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THE CALIPHATE:
I
It was Midsummer in the year 632 of our era when the
Prophet of Arabia passed away. He had been ten years at Medina, for it was now
the eleventh year of the Hegira, that is of the Flight from Mecca. Mahomet had reached
the age of threescore years and three; and up to the time of his last illness
which lasted but thirteen days, had been hale and vigorous. His death thus fell
an unexpected shock upon Medina.
For some days before, a burning fever had weakened him
grievously and confined him to his bed. All through Sunday of the fatal week,
he lay prostrate and at times delirious. Monday morning brought temporary
relief. It was the hour of early prayer, and the worshippers had assembled in
the Square or court of the great Mosque, adjoining the chamber of Ayesha in
which she had been nursing her husband throughout his illness. Feeling stronger
that morning, he rose from the couch, threw aside the curtain from the door,
and moved softly to the Court, where Abu Bekr
(as commissioned by him when laid aside) was conducting the service in his
place. When prayers were ended Abu Bekr, seeing his Master to all appearance better,
obtained leave to visit his wife who lived in the Upper suburb of the city.
After he had left, the Prophet having spoken a few kindly words to his Aunt and
others crowding around him, was helped back into the chamber. Exhausted by the
effort, his strength sank, and shortly after he breathed his last on the bosom
of his favorite wife.
It was yet but little after midday. Rumor spreading,
the Mosque was soon crowded with a host of bewildered followers. Amongst them
was Omar who arose, and in a wild and excited strain declaimed that the Prophet
was not dead but in a trance, from which he would soon arise and root out the
hypocrites from the land. Abu Bekr had by this time hurried back. He crossed
the Court not heeding his impetuous friend, and entered into Ayesha's chamber. Stooping
down he kissed the Prophet's face. "Sweet were thou," he said,
"in life, and sweet you are in death." Then he went forth, and
finding Omar still haranguing the people, put him aside with the memorable
words: “Whom worship Mahomet, let him
know that Mahomet is dead; but whose worship God, let him know that God live
and die not”. So saying, he recited certain verses from the Koran, which no
doubt had long dwelt upon his mind, as signifying that Mahomet was mortal and
would die as other Prophets had died before him. Recognizing the sacred words
to hear a meaning that had never struck him before, Omar was speechless. "My
limbs trembled," he would say when speaking of that memorable hour,
"and I knew of a certainty that Mahomet was dead indeed."
The assembly in the court of the Mosque had now
quieted down, when a messenger ran up breathless with a report that the men of
Medina had assembled to choose a ruler from amongst themselves. The moment was
critical. The unity of the Faith was at stake. A divided power would fall to
pieces, and all might be lost. The mantle of the Prophet must fall upon one
Successor, and on one alone. The sovereignty of Islam demanded an undivided
Caliphate; and Arabia would acknowledge no master but from amongst the Koreish.
The die must be cast, and cast at once. Such, no doubt, were the thoughts that
occurred to the two chief Companions of the Prophet on hearing this report; and
so, accompanied by Abu Obeida another leading Chief, they hurried to the spot,
if haply they might nip the conspiracy in the bud. On the way two friendly citizens
coming from the excited conclave, warned them of the risk they ran in entering
it alone; but notwithstanding they hastened on. The men of Medina meanwhile,
gathered in one of their rude Halls, were bent upon an independent course.
"We have sheltered this nest of strangers," they cried. "It is
by our good swords they have been able to plant the Faith. The Ruler of Medina
shall be from amongst ourselves." They had already fixed their choice on
Sad ibn Obada leader of the Beni Khazraj, who sick of a fever lay hovered up at
the farther end of the Hall, when the three Companions entered. It was just in
time; for had the Citizens elected Sad and pledged their troth to him, Medina might have been irretrievably
compromised. Omar with his native vehemence, was about to speak, when Abu Bekr,
calm and firm, anticipated him thus: “Every word” said he, “which you, men of
Medina, have uttered in your own praise is true, and more than true; but in
noble birth and influence the Koreish are paramount, and to none but them will
Arabia yield obedience”.
Then, cried they, “let there be one Chief amongst you and
one from amongst us”.
“Away with you!” exclaimed Omar, “two cannot stand
together”; and even Sad from beneath his covering muttered that to divide the
power would only weaken it. High words ensued. Hobab, at the side of Sad, cried
out: "Hear him not! Attend to me, for I am the well-rubbed Palm-stem. If they refuse, expel them from the city”.
“The Lord destroy thee!” cried Omar; and Hobab
returned the words. The altercation gaining heat and bitterness, Abu Bekr saw it
must be stopped at any risk, and stepping forward said: “You see these two”,
pointing to Omar and Abu Obeida. “Choose now which of them you will, and salute
him as your Chief.”
“Nay”, answered they both at once, “you had already at
the Prophet's bidding, led the Prayers; you are our Chief. Stretch forth your
hand”. He did so, and they struck their hand on his (as is the Arab custom) in
token of allegiance. Others were about to follow their example, when Hobab
cried to one of the Beni Khazraj about to take the pledge: "Wilt you cut your
own kinsman's throat?” “Not so”, the person thus addressed replied; “I only
yield the right to whom the right is due”. Whilst they yet hesitated, the Beni
Aus jealous of the rival tribe and of Sad its chief, spoke among themselves:
"If this man be chosen, the rule will be forever with the Beni Khazraj.
Let us at once salute Abu Bekr as our Chief." The example set, group after
group advanced to strike their hand on that of Abu Bekr, till none was left but
Sad who still lay covered in the corner. Acknowledged thus by the men of
Medina, there could be no doubt of Abu Bekr's acceptance by the Meccan "Refugees." He was not only one of
themselves, but the Prophet when laid aside, by appointing Abu Bekr to take his
place at the daily prayers, had in a manner already indicated him as his
Vicegerent. And so homage was done on all sides to Abu Bekr. He was saluted as
the CALIPH, or Successor of the Prophet.
The night passed in preparing the dead for sepulture.
The body was washed and laid out, and the grave dug in Ayesha's apartment where
Mahomet had breathed his last. On the morrow the Citizens, men, women and
children, thronged the chamber to look once more upon their Prophet's face. And
then the remains were reverently committed to the dust.
The funeral over, and the court of the great Mosque
still crowded with the mourners, Abu Bekr ascended the pulpit and, sitting
down, was acknowledged CALIPH by acclamation. Then he arose and said:—“Oh
people! Now I am Ruler over you, albeit not the best amongst you. If I do well,
support me; if ill, then set me right. Follow the True, wherein is
faithfulness; eschew the False, wherein is treachery. The weaker amongst you
shall be as the stronger with me, until that I shall have redressed his wrong;
and the stronger shall be as the weaker until, if the Lord will, I shall have
taken from him that which he path wrested. Leave not off to fight in the ways
of the Lord; whosoever leaveth off, him verily shall the Lord abase. Obey me as
I obey the Lord and his Prophet; wherein I disobey, obey me not. Now arise to
prayer, and the Lord be with you” The assembly stood up for prayer and Abu
Bekr, for the first time as Caliph, filled the place of Mahomet.
The supreme power thus passed, without let or
hindrance to the hands of Abu Bekr. Sad ibn Obada chagrined at being
superseded, held aloof. Aly is also said to have refrained from doing homage
till after the death of Fatima is wife. The Alyite party pretend that he looked
to the Caliphate himself. But there is nothing in his previous life, or in the
attitude of the Prophet towards him, that warrants any such surmise. He had
indeed a grievance, but of a different kind. The day after her father's death,
Fatima preferred a claim to his share in the crown lands of Kheibar. Abu Bekr
disallowed the claim; holding that the revenues were destined, as Mahomet had
himself desired, for purposes of State. Fatima took the denial so much to heart
that she held altogether aloof from the Caliph during the short remainder of
her life. And hence it was only after her death that Aly recognised with any
cordiality the title of Abu Bekr to the Caliphate. Fatima was the last
surviving child of Mahomet. His other three daughters, two of whom had in
succession married Othman, were already some time dead. Khadija had borne him
two sons, but both died in infancy at Mecca. A third, the only other son the
Prophet ever had, was horn at Medina by the slave-girl Mary, and died sixteen
months old. No issue of the Prophet thus survived in the male line. But two
grandsons, Hasan and Hosein, were left by his daughter Fatima. They were now
but six or seven years of age.
Parties at Medina
With Mahomet ceased the theocratic power but his kingly
functions, as ruler over all Islam, descended. According to Arabian notions,
the leader of a nation, like the Chieftain of a tribe, is the head and
representative of his people, and the nomination remains invalid till confirmed
by their homage. Omar, in after days, held that the irregular election of Abu
Bekr (referring apparently to the scene enacted in the Hall should not be a
precedent. It was, he said, an event the happiest in its consequences for
Islam, but justified only by the urgency of the moment. What might have been
the issue if any son of Mahomet had survived it is useless now to speculate.
But certainly the hereditary descent of kingly power was foreign to the
sentiment of Arabia. As matters stood, Mahomet seems to have shrunk from
anticipating the contingency of his own death, and had made no preparation for
what might follow. But in so far as we may suppose him to have felt his illness
mortal and death impending, the nomination of Abu Bekr to conduct the public
Prayers (acknowledged mark of chief or delegated authority) may be held the
natural indication of a wish that he should succeeded. Apart from the
pretensions of the men of Medina, which immediately died away, there was in the
election neither doubt nor hesitancy. The notion of divine right, or ever of
preferential claim, resting in the Prophet's family, was the growth of an
altogether later age.
It may be necessary here to recall to the reader the
state of parties at the present juncture. The Men of Medina were the old inhabitants of the City who had received
Mahomet on his escape from Mecca, and supported his cause; they now embraced
practically the whole native population of Medina, since the party that opposed
him on his first arrival had gradually succumbed before his growing power. They
were divided into two tribes, the Beni
Aus and Beni Khazraj, jealous of
each other as we have seen. Beside these were the Refugees, those namely who had followed Mahomet in exile from Mecca
or elsewhere, and were now settled at Medina. Again, Companion was a title of honor given to all those who had enjoyed
the special friendship of the Prophet. A few words may also be added here to
revive the reader's recollection of the three Companions who turned the scale
at the election of the Caliph.
Abu Bekr, threescore years of age, was somewhat short
in stature, of spare frame, rounded back, and stooping gait. His face thin
smooth and fair, nose aquiline and sharp, forehead high, eyes deep seated and
far apart. I his hair scanty; the beard, for many years white, now dyed red.
His countenance still in old age handsome; the expression mild, but wise and
resolute. To him faith in the Prophet had become a second nature and, now that
his Master was gone, the disciple lived but to fulfill his will. It was this
that nerved a disposition naturally soft and yielding, and made Abu Bekr, of
all the followers of Mahomet, the truest, firmest, and most resolute.
Omar, fifteen years younger, differed from Abu Bekr
both in frame and temperament. Broad shouldered and tall, he towered above the
crowd. Somewhat dark in complexion, the face was fresh and ruddy. His head was
now bald; the beard dyed like his friend's; his stride long and his presence
commanding. Naturally hasty and passionate, he would twist his moustache when
angry and draw it downwards to his mouth. But time had mellowed temper; and,
beneath an imperious manner, he was bland and courteous. Attachment to Mahomet
had, on these two friends, an effect exactly opposite. That which braced the
soft nature of Abu Bekr, served but to abate the vehemence of Omar. Both stood
in a like relation to the Prophet. Haphsa, Omar's daughter, was one of Mahomet's
favorite wives; but Ayesha, the child of Abu Bekr, was Queen in his affections
to the end.
On these two men at this moment hung the future of Islam. The third, Abu Obeida, was between them in age. Thin, tall, and sinewy, he was bald and with little beard. Mild, unassuming and unwarlike, Abu Obeida was yet destined to take a leading part in the conquest of Syria.
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