sirah.pdf THE SIRAH LITERATURE Sirah literature (biography of the Prophet), inspired as it was by the imposing personality of the Prophet and bearing the marks of the stormy political events of the conquests, of the social changes in the Muslim community and of the struggle of the different factions, came into being in the period following the death of the Prophet. It developed in the first half of the first century of the hijrah, and by the end of that century the first full-length literary compilations were produced. The development of Sirah literature is closely linked with the transmission of the Hadith and should be viewed in connection with it. Most of the reports about utterances and orders of the Prophet were, during his lifetime, transmitted orally, and few of them seem to have been written down. Although some accounts about the recording of the utterances, deeds and orders dictated by the Prophet to his Companions are dubious and debatablel and should be examined with caution (and ultimately rejected), some of them seem to deserve trust. The pacts which the Prophet concluded with the different groupings in Medina after his arrival in that city were apparently written down so as to serve as the legal basis for their communal life. His letters to rulers, governors and chiefs of tribes are recorded in some of the compilations of the Sirah. The Sirah also contains accounts of pacts concluded between the Prophet and conquered tribes or localities and of grants bestowed upon tribal leaders. Information about tax-collectors appointed by the Prophet was conveyed to the tribal units to which they were dispatched. The news about the victories of the Prophet and his conquests were widely circulated in the vast areas of the Arabian Peninsula. All this material came to form an essential part of the Sirah. In addition to this, the affection of the Companions of the Prophet and 1 E.g., on the sahifah of' Ali, cf. Ahmad b. 1:1anbal,Musnad, II, nos 1306, 1307, 1297. The Prophet did not single out the' Alids by anything not granted to others; the only thing hy which they were singled out was the sahifah attached to the scabbard of' Ali's sword (or in other sources that of the Prophet or that of 'Umar). It contained some short utterances about taxes imposed on camels (or, according to some, sheep), about the sanctity of Medina, the obligation to give protection to the People of the Book, etc. 352 THE SIRAH LITERATURE 353 their loyalty, respect and awe for him, in contrast to the attitudes, customs and practices of other communities towards their rulers, leaders and chiefs, constituted a favourite topic of conversation at the gatherings of his Companions as well as of his enemies, and were embodied into the compilations of the STrah. The daily contacts of the Prophet with his family and relatives, his adherents and adversaries, formed the subject matter recorded by the transmitters. The STrah aimed at giving information about the men who aided the Prophet loyally and faithfully, about stubborn opponents and enemies who persecuted him and those who later fought him, about hypocrites who concealed unbelief and hatred in their souls and about Companions who suffered and fought for him. Consequently the STrah became a record of the life of contemporary society, reflecting as it did the mutual relations between tht> Prophet and this society. Every member of this society is therefore assessed as to his virtues, views and actions and is placed on a graded scale according to his rank as believer, fighter, adherent and supporter, or as enemy or hypocrite. It is thus plausible that, in the early compilations of the STrah, people eagerly compiled lists of the first men who embraced Islam, the first who suffered for the cause of Islam, the first who emigrated to Abyssinia, the first Medinans who gave the oath of allegiance, the men who opposed the Prophet in Mecca, etc. Later special treatises dedicated to such subjects, the awa'il, were compiled.2 The careful evaluation of the deeds and actions of the Companions of the Prophet gave rise to the compilation of biographies of the ~a4abah. Furthermore, certain passages in the Qur'an, pointing to some events in the life of the community, required explanation and elucidation. It was necessary to specify to what people or events certain expressions or phrases referred. For an interpretation to be reliable in the opinion of the Muslim community it had to be based on an utterance ascribed to the Prophet or to one of his Companions. These utterances, stories or reports expounded the background and the circumstances of the verses of the Qur'an, establishing to whom they referred and providing details of the event recorded. These groups of Traditions, forming an essential part of the Sirah, developed into an independent branch of Quranic exegesis, the asbab al-nuziil (" the reasons for the revelations "). The lengthy passages from the early Tafsir of al-KalbI recorded by Ibn Tawiis,3 the bulk of Traditions transmitted on this subject of the asbab al-nuziil by many scholars in their commentaries bear evidence to the richness of this material and its role in the interpretation of the Qur'an. On the other hand the Sirah compilations recorded verses of the Qur'an, providing corresponding 2 For the aw;li/literature, cf. Sezgin, GAS, I, 176, 196, l zz. 3 Sa'd, 20 9-20. 354 THE SiRAH LITERATURE material of the circumstances of the revelation. The development of Sirah literature thus ran on parallel lines with that of the Tafsir, intertwining and overlapping, corroborating and sometimes contradicting it. EARLY COMPILATIONS A subject of considerable importance in the formation of Sirah literature, comprehensively dealt with also in some commentaries on the Qur'an, was the stock of stories about the creation of the world, as well as about the messengers and prophets mentioned in the Qur'an, who were sent by God to different peoples. These stories were extended and supplemented by additional material derived from Jewish, Christian and Zoroastrian sources, transmitted by converts from these religions to Islam. It is evident that these" biblical stories" had to get the approval of the orthodox circles. This could only be achieved, as is usual in Islam, by an utterance transmitted on the authority of the Prophet. The utterance used in this case (" Narrate [traditions] concerning the Children of Israel and there is nothing objectionable [in that]") legitimized the flood of the "biblical" legends and stories which poured into the domain of Islam. The first compilation of this kind seems to have been the book of Hamrnad b. Salamah (d. 167/783), a contemporary of Ibn Ishaq, entitled Akhbtir Bani Isrii'il. The process of elaborating and enlarging upon the stories of the Qur'an widened the scope of the Muslim conception of history. The biography of Muhammad and the formation of his community were decreed by God before the creation of Adam. Muhammad was destined to be a prophet long before the creation of Adam. Were it not for Muhammad, God would not have created Adam. Nine thousand years before things were created, says a Tradition, God created the Light of Muhammad, This Light turned around the Power (qudrah) and praised Him. From this Light God created a jewel; from this jewel He created sweet water and granted it His blessing. For a thousand years the water raged and could not come to rest. Then, from this Light God created ten things: the Throne, the Pen, the Tablet, the Moon, the Sun, the Stars, the Angels, the Light of the Believers, the Chair and Muhammad, The Light of Muhammad, which resided in the pure ancestors of the Prophet, was transmitted in the line of descendants until it reached the Prophet. God granted Adam the ku,!)ah (honorific name) Abu Muhammad, The name of Muhammad is written on the Throne of God; Adam saw this inscription when he was created. When he committed his sin, he begged God to forgive him by referring to the name of Muhammad, EARLY COMPILATIONS 355 The contact between the Muslim conquerors and the population of the conquered territories, bearers of ancient cultural and religious traditions with a rich lore of prophetical beliefs and stories, brought about the appearance of literature concerning the miracles of the Prophet. Stories about miracles, either performed by the Prophet himself or wrought for him by God, were widely current and were later collected; compilations of stories about his miracles were Amarii! al-nubuwwah, A'Iam al-nubuwwah, Dala'il al-nubuwwah. The miraculous power granted the Prophet by God, and his extraordinary feats, are often compared in these books with the miracles performed by the preceding prophets.! Tradition emphasizes that the Prophet was superior to other prophets in the graces granted to him and the miracles performed by him. God enjoined the prophets to tell their peoples of the appearance of Muhammad and to bid them embrace his faith. The assumption that this genre of the dala'il grew up under the impact of the contact with other faiths is confirmed by the account of a letter sent by Hartin al-Rashld to the Byzantine emperor in which he recorded the "proofs of the prophethood" (a'Iam al-nubuwwah) of Muhammad. The letter was compiled by Abii 'l-Rabi' Muhammad b. al-Layth al-Qurashi after a detailed perusal of the" books of the foreigners". 5 Al-Ma'miin, the son of Harun, is credited with a book entitled A'Iam al-nubuwwah; this seems to be the earliest compilation on this subject. It was followed by a treatise of al-j ahiz (d. 256/870), entitled Dala'il al-nubuwwah,6 and by al-j uzajani's (d. 259/873) Amaral al-nubuwwah. Later Ibn Qutaybah (d. 276/889) compiled his A'Iam al-nubuwwah. Books of dala"'il al-nubuwwah were compiled in the same period by Ibn Abi 'l-Dunya (d. 281/894) and Ibrahim al-Harbl, Other dala"'il books were compiled by al-Firyabi (d. 301/914), Ibrahim b. Harnmad b. Isbaq (d. 323/935), Muhammad b. al-Hasan al-Naqqash (d. 351/962), Abii 'l-Shaykh al-Isfahanl (d. 369/979), Muhammad b. 'Ali al-Shashi (d. 365/975) and Abii Hafs 'Umar b. Shahin (d. 386/996). A comprehensive book of dala"'iI, entitled Sharaf al-Mu~(afa, was compiled by 'Abd ai-Malik b. Muhammad al-Khargiishi (d. 407/1016). The" proofs of prophethood " form a considerable part of this compilation; however, it contains extremely rich material about the life of the Prophet. The author touches upon the pedigree of the Prophet, his virtues, his battles, his proverbs, his dreams, virtues of his family, virtues of Medina and of the Mosque of the Prophet, virtues of his Companions, virtues of Mecca and stories foretelling the appearance of the Prophet. AlKhargushi's book was widely circulated and it is often quoted by both • See e.g. al-Mawardl, A'liim, 68-70. 5 'Abd al-Jabbiir, Tathbit, I, 77-8. • Cf. al-Sandiibi, Rasa~iI, 1'7-14; Ift9aj al-nlihli/ll/llah. THE SiRAH LITERATURE Sunni and Shl'i authors. The famous Mu'tazili scholar 'Abd al-jabbar al-Hamadhani (d. 415/1024) discusses in his Tathbit dala'il al-nubuwwah the miracles of the Prophet against a wide background of historical situation, having recourse to comparisons with other religions and entering into polemics with the unorthodox sects of Islam. The compilations of the first half of the fifth century, the Dala'il of Abu Bakr Ahmad al-Bayhaql (d. 458/1066) and the Dala'il of Abu Nu'aym al-Isfahani (d. 430/1038), became very popular. Another book of dald'i! was written in the same period by Abu Dharr al-Harawi (d. 435/1043). Often quoted in later compilations of the Sirah literature is the compilation of the great scholar al-Mawardi (d. 450/1058), A'lam al-nubuwwah. In the same period, the Dala"'il of al-Mustaghfiri (d. 432/1040) was compiled. Among the many compilations of this genre the famous book of Qadl 'I ya<;l. al-Yahsubl (d. 544/ 1149), al-Shifa"' fi ta'rif I;uqiiq al-Mu{tafa, deserves special mention; it became one of the most popular and most admired books in some Muslim countries. The glorification of the person of the Prophet, as expounded in these compilations of the" proofs of prophethood ", was indeed a continuation of a very early trend which, as mentioned above, began shortly after the death of the Prophet. The miracles wrought by the Prophet, or for him, form an essential part of the Sirah of Ibn Ishaq ; in the Jami' of Ma'mar b. Rashid, a special chapter is devoted to this subject. Miraculous elements were included in the Sirah of Miisa b. 'Uqbah? and in the Sirah traditions reported by al-Zuhri.8 The earliest Sirah compilation, the Sirah of Wahb b. Munabbih (d. 110/728 or 114/732), contains an unusual amount of miraculous stories as attested by the fragments of the papyri." Flick was right in his conjecture, made before he read the fragments of the papyri, that the Sirah of Wahb was a work in which truth and legend about the life of the Prophet were interwoven, turning it into an entertaining story. 10 Indeed, the fragments of the papyri of Wahb contain the same kind of miraculous elements as can be found in later compilations. The role of the Devil in the council of the Meccans, convened to get rid of Muhammad, corresponds to what we have in later biographies of the Prophet. The setting of the story of the hijrah in the papyrus is similar to the accounts in later compilations: it contains, for instance, the miraculous story of Umm Ma'bad, recorded, with few variants, in almost every later Sirah; the story of Suraqah ; the story of the dove and the spider at the entrance of the cave and the dust thrown at the heads of the watching Qurashi guard , Cf. e.g. Sachau, "Berliner Fragment", 469 (the story of Suraqah}; 470 (the Prophet sees in his dream Jesus performing the circumambulation of the Ka'bah). 8 Duri, "al-Zuhri", the story of Suraqah. • Khoury, Wahb b. Mllnabbih, 1I8-7j. 10 Fuck, Mllqammad, 4. EARLY COMPILATIONS 357 besieging the house. All these stories are essential elements of the later biographies. Some passages of the papyrus of Wahb cannot, however, be traced in later compilations; they were apparently discarded. Such are the cases of al-Tufayl b. al-Harith's letter to Ja'far b. Abl Talib in Abyssinia and the story of Abu Bakr's meeting with the Devil; neither could be traced in other stories. A part of the papyrus contains a record of an expedition of 'All against Khath'am. This story fully attests the impact of the Shl'l trend on the development of early Sirah literature. A number of scholars have analysed with insight the various stages of the early compilations. The fragments of Wahb's Sirah corroborate the conjectures of these scholars about the popular and entertaining character of the early Sirah stories, a blend of miraculous narratives, edifying anecdotes and records of battles in which sometimes ideological and political tendencies can be discerned. These stories were widely circulated among the believers; pious men used to narrate the Sirah in mosques and to discuss the maghazi at their meetings. It was considered less binding as a duty to narrate the maghazi than to transmit utterances of the Prophet. Scholars refrained from recording Hadith utterances transmitted by unreliable scholars while they did not hesitate to relate maghazi material on their authority. It was only later, in the first half of the second century, that Haditb scholars reacted strongly against the popular Sirah literature and made attempts to discard dubious folk-stories by applying strict rules of Hadith criticism. They did not, however, succeed; the Sirah literature absorbed these narratives and they continued to be transmitted there. The fragment of Wahb's papyrus reflects the very early stage of the formation of the legendary type of Sirah; the Sirah of Ibn ISQaq is in fact a selective collection of this material. Late compilations such as al-Sirah al-If.alabryyah, al-Sirah al-Shamryyah, al-Zurqanl's Shar4 al-Mawahib and Mughultay's al-Zahr al-bdsim contain references to early popular Traditions not incorporated in the generally approved Sirah compilations. POETRY IN THE SiRAH A characteristic feature of early Sirah literature is the numerous poetical insertions.P The heroes of the stories narrated often improvise verses referring to the events recorded; in these poetical passages opponents blame others in verse, fighters expound their virtues and extol the virtues of their clans or their leaders, poets or relatives bewail the warriors killed in battle. These poetical compositions are generally of rather poor quality. The poetical passages attached to the maghazi stories closely resemble the 11 Cf. below cap. 18, "The poetry of the Siroh literature". THE SIRAH LITERATURE poetry of the ~yam (days of battle). A part of this poetry is false, and some of these forgeries were convincingly shown to be so by 'Arafat;12 a certain portion seems, however, to be authentic. But even the fake poems, reflecting as they do the internal struggles in the Muslim community, are of some importance: the historical allusions in .these verses may help to gain an insight into the event referred to; the activity of the forgers had its inception in the first decades of the first century, and the forgers were closely acquainted with the details of the event. Of interest are popular verses in the Sirah literature. Some are attributed to unseen persons, who recited them to the jinn, to idols, to the Devil or to his progeny. Such specimens of popular poetry can be found in the fragments of Wahb's Sirah, in the compilations of Ibn ISQaq,al-Tabari, Abu Nu'aym, al-Bayhaql and in the later biographies of the Prophet. This trend is well represented in the Sirah compilations of Abu 'l-Hasan al-Bakrl, Poems in praise of the Prophet preserve elements of the laudatory poems addressed to tribal leaders. The contents of the eulogies of the Prophet differ, however, in some respects; they specially stress his prophetic mission, emphasize his spiritual qualities, praise the new religion and point out personal or tribal allegiance to the Prophet and Islam. They breathe a spirit of the new faith and stress the moral values of Islam, often coupling them with the old ideas of tribal pride and boasting. Some observations on the change of attitude towards poetry in the early period of Islam may help us to gain a better insight for evaluating the poetry of the Sirah. The attitude towards poets and poetry in the Qur'an was clearly and explicitly unfavourable.P Some pious circles persisted in their negative attitude towards profane poetry, further supporting their argument by the famous utterance attributed to the Prophet: "It is better for a man that his body be full of pus than that he be full of poems."14 It is in accordance with this view that 'A'ishah vigorously denies, in a Tradition attributed to her, the claim that Abu Bakr ever recited poetry. In a speech ascribed to Mu'dwiyah poetry is counted among the seven things forbidden by the Prophet. A version of the Prophet's saying contains the following addition, which demonstrates the tendency to restrict its scope: "than that he be full of poems by which I was satirized" .15According to this enlarged version the transmission of poetry which does not contain satirical verses against the Prophet is permitted. 12 'Ararat, "Aspect", 31-3; 'Ararat, "Early critics", 4l3-63. 13 Qur'an, xxvi.ZZI-8. 1. Goldziher, Mlls/im S tudies, II, 16. 16 AI-SubkI, Tabaqdt, I, zz6-8. POETRY IN THE SiRAH 359 The same trend of concession and compromise is reflected in another Tradition attributed to the Prophet. The Prophet is said to have stated that some poetry is wisdom. A considerable part of poetry containing aphorism, exhortation, edification or moralizing clearly won the approval of orthodox circles. Another utterance attributed to the Prophet permits poetry if its aim is to gain justice from oppression, to gain means of deliverance from poverty and expression of gratitude for a favour received. It was pointed out that the reason why the transmission of poetry was forbidden was the fact that it served to excite inter-tribal discussions and disunity. The libellous and defamatory verses which might threaten the peaceful relations in Islamic society were dangerous and harmful. Such poetry was censured and rejected. But poetry supporting the Prophet and his struggle against the Unbelievers and verses written for the cause of Islam were, of course, praiseworthy. The exceptive phrase in Qur'an xxvi.zzS was explained as referring to the poets of the Prophet, who were commended. They were described as striking the Unbelievers with their verses. Consequently Sirah literature and adab compilations record stories that the Prophet encouraged poets who composed poems in praise of God, and liked to listen to good and beautiful poetry recited by poets. Abu Bakr, a Tradition says, came to the Prophet and, in his presence, met a poet who recited a poem. Abu Bakr asked: "How is that? Qur'an and poetry?" "Sometimes Qur'an and sometimes poetry," answered the Prophet.P There was thus good poetry, which was permitted and which the Prophet even sometimes recited, and bad poetry, which was forbidden. 'A'ishah formulated it as follows: "There is good and bad poetry: take the good and leave the bad."17 A similar Tradition is attributed to the Prophet: "Poetry is like speech; good poetry is like good speech, bad poetry is like bad speech.Yl" According to this utterance the ban on poetry is almost entirely lifted; the listener had to distinguish between good and bad poetry and choose the good, just as he ought to distinguish between good and bad speech and choose the good. The pious Ibn 'Umar indeed acted in this way: he listened to a recitation of a poet; when the poet began to recite unseemly verses he stopped him. A further step in the development of the favourable attitude towards poetry was the legitimization of Jahiliyyah verse. A Tradition, attributed to the Prophet on the authority of Abu Hurayrah, states that the Prophet gave licence for the transmission of Jahiliyyah poetry with the exception 16 17 18 Al-Isfahanl, Muqa4arat, r, 79. AI-JIlini, Fadl, II, 314, no. 866. Qurtubl, Jam,', XIII, r 50. THE SIRAH LITERATURE of two poems (one of Vmayyah b. AbI 'I-Salt, the other of al-A'sha). The same idea is reflected in Traditions that the Prophet used to sit with his Companions and listen to their recitation of pre-Islamic poetry, smiling (that is, with approval). Among the pieces recited in the presence of the Prophet are verses of praise, of contemplation on life and death, of belief and piety; there are also some erotic verses, verses recited by women at a wedding celebration, and even a complaint of a poet deserted by his wife.l" The favourable attitude towards poetry is represented in Traditions stating that the four Orthodox Caliphs were poets, that they either quoted verses or listened to recitations of poems. 'A'ishah is said to have had a good know lege of poetry; she recited verses of JihilI poets and encouraged people to study poetry. Ibn Mas'fid used to recite poetry of the cryyam (battles of the pre-Islamic Arabs). Abu Dharr (d. 604/ I 2°7) quotes an opinion of a Muslim scholar, that the ban on the transmission of poetry was imposed when there were conflicts between Muslims and unbelievers. But once people had embraced Islam and animosities between believers had disappeared there was no objection to transmitting poetry. This view is in fact based on the actual situation in Muslim society of the first century. Poetry was widely transmitted; poems were recited at private meetings, in the markets and even in the mosques. The great scholar al-Sha'bI (d. 103/721) recited poetry in the mosque of Kufa. 'Abdullah b. al-Zubayr was surprised to find a group of people reciting poetry in the court of the mosque of Mecca; they argued that it was not the kind of poetry which was forbidden. When 'Vmar reproached Hassan for reciting poetry in the mosque of Medina, he said: "I recited poetry in this mosque in the presence of a man who was better than you." Hassan was referring, of course, to the Prophet. 'Vmar left him and permitted poetry to be recited in the mosque. Muhammad b. Slrln was asked, when in the mosque, whether it was permitted to recite poetry during the month of Ramadan (some people even went so far as to claim that recitation of poetry nullified the ritual ablution). He immediately recited a verse which was far from being chaste, and stood up straightaway to lead the prayer. It was Ibn SIrIn who, when rebuked for reciting a J ahilI verse, said: "What is disliked is poetry composed in Islam; poetry composed in the period of the Jahiliyyah has already been condoned." It is possible to guess at the identity of those who persisted consistently in stubborn opposition to the transmission of poetry from a significant remark by Sa'Id b. al-Musayyab. Having been told that some people in Iraq disliked poetry, he said: "They became ascetics in a non-Arab fashion." 19 See al-A'sha, Dfwiin, 218-19. POETRY IN THE SiRAH Transmission of poetry was encouraged by rulers and governors; poetry became one of the subjects essential to the education of the Umayyad prince. Poetry continued to be one of the most favoured preoccupations of Muslim society in the first century and even fighting troops on the battlefield showed a vivid interest in it. What poet surpasses others in the art of poetry? Who is the best poet? These were common subjects of talk and discussion. An alleged saying of the Prophet accurately reflects the love of poetry of the Arabs: "They will not give up poetry until camels give up yearning [for their resting places ]."20 Ibn AbI 'l-Sa'ib al-Makhziimi expounded it in an utterance very much to the point: "By God, were poetry banned, we would be punished at court several times every day [that is, for reciting it]. "21 The origin of the Sirab poetry, its formation and growth have to be viewed against the background of the uninterrupted transmission of poetry and the struggle for its legitimization. Simple, not elaborate, but vivid, it became a regular component of the early Sirab literature, and was popular and widespread. It was not earlier than the second/eighth century that the content of the early Sirahs came under the scrutiny of scholars and the criteria of ijad{th scholars were applied to assess their validity. This applied to the poetry in the S{rah as well as to its prose portions. GENEALOGY Genealogy was an essential subject of the S{rah literature. Traditions stress the purity of the Prophet's pedigree and the qualities of his ancestors. Special chapters were dedicated to the virtues of Quraysh and the family of the Prophet, the Hashimites. Utterances attributed to the Prophet tried to prove that there was a close link between the ancestors of the Prophet and Islam. Ka'b b. Lu'ayy is said to have foretold the appearance of the Prophet. The Prophet is said to have forbidden the disparagement of Mudar because he was a proto-Muslim. Other versions of the utterance of the Prophet forbid the disparagement of RabI'ah, Imru' al-Qays, Asad b. Khuzaymah, Tamlm and al-Harith b. Ka'b; they all were said to have been Muslims or believers in the faith of Abraham. Another list of the ancestors of the Prophet whom it was forbidden to abuse, because they were true believers, includes 'Adnan, Ma'add, Udad, Khuzaymah, Tamim, Asad and Dabbah. Khuzaymah b. Mudrikah was the first who uttered the testimony of faith. Al-Yas b. Mudar was also a true Believer; he was the first who offered 20 21 Ibn Rashiq, 'Umdah, Ibid. I, 17. THE SIRAH LITERATURE sacrifices in the baram of Mecca and it is forbidden to abuse him. Ma'add was a follower of the Hanlfiyyah of Ibrahim (Abraham), 'Adnan acted according to the Hanlfiyyah ; he was the first who clothed the Ka'bah with leather clothes. Nizar was endowed with the "light of prophethood", which was handed on to Muhammad, The glory of the pedigree of the Prophet was extended, as a matter of course, to include the whole of Quraysh; the idea of the excellency of Quraysh was embodied in the rich literature of Fac/ii'il QurC!Jsh. Quraysh, says a Tradition traced back to 'Abdullah b. 'Abbas, were the light in the presence of God two thousand years before the creation of Adam; this light, reposited first in Adam, passed on and was transmitted to the Prophet.V The excellence of the pedigree of the Prophet is formulated in an utterance of the Prophet: "The best of the Arabs are Mudar ; the best of Mudar are 'Abd Manaf; the best of 'Abd Manaf are Banu Hashim; the best of Banii Hashim are Bami 'Abd al-Muttalib, By God, since God created Adam never was there a division of people into two parts without my being in the better one.'?" An opposite tendency, that of depreciating the excellence of Quraysh, is evident in a Tradition stating that all the Arab tribes have their share in the pedigree of the Prophet. Pious circles in the Muslim community, struggling against the excessive study of genealogy, nevertheless stressed the value and importance of the genealogy of the Prophet. The interdiction on tracing genealogical lineages beyond Ma'add was not followed in the case of the pedigree of the Prophet; his genealogy was traced back to Abraham and the close link of descent and prophecy between him and Abraham was especially stressed. FACTIONALISM The constant struggles between the various political and ideological factions in Islamic society left their mark on the formation of the Sirah. Invented stories and alleged utterances served the cause of the rulers, pretenders and rebels. Some examples are quoted below. The 'Abbasid bias can be clearly seen in the story of the attempt to sacrifice the father of the Prophet, 'Abdullah. It was al-f Abbas, according to this version, who drew him out from under the feet of 'Abd al-Muttalib, trying to save his life. It was al-'Abbas who was the first to kiss the Prophet after he was born; his mother took him to the abode of Aminah, the Prophet's mother, and the women in the house drew him to the cradle of the Prophet, encouraging him and saying: "Kiss thy brother!" The same tendency is evident in the story that al-'Abbas took the oath of .2 Ghanamah, Maniiqil, fols 3b-4a. •• Suyutl, Durr, III, '94-j. FACTIONALISM allegiance from the An~ar for the Prophet at the 'Aqabah meeting. Not less tendentious is the report that al-'Abbas embraced Islam before the battle of Badr and served as a spy of the Prophet in Mecca. The utterance attributed to the Prophet, "Al-'Abbas is indeed my trustee (wa!i) and my heir; 'All and I are closely related",24 bears the mark of an 'Abbasid and anti-Shi'ite tradition, standing in contrast to the ShI'I tradition about the trusteeship of 'AII.25 The general expression '''AlI and I are closely related" merely serves to emphasize the special position of 'Abbas. The famous utterance of the Prophet known as the" Tradition of the Garment" (Ifadith al-kisa"'), when he is said to have covered 'AlI, al-Hasan and al-Husayn with a garment, establishes the entity of the" Family of the Prophet" (AM al-Bt!Yt) and provides an essential argument for the legitimacy of 'All's claim to the caliphate; it has its counterpart in an opposing Tradition, according to which the Prophet covered al-'Abbas and his sons with a garment and said that they were the Family. It is not surprising to find a ShI'I Tradition describing how al-'Abbas and Abu Lahab instigated people against the Prophet and publicly denounced him as a liar. The Tradition about the pact of fraternity (mu'akhah) between the Prophet and 'AII26 is contradicted by a Tradition that the Prophet said: "If I had chosen a friend I would have chosen Abu Bakr, but he is my brother and Companion.t'P? The Tradition which talks about the close fraternal relation between the Prophet and 'AlI is of crucial importance for proving 'AlI's legitimate claim to the caliphate. The contradictory reports about the first man to embrace Islam, whether it was Abu Bakr, 'Allor Zayd b. Harithah, reflect the different opinions of the religio-political parties. The ShI'ah vigorously affirm, of course, that the first believer was 'AlI. An Umayyad bias can be noticed in a peculiar Tradition reporting that the family of Abu Sufyan, himself an Umayyad, were the first to be admonished and warned by the Prophet. Abu Sufyan rejected the scornful words of his wife, saying that the Prophet was not a liar or a wizard. There are divergent and contradictory reports about various events in the life of the Prophet. Some incidents, even very prominent ones, are subject to debate by transmitters and scholars. Only a few cases may be reviewed here. Varying Traditions about the number and identity of the children of the Prophet were further blurred by the tendentious inventions of the AI-MuttaqI 'I-HindI, Kanz, XII, 280, no. ,649, .6 GanjI, Kifiiyat, 260-1. .8 Ibid., '92-3 . • 7 Ibn AbI 'l-Hadld, Shar~ nahj al-baliipha, XI, 49. .4 THE SIRAH LITERATURE religio-political factions. A ShI'I report stated that Ruqayyah and Zaynab were the daughters of Halah, the sister of Khadljah ; another Tradition claimed that they were the daughters of J ahsh, 28 This served as a weighty argument in ShI'I polemics against 'Uthman, who was called Dhii '1-Nurayn, it was said, because he had married two daughters of the Prophet. There are different reports also about the date of birth of the Prophet, of his revelation, about the age of Khadijah when she married the Prophet, about the hijrah, the change of the qiblah (direction of prayer) and about the chronology of the battles and raids of the Prophet. Lists of participants in crucial events were deliberately rearranged or changed. Some of the An~ar, says a report of Ibn al-Kalbi and al-WaqidI, omitted certain names from the list of participants at the' Aqabah meeting, substituting the names of their relatives, who had not attended the meeting. The lists of participants at the battle of Badr were also a subject of debate. Ibn Sa'd felt constrained to consult the genealogy of the Ansar, and having done this, he removed a spurious name from the list of those who took part in the battle of Badr.P" The reports about the number of the Companions who were present at the oath of allegiance at al-I:fudaybiyah are divergent. There were conflicting Traditions about the person appointed to take charge of Medina when the Prophet went out to Badr and the one bidden to divide the booty after the battle. Reports concerning the warriors who remained with the Prophet at Uhud and those who deserted the battlefield are similarly divergent; among the latter group ShI'I tradition counts Abu Bakr, 'Umar and 'Uthrnan, while' AlI was, of course, of those who stayed with the Prophet and defended him. How far political interests had a bearing upon the transmission of the Sirah can be seen in the following story. Al-ZuhrI told his student, Ma'mar b. Rashid, that it was 'AlI who had written out the treaty of al-Hudaybiyah, and added, laughing: "If you asked these people they would say it was 'Uthrnan who wrote the treaty." By" these people", Ma'mar remarks, "He meant the Umayyads.t'P" Another anecdote illustrates the attempts made by the Umayyads and their governors to denigrate 'AlI in the Sirah. Khalid b. 'Abdullah al-Qasri bade al-Zuhrl write down the Sirah for him. AI-ZuhrI asked: "If I come across events related to 'AlI, may I mention them?" "No," said Khalid, "except when you see him in the lowest part of Hell. "31 In another story al-Zuhri courageously refuses to transfer the guilt of slandering of' A'ishah from 'Abdullah b. Ubayy to 'AlI.32 28 2. 31 Ibn Shahrashub, Malliiqib iii Abi Tiilib, Ibn Sa'd, Tabaqdt, III, j' 3. Horovitz," Biographies ", 49. I, '38, '40. 30 32 'Abd al-Razzaq, Mu{allllaj, v, 343, no. 9722. Horowitz, "Biographies ", I. C. II, 41. FACTIONALISM The favours bestowed on al-Zuhri by the Umayyads and the close relations between him and the rulers aroused the suspicions of independent Haditb scholars as to his integrity. The pious Sa'd b. Ibrahim b. 'Abd al-Rahman b. 'Awf chided al-ZuhrI for transmitting a qadith in which the Prophet said that a caliph may not be invoked. Sa'd mentioned a case in which the Prophet was invoked and said: " How can it be that the Prophet was invoked and ai-Wand should not be invoked P'" It is evident that the aim of the Tradition invented was to encourage respect for the Umayyad rulers. Salamah b. DInar Abu Hazim, a pious scholar, sent to al-Zuhri a lengthy letter censuring him for his co-operation with the oppressive Umayyad rulers and criticizing him severely for helping them in caring for their power and authority and in their aiming at worldly gain. He serves the oppressive rulers, "who have turned him into the axle of the wheel of their falsehood and into a bridge for their deceit and error", says Salamah. By his services they sow doubts in the souls of scholars and gain the favour of the ignorant. It is hard to deny that these accusations have some foundation, and the assertion that he (i.e. al-ZuhrI) "was not influenced by political parties and tried to give an impartial account of what he had seen in Medina "34 is open to doubt. The possibility that his Traditions concerning the STrah were influenced by his ties with the Umayyad court cannot be excluded. ShI'I scholars counted him among the Traditionists whose attitude towards' All was hostile. Although highly respected by Sunni scholars engaged in assessing the credibility of Ff.adTthtransmitters Uarq wa-ta'dTI), he was nevertheless recorded in the lists of the mudallisiin. An early report of al-Asrna'I, traced back to Hisham b. 'Urwah, states that al-ZuhrI used to expand or abbreviate the long accounts recorded by his father, 'Urwah. A closer examination of the activities of al-ZuhrI and of the Traditions transmitted by him may help us to acquire an insight into the formative stage of the development of Sirab lore and Haditb. It is, furthermore, important for the evaluation of the formation of Sirah literature to consider the differences between the various schools of Tradition, especially those between Medina and Iraq. These differences were often pointed out in the literature of Hadith and a special compilation was dedicated to this problem. The attacks against the Iraqi school were fierce and passionate, and the Traditions of its scholars were often stigmatized as lies. It is noteworthy also that divergences and contradictions could be found between the accounts transmitted by the disciples of the same Traditionist. 33 3' Ibn Durayd, Mujtana, II. Dud, "al-Zuhri", roff, THE SiRAH LITERATURE MAJOR SiRAH COMPILATIONS The section on the biography of the Prophet in the Ta'rikh of al-Tabari (d. 310/922) records a wealth of early Traditions carefully provided with isndds. The philologist and commentator on the Qur'an, al-Zajjaj (d. 3II/923) is credited with a Maghazicompilation.35 Muhammad b. Hartin al-Ansari al-DimashqI (d. 353/964) wrote a book entitled ~iJat al-nabi. The great scholar of Haditb, Muhammad b. Hibban al-Bustl (d. 354/965), the author of a book on the ~aqabah, compiled a biography of the Prophet. At the end of the fourth century the philologist Ahmad b. Faris compiled a book on the names of the Prophet and another about the life of the Prophet. A concise 5 irah compiled by Ibn Hazm (d. 456/1064)36 was based on the terse biography of the Prophet composed by Ibn 'Abd ai-Barr (d. 463/1071), al- Durar .ft' khti!ari I-magnazi tua-l-siyar, The later compilations, like the commentary of al-SuhaylI (d. 581/1185) on Ibn Hisharn's Sirah, al-Rawq al-unuJ, the Bid4Jat al-su'iil of'Abd al-'AzIz b. 'Abd al-Salarn al-SulamI (d. 660/1262), the K. al-1lr-tiJa' of al-Kala'I (d. 634/1236), the Kheldsat siyar St!Yyid al-basbar of al-Muhibb al-Tabari (d. 684/1285), the 'Uyiin al-atbar of Ibn Sayyid al-Nas (d. 734/1333), the section of the Sirah in al-Nuwayri's (d. 732/1331), Nih4Jat al-arab, and the section of the Sfrah in Ibn KathIr's (d. 774/1372) al-Bid4Jah wa-'I-nih4Jah contain a great number of early Traditions derived from lost or hitherto unpublished compilations. Of special importance is the work of Mughultay (d. 762/1360), al-Zahr al-bdsim, Arguing in his polemic against al-SuhaylI's al-Rawq al-unuJ, Mughultay records an unusually large number of quotations from various recensions of diwans, collections of poetry, compilations of genealogy, philology, lexicography, commentaries on the Qur'an, biographies of the Prophet, books of adab and history. The painstaking efforts of Mughultay to establish correct readings, his checking of variants, his pursuit of every record and Tradition, his comprehensive knowledge, turn his compilation into a veritable treasure for the study of Sirah literature and help towards a better understanding of the controversial ideas of the scholars about the activities of the Prophet and his personality. Summarizing compilations of the Sirab were provided by Yahya b. AbI Bakr al-'Amiri (d. 893/1488) in his Babiab, and by Taql 'I-DIn al-Maqrlzi (d. 845/1441) in his Imtd', Three late compilations deserve special attention: theSubul( = Sfrahal-Shamryyah) of Muhammad b. Yusuf al-Salihi (d. 942/1535), the lnsdn al-'''!}'iin.ft sirat al-amin al-ma'miin (= al-Sirah al-fJalabryyah) of'AlIb. Burhan al-Dln (d. 1044/1634), and the commentary '5 Cf. cap. 16, "The Maghiizi literature". 38 Jawami'. MAJOR SiRAH COMPILATIONS by al-Zurqani (d. 1122/1710) on the al-Mawahib al-Iadunryyah of al-Qastallanl (d. 923/15 17)' Al-Sirah al-Shamryyah is one of the most comprehensive compilations of the biography of the Prophet. Al-~alil).I drew, according to his statement in the preface, on more than three hundred books. He accumulated an enormous number of Traditions, narratives and reports from sirab compilations, Haditb collections, books of dala"'il, shama"'il, kha{a"'i{, histories of cities and dynasties, biographies of transmitters of Haditb, and treatises of asceticism and piety, recording carefully the variants of the reported Traditions and attaching detailed lexicographical explanations of difficult words and phrases. AI-Sirah al-Fjalabryyah, although extracted mainly from al-Sirah alShamryyah, contains a great deal of additions by al-Halabi. It is one of the characteristic features of this compilation that al-Halabi records divergent and contradictory Traditions and strives to harmonize them. Al-Zurqani gives, in his meticulous commentary, a wealth of Traditions corroborating or contradicting the reports recorded by al-Qastallani. The late compilations thus contain an immense wealth of material derived from early sources. Some of these Traditions, stories, reports and narratives are derived from lost or hitherto unpublished sources. Some Traditions, including early ones, were apparently omitted in the generally accepted Sirab compilations, faded into oblivion, but reappeared in these late compilations. . Only a small part of the sirab compilations have been mentioned above. The uninterrupted flow of transmission of Traditions on the life of the Prophet embedded in the rich literature of Qur'an commentaries, collections of Haditb, works of adab, history, polemics of religio-political parties and works of piety and edification, is remarkable. The ramifications of Sirah literature, such as the literature on the ,$aqabah, on the ancestors of the Prophet, on his genealogy, servants, secretaries, on the habits and characteristics of the Prophet, on his birth, on the" night-journey" (isra"') and "ascent" (mi'rij), are indispensable for an adequate study of the development of the conception the Muslim community formed, throughout the ages, of the person of the Prophet. The narratives of the Sirah have to be carefully and meticulously sifted in order to get at the kernel of historically valid information, which is in fact meagre and scanty. But the value of thisJnformation for the scrutiny of the social, political, moral and literary ideas of the Muslim community cannot be overestimated; during the centuries, since Muslim society came into existence, the revered personality of the Prophet served as an ideal to be followed and emulated. 

mecca_tribes.pdf MECCA AND THE TRIBES OF ARABIA: SOME NOTES ON THEIR RELATIONS Reports about the relations between Mecca, Medina and the various tribal units of the Arabian peninsula are scarce. A scrutiny of some of these reports may contribute to a better understanding of certain events in the Arabian peninsula in the second half of the sixth century and the beginning of the seventh century. Certain data supplied by early transmitters may be helpfu1 in elucidating the peculiar methods used by the Meccan clans in their attempts to gain the sympathy of other tribal units and acquire their cooperation in order to secure the continuity of the Meccan mercantile activities and the performance of the ritual practices at the Ka cba. Some accounts indicate that clashes broke out from time to time between certain Meccan clans and the tribal groups; others point to the involvement of the Meccan and Medinan Ieaders in the efforts to solve intertribal conflicts. A few reports give information concerning the activities of the tribal groups at Mecca itself, their share in the politics of Mecca, and their involvement in the erection of the building of the Sanctuary at Mecca. Some aspects of these relations will be discussed in the following pages. I A clash which took place between a tribal faction and a Qurashi clan comes to light in a story recorded by al-Zubayr b. Bakkar 1 on the authority of Mul:tammad b. al-Qahhak al-l:lizimi,2 a Fazari transmitter I:lurayth b. Riyal:t "and others"; Everybody who performed the pilgrimage from among the Bedouins used to stop by one of the clans of Quraysh and that clan supplied them garments in which they used to perform the circumambulation of the Ka 'ba; at their arrival at Mecca they (i.e. the Bedouin pilgrims - K) threw away the clothes which they wore. The Qurashi clan in whose abode they 1 AI-Zubayr b. Bakkiir, Jamharat nasab quraysh, MS. Bodley, Marsh 384, fol. 128b. , See on him: al-Zubayr b. Bakkiir, op. cit., ed. MaJ;miid Muqammad,Shiikir (Cairo, 1381), I, 402, 494; al-Fiisi, al-'Iqd al-thamin fi ta'rikhi l-baladi l-amin, ed. Fu'iid Sayyid (Cairo, 1385/1966), V, 47-48, no. 1421; al-Bukhiri, al-Ta'rikh al-kabir(rpt. Hyderabad, n.d.), IV, 334, no. 3030: al-Sam'iini, al-Anstib, ed. 'Abd al-Ral}miin al-Mu'alliml (Hyderabad, 1384/1964), IV, 148; Fuat Sezgin, GAS, I, 266, no. 2. sojourned, used to take from them (a part of - K) what they slaughtered. The Fazara, the report continues, used to alight with al-Mughira b. (Abdallah b. 'Umar al-Makhzumi, The first who denied al-Mughira the (lots of the - K) slaughtered beasts was Khushayn b. La'y al-Fazari aI-Shamkhi. AI-Mughira threatened him and Khushayn refrained from performing the pilgrimage. He said: Ya rabbi hal 'indaka min ghafirah: uslihu mali wa-ada ( nahirali inna minan mdnituhu l-mughirah: wa-mant'un baida minan thabirah wa-mani'un baytaka an azurah "0 Lord, is there forgiveness with you: I shall set my herds right and leave their slaughter Indeed I am prevented from coming to Minii by al-Mughira: and prevented by him to come to Thabir after Minii. And he prevents me from visiting thy House." The report recorded by Ibn Abi l-Hadid is a shorter version of aI-Zubayr's account; it contains however some peculiar divergencies; it is told within the frame of a series of utterances and anecdotes which emphasize the virtues and laudable deeds of the members of the clan of Makhziim: among the eminent men of Makhziim there is mentioned "the leader of Quraysh" (sayyid quraysh fi l-jahiliyya), who was the man who debarred (the tribe of - K) Faziira from performing the hajj (wa-huwa lladhi mana' a fazdrata mina l-~aiil). This happened, the report says, when Khushayn b. La)y blamed "a people of Quraysh" ('ayyara qawman min quraysh) of having taken (a share of - K) the camels slaughtered by the Bedouins tal-t arab) during the period of the pilgrimage (al-mawsim). Then Khushayn recited the verses about al-Mughira's action. 3 A more detailed report is recorded by al-Baladhuri" on the authority of Abu l-Yaqzan.! The Fazari who refused to give al-Mughira the required share of the slaughtered beasts was Zuwaylim b. 'Arin b. Khushayn, the grandson of Khushayn. Zuwaylim, according to the tradition, set out in the period of the Jiihiliyya in order to perform the pilgrimage and alighted at the court of alMughira b. (Abdallah al-Makhziimi, Al-Mughira bade him pay the harim, i.e. the pay rendered to Quraysh by the men of the tribes who alighted in their dwellings in the period of the Jiihiliyya; this harim consisted of a part of the J Ibn Abi I-Hadid, SharI] nahj al-baldgha, ed. Muhammad Abu I-Fa41 Ibrahim (Cairo, 1382/1963), XVIII, 297 (read in the first hemistich ghajira, not 'aqira; in the third hemistich read minan mdni'uhu instead of minnd mdniiun; in the fourth read thabirah instead of bathirah. 4 Al-Baladhuri, Ansab al-ashrdf, MS. Ashir Efendi 597/8, fol. 1161a. l See on him, GAS, I, 266, no. 3. 34 MECCA AND THE TRIBES OF ARABIA clothes (of the Bedouins whom the Qurashites acommodated - K) and a share of the meat of the slaughtered beasts. Then Zuwaylim recited the verses in which he complained of al-Mughira's iniquitous demands and of his actions which prevented him (i.e. Zuwaylim - K) from performing the rites of pilgrimage." A shortened version of this report is given by Ibn Durayd.? Zuwaylirn's deed was praised by one of his relatives, the Fazari poet Jabbar b. Malik b. Himar b. Hazn b. 'Amr b. Jabir b. Khushayn." Jabbar said: wa-nahnu mana' nii min qurayshin harimaha : bi-makkata ayyama 1tahdluqi wa-l-nahri. "We denied Quraysh their harim : at Mecca on the days of the shaving [of heads - KJ and of the siaughter [of victims - KJ."9 But Zuwaylim revolted not only against the iniquitous rules and payments imposed on his tribe by some of the Meccan Ieaders; he also rebelled against the unjust deeds of his relatives, the Ieaders of his tribe. According to some reports Khushayn b. La 'y, the grandfather of Zuwaylim, was one of the famous warriors of Fazara; he was nicknamed dhsi l-ra'sayn, "The Man with the Two Heads," and nobody in Fazara equalled him in the number of raids carried out by him.!? His grandson 'Amr b. Jabir b. Khushayn regarded it as his privilege to get two young camels from every captive captured by Ghatafan (to whom Fazara belonged - K) and freed on ransom. II Zuwaylim decided to prevent him from unjustly levying this share of the ransom. The motives of his action are clearly expounded in two of his verses: ard 'amran yastimu l-ndsa khasfan : lahu min kulli 'iinin bakratdni fa-inn; diifi'un md kunta tu'{ii : fa-hal laka bi-ntizdilhimd yaddni "I see 'Amr wronging the people : to him [belongs the right - KJ to take from every captive two young camels. , The verses recorded by al-Baladhuri differ slightly from those recorded by al-Zubayr b. Bakkiir; they read as follows: yei rabbi hal 'Indaka min ghqfirah : inna minan mdni' uhd 1mughirah. wa-mdni' un baida minan thabirah : wa-mdnt'T rabbi an aztiran : ahbisu mali waada' tanhtrah. 7 Ibn Durayd, al-Ishtiqdq, ed. 'Abd al-Salam Hiiriin (Cairo, 1378/1958), p. 282 (the final hemistich, as recorded by al-Baladhuri, is missing). • On Miilik b. Himar see Caskel, {;amhara! an-nasab (Das Genealogische Werk des Ibn alKalM (Leiden, 1966), II, 389. • Al-Baladhuri, MS., fol. 116Ib, sup.; on Jabbar b. Miilik see al-Amidi, al-Mu'talif wa-lmukhtalif, ed. 'Abd al-Sattar Farriij (Cairo, 1381/1961), pp. 128, 138. 10 Al-Baladhuri, MS., fol. 1161, quoting it on the authority of Ibn al-Kalbi, This assessment is indeed recorded in Ibn al-Kalbi, Jamharat al-nasab, MS. Br. Mus., Add. 23, 297, fol. 175b. 11 Ibn al-Kalbi, Jamhara, MS. Br. Mus., fol. 175b; Ibn Hazrn, Jamharat ansdb al-t arab, ed. 'Abd al-Saliim Hiiriin (Cairo, 1382/1963), p. 259; al-Baladhuri, MS., fol. 1161a. 35 But I am repudiating what you have been given : do you have the power to snatch them [from my hands - KJ? 12 The leadership of one of the sons of Khushayn (Jabir? - K) was apparently anything but benign; he killed a man who dared to compose verses against him. This deed was praised by a Fazari poet, Ibn a1-'Anqa, who extolled the strength and glory of the "Son of the Man with Two Heads." 13 The few details about Zuwaylim give us some insight into the struggle for justice waged by certain courageous tribal rebels against the iniquitous actions of tribal Ieaders and the oppressive deeds of members of the Meccan nobility. According to a peculiar tradition even the fundamental event of the transfer of custody over the Ka 'ba to Qusayy came about as an outcome of struggle against the iniquity of Qusayy's predecessor, Abu Ghubshan, According to an account traced back to Ibn Jurayj and recorded by al-Fakihi from a compilation of al-Waqidi, the slaughter ofthe bahira camels (i.e. Iope-eared she camels set free - K) was carried out (scil. in the period of the J ahiliyya - K) at the Ka' ba, close to Isaf and N a 'ila (who were at that time Iocated close to the Ka 'ba - K).14 Abu-Ghubshan used to take for himself the head and the neck of every bahira slaughtered; later he considered this to be insufficient and ordered to add to it the shoulders, and people obeyed. But afterwards Abu Ghubshan required in addition the hind part of the victim; however, people were reluctant to obey this. When a man of the Bami 'Uqayl, Murra b. Kathir (or Kabir), slaughtered the victim at the Ka'ba, Abu Ghubshan demanded to hand over to him the parts of the animal which he regarded as his due. The 'Uqayli disobeyed and "people from Quraysh and others" supported the argument of the 'Uqayli and pronounced the bid of Abu Ghubshan as 'abath, "a wicked deed". Consequently Abu Ghubshan declared that he would not stay in Mecca if people did not accede to his demands, and decided to give up his prerogative at the Ka 'ba for a wine skin. In this way Qusayy acquired control of the Ka 'ba, IS AI-Balidhuri, MS., fol. 1161a. Al-Baladhuri, MS., fol. 1161b: abd li-bni dhi l-ra'sayni majdun muqaddamun: wa-sayfun idhd massa l-daribata yaqla'u fa-qultu li-shawwdlin tawaqqa dhubdbahd: wa-Id-ta~mi anfan an yusabba muraqqa'u The name of the executed man was Shawwil b. Muraqqa' . •< About the location of lsir and Ni'i1a see U. Rubin, "The Ka'ba. Aspects of its ritual functions and position in pre-Islamic and early Islamic times," JSAI (forthcoming) ad notes 12 13 49-50, 121, 172-173, 175. •, Al-Fasi, Shlfd al-ghardm bi-akhbdri I-baladi I-~ardm (Cairo, 1956), II, 54. 36 MECCA AND THE TRIBES OF ARABIA The stories concerning Abu Ghubshan and Qusayy, or Zuwaylim and Mughira, are but two instances in a chain of reports relating to the incessant struggle of some tribal groups associated with Quraysh to establish fair and honest relations with Meccan clans and the strenuous efforts of some Meccan leaders to secure justice at Mecca itself. Terms like baghy, khasf, zulm and jawr appearing in reports of this kind enable us to reach an understanding of the character of the struggle against iniquity and oppression . • The period of the end of the sixth and the beginning of the seventh century was characterized by intertribal conflicts and by the pressure of the Byzantine and Persian Empires (through their vassal states) on the tribal divisions aimed at widening their influence and tightening their control over the Arabian peninsula. Mecca extended in that period its commercial relations, becoming a centre of economic activity for the tribes of the Arabian peninsula. and strengthened its ties with other centres Iike Medina and Tit )if; transactions of considerable extent involving the purchase of landed property and financial enterprises were carried out by Meccan businessmen.l" The commercial co-operation of the merchants of the cities (like Mecca and Medina) with the tribes called for acumen, flexibility and close knowledge of intertribal relations. This can be seen in the story of Qays b. Zuhayr al-'Absi:" when he decided to prepare a raid against the Bami (Amir in order to avenge the murder of his father, he set out to Medina and approached Uhayha b. alJulah al-Awsi, asking that he should sell him weapons. He inquired especially about a strongly built coat of mail owned by Uhayha; he wished to buy it or to receive it as a gift. Uhayha's answer was a shrewd one: "A man like me does not sell weapons; would I know that the Bami (Amir will not claim that I extended help against them to their enemies I would present it to you as a gift." Uhayha was grateful to the Banii (Amir for the praises by which he was lauded in the poem of Khalid b. Ja'far of the (Amir b. ~a(~a(a; he extolled him as the man of Yathrib who was capable of granting shelter and protection. Uhayha was not ready to forfeit his friendly relations with the (Amir. 18 He nevertheless 16 17 18 See e.g. JSAl, 1 (1979), 8-'10, 17. See on him e.g. Caskel, Gamhara, II, 464. Al-Baladhuri, MS., fot. 1154a: wa-kdna ulJaylJatu yal1fa;u II-bani 'timirin anna khdlida bna ja'farin abytitin awwaluhti •. idhti mti aradta 1-'izza fi ahli yathribin •.fa-ndd! bi-sawtin yti-ul}ayl}atu tumna'» fa-tusbihu bi-l-awst bni 'amri bni 'timirin •. ka-annaka jtirun li-l-yamtiniyyi tubba"! madahahu bi- 37 handed over to Qays the coat of mail and Qays succeeded in acquiring at Medina the needed weapons: spears and coats of mail.t? It was indeed Uhayha's coat of mail which brought about a serious clash between Qays b. Zuhayr and one of his relatives, al-Rabi' b. Zuyad a1-'Absi, 20 Qays drove away 400 pregnant camels belonging to ai-Rabie b. Ziyad; he brought them to Mecca and sold them to Harb b. Umayya, (Abdallah b. Judfan and Hisham b. al-Mughira in exchange for horses and weapons. Qays remained for some time in Mecca (seeking asylum there - K); then he went to the Banu Badr of Fazara and was granted their protection." It is interesting to note that Qays b. Zuhayr bought in Mecca the ominous horse, Dahis, out of the money which he received for the plundered camels of Rabi( b. Ziyad." The keen interest of the Medinan notables in the feud between the quarrelling and clashing tribes of 'Abs and Fazara and their attempt to bring about a peace agreement between them can be gauged from the report stating that a delegation of the people of Yathrib including the Ieading personalities of the city - 'Amr b. al-Itnaba, Uhayha b. al-Julah, Qays b. al-Khatim, Abu Qays b. al-Aslat and the Jew Ka(b (perhaps Ka(b b. ai-Ashraf - K) - came in order to reconcilie the fighting tribes." The fact that Qays b. Zuhayr asked for protection of the Banu Badr of F azara is instructive. This family became at that time the Ieading and influential family-group of Fazara, played a decisive role in the tribal clashes and established close relations, with Mecca. 'Abd al-Rahman b.Hassan put the clan of the Banii Badr on a par with that of the Makhziimi clan of the Banu Mughira as to pride and glory." Hudhayfa b. Badr was nicknamed rabbu 19 Al-Baladhuri, MS., fol, 1154a: '" thumma bta:« qaysun min yathriba rimdhan waadrd'on; this report bears evidence that Yathrib was not merely a rural centre of agricultural activity; there seem to have been a considerable amount of commercial transactions. 20 See on him g.e., Caskel, Gamhara, II, 475. 21 Al-Baladhuri, MS., fol, 1I54a: .. .fa-lammd balagha dhdlika qaysan aghara 'ala I-na'am fa-tarada li-l-rabi"i (text: al-rabi') arba'a mi' ati ndqatin laqu~infa-marra biha i/a makkata fa-ba' aha min harbt bni umayyata wa-' abdi llahi bni jud" ana wa-hishdmi bni l-mughirati bi-Ikhayli wa-I-sila~i. wa-aqdma bi-makkata, thumma innahu lahiqa bi-bani badri bni "amrtn ... 22 Al-Baladhuri, MS., fol, 1I54b, 1. 20: ... wa-kdna qaysu bnu zuhayrin bta'a da~isan bimakkata min thamani ibli l-rabr i.fa-anzdhu "ala farasin lahufa-ja'atbi-muhratin sammahti l-ghabra?«: 23 Al-Baladhuri, MS., fol. 1156a: ... wa-qadimat jama'atun min ah/i yathriba Ii-I-i#a~i bayna I-~ayyayni : 'amru bnu l-undbati, wa-u~ay~atu bnu l-jula~i. wa-qaysu bnu l-khatimi waaM qaysin bnu l-aslati wa-ka' bun I-yahudi ... 24 Ibn Abi l-Hadid, XVIII, 287: inni tami'tu bi-fakhri man law rdmahu : alu l-mughirati-aw banu dhakwdn! 38 MECCA AND THE TRIBES OF ARABIA ma'addin, the "Lord of Ma'add."2s Abu l-Yaqzan reports that Hisn b. Hudhayfa was one of the greatest Ieaders of the federation of Ghatafan; he commanded all the allied forces of Ghatafan and Asad. A man attending the council (maj/is) of Mu 'awiya said: "We have never seen a Bedouin who, while leaning on his bow between the two allies, Asad and Ghatafan, and dividing the spoils among them, was more dignified (a'~amu qadran) than Hisn b. Hudhayfa." 26 Two Fazari chiefs are highly praised by the poet of 'A.mir b. ~a'~a'a, 'A.mir b. al-Tufayl: they granted him protection when he was captured during a clash with the Fazara and the Fazari leader 'Uyayna b. Hisn demanded to decapitate him; he extols them in one of his poems saying: 1. When thou desirest to meet with a sure defence, seek the protection of Khidharn son of Zayd, if Khidharn will grant it thee. 2. I called upon Abu l-Jabbar, specially naming Malik; and from aforetime he whom thou tookest under thy shield was never scathed (Lyall's translation). 27 The competition between tribal leaders to gain rank, position and recognition of governors and rulers is fairly clear in the report about the meeting of Hudhayfa b. Badr al-Fazari and al-Hakam b. Marwan b. Zinba' a1'Absi at the court of Hira, Hudhayfa used to frequent the court of al-Nu'rnan b. al-Mundhir; the king (al-Nu'rnan) treated him with honour and kindness. Hudhayfa used to bring gifts to al-Mutajarrida." Al-Hakam also used to visit the court of al-Nu'rnan and bring him gifts. When Hudhayfa and al-Hakam met some day in al-Hira, al-Hakam said to Hudhayfa: "May God curse a dignity gained through [the intercession of] women". AI-Mutajarrida became enraged when she heard the words of al-Hakam and decided to send to Hudhayfa a songstress and wine. When al-Hakam attended the council (maj/is) of Hudhayfa the Iatter asked the girl to sing some poems of Imru ' 1-Qays in la-mala' tuhd khaylan tadibbu lithdtuhd : mithla l-dabd wa-kawdsiri 1-'iqMni Banu Dhakwan are explained to denote Banii Badr b. 'Amr b. Juwayya b. Dhakwan of the Banii 'Adiyy of Fazara; to this clan belong Hudhayfa, Hamal and their families. See on the descendants of Dhakwan: Ibn al-Kalbi, Jamhara, MS. Br. Mus., fol. Ina, ult. rs Al-Baladhuri, MS., fol. Jl53b: ... wa-kdna yuqdlu lahu rabbu ma'addin ... : and see: Labid, Diwdn, ed. Ihsan 'Abbas (Kuwayt, 1962), p. 55; Ibn Abi l-Hadid, XVIII. 295; Muhammad b. Habib, al-Muhabbar, ed. lise Lichtenstaedter (Hyderabad, 1361/1942), p. 461; Ibn Qutayba, al-Ma'tirlf; ed. Tharwat 'Ukasha (Cairo, 1969), pp, 83, 402, 592. ze Al-Baladhuri, MS., fol. I 158b. 27 'Amir b. al-Tufayl, Diwdn, ed. Ch. Lyall (Leiden, 1913), p. 141, no~XXVI (Arabic text); see ibid., "Introduction," pp. 81, 114; and see al-Mufaddal al-Dabbi, al-Miifa44aliyydt, ed. Ch. Lyall (Oxford, 1921), p. 33. 28 See on her e.g. Aghdni; index. 39 which he mentioned love-affairs with 'Absi women. Al-Hakam became furious and hit the songstress. Hudhayfa rebuked him, saying that he had lost his mind and hurt the honour of al-Nu 'man. When the two leaders returned to their tribes they related the event; this accident widened the rift between the two leaders and increased the animosity between their tribal divisions. 29 The position of the Fazari leaders among the federation of Ghatafan caused some tribal divisions to attempt at concluding agreements or alliances with them. The cAmir b. ~ac~aca tried to persuade Hisn b. Hudhayfa and his son 'Uyayna to withdraw from their alliance with the Asad, to enable Asad to return to their relations with Kinana, and to conclude an alliance of the Ghatafan with cAmir b. ~ac~aca. 'Uyayna b. Hisn considered the offer and consulted about it the Banii Dhubyan (one of the main branches of Ghatafan K); they however refused and 'Uyayna had to give up the idea of the alliance with C Amir. 30 'Uyayna and his tribal division, the Fazara, played a very important role in the struggle of the Prophet and the Muslim community with Quraysh at Mecca. An agreement of non-aggression was concluded between the Prophet and 'Uyayna for a limited period; when the Muslim forces left Medina for the raid of Muraysi' they feared that 'Uyayna may attack the city in which there were no warriors Ieft, because the treaty was to expire at that time; the Prophet allayed their fears, assuring them that 'Uyayna would not attack the city." 'Uyayna attended the Battle of the Ditch commanding a fighting body of a thousand warriors of Faziira; it was the strongest force of the allies of Quraysh. Smaller units numbering about 400 warriors each were recruited from among the relatives of Faziira, Ashja C and Murra" When the situation of the besieged Muslim community became serious, the Prophet sent to 'Uyayna offering him a third of the date harvest of Medina if he withdrew with his force, thus causing disarray among the other forces of the allies of Quraysh. 'Uyayna asked for half the harvest, but consented Iater to accept the proposal of the Prophet to accept a third of it. However, when the agreement had to be signed, the Companions of the Prophet opposed it and persuaded the Prophet to annul it.33 The failure of 'Uyayna to gain profits and success on the "Day of the Ditch" (i.e. the siege of Medina) recurred in the siege of Khaybar. 'Uyayna promised to hurry to help the besieged Jews against the besieging Muslims in 2. Al-Baladhuri, MS., fol. 1154b. Al-Nabigha al-Dhubyani, Diwdn, ed. Muhammad Jamal (Beirut, 1347/1929), p. 98. Al-Waqidi, al-Maghcizi, ed. Marsden Jones (London, 1966), p. 422. 32 See e.g. al-Waqidi, p. 443. as AI-Waqidi, pp. 477-480; Ibn Hisham, al-Sira al-nabawiyya, ed. Mu~lafa l-Saqa, Ibrahim al-Abyiiri, 'Abd al-Hafiz Shalabi (Cairo, 1355/1936), III, 234. 30 31 40 MECCA AND THE TRIBES OF ARABIA return for half of the date harvest of Khaybar; he negotiated, however, at the same time with the Prophet the withdrawal of his force of 400 warriors in return for half of the date harvest. In one of the stages of the Muslim attack on Khaybar the Fazari force withdrew forsaking the besieged Jews. 'Uyayna did not get his half of the date harvest and had to satisfy himself with the grant bestowed on him by the Prophet: a mountain at Khaybar called Dhu 1Ruqayba." There were some clashes between troops of the Prophet and some Fazari units, but 'Uyayna was shrewd enough to appear at the conquest of Mecca (although without his tribe) and to accompany the Prophet at his entrance to the city;3' he is counted among "those whose hearts had to be reconciled" (al-mu'allaja qulubuhum) and was indeed granted by the Prophet a gift of a hundred camels." In spite of his treacherous behaviour when he was sent as messenger of the Muslim forces to al-Ta'if,37 he was dispatched by the Prophet against a group of Tamim who prevented their neighbours, the Khuza "a, from paying taxes." Finally the Prophet appointed 'Uyayna as tax-collector of F azara, an influential and responsible office." This short sketch of the role of 'Uyayna and his tribal division, the Fazara, in the Prophet's period indicates clearly that they had close relations with Mecca." They joined the Prophet only after his victory. The high position acquired by 'Uyayna in the period of the Prophet can be seen from the fact that the Caliph 'Uthman b. cAffan married his daughter, Umm al-Banin bint 'Uyayna b. Hisn." Only two wives of 'Uthman attended his clandestine 34 See e.g. al-Waqidi, pp. 650-652, 676; and see Yaqiit, Mu'jam al-bulddn (Beirut, 1376/1957), s.v. Ruqayba. 3' See e.g. al-Waqidi, pp. 803-804. 36 See e.g. Ibn Hisham, IV, 136-137; al-Maqrizi, Imta'» l-asma'; ed. Mahmud Muhammad Shakir (Cairo, 1941), I, 424. 37 See al-Waqidi, pp. 932-933. 38 Al-Waqidi, pp. 974-975. Al-Baladhuri, op. cit.; I (ed. Muhammad Hamidullah, Cairo 1959) 530. The Fazara seem to have taken part in certain ritual practices at the Ka 'ba since very early times: see e.g. Ibn Hisharn, I, 128: nahnu dafa'rui 'an abi sayydrah : wa-'an mawalihi bantfazdrah and see al-Fasi, Shifa, II, 32-34 and 351. 15; al-'I~iimi, Simi al-nujtim al-'awali(Cairo, 1380), 1,217; al-Kala'j, al-Iktifa' fi maghdztrastilt lldhi wa-l-thaldthati l-khulafd, ed. MuHafa 'Abd al-Wal)id (Cairo, 1287/1968), I, 77; al-Baladhuri, MS., fol. 1180b. 41 Al-Baladhuri, MS., fol. 1158a, sup.; Ibn Sa'd, Tabaqdt, (Beirut, 1377/1957), III, 54; Muhammad b. Yahya al-Maliqi, al-Tamhid wa-l-baytin fi maqtali I=shahid "uthman, ed. Mahrmid Yiisuf Za 'id (Beirut, 1~64), p. 4; Umm al-Banin was before that offered by 'Uyayna to the Prophet as wife (see Ibn 'AIX! al-Barr, al-Isti'tibjima'rifati I-a~~tib, ed. 'Ali Muhammad alBijawi [Cairo, 1380/1960], p. 1249 ult.) 39 40 41 funeral: the Kalbite Na'ila and the Fazarite Umm al-Banin." The prophet rightly characterized 'Uyayna as "the fool obeyed by his people.t' " He got indeed the allegiance and loyalty of his people when he decided to fight the body politic of Medina, leading the troops of the Fazara against the Muslim forces after the death of the Prophet in the "War of the Ridda."44 II Another division of Ghatafan, the Banu Murra b. 'Awf, seem to have had close relations with Mecca. Some clans of Murra claimed that their ancestor was 'Awf b. Lu 'ayy, the ancestor of Quraysh." Al-Harith b. Zalim al-Murri asked for the protection of 'Abdallah b. Jud'iin, denied his descent from Ghatafan and stated that he was from Quraysh." 'Umar is said to have justified their claim and was even ready to accept them into the fold of Quraysh." It is of interest that the Meccan notable, 'Abdallah b. Jud'an,48 interceded with the king of al-Hira, al-Nu'rnan, on behalf of al-Harith b. Zalim and asked that the protection of the king be renewed for him." A distinctive feature of the religio-economic system of the Banu Murra was the institution of the basI. They observed eight months as the trucia1 period during the year and travelled during these months through the territories of the Bedouins undisturbed; the Bedouin tribes accepted this order and granted them security during these months. so One may assume that this basi order was designed to bring about a competition between Mecca with its four trucial months and the basi system of the Banu Murra. Ibn Sa'd, III, 78 inf.-79 sup. See e.g, Ibn 'Abd al-Barr, pp. 1249 inf.-1250; al-JiIl:Ii~al-Baydn wa-l-tabyin, ed. 'Abd alSalam Harlin (rpt. Beirut of Cairo, 1367/1948), II, 253. 44 See e.g. Ella Landau-Tasseron, Aspects of the Ridda Wars, Ph.D. Diss., Hebrew University, 1981 (in Hebrew), Chapter III (Ghatafan) ad notes 137-149. 4' See e.g. al-Suhayli, al-Rawd al-unuf, ed. 'Abd al-Rahrnan al-Wakil (Cairo, 1387/1967). I. 410-412; al-Baladhuri, I, 42-43; Ibn Kathir, al-Biddya wa-l-nihdya (Riyad-Beirut, 1966), II, 204. 4' 43 46 Al-Baladhuri, MS., fol. 1143b; idem, I, 42 inf.; al-Suhayli, I, 411; al-Jahiz, al-Bursdn wa-l"urjdn, ed. Muhammad Mursi l-Khiili (Beirut, 1392/1972), p. 298; Abii l-Baqa Hibatullah, alMandqib al-mazyadiyya fi akhbdri l-muliiki I-asadiyya, MS. Br. Mus. add. 23, 296, fol. 43a. 47 Al-Suhayli, I, 411, 412. See on him EI', s.v. 'Abd Allah b. Djud'iin (Ch. Pellat); and see above ad notes 18,43. Al-Baladhuri, MS., fol. 1143b: thumma innahu talaba lahu l-amdna mina l-nut mdni fadmanahu wa-qadima fa-aqdma 'Indahu. so See e.g. al-Suhayli, I, 414, 421; Ibn Hisham, i, 106-107; and see additional sources In JESHO, 8 (1965), 141. n. 4. 48 49 42 MECCA AND THE TRIBES OF ARABIA The conflict between Mecca and the Bami Murra is reflected in the report about a building erected by the Manu Murra at BUSS.51 explanatory note on An a verse of al-Husayn b. al-Humam says: "Buss is a building erected by the Ghatafan; they built it in a shape similar to that of the Ka "ba, performed pilgrimage to it, revered it an called it al-haram. Zuhayr b. Janab al-Kalbi raided them and destroyed it."52 An anonymous report recorded by alFayruzabadi gives more details: Buss is a House of Ghatafan, built by Zalim b. Asad. He saw that Quraysh circumambulated the Ka''ba and performed the sa'y between al-Safa and al-Marwa; he therefore measured the Ka'ba, took a stone from al-Safa and a stone from al-Marwa, returned to his people and built a House like the Ka'ba; he laid down the two stones and said: "These are the Safa and the Marwa". So they (i.e. his people) became satisfied with it instead of the pilgrimage to Mecca. Subsequently Zuhayr b. Janab al-Kalbi raided (scil, the Ghatafan - K), killed ~iilim and destroyed his building. 53 AIBaladhuri's report is concise: al-Muthallam b. Riyal].b. ~alim b. As'ad (in text: Sa'd) b. Rabi'a b. 'Amir was a noble man (kana shari/an). His grandfather, Zalim, was the man who built Buss; Buss is the House, which Ghatafan worshipped. Zuhayr b. Janab said: Thus Ghatafan Ieft afterwards Buss: and what has Ghatafan (to do) with a spacious tract of land? 54 This report corresponds to that of Ibn al-Kalbi." Another report in Ibn al-Kalbi's Jamhara contains details similar to those given in the account of al-Faynizabadi (the two stones of al-~afa and alMarwa, the House erected in the territory of Ghatafan, Zuhayr b. Janab destroyed the House and [buildings? - KJ around it), but has a significant passage, not recorded in other sources: when the Prophet heard about Zuhayr II In text "lubs" which is an error. See L. 'A. s.v. bss (correctly Buss); and see the correction in Wellhausen, Reste Arabischen Heidentums (Berlin, 1887), p. 33, n. 2; and see Ihsan 'Abbas, "Two Hitherto Unpublished Texts on Pre-Islamic Religion," La Signification du Bas Moyen Age dans I'Histoire et la Culture du Monde Musulman, Actes du 8me Congres de l'Union Europeenne des Arabisants et Islamisants (Aix-en-Provence, 1976), pp. 7-16; and see Ihsan 'Abbas, "Na~~ani jadidani 'ani l-dini fi l-jahiliyyati," al-AblJath, 1973-1977, pp. 27-34. " Aghtim~ XII, 126; see on Buss: Yiiqiit, Mu'jam al-bulddn, s.v. b.s.s.: ... wa-buss aydan bay tun banat-hu gha/q{anu mu4ahatan li-l-ka' ba. 53 Al-Fayruzabadi, al-Qamus al-muhit, s.v. bss; and see Wellhausen, pp. 33-34; this report is recorded in al-Sinjari's, Mana'ilJ al-karam, MS. Leiden, Or. 7018, fols. )3b, ult.-14a. 54 Al-Baladhuri, MS., fol. 1146b-1147a sup. ss Ibn al-Kalbi, Jamhara, MS. Br. Mus., fol. 168b, sup.: ... al-Muthallam b. RiyalJ b. ~alim b. As'ad b. Rabi"'a b. 'Amir kana sharif an. wa-abuhu riytilJun lladhi qala lahu zuhayru bnu jandbin: fa-khalld ba'daha ghatq{anu ... ; wa-kdna bandhu jadduhu ~alimun ... 43 b. Janiib's action he said: "Of the matters of the Jiihiliyya nothing is in agreement with Islam except that which Zuhayr b. Janab did."56 It was no doubt an act of great significance as it helped to preserve the Ka 'ba as the only sanctuary of the Arabian peninsula and spoiled a bold attempt at erecting a tribal sanctuary in competition with the Ka 'ba at Mecca. The intention to imitate the Kacba comes out even in the name of Ghatafani sanctuary, Buss, which is derived from the root bss and is reminiscent of the name of the Meccan sanctuary, which is called al-Bassa." The destruction of Buss served indirectly the cause of Islam and the utterance attributed to the Prophet undoubtedly reflects a historical truth. It is worthwhile mentioning that Buss was not the only sanctuary which was erected by a tribe or a governor: such was for instance the case of the sanctuary of Abraha which was erected in order to compete with the Ka 'ba 58 and the sanctuary erected in Qawdam." • The reasons for the enmity between Zuhayr b. Janiib and the Banu Murra, his position in his tribe, the Kalb, his role in the intertribal contests on the background of the rivalry of the petty kingdoms and the struggle of the Byzantine and Sassanian powers for control of the tribes of the Arabian peninsula, all these data are recorded in reports which are often obscure, blurred, divergent or contradictory. A scrutiny of these reports may provide a clue for the elucidation of, at least, some aspects of these events. According to a tradition traced back to Ibn al-A 'rabi (d. ca. 230 AH) the Banu Baghid were attacked by the Suda? (a division of Madhhij) when they were on their way from Tihama, The Bami Baghid succeeded however in repelling the attack, gained a sweeping victory and took rich booty. Then they decided to build a haram, like that at Mecca, in which no hunted beast would be killed, no tree would be felled and no man seeking refuge would be troubled (la yuhaju ca'idhuhu). The pIan was carried out by the tribal division of Ghatafan, the Bami Murra; the man in charge of the haram and the builder of '6 Ibn al-Kalbi, Jamhara, MS. Br. Mus., fo1. 191a inf.-191b sup.: .. .fa-hadama (i.e. Zuhayr b. Janab) l-bayta wa-ma ~awlahu,fa-balagha dhalika l-nabiyya (~)fa-qala: "lam yakun shay'un min amri l-jahiliyyati wdfaqa l-isldma ilia rna sana'« zuhayru bnu jandbin". " See L. 'A., S.v. bss; Ibn ?:uhayra, al-Jdmi" al-Ia(iffifafjli makkata wa-ahlihd wa-bind"! 1bayti I-sharif (Cairo, 1357/1938), p. 160, penult.; al-Azraqi, Kltab akhbtiri makkata, ed. F. Wiistenfeld (rpt. Beirut), p. 50, 1.8; Ibn Nii~ir al-Din a1-Dimashqi, Jami' al-dthdr fi mawlidi 1nab/yyi l-mukhtdr, MS. Cambridge Or. 913, fol. 269a. " See e.g. EI2, S.V. Abraha (A.F.L. Beeston). 50 See Yaqiit, Mu'jam al-bulddn, s.v. Qawdam. 44 MECCA AND THE TRIBES OF ARABIA its walls was Riyah b. Zalirn (not his father, ~alim - K). They built it when staying at a well called Buss. When the news reached Zuhayr b. Janab, who was then the sayyid of Kalb, he vowed to prevent the Ghatafan from carrying out their plan. He summoned his tribal relatives to aid him in the noble enterprise (akram ma'thura) of the destruction of the Fazari haram, but the Banu l-Qayn from Jusham refused to participate in the raid; he carried out the raid with his people only and defeated the Ghatafan, He captured a rider (jaris) of the Ghatafan in the haram of Buss and ordered to kill him; his order was however disobeyed by one of his warriors, who argued that the man was a basl.60 Zuhayr stated that for him there was no obligation to refrain from harming a basi (i.e. to take his life - K; md baslun "alayya bi-haramins and he himself decapitated him. He desecrated the haram (Ca!{ala dhdlika l-haramt, generously released the captured women and returned them to their tribe." The passage about the decapitation of the basi and the desecration of the haram of Buss is of importance. It may be deduced that this event put an end to the free and undisturbed traffic of the Bami Murra during eight months in the Arabian peninsula and did away with the sanctity of the haram of Buss; the only sacred months to remain were thus the four months of the Pax Meccana; the only sanctuary which continued to be venerated was the haram of Mecca. Zuhayr's deed appears to be the reason why the group of Janab b. Hubal were included in the organization of the l;Iums.62 Some of the accounts link the person of Janab with that of Dawud b. Hubala,63 whose kingdom was conquered by the Byzantines and who fought at that time on their side. He later embraced Christianity and became reluctant to shed blood; he was however compelled to obey the order of the Byzantines to raid the Arab tribes. In his force was (according to this report) Zuhayr b. Janab, Zuhayr went out, fought and killed Haddaj b. Malik of the cAbd Qays and Haddaj b. Malik b. Taymallah b. Thaclaba b. cUkaba.64 Some reports connect Zuhayr b. Janab with the expedition of Abraha." When the Abyssinians went out on their expedition to destroy the sanctuary at Mecca they were approached by Zuhayr; he met their king, was welcomed by 60 61 62 See on basi n. 50 above. Aghani, XXI, 63. See JESHO, 8 (1965),133, n. 4, 134, n. 3; and see Caskel, Gamhara, II, 77 inf.-78 sup. Caskel, Gamhara, II, 232 (Dawud b. Habala). See on him Ibn Habib, ''Asnui' al-mughttilin min al-ashrtif" in cAbd al-Salam Hanin's 63 64 Nawddir al-makh!u!tit (Cairo, 1374/1954), II, 127-128; on the two Haddaj see Caskel, Gamhala, II, 276. See on Abraha: EJ2, s.v. Abraha (A.F.L. Beeston); and see R. Paret, Der Koran. Kommentarund Konkordanz (Stuttgart, 1980), ad Sura 105; and seeJESHO, 15 (1972), 61-76. 6' 45 him and was sent as his messenger to (the tribes in - K) the vicinity (niilJiya) of Iraq in order to summon them to submit to his authority (i/ii l-dukhuli fi {ii'atihl). When he was in the territory of Bakr b. Wa'iI, he was attacked by a man of the tribe and seriously wounded, but managed to escape." A similar report is given in the Aghdnioti the authority of Abu 'Arnr al-Shaybani; there are, however, several differences which may be noted: Abraha appointed Zuhayr b. Janab over the tribes of Bakr and Taghlib; he ruled them for a time until they were afflicted by a drought. Zuhayr prevented them from pasturing their herds unless they paid the taxes imposed upon them; their situation worsened and they were on the brink of perishing. One of the Taymallah b. Tha 'laba 67 decided to assassinate Zuhayr; he attacked him in his sleep and pierced his belly with a sword; he left the tent of Zuhayr with the conviction that he had killed him. Zuhayr remained however alive, and a group of his people wrapped him in a shroud and were given permission to leave with what was supposed to be his corpse in order to bury him in the territory of his tribe. The stratagem succeeded: Zuhayr returned to his tribe, recovered and ordered to prepare a raid against the Bakr and Taghlib. The raid was successful and Zuhayr returned with a rich booty. Kulayb and Muhalhil were captured and many warriors from Taghlib were killed.68 Zuhayr's appointment over the Bakr and Taghlib is explicitly mentioned in a poem of a1-Musayyib b. a1-Rifall, a descendant of Zuhayr: 1. wa-abrahatu lladhi kdna ~{afiinii " wa-sawwasanii wa-tiiju l-mulki wa-qdsama nisfa imro.tihi zuhayran " wa-lam yaku dtinahu fi l-amri wdli wa-ammarahu 'alii hayyay mai addin : wa-ammarahu 'alii l-hayyi 1- 'au 2. 3. 4. mu'tilt 'alii bnay wii'ilin lahumd muhinan " yarudduhumd 'alii raghmi 1sibdli 5. bi-habsihimd bi-ddri l-dhul/i lJattii "alammd yahlikdni mina l-huziili 1. And Abraha, he who had chosen us : and invested us with authority : and high is the crown of kingdom. 2. And he gave half of the rule to Zuhayr : nobody except him was a ruler of the affairs. 3. And he invested him with power over the two tribes of Ma 'add: and he gave him authority over the tribe competing for superiority 00 01 08 Ibn Qutayba, al-Shi'r wa-l-shu' ard", ed. M. J. de Goeje (Leiden, 1904), pp. 223-225. A group of Bakr b. Wii'il; see Caskel, Gamhara, II, 543. Aghdni, XXI, 64. 46 MECCA AND THE TRIBES OF ARABIA 4. 5. Over the two sons of Wii'il (i.e. their descendants) treating them with contempt : turning them humbled and abased. Detaining them in the abode of vileness: until they would perish out of emaciation." Some reports tell about his visits to the court of the Ghassani ruler and his stratagems in spreading false accusations against his opponents and foes in order to keep the favours of the ruler al-Harith b. Miiriya exclusively to himself." Some accounts relate anecdotes about the attendance of Zuhayr at the courts of governors and rulers in company of certain fools of his family; Zuhayr succeeds in saving the people from the fateful results of their stupid words. 71 The sources are unanimous about the strength and power of Zuhayr; he is said to have been one of the jarrdnin (i.e. commanding more than thousand warriors - K) and one who succeeded in uniting the whole tribe of Ka1b, or even the whole federation of QU9iicaY Ibn al-Kalbi reports a conflict between Zuhayr and Rizah (a half brother of Qusayy, the leader of 'Udhra - K) concerning their attitude towards the tribal divisions of N ahd, Hawtaka and J arm; these tribal divisions were driven out by Rizah from the federation of Qudaa, and were compelled to migrate and join other tribes. Rizah's action was severely censured by Zuhayr." Al-Bakri records the story of the conflict. mentions the role of Nahd and their strength in the past and draws the line of succession of that power: Hanzala b. Nahd, the ancestor of Nahd, was the arbiter of Tihama and the Ieader of the Bedouins (al-' arab) at 'Ukaz during the period of the markets. Then the leadership went over to the Kalb b. • 9 Abu Hatim al-Sijistiini, Kitdb al-mu'ammarin; ed. Goldziher, (Leiden, 1899), p. 29 (Ar. text); al-Marzubani, Mu'jam al-shui ara", ed. F. Krenkow (Cairo, 1354), p. 386 (only 4 verses). 70 Aghiini, IV, 175-176; Ibn 'Asakir, Tahdhib ta'rikh (Beirut, 1399/1979), V, 321-322. 71 Aghdni; XXI, 65 (the fool was his brother, Haritha); Abu Hilal al-'Askari, Jamharat alamthdl, ed. Muhammad Abu l-Fadl Ibrahim and 'Abd al-Majid Qatamish (Cairo, 1384/1964), I, 151 (the fool was his brother, 'Adiyy. According to Ibn al-Kalbi, Jamhara, Escurial 1968, p. 380 'Adiyy was considered a fool: kana yu~ammaqu). Another fool in his family was his son Khidash (Ibn al-Kalbi, Jamhara, Esc. p. 405 ult.-406; see the utterance of al-Samaw 'al about him: laysa li-qalbi khiddshin udhundni). 12 See Muhammad b. Habib, al-Muhabbar, p. 250 (Zuhayr and Rizii~ b. Rabi'a al- 'Udhri), Aghdnt, XXI, 65 (Zuhayr and Hunn b. Zayd); al-Bakri, Mu'jam md sta'fam, ed. Mustafa I· Saqa (Cairo, 1364/1945), p. 39 (Zuhayr and Rizii~ b. Rabi'a); Abu !iatim al-Sijistani, p. 28 (Zuhayr and Rizah); and see al-Majlisi, Bi~ar ai-an war (Teheran, 1392), LI, 268; al-Murtada, Amali; ed. Muhammad Abu l-Fadl Ibrahim (Cairo, 1373/1954), I, 240; Ibn al-Kalbi, Jamhara, Esc. p. 514 (Zuhayr and Rizah), 73 Ibn al-Kalbi, Jamhara, Esc., p. 514; al-Bakri, Mu'jam ma sta'jam, p. 39. 47 Wabara, afterwards to 'Awf b. Kinana b. 'Awf.74 After some generations it passed over to Zuhayr b. Janab, then to 'Adiyy b. Janab and finally it remained in the family of al-Harith b. Hisn b. Damdam b. 'Adiyy b. Janab." The conflict between Rizah and the two tribes, Nahd and Hawtaka, is mentioned in Ibn Hisham's Sira: but in this account it was Qusayy who censured Rizah for his expulsion of these two tribal divisions of Quda ' a. He said the following verses: 1. Who will tell Rizah from me : that I blame you on two accounts: 2. I blame you for the Banii Nahd b. Zayd : because you drove a wedge between them and me. 3. And for Hawtaka b. Aslum : verily, he who treats them badly has badly treated me. (A. Guillaume's translation, slightly modified). It is of great importance that Qusayy wanted Quda' a to increase and to be united because of "their goodwill to him when they responded to his appeal for help." 76 The account confirms that there were contacts between Quraysh and the Quda'I divisions and shows the help extended by some Quda'ii groups to Qusayy. Al-Arnidi records a story in which Zuhayr is connected with the person of Muha1hi1,the legendary leader of Taghlib during the wars of Basus, 77 Zuhayr is said to have attacked the Taghlib, succeeded in getting away with booty, was however pursued by Muhalhil, who tracked down one of the attackers (Imru? 1Qays b. Humam al-Kalbi) and wounded him." The reports about contacts between Zuhayr and Muhalhil are however refuted by a statement saying that Zuhayr preceded Muhalhil. 79 The amusing story about the capture of Zuhayr by Hamrnam b. Murra 80 also belongs to the period of the war of Basiis. Zuhayr offered as ransom for his release a hundred camels, but Hammam refused; he consented however to free him on condition that Zuhayr would mention his name and make an invocation for his Iife before every drink." 74 Al-Bakri, Mu'jam, p. 56: 'Auf b. Kiniina b. 'Auf b. 'Udhra ... b. Kalb was the first to whom the idol of Wadd was handed over and a tent was pitched over him; and see Caskel, Gamhara, II, 210. rs See e.g. al-Bakri, Mu'jam, pp. 30, 39, 49, 51. ,. Ibn Hisharn, I, 136 (=A. Guillaume, The Life of Muhammad [Karachi, 1967J, p. 55); the verses are attributed to Zuhayr in Bakri's Mu'jam, p. 39. 77 See on him Caskel, Gamhara, II, 421; and see above ad n. 68. ,8 AI-A midi, ai-Mu'taiij", pp. 7-8; Ibn al-Kalbi, Jamhara, Esc., pp. 413 inf.-414. ,. Abii Ahmad al-Hasan b. 'Abdallah a!-'Askari, SharlJ md yaqa' u fihi l-tashif wa-l-tahrif; ed. 'Abd al-'Aziz Ahmad (Cairo, 1383/1963), p. 427. 80 See on him e.g. Caskel, Gamhara, II, 278. 81 AI-Maghribi, Nashwat al-tarab, MS., Tiibingen I, fo1. 52 r. 48 MECCA AND THE TRIBES OF ARABIA According to some reports Zuhayr's brother 'Ulayrn introduced the mirbd' in the tribal division of Kalb (i.e. the fourth of the booty, paid to the leader of the tribe; in this case paid to 'Ulaym - K).82His son, (Abdallah b. (Ulaym, is said to have opposed Zuhayr and bade the people disobey his orders. Zuhayr became embittered and angry over the loss of his position in the tribe and decided to drink unmixed wine until his death." * There are divergent traditions about the Iife-span of Zuhayr; he was included in the list of the mut ammartin, men distinguished for their longevity, and unusual periods of life were attributed to him. Accounts vary from 450 years," 420 years," 350 years," 250 years," 220 years," 200 years 89to 150 years.?? The list is confusing and does not give any clue for establishing the period in which the events happened. It may therefore be useful to cast a brief glance at the other persons mentioned in the preceding accounts. A1-Mughira b. (Abdallah al-Makhzumi who caused the rebellious action of the Fazari chief is known as the father of the wealthy and influential family of the Banu I-Mughira. His son Hisham b. aI-Mughira died, according to some accounts, in the last decade of the sixth century." The grandsons of alMughira, the sons of Hisham, took active part in the struggle between the Prophet and the Meccan unbelievers." The period of the activity of a1Mughira, the father of Hisham, may be put in the middle of the sixth century. Ibn al-Kalbi, Jamhara, Esc., p. 380; and see ibid., the verse of Zuhayr: sannahd rcibi'u l-juyushi 'ulaymun: kulla yawmin ta'ti l-mandyd bi-qadri 83 Muhammad b. Habib, al-Muhabbar, p. 471; Ibn al-Kalbi, Jamhara, Esc., p. 394; Abii Hatirn al-Sijistani, pp. 28-29; Aghdnl; III, 17, XXI, 66; Ibn Qutayba, al-Shiir, p. 224. 84 Aghdni; XXI, 65 penult. 85 Abii Hatirn al-Sijistani, p. 25. 86 Abii Hatirn al-Sijistani, ibid. 87 Aghdni; XXI, 65. 82 88 89 90 91 Ibn al-Kalbi, Jamhara, Esc., p. 380; al-Majlisi, Blhtir, LI, 267. Abii Hatim al-Sijistani, p. 28. Aghdni; III, 17. See on him: al-Zubayr b. Bakkar, MS., fol. 129a-b; Ibn Abi l-Hadid, XVIII, 285 seq. (and see the utterance attributed to the Prophet about him p. 293: law dakhala ahadun min mushriki qurayshin al-jannata la-dakhalahd hishdmu bnu l-mughirati; kana abdhalahum li-l-matrufi waahmalahum Ii-I-kalli); Mu~'ab b. 'Abdallah al-Zubayri, Nasab quraysh, ed. Levi-Provencal (Cairo, 1953), p. 301; and see Le Museon, 78 (1965), 427 (according t9 this report he died AD 598). 92 See e.g. on the Banii l-Mughira and their relatives: Mu 'arrij b. 'Amr al-Sadiisi, Kiuib hadhf min nasab quraysh, ed. ~alal,1 al-Din al-Munajjid (Cairo, 1960), pp. 66-75; and see Mus'ab b. 'Abdallah, pp. 301-303; on al-Harith b. Hisham see e.g. Ibn al-Athir, Usd al-ghaba fi ma'rifati 49 This was the period of the growth of the Meccan body politic and the incubation of the opposition of certain Fazari clans against their Makhzumi hosts at Mecca. As to Zuhayr b. Janab, it is pIau sible to give credence to the reports about the relations between Zuhayr and Abraha. Abraha, when on his expeditions against Mecca, was evidently interested in the collaboration with Kalb in order to gain control over the Bakr and Taghlib when he would continue his march against al-Hira, The appointment of Zuhayr as tax-collector seems to have taken place when Abraha went out against Mecca; this may be dated to the middle of the sixth century." The failure of Abraha's expedition and his retreat to the Yaman stimulated the Bakr and Taghlib to rebel against Zuhayr, the merciless tax-collector. The destruction of the sanctuary of Buss must have taken ",lace after the strength of Abraha was crushed and Zuhayr renewed close relations with Mecca; these relations began already in the period of Qusayy, which is said to have preceded that of Zuhayr: Qusayy was active in the first half of the sixth century." Qusayy succeeded in gaining control of Mecca and expelled the former ruler of Khuza (a, aided by his Quda (i halfbrother (from the (Udhra) and probably by a Byzantine troop sent by the governor of Syria." The tradition that he rebuilt the Ka 'ba 96 seems plausible. l-sahdba (Cairo, 1280), I, 351-352; on 'Amr b. Hishiim (Abu Jahl) see al-Baladhuri, I, index (esp. pp. 125-130); on al-'A~ b. Hishiim see al-Baladhuri, I, 292, 299; on Salama b. Hishiim see e.g. Ibn al-Athir, Usd, II, 341. The hostile attitude of the Shi'a towards the Makhziim is exposed in the interpretation of verses 28-29 ofSiirat Ibrahim: "Hast thou not seen those who exchanged the bounty of God with unthankfulness and caused their people to dwell in the abode of ruin? Gehenna wherein they are roasted, an evil establishment." (Arberry's translation). According to an utterance attributed to 'Ali and 'Umar the verses refer to the Bami l-Mughira and to the Banu Umayya; they are meant by "those who exchanged the bounty of God with unthankfulness" and "caused their people to dwell in the abode of ruin." The Banii l-Mughira were killed on the Day of Badr; the Banu Umayya were given some period of time to enjoy life. (... wa-qila: nazalat fi-l-afjarayni min qurayshin : bani makhzumin wa-bani umayyata; faammd banii umayyata fa-muttiiti ild hinin, wa-ammd banu makhzumin fa-uhliku yauma badrin; qdlahuiali b. abi tdltb wa-'umaru bnu l-khattdbi ... ) See: al-Qurtubi, al-Jtimi' li-ahkdmi 1qur'tin (Cairo, 1387/1967), IX, 364; 'Ali b. Miisii b. Ja'far b. Muhammad b. Tawiis, alMalahim wa-l-fitan (Najaf, 1382/1962), p. 98; Hiishim b. Sulaymiin al-Tawbali al-Katakani, alBurhdn fi-tafsiri l-qur'tin (Qumm, 1393), II, 316-317; al- 'Ayyiishi, Tafsir al-qur'tin, ed. Hiishim al-Rasuli al-Mahallati (Qumm, 1385), II, 229-230, nos. 22-23, 27-28. 9J See EI', s.v. Abraha (A.F.L. Beeston); and see Khiilid al-'Asali, "Aljwa' 'ala kitab almufassal ji ta'rikhi I-'arab qabla l-isldm", al-t Arab, 1971, pp. 37-38, no. 14. '4 See EI', s.v. Kuraysh (Montgomery Watt): " ... On the death of Kusayy, probably in the first half of the sixth century AD ... " ss See Ibn Qutayba, Kiuib al-ma'tirif, ed. Tharwat 'Ukasha (Cairo, 1969), pp. 640 ult.-64I : ... wa-a'tinahu qaYljar "alayhd •• See Muhammad b. Yiisuf aH?wit:U, Subul al-hudd wa-l-rashdd fi sirat khayri 1-'ibad (=al- 50 MECCA AND THE TRIBES OF ARABIA Qusayy introduced substantial changes in the sanctuary of Mecca, ordered to build houses in areas in which building was hitherto forbidden and permitted to fell trees in the sacred territory."? The changes introduced by Qusayy in Mecca, the repatriation of the dispersed Qurashi factions and their unification into a coherent tribal body at Mecca 98 opened a new era of development and expansion for Mecca. The crucial event of the defeat of the army of Abraha enhanced the growth of the power of Mecca and strengthened the prestige of Quraysh. The activity of Zuhayr can be estimated to have taken place in the period following the "Day of the Elephant." The date of the destruction of Buss can further be conjectured by the examination of the data about the persons who are mentioned in the accounts about this event. Al-Muthallam b. Riya~ b. Zalim, the grandson of the builder of Buss, killed a man named Hubasha who was under the protection of alHarith b. Zalim al-Murri, Al-Muthallam asked the protection of al-Husayn b. Humam al-Murri; when al-Harith b. ~aIim heard about it he demanded of alHusayn b. al-Humam to pay the blood-wit of the siain Hubasha." According to an account traced back to Abu 'Ubayda the poet al-Husayn b. al-Humam reached the time of Islam.P" This opinion is indeed recorded in the compilations about the Companions of the Prophet.'?' His son is said to have visited the court of Mu'awiya!02 The ill-famed commander sent by Yazid b. Sira al-shdmiyya), ed. Mustafa 'Abd al-Wiil:1id (Cairo, 1392/1972), I, 192: ... al-marrata 1siibi'ata .. "imdratu qusayyi bni kilabin; naqalahu I-zubayru bnu bakkarin fi Kitdbi I-Nasabi wajazama bihi l-imdmu Abu Ishdqa al-Mtiwardiyyu l-ahkdmi l-sultdniyya ... ; and see al-Maqrizi, Dhikru md warada ji bunyan! I-ka'bati l-mu'assama, MS. Leiden, Or. 560, fols. 175b: ... dhakara l-zubayru bnu bakkdrin wa-ghayruhu anna qll~ayya bna kilabin band l-bayta, walam yadhkur dhdlika l-azraqi . .. fol. 176b, I. 10: wa-bana qu~ayyun al-ka'bata 'ala khamsin wa- 'Ishrina dhira'n ... Fol. 178a, I. 17: fa-lammd stabadda qusayyun bi-amri makkata akhadha ji blln~ani I-bayti wa-jam'i nafaqatihi thumma hadamahu wa-banahu bina'an lam yabnmi ahadun mimman bandhu mithlahu wa-ja'ala yaqUiu wa-huwa yabni... abni wa-yabni lldhu yarfa'uhci .. wa-l-yabni ahlu wirathi!ra ba'di; bunyanuhci wa-tamdmllha wa-Wabuha .. bi-yadi l-ildhi wa-Iaysa bi-I-'abdi; fa-bandha wa-saqqafahd bi-khashabi l-daumi l-jayyidi wa-bi-jaridi l-nakhli wa-bandhd 'ala khamsatin wa-'ishrina dhire'on ... al-Zurqani, Shar~ al-mawdhib al-Iaduniyya (Cairo, 1325),1,206,1. 18: .. .fa-banat-hu jurhum, thumma qu~ayy b. kilab. naqalahu l-zubayr b. bakkdr wa-jazama bihi l-mawardi ... 97 See e.g. Ibn Hishiim, I, 132; and ~ee JESHO, 8 (1965), 126. 9. See e.g. al-Baliidhuri, I, 50; Ibn Kathir, al-Sira al-nabawiyya, ed. Mu~~afii 'Abd al-Wahid (Cairo, 1384/1964), I, 97. 99 See Aghani, XII, 126. 100 Aghcini, XII, 128. 101 See e.g. Ibn Hajar, al-Isdba ji tamyizi l-~a~aba, ed. 'Ali Muhammad 1392/1972), II, 84-85, no. 1735. 102 Aghcini, XII, 123. al-Bijiiwi, (Cairo, 51 Muawiya to attack Medina on the "Day of the Harra" (63 AH), the aged Muslim b. 'Uqba al-Murri (he went out to Medina at the age of more than 90 years), is listed with the same number of genealogical links as Muthallam.l'" The demolition of Buss may thus be dated to the third quarter of the sixth century. Some other reports may be scrutinized as well. A tradition says that Zuhayr b. J anab remained alive until he met a man of the fifth generation of the descendants of his brother; it was Abu l-Ahwas 'Amr b. Tha 'laba b. al-Harith b. Hisn b. Damdam b. 'Adiyy b. Janab.i'" Ibn al-Kalbi reports that 'Amr b. Tha 'Iaba captured al-A (sha when he was on his way to the king of the family of Jafna, IO~ He was released according to the request of Shurayh b. Hisn b. 'Imran b. Samaw 'al. 106 This report, as recorded in the commentary of a qasida of a1-A(sha, is corroborated by an account in Abu l-Baqa's Mandqib.v" The accounts quoted above seem to indicate that the activity of Zuhayr b. Janab and the strengthening of the ties of QU9a(a with Mecca took place in the second half of the sixth century and that Zuhayr died in the late decades of that century. III Authority and rule were based in the Meccan body politic on mutual agreements concluded between the various tribal factions and clans. Duties were imposed and privileges were established after intertribal struggles ceased; the stipulations in the agreements were laid down according to the balance of strength of the negotiating tribal groups. According to such agreements or pacts, usages upheld by custom turned into customary Iaw, administratively bidding taxes became obligatory payments, customary religious practices became mandatory regulations. The struggle for power of the different tribal factions on the one hand and the necessity to prevent disorder in Mecca on the other hand originated the institution of the hukkdm, the arbitrators. A1-Maqrizi provides a list of the arbiters of Quraysh in the period of the Jahiliyya (in fact at the end of the sixth and the beginning of the seventh century - K): 'Abd a1103 See Ibn Hajar, al-Isaba, VI, 294, no. 8420; al-Baladhuri, MS., fol. 1147a; Ibn al-Kalbi, Jamhara, MS. Br. Mus., fol. 168b (in all these sources; Muslim b. 'Uqba b. Riyal} b. As'ad b. Rabi'a 104 10' 106 b. 'Amir.) Abu Hatirn al-Sijistani, p. 29. Ibn al-Kalbi, Jamhara, Esc., p. 384, I. I; Caskel, Gamhara, II, 185. See a[-A'shii. Diwdn, ed. R. Geyer (Wien, 1928), pp. 125-126, (nos. XXIII-XXIV) MS., fol. 141a. commentary. 107 Abu l-Baqa, a[-Maniiqib al-mazyadiyya, 52 MECCA AND THE TRIBES OF ARABIA Muttalib and his two sons, al-Zubayr and Abu Talib; Abu Sutyan and his father Harb on behalf of the Banu Umayya; al-Walid b. a1-Mughira on behalf of the Makhzum; al-' A~ b. wsu and Qays b. 'Adiyy on behalf of Banu Sahm; Nawfal b. 'Abd al- 'Uzza on behalf of the Banii 'Adiyy and a1-'Ala' b. Haritha al-Thaqafi on behalf of the Bami Sahm; Naufal b. 'Abd al-'Uzza on behalf of the Banu Zuhra.l'" A passage quoted by al-Maqrizi from al-Fakihi's Ta'rikh Makka sheds some light on the position of the arbiters and on the way in which they were elected: in order to avoid wickedness they were chosen by mutual consent and none of them would strive to overpower the rest of Quraysh (... wa-Iam yakun minhum ahadun mutamallikan 'ala baqiyyati qurayshin. wa-innama dhdlika bi-tarddihim 'alayhi hasman li-mdddati 1sharri; qdlahu l-fdkihiyyu ...). 109 Qusayy's innovations and regulations (taxes imposed on aliens entering Mecca [soil, with merchandise - K), food provided for the pilgrims, fire lit on Muzdalifa, practices in the dar al-nadwa etc.) became binding and obligatory, as the different clans agreed to carry them out: the hukkdm of Mecca seem to have acted according to that tradition. This is reflected in the following passage recorded by Maqrizi: wa-inna amra qusayyin fi qawmihi ka-l-dini l-muttaba"i la yu'malu bi-ghayrihi fi haydtihi wa-min ba'dihi.110 The mutual agreements between the chiefs of the different tribal factions of Quraysh are reflected in the story of the rebuilding of the Ka 'ba by Quraysh. The different factions and clans agreed upon to allot every faction its share in the erection of the building: the Banu 'Abd Manaf and the Banu Zuhra were entrusted with the side of the door; the space between the Black Stone and the southern corner was assigned to the Bami Makhziim and groups of Quraysh who joined them; the back of the Ka 'ba was entrusted to the Banu Jumah and Banu Sahm; the section of the ~ijr was given to the 'Abd al-Dar b. Qusayy, the Banu Asad b. 'Abd aI-'Uzza and the Banii 'Adiyy b. Ka'b; the Wr is the ~a,im - says an attached note. III According to tradition Quraysh planned to rebuild the Ka 'ba and to cover 108 Al-Maqrizi, Sinjari, Mana'ilj 109 AI-Maqrizi, 110 AI-Maqrizi, 111 Dhikru rna warada ji bunyan al-ka' 00, MS., fols. I77b inf.-178a sup.; alal-karam, MS., fol. 59b. Dhikru rna warada, MS., fol. 178a sup.; al-Sinjiiri, Manci'ilj, MS., fol. 59b. Dhikru rna warada, MS., fol. 176b. Ibn Hishiim, I, 207; al- 'I~iimi, Sim; al-nujum; I, 166; al-Sinjiiri, Manci'ilj, MS., fol. 62a; Ibn Ruzayq, al-~aljifa al-'adnciniyya, MS. Br. Mus. Or. 6569, fol. 259b; al-Shatibi, al-Jumdn fi akhbdri l-zamdn, MS. Br. Mus. Or. 3008, fol. 58b; al-Maqrizi, Dhikru rna warada, MS., fol. 180a-b; al-$iiliJ:ll,Subul al-huda, II, 229; Ibn Kathir, al-Stra al-nabawiyya, I, 277 penult.-278 sup. Ibn Kathir, Tqfsir (Beirut, 1385/1966), I, 318; 'Ali b. Burhan al-Din al-Halabi, Insdn al'uytin (=al-Sira al-Ijalabiyya) (Cairo, 1382/1962), I, 159 inf.-160 sup. 53 the building with a roof; their calculation of the expenditure seems to have been inaccurate 112and they were compelled to limit the size ofthe building; they did not include in the building the space of the hijr; the lJ.ijr remained outside the Ka 'ba.1l3 The exclusion of the lJ.ijr led later to a heated discussion in connection with the circumambulation of the Ka 'ba; the question posed was whether the believers should during the {awdf disregard the area of the lJ.ijr excluded from the building or to circumambulate behind it, considering it as part of the Sanctuary. The Prophet's answer was clear: the lJ.ijr is part of the Ka 'ba and the circumambulation has to be performed from behind the space of the lJ.ijr.114 The reason for this decision is said to have been that the hijr was part of the House erected by Abraham."! This fact was taken into consideration by 'Abdallah b. al-Zubayr when he decided to rebuild the Ka'ba (anno 64/683); although he was advised to confine himself to the repairing of the building "as built by Quraysh," he decided to pull down the Ka 'ba and to erect the building of the Sanctuary in its original "Abrahamian" dimensions (i.e. to include the hijr, which was excluded by Quraysh - K); he indeed carried out his plan.!" Al-Hajja] changed the building of the Ka 'ba: he Ieft Ibn al-Zubayr's extension of the building, but ordered to pull down the part of the lJ.ijr built by Ibn al-Zubayr.'!? 112 See the references provided by U. Rubin, The Ka'ba, n. 26; and see al-Suyuti, Jam' al- jawdmi' (Cairo, 1978), I, 1218. 113 See e.g. Ibn Kathir, al-Sira al-nabawiyya, I, 281-282; al-Zurqiini, Sharh al-mawdhib, I. 206, 1. 20; al-Maqrizi, Dhikru md warada, MS., fol. 181b; al-Shatibi, al-Jumiin, MS., fol. 59a; 'Ali b. Burhiin aI-Din,lnsan al-t uytin, 1,189; and see the thorough scrutiny of the problem in U. Rubin, The Ka'ba. 114 See e.g. al-Shatibi, al-Jumdn, MS., fol. 59a: ... wa-su'ila rastilu lkih! (s) 'ani l-hijri, hal huwa mina l-ka' bati am la,fa-qala huwa mina I-ka' bati wa-ld yqjrizu l-tawdfu ilia khalfahu ... ; and see al-Muhibbu l-Tabari, al-Qira li-qasid! ummi l-qurd, ad. Mu~~afa l-Saqa (Cairo, 1390/1970), p. 507: ., .fa-inna I-~ijra mina l-bayti fa-dhhabi fa-salli fihi ... 115 See U. Rubin, The Ka'ba, chapter 2: "the ritual functions" ... esp. n. 54. 116 See e.g. al-Harbi, al-Mandsik wa-amdkin turuqi I-~ajj, ed. Hamad al-Jasir (Riyad, 1389/1969), pp. 488-491 (see esp. p. 488 penult.: ... fa-adkhala jfha na~wan min sab'i adhru'In mina l-hijri ... and 489: ... fa-in bada li-qawmiki min ba'diki an yabntihu fahalummi uriki ma tarakii fa-ardha nahwan min sab'] adhru'in ... ); Muhibb ai-Din al-Tabari, al-Qira, pp. 508-509; and see al-Shatibi, al-Jumdn, MS., fol. 59a (seven cubits of the ~ijr not included in the building erected by Quraysh; according to a tradition recorded by Muhibb alDin, al-Qira, p. 509, 'Abdallah b. aI-Zubayr included five cubits of the Wr in the Ka 'ba erected b.y him). 117 See e.g, Muhibb ai-Din al-Tabari, al-Qira, p. 509 (... ammd rna zatiaji{rilihifa-aqirrahu, wa-ammd rna zdda fihi mina I-Wrifa-ruddahu ila bina'ihi ... ); Ibn Zuhayra, al-Jami' ai-latif, p. 92 has an erroneous reading: ... ammd ma zdda ji {rilihl fa-akhkhirhu ... ; al-Maqrizi, Dhikru rna warada, MS., fol. 184a: ... thumma hadama (i.e. aI-l:laijiij) rna bandhu bnu 1zubayri fi l-ka'bati min nti~iyati l-hijri, thumma a'adahu 'ala ma kdna 'alayhi wa-akhraja 1- 54 MECCA AND THE TRIBES OF ARABIA Tradition says that the Prophet attended the building of the Ka 'ba by Quraysh; when the chiefs of the Qurashi clans quarrelled as to who would put the Black Stone in its place the Prophet was unanimously chosen by the contending factions to put the Stone in its place.!'" Traditions are however divergent about the age of the Prophet at the time of the building of the Ka'ba: whether he was a youth, a boy who had reached virility, 15 years old, 25 years, 30 years, 35 years, 15 years before he got his revelation, five years before revelation or before he was employed by Khadija. I19 All the traditions are unanimous that he participated in the building. An important role in the erection of the Ka 'ba was allotted to aI-Walid b. al-Mughira al-Makhziimi, 120 a noble member of Quraysh; he was a courageous man and did not fear to start the demolition of the oid building of the Sanctuary. According to a tradition recorded by Ibn al-Ka1bi when the Meccans were engaged in building the Ka 'ba and realized that they lacked the necessary funds for accomplishing of the building, they were surprised by a generous offer for help from a wealthy triballeader of the Kalb. It was Ubayy b. Salim al-Kalbi who came to Mecca and asked the Meccans to allow him to get a share in the building. They agreed and he built the right side of the Ka 'ba. A1Jawwas b. al-Qatal said about that: Lana aymanu I-bayti lladhi tahjubunahu : wirdthatu md abqd ubayyu bnu sdlimi To us belongs the right side of the House which you cover with curtains: an inheritance left by Ubayy b. Salim. I2I This tradition is quoted (with few variants) by Ibn Qutayba.!" AI-Maqrizi records the tradition on the authority of Ibn al-Kalbi and gives the full name of the Kalbi leader: Ubayy b. Swim b. al-Harith b. aI-Wiil}id(Malik) b. 'Abdallah ~ijra min at-ka'batt, wa-kdna dhdlika ft sanati arba'in wa-sabiinat fa-laysa fi I-ka'bati al-tina min bind"! I-lJaiidji ghayru l-jiddri l/adhi ya/i I-lJijra faqat. 118 See e.g. Ibn Is~iq, al-Siyar wa-l-maghdzi, ed. Suhayl Zakkir, (Damascus, 1398/1978), pp. 107-108; al-Harbi, al-Mandsik, p. 487; aI-$ili~i, Subul al-hudd, II, 231-232; 'Ali b. Burhan al-Din al-Halabi, Insdn al- 'uyUn, I, 161; Ibn Ni~ir al-Din al-Dimashqi, Jdmi' al-dthdr ji mawlidi l-nabiyyi l-mukhuir, MS. Cambridge Or. 913, fol. 268a • • 1> See e.g. aI-$ilil}i, Subul al-hudd, II, 233-234; aI-Zurqini, SharlJ al-mawdhib, I, 203; alHarbi, al-Mandsik, pp, 494-495; Ibn Nasir al-Din, Jlimi' al-athdr, MS., fol. 268a; Ibn Ishaq, alSiyar wa-l-maghdzt, p. 109; and see the references given by U. Rubin, The Ka'ba; n. 16. 120 See e.g. Ibn Hisham, I, 206-207. 121 Ibn al-Kalbi, Jamhara, Esc., MS., pp. 414-415; intalaqa ubayyun ma'ahu mdlun kathirun fa-atd qurayshan lJina arddu bind'a l-kaibati fa-qdla: da'uni ushrikkum fi bind'ihd, fa-adhimi lahu, fa-band janibaha l-aymana ... m Ibn Qutayba, Kitdb al-ma'drif, p, 561. 55 b. Hubal b. 'Abdallah b. 'Ulaym b. Janab.l2l He was thus a descendant of 'Ulaym, the brother of Zuhayr b. Janab, There is nothing to make us doubt the soundness of this tradition; it is indeed credible that the Qurashites were glad to allot a share of the building to a Kalbite tribal group. • The memory of Janab b. Hubal remained alive among the Ka1b. The troops levied from among his descendants are praised in the poems of aI-Jawwas b. alQa'tal, himself a descendant of Janab: Da'o bi-sildhin, thumma ahjama idh ra'a : suytifa jandbin wa-l-tiwdla 1madhdkiyti He called for weapons, then he turned back as he saw : the swords of J anab and the long-bodied horses, which had reached full age and complete strength. 124 In a verse in which al-Jawwas describes the march of the divisions of Janab and' Auf he says that they are filling the high mountains formed of one mass of rocks. izs Ibn Sa' d recorded a Ietter sent by the Prophet to the Banu Janab and their allies.126 • Kalb were famous for their wealth and the multitude of their flocks. The Prophet is reported as saying that God would grant forgiveness to a countless multitude of believers on the night of mid-Sha 'ban as numerous as the hairs of the flocks of the tribe of Kalb.127 The close ties of Kalb with the Umayyad rulers seem to be reflected in a saying reported by 'Awana in which the Al-Maqrizi, Dhikru md warada, MS., fol. 180a inf.-180 sup. Al-Baladhuri, op. cit.; V (ed. Goitein, Jerusalem, 1936), 142; al-Tabari, Ta'rikh, ed. Abii I· Fadl Ibrahim (Cairo, 1971), V, 542; al-Mas'iidi, al-Tanbih wa-I-ishr4f, ed. de Goeje (rpt, 123 124 Baghdad), p. 310. m Aghdni; XVII, 112: idhd sdrat qaba'tlu min jandbin : wa- "awfin ash~anii shumma I-hit/dbi. 126 Ibn Sa' d, Tabaqdt, I, 285. 127 See e.g. al-Naysiibiiri, Ghard'ib al-qur'tin wa-ragha'ib al-furqan, ed. Ibrahim 'Atwa 'Awad (Cairo, 1388/1968), XXV, 65; Muhammad l;Iasanayn Makhliif al'Adawi, Risdla fi fadli laylati l-nisfi min sha'bdn, ed. l;Iasanayn Muhammad Makhliif (Cairo, 1394/1974), p. 20 (and see ibid., the explanation of the Prophet: ... qultu: yd nabiyya lldhi, rna bdlu ghanami bani kalbin? qdla: laysaji I-'arabi qawmun aktharu ghanaman minhum ... ); and see the references given in Kister, "Sha'ban is my month," in Studia Orientalia Memoriae D.H. Baneth Dedicata (Jerusalem, 1979), p. 26, n. 52. 56 MECCA AND THE TRIBES OF ARABIA position of different tribes was assessed. "The kingdom was never aided by a tribe (stronger - K) than that of Kalb." 128 It is not surprising that they attracted the enmity of the opposition-groups of the Umayyads. Apocalyptic tradition has gloomy things to say about the fate of Kalb during the crucial clash between the Mahdi and his enemy, the Sufyani, The Kalb will be attacked by the forces of the Mahdi and plundered. The event will be named: "The Day of the Plunder of the Bedouins" or "The Day of the Plunder of Kalb." "The man who will be disappointed on that Day will [indeed] be disappointed." 129 • The few accounts discussed above may provide us with a clue for a better understanding of the relations of Mecca with certain tribal groups. These reports seem to reflect the ingenious and sagacious policy of the Meccan leaders, who succeeded in their wisdom and flexibility to establish friendly relations with influential tribal leaders and to win them over to a peaceful cooperation with Mecca. The wise leaders of Mecca did not hesitate even to attach them as partners in the erection of the Sanctuary of Mecca. 12. Ibn Abi l-Dunya, al-Ishrtif fi mandzil al-ashrdf, MS. Chester Beatty 4427, fol. 43b: ... akhbarand l-hakamu bnut awdnata I-kalbiyyu 'an abihi, qdla, lam yu'ayyadi 1mulku bi-mithli kalbin, wa-Iam tu'Ia l-mandbiru bi-mithli qurayshin, wa-lam tutlabi 1tirtitu bi-mithli tamimin, wa-Iam tur'a t-rt'oya bi-mithli thaqifin, wa-Iam tusadda 1thughiiru bi-mithli qaysin, wa-Iam tuhaji l-jitanu bi-mithli rabi' ata, wa-Iam yujba 1khartiju bi-mithli I-yamani. 12, Nu'aym b. Harnmad, Kiuib al-fitan, MS. Br. Mus. Or. 9449, fol. 95b: ... thumma yasiru ild kalbin fa-yanhabuhum fa-l-khd'tbu man khdba yawma nahbi kalbin ... ; fol. 96a: ... 'an ka'bin qdla: wadidtu anniudriku nahba l-a'rab; wa-hiya nahbatu kalbinfaI-khti'ibu man khdba yawma kalbin ... ; fol. 96b: .. .Ja-yaqtatilu huwa wa-jayshu 1slifyaniyyi 'ala sab'I rtiydt, kullu ~alJibi rdyatin minhum yarju I-amra li-nofsihi fayahzimuhumu I-mahdiyyu; qdla abu hurayrata: fa-l-mahriimu man lJurima nahba kalbin ... ; fol. 97b: .. .fa-l-klui'ibu man khdba yawma kalbin.lJatiti tuba'« l-jdriyatu 1"adhrti'u bi-thamdniyati dardhima. And see Yiisuf b. YaI}yii I-Maqdisi I-Shiifj'i, 'Lqd aldurar fi-akhbdri l-muntazar, ed. 'Abd al-Fattah al-Hilw (Cairo, 1399/1979), pp. 69-70, 85, 86 (and see the references provided by the editor). 57 

Circumcised.pdf " AND HE WAS BORN CIRCUMCISED Some notes on circumcision in Hadith by " M.J. Kister Jerusalem To Professor R. Sellheim as a token of esteem and respect The ritual of circumcision, in practice throughout the Muslim world, is traced back to Ibrahim, the ancestor of the Jews and the Arabs. Arab tradition, like that of the Jews, holds that he was the first who circumcised himself on the order of God. His is said to have performed this ritual at the age of eighty and to have lived until the age of two hundred. Another tradition claims that he carried out circumcision at the age of one hundred and twenty, in a place named Qadum. According to another tradition, the tool used by Ibrahim for the circumcision was named qadum, a pick-axel. 1 Abu Hudhayfa Ishaq b. Bishr, Mubtada'u l-dunya wa-qisasu l-anbiya', MS Bodleiana, Huntington 388, fol. 187b. And see Shil'awayh b. Shahridar al-Daylami, Firdausu l-akhbiJr, ed. Fawwaz Al)mad al-Zimirli and Mubammad al-MuCtll$imbi-llllhi I-Baghdadi, Beirut 1407/1987, I, 58, no. 44; and see the references of the editors. Fac;l1ullahiI-Jilllni, Farjlu lI11hi -$amadfi taudil;!i I I-adabi I-mufrad li-abi mul;!ammadi bni ismll'Tla I-bukhllri, Him$ 1388/1969, II, 668, no. 1244, 673, no. 1250. Mubammad b. Al)mad al-An$llrr l-Qurtubi, al-JiJmieIi-al;!kllmiI-qur'lln = TafsiTU I-qurfubi, Cairo 138711967, II, 99. Ibn Qayyim al-Jauziyya, Tul;!fatu l-maudi1d bi-al;!kllmi 1mauli1d, Beirut n. d., pp. 120-124. AI-Tabarllni, Musnad al-shllmiyyin, ed. Hamdi 'Abd al-Majid al-Salafi, Beirut 1409/1989, I, 88, no. 124; and see the references provided by the editor. AbU 1Qllsim 'AIi b. al-Hasan, Ibn 'Asllkir, Tabyinu I-imtinlln bi-I-amri bi-I-ikhtitlln, ed. MajdI FatbI 1Sayyid, Tantll 1410/1989, pp. 33-35, nos. 9-12 (he circumcised himself at the age of eighty) and pp. 37, 39, nos. 17-18 (he circumcised himself at the age of hundred and twenty); and see ibid. the references given by the editor. AI-Muttaqi I-HindI, Kanzu I-'ummlll, Hyderabad 1395/1975, XXII, 36, no. 305. Ibn al-Mulaqqin, Tul;!fatu I-mul;!tlljilll adil/ati I-minhlij, eel. 'Abdallah b. Sa'llf al-LaI)yllni, Mecca al-mukarrama 1406/1986, II, 496, no. 1616; and see the references of the editor. Mubammad b. 'Ali b. TOIOn, Ff1$$U I-khawlltim fimll qila fi I-walll'im, eel. Nizllr Ub~, Damascus 140311983, p. 61. Al)mad b. cAlI b. al-Muthannll al-TamlmI, Musnad abi yrrlll 1maU$iI1,ed.Husayn Salim Asad, Damascus 1407/1987, X, 383-384, no. 5981; and see the abundant references of the editor. AI-Munllwi, Fayr!u I-qadir, sharl;!u l-jllmi'i I-$aghir, Beirut 13911 1972, I, 207-208, no. 284; and see ibid. the discussion whether qadi1m or qaddi1m is a name of a place or of a tool of a carpenter; a harmonizing assumption says that he circumcised himself with a tool named qadi1m in a place called qaddam. Badr al-Din Muhammad b. 'Abdallah al-Shibli, Mal;!lIsinu l-wasl1'ilfi mrrrifati l-awll'il, MS Brit. Library, Or. 1530, fol. 48b-49a: God told Ibrahim that he had already accomplished (the ••. .. and he was born circumcised ... " 11 A slightly divergent tradition about the circumcision of Ibrahim is recorded by Abu Bakr Ahmad b. cAmr b. Abl cAsim al-Shaybani, in his Kitnbu l-awli)i/2: Ibrahim carried out the circumcision at the age of one hundred and thirty yearsl. A peculiar tradition traced back to Abu Hurayra and recorded in Suvntr's al-Durr al-manthur+, says that Ibrahim circumcised himself in Qadum at the age of thirty years. AI-CAyruquotes a tradition recorded by al-Mawardt saying that Ibrahim circumcised himself at the age of seventy; according to Ibn Qutayba, after this event he lived for a hundred years and died at the age of one hundred and seventy'. Noteworthy is a tradition recorded by al-Bayhaqi in his ai-Sun an alkubra'': God ordered Ibrahrm to circumcise himself and he carried out the order using the qadum, the pick-axe. When the pain increased and became too hard for him to bear, he invoked God. God then asked him why was he so hasty in carrying out the order and Ibrahim answered that he did it because he feared to delay the accomplishment of God's injunction". There is, however, one tradition in which the circumcision of Abraham is not linked with an injunction of God. Abraham is said to have waged war with the Amalekites. Since many warriors of both the fighting troops fell in these battles, it was necessary to make a distinction during the burial of the dead between the believing warriors, fighting on the side of Abraham, and the unbelieving Amalekites. Then Abraham introduced the circumcision in order to distinguish by that mark the believing warriors from the unbelievers". The injunctions of-K.) his religious belief, qad akmalta tmanaka, except a bit, ba¢'a, of your body which you whould remove; he then circumcised himself, using for it a pick-axe. Another tradition says that God bade him clean himself on three occasions; at the first time he performed an ablution, at the second time he washed himself, at the third time he carried out the circumcision. And see: al-Baghawl, Maslibl(1u l-sunna, ed. Muhammad SalIm Ibrahim Samara and Jamal Hamdt l-Dhahabl, Beirut 140711987, IV, 18, no. 4428. Muhammad Nasir ai-Din aIAlbant, Silsilatu 1-a(llidIthil-sahtha, Beirut 1405/1985, II, 361, no. 725; and see the references of the author. EF, s. v, khitnn, Shams ai-Din aI-SuyiitJ, [t(lll/u I-akhi$sll bi-/arJll)iJi I-masjidi t-aqss, ed. Ahmad Ramadan Ahmad, Cairo 1984, II, 74 records some technical details of the circumcision: Ibrahim used the pick-axe, qaddum for the circumcision; he drew the pick-axe towards himself and hit it with a stick; then the prepuce fell down without any pain or flow of blood. See these details of the circumcision of Ibrahim in Ibn 'Asikir's Tabylnu l-imtinan, pp. 36-37, no. 15 and in 'Ali' al-Dln 'Ali Dadah aI-SaktawAli aI-Busnawi's MU(lllrJaratal-awll'iI wa-musamarat al-awakhir, Bulaaq 1300, p. 38. 2 Ed. Muhammad b. Ni$ir aI·cAjami, aI-Kuwayt 1405, p. 64, no. 19. 3 See ibid. the references provided by the editor. 4 Cairo 1314, I, 115 sup. S A1-'Ayni, cUmdat al-qllrl shar(l sa(li(li t-bukhsrt, repr, Beirut, n. d., XV, 246. 6 Hyderabad 1355, VIII, 326. 7 See this tradition: aI-SuyiitJ, al-Durr al-manthur, I, 115. Ibn Hajar aI-CAsqalani, Fathu t-bsn shar(l sa(ll(1iI-bukhllrl, Cairo 1301, repr, Beirut, X, 288, pp. 25-26. Ibn Qayyim aI-Jauziyya, Tuhfa: al-maudud, p. 121. A1-Saffilrl, Nuzhatu l-majalis wa-muntakhabu l-najQ'is, Beirut, n. d., p. 490 inf. Ibn 'Asakir, Tabyinu l-imtinan, p. 36, no. 14. 8 Abill;iudhayfa Is\.llq b. Bishr, Mubtada)u l-dunya wa-qisasu t-anbiya', MS fol. 187b. 'Ala) 12 M.J. Kister Muslim tradition is, however, almost unanimous in saying that Ibrahim performed the circumcision on the order of God. As there is no special verse in the Qur-an enjoining the circumcision, commentators of the Qur-an strove to find some indications in the Qur'an implying that God enjoined Ibrahim to carry out the circumcision. Such was the verse 124 in surat al-baqara: ... wa-idhi btala ibrahtma rabbuhu bi-kalimatin faatammahunna ... , "and (remember) when his Lord tried Abraham with certain commands which he fulfilled ... " One of these commands, kalimat, was, according to some scholars, the injunction of the circumcision''. The story of the circumcision of Abraham according to God's injunction and his suffering is confronted by the story of the circumcision of the Prophet. Unlike Abraham, the Prophet was granted the grace of being born circumcised. The tradition of the miraculous circumcision of the Prophet, as transmitted by his servant Anas b. Malik, says that the Prophet stated: "For the sake of my honourable position at God's Presence I was born circumcised and nobody saw my pudendum," min karamatt Callillahi ann] wulidtu makhtiinan wa-lam yara ahadun sau'ati10. Al-Munawt, who recorded this tradition, adduced a remarkable list of reservations and many critical observations of Muslim orthodox scholars. Some al-Dln 'Ali Dadah al-Saktawart al-Busnawi, Mu~iit;faratu l-awli'i1 wa-musamaratu I-awakhir, p. 38; and see ibid. details about Ibrahim as a military leader. AI-Tha'iabi, Q#t1$al-anbiya', Cairo n. d., pp. 129-130. Al-Saffurl, Nuzhatu l-majdlis, p. 491 sup. 9 See e.g. Isbaq b. Bishr, Mubtad"u l-dunya, MS fol. 188b, sup. Ibn Abi Shayba, alMusannaf, (reprint) XI, 521, no. 11877. Shihabu l-Dln I-Khafaji, Naslmu f-riYllt;f i sharhi shiflJ'i I I-qllt;/lciyllt;f, airo 1327, I, 343 inf. Ibn Qayyim al-Jauziyya, Tuhfatu l-maudud, p, 164: ... wa-IC khitan kana mina I-kh#a/i llati btala /lahu subMJnahu biha ibrllhima khalrlahu fa-atammahunna wa-akmalahunna fa-ja'alahu imaman li-t-nasi ... 10 Ibn al-Jauzl, al-Wa/ll bi-ahwali l-mustafa, ed. Mu~~afii cAbd aI-Wiibid, Cairo 1386/1966, p. 97. Abu Nu'aym al-Isfahanl, Dalli'ilu l-nubuwwa, ed. Muhammad Rawwas QaIcajI and 'Abd al-Barr 'Abbas, Beirut 1406/1986, I, 154, no. 91. Ibn Nasir al-Dtn al-Dimashqt, Jamieu I-II/hllrIi maulidi l-nabiyyi l-mukhtar, MS Cambridge Or. 913, fol. 192b, quoted from Abu NuCaym's Dalll'il, and fol. 193a, quoted from al-Khatib al-Baghdadl's Ta'rikh and from Ibn cAsAkir, evidently from his Ta'rikh dimashq. Ibn Kathir, al-Slra al-nabawiyya, ed. Mu~~afa 'Abd aI-Wiibid, Cairo 1385/1966, I, 209. Shihabu l-Dln aI-Khafaji, Nastmu I-riyat;f,I, 363, inf.-364. Al-Zurqant, al-Mawllhibu l-Iaduniyya, Cairo 1326, V, 244. Husayn b. Muhammad al-Diyarbakrl, Ta)rikhu 1khamts Ii a~wali anfasi nafls, Cairo 1283, I, 204 inf. 'Ali b. Burhan aI-Din al-Halabl, Inssnu 1'uyun Ii strati l-amini I-ma'mun = al-Slra al-fralabiyya, Cairo 138211962, I, 59. And see: Muhammad b. Yusuf aI-salil:u, Subulu I-hudll wa-J-rashiJdIi strati khayri I-rTkh-tahdhlb, Beirut 1399/1979, I, 283. Ibn KathIr, al-S1ra al-nabawiyya, I, 208-209. Ibn al-Jauzi, Sifatu l-safwa, I, 52. Ab1l Nu'aym al-Isfahant, DallPii al-nubuwwa, p. 154, no. 92; and see the references of the editor. Al-MaqrIzi, Imtif-u l-asmif- bi-ma li-l-rasuli mina l-anblPi wa-l-amwalt wa-l-l:uz/adati wa-lmats", ed. Mal.un1ldMuhammad Shakir, Cairo 1941, 1,4 inf. Ibn Nl$ir al-Dln al-DimashqI, Jllmi< al-llthllr, MS fol. 192b, quoted from al-BayhaqI's Dalll'il. Ibn Sa'd, al-Tabaqat al-kubra, Beirut 1380/1960, I, 103. Ibn Nasir al-Din al-Dimashql, Jllmie al-tuhar, MS fol. 192; quoted from Ibn Sa'd's Tabaqllt. Al-'Aq1llI, al-Rasf li-ma ruwiya 'ani l-nabiyyi sallllllllhu 'alayhi wa-sallam mina I-Ji'li wa-l-wasf, Cairo 1406/1986, I, 20; quoted from Ibn Sa'd, 36 I, 112. • ••. .. and he was born circumcised ...•• 17 by Amina the night when she bore the Prophet. He took the child and brought it to Hubal, who was placed in the Ka'ba: he invoked God and thanked Him for His precious gift, the birth of the Prophet!", One tradition links the entrance of cAbd al-Muttalib with the child into the Ka'ba with some socio-religious activities practiced in Mecca in the period of the Jahiliyya, It was cAbd al-Muttalib who invoked in the Sanctuary for the child, it was he who named the child Muhammad and it was he who invited Quraysh and prepared a party for them on the occasion of the birth of Muhammad-". Some traditions say that CAbd al-Muttalib circumcised the child, performing the ritual on the seventh day after his birth39• Mughultay confronts in his al-Zahr al-basim40 the tradition that the Prophet was born circumcised with the tradition that CAbdal-Muttalib circumcised the child on the seventh day of his birth, arranged a party on this occasion and named him Muhammad. Mughultay notes that this tradition seems to be more acceptable than that of the Prophet being born circumcised'", Some of the traditions saying that CAbd al-Muttalib circumcised the child stress that he performed it according to the practice of the Arabs+'. The reliability of the tradition saying that the Arabs practiced circumcision 37 And see Ibn Kathlr, al-Sira al-nabawiyya, 1,208. Ibn 'Asiildr, Tatrtkh -tahdhtb, 1,284. AlBayhaql, Shucab al-tman, ed. 'Abd al-'Aliyy cAbd al-Hamld Hamid, Bombay 140711987, III, 555; and see references of the editor. Abu Hatim Muhammad b. Hibban al-Busti, al-Sira al-nabawiyya wa-akhbaru l-khulafa", excerpted from al-Bustt's Kitabu l-thiqm, ed. 'Aziz Bek and alii, Beirut 140711987, p. 53. 38 See e.g. 'Abd al-Malik al-'I$limi, Simtu l-nujami 1-'awiil1fi anbCI'i l-awl1'i1i wa-l-tawatt, Cairo 1380, I, 263 inf.-264. 39 Al-Maqrtzt, lmtl!'u l-asms-, 1,5. Mughultay, al-Zahr al-basim, MS Leiden Or. 370, fol. 70a, 1.1. Al-Qurtubl, TafsIr, II, 100. Ibn cAsakir, Ttrrtkh-tahdbtb, I, 283. 40 MS Leiden Or. 370, fol. 69 b. 41 cr. Ibn 'Aslikir, Tairtkh-tahdhtb, I, 283. 42 See e.g. Ibn Qayyim al-Jauziyya, Tuhfatu l-maudud, p. 158: ... anna jaddahu 'abda 1muttalibi khatanahu 'all1 'lIdati I-'arabi j1 khitani auladihim ... Ibn Qayyim al-Jauziyya, Zi1du 1ma'iid, I, 19, sup. And see the utterance attributed to Ibn 'Abbas in al-Suyutt's al-Durr al-manthiir, I, 114, inf. .,. 'ani bni 'abblisin qlIla: sab'un mina l-sunnati fi l-sabiyyi yauma l-sl1bi'i:yusamma wa-yukhtanu wa-yumatu 'anhu l-adhl1 wa-yu'aqqu 'anhu wa-yuhlaqu rcrsuhu wa-yultakhu min 'uqiqatihi wa-yutasaddaqu bi-wazni sha'ri ra'sihi dhahaban au flddatan, Al-Halabt, al-Sira al-halabiyya, I, 59. Shihabu I-DIn al-Khafajl, Nasimu l-riyiJfl, I, 364: .•. anna jaddahu 'abda 1murtalibi khatanahu yauma Sl1bicihiwa-ja'ala lahu ma'dubatan wa-sammahu muhammadan, wakanati I-'arabu takhtatinu li-annahu sunnatun tawilrathilhil min isma'i1a wa-ibrahtma 'alayhimli l-salamu, And see al-Ya'qnbt, Ta'rIkh, ed. Muhammad Sadiq Bahru 1-'uliim, Najar 1384/1964, I, 224: wa-kanat adyl1nu I-'arabi mukhtalifatan bi-l-mujawarat! Ii-ahli l-milali wa-l-intiqnli tta 1buldilni wa-I-intijl!'ilti. fa-kanat qurayshun wa-'ilmmatu wuJdi ma'addi bni 'adnlIna 'alil ba'f/i dtni ibrahima ya!luijiina l-bayta wa-yuqtmuna l-manasika wa-yaqruna l-dayfa wa-yucauimiina 1ashhura l-huruma wa-yunkirana l-fawill;.isha wa-l-taql1/u'a wa-t-tazsluma wa-yu'l1qibiina 'all1 1jarl1'imi, fa-lam yazillQ 'all1 dhl1lika mil kl1nQwulata l-bayti ... Al-Khafa]! emphasizes that circumcision among the Arabs was not caused by the neighbourhood of the Jews, wa-Iaysa dhillika li-mujawarati l-yahud •..• 18 M.J. Kister in pre-Islamic times is convincingly demonstrated by Uri Rubin in his article: "Hanifiyya and Ka'ba, An inquiry into the Arabian pre-Islamic background of din Ibrahim. ,,43 It is indeed noteworthy that the traditions transmitted by Ibn (Abbas emphasize the role of (Abd al-Muttalib and the continuity of the Jahill customs, according to which (Abd al-Muttalib acted. The practice of circumcision of females in the period of the Jahiliyya is indicated in a verse of Nabigha al-Dhubyani, in which he mentions young girls captured in a raid before they were circumcised+'. A third group of traditions says that the angel Jibril performed the circumcision of Muhammad in the abode of Hallma, when he opened his breast and purified his heart45. Arab sources emphasize the persistence of the Abrahamian beliefs in the Arab peninsula=, A tradition recorded on the authority of (Ikrima asserts that uncircumcised persons were not to perform the circumambulation of the Ka'ba, No uncircumcised person ever circumambulated the Ka'ba since the time of Abraham, the tradition says47. Al-Jahiz is quoted as stating that the practice of female and male circumcision remains continuous since the time of Ibrahim and Hajar until now: ... qiila l-jliJ:ziZ:wa-l-khitanu ft l-sarabi ft l-nisli'i wa-l-rijali min ladun ibrtihima 'alayhi I-salamu wa-hajara Uli yaumina hlidha. Al-Jahiz adds the following observation: ... thumma lam yiilad sabiyyun makhtunan au fl surati makhtunin, wa-nasun yaz-umuna anna l-nabiyya $alla llnhu 'alayhi wa-sallam wa-stsn 'alayhi l-salnmu khuliqd makhtunayniv: The Arab character of the practice of circumcision is reflected in the story 43 JSAI, vol. XIII (1990) 103: " ... The pre-Islamic deity of the Kaalati I-samo<, MS Hebrew Univ. AP Ar. 158, Col. 8b, penult.: ... kana 'umaru bnu I-khaflllbi ratjiya Ililhu 'anhu idhil samtia l-duffa wa-l-ghiniJla ankarahu, fa-idhil qtla khiumun au 'ursun sakata. 106 Al-Shaukant, Naylu l-autsr, I, 136, inC.: ... wa-amma man lahu dhakarani fa-in kilnil 'ilmi/ayni wajaba khitanuhuma, wa-in kilna a/laduhumll 'llmilan dana l-akhar khutina. 107 Al-ShaukanJ, Naylu l-autar, I, 136, penult.: ... ukhtullfa /l khitani l-khuntha, fa-qlla yajibu khittmuhu /l farjayhi qabla I-bulaghi, wa-qtla IIIyaiuzu ~attli yatabayyana, wa-huwa 1azharu, And see R.B. Serjeant, "Sex, Birth, Circumcision: Some Notes from South-West Arabia," Hermann von Wissmann-Festschrift, ed. A. Leidlmair, Tiibingen 1962, p. 206; repr. Variorum 1991, n. XIV. * 30 M.J. Kister, ". " and he was born circumcised ... " The sunan ibrahtm were adopted in Islam and became sunan at-islam, Circumcision became a compulsory condition for converts to Islam. Scholars considered it as a mark of Islam; some of them were of the opinion that it denoted servitude of the believer and his bondage to God, a visible sign that the believer carried out God's injunction. This is reminiscent of the Jewish idea of circumcision, according to which it is a sign of the covenant between God and His people. Circumcision is said to have been imposed on males and females alike. Some scholars advocated, however, the idea that females may be treated with certain leniency, basing their opinion on the utterance of the Prophet: al-khitanu sunnatun li-l-riiali makrumatun li-l-nisa'i, "circumcision is an obligatory ritual practice for men, a virtuous deed for women." As to the circumcision of males, there was a clear tendency to avoid any thought that it had been influenced by the Jewish practice. The early reports concerning circumcision state plainly that the Arabs were not influenced by their Jewish neighbours in that ritual practice. Similarly scholars bade to refrain from following the Jewish date of the circumcision on the seventh day after the birth of the child. A heated discussion concerning the problem whether the Prophet was born circumcised indicates that some scholars assumed that his circumcision was a miraculous event, following in this matter the traditions about other prophets who were born circumcised. It is noteworthy that in some lists of these prophets the names of some prophets from the Arab peninsula were added. Other scholars maintained that the Prophet's grandfather, CAbd al-Muttalib, took the newborn child from his mother, brought him to the Ka'ba, circumcised him and named him Muhammad, The tradition which maintains that he acted according to the Arab usage bears evidence that the tendency of the tradition is to stress the Arab custom of circumcision and the activity of the Prophet's grandfather in a framework of the old Arab tradition. The simple and modest celebrations of the circumcision in early Islam turned into popular and sometimes sumptuous festivities in the various countries of the Muslim empire 108 • See e.g. El2, s.v. khitan, 108 

Bag_Of_Meat.pdf 'A BAG OF MEAT': A STUDY OF AN EARLY h a d i t h By M. J. KISTER The manuscript Qarawiyiin 727 in Fez contains on folios 37b-38a a tradition reported by Yunus b. Bukayr on the authority of Ibn Ishaq The tradition tells of a meeting between the Prophet and Zayd b. 'Amr b. Nufayl, one of the h u n a f a in Mecca. During the meeting Zayd b. 'Amr was offered meat which he, however, refused to eat, arguing that he never ate meat sacrificed before idols. This tradition was published and translated by A. Guillaume in his New light on the life of m u h a m m a d It runs in his translation as follows: ' I was told that the apostle of God while speaking of Zayd ibn 'Amr ibn Nufayl said, h e was the first to blame me for worshipping idols and forbade me to do so. I had come from al ta'ifwith Zayd ibn haritha when I passed by Zayd ibn 'Amr on the high ground above Mecca, for Quraysh had made a public example of him (shaharathu) for abandoning their religion, so that he went forth from among them and (stayed) in the high ground of Mecca. I went and sat with him. I had with me a bag of meat from our sacrifices to our idols which Zayd ibn h a r i t h a was carrying, and I offered it to him. I was a young lad at the time. I said' Eat some of this food, 0 my uncle'. He replied' Nephew, it is a part of those sacrifices of yours which you offer to your idols, isn't it ' When I answered that it was he said ' If you were to ask the daughters of 'Abdu'l-Muttalib they would tell you that I never eat of these sacrifices and I want nothing to do with them '. Then he blamed me and those who worship idols and sacrifice to them saying ' They are futile : they can do neither good nor harm ', or words to that effect The apostle added" After that with that knowledge I never stroked an idol of theirs nor did I sacrifice to them until God honoured me with His apostleship"'. Guillaume considers this report as' a tradition of outstanding importance'. 'It is the only extant evidence', he says, 'of the influence of a monotheist on Muhammad by way of admonition.' 2 Guillaume remarks that 'this tradition has been expunged from Ibn hishamss recension altogether, but there are traces of it inS. [al-suhaylis a l r a u d al-unuf] (p. 146) and Bukhari (K. p. 63, bab 24) where there is an imposing isnad going back to 'Abdullah ibn 'Umar to the effect that the Prophet met bag was brought Zayd in the lower part of baldah before his apostleship. to the prophet o r the prophet brought it to him and he refused to eat of it saying ' I never eat what you sacrifice before your idols. I eat only that over which the name of God has been mentioned '. He blamed Quraysh for their sacrifices '. (Journal of Semitic Studies. Monograph No.1), Manchester University Press, 27-8; text, 59. 2 ibid., 27; see L. c a e t a n i a n n a l idell' i s l a m Milano, I, § 186: tra.dizione dovremmo ritenere che egli conoscesse Maometto dell'inizio della missione, e condotta di questo originale e i disoorsi del medesimo possono forse aver influitto sull' animo di Maometto'; T. noldeke, geschichte des qorans bearbeitet von F. Schwally, Leipzig, I, 18. 1 268 M. J. KISTER Guillaume surveys the discussion of the tradition in Suhayli's raud and remarks that Ibn Kathir ' (p. 239) also retains part of the original tradition which our contains. He says : "Zayd ibn 'Amr came to the apostle who was with Zayd ibn h a r i t h a as they were eating from a bag they had with them. nephew, I never eat from When they invited him to eat with them he said, what has been offered to idols'" '. 3 The different versions of the tradition concerning the meeting of the Prophet with Zayd b. 'Amr deserve to be surveyed. The tradition of al-Bukhari 4 (with the isnad musa (b. 'Uqba) >Salim b. 'Abdallah> 'Abdallah b. 'Umar) is recorded by Ibn 'Abd al-Barr, 5 Ibn s a ' d al-Bakri, 7 Ibn Kathir, 8 a h m a d b. h a n b a l Ibn ' a s a k i r i r a l - D h a h a b i and a h a l a b i a b i A tradition recorded by Ibn Durayd 13 has a quite different setting: the Prophet was made to cherish solitude before he received the revelation and he sojourned in the folds of the mountains of Mecca. He said (i.e. the Prophet): 'I saw Zayd b. 'Amr in one of the folds when he too secluded himself from the world. I sat down in his company and I offered him a meal containing meat. He then said nephew, I do not eat from these sacrifices (inni l a akulu min hadhihi ' l d h a n b a ' i h i '. In this tradition the Prophet was alone; Zayd b. h a r i t h a is not mentioned. One may only deduce from the expression hadhihi ' l d h a b a ' i h that meat of sacrifices slaughtered before idols is intended. A similar tradition is recorded by al-khargushi.14 The Prophet said 'Zayd b. 'Amr came to me when I was pasturing; with me was cooked meat. I invited him to (eat) it and adjured him to do it (i.e. to eat). He a n s w e r e d nephew, if you were to ask your aunts they would tell you that I do not eat meat offered to any god other than God, who is Exalted '. The difference between the tradition recorded by Ibn Durayd and the tradition of al-khargushi is noteworthy: the tradition of Ibn Durayd refers to the story of the solitude of the Prophet before he received the apostleship; the tradition of al-khargushi refers to the story that the Prophet pastured the cattle of some people of Mecca. op. cit., 28. 'With the version fa quddimad ilii 'l-nabiyyi s u f r a t u n v, Cairo, n. d. m u h 'Ali s u b a y h and Sons printers). a l i s t i ' a b ed. 'Ali m u h al-Bijawi, Cairo, 1960, 617, with the version: fa qaddama ilayhi rasulu 'llahi s a l l a 'lliihu 'alayhi wa sallama aufratan f i h a l a h m u n Tabaqiit, Beirut, 1957, III, 7 mu'jam m a stajam, ed. al-Saqa, Cairo, 1945, I, 273. 8 Al-Bidiiya wa 'l-nihaya, Beirut and a l r i y a d 1966, II, 240 (quoted from a l b u k h a r i Al-Musnad, ed. a h m a d , u h a m m a d Shakir, Cairo, 1949, vii, 225-6, no. 5369. 10 tahdhib ta'rikh d i m a s h q VI, 32. 11 Ta'rikh a l i s l a m Cairo, 1367/1947-8, I, 52; Siyar a'liim al-nubala', ed. s a l a h al-Din al-Munajjid, Cairo, 1956, I, 90; and see A. Sprenger, Daa Leben und die Lehre des m o h a m m a d zweite Aujlage, Berlin, 1869, I, 119. 12 'Ali b. b u r h a n al-Din a k h a l a b i i n s a n n al-'uyun fi sirat al-amin al,a'mun = a l s i r a al halabiyya Cairo, 1932, I, 147. 1a Al-Iahtiqiiq, ed. 'Abd al-Salam Hariin, Cairo, 1958, 134. "Sharaf a l m u s t a f a BM MS Or. 3014, fol. 28a. 3 'A BAG OF m e a t A STUDY OF AN EARLY h a d i t h 269 Significant is the phrase ' if you were to ask your aunts ... ' which is ahnost identical with that in the tradition of Yiinus b. Bukayr. A certain divergence is seen in a tradition recorded on the authority of 'A'isha (with an isniid: Hisham b. 'Urwa > 'Urwa > 'A'isha who heard the Prophet say' I heard Zayd b. 'Amr b. Nufayl condemning the eating of meat of sacrifices offered to someone other than God. So I did not taste anything (slaughtered) on the nusub b b b 15 until God honoured me by the Call '. 16 In this tradition there is no mention of a bag of meat, nor that the Prophet invited Zayd b. 'Amr to eat meat. The Prophet merely heard Zayd b. 'Amr condemn the eating of such meat. The person of Zayd b. haritha is mentioned in a tradition recorded by a h m a d b / h a n b a l with the following i s n a d Yazid > al-Mas'iidi > Nufayl b. Hisham b. Sa'id b. Zayd b. 'Amr b. Nufayl > Hisham b. Sa'id > Sa'id b. Zayd. 18 'When the Prophet and Zayd b. haritha ',says the tradition, 'stayed in Mecca, Zayd b. 'Amr passed by. They invited him to (share) a bag of theirs. Zayd b. 'Amr answered" 0 nephew, I do not eat what has been sacrificed on the n u s u b The transmitter (i.e. Sa'id b. Zayd b. 'Amr) said: 'the Prophet was after this never seen eating something sacrificed on the n u s u b b '. This tradition with the same isnad is recorded by a l t a y a l i s i s i It contains, however, a slight variant. Zayd b. 'Amr passed by the Prophet who was in the company of Zayd h a r i t h a they both (i.e. the Prophet and Zayd h a r i t h a ate from a bag of theirs They invited him, etc .... This is, of course, the source of the tradition of Ibn kathir {II, 239) mentioned above. An almost identical tradition is recorded by Ibn 'Abd al-barr. 20 It is in fact a combined tradition containing details about the search for a true religion by Zayd b. 'Amr and Waraqa b. Naufal; the report concerning the invitation to Zayd b. 'Amr to eat meat from a bag is only a part of the tradition. The important difference is that the Prophet was in the company of a b u Sufyan b. al harith 21 (not Zayd b. h a r i t h a The tradition recorded in MS Fez, qarawiyun 727, and translated by Guillaume, is not an isolated one. The tradition is recorded in the Musnad of al-Rabi' b. h a b i b 22 on the authority of a b u 'Ubayda. The variants are few: For the explanation of the word see a l t a b a r i t a s f i r ed. m a h m u dand a h m a d m u h a m m a d Shakir, Cairo, 1957, 18 AJ.Khargiishi, op. cit., fol. 27b ; a l s u y u t i a l k h a s a ' i s al kubra Hyderabad, 1319/ I, 89; 'Ali b. burhan a l d i n a l h a l a b i op. cit., I, almuttaqii al-Hindi, Kanz 68, no. 387. al-'ummiil, Hyderabad, 1965, 17 a l m u s n a d III, 116-17, no. 1648; Ibn Kathir, al-Bidiiya, II, 239; Ibn h a j a r f a t h al bari Cairo, 1325/1907-8, vn, 98; al-Dhahabi, Siyar a'lam al-nubala', I, 87 (on the authority of yunus b. Bukayr). 18 the editor's remarks on the men of the isnad, al-Musnad, Joe. cit., m, 116-17, no. 1648. Abu d a ' u d a l t a y a l i s i i Musnad, Hyderabad, p. 32, no. 234. a l i s t i ' a b 616; al muhibb a l t a b a r i al riyad al nadira fi manaqib al 'ashara Cairo, 1953, II, on him Ibn h a j a r al isaba Cairo, VII, 86, no. 535; Ibn 'Abd. al-Barr, op. cit., p. 1673, no. a l j a m i ' a l s a h i h Musnad al-Rabi' b. Ifabib b. 'Umar al-Azdi a l b a s r i i'ala tarlib al-8haykh Abi Ya'qub y u s u f b. Ibrahim al- Wurjilani, Cairo, 1349/1930-1, I, 18. M. J. the phrase ' if you were to ask the daughters of 'Abd al-Muttalib they would tell you that I never eat of these sacrifices ... 'is missing. The question of Zayd b. 'Amr here was quite frank: '0 nephew, do you indeed sacrifice before these idols of yours y a bna akhi antum t a d h b a h u n a 'ala a s n a m i k u m hadhihi?) '. The Prophet answered' Yes'. Then Zayd b. 'Amr said' I shall not eat it (i.e. the meat from the bag) '. He condemned the idols (thumma 'aba ' l a s n a m a a wa 'l authana and those who fed and approached them with reverence. The Prophet said' By God, I did not draw near the idols at all until God granted me prophethood '. A significant tradition, lengthy and detailed, is recorded by a l - K h a r g u s h i It is reported by Usama b. Zayd on the authority of his father Zayd b. h a r i t h a ' The Prophet ', says the report, ' slaughtered a ewe for a n u s u b of the a n s a b d h a b a h a rasulu 'llahi s a l l a 'llahu 'alayhi wa-sallama shatan l i n u s u b i n min a l a n s a b i ; then he roasted it and carried it with him qala : thumma shawaha f a h t a m a l a h a ma'ahu). Then Zayd b. 'Amr b. Nufayl met us in the upper part of the valley; (it was) on one of the hot days of Mecca. When we met, we greeted each other with the greeting of the jahiliyya, in'am s a b a h a n n The Prophet said He This do I see you, son of 'Amr, hated by your people (happened) without me being the cause of their hatred (qiila: dhaka li-ghayri tha'ra ntha'iratin minni f i h i m 25 ; but I found them associating divinities with God and I was reluctant to do the same. I wanted (to worship God according to) the religion of i b r a h i m I came to the learned men a a h b a r r r of Yatbrib and I found them worshipping God, but associating other divinities with Him. Then I said (in my soul): this is not the religion that I seek and I travelled till I came to the learned men of the Jews in Syria. Then a man from among them said 'You are asking about a religion which no one we know of follows, except an old man in the jazira '. I came to him and he asked me ' Which people do you belong to ' I said' I am from the people of thorns and acacia trees (al-shauk wa ' l q a r a z a z from the people of the haram of God'. He told me 'Return, as God who is blessed and exalted caused to rise the star of a prophet who has already appeared, or is about to appear; follow him, because he will worship God according to the religion about which yon are inquiring'." He (i.e. Zayd b. 'Amr) said "So I came, but-by God- I do not notice 27 anything". The Prophet said "Would you like some food 1" He (i.e. Zayd b. 'Amr) said "Yes". Then he (i.e. the Prophet) put before him the (meat of the) ewe. He said (i.e. Zayd b. 'Amr) " What did you sacrifice it to, 0 muhammad (li-ayyi 23 Sharaf al mustafa fols. 27b-28a. "'In MS, shaqaqaka in other parallels shanifu l a k a and see lisan, s.v., sh n f: wa-fi hadithi Zaydi bni 'Amri bni Nufaylin: qala li rasuli'llahi salla 'llahu 'alayhi wa-sallama: ma li ara qaumaka qad shanifuka. In our MS, correctly: qala lahu 'l-nabiyyu salla 'llahu 'alayhi wa sallama ma liaraka ya bna 'Amrin . .. etc. In MS, ttha'iratinr parallels : na'ilatina'latin'iratina'ratin In MS, min ahli bayti 'l shirki wa ' l q a r a z i in Siyar a'lam al-nubala', I, 161, min ahli bayti ' l l a h i in Majma' al-zawa'id rx, 418, ahl al-shauk wa 'l qaraz In u h s i n u in Siyar a'lam, correctly u h i s s u al-Mustadrak, like our MS, u h s i n u 'A BAG OF MEAT': A STUDY OF AN EARLY h a d i t h 271 shay' in dhabahta ya m u h a m m a d u He (i.e. the Prophet) said" To one of the ansab q a l a li nusuninmin al ansabi He (i.e. Zayd b. 'Amr) I am not the one to eat anything slaughtered for a divinity other than God The Prophet went on his way and after a short time he was given the prophethood. He (i.e. Zayd b. h a r i t h a said" Zayd b. 'Amr was mentioned to the Prophet and he (i.e. the Prophet) said' He (i.e. Zayd b. 'Amr) will rise in the Resurrection as a 2s people by himself ' This tradition with slight variants is recorded in al hakim's Mustadrak, 29 in al-Haythami's z a w a ' i d and in al-Dhahabi's Siyar 31 and his Ta'rikh al-Isliim. 32 In the Mustadrak, Siyar, and Ta'rikh the tradition is traced back to Usama b. Zayd, told on the authority of his father, Zayd b. haritha and is followed by an appended tradition that the Prophet went afterwards to the Ka'ba and performed the circumambulation accompanied by Zayd b. h a r i t h a He forbade Zayd b. haritha to stroke the idols of Isaf and Na'ila. 33 The slight variants may be of some importance. In some of the sources, instead of the learned men of Yathrib a h b a r the scholars of Fadak are mentioned. In some sources, the scholars of Khaybar are mentioned ; others mention the scholars of Ayla. All the sources, except al-Khargiishi, tell the tradition in the first person plural : ' and we slaughtered a ewe ... and he (i.e. Zayd b. 'Amr) asked What We It is a ewe which we slaughtered far this nusub ... is By examining these traditions, one can discern the diverging details. Some of the traditions report that the Prophet heard from Zayd and refrained from eating meat offered to the n u s u b other traditions state that the Prophet met Zayd and offered him the meat ; some traditions state that the Prophet was alone ; other traditions report that he was in the company of Zayd b. haritha or in the company of a b u Sufyan b. al haritha Some of the traditions state that Zayd b. h a r i t h a slaughtered the animal, others claim that both he and the Prophet slaughtered it. The only tradition stating frankly that the Prophet himself offered the ewe to a nusub is the tradition of al-Khargiishi. The slight variants of the traditions were closely examined by Muslim scholars. Guillaume quotes al-Suhayli discussing the question as to 'how it could be thought that God allowed Zayd to give up meat offered to idols when the apostle had the better right to such a privilege. He says that the hadith does not say that the apostle actually ate of it; merely that Zayd refused to do so. 28 For the expression ummatan wahidatan and ummatan wahdahu see Ahmad b. h a n b a l l op. cit., III, 117, no. 1648, note; l i s a n n s.v. umm; Ibn K.athir, op. cit., II, 241 ; aJ.Dhahabi, Siyar a'lam, I, 88 ; and see a!-Muttaqi al-Hindi, op. cit., xm, 67-8, nos. 384-6. Hyderabad, 1334/1915-16---1342/1923-4, m, 216-17. Majma' al zawa'idwa-manba' al fawa'id Cairo, 1353/1934-5, IX, 417-18. I, 53. This tradition is recorded an independent report in a l s u y u t i ' sal khasa'isal kubra I, 89. In al-Dhahabi's Ta'rikh: shatun dhubihat li 'l nusubii against thumma qaddamna ilayhi 'l sufrata in al-mustadrakk; al-Dhahabi's Siyar a'lam, I, 161, has fa-qarraba ilayhi 'l sufraiaa (i.e. Muhammad). 32 31 I, 38 272 M. J. KISTER Secondly Zayd was simply following his own opinion, and not obeying an earlier law, for the law of Abraham forbade the eating of the flesh of animals that had died, not the flesh of animals that had been sacrificed to idols. Before Islam came to forbid the practice there was nothing against it, so that if the apostle did eat of such meat he did what was permissible, and if he did not, there is no difficulty. The truth is that it was neither expressly permitted nor forbidden '. 35 The arguments of Suhayli were not unanimously accepted by the scholars. The opinion that 'the law of Abraham (shar'u Ibrahim) forbade the eating of the flesh of animals that had died, not the flesh of animals that had been sacrificed to idols' was refuted by some scholars, who argued that the law of Abraham forbade the eating of the flesh of animals sacrificed to a divinity other than God (i.e. to the idols) as he was an enemy of the idols. 36 Three hundred years before al-Suhayli (d. 581/1285) the tradition was discussed by Ibrahim al harbi (d. 285/898) 37 as reported by a l d h a h a b i The expression discussed is ' and we slaughtered for him ' f a d h a b a h n a lahu) in the first person plural. a l h a r b i argues: 'in the slaughter (of the ewe) on the n u s u b there are two possibilities: (I) either Zayd (b. h a r i t h a performed it (i.e. the slaughter) without being ordered by the Prophet, but as he was in his company the deed (of slaughter) was attributed to him (which is indicated by the usage of the plural first p e r s o n d h a b a h n a Zayd h a r i t h a had not the immunity from sin ' i s m a and God's guidance (taufiq), granted to the Prophet by God. How would it be possible (to think that the Prophet ordered him to do so) as the Prophet forbade Zayd to touch an idol and (indeed) he (i.e. the Prophet) did not touch it before he received prophethood? So how could he acquiesce in the thought that he may slaughter for an i d o l That is impossible. (2) (It may be that) he slaughtered for God and it happened that it was done in front of an idol before which they (i.e. Quraysh) used to slaughter'. Ibn m a n z u r r records the opinion of Ibrahim al harbi 39 as quoted by Ibn al-Athir; in this record the second possibility is more plainly discussed: he Zayd h a r i t h a slaughtered the ewe in front of an idol (at a spot) at which they (i.e. Quraysh) used to slaughter; but he did not slaughter for the idol. This is the explanation of the phrase, if n u s u b denotes an idol. If, however, nusub denotes a stone, there was a semantic misunderstanding : when the Prophet was asked by Zayd b. 'Amr about the bag of meat he answered that the ewe was slaughtered on a n u s u b on a stone, but Zayd b. 'Amr understood that it had been slaughtered for a n u s u b an idol, and refused to eat it, remarking that he did not eat the meat of animals slaughtered for idols. It is evident that we face here attempts of the commentators to interpret Guillaume, op. cit., 27-8; 'Ali b. Burhan a.l-Din, op. cit., I, 147 (quoting al-Suha.yli). a l q a s t a l l a n i irshadal sari Cairo, 1326/1908, 427. 37 On whom, see a.l-Dha.habi, tadhkirat al huffaz Hyderaba.d, 1956, II, 584, no. 609; a.l-Khatib 27; a.l-Subki, tabaqat al sha'iyyaa ed. a l h i l w a l b a g h d a d i Ta'rikh baghdad Cairo, 1931, and a l t a n a h iCairo, 1964, II, 256 (see the additional references supplied by the editors, ibid.). Siyar a ' l a m 1, 91. l i s a n s.v. n b; and see ibid., s.v. sf r. 35 38 'A BAG OF MEAT': A STUDY OF AN EARLY h a d i t h 273 these h a d i t h s in a way showing that the Prophet did not slaughter for idols, nor did he eat meat slaughtered for idols. This path is followed by al-dhahabi who endeavours to interpret the opening phrases of this tradition. ' Zayd b. h a r i t h a said I went out with the Prophet, mounted behind him (on the riding beast) to one of the ansab and we slaughtered for him a kharajtu ma'a rasuli 'llahi s a l l a 'llahu 'alayki wa-sallama, wa-huwa murdifi, i l anusubinmin al ansabif a d h a b a h n a a lahu shatan). The crucial problem is, of course, the slaughter. The key for the interpretation of the sentence is the suffixed pronoun hu in lahu. If lahu is referred to n u s u b it would mean that the Prophet and Zayd b. h a r i t h a offered the ewe to the idol. This is evaded by the attribution of the suffixed pronoun to the Prophet. ' The suffixed pronoun in lahu refers to the Prophet', says al-Dhahabi d a m i r u lahu raji'un i l a rasuli 'llahi salla 'llahu 'alayhi wa-sallama). Zayd used the first person plural, 'we slaughtered for him (i.e. for the Prophet) a ewe', but it was Zayd who slaughtered it. Consequently when Zayd b. 'Amr asks during the conversation about the contents of the bag, ' What is it ', the phrase qulnashatan d h a b a h n a h ewe which we slaughtered for a a li 'l nusubi kadha 'we said certain nusub ' may form the answer of Zayd b. h a r i t h a or the answer of the Prophet on behalf of Zayd b. h a r i t h a who actually slaughtered the ewe, not being guided by God to refrain from sacrificing before the n u s u b The reading quddimat lahu sufratun (another version: fa-quddimat i l a 'l-nabiyyi salla 'llahu 'alayhi wa-sallama sufratun) in the tradition of al-Bukhari gave the opportunity for a peculiar interpretation recorded by Ibn h a j a r a l ' a s q a l a n i Ibn b a t t a l (d. 449/1057) said that the bag was offered (quddimat) to the Prophet by Quraysh but he refused to eat it and offered it to Zayd b. 'Amr, who refused to eat it too. Ibn h a j a r remarks : ' That is possible, but I do not know whence he could determine it, because I did not find it (i.e. this form of the tradition) in the transmission of anyone '. Ibn h a j a r r prefers the explanation given by al-Khattabi (d. 388/998): 'the Prophet did not eat meat of sacrifices slaughtered on the nusubfor the idols, but he ate everything else, even if the name of God was not mentioned (during the slaughter), because the law had not been revealed then. The law prohibiting consumption of the meat of animals (over which during the slaughter the name of God was not mentioned) was not revealed until a long time after the Ibn h a j a r r interprets nusub as 'stone' and concludes that Zayd b. h a r i t h a slaughtered the ewe on a stone, not intending to sacrifice for an idol. He accepts further the opinion of Suhayli that Zayd b. 'Amr was 'following his own opinion' and refutes the assumption that he adopted the opinion of the Ahl a l k i t a b Of some interest is the interpretation of the expression about the bag in the Siyar a ' l a m I, f a t h a l b a r i VII, 98; , a l - q a s t a l l a n i op. cit., vn, 427; al-'Ayni, 'Umdat a l q a r i ' VIII, 36. f a t h a l b a r i VII, 98; a!- 'Ayni, op. cit., VIII, 36. M. J. KISTER tradition of al-Bukhari given by al-Kirmani (d. 786/1384). The fact that the meat was in the bag does not indicate that the Prophet did eat of it, argues al-Kirmani. In many cases food from a traveller's bag is not consumed by the traveller but by his companions. The Prophet did not forbid the persons in his company to consume it because he had not received the revelation at that time and had not been told to make known anything of order or prohibition. 43 Shi'i scholars strongly rejected the tradition of the bag of meat. Ibn t a w u s in his t a r a ' i f f 'Abd a l m a h m u d '0 you, may God have mercy upon you, look at this story the validity of which they attested, (alleging) that their Prophet was among those who slaughtered on the a n s a b and ate (the meat) and at the same time recording in their books that God undertook to educate and instruct him and Jibril undertook to see to his formation 45 (and stating further) that he did not follow (the customs of) the Jahiliyya and did not accept anything of their manners. How did they bespeak themselves in this matter and in (the records of) the praise of God and their praise for His First and His Last, His Inward and His Outward, and with all this they attest that Zayd b. 'Amr knew God more than he and was more strict in keeping the observances of God k a n a a'rafabi 'llahi minhu wa-atamma h i f z a n li-jiinibi ' l l a h i How can I and others among the wise imitate people who record things like this and consider them sound I asked scholars of the family of the Prophet 'ulama'a ahli 'l-'itrati) about it, from their Shi'a, and they totally refused to accept the soundness of the tradition '. The same arguments are put forth against this tradition by al-l:Iasan b. y u s u f al hilli in his Nahj al haqq wa-kashf a l s i d q q 46 a l f a d l b. r u z b a h a n in a polemic against al hilli in his Nahj al ta'til claims that al hilli deleted the final part of the saying of the Prophet (as recorded by a l b u k h a r i 'When Zayd (b. 'Amr) said" I do not eat from the meat of the sacrifices offered to the idols the Prophet said I also do not eat from their sacrifices nor from that upon which God's name was not mentioned So they both ate (sc. the meat).' m u h a m m a d h a s a n a l m u z a f f a r denies the claim of a l f a d l b. ruzbahan and states that this addition (recorded by a l f a d l could not be found in the s a h i h h of al-Bukhari. In conclusion, it may be said that the discussion in connexion with the tradition concerning the conversation of the Prophet with Zayd b. 'Amr and the offer of the bag of meat was concerned with the essential problem of the of the Prophet before he was granted prophethood. The main effort of the Muslim scholars was to prove that the Prophet did not eat meat slaughtered for a l ' a y n i op. cit., 36. Ibn t a w u s s t a r a ' i f'Abd al mahmud Tehran, n. d., llO. tahdhibahu glossed in the text by khidmatahu muhammad a l h a s a n al muzaffar d a l a ' i l al sidq no place of publication given, 1389/1969{?), I, 409. 7 ' ibid. 'A BAG OF MEAT': A STUDY OF AN EARLY h a d i t h 275 idols, nor did he slaughter it, as he was granted immunity from sin before he received prophethood. The tradition of Ibn i s h a q in the recension of Yiinus b. Bukayr discussed by Guillaume ' is given us ', as stated by Guillaume, ' in what must have been its original form '. It is not unique tradition, but it is undoubtedly an early one. The lengthy tradition recorded by al-Khargiishi belongs to the same category: it plainly states that the Prophet offered the ewe to the idol and he admitted it in his talk with Zayd b. 'Amr. The phrases mentioning that the Prophet and Zayd greeted each other with the greeting of the Jahiliyya are significant. The tradition explicitly points to the fact that the Prophet followed, before his prophethood, the practices of his people and corroborates the tradition of Ibn al-Kalbi that the Prophet' offered a white ewe to al-'Uzza following the religious practices of his people' (laqad ahdaytu li 'l-'uzza shatan 'afra'a wa ana 'ala d i n i qaumi). The tradition of al-Khargiishi based on the idea that the Prophet had no ' i s m a 51 before his Call belongs to the earliest layer of hadith traditions which fell later into oblivion or were re-shaped or expunged. New light on the life of Muhammad, 7. I. Goldziher, m u s l i m studies ed. S.M. Stern, London, 1967, 239. Ibn al-Kalbi, Kitab a l a s n a m m ed. a h m a d z a k i Pasha, Cairo, 1914, 19; J. Wellhausen, Reate arabischen Heidentums, Berlin, 1887, 30. 61 See Ibn Taymiyya, m i n h a j al-sunna al-nabawiyya, ed.. Muhammad r a s h a d Salim, Cairo, 1964, n, 308, 311 ; H. Birkeland, The Lord guideth, Oslo, 1956, 40-1.