Muhammad had a first priority when he felt secure in Mecca. This first task was to destroy the idols that crowded the space around and inside the Ka’abah. Since Mecca’s business model was to hold an all-Arabia pilgrimage, the city had collected literally every idol that anyone had ever heard of. Mecca’s own home god, Hubal, of course had a large statue, but there were over one hundred other statues and images.
During the morning, Muhammad’s troops had moved on Mecca, then filed in through its four gates. In the afternoon, the idols were smashed and burned, with special attention to Hubal. When they opened the Ka’abah, they found a number of images on the walls inside. Among them, Muhammad set aside an icon showing Mary and Jesus and a painting of an old man that he identified as Abraham. The rest were burned immediately. It’s surprising to a Christian, at first, to hear that Mary and Jesus were included in the idolatrous display, but why not, from a pagan point of view? I think that in the end, he had these two images destroyed too, since they had obviously been serving as idols. From this time, the Ka’abah would include no images at all.
During these hours, prominent Meccans who had opposed Muhammad bitterly were coming, sometimes in disguise, to pledge their loyalty to the new order. In no way would the standard Arabian culture permit them to be pardoned. Hind, who had ordered the killing of Muhammad’s close relative and childhood playmate—-and then mutilated his body and ate his liver? Not a chance. She came in disguise, hoping to say the Shahada before he figured out who she was. But to the surprise of all of them, none were condemned. Muhammad’s attitude was that Mecca’s surrender, and the destruction of its idols, made this such a blessed day that he would grant any request and forgive all. In this way, the whole city was pledged to his leadership rapidly, mostly in that first day.
Of course, there was also a general order that all newly Muslim households—and some not yet ready to convert, but under Muslim rule—were to smash any idols they had at home. We’re not told how this was enforced. I suspect the city was in such shock over the sudden surrender that most people wanted to be seen to be complying. And on the other hand, not all of the Meccans gave up idols on that day. They were given a grace period to study Islam and make their choices.
There were two nearby towns that carried on a similar, though smaller, pilgrimage business. One honored Al-Lat (goddess of the moon?) and the other Al-Uzzah. With Mecca’s muscle now on his side, Muhammad could consider those towns doomed. He sent a detachment of fighters to the nearest town, where they destroyed the idol of al-Uzzah. The keeper of the shrine hung a sword on the statue and exhorted the goddess to defend herself, but of course, nothing. There’s a strange detail to this story, for the destruction party were sent out twice in the same afternoon. When Muhammad heard that the idol had been easily put down, he told them to go back. This time, they saw a giant naked woman with black skin and long black hair. The leader cut her down with this sword.
The other town, Ta’if, was a bit farther away and much stronger. The Hawazin tribe that own the shrine of al-Lat decided to defend the town, so they called their allies and mustered an army of 10,000 over two weeks. Muhammad raised an army from Mecca and rode out to meet the men of Thaqif. It’s interesting that the story notes that some of the Meccans involved with this march were not yet Muslims, but they had sworn secular allegiance. This distinction continued in Muslim history: those who have submitted (Muslim) and those who have believed (Mu’amin). Since we use the word “Muslim” for both types, we don’t really think about the difference. It may not have mattered as much later.
The two armies joined battle in a valley called Hunayn. The Hawazin tribe had stationed a large wing of cavalry in a ravine, where the approaching Muslim army could not see them. The space in the valley seemed open, but as the Muslims filed into it, the Hawazin leader gave a signal to spring the ambush. The first reaction of the Muslim vanguard was to turn and run, but since the valley was narrow and the rest of the large army was still entering through a pass, there was a chaotic stampede of horses and camels.
Muhammad, who was riding not at the front but not far behind, stood with his numerous Meccan relatives around him at the side of the road. He needed to turn the retreating stampede, so he asked his Uncle Abbas to shout in his loudest voice, “O Companions of the Tree!” This was a call to the 3000 Muslims who had gone on the pilgrimage to Mecca that ended in the Treaty of Hudaybiyah. They had come by ones and twos to a tree where the Prophet was seated to give their solemn oath to support him to the death. Now, invoking this oath succeeded in turning the tide. Instead of retreating, men began to form up around Muhammad. Then he threw a handful of pebbles at the enemy, while praying.
From this point, the battle turned. It was the largest battle the Muslims had yet been in. During the ambush, the Meccan clan that was in front lost many men. After the tide turned, the losses were mostly among the Hawazin fighters. Battles in that time seem to have been like this: the side that perceived itself as winning began to chase the losers, and most of the casualties were on the losing side. The clan of Thaqif escaped back to the walled town of Ta’if, but the other Hawazin clans were hunted down as they fled. They had women, children, and livestock behind their lines, and these were all taken captive. One of the old women captives claimed to be the Prophet’s sister, so they brought her in. It turned out she was a daughter of the Bedouin family that had fostered baby Muhammad, and that clan was among the captives. Muhammad gave her gifts, but she waited among her captive clan to see if relatives would come to ransom them.
Meanwhile, a siege began at Ta’if. But the city had a year’s worth of provisions, siege engines to fling rocks back at the besiegers, and a will to keep the gates closed as long as necessary. After about two weeks, Muhammad gave the command to fall back. He prayed for the Thaqif clan to come to Islam on their own, and they went away. The captives numbered 6000 women and children; Martin Lings reports that there were about 24,000 camels and at least 40,000 goats and sheep. Two weeks had passed already, and some clans’ relatives had come to ransom the captives. The main dividing of spoils had to wait until they were sure all negotiations had ended.
But Muhammad took his one-fifth share and began to distribute it. A recent revelation had given them a new category of people who needed alms: those recently humbled by defeat. This included all of the leadership of Mecca, including some who had not yet entered Islam. When they were given gifts of 100 camels, or in one case, a ravine pasture full of sheep and goats, they converted. For the long-time Muslims who had been hoping for a windfall, the news got worse. They had been feeding 6000 women and children who were by rights their captives to redeem or sell, but then the delegation from the Hawazin tribe showed up. They were led by another foster-brother of Muhammad, and some of them had converted to Islam. They claimed that as foster-kinsmen of the Prophet, their entire tribe should be treated as relatives, not enemies. They asked for all of their captives to be given back, free.
All of the Muslims returned captives when the Prophet asked. They did it willingly, but at the same time, they noted the loss to their own families’ wealth. When the general spoils distribution happened, the typical Medinan (“Ansar” or Helper) Muslim got four camels. Now they were angry about the way the spoils had been handled. Some of them were very poor and received nothing. Why were the pagan chiefs given such gifts, wasn’t that the old Sunnah in which the rich got richer? Muhammad heard their complaints, but he reminded them that God’s mercy was more than anything. They received his rebuke humbly, and they wept in public to show sorrow for their greed.
But we see here a basic problem lurking in the background: the men of Medina felt that the original Muslims from Mecca (“Emigrants”) were always favored over them. Here, even worse, unbelieving and recent-enemy Meccans had been favored over them. Their resentment could be allayed while the Prophet spoke to them personally. They may have already been aware of wondering what would happen when the Prophet died? Would they, his Helpers in Medina, have any honor or influence, or would it all go to Meccans?
Muhammad had a strategy when he did all of these things. The news of the Hawazin captives going home for free reached the walled town of Ta’if. He made a point of keeping the Thaqif captives back, especially the family of their war leader. He let it be known that if this leader, Malik, entered Islam, he’d be treated just the same as the other Hawazin (in spite of the ambush and the siege). It worked. At night, Malik rode to Muhammad’s camp and said the Shahada, receiving back his family. The tribe of Thaqif in walled Ta’if was still on a war footing, but its leader was now the leader of the Muslim Hawazin clans, with a prime directive to break the siege and destroy Al-Lat.
My first reaction when I read about Muhammad’s gift strategy is to feel that these men’s faith was purchased. I’m sure I’m not the only one, and probably many of the Muslims felt that way too. But Martin Lings, my main source, points out that the gifts were above all a demonstration of the new sunnah of Allah’s mercy. The purpose was to reconcile their hearts, to make them feel that the new religion was indeed morally superior to the old. The gifts themselves were not large enough to actually buy the conversion of a man who was already rich; where 100 camels would have meant a lot to a poor man, they were a token to a rich one. But they were a way of demonstrating that Allah should be seen as the new tribal chief giving gifts and demanding loyalty. Allah was willing to forgive and would then overlook all clan divisions or prior actions. Apparently, it worked. Mecca and the tribes around it were won for Islam without much fighting.
After Muhammad returned to Medina, he continued to send out expeditions to destroy idols. Ali led at least some of them. He destroyed the idol al-Manat, the third goddess-sister with al-Lat and al-Uzzah, at the coastal town of Qudayd. He went northeast to the Bani Tayy, who were keepers of an idol called al-Qullus. Mohiuddin says that sixteen expeditions went out from Medina, each to confront some unconverted, hostile tribe and destroy the idols. They had such momentum on their side, and so many allied tribes, that these expeditions were on the order of raids. And one by one, the pagan tribes were subdued and converted, at least to submit to Muslim rule, if not to real belief in their hearts. Muhammad was quite aware of surface conversions and knew that most of them didn’t get it. Perhaps the slogan “fake it till you make it” was his attitude to them: learn the prayers, follow the rules, and gradually you’ll get it.
- Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources, by Martin Lings.
- Revelation: The Story of Muhammad, by Meraj Mohiuddin and Sherman Jackson.