The Constitution of Medina - under which the clans
accepting Muhammad as the Prophet of God formed an alliance, or federation -
dates from this period. It showed that the political consciousness of the
Muslim community had reached an important point; its members defined themselves
as a community separate from all others. The Constitution also defined the
role of non-Muslims in the community. Jews, for example, were part of the
community; they were dhimmis, that is, protected people, as long as they
conformed to its laws. This established a precedent for the treatment of
subject peoples during the later conquests. Christians and Jews, upon payment
of a nominal tax, were allowed religious freedom and, while maintaining their
status as non-Muslims, were associate members of the Muslim state. This status
did not apply to polytheists, who could not be tolerated within a community
that worshipped the One God.
Ibn Ishaq, one of the
earliest biographers of the
Prophet, says it was at about this time that Muhammad sent letters to
the
rulers of the earth - the King of Persia, the Emperor of Byzantium, the
Negus
of Abyssinia, and the Governor of Egypt among others - inviting them to
submit
to Islam. Nothing more fully illustrates the confidence of the small
community, as its military power, despite the battle of the Trench, was
still
negligible. But its confidence was not misplaced. Muhammad so
effectively
built up a series of alliances among the tribes that, by 628, he and
fifteen
hundred followers were able to demand access to the Kaaba. This was a
milestone in the history of the Muslims. Just a short time before,
Muhammad left
the city of his birth to establish an Islamic state in Medina. Now he
was
being treated by his former enemies as a leader in his own right. A
year
later, in 629, he reentered and, in effect, conquered Mecca, without
bloodshed
and in a spirit of tolerance, which established an ideal for future
conquests.
He also destroyed the idols in the Kaabah, to put an end forever to
pagan
practices there. At the same time ‘Amr ibn al-’As, the future conqueror
of Egypt, and Khalid ibn al-Walid, the future “Sword of God,” accepted
Islam, and swore
allegiance to Muhammad. Their conversion was especially noteworthy
because
these men had been among Muhammad’s bitterest opponents only a short
time
before.
In one sense Muhammad’s return to Mecca was the climax
of his mission. In 632, just three years later, he was suddenly taken ill and
on June 8 of that year, with his third wife Aisha in attendance, the Messenger
of God “died with the heat of noon.”
The death of Muhammad was a profound loss. To his
followers this simple man from Mecca was far more than a beloved friend, far
more than a gifted administrator, far more than the revered leader who had
forged a new state from clusters of warring tribes. Muhammad was also the
exemplar of the teachings he had brought them from God: the teachings of the
Quran, which, for centuries, have guided the thought and action, the faith and
conduct, of innumerable men and women, and which ushered in a distinctive era
in the history of mankind. His death, nevertheless, had little effect on the
dynamic society he had created in Arabia, and no effect at all on his central
mission: to transmit the Quran to the world. As Abu Bakr put it: “Whoever
worshipped Muhammad, let him know that Muhammad is dead, but whoever worshipped
God, let him know that God lives and dies not.”
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