 21

Simultaneously, Muslims strived to settle the matter after one retaliatory murder (sanctioned by the state but committed by the family of the victim).  Clause 21 of the constitution of Medina reads ‘the believers are against (the murderer) entirely; nothing is permissible to them except to oppose him’ meaning the talion of murder was fixed on the murderer and not the whole clan of his. Moreover, Islam considered all members equal.  So once revenge had been taken, the matter was considered settled and no further avenges could be taken claiming that the life of one dead was equal to shoe-latchet.22

The Prophet insisted on making the murderer responsible for the act rather than his whole clan.  Its precedent came at the time of the war of Hunayn.  During the raid on Taif, a man of the Layth clan was brought to the prophet for judgment.  He was accused of killing a man of Hudhayl.  The prophet ordered him to be handed over to the Hudhayl who beheaded him (the responsibility for the murder was on the killer, not the clan). According to Waqidi, it was the first such judgement given by the Prophet. 23  Moreover the prophet encouraged to get blood wit (dyat دِيَت) for murder instead of blood (qaṣṣāṣ قَصَّاص).  Uyayna bin Hisn had a quarrel with Aqra’ bin Habis about vengeance for the blood of a man who was murdered in the beginning of Islam.  The aggrieved party insisted on blood for blood but the Prophet compelled the aggrieved party to settle on hundred camels. 24, 25

Muslims upheld the death sentence.  However, they tried to be as humane as possible to kill a person. We hear about cruel methods of killing like crucifixion and torture to death among Pre-Islamic Arabs. 26  But Muslims used to separate the head from the body with one stroke of a sword. There was a woman by name of Umm Qirfa (Umm Qirfah Fātima bint Rabī’a اُم قِرفَه فاطِمَه بِنت رَبِيعَه). She was mother of Mas’ada bin Hakama (Mas’adah bin Ḥakamah مَسعَدَه بِن حَكَمَه), a leader of Fazara. Umm Qirfa was a powerful lady and Arabs used to say, ‘Had you been more powerful than Umm Qirfa you could have done no more.’  This lady became a prisoner of war during the raid on Wadi al-Qura when her son Mas’ada bin Hakama was slain. She was executed on the orders of Zayd bin Ḥaritha, the Muslim commander.  She was killed by tying her two legs to two camels with the help of a rope and the camels drove in opposite directions until they tore her in two. 27, 28 Both earliest Muslim sources, Waqidi and ibn Ishaq cannot resist admitting that the method of killing was cruel.29 They agreed this was not the usual method of execution by Muslims.

Another crime that was considered hadd and might have carried the death penalty was adultery.  It is likely that adultery was not commonly punished during Pre-Islamic Arabia.  We don’t hear of more than a single case of adultery being judged in pre-Islamic times. The Qur’an prescribes one hundred floggings, not stoning for adulterers. 30  Ibn Ishaq mentions that once the Prophet judged a Jewish married man and married woman to be stoned to death for committing adultery. 31 Here, Ibn Ishaq fails to give their names and genealogy which would have been important as the matter was legal.  Moreover, Ibn Ishaq fails to explain how on earth the Jews would have asked the Prophet to judge on a matter which was purely Jew’s internal affair, especially in the backdrop of the cold war that continued between the Prophet and the Jews of Medina throughout their cohabitation in Medina.  Ibn Ishaq puts this event just after the Immigration, but it is known that even during the first eighteen months after Immigration, it was the Prophet who had taken a friendly gesture towards the Jews but Jews had not accepted him as a leader or judge. Lastly, and more interestingly, the Prophet judged them in light of the Torah and not the Qur’an or Sunnah of the Prophet. Waqidi quotes Prophet Muhammad declaring during his address at Fatḥ Mecca, “The child belongs to the bed, and to the adulterer a stone.” 32  And that is all from Waqidi on the issue, who is otherwise very detailed.  Ma’mar is silent on the subject.  Ibn Ishaq notes a very intriguing tradition on the matter.   In this tradition of Abdullah bin Abbas (‘Abdullah bin ‘Abbās عَبد اللَّه بِن عَبَّاس) transmitted to Ibn Ishaq through the medium of Zuhir (Zuhrī الزُهرى) and Ubaydullah bin Abdullah (‘Ubaydallah bin ‘Abdallah عُبَيد اللَّه بِن عَبد اللَّه), we are informed that during a Friday address (Khuṭbah) Caliph Umar said, “Allah sent Muhammad and sent down the scripture to him.  Part of what he sent down was the passage on stoning; we read it, we were taught it, and we heeded it.  The apostle stoned and we stoned them after him.  I fear that in time to come men will say that they find no mention of stoning in Allah’s book and thereby go astray by neglecting an ordinance which Allah has sent down.  Verily stoning in the book of Allah is a penalty laid on married men and women who commit adultery, if proof stands or pregnancy is clear or confession is made.  Then we read in what we read from Allah’s book: “Do not desire to have ancestors other than your own for it is infidelity so to do.” 33

A new form of punishment that Muslims had introduced was flogging.  This is one kind of punishment that needs official authority to carry out. Flogging has been being practiced in the Middle East much before Islam but was absent from the criminal code of the nomadic zone of Arabia.  Mista bin Uthatha (Misṭaḥ bin Uthāthah مِسطَح بِن اُثاثَه) a Muhsjirun, Ḥasssn bin Thabit, and Hamna bint Jahsh (Ḥamnah bint Jaḥsh حَمنَه بِنت جَحَش) a sister in law of the Prophet and sister of his wife Zaynab bint Jahsh (Zaynab bint Jaḥsh زَينَب بِنت جَحَش) were flogged in case of ifk. 34  At the time of acceptance of Islam Ash’ath bin Qays of Kindah told his fellows that if they utter a theme that which Prophet had forbidden, they will be given eighty strokes, meaning the people of Yemen were already familiar with strokes as punishment. 35

The pre-Islamic tradition of excommunicating for a crime continued. Ka’b bin Malik (Ka’b bin Mālik كَعَب بِن مالِك), Hilal bin Umayyah (Hilāl bin Umayyah هِلال بِن اُمَيَّه) and Murara bin Rabi’a (Murārah bin Rabi’ah مُرارَه بِن رَبِيعَه) (all Anṣar) were excommunicated after the campaign of Tabuk for not attending the expedition without any valid excuse. 36  However, the gravity of this sentence might have decreased due to new developments under which a murderer was responsible for his crime. Excommunication was no longer a death risk.  All people mentioned above paid part of their property as a fine (alms) to settle their cases. 37

Media

Poetry retained its position as an important medium of political expression during Prophetic times.  The Prophet himself had to keep a poet Laureate.  At the same time, public oration gained popularity. Prophet himself used the medium of public oration at the time of Fatḥ Mecca and Pilgrimage of Farewell to express some most important laws of his state.

Rules of war

War was not fought without any rules and regulations in Pre-Islamic Arabia. Arabs were cautious, lest they make any action during a war which would be considered a war crime by others. This was the same during the prophetic times. Muslims not only made some rules of war for themselves but also tried to act upon them. The Prophet used to instruct his general about certain rules that had to be followed in that particular war at the time he gave him a standard of war. 38  Khalid bin Walid killed a woman in the war of Hunayn. The prophet forbade the killing of women, children or paid slaves in war. 39 On the same occasion the Prophet heard that some Muslims had killed some children of the enemy, he forebode it quickly. Usayd bin Hudayr gave an excuse that they were children of polytheists. The prophet said, “Every living creature has a natural disposition until his tongue can express his intentions.  It is their fathers who make them Jews or Christians”. 40  People on the opposite side also tried to abide by the rules.  Abu Sufyan had to apologise to the Muslims just after the battle of Uhud for the cannibalistic attitude of his army during the war. 41

During all campaigns, Muslims were expected to follow their commander.  It gave them a cutting edge over their enemy who were not bound to follow their commander so rigidly. True military discipline, which was new to the Arabs, gave commanders an opportunity to sometimes abuse their power.  Abdullah bin Hudhafa (‘Abdallah bin Ḥudhāfah عَبد اللَّه بِن حُذَيفَه) of Sahm clan was a commander in a campaign.  On the way, he made a fire and ordered his soldiers to jump into that. Some of them began to gird up their loins to leap.  He said, “Sit down, I was only laughing at you”.  When the Messenger was told of this on their return, he said, “If anyone orders you to do something which you ought not to do, do not obey him”. 42

Dwellings

The dwellings of the Arabs were not expected to change in one decade that saw the advent of Islam.  No change in living style or construction style is noted during the prophetic times. Two interesting points will be mentioned here, just as passing remarks.

They did not have private toilets in their homes in Medina, as they hated it.  They went out in the early hours of darkness for the call of nature.43  Public toilets were built near the houses of Medina later on. 44

They had water available in homes to take bath.  The prophet took a bath inside his house and wrapped two garments around him for the umrah from Medina which ended up in the Peace Treaty of Hudaybiyah. 45 The fact the houses in the prophetic times could have water is attested by the presence of water reservoirs in the houses of Rabadha, a town located about two hundred kilometres east of Medina during prophetic times. Rabadha was abandoned in 931 CE, preserving many details for future historians in its ruins. The water reservoirs were dug out under the floors of the rooms and inner courtyards.  The reservoirs had a lip on top to take water out of it.  The reservoir could be filled with rainwater from the roof, collected through a ceramic drain or by direct transport from the tanks located in the town. In addition, houses at Rabadha had inside rooms built as separate units connected by an inner courtyard.  Within rooms, there were facilities like kitchen ovens and warehouses to store grain and other items. 46

Entertainment

Every society has some form of entertainment that is socially acceptable and is generally taken interest to.  The only entertainment of early Muslims that is known is animal racing. It was a regular event. The Prophet participated in horse and camel races on many occasions. 47  One such occasion was the camp at Tabuk when the Prophet convened a horse race.48

Hunting had also been a favourite pastime in pre-Islamic Arabia. However, whenever hunting is discussed among Muslims by early Islamic sources, its aim is to gather food, rather than for pleasure.  During the campaign of Tabuk, the soldiers hunted wild donkeys, gazelle and ostrich for food. 49

Personal relaxation could have been a pastime.  A black slave is reported to have once palpated the back of Prophet Muhammad. 50

We know wine drinking was an important social event and entertainment of pre-Islamic Arabs.  Even before Prophet Muhammad started preaching Islam there were people like Uthman bin Maz’un who avoided wine.51  Exactly when Muslims stopped drinking and selling alcohol, we do not know. Some Muslims definitely drank wine on the morning of the battle of Uhud.  52  Ya’qubi informs that it was during the raid of Nadir when some Muslims drank date wine and became intoxicated, so the prohibition on wine was created. 53.  The first occasion when Muslims are recorded to abstain from drinking alcohol is during the siege of Qurayzah. The Muslims seized alcohol as booty from the Qurayzah.  They then broke the jars of alcohol they found and spilled the wine. 54  Similarly, they broke jars of alcohol seized at Khaybar.  The jars were broken, rather than being used for other purposes because they were heavy and difficult to carry. The Prophet allowed the smaller brass and earthen vessels used for drinking alcohol to be reused by the Muslims after cleaning them with boiling water. 55

On the occasion of the triumph of Khaybar, when Muslims were breaking jars of alcohol and spilling wine, a Muslim took wine from them and drank it. The matter was raised with the Prophet, the Prophet detested it. When the man was brought in front of the Prophet, he beat him with a sandal and those who were present beat him with their sandals as well. His name was Abdullah and he was named ‘Abdullah the Alcoholist’ that day.  This man had difficulty abstaining from alcohol and was beaten by the Prophet many times in the past.  Umar bin Khattab said, ‘Allah curse him! How often must he be beaten!’  Prophet Muhammad said ‘O ‘Umar, do not say that, for indeed he loves Allah and His Messenger’.  Then Abdullah relaxed and sat down with them as though he were one of them. 56  This tradition of Waqidi not only shows how the Prophet used to treat Muslims who could not restrain themselves from drinking alcohol but also throws light on the difference in attitude between Prophet Muhammad and Umar on the matter.  The Prophet maintained his stance about alcohol consumption when on the day of Fath Mecca he forbade the selling of wine, eating pork, eating the meat of the dead animal, worshiping of idols, and presentation of money to a Kahin (kāhin كاهِن). 57  It is said that a drink was gifted to the Prophet during the circumambulation of Ka’ba at the occasion of Fath Mecca.  He refused to accept it and poured it out. Instead, he drank the water of Zam Zam. 58 Watt suggests the prophet poured it out because it was wine.59

The Prophet never objected to growing grapes and selling their product per se.  Abbas bin Abdul Muttalib had a property in Taif.  He used to bring dried grapes from there and pressed it at his home in Mecca. He continued it after accepting Islam. 60

Festivals

Muslim festivals were entirely different from those of pre-Islamic Arabs.  The Festival of Eid al Adha (‘īd al aḍḥā عِيد الاضحَىٌ) started after the Immigration.  The prophet used to celebrate the annual feast of Eid al Adha at the musallah (muṣallah مُصَلَّىٌ) of Banu Salimah (different from the Mosque of Prophet) when he was barred from visiting Mecca. 61  He used to sacrifice animals on this occasion but did not shave his head.62

We cannot know from early Islamic sources when Eid al Fitr (‘īd al fiṭr عِيد الفِطر) started but we do know that fasting was already prohibited on days of Eid al Fitr and Eid al Adha at the time of Fath Mecca, according to Waqidi.63  A late source, Baladhuri reports a festival at the end of Ramadan (Ramaḍān رَمَضان) of the year of Fath Mecca. 64  Ya’qubi, writing at a later date than Baladhuri, claims that the two Eid festivals started after the battle of Badr.65

We do not know what happened to taḥannuth that was celebrated by the Meccan polytheists in the month of Ramadan.

The dress of early Muslims

There is no evidence suggesting that the Muslims made any changes in pre-Islamic dress after coming to power.  The dress design of both males and females remained the same as in the pre-Islamic period.  The get-up of males and females also remained different for each gender as before.  The only dress code the Prophet applied was for people to put their clothes in such a way that they concealed their private parts. 66 Probably, it was in the background that the polytheists used to come to the Ka’ba in a kind of dress in which they could expose their nakedness and they were banned from coming to the Ka’ba in this condition. 67  Early Islamic sources do not describe details of the dress polytheists used to put up in the Ka’ba that exposed their nakedness. One can guess it could be a piece of cloth tied to their loin that could fly away from their legs exposing them when the wind blew. A hint to such clothing comes from Ibn Ishaq’s notation that the Prophet had forbidden men from squatting in one garment which exposes their person to the air. This particular instruction was part of a letter which the Prophet had written to Amr bin Hazm whom he had appointed over Najranis to teach them Islam. 68

Now, a few words for the turban.  It was part of formal dress and we find everybody wearing it on such occasions that were worthy of it. Utba bin Rabi’a a polytheist was wearing a turban on the occasion of the battle of Badr.69  The Prophet taught Abdur Rahman bin Awf the correct way of tying a turban with four fingers of cloth left hanging in the air for neatness when he was ready for the campaign to Dumat al-Jandal. 70  It shows how much importance did the Prophet attach to the formality of dress.  The Colour of the turban was not important as it did not represent anything.  The Prophet was wearing a red turban at Dhu Ṭuwā, the last camping site before Fath Mecca. 71  When he entered Mecca, he was wearing a black turban. 72

We know Jews used to shave their beard.  That is the reason Sa’d bin Mu’adh gave a verdict in the case of Qurayzah that those who shave their beard can be slain. 73  We also know that some of the Arabs used to shave their beard. Abu Bakr ordered Khalid to execute any Banu Hanifa who[se face] a razor has passed. 74  But we are not sure if Meccan polytheists used to shave their beards.  Their get-up is not clearly described by early Islamic sources.  However, we know at least a few grew their beards. Abu Sufyan wore a beard. 75  Another polytheist Talha bin Abi Talha (Ṭalḥah bin Abī Ṭalḥah طَلحَه بِن اَبِى طَلحَه) is known to have a beard. 76  The Prophet promoted growing a beard as an identity to be part of the Muslim community. Badawayh (Bābawayh بادَويه) and another man, the messengers of Yemeni Satrap Badhan, who threatened the prophet to go with them, had shaved beards and long moustaches.  The prophet told them that his lord (Allah) had asked him to grow his beard long and cut his moustache. 77  But it does not necessarily mean that the Muslims used to clean shave their moustache or not even trimmed their beard.  The Prophet himself is reported to have trimmed his beard and moustache and cut short his nails along with shaving his head at the time of Pilgrimage of Farewell. 78

It might be interesting for some readers to know that the Prophet took off his sandals before entering the Ka’ba during the Pilgrimage of Farewell. 79

End-of-life rituals

Now, let’s have a few glimpses of end-of-life rituals.  A new kind of formality developed during the Prophetic time regarding death.  Muslims used to proclaim ‘to Allah may he return’ on seeing a dead person. 80  Funerary rites of Sa’d bin Mu’adh have been preserved by Waqidi in quite detail.  It gives us an insight into the rites during the Prophetic times.  Sa’d bin Mu’adh was washed thrice after his death in his ancestral home.  Once with water, once with water and lotus and once with water and camphor. Then he was wrapped in three Yemeni clothes.  After it, he was carried on a cot in form of a procession of men to the graveyard of Baqi’. He was placed in a grave that was already dug for the body.  His mother came to see his face in the grave. People present at that time were reluctant to allow her, but the prophet permitted her. Then the grave was covered with bricks and sand. Then it was smoothed and water was sprinkled over it.  After that, the Prophet prayed for the slain leader and left the place. 81

End notes

  1. Muhammad Ibn Ishaq, The Life of Muhammad,  ed. and trans. Alfred Guillaume, (Karachi: Oxford University Press, 2013), 319. See also: Muhammad bin ‘Umar al-Wāqidī, The life of Muḥammad:  kitāb al-Maghāzī, ed. Rizwi Faizer, Trans. Rizwi Faizer, Amal Ismail and AbdulKader Tayob, (London: Routledge, 2011), 63.
  2. Muhammad bin ‘Umar al-Wāqidī, The life of Muḥammad:  kitāb al-Maghāzī, ed. Rizwi Faizer, Trans. Rizwi Faizer, Amal Ismail and AbdulKader Tayob, (London: Routledge, 2011), 351.
  3. Muhammad bin ‘Umar al-Wāqidī, The life of Muḥammad:  kitāb al-Maghāzī, ed. Rizwi Faizer, Trans. Rizwi Faizer, Amal Ismail and AbdulKader Tayob, (London: Routledge, 2011), 251.
  4. Aḥmad ibn-Jābir al-Balādhuri.  Kitāb Futūh al-Buldān, ed. and trans. Philip Khūri Ḥitti, (New York: Columbia University, 1916), 227.
  5. Aḥmad ibn-Jābir al-Balādhuri.  Kitāb Futūh al-Buldān, ed. and trans. Philip Khūri Ḥitti, (New York: Columbia University, 1916), 139.
  6. Montgomery W. Watt, Muhammad at Medina, (London: Oxford University Press, 1956), 239.
  7. Montgomery W. Watt, Muhammad at Medina, (London: Oxford University Press, 1956), 247.
  8. Muhammad bin ‘Umar al-Wāqidī, The life of Muḥammad:  kitāb al-Maghāzī, ed. Rizwi Faizer, Trans. Rizwi Faizer, Amal Ismail and AbdulKader Tayob, (London: Routledge, 2011), 396.
  9. Muhammad bin ‘Umar al-Wāqidī, The life of Muḥammad:  kitāb al-Maghāzī, ed. Rizwi Faizer, Trans. Rizwi Faizer, Amal Ismail and AbdulKader Tayob, (London: Routledge, 2011), 451.
  10. Fred M. Donner, The Early Islamic Conquests (Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press, 1981), 75.
  11. 8. Muhammad bin ‘Umar al-Wāqidī, The life of Muḥammad:  kitāb al-Maghāzī, ed. Rizwi Faizer, Trans. Rizwi Faizer, Amal Ismail and AbdulKader Tayob, (London: Routledge, 2011).
  12. Muhammad Ibn Ishaq, The Life of Muhammad, ed. and trans. Alfred Guillaume, (Karachi: Oxford University Press, 2013), 645.
  13. Muhammad bin ‘Umar al-Wāqidī, The life of Muḥammad:  kitāb al-Maghāzī, ed. Rizwi Faizer, Trans. Rizwi Faizer, Amal Ismail and AbdulKader Tayob, (London: Routledge, 2011), 531.
  14. Th. W. Juynboll, “Crimes and Punishments (Muhammadan)” in Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics, (New York 1951 – 1957), Vol IV, P 291.
  15. Muhammad Ibn Ishaq, The Life of Muhammad, ed. and trans. Alfred Guillaume, (Karachi: Oxford University Press, 2013), 524.  See also: Muhammad bin ‘Umar al-Wāqidī, The life of Muḥammad:  kitāb al-Maghāzī, ed. Rizwi Faizer, Trans. Rizwi Faizer, Amal Ismail and AbdulKader Tayob, (London: Routledge, 2011), 352.
  16. Muhammad Ibn Ishaq, The Life of Muhammad, ed. and trans. Alfred Guillaume, (Karachi: Oxford University Press, 2013), 524.
  17. Muhammad bin ‘Umar al-Wāqidī, The life of Muḥammad:  kitāb al-Maghāzī, ed. Rizwi Faizer, Trans. Rizwi Faizer, Amal Ismail and AbdulKader Tayob, (London: Routledge, 2011). See also: Montgomery W. Watt Muhammad at Medina (London: Oxford University Press, 1956), 263.
  18. Montgomery W. Watt, Muhammad at Medina, (London: Oxford University Press, 1956), 263.
  19. Montgomery W. Watt, Muhammad at Medina, (London: Oxford University Press, 1956), 266.
  20. Ibn Sa’ad.  Biographien Muhammeds, seiner Gefahten und der spateren Trager des Islams bis zum jahre 230 der Flucht. ed. E. Sachau.  Leiden: 1905. Vol. 1/2 P 29, See also: Montgomery W. Watt, Muhammad at Medina, (London: Oxford University Press, 1956), 266.
  21. Muhammad bin ‘Umar al-Wāqidī, The life of Muḥammad:  kitāb al-Maghāzī, ed. Rizwi Faizer, Trans. Rizwi Faizer, Amal Ismail and AbdulKader Tayob, (London: Routledge, 2011), 539.
  22. Montgomery W. Watt, Muhammad at Medina, (London: Oxford University Press, 1956), 267.
  23. Muhammad bin ‘Umar al-Wāqidī, The life of Muḥammad:  kitāb al-Maghāzī, ed. Rizwi Faizer, Trans. Rizwi Faizer, Amal Ismail and AbdulKader Tayob, (London: Routledge, 2011), 453.
  24. Muhammad Ibn Ishaq, The Life of Muhammad, ed. and trans. Alfred Guillaume, (Karachi: Oxford University Press, 2013), 670.
  25. Both Uyayna and Aqra’ had not accepted Islam.  Prophet Muhammad could have settled their case because both were present in the Muslim army which fought in the war of Hunayn.  Prophet Muhammad was the overall commander of the army and they were subject to the commander’s decisions.
  26. Muhammad Ibn Ishaq, The Life of Muhammad, ed. and trans. Alfred Guillaume, (Karachi: Oxford University Press, 2013), 428.
  27. Muhammad bin ‘Umar al-Wāqidī, The life of Muḥammad:  kitāb al-Maghāzī, ed. Rizwi Faizer, Trans. Rizwi Faizer, Amal Ismail and AbdulKader Tayob, (London: Routledge, 2011), 278. See also: Muhammad Ibn Ishaq.  The Life of Muhammad.  Ed. and Trans. Alfred Guillaume. (Karachi: Oxford University Press, 2013). 665.
  28. The incident is atypical because Muslims did not use to fight against women or kill them in wars.
  29. Muhammad bin ‘Umar al-Wāqidī, The life of Muḥammad:  kitāb al-Maghāzī, ed. Rizwi Faizer, Trans. Rizwi Faizer, Amal Ismail and AbdulKader Tayob, (London: Routledge, 2011), 278. AND Muhammad Ibn Ishaq.  The Life of Muhammad.  Ed. and Trans. Alfred Guillaume. (Karachi: Oxford University Press, 2013). 665.
  30. Qur’an 24:2.
  31. Muhammad Ibn Ishaq, The Life of Muhammad, ed. and trans. Alfred Guillaume, (Karachi: Oxford University Press, 2013), 266, 7.
  32. Muhammad bin ‘Umar al-Wāqidī, The life of Muḥammad:  kitāb al-Maghāzī, ed. Rizwi Faizer, Trans. Rizwi Faizer, Amal Ismail and AbdulKader Tayob, (London: Routledge, 2011), 412.
  33. Muhammad Ibn Ishaq, The Life of Muhammad, ed. and trans. Alfred Guillaume, (Karachi: Oxford University Press, 2013), 684.
  34. Muhammad Ibn Ishaq, The Life of Muhammad, ed. and trans. Alfred Guillaume, (Karachi: Oxford University Press, 2013), 497.
  35. For Ash’ath’s statement see: Muhammad Ibn Ishaq, The Life of Muhammad, ed. and trans. Alfred Guillaume, (Karachi: Oxford University Press, 2013), 637.
  36. Ma‘mar ibn Rāshid. The Expeditions. Ed. Joseph E. Lowry, Trans. Sean W. Anthony.  (New York: New York University Press, 2015). 83, 84, 85, 88.
  37. Ma‘mar ibn Rāshid. The Expeditions. Ed. Joseph E. Lowry, Trans. Sean W. Anthony.  (New York: New York University Press, 2015). 83, 84, 85, 88.
  38. Muhammad Ibn Ishaq, The Life of Muhammad, ed. and trans. Alfred Guillaume, (Karachi: Oxford University Press, 2013), 672.
  39. Muhammad Ibn Ishaq, The Life of Muhammad, ed. and trans. Alfred Guillaume, (Karachi: Oxford University Press, 2013), 576.
  40. Muhammad bin ‘Umar al-Wāqidī, The life of Muḥammad:  kitāb al-Maghāzī, ed. Rizwi Faizer, Trans. Rizwi Faizer, Amal Ismail and AbdulKader Tayob, (London: Routledge, 2011), 444.
  41. Ma‘mar ibn Rāshid. The Expeditions. Ed. Joseph E. Lowry, Trans. Sean W. Anthony.  (New York: New York University Press, 2015). 50, 51.
  42. Muhammad Ibn Ishaq, The Life of Muhammad, ed. and trans. Alfred Guillaume, (Karachi: Oxford University Press, 2013), 677.
  43. Muhammad bin ‘Umar al-Wāqidī, The life of Muḥammad:  kitāb al-Maghāzī, ed. Rizwi Faizer, Trans. Rizwi Faizer, Amal Ismail and AbdulKader Tayob, (London: Routledge, 2011),210.
  44. Ma‘mar ibn Rāshid. The Expeditions. Ed. Joseph E. Lowry, Trans. Sean W. Anthony.  (New York: New York University Press, 2015). 94.
  45. Muhammad bin ‘Umar al-Wāqidī, The life of Muḥammad:  kitāb al-Maghāzī, ed. Rizwi Faizer, Trans. Rizwi Faizer, Amal Ismail and AbdulKader Tayob, (London: Routledge, 2011), 281.
  46. Sa’d bin Abdulaziz Al-Rashid ‘Umar. in The discovery of Al-Rabadha in Roads of Arabia ed. ‘Ali ibn Ibrāhīm Ghabbān, Beatrice Andre-Salvini Francoise Demange, Carine Juvin and Marianne Cotty (Paris: Louvre, 2010)438. ‘Umar. Sa’d bin Abdulaziz Al-Rashid, in The discovery of Al-Rabadha in Roads of Arabia ed. ‘Ali ibn Ibra.hi.m Ghabba.n, Beatrice Andre-Salvini Francoise Demange, Carine Juvin and Marianne Cotty (Paris: Louvre, 2010) 440.
  47. Muhammad bin ‘Umar al-Wāqidī, The life of Muḥammad:  kitāb al-Maghāzī, ed. Rizwi Faizer, Trans. Rizwi Faizer, Amal Ismail and AbdulKader Tayob, (London: Routledge, 2011), 281.  208.
  48. Muhammad bin ‘Umar al-Wāqidī, The life of Muḥammad:  kitāb al-Maghāzī, ed. Rizwi Faizer, Trans. Rizwi Faizer, Amal Ismail and AbdulKader Tayob, (London: Routledge, 2011), 506.
  49. Muhammad bin ‘Umar al-Wāqidī, The life of Muḥammad:  kitāb al-Maghāzī, ed. Rizwi Faizer, Trans. Rizwi Faizer, Amal Ismail and AbdulKader Tayob, (London: Routledge, 2011), 507.
  50. Muhammad bin ‘Umar al-Wāqidī, The life of Muḥammad:  kitāb al-Maghāzī, ed. Rizwi Faizer, Trans. Rizwi Faizer, Amal Ismail and AbdulKader Tayob, (London: Routledge, 2011), 204.
  51. Ibn Sa’ad.  Biographien Muhammeds, seiner Gefahten und der spateren Trager des Islams bis zum jahre 230 der Flucht. ed. E. Sachau.  Leiden: 1905. Vol. III/1  P 286.  See also: Montgomery W. Watt Muhammad at Medina (London: Oxford University Press, 1956) 297.
  52. For wine drinking on the morning before the battle see:  Muhammad bin ‘Umar al-Wāqidī.  The life of Muḥammad:  kitāb al-Maghāzī.  Ed. Rizwi Faizer, Trans. Rizwi Faizer, Amal Ismail and AbdulKader Tayob.  (London: Routledge, 2011), 130.
  53. Ya’qūbī, Ibn Wāḍiḥ al-, The Works of Ibn Wāḍīḥ al-Ya’qūbī: An English Translation, Eds. and Trans. Matthew S. Gordon, Chase F. Robinson, Everett K. Rowson and Michael Fishbein, (Leiden: Brill, 2018), 648.
  54. Muhammad bin ‘Umar al-Wāqidī, The life of Muḥammad:  kitāb al-Maghāzī, ed. Rizwi Faizer, Trans. Rizwi Faizer, Amal Ismail and AbdulKader Tayob, (London: Routledge, 2011), 250.
  55. Muhammad bin ‘Umar al-Wāqidī, The life of Muḥammad:  kitāb al-Maghāzī, ed. Rizwi Faizer, Trans. Rizwi Faizer, Amal Ismail and AbdulKader Tayob, (London: Routledge, 2011), 327.
  56. Muhammad bin ‘Umar al-Wāqidī, The life of Muḥammad:  kitāb al-Maghāzī, ed. Rizwi Faizer, Trans. Rizwi Faizer, Amal Ismail and AbdulKader Tayob, (London: Routledge, 2011), 327.
  57. Muhammad bin ‘Umar al-Wāqidī, The life of Muḥammad:  kitāb al-Maghāzī, ed. Rizwi Faizer, Trans. Rizwi Faizer, Amal Ismail and AbdulKader Tayob, (London: Routledge, 2011), 425.
  58. Muhammad bin ‘Umar al-Wāqidī, The life of Muḥammad:  kitāb al-Maghāzī, ed. Rizwi Faizer, Trans. Rizwi Faizer, Amal Ismail and AbdulKader Tayob, (London: Routledge, 2011). see also: Ibn Sa’ad.  Biographien Muhammeds, seiner Gefahten und der spateren Trager des Islams bis zum jahre 230 der Flucht. ed. E. Sachau.  Leiden: 1905. Vol. I/2 P 25.
  59. Montgomery W. Watt, Muhammad at Medina, (London: Oxford University Press, 1956), 297.
  60. Muhammad bin ‘Umar al-Wāqidī, The life of Muḥammad:  kitāb al-Maghāzī, ed. Rizwi Faizer, Trans. Rizwi Faizer, Amal Ismail and AbdulKader Tayob, (London: Routledge, 2011), 412.
  61. Tabri 1362. See also:  Montgomery W. Watt, Muhammad at Medina, (London: Oxford University Press, 1956), 308.
  62. Muhammad bin ‘Umar al-Wāqidī, The life of Muḥammad:  kitāb al-Maghāzī, ed. Rizwi Faizer, Trans. Rizwi Faizer, Amal Ismail and AbdulKader Tayob, (London: Routledge, 2011), 532.
  63. Muhammad bin ‘Umar al-Wāqidī, The life of Muḥammad:  kitāb al-Maghāzī, ed. Rizwi Faizer, Trans. Rizwi Faizer, Amal Ismail and AbdulKader Tayob, (London: Routledge, 2011), 412.
  64. Aḥmad ibn-Jābir al-Balādhuri.  Kitāb Futūh al-Buldān, ed. and trans. Philip Khūri Ḥitti, (New York: Columbia University, 1916), 66.
  65. Ya’qūbī, Ibn Wāḍiḥ al-, The Works of Ibn Wāḍīḥ al-Ya’qūbī: An English Translation, Eds. and Trans. Matthew S. Gordon, Chase F. Robinson, Everett K. Rowson and Michael Fishbein, (Leiden: Brill, 2018),645.
  66. Muhammad bin ‘Umar al-Wāqidī, The life of Muḥammad:  kitāb al-Maghāzī, ed. Rizwi Faizer, Trans. Rizwi Faizer, Amal Ismail and AbdulKader Tayob, (London: Routledge, 2011), 412.
  67. Muhammad Ibn Ishaq, The Life of Muhammad, ed. and trans. Alfred Guillaume, (Karachi: Oxford University Press, 2013), 619.
  68. Muhammad Ibn Ishaq, The Life of Muhammad, ed. and trans. Alfred Guillaume, (Karachi: Oxford University Press, 2013), 647.
  69. Muhammad bin ‘Umar al-Wāqidī, The life of Muḥammad:  kitāb al-Maghāzī, ed. Rizwi Faizer, Trans. Rizwi Faizer, Amal Ismail and AbdulKader Tayob, (London: Routledge, 2011), 35.
  70. Muhammad Ibn Ishaq, The Life of Muhammad, ed. and trans. Alfred Guillaume, (Karachi: Oxford University Press, 2013), 673.
  71. Muhammad Ibn Ishaq, The Life of Muhammad, ed. and trans. Alfred Guillaume, (Karachi: Oxford University Press, 2013), 548.
  72. Muhammad bin ‘Umar al-Wāqidī, The life of Muḥammad:  kitāb al-Maghāzī, ed. Rizwi Faizer, Trans. Rizwi Faizer, Amal Ismail and AbdulKader Tayob, (London: Routledge, 2011), 406.
  73. Muhammad bin ‘Umar al-Wāqidī, The life of Muḥammad:  kitāb al-Maghāzī, ed. Rizwi Faizer, Trans. Rizwi Faizer, Amal Ismail and AbdulKader Tayob, (London: Routledge, 2011), 250.
  74. Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al- Ṭabarī. Vol. X, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Fred M. Donner (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1993), 131.
  75. Ma‘mar ibn Rāshid. The Expeditions. Ed. Joseph E. Lowry, Trans. Sean W. Anthony.  (New York: New York University Press, 2015). 63.
  76. Muhammad bin ‘Umar al-Wāqidī, The life of Muḥammad:  kitāb al-Maghāzī, ed. Rizwi Faizer, Trans. Rizwi Faizer, Amal Ismail and AbdulKader Tayob, (London: Routledge, 2011), 112.
  77. Muhammad Ibn Ishaq, The Life of Muhammad, ed. and trans. Alfred Guillaume, (Karachi: Oxford University Press, 2013), 658.
  78. Muhammad bin ‘Umar al-Wāqidī, The life of Muḥammad:  kitāb al-Maghāzī, ed. Rizwi Faizer, Trans. Rizwi Faizer, Amal Ismail and AbdulKader Tayob, (London: Routledge, 2011), 542.
  79. Muhammad bin ‘Umar al-Wāqidī, The life of Muḥammad:  kitāb al-Maghāzī, ed. Rizwi Faizer, Trans. Rizwi Faizer, Amal Ismail and AbdulKader Tayob, (London: Routledge, 2011), 538.
  80. Muhammad bin ‘Umar al-Wāqidī, The life of Muḥammad:  kitāb al-Maghāzī, ed. Rizwi Faizer, Trans. Rizwi Faizer, Amal Ismail and AbdulKader Tayob, (London: Routledge, 2011), 270.
  81. Muhammad bin ‘Umar al-Wāqidī, The life of Muḥammad:  kitāb al-Maghāzī, ed. Rizwi Faizer, Trans. Rizwi Faizer, Amal Ismail and AbdulKader Tayob, (London: Routledge, 2011), 260.
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