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The Events of the Year 10

109 [1751]

When the m o n t h of Dhu al-Qa'dah started this year, that is, the year 10/632, the Prophet made preparations for the pilgrimage and ordered the people to get ready. Ibn HumaydSalamahIbn Ishaq'Abd al-Rahman b. Qasim 7 4 1 his father 7 4 2 'A'ishah the Prophet's wife: 7 4 3 The Prophet departed for the pilgrimage on the twenty-fifth of Dhu alQa'dah. 7 4 4 Neither he nor the people talked of anything but the pilgrimage, until when he was in Sarif 745 and had driven with him the sacrificial animals as some nobles had also done, he ordered the people to remove their pilgrim garments, except for those who had brought the sacrificial animals [with them]. 7 4 6 That day m y menses started. He called on me while I was weeping and said, "What is the matter with you, O 'A'ishah? Are you in your menses?" "Yes," I replied, "I wished I had not come with you on this journey this year." "Don't do that," he said, "Don't say that, for you can carry out [all the rites] performed by a pilgrim except that you will not circumambulate the Ka'bah." The Messenger of God entered Mecca and his wives and everyone who did not have a sacrificial animal with him took off the pilgrim 741. Died ca. 126/743-44. Ibn Hajar, Tahdhib, VI, 254-55. 742. Qasim b. Muhammad b. Abi Bakr al-$iddiq died ca. 106/724-25. Ibid., VIII, 333-35743. See Tabarl, below, I, 1767; EP-, s.v. 'A'ishah bint Abi Bakr. 744. Ibn Hisham adds: The Prophet appointed Abu Dujanah al-Sa'idlothers say Siba' b. 'Urfutah al-Ghifarlover Medina. 745. About six miles from Mecca. Harbl, Manasik, 465-66; Bakri, Mu'jam, III, 735-36. 746. Those without the sacrificial animals should be content with the 'umrah, because those who perform the pilgrimage must sacrifice an animal. Before the pilgrim arrives in Mecca, he puts on the ihram. He is then muhrim, in a state of holiness. The rites on arrival at Mecca are the same for all, for the hajj is in a way an 'umrah, which is a rite of visiting the Ka'bah and the Holy Places around it. The 'umrah consists of circumambulating the Ka'bah seven times [tawaf), praying two rak'ahs facing the Maqam Ibrahim and the Ka'bah, and walking [fast] [sa'y] seven times between $afa and Marwah. What follows after it depends on the intention of the pilgrim made at the time of assuming the ihram. If he intended to perform either the hajj alone [ifrad], or the 'umrah and the hajj together [qiran), then in neither case does he relinquish the state of holiness after having performed the rites of arrival. If he wants to perform the 'umrah first and then to enjoy the freedom of a normal life [tamattu'), not resuming the state of holiness again until the last minute (i.e., on the eighth of Dhu al-Hijjah), he deconsecrates himself by having a few locks of hair cut off. In this case, he will have to offer a sacrifice within the sacred territory within a specified period. See El2, s.v. Hadjdj; Fahd, Pantheon, 203ft . . .

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The Last Years of the Prophet

garment. On the day of sacrifice, beef 7 4 7 was brought to m e and put in my house. When I asked what it was, they said that the Messenger of God had sacrificed some cows on behalf of his wives. On the night of hasbah,748 he sent me with my brother 'Abd al-Rahman b. Abi Bakr to perform the 'umrah from alT a n ' i m 7 4 9 in place of the 'umiah which I had missed. 7 5 0 Ibn HumaydSalamahIbn IshaqIbn Abi Najih: 7 5 1 The Messenger of God had sent 'All b. Abi Talib to Najran and met h i m in Mecca while he was still in a state of ihram. [When he arrived,] 'Ali went into Fatimah, 7 5 2 the Messenger of God's daughter, and found that she was not in her pilgrim garments and was prepared [to receive him]. He asked her, "What is the matter [1752] with you, O daughter of the Messenger of God?" She replied, "The Messenger of God ordered us to remove the pilgrim garments, so we did." Then he went to the Messenger of God. After he had finished reporting about his journey, the Messenger of God told h i m to go and circumambulate the Ka'bah and remove the pilgrim garments as his companions had done. He replied, "O Messenger of God, I have decided to sacrifice an animal as you did." He said, "Remove the pilgrim garments as your companions have done." 'Ali replied, "O Messenger of God, when I put on the pilgrim garments I said, 'O God, I will invoke your name over a 747. Hisch., Ibn Ishaq: A large portion of beef. 748. It is the following day of the last throwing of pebbles in the valley of Mina, or the night after the days called Ayyam al-tashriq, that is, the fourteenth night of Dhu al-Hijjah. Lane, Lexicon, s.v. h-s-b. 749. A place about four miles from Mecca. Harbl, Manasik, 467; Bakri, Mu'jam, I, 321; Yaqut, Mu'jam, II, 49-50. 750. Ibn Ishaq adds: When the Messenger of God ordered his wives to remove the pilgrim garments, they asked him, "What prevents you, O Messenger of God, from doing the same with us?" "I have sent my sacrificial animals and have matted my hair [labbada sha'aiahu, means the pilgrim, in the state of holiness, puts upon his head some kind of gum so that his hair become compacted together and might not become shaggy, Lane, Lexicon, s.v. 1-b-d)," the Prophet replied, "so I shall not be free from the ihram until I sacrifice my animals." Waqidi, MaghazI, III, 1092, also states that the Prophet performed both the 'umrah and the hajj together. For a different opinion, see Baladhuri, Ansab, I, 369. 75 r. 'Abdallah b. Abi Najih died in Mecca in 132/749-50. Ibn Sa'd, Tabaqat, V, 355; Ibn Hajar, Tahdhib, VI, 54-55. 752. Fatimah, daughter of the Prophet and Khadijah, wife of 'Ali, mother of Hasan and Husayn, was the only daughter2 of the Prophet to have survived him by six months and to enjoy great renown. EI , s.v. Fatima. See Tabari, below, I, 1767, 1825.

The Events of the Year 10

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sacrifice as your servant and Messenger does.'" [The Prophet] asked ['All] whether he had a sacrificial animal, and when he replied that he did not have one, the Messenger of God made him a partner in his sacrificial animal. 'All retained his pilgrim garments with the Messenger of God until both of them had completed the pilgrimage and the Messenger of God slaughtered the animals on behalf of them both. 7 5 3 IbnHumaydSalamahIbn IshaqYahyab. 'Abdallahb. 'Abd al-Rahman b. Abi 'Amrah 7 5 4 Yazid b. Talhah b. Yazid b. Rukanah: When 'All b. Abi Talib came from the Yemen to meet the Messenger of God in Mecca, he hurried to him and left one of his companions in charge of his army. That man dressed some of the m e n 7 5 5 in the army with linen clothes that were entrusted to 'Ali b. Abi Talib. When the army approached [Mecca], he went out to receive them and found that they were dressed in the linen clothing. "WSe to you," he said, "what is this?" "I dressed t h e m so that they might look handsome when they came to the people," the man replied. 'Ali asked him to remove [the clothing] before he came to the Messenger of God. He did so and returned t h e m to the booty, but the army expressed resentment at their treatment. Ibn HumaydSalamahMuhammad b. Ishaq'Abdallah b. 'Abd al-Rahman b. Ma'mar b. Hazm 7 5 6 Sulayman b. Muhammad b. Ka'b b. 'Ujrahhis paternal aunt Zaynab bt. Ka'b b. 'Ujrah who was married to Abu Sa'id al-KhudriAbu Sa'id [al-Khudri]: When the people [i.e., the army] complained [about the behavior] of 'Ali b. Abi Talib, the Messenger of God stood up to address us, and I heard h i m say, "O people, do not complain of 'Ali. By God, he is too tough in the matters of God or in the way of God [to be blamed]." 7 5 7 753. Baladhuri, Ansab, I, 370, states that the Prophet had brought with him a hundred camels, sixty of which he sacrificed himself and 'Ali the remainder. Gaudefroy-Demombynes, Mahomet, 200, considers the above report, without any reason, a Shi'i legend. 754. Ibn Hajar, Tahdhlb, XI, 241-42. 755. Ibn Ishaq: Every man. 756. He was qadl of Medina during the reign of 'Umax b. 'Abd al-'Aziz (99101/717-20). Ibn Hajar, Tahdhlb, V, 297. 757. Addition from Ibn Ishaq. See also Ibn al-Athir, Kamil, II, 301; Lings, Muhammad, 335.

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The Last Years of the Prophet

conveyed the message?" It was reported [to me] 7 7 4 that the people said, "O God, yes," and the Messenger of God said, "O God, bear witness." 7 7 5 Ibn HumaydSalamahMuhammad b. IshaqYahya b. 'Abbad b. 'Abdallah b. al-Zubayr 7 7 6 his father 'Abbad: 7 7 7 The m a n who used to repeat the Messenger of God's words loudly to the people when he was on 'Arafah was Rabi'ah b. Umayyah b. Khalaf. The Messenger of God would say to him. "Say: O people, the Messenger of God says, do you know what month this is?" and they would say, "The sacred m o n t h . " Then he would say, "Say to them: God has made your blood and your property sacrosanct until you meet your Lord, like the sanctity of this m o n t h of yours." Then he said [to him], "Say: the Messenger of God says, O people, do you know what land this is?" Rabi'ah would call out loudly and they would say, "The Holy Land." He would say, "Say: God has hallowed your blood and your property until you meet your Lord like the sanctity of this land of yours." Then he said, "Say: O people, do you know what day this is?" Rabi'ah repeated [this] to them and they said, "The day of the Greater Pilgrimage." He said, "Say: God has made your blood and your property sacrosanct until you meet your Lord like the sanctity of this day of yours." 7 7 8 Ibn HumaydSalamahMuhammad b. Ishaq'Abdallah b. Abi Najih: When the Messenger of God stood on 'Arafah he said, "This station is for the mountain that is above it, so all of 'Arafah is a station." When he stood on Quzah on the morning of alMuzdalifah he said, "This station and all of al-Muzdalifah is a 774. Addition from Ibn Ishaq. 775. In his "L'allocution," Blachere has shown that this address deals with certain general problems, probably paraphrased from the Prophet's sayings on different occasions. The versions of Ibn Ishaq, Waqidi, Ibn Sa'd, and Tabari are, more or less, consistent in content. Blachere has pointed out seventeen themes in this address. See also Harnldullah, Majmu'ah, 306-9. 776. Ibn Ha jar, Tahdhib, XI, 234-35. 777. Ibid., V, 98. 778. Ibn Ishaq adds [with a different isnad]: "O people, God has given everyone his due. Testamentary bequests to an heir are not permitted. The child belongs to the bed and the adulterer must be stoned. He who claims as father him who is not his father, or a client claims a master [mawla] who is not his master, is cursed by God, the angels, and the mankind. Neither repentance (aif) nor ransom \'adl) shall be accepted from him by God." Lane, Lexicon, s.v. '-d-1; s-r-f.

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station." Then w h e n he had slaughtered [the sacrificial animals] in the slaughtering place [in Mina] 7 7 9 he said, "This slaughtering place and all of Mina is a slaughtering place." The Messenger of God completed the pilgrimage, showed the people its rites, and taught t h e m what was required of t h e m for their pilgrimage, [including] the stations, the throwing of pebbles, 7 8 0 the circumambulation of the Ka'bah, and what God had permitted them [to do] and what He had forbidden them [from doing]. It was the Farewell Pilgrimage [hajjat al-wada')781 and the Pilgrimage for Conveying the Message [hajjat al-balagh)782 because the Messenger of God did not make any pilgrimage after that. Abu Ja'far [al-Tabari]: The military expeditions [ghazawat]783 in which the Messenger of God personally participated were twenty-six. Some say that they were twenty-seven. Those who maintain the number as twenty-six count the Prophet's expedition to Khaybar and the expedition from there to Wadi al-Qura 7 8 4 as one, because after accomplishing the victory he did not return from Khaybar to his abode but marched from there to Wadi alQura. Those who say that [the expeditions] were twenty-seven

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779. Quzah, Muzdalifah, and Mina are sacred places visited by the pilgrim during the pilgrimage. Mina is a place in the hills east of Mecca on the road from it to 'Arafah. Muzdalifah is a place halfway between Mina 2 'Arafah where the and pilgrims returning from 'Arafah spend the night, see EI , s.v. Hadjdj; EI1, s.v. Mina, Muzdalifa. 780. For its interpretation, see Fahd, Divination, 188-95. 781. It is so called because the Prophet bade farewell to the people and died shortly thereafter. Baladhuri, Ansab, I, 368; Mas'udi, Tanbih, 240. 782. Mas'udi, Tanbih, 240, states that it is so called because the Prophet announced that time had completed its cycle and was as it had been on the day that God created the heavens and the earth. [Probably, he implies the cancellation of intercalating a month.] Ibn Sa'd states that the Muslims call this pilgrimage the hajjat al-islam. It was probably so-called because the Ka'baH and other sacred precincts were now purified of all pagan presence and heathen rites. It was made clear that all rites were now dedicated to Allah and to His worship. The Prophet had taken every opportunity to free the rites from their pagan associations. His performance of the rites during this pilgrimage became a sunnah to be followed by the faithful. Cf. Waqidi, MaghazI, III, 1089; Baladhuri, Ansab, I, 368, See Tabari, below, I, 1794. 783. See above, n. 432. 784. An ancient town and a prosperous region in the northern Hijaz on the old trading route from South Arabia to Syria, where the Egyptian and Syrian pilgrim caravans to Mecca also converge. It is now called al-'Ula. EI1, s.v. Wadi '1-Kura; AlWohaibi, Hijaz, 293-300, 315ff.

Bibliotheca Persica Edited by Ehsan Yar-Shater

T h e

H i s t o r y (Ta'nkh al-msul

of

a l - T a b a n

wa'1-muluk)
IX

VOLUME

The

Last Y e a r s of t h e

Prophet

translated and annotated by Ismail K. Poonawala

University of California, Los Angeles

S t a t e U n i v e r s i t y of N e w Y o r k P r e s s

Published by State University of New York Press, Albany 1990 State University of New York All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information, address State University of New York Press, State University Plaza, Albany, N. Y. 12246 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Tabari, 838?-923. The last years of the Prophet. (The history of al-Tabari = Ta'rikh al-rusul wa'lmuluk; v. 9) (SUNY series in Near Eastern studies) (Bibliotheca Persica) Translation of extracts from: Ta'rikh al-rusul wa-al-muluk. Bibliography: p. Includes index. 1. Muhammad, Prophet, d. 632. 2. MuslimsSaudi ArabiaBiography. 3. IslamHistory. 4. Arabian PeninsulaHistory. I. Husayn, Isma'il Qurban. II. Title. III. Series: Tabari, 838?-23. Ta'rikh al-rusul wa-al-muluk. English; v. 9 IV. Series: SUNY series in Near Eastern studies. V. Series: Bibliotheca Persica (Albany, N.Y.) DS38.2.T313 1985 vol. 9 909'. 1 s 87-7129 [BP75] [953'o2'o924] [B] ISBN 0-88706-691-7 ISBN 0-88706-692-5 (pbk.) 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 YALE

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